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Iceland's energy eden
Imagine a place where long hot showers are guilt free; where turning up the heat every day has little consequence on your monthly bill, and the AC is completely unnecessary; where fresh water is so abundant you can pull off any lonely road to quench your thirst; where bread can be baked daily in a hole in the ground; and best of all, where a natural hot tub is never far away.
Imagine Iceland. This green utopia sits atop the world's most mammoth magma pool, at the turbulent boundary of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates--a place with its own sustainable energy source spewing incessantly from the ground. At the renowned Blue Lagoon spa, for example, situated next to a major energy plant, six million liters of geothermal seawater are renewed every 40 hours.
In fact, there is plenty of geothermal water just beneath the surface of this volcanic island nation. It heats and powers homes and businesses, schools and greenhouses, farms and factories. It seems to be bubbling up everywhere--in geysers, steamy pools called "hot pots" and milky rivulets winding through the lava landscape.
article continues... Imagine a place where long hot showers are guilt free; where turning up the heat every day has little consequence on your monthly bill... more -
Google to Invest in Geothermal
Google.org, the public-spirited division of Google.com, charged with addressing “climate change, poverty and emerging disease,” is using the backdrop of the National Clean Energy Summit here in Las Vegas to announce a new round of clean energy financing.
In a nutshell, the company is investing an arguably modest sum — a little over $10 million — in the development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems, or EGS. The technology differs from “traditional” geothermal in that rather than exploiting existing wells of earthbound steam and hot water, EGS drills deep — miles down — to access layers of heated granite that exist underfoot everywhere on the planet. Water can be circulated downward for heating, and then upward to drive turbines and generate electricity.
Andy deconstructed EGS in the wake of an Energy Department study last summer:
There are successful plants harvesting heat from deep hot rock in Australia, Europe and Japan, the report noted, adding that studies of the technology largely stopped in the United States after a brief burst of research during the oil crises of the 1970s.
The report’s 18 authors, from academia, government and industry, said that a public investment of less than $1 billion spread over 15 years would probably be enough to overcome technical hurdles and do initial large-scale deployment of the technology.
The generating capacity by 2050 could be 100 billion watts, about 10 percent of the country’s current generating capacity.
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More at link. Google.org, the public-spirited division of Google.com, charged with addressing “climate change, poverty and emerging disease,” is usi... more -
Google digs into wallet for geothermal energy | Green Tech - CNET News.com
Google is investing $10 million in "enhanced" geothermal systems--essentially technology for tapping underground heat--which it says is one of most promising forms of renewable energy.
Through its philanthropic arm Google.org, the Internet giant will invest in two geothermal technology start-up companies and give a university grant to study the potential of geothermal resources. Google is investing $10 million in "enhanced" geothermal systems--essentially technology for tapping underground heat--which... more -
Colorado creating US’s first fossil fuel-free community
The United States’ first net-zero community is coming soon to Arvada Colorado! Dubbed Geos, the development will employ a sterling roster of alternative energy strategies to cut its consumption fossil fuels and become completely self-sustainable. Lately we’ve seen a slew of similar communities springing up around the world, from Canada to India to Estonia and we couldn’t be happier, since it’s future-forward communities such as these that are paving the pathway to a brighter future.
Geos is an innovative net-zero community that will harness energy from the Earth and the Sun to completely eliminate its consumption of fossil fuels. The community will be situated on an area of 25 acres, bordered on the West by the Croke Canal, and on the South by Ralston Creek. It will comprise 250 planned homes ranging from 850 to 3500+ square feet, and four distinct neighborhoods: Entry mixed-Use, Beachfront mixed-use, Garden Community and Checkerboard Blocks. The community will be interlaced with a network of plazas, parks, and trails, and will connect a diverse community of people and lifestyles.
The community plans to employ both active and passive solar energy collection measures to meet daytime heating and electrical energy needs. Homes will be constructed to maximize solar gain and will feature checkerboard placements for complete access to sunlight, east-to-west floorplans to maximize exposure to the Sun, strategic placement of doors and windows, and scientifically engineered awnings. Rooftops will be outfitted with photovoltaic solar panels that will send their excess power to the grid for storage.
For days when the sun doesn’t shine, geothermal energy will be used to meet the energy needs of the community. An underground geothermal exchange system will utilize the Earth’s energy to provide hot water and heating during Winters, while helping to cool buildings during the Summer.
An energy monitoring system will inform Geos homeowners of their energy usage. With this excellent array of features Geos is set to create a remarkable precedent for living an entirely self-sustainable lifestyle.
Designed by Michael Tavel Architects and David Kahn Studio, the community has been conferred the 2006 Colorado AIA Citation Award, the 2006 Denver AIA Honor Award, and the 2006 Denver AIA Sustainability Award. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the fall of 2008, and first homes will be ready by the 2nd quarter of 2009. The United States’ first net-zero community is coming soon to Arvada Colorado! Dubbed Geos, the development will employ a sterling ros... more -
Al Gore's Challenge To Repower America: Remix
A momentous challenge awaits us as a species. Not unlike birthing this nation, discovering cures for diseases, and overcoming threats to the principles that guide humanity. This will be no small task, and it will be hard... but for me being hard is what makes it worth the journey to accomplish.
A carbon free energy policy in ten years with a national grid is not pie in the sky. Only to those without vision is it so. Only to those who put down ideas out of political spite is it so. Only to those who see it as a threat to their comfortable way of life is it so. Only to the same gatekeepers of the status quo is it so.
To those who do not see limits to what the spirit and imagination can accomplish... it is time.
