Tag Archives: Solar Energy

Solar homesteading for $2000

From Lamar Alexander’s blog “Simple Solar Homesteading,” retrieved on September 15, 2008:

The cabin is 14  x 14 and aproximately 400 square feet with a full loft. It includes a kitchen, dining area, bathroom and living area downstairs and a large bedroom and office upstairs.

I built this cabin by myself from new materials for under $2000 (not including windows, doors, and porch).  I live in this cabin year round. My electricity comes from the solar panels you see on the roof and a small backup generator. This power runs all my lights, water pump, tv, computer etc. My heat is primarily from direct solar gain through the south facing windows and I use propane for a backup furnace, fridge, stove, and on demand water heater. My propane bill for last year was less than $200. I use a tracfone pay as you go cell phone for emergencies.

Click here to read the rest of the blog.

Presidential candidates' views on energy and the environment

The links in this entry are to the official websites of the two leading presidential candidates. For further information about their positions on climate change, the economy and other issues related to sustainable living, click on the “Issues” button on the respective website home pages.*

Click here to read “Cheap, Clean, Secure Energy for America,” Republican John McCain’s views on energy use, alternative energy sources and the environment.

Click here to read “New Energy for America,” Democrat Barack Obama’s views on energy use, alternative energy sources and the environment.

*Publishing these views does not constitute endorsement of any candidates’ views.

White roofs could help counteract climate change

From the Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2008:

Builders have known for decades that white roofs reflect the sun’s rays and lower the cost of air conditioning. But now scientists say they have quantified a new benefit: slowing global warming.

If the 100 biggest cities in the world installed white roofs and changed their pavement to more reflective materials — say, concrete instead of asphalt-based material — the global cooling effect would be massive, according to data released Tuesday at California’s annual Climate Change Research Conference in Sacramento.

Click here to read the whole article.

Danish farmers beat carbon emissions

From The New Yorker Magazine, July 7, 2008:

For the past decade or so, Samsø [Denmark] has been the site of an unlikely social movement. When it began, in the late nineteen-nineties, the island’s forty-three hundred inhabitants had what might be described as a conventional attitude toward energy: as long as it continued to arrive, they weren’t much interested in it. Most Samsingers heated their houses with oil, which was brought in on tankers. They used electricity imported from the mainland via cable, much of which was generated by burning coal. As a result, each Samsinger put into the atmosphere, on average, nearly eleven tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Then, quite deliberately, the residents of the island set about changing this. They formed energy coöperatives and organized seminars on wind power. They removed their furnaces and replaced them with heat pumps. By 2001, fossil-fuel use on Samsø had been cut in half. By 2003, instead of importing electricity, the island was exporting it, and by 2005 it was producing from renewable sources more energy than it was using.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Energy Savings Pays

BY: John Davies, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner August 21st, 2008, Section A3

Is your head swimming with all the talk about energy costs, weatherization, and energy rebates? Are you looking for a good, comprehensive source of information that explains the basics of energy use in your home and what steps you can take to save energy? If so, I recommend the Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings published by New Society Publishers for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Continue reading →

A Sustainable University Campus

About a new New York State campus that is using sustainable building practices. From the New York Times July 27, 2008:

“Stony Brook Southampton will certainly be among a limited number of campuses with this level of commitment to sustainability,” says Judy Walton, acting executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. “Sustainability is really a change in the mind-set of how we operate. It’s like seeing the world through a new lens.”

But most significant is how Southampton, a part of Stony Brook University, is writing into its courses the concept of sustainability. Students study it when they study literature, economics, architecture or statistics.

Click here to read the whole article.

Solar-powered car driver tries to draw attention to alternative energy

From the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer August 15, 2008.

“What I’m trying to do is save the planet in my own way,” da Luz said before an audience of a few dozen people who assembled at the Cold Climate Housing Research Center for a demonstration.

Click here to read the full article.

New fuel cell technology could make solar energy more affordable for homes

From Reuters, July 31, 2008:

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) – A U.S. scientist has developed a new way of powering fuel cells that could make it practical for home owners to store solar energy and produce electricity to run lights and appliances at night.

A new catalyst produces the oxygen and hydrogen that fuel cells use to generate electricity, while using far less energy than current methods.

Click here to read the full article.

Solar-powered car arrives in Fairbanks en route to record

From the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer August 14, 2008.

A solar-powered car on three wheels arrived in Fairbanks on Wednesday evening, creating a spectacle as the spaceship-like vehicle made its way down the Johansen Expressway to the Cold Climate Housing Research Center.

Click here to read the full article.

Newsminer: Alternative energy on the horizon for GVEA

From the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer June 27, 08

With a little help from the state, Golden Valley Electric Association is looking to cut back on fossil fuels and start making hot water and power from the sun, the wind and the Nenana River current.

The Alaska Energy Authority, a public corporation of the state, this week gave the utility $212,000 to study four alternative energy projects across Golden Valley’s coverage area.

Click here to read the full article.