alternative energy

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Coal Museum Goes Solar to Save on Energy Costs

Kentucky facility raises eyebrows with decision

(Newser) - Don't look to the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum to bring coal back. The museum is installing solar panels on its roof, part of a project aimed at lowering the energy costs of one of the city's largest electric customers, the AP reports. It's also a symbol of...

Meet the Man Who Dresses in Fancy Suits but Wades in Waste
What This Guy Wants to Do With
Waste Is a Game Changer
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 19, 2017 11:33 AM CST

What This Guy Wants to Do With Waste Is a Game Changer

Charles Vigliotti wants to turn discarded food into alternative energy on a huge scale

(Newser) - Elizabeth Royte recently headed out to a remote part of Yaphank, Long Island, to talk to a man she calls the "compost king of New York." His name is Charles Vigliotti, and Royte profiles him in the New York Times , explaining how the 63-year-old plans, through his American...

Obama Puts New Obstacle in Coal Industry's Way

President to announce stop to new coal-mining leases on federal land

(Newser) - During his SOTU address Tuesday, President Obama forewarned he'd "push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources." Today, part of that blueprint is set to become more clear, with an expected announcement by the president to stop all new coal-mining leases on public...

Explosive Methane Lake Becoming a Power Source

US company building plant that could almost double Rwanda's energy supply

(Newser) - A US company and the Rwandan government think they can turn an infamous lake from a time bomb into a power battery. Lake Kivu is loaded with a mix of methane and carbon dioxide that, if disturbed, could cause a disastrous explosion or "lake overturn," sending waves of...

In S. Korea, Roads Power Electric Buses

City electrifies its roads to power public vehicles

(Newser) - The future is now—in the South Korean city of Gumi, anyway, which just enabled 15 miles of road to recharge electric cars as they drive along, Business Insider reports. Cables about a foot underground generate a 20-kHz electromagnetic field, which is absorbed by a coil in the bottom of...

15-Year-Old Girl Invents Body-Heat Powered Flashlight

Wins her a place in the Google Science Fair

(Newser) - Canadian teen Ann Makosinski is one of just 15 students in the world selected as a finalist in the Google Science Fair, thanks to her energy-saving invention: A hollow flashlight powered entirely by body-heat from your hand. The flashlight utilizes Peltier tiles, which generate electricity when heated on one side...

Obama to Unveil $2B Energy Research Plan

He'd shift revenue from oil and gas leases to pay for it

(Newser) - President Obama wants to get the country off of fossil fuels—using the oil companies' own money. President Obama will today unveil a plan to pump $2 billion into alternative energy research over the next decade, diverting the money from federal oil and gas leases, the New York Times reports....

Latest Global Warming Culprit: Wind Farms

Study finds air around wind farms 1.4 degrees warmer

(Newser) - From the damned-if-you-do department: A new study has found that wind farms, those environmentally friendly sources of clean, renewable energy, could be contributing to global warming, reports the Telegraph . The problem is that the giant propellers cause the air to circulate more. That means that during the night warmer air...

Energy Companies Warming Up to Burning Ice

There could be enough methane hydrate deep undersea for 100 years

(Newser) - Could flammable ice be the next big energy boom? The ice in this case is not regular H2O, of course, but methane hydrate, a frozen form of methane gas and water that occurs naturally in undersea ice. Experts think there could be more than 43,000 trillion cubic feet of...

Obama Slams ... Rutherford B. Hayes

He dissed the telephone, thought 'backward'

(Newser) - President Obama has never shied away from attacking his Republican predecessors, but this time he's really going back a ways. Obama roasted our 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes, for his "backward" thinking, Politico reports. "President Rutherford B. Hayes reportedly said about the telephone: 'It’s a...

Geothermal Hope: Pump Water Into Volcano, Turn It Into Power

$43M project planned in central Oregon

(Newser) - Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in central Oregon this summer to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise. They hope the...

Apple Files Patent for Hydrogen-Powered Phones

They say it could make portable devices lighter, thinner

(Newser) - Apple is working on a new way to power its fleet of consumer electronics: Hydrogen fuel cells. Apple has applied for two patents that cover using the fuel cells on portable electronics like iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, which it boasts could make those products smaller, lighter, and able to run...

Alaska Airlines Begins Biofuel Flights

But it's costing a fortune

(Newser) - Alaska Airlines’ first biofuel-powered flights took off yesterday, kicking off an expensive trial program designed to improve the airline’s environmental footprint. Passengers on the first two flights—which were to DC and Portland, respectively—received a “Welcome to Greener Skies” flier explaining the program, the Anchorage Daily News...

Solyndra Almost Scored Navy Deal

Pentagon pulled out ahead of bankruptcy filing

(Newser) - Solar-energy firm Solyndra was one of three companies picked for a $1 million Navy pilot program for new technologies—but the Navy cut ties to the firm the day before Solyndra declared bankruptcy. A top investor in Solyndra, RockPort Capital, also sits on the Pentagon's emerging technology panel. When...

Bill Clinton's 14 Ways to Create Jobs

Clinton prepares for Global Initiative meeting—on fixing America

(Newser) - If unemployment seems like an insurmountable problem, never fear: Bill Clinton is here, and he has solutions—14 of them, which he’ll bring next week to the first US-focused meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. Among the highlights of his jobs blueprint, as shared with Newsweek :
  • Make it easier
...

Scientists Building 'Star' on Earth

Project could solve planet's energy problems

(Newser) - A series of key experiments over the past few weeks have brought scientists closer to the holy grail of energy production—a working fusion reactor, or, in layman’s terms “a miniature star on Earth.” The National Ignition Facility in Livermore, Calif., thinks it can deliver on that...

Wind Farms Scaring Off Porpoises

'Bubble curtains' could be the solution

(Newser) - Renewable energy from wind farms comes at the cost of scaring off porpoises, according to a German study of the country's first offshore wind farm. The marine mammals—who depend on their acute hearing for communication, orientation, and finding food—fled the area 30 miles off the German coast while...

Energy Is Today's Railroad: It Will Change Everything
Energy Is Today's Railroad:
It Will Change Everything
David Brooks
Apr 30, 2010 9:16 AM CDT

Energy Is Today's Railroad: It Will Change Everything

Pass the energy bill as a first step

(Newser) - Unleash the "energy revolution," writes David Brooks today, making his pitch for the Kerry-Lieberman-Graham bill. It's imperfect, but an essential start. "Energy innovation is the railroad legislation of today," he argues, and if the US wants to remain the world's "pre-eminent nation," it needs...

MIT Creates Viruses That Mimic Photosynthesis

Innovation could create unlimited solar power

(Newser) - Scientists building complex, designer viruses in the lab may sound sort of terrifying, but what if those viruses could potentially solve the world’s energy problems? A group of researchers at MIT has fabricated an artificial virus that can be fabricated into wire-like chains that can transport solar power and...

Big Questions Remain Over 'Bloom Box' Servers

Company has ambitious goals but skimpy details

(Newser) - Bloom Energy's plans to put a zero-emission energy server into mass production is an "exciting development," writes David Coursey, but the company has loads of work to do before the so-called Bloom Box becomes the game-changer the hype suggests. The company is promising miniature $3,000 servers will...

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