By Zachary Shahan •
November 10, 2009
Candy giant MARS, parent company of M&M’S®, DOVE®, MILKY WAY®, SNICKERS®, 3 MUSKETEERS®, and TWIX®, turned on a huge new solar array (a “solar garden”) at its headquarters in New Jersey today. No matter what you think of candy food like this, it is good to see such a company going solar. Popular with millions, billions perhaps, and about as mainstream as you can imagine, this is a good step for solar’s more widespread use across the country.
This facility is PSEG Solar Source’s first large-scale solar project. It is one of the largest solar projects in the state of New Jersey, which is already 2nd only to California in its amount of installed solar capacity. The MARS headquarters adjacent to the solar garden is the workplace of about 1,200 employees and is where M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies are manufactured.
By Rhishja Larson •
November 6, 2009
Is Ross Perot Jr. taking legal action over the head of a rhino he shot and wounded during a trophy hunt?
The son of former American Presidential candidate Ross Perot - Henry Ross Perot Jr. - is reportedly engaged in a legal battle involving South African wildlife authorities over the head of rhino he wounded during a trophy hunt earlier this year.
Perot supposedly shot a bull rhino at Mkhuze game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, but the animal escaped. However, Perot believes he’s still entitled to his trophy - the rhino’s head.
By Zachary Shahan •
November 3, 2009
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about China’s new policy to focus on buying (almost entirely) “China-grown” wind turbines and wind turbine technologies with Chinese patents. That policy wasn’t a big hit internationally and China is back-tracking.
However, is it changing its stance out of international moral pressure or a major financial incentive (recent deal) in the US? And who is to benefit the most from this shift?
Computer technology is always about being one step ahead of competitors. Information technology moves faster than light it seems, and by the time your new computer arrives at your doorstep, it is already out of date. Dell, whose computers can be found in most offices, homes, and campuses across the country, has been doing its best to stay ahead of the curve.
Proving it is both environmentally friendly and hip to the trends of popular culture, Dell has just finished installing a grove of solar trees at its Corporate headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.
By Zachary Shahan •
October 3, 2009
European energy giant E.ON “turned on” what is reported to be the largest wind farm in the world this week, in Texas.
The farm contains 627 wind turbines on almost 100,000 acres of land near Roscoe, Texas.
By Jeff Kart •
August 12, 2009
Here’s a feather in the cap of renewable energy supporters.
When the (baseload, coal and nuclear) power went out after storms in Muskegon, a mobile renewable energy unit came to the rescue.
By Jeff Kart •
July 29, 2009
Fairview has become the first town in Texas to build a street lit entirely by low-energy LEDs.
There are 82 light-emitting diodes on the newly constructed Fairview Parkway. The LEDs came from EvoLucia, a division of Sunovia Energy Technologies in Sarasota, Florida.
Texas start-up Baryonyx awarded two offshore wind energy leases
Which state’s waters will be the home of the United States’ first offshore wind farm? Will it be Massachusetts, where an eight-year battle for a wind farm near Cape Cod seems like it may never end? How about a little further south, in Rhode Island or New Jersey? Will it be Delaware, where Bluewater Wind hopes to develop a project that would provide almost 1/3 of the energy needed by Delmarva Power? What about other Mid-Atlantic states like North Carolina or Virginia, where the Department of Interior says sites with easily-developed shallow water wind resources dot the coastline?
Well, if you answered none of the above, you may be on to something.
Texas General Land Office last week awarded leases to Baryonyx, authorizing the company to develop wind farms on three sites, two of which are offshore, with a total potential capacity of 3,000 megawatts.
More money was distributed today by the Department of Energy. 141 million dollars to be more precise. This time Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, the Northern Mariana Islands and Texas will play beneficiaries of the Recovery Act.
As a part of the Department’s State Energy Program, which has been apportioned $3.1 billion, states and territories propose plans to prioritize energy savings, create or retain jobs, increase the use of renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that’s where this $141 million will be going. Each state receives funding according to its needs (population based), with Texas receiving more than half of the allotted $141 million dollars. They will receive $87.5 million.
By Levi Novey •
May 5, 2009
Among Cairn terriers, the best-known celebrity is “Toto” from the Wizard of Oz. Now she might have some competition, as a Cairn terrier named Ridley is gaining fame for helping to save his namesake, the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle.
Ridley helps find the nests of the sea turtles in Texas along Padre Island National Seashore– the longest barrier island in the world. It’s necessary to find the nests quickly so that they can be protected from coyotes or raccoons, or even the high tide. Sometimes human volunteers can’t find the nests after following turtle tracks, so it’s Ridley and his nose to the rescue!
