Earth and Science News- Earth and Science Videos and News // Current

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The problem with most atheists' arguments

This article takes a look at why most of the arguments that are made by atheists have little to no effect on the mind of a theist.... more

retro_Syl
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One small step for me today, one giant leap for our Planet Earth, if others follow, use local sewing talent for clothing.

It is difficult finding a bath robe that is both organic and Made in the USA or Maine, as well as affordable. I found someone... more

CarolynGillis
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End the hunger scandal

For the first time in human history, the number of people across the world suffering from hunger exceeds 1 billion -- one sixth of... more

JanforGore
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Countdown to Copenhagen: "Civil disobedience has a role to play"

And in Copenhagen it will be essential to the progress we must see in order to avoid a global catastrophe.This is a well written... more

JanforGore
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Probe launched to track impact of warming on Earth's water

And yet, the impact of warming on Earth's water is conspicuously left out of important climate agreement texts. Water is the... more

JanforGore
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Ray Mears: We'll struggle to survive climate change

Ray Mears has inspired millions around the world with his television programmes about bushcraft. The self-taught, self-deprecating... more

xiola
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Hawaii's famed white sandy beaches are shrinking

Jenn Boneza remembers when the white sandy beach near the boat ramp in her hometown was wide enough for people to build sand... more

xiola
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Deforestation threatens Indonesia's Papua region

So what the Amazon claims it made up (which is still not enough considering how high deforestation there has been) in decreasing... more

JanforGore
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Will our views on gm food be 'modified?'

Never surrender. Gm 'food' will bring us closer to worldwide famine and the killing of biodiversity. The people must... more

JanforGore
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Terrafon plays the earth as an instrument

If the earth could make music, what kind of songs would it sing? This crazy contraption, called the Terrafon, actually lets us... more

Tyrannous
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Israelis bring green power to West Bank village

,7340,L-3787543,00.html Group of Israeli scientists, activists, put villagers of Susya on electric grid using energy saving... more

CarolynGillis
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Christopher Columbus points finger at US for obstructing climate deal in Barcelona

The last meeting before Copenhagen next month, and as with Bush we see the same obstructionism with the Obama administration? WTF?... more

JanforGore
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SolarReserve's 24/7 solar power plant

Here’s how it works: An array of mirrors called heliostats focuses sunlight on a receiver filled with molten salt; the stored heat can produce steam to run a solar power plant 24/7—the elusive Holy Grail of solar energy. The technology, cast off as a non-commercial curiosity in the age of $18-a-barrel oil, is now being revived and could make Rocketdyne and its parent company, United Technologies, a big player in green tech.

A Santa Monica startup called SolarReserve—founded by, yes, rocket scientists from Rocketdyne—has licensed the solar power tower technology, turning the Silicon Valley model on its head: Take a proven yet obscure technology developed years ago by an old-line tech company and marry it to the entrepreneurial culture of a startup.

The company was in the news last week when it filed an application with California regulators to build a 150-megawatt solar power plant in the Sonoran Desert east of Palm Springs. The Rice Solar Energy Project will be able to store seven hours of the sun’s heat so it can be released when it’s cloudy or at night to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine. Future versions of the solar farm will be able to store up to 16 hours of solar energy. Other solar power companies are using energy storage but SolarReserve’s technology is a potential game-changer (more on that in a bit).

SolarReserve has kept a low-profile. Not surprising for a company founded by executives who previously needed government security clearances to get into their offices. (I only found out about the Rice project when I noticed SolarReserve had filed an application with the California Energy Commission.)

The company first caught my attention when a day after Lehman Brothers collapsed last September—setting off the global economic meltdown—the startup issued one of its rare press releases, announcing it had raised $140 million from a blue-chip roster of big players, including Citigroup and Credit Suisse.

A few weeks later I flew to Los Angeles to meet SolarReserve president Terry Murphy and his team, headquartered somewhat incongruously around the corner from Geffen Records, Lionsgate, and other outposts of the entertainment-industrial complex.

The SolarReserve execs were affable and eager to discuss their technology but close-mouthed about the dozens of deals they said were in the works for Big Solar power plants to be built in the desert Southwest and overseas. (One tantalizing hint they dropped was the interest of an unnamed utility in a massive complex of 10 SolarReserve power towers that would generate 1,000 megawatts.)

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Promising.Here’s how it works: An array of mirrors called heliostats focuses sunlight on a receiver filled with molten salt; the... more