25 Jan
2016
Kyocera starts work on 13 MW floating solar plant
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | JAPAN
Published by : Ecotechtube
Kyocera has begun construction on what it says is the world’s biggest floating solar PV plant. The 13.7 MW project is located in Japan and should be complete in 2018.Kyocera TCL Solar LLC has begun construction work on a 13.7 MW floating solar PV plant on the Yamakura Dam reservoir in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture. When complete, scheduled for 2018, it is expected to be the largest project of its kind in the world, says the Japanese company.According to reports…
25 Jan
2016
Grasses’ growing role for American cars
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED STATES
Published by : Care 2 Trade
In tomorrow’s world, it won’t be just the corn on the great American plains that is as high as an elephant’s eye. It will be the elephant grass as well.To deliver on US promises to reduce fossil fuel use, American motorists in future will drive on miscanthus − as elephant grass is also known – and prairie switchgrass.Researchers led by Evan DeLucia, professor of biology at the University of Illinois, report in a new journal, Nature Energy, that to…
24 Jan
2016
2016: The Year the Oil Era Enters Terminal Decline
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | SAUDI ARABIA
Published by : Care 2 Trade
2015 was a landmark year for climate action. Its many highlights were topped by a Paris agreement where 195 countries set themselves on a low-carbon path via economy-wide plans sure to be developed and strengthened every year. In the meantime, climate chaos continues to build: 2015 was the warmest year of the warmest decade since we started recording temperatures. 2016 is forecast to be even warmer. The number of climate refugees are swelling and everywhere…
23 Jan
2016
UAE funds renewable energy projects worth $46m in developing countries
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Published by : Ecotechtube
Four projects to result in nearly 12MW of new energy capacityThe UAE’s Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has announced $46 million in concessional loans for four renewable energy projects in Africa and the Caribbean. The loans, offered in conjunction with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), are the third cycle of funds provided by the ADFD to bolster sustainable energy projects in the developing world.“The UAE is extremely proud to…
23 Jan
2016
New approaches to sustainable palm oil
Resource Recovery & Environment Management | MALAYSIA
Published by : Care 2 Trade
Palm oil is widely recognised as one of the world’s most important crops. We produce a valuable natural product; one that is subject to growing global demand and which benefits from yields per hectare that outperform any of our competitors, meaning that significantly less land is required to deliver the same yields as other three major oil producing crops: soya, rapeseed and sunflower.As an industry we are well suited to all types of production, whether commercial…
22 Jan
2016
Important aspects of a building: health & wellbeing | WELL Building Institute | Paul Scialla
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | SINGAPORE
Published by : www.AsiaGreenBuildings.com
Paul Scialla shares his insights about the "WELL" building and the growth of adopting WELL building standards across the Asian region. The next green wave sweeping the building sector is wellness for the building tenants. Marrying health and wellness with design, the WELL building standards is just starting to take off in Asia. In terms of features, it is quite a bit of an alignment with green buildings, except WELL focuses more on the people instead of the…
22 Jan
2016
Japan: 10 GW of solar in 2015, 85 GW of renewables approved since 2012
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | JAPAN
Published by : Ecotechtube
Out of "at least" 51 GW of solar PV installed globally in 2015, Japan saw around 10 GW, according to calculations from the PV Market Alliance (PVMA). Since the introduction of its generous FIT in 2012, the country has approved 85.55 GW of renewable energy projects, according to reports. Solar is leading the charge.According to PVMA, global installed solar PV capacity reached "at least" 51 GW in 2015, under the 57 GW calculated by Bloomberg New Energy Finance…
22 Jan
2016
Far more microplastics floating in oceans than thought
Resource Recovery & Environment Management | UNITED KINGDOM
Published by : Care 2 Trade
Kara Lavender Law, Sea Education Association and Erik van Sebille, Imperial College LondonPlastic pollution in the ocean frequently appears as seabird guts filled with cigarette lighters and bottle caps, marine mammals entangled in fishing gear and drifting plastic bags mimicking a gelatinous meal. Last year, a study estimated that around eight million metric tons of our plastic waste enter the oceans from land each year.But where this plastic ends up and…
21 Jan
2016
Cypher CO2ling Plant converts cooling towers into vibrant green communities
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
Published by : Ecotechtube
Instead of generating electricity, power plants could be used as homes, offices and even parks. This conceptual design, named Cypher CO2ling Plant, proposes a future wherein habitable spaces are embedded into the walls of cooling tower structures and use their waste heat to regulate temperatures during winter months. The proximity of the residential units to the actual source of energy would also eliminate various inefficiencies of transferring electricity…
21 Jan
2016
Taiwan reaches 728 MW of installed solar
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | TAIWAN, ROC
Published by : Ecotechtube
Taiwanese authorities have released installation data for the island nation, as well as reiterating its target to install 8.7 GW by 2030.Last Friday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced that the nation has reached 728 MW of installed solar PV, as of October 2015. The nation’s Southern Region hosts the bulk of this, with 387 MW installed.The majority of Taiwan's installed PV is in its Southern Region | Photo from WikicommonsMOEA credits the…
21 Jan
2016
What has Bauxite done to Malaysia?
