renewable energy
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Umbra on biodiesel vs. straight veggie oil
Dear Umbra, I have the opportunity to convert a 1979 non-turbo Mercedes into a non-diesel. The question I have is: to which should I switch, biodiesel or vegetable oil? I can’t seem to find out which one is best, just that these two are better than any petroleum-based fuels, which we already know (thanks for […]
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Rob Elam, biodiesel buff, answers questions
Rob Elam. What work do you do? I’m a cofounder of Propel Fuels, a biodiesel services and distribution firm. Biodiesel is a vegetable-oil based fuel for diesel engines. Using it significantly reduces greenhouse-gas and particulate-matter emissions. What does your organization do? Our mission is simple: fill tanks with biodiesel. We’re approaching this in three ways: […]
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Germany says auf Wiedersehen to nuclear power, guten Tag to renewables
For a people as addicted to order as the Germans, this country is floundering in uncertainty. The economy has sputtered to a post-World War II record 5 million unemployed. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s exhausted left-of-center coalition is close to coughing up the fall elections to conservatives. And soccer fans aren’t even sure if their team can […]
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Umbra on micro-wind
Dear Umbra, Are there any worthwhile resources or models that would enable me to generate my own electricity in a cost-effective way, using wind power? This is on a one-household basis. Matt PinesToronto, Canada Dearest Matt, In jargon-land, you are interested in micro-wind. Little did you know! Because you are a blessed Canadian, you have […]
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Umbra on wind farms … again
Dear Umbra, In your response about opposition to wind farms, you neglected in your enthusiasm to say how much electricity from wind would actually be used and what effect, if any, the farms would have on our overall energy use. Can you cite an example of actual reduction of fossil- and nuclear-fuel use brought about […]
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Matt Petersen, CEO of Global Green USA, answers questions
Matt Petersen. What’s your job title? President and CEO of Global Green USA, the U.S. affiliate of Green Cross International. What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute “mission accomplished”? When founding Green Cross International, Mikhail Gorbachev presented a challenge: We must foster a value shift that reconnects humankind to the […]
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Kenneth Deffeyes’ Beyond Oil forecasts a fast-approaching petroleum peak
Mark your calendar: annual world production of crude oil will reach its peak this coming Thanksgiving, Nov. 24. At least, that's the tongue-half-in-cheek prediction of Kenneth Deffeyes, who starts his latest book by suggesting that readers stop and give thanks for a century of plentiful supplies.
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Mega-mall in upstate New York could give birth to a clean-energy awakening
Could a mall mogul’s dream project give a big boost to renewables? Image: DestiNY USA. As the Senate deliberates over the Bush-backed energy bill and enviros send out another round of distress signals over America’s obdurate fossil-fuel dependency, who would believe that the next big thing in renewable energy is being driven by a tenacious […]
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New Apollo Energy Act contrasts sharply with “Jurassic” GOP energy bill
On April 21, Congress stepped back in geologic time when the House of Representatives passed an energy policy of the dinosaurs, by the dinosaurs, and for the dinosaurs. This energy bill is truly a “Jurassic” piece of legislation that relies on a limited energy source derived from creatures and plants that died millions of years […]
