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As a kid in Michigan, I spent many a summer evening in the backyard. As the sun fell and dusk set in, the air would light up with the unique glow of fireflies, or “lightning bugs” as we called them. Inevitably, a good baker’s dozen or more would find themselves locked up in a mason jar (with holes punched, of course) and set on the patio table while less friendly mosquitoes were warded off.

Out west, bug-powered lightning is hard to come by, which is perhaps why my recent discovery of the Sun Jar, from designer Tobias Wong, ignited those fond memories of yesteryear. Instead of capturing helpless fireflies, the Sun Jar takes a decidedly less cruel and more eco-friendly approach to patio and garden lighting: solar power. During the day, built-in solar cells collect solar energy that charges a battery that powers an efficient LED light within a frosted-glass mason jar. It’ll stay lit for five hours on a single charge.

Its amber glow literally looks like sunlight trapped in a jar. While the Sun Jar is yet another addition to a long and growing line of outdoor solar lighting products, its distinctive Midwest-summer-night feel is appealing. Especially for people who, like me, enjoyed hunting lightning bugs as a child or simply adhere to the popular tradition of stashing candlelit mason jars around their deck or patio.

Prices I found for Sun Jars range from $30 (Amazon) to around $40 (various websites). Oh, and if you’re more into moonlight, check out Wong’s Moon Jar. It’s the same design but trades the amber sun-like glow for a cooler blue. Pink is also available.

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Last week, Big Solar exercised some of its growing clout by killing an anti-solar bill in the Arizona legislature. Here’s what happened:  state Republican senator Debbie Lasko introduced a bill that would have gutted Arizona’s renewable portfolio standard as we know it. Thankfully, a threat by Chinese solar giant Suntech Power Holdings to withdraw plans to put its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Arizona rallied enough pressure to remove the bill from the floor. It was of great relief to solar proponents in the state, but unfortunately, Lasko’s H.B. 2701 was not the only threat to Arizona’s fledgling solar industry.

Republican Representative Carl Seel has introduced a bill that makes Lesko’s look tame in comparison. His legislation would remove the right of the Arizona Corporate Commission – the state board that regulates utilities – to mandate renewable energy standards at all. Arizona passed their RES in 2006, requiring power providers to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025, including a certain percentage from solar photovoltaics.

The Goldwater Institute, a very conservative thinktank named after infamous conservative Barry Goldwater, tried to sue the state, claiming that it was unconstitutional to force any such mandates or regulations on private utilities (unless, it seems, those regulations or incentives promote nuclear, coal or natural gas power plants). Goldwater Institute lost that lawsuit, but has responded by facilitating Representative Seel’s H.B. 2381 that would render the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision moot.

Furthermore, Arizona’s republican governor, who reportedly helped kill Lesko’s bill after industry pressure mounted, also killed a regional cap-and-trade program that Arizona pioneered to put a price on carbon-emitting energy sources.

The recent wave of attacks on solar power in Arizona is troubling for a state that has some of the best solar potential in the world. There are states where one could argue that solar power is not the best renewable option, like the windy Dakotas or the geothermal-laden Northwest, but Arizona is practically made of sunshine. Why any group or lawmaker would want to kill solar power in that state is beyond this writer.

But H.B. 2701 had 51 co-sponsors, and green-leaning governor Janet Napolitano is gone. While Suntech Power Holdings and the industry managed to kill Debbie Lesko’s anti-solar bill, a huge victory among recent attacks, and may very well succeed in killing Carl Seel’s anti-RPS bill, the fact that such contention exists in Arizona may scare off potential solar industry additions to the state. Several states are working to attract green tech industries and the market is highly competitive.

However the fate of Arizona’s solar industry is decided, it will likely be decided soon, as Suntech’s potential industry followers are unlikely to wait around for long while California, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado and other states wait with open arms and less uncertainty.

Photo Credit: Interesting Energy Facts & CleanMPG

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Renewable energy that is the hottest of the focal point in current times cannot be used up and it does not generate pollution. Sustainability means that we make sure we meet our energy needs and ensure the health of the planet for future generations. Eventually, we will run out of nonrenewable energy supplies and the pollution caused by using these energy sources is already becoming a serious problem. The sooner we switch to using renewable energy, the cleaner the air we breathe and water we drink will be. Among these renewable energy resources the foldable wind generator is also one of the innovations but there is still a question mark on its development.

