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The Land Art Generator Initiative is an interesting architectural design competition looking to combine art installations with clean energy production. This is the kind of urban art installations I’d love to see going in around the Tampa Bay area. From their Project Description page: “The goal of the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) is to design [...] From the I’ll-Believe-It-When-I-See-It-Department. I hope it comes to market next year, but …. (Thanks, CJ!) Do-it-yourself solar power for your home Imagine outfitting your house with small, affordable solar panels that plug into a socket and pump power into your electrical system instead of taking it out. That’s the promise of a Seattle, Washington-based start-up that is working to [...] Radioactive water leaking from a nuclear power plant has been spreading for more than a year. It is now about to start leaking into an aquifer that provides drinking water to much of New Jersey. “It is believed at least 180,000 gallons of contaminated water was released from the Lacey Township plant on April 9, [...] I have a great admiration for Stewart Brand, but I must admit his advocacy for nuclear power baffles me. I have enough respect that I’ll pick up his new book Whole Earth Discipline and see what he has to say. Here’s an interview with Brand at Seed magazine. “Brand has now issued a bold challenge to the [...] Senator Bill Nelson has taken the lead on abolishing poisonous Chinese drywall in the US. The next step is to help Florida become a producer of EcoRock (as seen in the video below). Nelson’s leadership on drywall issues, and Florida’s aching construction industry, combine for a rare opportunity to bring new, sustainable businesses to the sunshine [...] The American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009 is out of committee and will be debated on the House floor in June. In a recent press release Rep. Castor touts a measure she added to the bill. “I successfully added a measure to the bill that is designed to expand the use of solar power [...] Broadcast and cable news tend to focus on controversy and extreme positions. They overlook exchanges like the one below. While Mario Diaz-Balart and I rest on opposite ends of the political spectrum, his questions here to CBO Director Doug Elmendorf seem reasonable enough. Elmendorf, btw, keeps a blog. via C/NET: What if your refrigerator got its own electricity bill? “The big idea that Tuck and I discussed is a concept that’s only now boring its way through the thick bureaucracies of the utility companies: what if, instead of power companies charging for electricity at the power meter, which is the point of where it [...] Here is a completely unfounded rumor which I just made up, but hope to spread widely. Citgo is the anonymous energy company behind the mysterious and anonymous Florida Energy Associates. FEA is shelling out big bucks to get 2 dozen of the biggest lobbyists in Florida to push for legislation allowing drilling off the Florida coast. The [...] It sounds like the Florida Senate is not going to take up the bill to drill for oil off the Florida coast. The Buzz cites Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales. But, looking deeper into the drilling shenanigans in the House I wonder why Rep. Dean Cannon replaced “an innocuous one-page bill (HB 1219) that would have [...] Tremendous map from NPR of the U.S. electric grid, power plants, solar power, and wind power. This a part of their series about Reinventing the U.S. Electric Grid. (Thanks, LT!) There was a time in my life when I graded university student essays. The know-it-alls, and the know-nothings were the easiest to grade. The hardest were the C- students. Their answers often had the facts and the misinformation so well blended that it was difficult to know where to start. Generally there was some fundamental [...] Lowry Park will use solar energy to power its Treetop Skyfari ride. “By December, two sets of solar panels in or near the elephant exhibit are expected to generate 15 kilowatts for the zoo. The $800,000 project is a joint effort of the zoo, Tampa Electric and the University of South Florida.” … “Also, it will help Tampa [...] I’m not sure what they mean by “smart meter” but I’ve thought for a long time that there should be an internal meter showing you how much electricity you’re using. Why do we have an indecipherable meter outside and not one inside that we can understand and monitor? Miami’s smart grid project; “Mayor Manny Diaz today [...] Stogie has a nice shot of some solar panels in Tarpon Springs. The installation was done by Solar Source, a St. Pete-based solar energy company. Solar Source also runs the Solar Source Institute which offers classes an a recommended reading list. Babcock Ranch green [...] Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy, will be joining the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) as a Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Jones has garnered a lot of fans for his argument that creating a greener world is an opportunity, not a threat. He even made the PoHo [...] State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg is guest blogging at Wayne Garcia’s The Political Whore blog. “Even in the state senate, where at least some energy policy is being considered, the opportunity to create and invest in renewables is being diminished by a “clean” energy standard which includes nuclear power and coal gasification.” Just a reminder – the St. Pete Times keeps blog about green/energy issues called The Fueling Station. Alex Pickett at Creative Loafing picks up on the T. Boone Pickens story. Greening Tampa was an early critic of the Pickens Plan, see here, and here. Pickett points to this post at Alternet for an overview of the criticisms being leveled against Pickens. In the depressed housing market every little edge helps. Have you considered buying your buyers some solar panels for their home? Some realtors in Arizona are giving it a try. The free solar panels are part of a promotion by the Scottsdale-based homebuilder, Shea Trilogy, which partnered with BP Solar to offer free solar panels with [...] Here’s the 5-minute pitch from Tampa-based Solarsa at the recent Turning Green Into Gold –Investing in Emerging Technologies conference hosted by Governor Crist. (Caution when clicking on the Solarsa link. There’s some talking head flash animation.) Solarsa wants to use solar energy to run air-conditioners in government office buildings. Here’s a segment about Solarsa and solar cooling. Scott [...] Tommy in Old Seminole Heights located this video which reveals a little more of the insidious nature of the Pickens Plan. Is Pickens really more interested in controlling the giant aquifer that runs under Texas and the plains? Here are some of my early suspicions about the Pickens Plan. Bruce Sterling provides commentary for Al Gore’s recent speech calling for renewable energy to be used to power the US power grid. Sterling’s Viridian Manifesto remains the most significant influence on the Greening Tampa philosophy. GORE: Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to [...] The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch reports - “TAMPA, Fla., Aug 04, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Tampa Electric, the University of South Florida’s Power Center for Utility Explorations (PCUE) and Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo will partner on a project to develop, design and test a renewable solar energy system at the zoo to be funded in [...] David Adams at the St. Pete Times reports that Florida Power & Light announces they’ll build three solar energy power plants by 2009. Buried toward the end of the article is this juicy tidbit - “Nearly 39,000 Florida Power & Light customers gave the company $11.4-million over four years to develop green energy, but a report this [...] Last year Jodie Tillman at the St. Pete Times wrote that Agri-Source Fuels might be opening a biodiesel plant in the Tampa area. Did that happen? (I think it didn’t. Anyone know why not?) Latest news is that Agri-Source Fuels is building in Santa Rosa County. (The ASF website says Pensacola. Close enough.) Agri-Source Fuels is currently [...] Wow, there’s an Advanced Automotive Battery Conference and Symposium in Tampa right now (until May 16). Here’s the conference page if you want to see goes on at an automotive battery symposium. I think it’s mostly about creating the next generation of batteries for electric cars. |
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