Tag Archives: GreenPower

Google data center in Oklahoma to get 48MW of wind power, boost renewable energy in the Sooner state

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Google data center in Oklahoma to get 48MW of wind power, boost renewable energy in the Sooner stateGoogle has made a point of relying on renewable resources for its data centers whenever possible, even down to the cooling. It hasn't had quite as unique an arrangement as what it's planning for its data center in Oklahoma, though. The search firm wants to supply its Mayes County location with 48MW of wind energy from Apex's Canadian Hills Wind Project, but it isn't buying power directly from the source. Instead, it's making a deal with the Grand River Dam Authority, a utility, to purchase the clean power on top of what's already supplied from the GRDA at present. The deal should keep the data center on the environmentally friendly side while giving it room to grow. Wind power will come online at Google's facility once the Canadian Hills effort is up and running later in 2012; hopefully, that gives us enough time to better understand why there's a Canadian River and Canadian Hills to be found in the southern United States.

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Google data center in Oklahoma to get 48MW of wind power, boost renewable energy in the Sooner state originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reported new DARPA chief brings true geek, dash of green tech controversy

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Reported new DARPA chief brings true geek, dash of green controversy

Running DARPA has always demanded a certain amount of tech-savviness -- it created what ultimately became the internet, after all -- but it may get an extra coat of green paint with a new leader. The agency has reportedly taken on Arati Prabhakar as its new director, and Wired notes that she has a lot more than just the agency itself under her belt. Along with going so far as to found DARPA's Microelectronics Technology Office, she ran the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and eventually signed on with Interval Research the venture capital firm that backed the solar power company Solyndra as well as numerous other green tech projects. That last decision has drawn a fair share of flak: Solyndra got about $500 million of public funding and still went under. With that in mind, an anonymous senior military staffer claims that Prabhakar wasn't involved in the questionable government loan and went through "extensive vetting," so it's doubtful that the funding will cast the same shadow over her DARPA technology investments as it did for the outgoing director, Regina Dugan. Even so, there will no doubt be a close watch over Prabhakar if the appointment is made public, both for those who want to keep her honest as well as for the potentially huge amount of insight into clean energy and general technology that she can wield.

[Image credit: SRI]

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Reported new DARPA chief brings true geek, dash of green tech controversy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 06:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inhabitat’s Week in Green: solar-powered plane, chrome Fisker Karma and the ‘blackest’ solar cells ever

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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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With the days getting longer and the spring sun creeping into the evening hours this week, we saw a host of impressive solar energy projects that put those rays to work. Kyocera revealed their plan for Japan's largest solar farm and French company Areva announced they will be building the largest solar installation in Asia. On the other side of the globe, New York City was proud to say that it recently tripled its solar power production and a new study showed that the United States pulled ahead of China in the clean energy race this year. We also saw designs for a new solar satellite that could harvest the sun's rays 24/7 and we ogled photos of the Image massive array of PV panels topping the zHome complex in Washington. A team at Natcore blew away the scientific community by creating the "blackest" solar cell ever designed and Panasonic gave us a sneak peek at its shimmering, solar-powered "Photosynthesis" Ecosystem installation, which will light up the night at the Milan Furniture Fair next week.

In green transportation news, Justin Bieber's blindingly shiny chrome Fisker Karma had people talking (and putting on their sunglasses), while the former head of R&D at GM predicted that we'll see driverless cars by 2020. Honda announced that it is teaming up with Zipcar to provide EVs and hybrids to Zipsters and Ferrari confirmed that its future V12 models will have a new hybrid system. Finally, SolarWorld sent us news about their new Elektra solar-powered plane, which can fly twice as far as its predecessor.

Smart design continued to make the world a little better with innovations like this vibrating glove that lets blind people text and Montessori's Intro to Letters app, which teaches kids the alphabet. We also got back into nature (literally) with these see-through bubble tents surrounded by trees, and we reflected upon the mysterious human-shaped mirror sculptures that popped up in a Scottish forest.

Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar-powered plane, chrome Fisker Karma and the 'blackest' solar cells ever originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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