Dr Prodipto Ghosh, former secretary in the ministry of environment and forests, currently a special energy adviser with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), believes the future lies in developing renewable forms of energy. Dr Ghosh, who played a key role in penning the recently released PMO report on climate change, believes: "Renewable forms of energy, including solar, wind and tidal, must be mainstreamed in order that they can substantially displace oil, gas and coal. Many renewable forms are already being used in niche applications such as street signalling, remote area power supply and village homes." This turnaround can be best illustrated by the example of wind power. Thirty-five years ago, when the world began to look at wind power, it needed a great deal of government support. In the late 90s, when the global capacity of wind energy was increased to 65,000 megawatts, it became competitive with coal. Since India receives a great deal of sunshine, the key question is how to make solar energy commercially viable, especially since only one per cent of India’s landmass would be required by solar PVs to meet our electricity needs. Dr Ghosh agrees but states, "A great deal of R&D is required to bring solar energy costs down. A strong government commitment to R&D, matched by an increasing scale of technology, will help kickstart this change."
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Renewable energy alone can save India
Dell Headquarters Uses 100% Renewable Energy
As of April 2, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell is powering 100 percent of its 2.1 million square-foot global headquarters campus with 100 percent green power.
"It's time for our industry to take a lead role in creating a clean energy future," said Paul Bell, president, Dell Americas. "We are challenging every technology company to work with their suppliers and partners in integrating green power and energy-efficient strategies into their operations."
Dell is using all of the power generated from Waste Management's Austin Community Landfill gas-to-energy plant, meeting 40 percent of Dell headquarters’ campus power needs. The remaining 60 percent comes from existing wind farms and is provided by TXU Energy.
The computer company also announced it is increasing green power use for its Austin Parmer Campus, provided by Austin Energy, from 8 percent to 17 percent. Dell also is powering its Twin Falls, Idaho, facility with 100 percent green power, 97 percent of which is wind power and 3 percent solar.
In September 2007, Dell announced it would make company owned and leased facilities "carbon neutral" in 2008 through a strategy of improving energy-efficiency in its operations and maximizing the purchase of renewable power. This commitment is part of the company's climate strategy which also seeks to minimize carbon impact of supplier operations and customer product use.
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Top 10 US Cities for Renewable Energy
Top Ten US City Use of Renewable Energy
| table header row 1 | table header row 2 | table header row 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Oakland, CA | (17%) |
| 2. | Sacramento/SF/San Jose, CA | (12%)* |
| 3. | Portland, OR | (10%) |
| 4. | Boston | (8.6%) |
| 5. | San Diego, CA | (8%) |
| 6. | Austin, TX | (6%) |
| 7. | Los Angeles, CA | (5%) |
| 8. | Minneapolis, MN | (4.5%) |
| 9. | Seattle, WA | (3.5%) |
| 10. | Chicago, IL | (2.5%) |
Which of the largest 50 US cities provide citizens with the highest percentage of power produced from renewable energy? SustainLane Government (www.sustainlane.us) determined the percentage of each city’s electricity that comes from renewables such as solar, wind, geothermal, and small-scale hydro energy.
Renewable energy sources produce electricity with no global climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions or regional air pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. Renewable energy technologies also produce regional jobs while limiting the importation of energy from other nations.
Just over 33 percent of greenhouse gases produced in the United States came from electricity production in 2004, making it the leading category of such emissions over other areas such as transportation (27.9 percent), industry (19.6 percent) and agriculture (7 percent).
The leading cities in renewable energy could have an advantage in any upcoming federal or state regulations aimed at regulating or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions or developing renewable energy standards. If the greenhouse gases that cause climate change get priced, cities with strong renewable energy programs could save a lot of money in the long run and their economies could gain a tax advantage.
Oakland, California led the nation with 17 percent of its electricity being produced by energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal energy. Oakland gets some of its wind energy power from one of the largest wind power generating facilities in the nation at nearby Altamont Pass.
San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose tied for second with 12 percent of their electricity coming from renewable energy sources.
California cities rank high in general because of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which set minimal requirements in 2002 for utility purchases of renewable energy for the state’s electric grid. That standard requires a 20 percent renewable energy total for the state’s utilities by 2020.
Some U.S. cities have also set goals for increasing renewable energy ranging from Chicago’s 20 percent goal by 2010, to Portland, Oregon’s goal of obtaining 100 percent renewable energy by 2010.
Renewable energy made from waste
A company in Swindon has developed technology which it claims turns household rubbish into clean renewable energy. Advanced Plasma Power (APP) said its small-scale plant in Swindon sends less than 1% of waste back to landfill. The process uses a beam of electrified gas at temperatures approaching 10,000C to destroy waste turning it into a flammable gas generating electricity. It hopes to create jobs around the new technology developed in Swindon. 'Electricity generated' Andrew Hamilton, of APP, said: "We see great potential to develop and exploit the technology for the benefit of not only us but we hope it will create substantial jobs in the area." Dr Tim Johnson, of APP, said: "The reality is, that if waste is not turned into a fuel like this then it would have to go to landfill, so we're diverting material from landfill to make fuel." The process is called "plasma gasification" - all recyclable materials such as glass and metals are removed and the remaining waste is then transformed into a hydrogen-rich gas. When the gas is then burned in the reactor electricity is generated. APP claims that a full-scale plant could process 50,000 tonnes of waste annually.
