Adele Hall, Author at The Green Optimistic

Japan Builds Offshore Floating Windmill Farms off Fukushima Coast

Adele Hall — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:58:45 +0000

Japan is embarking on a quest for clean energy. Off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, twelve miles out to sea, floats a giant wind turbine that will generate enough electricity to power 1,700 homes. Additionally, the goal of this offshore project is to generate over 1 gigawatt of electricity from 140 wind turbines by 2020. […]

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Climate Change a Positive for Grizzly Bears

Adele Hall — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:52:10 +0000

There are many species that will be negatively affected by Climate Change. However, grizzly bears might be at an advantage. A 10-year study that monitored 112 bears in Alberta’s Rocky Mountain region found that warmer temperatures and easier access to food associated with forest disturbances helped the grizzlies to build more fat, and that increases […]

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Study Reveals Arctic Temperatures Are at Their Highest in 44,000 Years

Adele Hall — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 20:25:57 +0000

There have been many studies highlighting the warming of the arctic. But how does this relate to humans and how grave is the situation? A recent study has shown the warming of the earth is at its highest rate now than it has been in thousands of years. Temperatures over the Canadian Arctic are the […]

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2012 Saw Less Energy Consumption and Less Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the U.S.

Adele Hall — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 17:53:36 +0000

The United States emitted less carbon dioxide in energy consumption in 2012. Though this doesn’t mean the U.S. is in the clear, it is a sign that there are improvements on the way. The Energy Information Administration released a report that showed as we use energy, the carbon dioxide we emit dropped 3.8 percent in […]

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Nanoscale “LEGO” Setup of Aluminum Studs Improves Solar Cell Efficiency

Adele Hall — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 18:04:04 +0000

Most often, precious metals like gold and silver are used in solar cell efficiency. Now, an international research team has found that aluminum may be the better option. They demonstrated that a nanoscale LEGO-style setup of aluminum studs can improve solar cell efficiency by up to 22 percent. Aluminum is already cheap and abundant, and […]

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Wind Power Has the Capability to Cut CO2 Emissions, Even at High Penetration Levels

Adele Hall — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 18:50:07 +0000

New research from Spain has shown that wind power has the ability to effectively cut CO2 emissions, even at high penetration levels. These findings come from the University of Madrid. They provide new insight into wind power, as well as silence the skepticism that has run rampant in the public media regarding wind power. Researchers […]

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NETL Researchers Test Sorbents for Carbon Capture and Disposal

Adele Hall — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 13:42:57 +0000

Carbon Dioxide is a growing concern due to how it impacts global climate. CO2 is formed when carbon binds with oxygen at power plants used to generate electricity. Scientists at DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory are in the process of developing a way to separate the elements and capture them for permanent disposal. The capture […]

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Technology Won’t Take a Hit in Supreme Court Greenhouse Gas Case

Adele Hall — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 05:37:13 +0000

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will cut back on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources. However, fuel economy standards will remain intact. Regulations can have big implications because for innovation because they force the adoption of new technologies. However, there is likely […]

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Güssing, Austria Uses Biomass to Become 100% Grid-Independent

Adele Hall — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 05:54:14 +0000

The small town of Güssing, Austria has become powered entirely by renewable energy. However, Güssing has had very humble beginnings. Situated in eastern Austria, the region was one of the poorest districts in the country. Relying heavily on agriculture, the town had no transportation infrastructure, unemployment was high, and people were commuting to Vienna for […]

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Research Finds Gas Prices Unaffected by Ethanol

Adele Hall — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:44:04 +0000

New research from MIT has found the use of ethanol in gasoline does not significantly lower the price of gasoline. Former research had suggested a significant decrease in the price of gasoline due to ethanol, but it was found to be “a correlation being interpreted as a causal relationship.” The research had suggested the use […]

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Southern Africa Experiences Warming Due to Hole in Ozone Layer

Adele Hall — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 06:15:05 +0000

Researchers have found reason to believe the southern tip of Africa is abnormally warm due to the ozone hole over Antarctica. In the journal Nature Geoscience, the research team shows how the ozone hole is causing wind patterns to change and that is causing the abnormal warming of the African continent. Every summer, Africa is […]

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Hydroelectricity Being Put to Use in Old Upstate NY Iron Mine

Adele Hall — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 05:17:49 +0000

Moriah Hydro Corp., a hydroelectric facility in upstate New York, is planning to use old interconnected mines as a means to carry out hydroelectric power storage. This is very good because it is often needed to find massive sites. The new facility will be a pumped storage facility, which recycles water between an upper and […]

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Solana Power is United States’ First Molten Salt Solar Power Plant

Adele Hall — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 15:51:47 +0000

Solana Power, southwest of Phoenix, Arizona is ready to come online as the first solar plant in the U.S. to use molten salt for energy storage. It has taken $2 billion in funding, and a Department of Energy loan guarantee to reach this point. It has also added 2 million jobs. The plant features hundreds […]

