Over the next several years Texas will develop more than 50,000 MW of Wind power. That is many times more than Ontario needs to replace coal and nuclear. Wind power alone could, in just a few years, power the entire province while making the developers of this energy source a handsome profit while at the same time eliminating carbon emissions and creating sustainable jobs for the long term.
Hallelujah Organics completes a brand new state-of-the-art facility incorporating sustainable design features that fit with the organic nature of the products being produced.
Solar is set to replace coal, gas and nuclear in Ontario. Development progress so far significantly surpasses expectations of the government. In just six years Ontario could get all required energy from renewables. This is a challenge worthy of our best efforts.
Charge up this little Nissan (Datsun) electric in twenty minutes and this dragster will beat any of the gasoline powered competition, quietly, and clearly. Check out the documentary video.
The heart and soul of the coming electric car are the battery systems. President Obama is investing more than $5 billion to see the United States lead the world in next generation battery technology that will power electric cars and the smart grid of the future using 100% renewable energy.
Using $108 billion in private capital funding Ontario is on track to be 100% powered by renewable energy. Projects and jobs are being created all over the province generating renewable electricity, jobs and profits.
Corporate Finance and Climate Protection: a Beneficial Alliance, May 2010:
At last an inspiring proposal that represents an attempt to redefine climate protection measures and to reset climate protection targets to accord with what is scientifically necessary and economically preferable.
On 10/10/10, the Global Work Party, we'll start transforming our communities from the ground up. Through local climate action projects, we'll make our leaders wake up and lead on the climate crisis. It's a plan that may well break the logjam and get us moving. Will you join in?
Solar farming in Germany is leading the way towards 30% renewable energy in the country by 2020, well ahead of the mandated 20%. The critical policy driving this massive transition is a feed-in tariff created out of the renewable energy act.
Replacing fossil fuels changes the world as we know it. Transportation looks poised to make the transition to 100% solar energy quite possible given the effectiveness of hybrid electric technology that is in wide spread production. Key building blocks for this transition include a potentially large electric grid infrastructure upgrade of the scale comparable to the interstate highway system in the US 50 years ago. Storage technology is ready in the form of pumped storage hydro power. Concentrating solar may help bring down the cost per watt. Rooftop solar may be the political glue that holds it all together by empowering political autonomy. Get ready for some clean air and a sustainable world.
Sun, wind, hydro and geothermal energy are natural sources of renewable energy accessible to everyone all over the world. They are renewable, free and available forever. Knowledge about the possibilities of renewable energy will ignite an international movement and take the absolutely necessary energy transition. We need a quickly enlightening medium that conveys this knowledge in a comprehensible and compact format. This can be provided by a great documentary video. Check it out...
Allowing oil to drive our global economic system makes no sense. Recessions driven by dramatic swings in oil prices are insane. Horrific disasters like the BP oil well spewing death into the Gulf of Mexico and beyond are insane. Oil reserves are being depleted faster than new reserves are being found. Oil will run out in the next forty years. The only answer is a switch to solar energy as a sustainable way to drive our economic system. We know this will work.
Add 10 cents/kW to your electricity bill, roughly $100/month, to account for your carbon and other polluting emissions. Given that you can pay green electricity retailers like Bullfrog Power just $30/month extra for carbon free electricity, green energy looks like quite a bargain, especially for our children.
Developing a successful and profitable renewable energy project on the Ontario FIT and MicroFIT requires planning. Learn what steps you should be taking to plan your solar, wind, hydro / water, biogas / biomass / landfill gas project.
"The clean energy economy will provide the largest wealth-building opportunities in history. The world will spend $382 trillion in energy over the next 40 years and every aspect of this industry is up for grabs: from generation and transportation to storage and use." - Tony Seba, Author, Solar Trillions
The US economy can use whole system thinking and integrative design to free itself from fossil fuels. The idea is to have business and profit lead the way.
Your house can be a power plant. The sun that falls each day is enough to supply not only the energy requirements of your home but also can produce excess. With a feed-in tariff (FIT) like the one in Ontario Canada you could be generating profits with your solar house. Find out how.
Put this web site in your pocket with our new iPhone app. Includes videos worth $10. Put the power of renewable energy in the palm of your hand. Get instant access to the news, events, tools and videos you need to understand how renewable energy is transforming our world. Learn how it all works to change everything right now.
Tom Rand makes the point that the FIT/MicroFIT basically creates a new asset class. Essentially it is a government backed bond at a rate of around 10-12%. Learn how this can be so and what the opportunities are for you and your community in Ontario.
Photo Credit: Cardiff Council Flat Holm Project team, Wikimedia.org.