Eolic design has been introduced in foldable wind generator class but it is uncertain as to whether it’s capable or not. The Eolic looks great and is an incredible idea, but can it actually create enough energy to power anything and is it durable enough to actually hold its ground in a wind strong enough to create electricity? Still it’s an ambitious idea and we have to sit back and see its viability.

The light weight material which has been used in designing Eolic does not seem to withstand the high winds to generate the power. The designers’ concepts behind the foldable wind generator are to be able to supply power on the go in areas that do not have access to electricity. Whether it was the beginning of a construction project or a community that lacked electricity, these portable units could be put up to supply the necessary power to that specific area. However, this being a portable unit, that luxury is not possible. While the overall ambitions of the designers may be a bit unrealistic, the Eolic foldable wind generator can still serve a purpose.

Off and on, we experience watching some portable solar devices advertized which provide lighting and or used for other small household purposes, this device should come up in parity. If it actually works in these scenarios, it could truly bring wind power into the picture as a primary renewable energy. The device would surely give an added advantage over the solar power as it could work 24/7. On the other hand, they could also be sold as a package to ensure constant renewable energy on the go.

Technorati Tags: Wind,Turbine,Power,Generator,Renewable,energy,pollution,devices

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Researchers at the University of Michigan have been successful in developing an extremely tiny solar powered sensor. The solar sensor is said to be 1,000 times smaller as compared to other commercial counterparts.

All of the system’s components, the processor, solar cells, and battery are contained in a frame measuring 2.5 x  3.5 x 1mm.  The system contains the ARM Cortex-M3 processor that utilizes almost 2,000 times less power in sleep mode as compared to other most energy-efficient counterparts available in the market currently.

According to David Blaauw, who is an electrical and computer engineering professor, the system can run almost continuously if it is exposed periodically to reasonable lighting conditions, even indoors and the only limiting factor is the life of the battery.

The sensor usually works in sleep mode, waking briefly every few minutes to take measurements. The total average power consumption of the system is less than 1 nanowatt, which is one-billionth of a watt.

Moreover, the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, that the sensor contains, is popular in the micro controller industry for their low-power, energy efficient features such as deep sleep mode and Wake-Up Interrupt Controller, which allows the core to be placed in very low leakage mode, returning to fully active mode almost instantaneously.

According to the researchers, the device can greatly improve the efficiency and cost of current environmental sensor networks that are designed to detect movement or track air and water quality.

The sensor can also be used in new biomedical implants and potential medical applications such as ways to monitor pressure changes in the eyes, brain, and in tumors in patients with glaucoma, head trauma, or cancer. Once in the body, the sensor can utilize the energy from movement or heat, rather than light.

Technorati Tags: Smallest,Solar,Sensor,Researchers,Michigan,processor,battery,energy,cells

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Wind energy is being used as a reliable source of energy for a long time. The Babylonians and Chinese used wind power to pump water for irrigating crops 4,000 years ago, and sailing boats were around long before that.

Wind power was used in the Middle Ages, in Europe, to grind corn, which is where the term “windmill” comes from. Following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy:

Advantages

• Wind is absolutely free and wind farms need no fuel to generate electricity.
• Wind energy produces no waste or greenhouse gases.
• The land beneath the wind turbines can usually still be used for farming.

• Wind farms can be tourist attractions.
• A great method of supplying energy to remote areas.

Disadvantages

• It is difficult to predict the wind pattern, there is no wind on some days.
• Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive.
• Some people dislike the look of turbines, and feel that covering the landscape with these towers is unsightly.
• Wind turbines can kill birds as migrating flocks tend to like strong winds. However, this is quite rare, and we tend not to build wind farms on migratory routes anyway.
• Can affect television reception if you live nearby.
• Can be very noisy. Wind generators have a bad reputation of making a constant, low, “swooshing” noise day and night, which can drive you nuts, if you live nearby. But with time, aerodynamic designs have improved modern wind farms making them much quieter. The small modern wind generators used on boats and caravans make hardly any sound at all.

