14.6 GW of Solar PV Capacity Addition in 2010; Growth to Shift from EU to US, Asia

According to IMS Research, a total of 14.6 GW of solar PV capacity would be added this year which would mark a 95 percent increase from the previous year’s figure. However, the research also notes that sales in the European Union could stagnate and new markets would drive growth in the coming few years.

The research has predicted a massive addition of 14.6 GW on the basis of data collected from 40 countries. More than 50 percent of these installations would come up in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic totally to about 9.8 GW of capacity addition. However, the growth could likely be shifted to developing markets such as Asia and North America in the near future.

According to the Marketbuzz 2010 report, a total of 7.5 GW of solar PV capacity was added in 2009 with Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic contributing about 77 percent to this growth. The United States and Japan were neck-to-neck in terms of capacity addition. This trend, however, could soon change. (more…)

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ARPA-E Funds $92 Million in Energy Research Leading to New Green Jobs

While the fossil fuel industry has been busy destroying jobs in the Gulf Coast (to say nothing of destroying jobs in Appalachia), the federal government has been providing more support for creating more new green jobs in clean energy.  This week, a group of small businesses, big companies, research universities, national laboratories and non-profits received $92 million in energy conservation grants to develop new technologies for powering American into a cleaner, safer, and far less riskier future.

The funds were distributed by ARPA-E, the Advanced Projects Research Agency – Energy.  It’s the new civilian version of a Department of Defense program called DARPA, which provided the government funded research that created a wee bit of transformative technology called the Internet. Expectations are just as high for ARPA-E, if not higher. The director of the agency greets visitors to the ARPA-E website with a statement about our continued dependence on fossil fuels that was posted before the BP oil spill and has gained new urgency since then: “Business as usual is not an option, as the outcome will be devastating.”

(more…)

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How is Super Mole Blood Tied to Gene Therapy?

Photo of an Eastern mole by S. Aquaticus

Scientists have discovered that moles can survive underground for long periods of time because they have super hemoglobin. They have a more efficient means of transporting carbon dioxide. This allows them to burrow below the surface of the earth and, even cooler, be able to re-breathe their old air. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Calculating car carbon emissions
Ever wondered how much carbon dioxide is generated by your car or what its carbon emissions are per mile or kilometre? Here’s a formula for calculating the figure and at-a-glance tables for those who don’t wish to .

Visit the original post at: Green living tips

Calculating car carbon emissions
Ever wondered how much carbon dioxide is generated by your car or what its carbon emissions are per mile or kilometre? Here’s a formula for calculating the figure and at-a-glance tables for those who don’t wish to .

Visit the original post at: Green living tips

Cummins Expanding High-Horsepower Engine Product Line

Visit the original post at: Transportation News

Trend Watch: Unpaving Rural America "Back To The Stone Age"

Dusty road. Image credit:ModelAColumbus.com

Until the 1950′s, gravel roads were the norm outside the core developed zones of American towns and cities. Guess what? Gravel roads are back in vogue. Tax revenues are so far down and asphalt prices rising so far that State and local governments can no longer afford to repair and repave. So they are un-paving, which means changes to the modern lifestyle. Forget texting and coffee drinking on a gravel road. Gravel roads are forbidding to sleek low riders, road bikes, and convertibles.

Wall Street Journal has covered the new trend in the story:<a h…
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Beautiful Floral Ballet Flats (and More) Made From Textile and Footwear Waste (Photos)

TRAIDremade’s Vintage Floral Golightly Pump. Image courtesy of TRAIDremade

We recently mentioned that one of the largest textile recycling initiatives in the US will launch in New York City in September. While non profits bid to host the recycling bins, you may be wondering what happens to all of those garments, shoes, and accessories. In the UK, Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development (TRAID) operates 900 recycling … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California

Filed under: Hydrogen, Honda, Natural Gas

Recently California passed a rule that extended access to the state’s carpool lanes for zero and ultra low emission vehicles until 2015. Part of that regulation update included the phase-out of access for hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. Despite hybrids being relegated back to the crowded lanes, Honda still has two vehicles that do qualify, the FCX Clarity and Civic GX.