Our Earth is crying out for help. We are making our own planet uninhabitable by our own actions. It is our moral duty to make amends for it, and by doing so we will not only save her but ourselves.
The future is here and it is us. We're all we've got, and if we do not heed the warnings now we do a great disservice to those coming after us and those here now.
Ten years is not a long time to secure a lifetime of sustainability.
If we can find money for wars, we can find money for peace.
The Arctic won't wait.
And neither can we.
http://www.wecansolveit.org A momentous challenge awaits us as a species. Not unlike birthing this nation, discovering cures for diseases, and overcoming threats ... more -
Gore Completes Renovations To Tenn.Home
That's showing them how it's done, Mr. Gore. /////By ERIK SCHELZIG ? 5 hours ago
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Al Gore, who was criticized for high electric bills at his Tennessee mansion, has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most environmentally friendly.
The former vice president has installed solar panels, a rainwater-collection system and geothermal heating. He also replaced all incandescent lights with compact fluorescent or light-emitting diode bulbs ? even on his Christmas tree.
"Short of tearing it down and staring anew, I don't know how it could have been rated any higher," said Kim Shinn of the U.S. Green Building Council, which gave the house its second-highest rating for sustainable design.
Gore's improvements cut the home's summer electrical consumption by 11 percent compared with a year ago, according to utility records reviewed by The Associated Press. Most Nashville homes used 20 percent to 30 percent more electricity during the same period because of a record heat wave.
end of excerpt That's showing them how it's done, Mr. Gore. /////By ERIK SCHELZIG ? 5 hours ago ... more -
Helium isotopes point to the best sources of geothermal energy
TEMPE, Ariz. With fossil fuel sources depleting and global warming on the rise, exploring alternative means of power for humans is a necessary reality. Now, looking to the sky, relying on the wind or harnessing water power are not the only remaining options. Deep within Earth is an untapped source of energy: geothermal energy.
It has been estimated that within the continental United States, there is a sizable resource of accessible geothermal energy about 3,000 times the current annual U.S. consumption.
Now, research by van Soest and B. Mack Kennedy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reveals that geothermal exploration doesnt have to be high-priced.
Pictured:Wairakei geothermal power station, New Zealand TEMPE, Ariz. With fossil fuel sources depleting and global warming on the rise, exploring alternative means of power for humans is a... more -
Methane-eating bacteria could halt warming
NEW Zealand scientists hope a newly discovered bacterium that eats methane could ultimately help counter a key global warming gas.
The bacterium was discovered living about 30cm below the ground in the hot, acidic environment at Hells Gate in Rotorua, a geothermal area.
Microbiologist Dr Matthew Stott, who was part of the team that made the discovery, said they had been puzzled as to why methane produced geothermally at Hells Gate did not reach the surface.
The answer was a tough methane-consuming bacterium tentatively named Methylokorus infernorum. NEW Zealand scientists hope a newly discovered bacterium that eats methane could ultimately help counter a key global warming gas. ... more -
SA Government Supports Nuclear Power
November 15, 2007: Despite all the bluster and all the rhetoric over nuclear power, the South Australian Rann Government is not willing to legislate to ban it... November 15, 2007: Despite all the bluster and all the rhetoric over nuclear power, the South Australian Rann Government is not willin... more
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Nuclear power resurgence?
Here are a few articles on the resurgence, or attempted resurgence on Nuclear power. Useful for knowing some of the pro-N-power arguments that are being used. Here are a few articles on the resurgence, or attempted resurgence on Nuclear power. Useful for knowing some of the pro-N-power argume... more
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NO NUKES
Do you think NUCLEAR POWER is the solution to GLOBAL WARMING?
--Currently the US has 103 Nuclear Reactors, providing almost 20% of our electricity.
--On September 11th, 2001, American Airlines flight 11 flew over Indian Point nuclear reactor, en route to the World Trade Center.
--20 million people could have been contaminated with deadly radiation and thousands of square miles lost forever.
--MIT concluded that a minimum of 1,500 new reactors would be needed globally to offset coal carbon emissions.
--"The next Chernobyl may be Chernobyl itself"
--Even now, Chernobyl's damaged nuclear reactor is leaking lethal doses of radiation,
--------------and there is no safe way to dispose of nuclear waste.
Now, consider that a 100 square mile solar farm could power the entire United States.
And then........
THINK AGAIN ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER! Do you think NUCLEAR POWER is the solution to GLOBAL WARMING? ... more -
NUCLEAR - IT'S JUST AN ILLUSION
A short narrative about the falsehood that nuclear is a solution to climate change set to the musical backdrop of "Rainbow Connection"
by Scott Alderson
http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/ScottAlderson/videos... A short narrative about the falsehood that nuclear is a solution to climate change set to the musical backdrop of "Rainbow Connec... more -
Geothermal
MIT issused a report on the Geothermal Potential of the United in the early part of 2007.
It states that the western United States has enought geothermal energy to met the U.S. energy needs 2,000 times over.
It is clean, with Zero emissions, and provides power 24/7 without interuption, unlike wind and solar.
Little is metioned about geothermal. It is usually mentioned following the words wind and solar, however, geothermal already provides twice the energy of wind and solar combined.
Other countries are ahead of the U.S. in research and production of Geothermal Electrical Production Plants. ie. Iceland, Italy, Japan, Phillipines, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico.
Within a few days, a new company, U.S. Geothermal Inc. will bring online their first Geothermal Power Plant at Raft River, Idaho. This Plant will be the latest and greatest in the technology.
It, and the MIT report deserve a National story. MIT issused a report on the Geothermal Potential of the United in the early part of 2007. ... more
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