Technorati Tags: Wind,Energy,greenhouse,generators,turbines

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• Vertical Wind Turbines

Wind turbines are commonly used to produce clean energy. However, many of us don’t know that there are mainly two types of wind turbines, the horizontal and the vertical wind turbine. Horizontal wind turbine are more common and have been built at various places across the world.

This horizontal turbine is one that has a large shaft with the propellers based on top, as compared to the vertical wind turbines design. The main difference between the horizontal and vertical designs is the rotation of the blades.

In the commonly used horizontal form, the blades are on the top, spinning round in the air, whereas the vertical design has the generator situated at the base of the tower, and has the blades wrapped around the shaft.

The horizontal turbine spins round in a propeller type motion, in contrast to the vertical wind turbine design, which spins round in a circle in a cylinder type design.

The main disadvantage of the vertical turbines, which makes them uncommon too is that they require guide ropes to hold the shaft in place. This in turn requires more land and space as the ropes are required to be run from the tip of the shaft, and need to clear the blades.

But the main advantage of this design is that the vertical construction is quieter than the horizontal design. Horizontal turbines create more noise through their blades, yet the advantage is that the shaft can support the propeller at the tip and there is no need to install guide ropes.

Because of the high initial cost of installation, developers often go for the horizontal wind turbine design to keep costs down.

Technorati Tags: Vertical,Wind,Turbines,energy,Horizontal,shaft,rotation,generator,cylinder,

disadvantage,blades,turbine,propeller

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• Tidal Power! Another Best Energy Alternate

Welcome back to our 10 of the best series, counting through 10 of the greatest ways to generate cleaner, greener energy. Number 2 on our list, tidal power generators are a newbie to the circuit but with masses of potential yet to come!

Tidal energy is produced using tidal energy generators. This can be done in 2 ways; 1)Barrage generation, and, 2) tidal steam generators. Power created by the former is on the whole more environmentally friendly due to less impact on ecosystems. Like the wind turbine, the tidal stream generator rotates under water with the kinetic motions of the ocean tides harnessing the energy to produce electricity. Tidal power has huge potential due to the size of the oceans and predictability of the tides.

Mills in History

Tide mills have been used historically in Europe and the Atlantic coast of the US from the times as old as the middle ages and some even from Roman rule. It is the only form of energy derived directly from the relative motions of the Earth – Moon System. Generation of the tides comes from the forces produced by moon and sun in combination to the earth’s rotation.

The only way is up!

A British company, Lunar Energy, is set to build the first tidal energy farm of its kind in the world. The structure is planned to be erected off the coast of Pembrokshire, Wales and should provide approx 5,000 homes with electricity. A total of 8 turbines, a staggering 25 meters long and 15 meters high are to be installed at the bottom of the sea off St David’s peninsula. It has been estimated that it should be in operation by the end of this year (2010).

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You might be surprised at what you find here. Many of America’s most polluted cities – those with billowing clouds of chemical emissions, toxic wastelands and thousands of commuting cars and trucks, those cities that earned our country the title of second largest polluter in the world – are also considered our greenest.

America’s Most Toxic Cities

A report released this fall by Forbes, Inc. listed the nation’s most toxic cities. Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia are cities with major chemical problems, and yet all are leaders in the green movement. Portland, Oregon comes in as the 10th most toxic city while simultaneously heading the SustainLane charts as America’s greenest city for two years running.

The rankings account for a metro area’s air quality, number of Brownfield sites and the amount of toxic chemicals released. Specifically, Forbes checked out the number of facilities releasing toxic chemicals into the air, water and earth, and the number of times the EPA has responded to an environmental incident or site in that city. Forbes also established an air quality ranking for each city based on the number of days per year that air pollution was above healthy levels.

Below are the 5 most toxic cities and what they’re doing to promote solar power and a greener city.

