New Jers makes a big move into going Solar powered

The biggest utility company in New Jersey PSE&G is making moves to have a big push to go solar.

PSE&G is putting $773 million toward placing solar panels on all of their properties, their electric poles and even on public schools.

it's expected that this project will allow 7% of New Jersey's power form solar energy.

Help Africa and South America make big power movies with solar power

The England based solar panel company Solarcentury are the folks behind the charity Solar Aid

The goal of the charity is to provide items small solar panels and solar powered items to people living in the most rural impoverish areas of Africa and South America.

Normally people living in those areas wouldn't have electricity but with these solar panels and solar powered products they can at least have some electric powered items to make life easier, healthier and more productive for them.

also since the charities is giving people solar energy, Solar aid is helping to insure as nation develops they are doing so in a clean way.

Solar aid has a number of projects and are looking for donations to help fund them.

Solar Aid funds placing solar panels on schools, clinics and community centers.

they also found training people on how to make solar power products such as lamps, cell phones and radios. This is done in hopes to give people skills and also give them a source of income by supplying an item that that people can sell.

go to their site to check out all the different programs they are running and pick one or more of them to give to.

Doc gets into trouble because of his fat ride

a Beverly Hills cosmetic doctor has gotten into a lard of trouble because of the unique way he was fueling his SUV.

Dr. Craig Alan Bittner was using turning the fat that he got form the liposuction he performed into biodiesel (or as he calls it lipodiesel)


Doc Bittner says that he received permeation form his clients to use their fat ass's to power his car but it doesn't seem to matter because it is against Cali law to use human medical waste for fuel.

instead of facing charges for this and other things (he's a little shady it seems) the doc has skipped town and is living in Columbia.

man made photosynthesis

professor Daniel G. Nocera of MIT and Matthew Kanan have found a way for humans to do something plants do naturally. to create energy from the sun's rays and water.

what the scientist have found is a way to split water apart so you have oxgen and hydrogen.

They dissolved cobalt and phosphate in water and then zapped it with electricity through an electrode. The cobalt and phosphate form a thin-film catalyst around the electrode that then use electrons from the electrode to split the oxygen from water. The oxygen bubbles to the surface, leaving a proton behind.

A few inches away, another catalyst, platinum, helps that bare proton become hydrogen.

this process could be a cheaper way to power fuel cell batteries.

solar or else

Germany as a country has been a world leader when it comes to using alternative energy.

The German government has many programs in place that make it easy (and to expense) for people to switch over to things like solar energy.

but recently the German town of Marburg may have step the line by not giving people the choice to switch to solar but instead demanding it.

if people don't get solar panels for their homes and business they will face a $1,500 fine.

many people in Marburg are upset about this. The people don't seem to have a problem with going solar but the problem is that they don't like the ideal of being forced to go solar.

giving the cost of solar one may not be able to afford it.

now when a government really wants it citizens to do their part to save the earth, they are bound to have a bad policy here or there. the thing is that before this city (and Germany as a whole) was using a plan that seems to be working by making it cost effective for people to go solar, but not by forcing them.

fallows cali's lead in energy effecency

Salon has an article talking about how if America had more energy efficiency in buildings, appliances and factories we could cut down on the amount of energy this country uses to such a great extent that we wouldn't need to build any new coal planets in the near future (by 2030)

the study looked at how Cali's energy consumption has stayed study while the rest of the nation energy use as gone up 60%. The reason California has had a large push to make sure the buildings in the state are much more energy efficient.

the american eletric grid can handle eletric cars

one of the fears that people bring up when talking about switching to plug in electric cars is that it will be to much for the eletric grid to handle.

but that doesn't seem to be a realistic problem. utility companies say that they will be able to handle the switch over if it's gradual.

and since everyone will not be able to go out and get an plug in electric as soon as they hit the market. everything will be all good.

they point to the fact that they handled the increased power that plasma TV used (and it seems that Plasma screens use up more eletricity then it would take for a eletric car)

garbage power

Ottawa Canada is planing on building a waste-to-energy facility that will turn trash into gas by heating with a really high degree of heat.

solar energy tax credit may no longer see the light of day

currently there is a tax credit on the books that allow people to save $2,000 and business 30% off the price of solar energy panels.

this tax credit could in at the end of the year.

the move to extend the tax credit is being blocked in the senate.

get in contact with your local senator and state rep and tell them you want them to pass the Energy Independence and Tax Relief Act of 2008

Atlantic City Convention Center goes solar

the state of New Jersy and Pepco (their local engery company) has worked out a deal that would put 290,000 square feet solar panels on the Atlantic City convention center.

Doing this is expected to save $4.4 million dollars over the next 20years.

it will also mean that 1/4th of the convention center will come from those solar panels.


I hope other cities see this and follow suit.

Solar engery going mainstream

Rueters has an article up talking about how Solar engery maybe in a spot to go mainstream.

they state a number of facters.

the price of engergy is going up so the cost of going solar energy is going to be on par (or lower) then just staying with are current modes of getting energy.

if Obama wins the election, he say he will get America to get at least 25% of it's energy from solar by the 2025. McCain says he will go green but since there isn't as much info on how he is more of a wildcard on the issue of solar right now.

the price of silicon is expected to go down and if it does the price of making solar panels will go down.

but there is also now solar panels being made without silicon, and that could mean even cheaper solar panals.


if enough of these things line up then we will see a huge tipping toward solar power in the next few years.

Selsam Turbines

a small company in California has created a new spin on making wind turbines.

Selsam's wind turbines run on the ideal that instead of making one big turbine you can use a lot of little turbines to create energy.


by going with this ideal Doug Selsam has made a turbine that could fit on one's home.

if this really works we can all use wind power to power are homes (or at least cut down on the electric bill)


wind-works.org is currently putting up post about them testing the Selsam Super Twin Turbines out

Solar village

Donggwang, South Korea is a small town where that is run 100% by solar engergy.

that right everyone has solar panels on there house.

Ok Donggwang maybe a small village of 40 homes but shows what can happen if the people and the goverment (south Korea payed for 70% of the cost to put up the panels) get in and do something.

please don't eat the biofeul

earlier I talked about the problem we are currently facing with the rising price of food which some say is party due to farmers growing things used for biofeul instead of food.


besides tower farming and not expecting a magic bullet to solve are problems another that could help solve this problem is to focus a bit more on crops that aren't eating by people to use for biofuel.

Things like switchgrass and algea for example.

I haven't looked at switchgrass much but I like algea for a number of reasons.

for example you wouldn't have to use farm land to grow it. you can get algea from lakes (and other bodies of water) or grow it indoors. this leaves land to farm food.