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Making Saltwater Drinkable: Desalination Already Happening in Nature

Adele Hall — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 04:52:17 +0000

The water crisis in our world today revolves not around water scarcity, but water quality. One of every six people doesn’t have access to safe drinking water. This is ironic considering about 70% of our planet is covered in water. Of course, that water is salt water. The process of desalination has been a very […]

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Nuclear Fusion at NIF Produces Extra Energy, For the First Time in History

Adele Hall — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 10:22:27 +0000

An experiment by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in late September has confirmed they have gotten past the first step in harnessing the sun’s power here on earth. The obstacle they have overcome is getting more energy out of a fuel burn than what goes into it. Though they did not achieve the NIF’s standard […]

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Israel Company Recycles Fiber Found in Sewage

Adele Hall — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 16:03:24 +0000

An Israeli firm called Applied CleanTech has developed a system that picks out the fibers found in sewage from raw urban and industrial wastewater. Not only does this create reusable materials, but it also increases the efficiency of treatment plants and reduces the amount of unwanted sludge in the environment. The company’s system is housed […]

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Kia Soul EV to Have 85% Recyclable Materials

Adele Hall — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 18:48:57 +0000

Kia is set to make an electric version of the Soul in 2014 from the 2013 model. The Kia Soul is an urban cross-over that is smaller than an SUV and is lower to the ground. The 2014 Soul will be an all-electric version, not a hybrid. And the materials will be 85% recyclable. The […]

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Study Finds Diesel Fumes Responsible for Honeybee Decline

Adele Hall — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 09:54:18 +0000

Scientists from Britain’s University of Southampton found diesel fumes may be disrupting the honeybees’ ability to recognize certain flowers and pollinate. Not only does this threaten the survival of honeybee populations, but there are also concerns of a possible global food shortage as a result. Guy Poppy, an ecology professor who worked on the study, […]

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European Nations Look to Extend Carbon Trading Scheme to Foreign Airline Carriers

Adele Hall — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 08:13:44 +0000

Many European nations have expressed the desire to curb airline emissions, but are coming under pressure due to the desire for foreign air carriers to have a carbon trading scheme. Delegates to the U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are meeting in Montreal to come to an agreement in order to limit carbon emissions in […]

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U.S. Air Force Considers Wind Power for Remote Combat Training

Adele Hall — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 05:20:51 +0000

The US Air Force is currently rethinking its fuel consumption. The Air Force has monitoring stations in remote parts of Alaska where they are monitoring wind turbines. For these monitoring stations they perform air fuel drops during September and March. March can be particularly hazardous for pilots due to extreme weather conditions. To decrease the […]

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Man-Made Climate Change Shown to Increase Rapidly, Followed by Slow Upward Trend

Adele Hall — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 05:54:04 +0000

A new study by Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira and Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual ventures shows the pattern of climate change to be a rapid increase within the first decade followed by a very slow increase. Their work, published in Environmental Research Letters, shows about half of the warming occurs within the first decade, but a quarter […]

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Solar Hydrogen Production Made More Efficient Using “Wormlike” Hematite Photoanode

Adele Hall — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 07:24:28 +0000

Researchers from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea, have discovered a more efficient way to convert sunlight and water to clean hydrogen energy. The previous efficiency record of 4.2% was beaten and moved up to 5.3% due to the development of a “wormlike” Hematite Photoanode. Solar water splitting is a very […]

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China’s Plans to Build Environmentally-Damaging Coal-Powered Natural Gas Plants

Adele Hall — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 04:02:33 +0000

China is currently in the process of planning synthetic natural gas plants, which are powered by coal. Though this could be good for China’s energy security, the results could be environmentally devastating. A new study by Researchers from Duke University have determined this process would produce seven times the greenhouse gas emissions, consume 100 times […]

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Sun Catalytix Flow Battery Stores Hours of Energy from Renewable Power Sources

Adele Hall — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 19:45:51 +0000

Sun Catalytix is revolutionizing the renewable energy sector by creating a flow battery that can store hours of renewable energy using inexpensive materials. They are joined by dozens of other companies trying to achieve this. What makes Sun Catalytix stand out in the competition is its chemical structure, cheap materials, and low overall market prices. […]

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Benefits of Reduced Air Pollution Outweigh the Cost of Green Energy

Adele Hall — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 13:01:53 +0000

Pollution is a problem that can be fixed largely by the implementation of green energy and the reduction of fossil fuel emissions. However, is it worth the expense? A new study led by Jason West at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, compares the expense of green energy and the expense of a […]

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Algae Biofuel 50% Cleaner Than Petroleum, Study Suggests

Adele Hall — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:51:20 +0000

There are many alternative fuel options available to us today, one of them being algae-derived biofuel. It has been found to be a viable substitute to petroleum fuel. Algae biofuel surpasses petroleum fuel in environmental quality by reducing CO2 emissions by 50 to 70 percent. It is also on par with petroleum in terms of efficiency, […]

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