Greenedia Weekly Blog Report: Germany and Renewables, Biggest Greenwasher, Photovoltaics' Deep Green, UK Seeks Better Biofuel Understanding
Posted by Dave Klecha - Greenedia Editor on February 24, 2008 at 06:21:00 PM
This is a selection of recent popular blog artciles aggregated on Greenedia.com, where you will find the best blogs from the world of green media, as well as video uploads, podcasts, and blog authoring.
Germany Gets Creative With Renewables
This past week Treehugger wondered if Germany was on the road to a 100% renewable, sustainable economy. They point to a potentially groundbreaking experiment in weaning an energy grid off of nuclear and fossil fuel energy sources in a short time frame. The University of Kassel cooperated with three German energy companies in the experiment.
Treehugger goes into a bit more detail (while also providing an in-line YouTube video), and suggests that the approach used, of building a power plant that combined a number of different sources of energy--from solar, to wind, to biogas--could provide steady and uninterrupted power for the grid around the clock and in any conditions. Such a distributed means of providing power, in the small scale, was able to replicate the always-on nature of a coal or natural gas plant with the sustainability of renewable sources.
Greenwasher of the Decade
Climate Progress recalls the seedier side of the cleantech movement by highlighting the decade's biggest greenwasher--that is, the company that provided the thinnest veneer of sustainability while continuing in their carbon-emitting, fossil-fuel capitalizing ways. Their winner was British Petroleum, which seems to be satisfied with their renewable efforts as just a veneer following the purchase of tar sands in an effort to prolong the dominance of oil.
They quote from a Guardian article and use the information to disparage the new CEO of British Petroleum, Tony Hayward and his efforts to stop the company's once promising forward momentum and return them to reliance on petroleum. Lord John Browne, the former CEO who laid out BP's renewable path, has been quiet since he stepped down and Climate Progress feels that the departure of his vision for the company has been the biggest blow to their green fortunes.
Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles
Over at Energy Blog, they're looking at a report that delves into the "long tail" of emissions from the life cycle of photovoltaic solar panels. The report breaks down which of the four major types of photovoltaic solar panels consume the least amount of energy in their manufacturing and life cycle, versus their potential energy output over the life of the panel.
In the post, they point to thin-film cadmium-telluride solar cells as the clear winner in terms of minimal energy usage. Energy Blog goes on to point out that all of them have extremely low energy profiles when compared to fossil fuels, despite the intensive nature of their manufacture, probably due to the 20+ year life cycle of a typical photovoltaic solar panel, which has paid for its own energy usage many, many times over by the time it needs to be replaced.
UK Goverment Seeks Grasp of Biofuels' Indirect Impacts
AutoBlog Green takes notice of the fact that the British government is seeking answers on the deep green and other, non-obvious impacts of the use of biofuels. Some obvious effects have already been noted--such as the increase in food prices in response to the drive for corn-based ethanol as a fuel soltuion--but the government is also trying to look deeper at ethanol and other biofuels before creating the kind of policy that US President George W. Bush has been pushing.
The Department for Transport has commissioned a report from the UK's Renewable Fuels Agency for delivery by summer, according to the post. The call comes immediately following reports in Science that biofuels may not be all they're cracked up to be, and with the UK signatory to the Kyoto Protocols, as well as beholden to courses charted by the EU, they are looking for definitive answers to better chart the progress of these policies.
About Greenedia
Greenedia is your guide to the best Green social media available on the Internet. SoMedia Networks Inc, which also operates Inveslogic.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com, is building the first network of social media websites dedicated to finding, organizing and presenting content based
on expertise and authority. For more information or to register an account, visit Greenedia.com.
Germany Gets Creative With Renewables
This past week Treehugger wondered if Germany was on the road to a 100% renewable, sustainable economy. They point to a potentially groundbreaking experiment in weaning an energy grid off of nuclear and fossil fuel energy sources in a short time frame. The University of Kassel cooperated with three German energy companies in the experiment.
Treehugger goes into a bit more detail (while also providing an in-line YouTube video), and suggests that the approach used, of building a power plant that combined a number of different sources of energy--from solar, to wind, to biogas--could provide steady and uninterrupted power for the grid around the clock and in any conditions. Such a distributed means of providing power, in the small scale, was able to replicate the always-on nature of a coal or natural gas plant with the sustainability of renewable sources.
Greenwasher of the Decade
Climate Progress recalls the seedier side of the cleantech movement by highlighting the decade's biggest greenwasher--that is, the company that provided the thinnest veneer of sustainability while continuing in their carbon-emitting, fossil-fuel capitalizing ways. Their winner was British Petroleum, which seems to be satisfied with their renewable efforts as just a veneer following the purchase of tar sands in an effort to prolong the dominance of oil.
They quote from a Guardian article and use the information to disparage the new CEO of British Petroleum, Tony Hayward and his efforts to stop the company's once promising forward momentum and return them to reliance on petroleum. Lord John Browne, the former CEO who laid out BP's renewable path, has been quiet since he stepped down and Climate Progress feels that the departure of his vision for the company has been the biggest blow to their green fortunes.
Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles
Over at Energy Blog, they're looking at a report that delves into the "long tail" of emissions from the life cycle of photovoltaic solar panels. The report breaks down which of the four major types of photovoltaic solar panels consume the least amount of energy in their manufacturing and life cycle, versus their potential energy output over the life of the panel.
In the post, they point to thin-film cadmium-telluride solar cells as the clear winner in terms of minimal energy usage. Energy Blog goes on to point out that all of them have extremely low energy profiles when compared to fossil fuels, despite the intensive nature of their manufacture, probably due to the 20+ year life cycle of a typical photovoltaic solar panel, which has paid for its own energy usage many, many times over by the time it needs to be replaced.
UK Goverment Seeks Grasp of Biofuels' Indirect Impacts
AutoBlog Green takes notice of the fact that the British government is seeking answers on the deep green and other, non-obvious impacts of the use of biofuels. Some obvious effects have already been noted--such as the increase in food prices in response to the drive for corn-based ethanol as a fuel soltuion--but the government is also trying to look deeper at ethanol and other biofuels before creating the kind of policy that US President George W. Bush has been pushing.
The Department for Transport has commissioned a report from the UK's Renewable Fuels Agency for delivery by summer, according to the post. The call comes immediately following reports in Science that biofuels may not be all they're cracked up to be, and with the UK signatory to the Kyoto Protocols, as well as beholden to courses charted by the EU, they are looking for definitive answers to better chart the progress of these policies.
About Greenedia
Greenedia is your guide to the best Green social media available on the Internet. SoMedia Networks Inc, which also operates Inveslogic.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com, is building the first network of social media websites dedicated to finding, organizing and presenting content based
on expertise and authority. For more information or to register an account, visit Greenedia.com.
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