Tag: Environment

See Solar Run

A Drawing of the Sun from the USA EPA siteA solar cell absorbs a small range of light wavelengths based upon the density and width of silicon crystals. Light strikes the crystals and causes electrons to propagate along the network. We call this flow of electrons electricity.

More crystals of different widths in the network mean that more different wavelengths can be absorbed and more power can be generated. Adding different layers of crystals to absorb a wider range of wavelength is one way to increase the power, but the process to spread these crystals over a surface is very expensive and energy intensive.

Prism Solar Technologies is going a different path by splitting the incoming sunlight and concentrating specific wavelengths onto a variety of cells designed to collect those specific wavelengths, yielding 25% greater electricity yields. These concentrators and splitters are orders of magnitude cheaper to produce than solar cells and increase the power of each solar cell. Oh, by the way, the Prism splitter is clear.

Toronto Offers Incentive to Save Power

Summers in Toronto can be kind of, well, hot. With lights, machinery, and air conditioning at their yearly peak, the strain on the city’s power-system can be enormous.

To reduce the summer strain on the city’s electrical system, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Ltd. is offering consumers a financial incentive to conserve power.

If Toronto power consumers can reduce their summer power consumption by 10% from the previous summer’s bill, Toronto Hydro-Electric will knock 10% off of autumn’s electricity bill. Using fans instead of air conditioning, even for part of the day, can put a 10% reduction well within reach of most consumers. A financial incentive to conserve is hard to ignore.

Super Efficient House Uses 800 Watt Hours/Day

The Treehugger website is running some good news on an ultra-efficient model home.

This house has the conveniences of a modern house, but consumes only 800Whr on average per day. Compare this to a typical U.S. suburban house that uses 45 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day. How is this reduction possible? It’s through the strategic use of ultra-efficient appliances, daylighting, and green design principles for temperature control and ventilation.

The house also automatically turns off computer peripherals when not in use.

Happy Planet Index

a green good happy streetlight The Happy Planet Index is an innovative way to track the state of the planet. The HPI lists the GDP to show that wealth doesn’t equal happiness. This is a great project, even though as a planet we have a lot of room for improvement in terms of happiness.

“The message, simply put, is that when we measure the efficiency with which countries enable the fundamental inputs of natural resources to be turned into the ultimate ends of long and happy lives, all can do better. This conclusion is less surprising in the light of our argument that governments have been concentrating on the wrong indicators for too long. If you have the wrong map, you are unlikely to reach your destination.”

It’s a good thing they have a guide to make the planet happier.

The happiest countries on the planet are:

Vanuatu
Colombia
Costa Rica

You can even calculate your own HPI

Pearl Jam Jams Carbon Emissions

The band Pearl Jam are some environmental do-gooders! They are not only continuing their program of offsetting their carbon emissions from touring, they are expanding it!

“This year we expanded their program to encompass a broader range of clean air solutions. In addition to the Carbon Portfolio Strategy, we are working to offset carbon emissions from their 2006 US tour by using B100 – pure bio-diesel – in all production trucks and in our tour buses. B100 reduces emissions of carbon monoxide by approximately 50% and carbon dioxide by 78% on a net lifecycle basis. In contrast to fossil fuels, which release new carbon previously sequestered in the earth’s crust, the carbon in B100 emissions is recycled from carbon already present in the atmosphere.”

Pearl Jam does a lot of good for the environment and the world as a whole, you can find out more on their activism on their website.