Here’s an infographic (see below) from the Union of Concerned Scientists on electric transportation, whose point is that, where only 1% of the cars on roads currently are EVs, 42% “could be” – meaning that their drivers meet all the criteria: dedicated parking, limited range, no towing, no need to transport full soccer teams, etc. The piece
Water is perhaps the most essential part of any agricultural setup – whether it’s rearing cattle or producing crops, it’s what makes the wheels go round and keeps both individual businesses as well as the agricultural industry as a whole going.
It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that agriculture accounts for 70% of fresh
For the first time, maps and summaries of historical and projected temperature and precipitation changes for the 21st century for the continental U.S. are accessible at a county-by-county level on a website developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with the College of Earth, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State
The California Public Utilities Commission prepares quarterly reports on the status of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. The latest was released in November. You can read the whole thing here (pdf).
Some of the highlights include:
Just in time for the gift-giving season, the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon.com continues to promote it’s Frustration-Free Packaging initiative. This initiative is a five-year effort to not only make products easier to open, but to create sustainable and recyclable packaging.
In a 2008 letter written to customers, Amazon
Stem is a Millbrae, California, startup that sells and leases its battery energy storage system, which is marketed as a way to reduce consumers’ energy bills. Specifically, the company makes a lithium-ion battery connected to analytics software that determines the best times to draw energy from the battery, thereby reducing electricity demand
Ford will debut a stop-start option on all of its highest volume vehicles. That’s the word from the unveiling of the new Ford Edge concept (see picture) at the 2013 LA Auto Show last month. Stop-start systems automatically shut off a car’s engine at stoplights or in other situations where the vehicle would otherwise be idling.
Boasting a savings of 12% whole house energy consumption savings it is tempting to immediately order new highly insulated windows for the whole house. But before you do, consider the payback. Sure, you will be snug as a bug inside the house but according to the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), it
Facebook’s newest data center in Altoona, Iowa, will run off of 100 percent wind energy, as tracked through renewable energy credits, when it starts serving the social network’s online traffic in early 2015, according to a company news release. Facebook plans to purchase electricity for the facility from a nearby wind farm in Wellsburg, Iowa.
According to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), soft costs accounted for 63.5% of total costs of residential solar installations, 56.7% for small commercial systems ( < 250kW) and 52% for large commercial systems ( ≥ 250kW) in 2012. The report, entitled, Benchmarking Non-Hardware
Transport for London (TfL) has agreed on a new energy efficient lighting program to help reduce the cost of lighting the TfL Road Network (TLRN). It is one of the largest ‘invest to save’ strategic road lighting projects ever undertaken in the UK with the hopes of lowering operating costs and improving reliability.
Mandatory green building laws are spreading internationally from the Philippines to India.
With more than 11 billion square feet across 175,000 projects being LEED certified worldwide, it should not be surprising that most of those new green building laws are LEED centric. At year end 2012, more than 40% of all square