Unfortunately, at this point, the number of fuel cell powered-Claritys in private hands remains in the single digits. Even the natural gas-fueled Civic GX is comparatively scarce. Perhaps now that the Civic will have HOV-lane access until 2015, more buyers will migrate away from hybrids. One advantage of the Civic is getting a Phill fueling rig that hooks to your home natural gas supply so that you can fill the Civic in your garage.

[Source: Honda]

Continue reading Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California

Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visit the original post at: Fuel Cell News

Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California

Filed under: Hydrogen, Honda, Natural Gas

Recently California passed a rule that extended access to the state’s carpool lanes for zero and ultra low emission vehicles until 2015. Part of that regulation update included the phase-out of access for hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. Despite hybrids being relegated back to the crowded lanes, Honda still has two vehicles that do qualify, the FCX Clarity and Civic GX.

Unfortunately, at this point, the number of fuel cell powered-Claritys in private hands remains in the single digits. Even the natural gas-fueled Civic GX is comparatively scarce. Perhaps now that the Civic will have HOV-lane access until 2015, more buyers will migrate away from hybrids. One advantage of the Civic is getting a Phill fueling rig that hooks to your home natural gas supply so that you can fill the Civic in your garage.

[Source: Honda]

Continue reading Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California

Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Visit the original post at: Fuel Cell News

Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California

Filed under: Hydrogen, Honda, Natural Gas

Recently California passed a rule that extended access to the state’s carpool lanes for zero and ultra low emission vehicles until 2015. Part of that regulation update included the phase-out of access for hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. Despite hybrids being relegated back to the crowded lanes, Honda still has two vehicles that do qualify, the FCX Clarity and Civic GX.

Unfortunately, at this point, the number of fuel cell powered-Claritys in private hands remains in the single digits. Even the natural gas-fueled Civic GX is comparatively scarce. Perhaps now that the Civic will have HOV-lane access until 2015, more buyers will migrate away from hybrids. One advantage of the Civic is getting a Phill fueling rig that hooks to your home natural gas supply so that you can fill the Civic in your garage.

[Source: Honda]

Continue reading Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California

Honda FCX Clarity, Civic GX still get HOV lane access in California originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Visit the original post at: Fuel Cell News

Obama Brings Cheap Electric Vehicles to USA

In just five years of the Recovery Act stimulus, by 2015, we are now on track to produce fully 40% of the world’s batteries for electric vehicles. Currently, we make only 2%.

Before The Recovery Act passage, the US was hardly a world leader in advanced electric vehicles, or in any aspect of the advanced battery technologies that power them. We made only 2 out of every 100 batteries used in them.

Among many other examples we’ve covered here of the green economy stimulus, the American Recovery Act (ARRA) - passed in March the next year to right Main Street after the November Wall Street bailout - included a battery technology stimulus that funded advanced R&D of every aspect of electric vehicle development. Some results?

Nine completely new electric vehicle battery factories will have broken ground by the end of 2010, and 21 more will now make battery or electric vehicle components. (more…)

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$200 Million for Your Smart Grid Ideas: GE Ecomagination Challenge

Have a good idea for energy creation and distribution? GE and 4 prominent venture capital firms are offering up $200 million for winners of its Ecomagination Challenge in an effort to quicken development of a national smart grid. Perhaps you could be the winner?

(more…)

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Spain Opens Largest Solar Power Plant in World, Passes US as Largest Solar Power Generator

Spain has now opened the largest solar power plant in the world, the La Florida solar plant in Alvarado, Badajoz. With the opening of this massive solar power plant, Spain has also now passed up the United States as the biggest solar power generator in the world.

Spain’s total solar output is now 432MW, 10MW higher than the US (which is at 422MW). (Note that this is power generated, not solar power capacity, of which Germany is the clear leader.)

(more…)

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