Energy and the Environment-A Coastal Perspective

I came across an interesting idea when I searched for recent renewable energy articles. Photosynthesis is a miracle of evolution. Being able to convert sunlight into food is the basis for almost all life on this planet. However, photosynthesis is incredibly inefficient. Only about 3% of the energy hitting the plant is turned into glucose. […]

In a white paper “’Electricity Energy Storage Technology Options’ A White Paper Primer on Applications, Costs, and Benefits” principal investigator D. Rastler describes the “final goal of this paper is to outline a framework [of] methodology that electric utilities and industry stakeholders may use in estimating the value of energy storage systems.” The paper outlines […]

Yahoo News is where I normally look for recent events. They have a page of news under the science section dedicated to energy. Just by quickly scrolling down the page there are two topics appear multiple times just over the weekend; gas/oil and EPA regulations are constantly in the news. One story about both oil […]

Drilling in N.C. is something that I had never worried about, at least not until this past fall. I am a geology major and while at a meeting in my department I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Kenneth Taylor, the Chief Geologist of the N.C. Geological Survey. Dr. Taylor had a long talk […]

There is a company that has a great presence here in the Raleigh-Durham area. The company is SAS, who is located in Cary, North Carolina. Julie Robinson has stated that “SAS’ overall commitment to promoting sustainable energy has made it a leader among businesses statewide and nationally” (Julie Robinson Marketing and Communications Director, North Carolina […]

I spent most of yesterday wondering what I could post about, and ended up getting nothing done. However, the universe is a funny thing, and has a way of making things work out. This morning, when I managed to drag myself out of bed, I went immediately to the sunday comics and found a pleasant […]

The United States and countries around the world are frantically searching for new methods of harvesting energy as the world’s demand for energy is on the rise. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking,” started its commercial appearance when first used by Halliburton in 1949. Before I delve into the environmental impacts of this extensive method […]

In a nation where we are accustomed to not having to worry about our power, my family is very unusual because we are off the grid. My father has created his own small hydroelectric system that powers our house year-round. A lot of people I talk to find this very interesting and think it’s a […]

Wind energy is not a new thing in the US or in North Carolina. A look at the history of wind energy in North Carolina specifically, demonstrates that before there existed an infrastructure to distribute goods or energy, people made a specific choice. Using the waterways to move grain to coastal locations where wind energy […]

Improving the shelf life of wind energy      Since wind energy is a variable, it would be useful to have a way to store it for later use and even convert it into different uses, other than just electricity. Since Sea Launch is out of bankruptcy and planning launches again maybe they should consider wind energy. […]