1. Atlanta (Sandy Springs, Marrieta) – Atlanta is not without its solar and green incentives. In addition to federal incentives, the state of Georgia reimburses homeowners for up to 35% (or $10,500) for home solar power. Atlanta’s principal electricity provider, Georgia Power, offers rebates for energy efficiency upgrades and Energy Star rated homes. Atlanta also has design standards in place that require all city and city-funded buildings to meet LEED Silver certification.
2. Detroit (Livonia, Warren) – Detroit is no big surprise. The long-time home of the auto industry has a reputation for pollution. Recently, however, major strides have been taken in Michigan and Detroit to promote solar power and green building. In addition to Michigan’s renewable portfolio standard and state solar rebates, local utility Detroit Edison enacted a plan to attract 1,500 new solar installations. It involves a $2.40/watt rebate up to $48,000, and that’s in addition to state and federal incentives. Detroit has also embraced urban gardening and continually works to improve its public transit system, including buses and the People Mover light rail.
3. Chicago (Naperville, Joliet) – Chicago is in the news a lot these days for its green-minded city government and citizenry. The Windy City is now famous for urban gardening, green building and solar power, among others. The city’s Center for Green Technology produces more than 70 kilowatts of solar power with three different systems.
4. Houston (Sugar Land, Baytown) – GreenHoustonTX.org is headquarters for all things green in Houston. Among other steps, Houston’s Residential Energy Efficiency Program (REEP) has retrofitted 7,000 homes since 2006, and the city is working to improve air quality and address Brownfields. The city also signed a 5-year contract with Reliant Energy to buy up to 80 MW of renewable power. Municipal buildings requiring more than 10,000 square feet must be built to LEED certifications, which included eight LEED buildings as of April 2009. Specific solar incentives are hard to find in Texas and Houston. In the spring of 2008, there were only about 30 homes with solar power in Houston, and yet Houston is now a Solar America City. Albeit one that dumped nearly 89 million pounds of toxic chemicals in a single year.
5. Philadelphia (Camden, Wilmington) – Philadelphia is a destination for commuters from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. There is no shortage of emissions and toxic chemicals in the City of Brotherly Love. Yet Philadelphia is also a Solar America City, working in close relationship with the Department of Energy to advance solar technologies. They are attempting to implement a plan that would put fruit trees on every corner of the city.

Most Polluted Cities

All toxic chemicals aside, a recent study completed by the American Lung Association examines air quality in detail. The report breaks it down into three categories: short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution. The results are noticeably different than the Forbes report. Pittsburgh and Bakersfield, CA are leaders in particle pollution, while Los Angeles holds the reins on ozone pollution.

• Pittsburgh – In the last few years, Pittsburgh has started to pick up the solar baton. The Steel City was named a 2007 Solar America City, and through the Pittsburgh Solar Initiative, plans to obtain 0.5% of all its electricity needs from solar power. Solar represents just a part of Pittsburgh’s plans to green its city. Still, Pittsburgh residents are breathing some of the most polluted air in the nation, especially in terms of short-term particle pollution, which is caused most commonly by diesel vehicles, steel mills and coal-fired power plants.
• Bakersfield – Bakersfield leads the nation in year-round particle pollution and comes in second behind Los Angeles in ozone pollution. Obviously, Bakersfield has some work to do, and in terms of solar power, this city of roughly 2 million is on its way. For starters, it is home to the United States’ first solar thermal power plant and a biodiesel production plant. Like any city in California, Bakersfield residents have access to some pretty sweet solar incentives. The city of Bakersfield seems to lack government-implemented green incentives, but green industry has had a long home in Bakersfield and Kern County for decades. The Bakersfield area is home to solar, wind, geothermal and biomass plants. Unfortunately, it is also home to plenty of pollution.
• Los Angeles – LA is famous for smog, and apparently no one has taken that unfortunate crown away as of yet. LA continues to lead the nation’s major urban centers in ozone pollution, which is all too visible from the mountains surrounding the area. Still, LA has taken big steps to reduce pollution and increase renewable energy consumption, especially solar power. It may still have the lead, but LA has actually lowered its ozone pollution levels over the last decade. In fact, geography may have more to do with LA’s unwelcome lead in ozone pollution than anything else, as air pollutants need not be generated locally. Solar power is playing a big role in LA’s plans to clean up its skies, including a comprehensive plan by the city’s mayor that would see more than a thousand megawatts of solar generated in LA by 2020.

