Category — Renewable Energy

Scientists and Engineers at the National Ignition Facility in California have completed construction of the world’s largest laser system and will be using it to investigate nuclear fusion:

“With NIF, scientists will be able to evaluate key scientific assumptions in current computer models, obtain previously unavailable data on how materials behave at temperatures and pressures like those in the center of a star, and help validate NNSA’s supercomputer simulations by comparing code predictions against observations from laboratory experiments… It could also help scientists better understand the makeup of stars and giant planets both within and outside our solar system.”

Very cool stuff. A proper fusion study facility could help answer all kinds of questions about the processes going on inside of stars, and maybe help move us towards using fusion as an energy source. Once this thing starts firing, expect to hear some squawking from the same people who harbor fears that the Large Hadron Collider is going to create a black hole and destroy us all! (Thanks to Korman for the original link.)

2008 was a good year for investment in renewable energy technologies.  Over $150 billion was invested, much of it directly funding the construction of new projects worldwide, according to a report from New Energy Finance, the people who crunch the numbers of the UN’s Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative.  Considering the economic climate, the numbers are both encouraging and surprising.

Solar energy continues to be the fastest growing sector, but the most encouraging stat is that worldwide investment in renewable enregy  quadrupled between 2004 and 2008.  Check out the link above for more highlights from the report, or download it here.

All over the world, governments are busy spending unprecedented amounts of stimulus money unifying economic and environmental interests, hoping to get their populations back to work by providing green jobs.  These jobs range from the theoretical end – providing more research money for those trying to improve renewable energy sources – to the labour/application end – installing solar panels, weather-fitting buildings and the like.  A huge concern, especially in the US, is ensuring that the benefits of this enviro-economic union are distributed equitably amongst all communities, classes and races.

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Wired has an interesting article about the best green technology breakthroughs of the last year.  My personal favourite is the solar power plant in the desert… it’s about freakin’ time!

I was reminded again today of how much better off the world would be if Al Gore had won the 2000 Presidential election.  Yesterday’s Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, entitled “The Climate for Change”, was written by Gore, and outlines a sweeping vision for President-elect Obama to consider as he puts together plans for his future economic and energy policies.

Gore outlines a five-part plan to jump-start the US towards energy independence and back into a global leadership role.  The key points of the plan are:

1. immediate large-scale investment in large-scale solar, wind and geothermal energy projects in locations previously identified to be ideally suited for those technologies,
2. upgrading the existing electric grid infrastructure to a more modern, efficient and stable smart grid,
3. help for the automotive industry, including help for start-ups and smaller companies that are focusing on electric and hybrid vehicles,
4. a nationwide effort to refit buildings with better insulation and energy efficient appliances, lights and environmental systems, and
5. lead the way by imposing a price on carbon, with on eye on next year’s climate summit in Copenhagen and finding a realistic successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

These five steps are the same ones that environmental groups all over the US have been touting for years, so Mr. Gore isn’t saying anything new here.  However, I’m very happy to see it outlined so concisely in a major newspaper days after such an important election.  The world really needs the US to get on board with renewable energies in a big way, and as quickly as possible.

While I don’t doubt that Barack Obama would like to start moving the US in the direction suggested by Mr. Gore, he’s got a lot to deal with in the coming months, so I fear that these kinds of ambitious changes may not end up as a priority. Still, to have this kind of vision spelled out so clearly in such a prominent paper is heartening.  Public engagement in politics is likely to become far more widespread with Obama in power (since, you know, he plans to actually listen), so the more people that are exposed to these ideas, the better!