Renewable Energy on EARTH Magazine

Can renewable energy and desalination tackle two problems at once?

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 13:31:03 -0400

Credit: ©Shutterstock.com/Pati Photo.

Over the past four years, a record-setting drought has impacted Texas, the second-most populous state in the U.S. The drought started in October 2010, and 2011 was the driest year on record for Texas, with an average of less than 40 centimeters of rain falling across the state. Today, more than 60 percent of the state is still experiencing some degree of drought, leaving reservoirs less than two-thirds full and impacting more than 15 million people. Stories of dry riverbeds and cities using their wastewater as a source for drinking water fill the headlines. Meanwhile, the state has continued to grow faster than all but two other parts of the U.S. (North Dakota and the District of Columbia), and electric grid operators worry about meeting demand.

Calculating America's energy landscape

Tue, 02 Sep 2014 10:04:25 -0400

Large concentrated solar power plants, like this one in the Mojave Desert, have big a footprint on landscapes. Credit: Alan Radecki.

Studying the landscape-scale impact of energy development, especially renewable energies, requires working at the interface where policy, business, activism, scientific research and stakeholders overlap. But determining broad-scale impacts comes down to having solid data — on key species, slope aspect, transmission distance and more — to understand and predict what happens on energy landscapes. Collecting, analyzing and sharing such data was the focus of several symposia at last summer’s North America Congress for Conservation Biology meeting in Montana.

Think differently: renewable hydrogen generation

Wed, 04 Sep 2013 12:01:17 -0400

Could hydrogen, used to fuel cars like Mazda's RX-8, be generated using renewable energy sources? Copyright Mazda North American Operations

Most of the existing solutions for renewable energy storage represent riffs on our current energy infrastructure. They are either inherent to existing fuel sources (concentrated solar power), or linked directly to the grid (flywheels, pumped storage and compressed air energy storage). But what if the future looks radically different from today, as history has often shown it can? What if the future of energy is based on hydrogen produced by renewable energy sources?

Energy storage brings a renewable energy future one step closer

Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:28:57 -0400

The 20-megawatt Gemasolar concentrated solar power plant in Spain uses a "power tower" and is capable of storing 15 hours of solar power. Copyright Markel Redondo, Greenpeace

Renewable energy sources promise to address many of the energy challenges facing society: They derive power from inexhaustible supplies of sunlight and wind and have the capability to meet a substantial portion of global electricity demands without adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. However, renewable power supplies must first overcome one inherent drawback: variability. Humans can’t control when the sun shines or how much the wind blows — nor can society adjust its daily rhythms to use energy only when nature provides it — and that’s a fundamental problem for utilities seeking to incorporate renewable power sources into the existing energy infrastructure.

Policy in the field: What's next for tax policies and the American clean energy economy?

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:07:34 -0400

It takes green to be green. Renewable energy technology requires dedicated investments, whether public or private, to succeed. The costs are steep, but many consider the cause worthwhile. After all, politicians on both sides tout having diverse array of energy resources as important for national and economic security. Nonetheless, in this tight economic climate, very little is safe. Now, Congress is starting to look at federal tax policies as they affect renewable energy development.

Crystal Ball EARTH: Energy: A fool's look into the future

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

Are hydrogen fuels, natural gas or biofuels the way of the future? BP, p.l.c.

Honda Civic built to run on natural gas, as shown at the 2009 Auto Show in Washington, D.C. IFCAR

Jon White, a doctoral student at Purdue University in Indiana, conducts a field test on a Sandia experimental wind turbine in Bushland, Texas. Mark Rumsey, Sandia, Department of Energy

In the 1985 classic “Back to the Future,” Doc Brown, the mad scientist played by Christopher Lloyd, queries his time-traveling visitor, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), in 1955 about the future of America with the simple question of who was president. The answer of Ronald Reagan appeared astounding and ridiculous, as his name was on a movie poster at the time.

Crystal Ball EARTH: Energy: Oil and gas around the world

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

BP's Jack Ryan drillship off the coast of Angola drilled more than 3,500 meters below the sea to find oil and gas. BP. p.l.c.

BP's Jim Cunningham rig, offshore Angola. BP, p.l.c.

Energy is a combined product of natural resources, human ingenuity and economy; it is also an engine for economic and social development. This is truer now than ever before because the global economy is more integrated and populations are growing, and with that, competition, challenges and prospects are also rising.

Congress lets bans on outer continental shelf drilling expire

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The cast-iron dome of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. U.S. government

In July, President Bush lifted the executive ban on outer continental shelf (OCS) drilling, putting pressure on Congress to follow suit.

GSA meeting: Hydrocarbons not going into the sunset just yet

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

HOUSTON – Energy — in particular biofuels (and developing sustainable feedstock for biofuels), oil and hydrocarbons — was a primary topic on Monday at the Geological Society of America meeting. And one particularly interesting presentation examined global fossil fuel resources and just how much oil is left.

Is there really a minerals crisis?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

China sent the high-tech industry and markets reeling last September when it blocked exports of raw rare earth minerals to Japan. In mid-October of that year, China imposed a similar ban on rare earth exports to the United States and Europe. The sudden severing of rare earths supply was a frightening prospect: Rare earths are a hot commodity in the modern world, because they are the key ingredients in a broad range of high-tech products, from smartphones to wind turbines to hybrid cars. Although China lifted the ban on exports of rare earths to the United States and Europe by late October, the ban on exports to Japan — although unofficial — remained in place for months.