Your home and your community could be powered by 100% renewable energy in the next five to ten years. Find out exactly how in this extraordinary documentary video.
Long before the Chevy Volt sees the light of day Electric Yachts has been powering sailboats with electric motor technology. No more fumes. No more fuel bills. Fits where the old diesel/gas engine used to sit. Batteries store inexpensive electricity for hours of motoring in and out of harbour to get the sails up. Batteries are charged while sailing as the water pressure drives the propeller to rotate turning the electric motor into a generator. Solar and wind turbines can be used to charge the batteries. A small generator can then be used to extend the range of the electric, again, much like the future Chevy Volt.
Renewable energy actually costs less than oil, gas, coal and nuclear. Take a look at subsidies and the cost to future generations of our insane use of oil, gas, coal and nuclear.
Toronto, Ontario may lead the world towards a future where 100% renewable energy is proven viable. Newly announced biogas facilities will provide the equivalent of 100 megawatts of renewable energy.
Electric cars will be integrated with renewable energy to provide the required storage to resolve the intermittent nature challenge of renewables. Study shows just 20% of vehicles need be electric to support 100% renewables.
Need an inspiring look at how we could switch the entire world to 100% renewable energy and make a profit? Want to understand the future of energy? Check out this book and video trailer by Tom Rand, called Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit, 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World.
Building on rocky, barren, un-farmable land could produce 90 Gigawatts of electricity, pretty much enough to shut down every nuclear plant in the US. Certainly, there is more than enough solar to power the province of Ontario when combined with wind, hydro, and biomass.
The Ravina Project is a privately funded green energy research project in Toronto Canada. Using their own resources this group has turned their home into a science experiment. They want to provide power generation data for the public and do green power research. The group fervently hopes that access to their data will be a factor in giving people the confidence to press forward with their own green power projects.
Jeff Rubin presents a world about to get a lot smaller. As the economy comes out of recession it can be expected that the price of oil will again hit the triple digits. This will again trigger another economic recession which will again limit demand for oil. Ultimately demand and carbon pricing will drive oil past the triple digits. This will make local economies the only sensible solution driven by green technologies. The transition may be a painful one if we don't plan for it or it may be the greatest opportunity in history. We must decide what we want to do about it in the next 12 to 15 months.
Ontario has embarked upon an historic path towards economic and energy sustainability. Citizens of this large province have now invested $15 billion in renewable energy projects that will be built and put into production over the next couple years. In the process we will create over 20,000 jobs, clean up our air a bit, and set the stage for higher electricity prices. Terrify you a bit? Worried about paying $5/month more for your electricity? How did this happen and what does it all mean for you?
Concentrated solar power (CSP) is poised to be a critical component, when combined with solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, hydro and other forms of solar to provide all the energy we need for a sustainable future. CSP provides the critical storage capability for 7 by 24 operation, complementing hydro as a base load solution in a renewable energy powered world.
Have you ever wondered why renewable energy costs more? Are fossil fuel sources subsidized more? Does nuclear get some kind of special treatment? Are the environmental costs to future generations included? What form of energy do we really pay more for?
Need a step-by-step guide that explains how to put solar panels on your house? Want an unbiased owners perspective? Are you wondering how much it will cost, where to get the financing and how much you'll profit? Check what may be the best and most comprehensive web site focussed on the owners perspective of putting solar panels on your roof.
Kiva uses microfinance to support green innovation in Mongolia. Fuel for heating is a major cause of pollution throughout the world. The cost of fuel, as it rises, impacts the poorest the most.
Visiting villages throughout Germany, especially Freiburg, has been inspirational to say the least. I lived in Europe for a month each year (September) in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and had a good chance to study what the Germans and Danes are doing regarding solar, geothermal, hydro power, and wind energy. Driving all through Bavaria in particular blew my mind on our first trip. I have been a renewable energy advocate since the mid-1970s. Moving to northern Michigan in 1976 and living off the land taught me a lot about sustainability, but I still had a lot to learn. These trips provided that education for me.
Check out the power adapter on the iPad. I know most people are oooing and ahhhing over the LED display, the light weight, iBook reader and the ability to run pretty much all of 140,000 iPhone Apps. Big deal. So I can read my books, do most of my work, listen to my music, watch TV, movies, facebook, email, chat, msn, write documents, do spreadsheets, surf the web and from anywhere with wi-fi/G3. Nothing new with all those features. Back to the power adapter.
You must read this book! I've just finished reading the most inspiring true story about a boy from Malawi, Africa, who defies all the odds, survives horrific famine and terrible poverty that denies almost all opportunities, and builds a wind turbine that provides a glimmer of the light that will provide a beacon of hope through the ages. This boy, the author of this remarkable book, is William Kamkwamba.