For a full list of America’s most polluted cities, and to find out how the breathing is in your town, see the 2009 State of the Air report.

Air pollution is obviously a complex problem, where power plants, cars, trucks, sunshine, mountains and wind all play a role. There is no more accomplished world traveler than a particulate on the wind. The fact that cities widely acknowledged as our most sustainable cities can end up on a list of our most polluted cities clearly illustrates the complexity of the problem.

Still, there is plenty of positivity to be culled from the previous rankings. Primarily that at some level, every major city in America, most of which were polluting without regard just 10 to 20 years ago, are now actively taking steps toward a sustainable future – many with solar power at the helm.

Photo Credits: Hunter College, World Business Chicago, NASA, NOAA, & SOS Arsenic

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Air in motion is called wind. Uneven heating of the Earth’s surface generates wind. As Earth’s surface is made of very different type of land and water and it absorbs sun’s heat at different rates.

The Daily Wind Cycle

In day the air above land heats up quickly than air over water. The warm air over the land expands and rises and as cooler air is heavier it rushes to take place with this procedure wind is created. While in night its total different than day because in night air over land gets cooler quickly than air on over water.

The atmospheric winds that circles the earth are also created in same way because land near the Earth’s equator heats up more than the land near South and North Poles.

Wind Energy as Renewable Energy Source

Wind energy today is a renewable energy source because the wind will keep on blowing till the sun is shining. Wind energy mostly is used to generate electricity.

Electricity Generation from Wind

How Wind Turbines Work

Old-fashioned windmills, which are now called wind turbines, collect the wind’s kinetic energy through their blades. The wind strikes over the blades creating lift, like the effect on airplane wings that cause the blades to turn. The blades are connected with a shaft drive, which turns an electronic generator to manufacture electricity.

The problem still persists that what to do when wind is not blowing. For that it is said to use other type of power plants for producing electricity.

Wind Production In United States

In 2008, wind machines generated 1.3% of the total U.S. electricity generation and that total generation in figures was 52 billion kilowatt-hours. Though it is a small contribution in the Nation’s total electricity production even then it was enough electricity to serve 4.6 million households or to power the entire state of Colorado.

In recent years electricity generation from wins is growing rapidly. From 2006 to 2008 power generation from win in United States had been doubled.

Through new technologies the cost of producing electricity from wind is being decreased and also growth in wind power has been encouraged by tax breaks for renewable energy and green pricing programs.

For supporting renewable energy sources technologies there are many utilities around the country offer green pricing options which allows the customers to pay more for the electricity that comes from renewable energy sources.

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So far wind power and solar energy have been quite successful in benefiting human nature without any negative side effects. Wind power is worth as the power products doesn’t release any waste products that could harm the environment, neither it creates pollution that damages the global air and increases the carbon rate in the air. Thus it is a worry free source of energy that makes only electricity produce and with no harm, helping in saving US economy.

Drawbacks of Industries using toxic elements:

Previously in US many industries releases so much of carbon emissions that badly spoiled the environment specially the air. In old times, the US industries when in process releases of heavily toxic elements like sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and also that oxides of carbon and nitrogen causes acid rain that damages the greenery of the forests and agriculture in the regions where crops grow.

Thus this way the industrial area already are surrounded in the suffocated air, and the nearby region’s agriculture can also be hurt. The acid rains along with the agriculture area, makes the urban area damage also by corroding the buildings, reacting on pipelines, wires that are spread above in air.  Overall, the toxics that gets releases from the industries also damages the environment and also the food chain that is formed from the rural to the urban areas, thus damaging the whole environment from the east to west. It thus stimulated the origin of thousands of diseases because of pollution like asthma and skin allergies.

Benefits of Wind Power products:

Since the discovery of wind power and the development in the related field has not only secured money of US but also have saved lives of the human nature. Wind power have made thing living and fresh, water lakes are clean and there is no harm to the agriculture or the green parts of the country.  Wind power is capable enough to produce electricity that can fulfill the requirement of a large scale of people living near to the power plants and far from it.  Over all wind power has taken place of the 76000 tons of carbon, 36000 tons of sulphur and similar tons of nitrogen oxides.

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