United States Archives – The Green Optimistic

China Bans Imported Recyclables from US, Now Cities Just Burn Them

Matias Prieto — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 06:23:41 +0000

Not so long ago, China processed 40 per cent of United States recyclables. However, in 2018 China decided to stop importing a lot of this garbage. This decision left U.S. cities with big mountains of recyclables to process. So now in many cases, they are just burning them. The case of Chester, Philadelphia In the […]

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Study: Coal kills more Americans than it Employs

Guest Contributor — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 19:05:59 +0000

A new study finds that the coal industry kills more Americans than it employs. Joshua Pearce led the study and is the Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science & Engineering as well as a professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Michigan Tech. He first became interested in the idea of a “corporate death […]

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Where are the Green Jobs ??

Matthew Fiala — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 17:07:46 +0000

Job seekers continue to pursue “green jobs: in sectors like renewables and conservation with varying degrees of luck. What may be a surprise to many, Texas is leading the way in sectors like wind power, currently supporting over 24,000 such jobs back with over $42 billion in capital. These jobs are just a small part […]

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China Wind Power Growing Faster Than United States’

Benji Jerew — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 20:05:10 +0000

Covering renewable energy achievements, United States President Barack Obama noted that US wind power generation is number one in the world, but that’s not the whole story. True, wind power generation in the United States is the biggest in the world, just over 175 TWh (terawatt-hours), just ahead of China, which produced 169 TWh last […]

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Renewable Energy Works in Germany, and Elsewhere?

Benji Jerew — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 21:35:13 +0000

We’ve done a lot of coverage on renewable energy adoption in various places, but it seems that there is a lot of counter-coverage, to which Energiewende says “enough is enough.” Energiewende, German for “energy transition,” isn’t anything new, but actually got its start back in the 1970s. The oil crisis got people thinking about where […]

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U.S. Renewable Energy Use on the Rise

Mila Luleva — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 06:32:50 +0000

The annual U.S. energy chart on energy usage and waste released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), indicates that in 2012, the extensive use of coal to produce electricity have been substituted to large extent with natural gas, solar and wind. The chart indicates that highest increase is noted in the use of wind power […]

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U.S. to Become World's Main Geothermal Energy Producer by 2020, Research Says

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:21:42 +0000

The United States is about to become the world’s first geothermal energy producer. New statistics from Pike Research says that the goal will be reachable within the next 10 years or less. Pike Research says that the total geothermal output in the U.S. will reach 4.2 GW, which is about 36 percent more than the […]

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Nuclear Power Surpassed By Renewables In 2011

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:08:39 +0000

While some political forces in the U.S. still press for funding more nuclear power more, renewable energy production has exceeded nuclear during the first three months of 2011.

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Possible Solution for Storing Nuclear Waste Comes From MIT

Mike Sandru — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:43:12 +0000

The earthquake that hit Japan recently has got every state with nuclear waste thinking: what if the leak should happen to us? What then? So the United States are currently reviewing their nuclear waste policy in search of a better way to store residues. Otherwise, the current facilities are a somewhat easy target for natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

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US Energy Secretary Announces Green Technology Partnership With China

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:29:06 +0000

It was about time the US and China collaborated on anything but pollution... the reduction of pollution. The scientific partnership announcement has been made by the US Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Wednesday, launching one of the largest collaborations of this kind in the world.

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Thermeleon: Roof Turning from Black to White as Temperature Changes

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:44:30 +0000

While attending a competition for teams of MIT students, Making and Designing Materials Engineering Contest (MADMEC), a team of students and fresh-graduates have shown an invention that could turn the old roof tiles into chameleon-like tiles, turning from black to white and vice-versa as temperatures get low, respectively high.

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Toyota's Future Fuel Cell Vehicles Able to Work at Minus 37 degrees Celsius

Cristi — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:52:59 +0000

Fuel cell vehicles have been criticized by a lot of car manufacturers around the world. Still there are some that think they are able to transform the world’s thinking into a GREEN ONE and prove that fuel cell vehicles are as reliable as any gas cars available on the market. This year’s Air Resources Board’s […]

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Electric Smart For Two Available Starting 2012 Promises to be More Fun

Cristi — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:21:38 +0000

Daimler AG plans to introduce its electric Smart for Two by the end of this year. Serial production of this model will only start in 2012 in the plant from Hambach, France.

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IBM Chooses Lithium Air Batteries for 500 Miles EV Range

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:57:57 +0000

IBM, through its "Big Green" - "Battery 500" project, aimed to produce a battery for an electric car that would be able to carry a family-sized sedan up to 500 miles, spotted the lithium-air (STAIR) invention as its goal, and predicted that they could improve the STAIR battery further with the nanoscale semiconductor manufacturing techniques they possess.

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Helix-Shaped Vertical Wind Turbines Will Power GSM Towers in Africa & US

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:36:53 +0000

Too often, regardless of the energy sources being used, the GSM transmission towers' power fails, because of various reasons: theft, heavy rain/snow, disturbances in the grid lines. Helix, a San Diego-based wind company, is working on a wind turbine that is designed to power base stations in hard to reach, remote locations from Africa and the US.

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New Oregon Based Electric Three-Wheeler Getting 190 MPG

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:11:19 +0000

An Oregon-based company, Arcimoto of Eugene, designed their fully electric vehicle capable of reaching no less than 190 mpg, if we take mpg as an energy reference.

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New Discovery Could Make Platinum Fuel Cells Much More Durable

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:31:04 +0000

Engineering assistant prof. Dane Morgan and Ph.D. student Edward (Ted) Holby, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that making the fuel cells from very small platinum nanoparticles decreases their lifetime. Making them bigger is, though, better.

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Geothermal Efficiency Boosted Up to 30% by Newly Discovered Liquid

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:12:06 +0000

Scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, announce they developed a new type of heat extracting liquid that could absorb much better the heat coming from the hot water in the geothermal wells.

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