Resource Recovery & Environment Management | MALAYSIA
Published by : Care 2 Trade
The Malaysian state of Pahang has been seeing its forests and farms leveled, its earth dug up, its waters polluted with vast amounts of mercury and arsenic, and its people suffer increasing cancer risks for over a year now. The reason? Bauxite mining. The pace? Frantic. The government? Unwilling to forfeit profits for public safety and environmental health. Unwilling, that is, until forced by environmental disaster.Now that 15km of coastline has been stained…
20 Jan
2016
MIT’s new warm incandescent light bulb is nearly 3x more efficient than LEDs
Eco Products & Services | UNITED STATES
Published by : Ecotechtube
As engineers across the lighting industry have worked to develop more energy efficient light bulbs, many thought incandescent bulbs would go extinct. However, a team of researchers at MIT decided not to leave them in the dust. Instead, they tweaked the design and came up with an incandescent light bulb that is several times more energy efficient than LEDs and fluorescent bulbs. The new bulb is also vastly better at duplicating natural daylight than modern…
20 Jan
2016
Extinction is Forever
Others | UNITED STATES
Published by : Care 2 Trade
What do the Pyrenean ibex, St. Helena olive, Baiji dolphin, Liverpool pigeon, Eastern cougar, West African black rhinoceros, Formosan clouded leopard, Chinese Paddlefish, the Golden Toad and the Rockland grass skipper butterfly all have in common but which is different from the Dodo?The answer is that these species all became extinct since the year 2000, that is, in the last fifteen years. The Dodo became extinct in 1662.The one thing that all of these species…
19 Jan
2016
This magnetic wand cleans up oil spills in a snap
Resource Recovery & Environment Management | UNITED STATES
Published by : Ecotechtube
In the last 40 years or so there have been 13 major oil spills worldwide. Despite our dependence on oil, we have not yet come up with an effective way of cleaning up after our devastating messes. A physicist at Fermilab, however, has come up with an environmentally-friendly way to sop up oil spills without the use of chemicals, and with the ability to reuse the collected oil. The surprisingly simple answer is to use magnets.Video by MotherboardArden Warner…
19 Jan
2016
Asia's low-cost path to 100% renewable power in 15 years
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Published by : Care 2 Trade
Renewable energy could supply Russia and Central Asian countries with 100% of their electricity needs by 2030, writes Paul Brown - and cut costs significantly compared to nuclear power and CO2-abated fossil fuels. We think that this is the first-ever 100% renewable energy system modelling for Russia and Central Asia. It demonstrates that the region can become one of the most energy-competitive regions in the world. A new study says that Russia and the countries…
18 Jan
2016
Nuclear radiation, Kierkegaard, and the philosophy of denial
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED STATES
Published by : Care 2 Trade
As the evidence of the extreme harm to health inflicted by nuclear radiation mounts, the denialists are resorting to ever greater extremes, writes Chris Busby. On the one hand, advancing the absurd claim that ionising radition is not merely harmless, but health-enhancing. On the other, closing down the experiment that would have provided the strongest evidence yet. The torture imposed on logic, reason and observational data by the advocates of nuclear power…
18 Jan
2016
110-year-old electric car sells for more than a Tesla
Green Transportation & Logistics | UNITED STATES
Published by : Ecotechtube
Electric cars aren't new. A very old and rare Woods Queen Victoria Brougham just sold for a pretty penny at auction.You have about $100,000. You want to buy an electric car. You could purchase a Tesla Model S with smart air suspension, high-def backup camera, hands-free phone system and luxurious leather seats. Or you could buy a 1905 Woods electric Queen Victoria Brougham with none of those features except the leather seats.Somebody made that decision over…
17 Jan
2016
THIS GUY INVENTED A WATER BOTTLE THAT BECOMES A PERFECTLY FOLDED ROOF TILE
Eco Products & Services | COSTA RICA
Published by : Ecotechtube
Most PET water bottles — the disposable kind you grab from the gas station’s fridge — end up in landfills, though they’re really recyclable. It’s one reason cities such as Chicago started taxing water bottles. And while such taxes do curb the sales, they don’t eliminate them all together.In order to do something useful with all those plastic bottles, entrepreneur Donald Thomson started ‘A’Gua water bottles in Costa Rica. Though he never used to drink from…
16 Jan
2016
Schneider Electric Promising Battery At Lower Cost Than Tesla
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | FRANCE
Published by : Ecotechtube
2015 was a very big year for battery storage in the electricity industry. Numerous storage projects were announced, many start-ups expanded their reach, and Tesla unveiled its PowerWall to much pomp and circumstance.Almost lost in the noise were the statements of some very large and established companies that they were also moving into the storage space. Sharp and Johnson Controls announced their storage ambitions early in the fourth quarter of 2015, and with…
15 Jan
2016
The LA Gas Leak Is Scarier Than We Thought
Resource Recovery & Environment Management | UNITED STATES
Published by : Care 2 Trade
Since a gas leak erupted outside LA on October 23rd, over 83,000 metric tons of methane have escaped to the atmosphere, prompting public officials to evacuate the neighboring community of Porter Ranch. But as a disturbing new analysis shows, a much broader swath of LA is now drowning in methane.The Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) is a Cambridge-based nonprofit that’s been shedding light on leaky natural gas infrastructure for years. Last week, HEET sent…