A company in Wiltshire has claimed it is one of the first in the UK to turn household rubbish into clean renewable energy using "gas plasma technology".
Storage Boosts the Power of Renewable Energy
how to integrate large amounts of renewable energy into the grid was the topic at the recently held Electricity Storage Association's Annual Meeting in California. At the meeting, leading companies, manufacturers, utilities and policy developers gathered under the motto "Electricity Storage: Predictable Power in a Cleantech World."
During the conference experts showed how energy storage can play a variety of roles in firming up renewables at different time scales, i.e. from moment to moment, daily, weekly and seasonally. The presentations showed how storage options are essential for expanding renewable energy sources, stabilizing the grid, ensuring a continuity of supply, increasing energy autonomy and mediating against intermittent power production.
As storage technology advances, decision makers are starting to create a more favorable policy environment for innovators. For example, the U.S. Energy Storage Technology Advancement Act of 2007 recognizes the crucial roles that storage can play.
"This bill is the first official recognition of the importance of energy storage by Congress," said Imre Gyuk, Manager of Energy Storage Systems Research with the Department of Energy. "It is only an authorization bill and thus carries no appropriated funding, but it is a wonderful platform for future requests for storage research, demonstrations and development."
The act establishes an Advisory Committee (the Energy Storage Advisory Council), and authorizes funds for a basic and an applied research program of US $50 million and $80 million, respectively, for each fiscal year from 2009 to 2014. It also provides US $100 million each year for up to four energy storage research centers; US $30 million a year for energy storage demonstration projects and vehicle energy storage demonstration; and US $5 million a year for 10 years for secondary applications of electric drive vehicles.
Reaction to the act has been positive and the storage industry is beginning to take off.
"Grid-scale storage is here now," said Ed Cazalet of MegaWatt Storage Farms. "Storage should be deployed now at the gigawatt (GW) scale...where capacity, ancillary services and energy time-shifting are clearly needed."
Storage projects can be sourced close to loads, on the grid or at the generating facility. In his presentation, Cazalet emphasized that the demand-pull from large-scale commercial deployment will encourage manufacturing investment, lower costs through volume production (economies of scale) and lead to the commercialization of advanced technologies.
Solar Energy Facts
Our sun is a huge energy generator that provides us with a tremendous quantity of power that mostly goes unused. Solar panels can convert the energy from the sun's rays directly into useable electrical energy. Although the actual method of converting solar radiation into electricity involves a complicated formula that requires an in depth knowledge of physics to understand, just knowing that the solar energy our planet receives can be changed into electricity should be sufficient knowledge to meet most of our needs.
Something that keeps a lot of people from deciding to take the plunge into solar energy is the mistaken idea that solar energy is in some manner a lower quality energy than electricity produced from fossil fuels. In actuality, solar energy's emissions free conversion to electricity makes it an even more beneficial energy source as far as the environment is concerned.
Do you know which country utilizes solar energy to the highest degree? Despite its Northern location far from the equator and its comparatively small population, Germany presently employs more solar energy than any other country. This should dispel any of the misconceptions about solar energy not being a credible energy solution in northern climates.
GLOBAL WARMING AWARENESS
Global Warming Skeptics - Skeptics of global warming think that global warming is not an ecological trouble.
Global Warming Facts - 8 Facts about Global Warming
Causes of Global Warming - The Green house gases are the main culprits of the global warming. The green house gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are playing hazards in the present times.
Green House Gasses are the ingredients of the atmosphere that add to the greenhouse effect.
Al Gore Global Warming Initiative - Gore has written a book that archives his advice that Earth is dashing toward an immensely warmer future.
Global warming is caused by green house gases, which trap in the sun’s infrared rays in the earth’s atmosphere, which in turn heat up the earth’s atmosphere. These green house effect warming is called as global warming. The effects of green house effect are visible more prominently in the recent years, with number of natural calamities on the rise in the whole world.
The global warming has happened in the past few years and is evident from the rise in mean temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. The main causes for the global warming are attributed to release of green house gases by human activities. The main gases contributing to green house effect are carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide. The largest producers of these gases are the thermal power plants, which burn the fossil fuels and produce these gases in large quantities. The second biggest sources of these green house gases are the road vehicles and industries.
The global warming has led to increase in mean earth surface temperature and thus melting of polar ice. There are frequent melt down of glaciers that result in floods and other natural calamities. The melting of ice at the poles had led the mean sea level. And further increase in temperature may further melt the ice and lead to further increase in mean sea level, which will engulf low lying countries.
The effect of global warming is very evident on the animal kingdom also. Some animals have become extinct due to loss of their natural habitat or their inability to evolve to the rapid changes in the climate. Also there is a change in their life style because of the changes in the seasons. The migrating birds have changed their time of travel and also their place of migration.
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