Sharing the Ascension Experience
If it lives up to its billing, it will help accelerate the big green future. Companies and homeowners could pull the plug on their local utility by banking electricity from solar arrays and wind farms for use when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. A 250-kilowatt battery system installed in … Read more
In Singapore, the challenge of feeding a growing population is pushing the concept of urban farming to new heights. A super-efficient vertical farming system is producing greens for 5 million residents. “Can we supply enough food for everyone on the planet?” is a question plaguing leaders around the world. In Singapore SkyGreen offers one example … Read more
A new means of generating electricity, one that utilizes bacteria to harness the energy of evaporating water, has been created by researchers from the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. The method could potentially be used to capture the energy released by ponds, harbors, and other bodies of water when the Sun … Read more
The company that commissioned the world’s first 800 kilovolt UHVDC systems, the longest overhead HVDC link to go into commercial operation, and the world’s longest underwater and underground HVDC links, is now writing the next chapter in the evolution of this technology. ABB has successfully designed and developed a hybrid DC breaker after years of … Read more
An affordable and effective alternative to glass greenhouses is the walipini (an Aymara Indian word for a “place of warmth”). Also known as an underground or pit greenhouse, it was first developed over 20 years ago for the cold mountainous regions of South America, this method allows growers to maintain a productive garden year-round, even in … Read more
“The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head,” and so it is today for many of his followers. Despite all the warnings about the snares laid by moneylenders, despite the fact that gage mort is literally translated as a pledge to … Read more
The angle or pitch of your roof actually has less impact on solar panel performance than the direction it faces. In general, optimal production occurs when solar panels face south at a tilt equal to 30°. But what happens if your roof is flat? Lowering the tilt all the way down to 5° only decreases … Read more
The aluminum-clad wood house is 8.2 feet wide by 9.8 feet long by 11.5 feet high. It features two rainwater tanks attached to a boiler, a composting toilet, triple-glazed windows and insulated walls that can withstand temperatures from minus 10 degrees to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Electricity comes from three rechargeable batteries that plug into an … Read more
Science tells us that every square meter of the earth’s surface, when exposed to direct sunlight, receives about 1000 watts (1 kilowatt) of energy from the sun’s light. Depending on the angle of sunlight, which changes with the time of day, and the geographical location, the power of the sun’s light will be somewhat more … Read more
An experimental apartment building in Hamburg, Germany is harnessing the power of the sun to generate power, but not in the way you expect. Photovoltaic cells are totally yesterdays news — the BIQ building gathers power using a bioreactor façade packed full of microalgae. Large clear panels on the front of the building are where … Read more