Google and Utility to Test Hybrids That Sell Back Power
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 18 — Google and Pacific Gas & Electric have unveiled their vision of a future in which cars and trucks are partly powered by the country’s electric grids, and vice versa.
The companies displayed on Monday six Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrid vehicles modified to run partly on electricity from the power grid, allowing the vehicles to go up to 75 miles on a gallon of gas, nearly double the number of miles of a regular hybrid. They also modified one vehicle to give electricity back to the power company.
The highly unusual test takes the hybrid, which is now familiar on American roads, a step further by using extra batteries to hold energy made and distributed by a power company. The technology is eagerly awaited by energy experts and environmentalists, but is not yet ready to go commercial because the additional batteries are not yet durable enough. -MORE-
Politics Forcing Detroit to Back New Fuel Rules By MICHELINE MAYNARD Published: June 20, 2007 Automakers are lobbying for a modest increase in mileage standards, hoping to silence calls for tougher targets.
Vatican Goes Solar - Auditorium In Vatican City To Get New Solar Panel Roof, CBS News, June 06, 2007
Some of the Holy See buildings will start using solar energy, reflecting Pope Benedict XVI's worry about squandering the Earth's resources, said a Vatican engineer who came up with the idea.
The roof of the Paul VI auditorium will be redone next year, with its cement panels replaced with photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity, engineer Pier Carlo Cuscianna said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
The 6,300-seat auditorium is used for the pontiff's general audiences on Wednesdays in winter and in bad weather during the rest of the year. Concerts in honor of pontiffs are also occasionally staged in the hall, which has a sweeping stage.
The cells will produce enough electricity to illuminate, heat or cool the hall, Cuscianna said.
Cheaper solar power heads mainstream, Reuters, May 22, 2007
Solar power should become a mainstream energy choice in three or four years as companies raise output of a key ingredient used in solar panels and as China emerges as a producer of them, according to a report by an environmental research group.
15 comments:
Smog-ridden LA outlines plan to reduce greenhouse gases http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5904278?
Democratic presidential candidate Richardson promotes energy plan.
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5896085?
Homes get help to go green - USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-04-18-green-families_N.htm?POE=click-refer
What is your carbon footprint - calculator. http://www.zerofootprintoffsets.com/calculator.aspx
A Nice Stiff Breeze, and a Nice Little Power Bill
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00811FA3A540C728CDDAD0894DF404482
You know the old adage, "if it sounds too good to be true..."
Selling Homeowners a Solar Dream
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/02/72752/
Excellent program about residential solar power on PBS NOVA. http://www.pbs.org/search/redir/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/house.html
Google and Utility to Test Hybrids That Sell Back Power
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 18 — Google and Pacific Gas & Electric have unveiled their vision of a future in which cars and trucks are partly powered by the country’s electric grids, and vice versa.
The companies displayed on Monday six Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrid vehicles modified to run partly on electricity from the power grid, allowing the vehicles to go up to 75 miles on a gallon of gas, nearly double the number of miles of a regular hybrid. They also modified one vehicle to give electricity back to the power company.
The highly unusual test takes the hybrid, which is now familiar on American roads, a step further by using extra batteries to hold energy made and distributed by a power company. The technology is eagerly awaited by energy experts and environmentalists, but is not yet ready to go commercial because the additional batteries are not yet durable enough. -MORE-
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/technology/19electric.html?ex=1339992000&en=0f5d1f75c2b6b150&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Politics Forcing Detroit to Back New Fuel Rules
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: June 20, 2007
Automakers are lobbying for a modest increase in mileage standards, hoping to silence calls for tougher targets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/automobiles/20auto.html?ex=1340078400&en=36c63b1e77a8831f&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
The Motley Fool, Dec 18, 2006
A Rising Sun?
Could NanoSolar be a disruptive technology? Time will tell.
http://www.nanosolar.com/cache/motfo.htm
"Going Green" is a locus of articles from CNN, Fortune & Money magazine.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/goinggreen/2007/index.html
Future Power -
Where will the world get its next energy fix?
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0508/feature1/index.html
Vatican Goes Solar - Auditorium In Vatican City To Get New Solar Panel Roof, CBS News, June 06, 2007
Some of the Holy See buildings will start using solar energy, reflecting Pope Benedict XVI's worry about squandering the Earth's resources, said a Vatican engineer who came up with the idea.
The roof of the Paul VI auditorium will be redone next year, with its cement panels replaced with photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity, engineer Pier Carlo Cuscianna said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
The 6,300-seat auditorium is used for the pontiff's general audiences on Wednesdays in winter and in bad weather during the rest of the year. Concerts in honor of pontiffs are also occasionally staged in the hall, which has a sweeping stage.
The cells will produce enough electricity to illuminate, heat or cool the hall, Cuscianna said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/06/tech/main2891251.shtml
Cheaper solar power heads mainstream, Reuters, May 22, 2007
Solar power should become a mainstream energy choice in three or four years as companies raise output of a key ingredient used in solar panels and as China emerges as a producer of them, according to a report by an environmental research group.
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN2241870420070522?sp=true
A bright way to cut your power bill.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/ABrightWayToCutYourPowerBill.aspx
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