Five years ago, having come back from Freiburg Germany, the solar capital of Europe, I was inspired by their zero emissions solar PV manufacturing facility there, feed-in tariff driven investment opportunities available to the general public, community owned wind farms, and solar PV on almost every other building I looked at, both residential and commercial.
Our economic systems are a choice and idea that must change now. In order to create a sustainable world for our children we must now make the choice to change our organizing principles in support of people and a sustainable world for all. Economics must be put in the service of making the world a sustainable, peaceful, equitable community for all.
Economically, socially and scientifically the only way to avoid disaster is a global switch to 100% renewable energy. Only this can realistically address the challenge. Only with renewable energy is the reserve and growing demand problem resolved, and yes sufficient free supply is available, with more than 1000 times more renewable energy reaching earth from the sun (and available equitably and locally everywhere in the form of solar, geothermal, biomass and wind).
How can we possibly convert to 100% renewables in the next 20 years? Jacobson and Delucchi say we'll need 3.8 million large wind turbines, 89,000 300-megawatt solar plants, 490,000 tidal turbines, 1.7 billion rooftop photovoltaic systems, and 900 hydroelectric plants.
Investing in solar in Ontario today could be a very lucrative investment at 80.2 cents/kW. At that rate, with a good sized solar PV (photovoltaic) installation on your roof, you could be looking at a return on your investment within ten years or less given the improving efficiencies and cost of the technology. As of October 1, 2009 you can submit your start to the feed-in tariff contracting process. Start now and the system will save your pending information until you are ready to submit.
Cities are for all people. Public places are where all can share in the good of the city. A cities public space should make all the people that live in the city happy. Making people happy requires that they have dignity, are treated equally, and have hope. That is what Enrique Penalosa did as mayor in Bogota Columbia.
With a mix of front-line reporting, analysis and passionate argument, Chris Turner pieces together the glimmers of optimism amid the gloom and the solutions already at work around the world, from Canada
Environmental scientists from the U.S. and China estimate that wind power alone could meet China's projected electricity needs for 2030 using wind turbines installed over a combined area nearly the size of Manitoba.
Eight Green homes were featured on a Prince Edward County Green Homes Tour organized by the County Sustainability Group as part of the 2009 Sustainable Living Symposium at Loyalist College in Belleville.
Showcased will be the "Best of" selections from three documentary videos that John Wilson has produced over the last few years showing a progression from what we as individuals can do, to what we can do in our communities and finally showing how we can change our country and through that the world at large. Each short documentary will be introduced by John Wilson who will also take a few questions after each showing.
Solar energy is the most abundant on earth. There is many times more energy from the sun than we need. With a little tweaking of our economic systems, as we've done in the past for oil, solar will be the clean renewable energy of the future.
John WIlson will present his popular sustainable living workshop that explains the process he used to create a "Natural dream" home. Presented on location, about an hour north of Toronto, at their Natural Home, in the beautiful Hockley Valley.
Learn about how you can start using solar and wind power today, off or on-the-grid. Find out about the advantages of straw bale construction. See all of the ideas you can use for being more efficient. See how it all works. Ask questions about any concerns you have.
The time to invest in solar photovoltaic panels is now in Ontario. Get ready to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Green Energy Act to add solar panels to your house or commercial building.
Leading companies recognize that social, environmental, economic and ethical factors directly affect their business strategy and success. As sustainability becomes an integral part of the executive agenda, organizations need to find the right balance between generating profits and reducing the impact of operations on people and the environment.
1.3 million hybrid vehicles have been sold in the U.S. since 1999. 2,000+ hybrid buses are in use in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor and Washington, providing 25-35% improvement in fuel efficiency and up to a 90% reduction in soot pollutants.
Plugging Ontario Into A Green Future lays out an action plan for achieving Minister Smitherman's goal of enhancing the contributions of renewable energy,conservation and distributed generation and shows how doing so will assist Ontario in meeting its climate targets and create new green jobs. According to the OPA, the Ontario government must decide early in 2009 whether to rebuild or replace the Pickering B nuclear station scheduled to come offline in 2013. A similar decision about the Bruce B nuclear station must be made within the mandate of this government as well. 2 However, by framing these two decisions as either rebuild or replace nuclear stations, the OPA has failed to consider the option of expanding renewable energy beyond the minimum in the supply mix directive. Instead, the OPA has given the government an unpalatable choice: rebuild old reactors at high cost and high risk or build new nuclear plants by 2020. Both options increase fossil generation until reactors are refurbished r built, resulting in the risk of higher greenhouse gas emissions.