Green Options

The two projects, which each include 20 underwater turbines, will be finished within three years and will provide power to 40,000 homes.

ScottishPower Renewables will apply for planning permission next year to build the two farms in Northern Ireland’s seabed. The turbines will be manufactured in Scotland in an intentional boost to the country’s green-collar job market.

The Portland Business Journal reports that Oregon has just been given the go-ahead by The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council to build a 909 MW wind farm in the north-central part of the state. That’s enough energy to power 200,000 homes.

The Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm will contain 303 wind turbines and will double the state’s wind-generating capacity. It will boost the local economy by creating 250 to 300 new jobs, and lease payments to landowners will supplement farm incomes.

Hope you enjoy! I certainly had a lot of fun making this video.

Afterwards, if you like, you can read more about South Korea’s renewable energy future here.

It’s sunny and hot in Cloncurry, Australia, so much so that the Queensland government is planning construction of a $7 million solar thermal power station to provide the community of under 5000 with 24 hour a day electricity.

Anna Bligh, the Premier of Queensland, announced the town will be powered by a 10-megawatt plant using 8000 mirrors to reflect sunlight onto graphite blocks. Water will be pumped through the blocks creating steam which will power a turbine electricity generator. According to the news source the amount of water used to generate the steam is no more than the amount of rainfall the area receives in a year.

The plan will deliver about 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, enough to provide electricity for the community 24 hours a day. If all goes as planned, the small town will be buzzing with electricity by 2010.

Even though it's the smallest state in the U.S., Rhode Island has some big plans for energy independence. A new study announced today revealed that almost 75% of energy used by the state could be generated by wind power. Current goals by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri reach for just 15%; but the first phase is numbered to indicate higher percentages are coming down the road. Carcieri had this to say of the report,

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Treehugger had a great post today on a new take on wind turbines compliments of engineers at the University of Hong Kong. One of the issues surrounding wind power has always been its aesthetic profile against the horizon; and the need for a steady brisk wind to keep things moving. This need limits their practical use except for certain areas around the world. However, thanks to a new design, those issues may now allow

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