Scotland will build a massive battery to store excess wind power

UK energy supplier Scottish Power plans to launch a massive battery-storage system to capture renewable power from its 214 wind turbines. The 50 megawatt lithium-ion battery will allow Scottish Power to store energy when wind speeds are high and rele...

United Wind Bets Leasing Will Transform The ‘Small Wind’ Market


In September, I wrote about how certain wind technology and fuel-cell technology companies are borrowing a page from the success of companies like SolarCity that pioneered the solar leasing model...
    






Inhabitat’s Week in Green: self-sustaining homes, wooden wind turbines and the world’s first solar-powered nation

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

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The planet is in rough shape. A new report from the Renewable Energy Industry Institute found that total levels of global greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high last year. And we're starting to feel the consequences of all that carbon output as climate change leads to freakish superstorms like Hurricane Sandy. As New York City prepares for more large, destructive storms, many urban planners have raised the possibility of installing giant Rotterdam-style floodgates to protect the city. There are no current plans to install floodgates around NYC, but given the increasingly unpredictable weather in the region, it might be a good idea. In a different answer to rising sea levels, Dutch studio Whim Architects produced plans for floating, self-sustaining homes made from plastic waste from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Scientists also found that climate change is actually affecting satellites that are orbiting the planet, and a separate study warned that climate change could wipe out coffee production by 2080.

Continue reading Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-sustaining homes, wooden wind turbines and the world's first solar-powered nation

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Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-sustaining homes, wooden wind turbines and the world's first solar-powered nation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study says wind turbines raise surrounding area temperature, but only at night

Study says wind turbines raise surrounding area temperature, but only at night

Who said the butterfly effect couldn't apply to renewable energy? Though wind farms are considered pretty green on the energy-generating spectrum, it looks like they, too, have an impact on the planet. According to a study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, turbines can raise the local temperature -- albeit slightly. From 2003 to 2011, researchers monitored satellite data for west-central Texas, which is home to 2,350-plus turbines and four of the world's largest wind farms. In that decade, scientists observed a temperature increase of 0.72 degrees in wind farm regions compared to areas without turbines. That warming trend was especially marked at night, when the temperature difference between the ground and the air is highest. The temperature increase was also higher in winter; researchers say that these cooler, windier conditions cause turbines to generate more electricity and therefore create more heat. Since the study didn't find any change in daytime temperatures, it looks like we don't have to ring the global warming alarm just yet.

Study says wind turbines raise surrounding area temperature, but only at night originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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