IBM to use Scrap Silicon to boost Solar Panel Industry

IBM has developed a simple process to recycle scrapped silicon wafers. Silicon wafers are thin discs of silicon that chip makers use to imprint chip patterns. From there, the wafers are cut into individual chips that run computers, cell phones, flash memory, etc.

The reason the solar panel industry needs this is because in recent years the industry has had 30% to 40% annual growth. This year the solar panel industry has tied with the computer industry as the world's largest consumer of refined silicon. Normally, a semiconductor company is reluctant to sell their scrapped wafers because of proprietary information left on them. But IBM has discovered this new method that would remove the circuit patterns and thus be able to recycle the material in house, or to sell it to the solar industry.

An estimated 3.3 million wafers are discarded annually. Any method of re-using or recycling these materials would be a benefit to the environment as well. I personally work in the semiconductor industry and am very pleased to learn this information. The semiconductor industry for one could probably use a little greening all around. All of there processes consume so much energy and they do output quite a large amount of harmful materials into our air. But for one, helping give the solar industry a boost is great for everyone. It could translate to cheaper solar panels for everyone in the coming years.

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Vampire Electronics suck More Energy than you Think

Vampire electronics are those electronic devices in all of our homes that we never turn off, thus sucking energy away. These are devices that we never usually turn off because they are in stand by mode but happens to make up a significant portion of our energy bills. Examples of vampire electronics would be the coffee maker, the microwave, the dvd player, or even your computer. These devices are not in use but something as simple as the the time display on your DVD player or old VCR player are sucking energy like a blood thirsty vampire.

There are even things like cell phone chargers, or chargers of any kind that are actually sucking out energy even if your cell phones or laptops are not charging. The reason is because those chargers are still using electricity to convert power, thus always staying warm. In fact, on average just 5% of the power consumed from cell phone chargers are actually used when your phones are actually charging, the rest of the energy is just wasted!

Most Americans are just just too lazy to unplug and replug appliances all the time. Another inconvenience is the fact that some people enjoy having little digital clocks all around the house and don't want to have to reset them everyday. If you don't care about having 10 clocks strategically placed all around your house then switching appliances to a single power strip and turning everything off at once is a good idea.

Since there hasn't been any significant price hikes with the cost of energy, people don't really seem to care about their energy use. But when gas prices go up 10 cents, everyone seems to freak out. People need to become more aware of their energy consumption and make a plan to reduce their energy consumption to not only save themselves a little money, but to also reduce the amount of energy they receive from coal power plants that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.

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Plastic Pollution in Pacific Waters

More Environmental Pollution Pictures here. In 1980, a study conducted at the University of Fairbanks Alaska on seabirds and plastic determined that 25% of seabirds contained plastic fragments or pellets in their digestive tracts. The origin of the plastic most likely came from the ocean surface of the Pacific Ocean abundant with plastic pollution. This plastic pollution problem has grown steadily over the years and is not only apparent in Alaska, Hawaii, and also in a large portion of the Pacific Ocean now termed as a Plastic Vortex. The plastic back in 1980 was mostly of polyethylene which primarily comes from plastic bags and plastic bottles. The plastic is carried around the ocean via wind and ocean currents. If these pictures speak anything of meaning to you, I hope the message is clear. Do your part and pick up a piece of liter if you see some. Also, a great way to help out is by participating in local stream and river cleanups in your area.

This message is also being made to say that seabirds are not the only species affected here. Numerous species are affected, and something needs to be done to clean up the plastic vortex.

At least 267 species, including whales, fish, turtles, seals, sea lions and seabirds have ingested or become entangled in the debris, which has collected in an area between Hawaii and the west coast of the US. The plastic vortex is literally the size of Texas. Greenpeace also states that about 80% of the plastic comes from land and the other 20% from ships at sea.

The sad truth is that unless something is done to clean up this mess, many more marine life species will continue to die or face unnecessary trauma. The human way of life has taken a toll on the earth. The carelessness that humans have lived by for thousands of years can no longer sustain on this planet without serious consequences. Thanks for your support on this issue.

Pictures By: http://www.fishing.hourston.co.uk

Technorati Tags: global warming

New Homes in California will be Energy Self Reliant by 2020

This is something that I have been touting all along to everyone I have been conversing with over the issues of energy. I always asked myself why all new homes built couldn't already come with solar panels on the roofs, and why couldn't they come already installed with energy efficient appliances? Well California is taking a giant leap forward and truly is taking a leadership role in the efficient energy market.

California energy regulators adopted a new rule a few days ago mandating that all new homes built after 2020 will have to supply as much energy as it consumes. The concept is practical, logical, and by all means efficient. Is this idea so radical? Not in my minds, why haven't we started rules like these earlier in all the states? The reason is because we don't have a strong leadership role (a president who cares) in the federal government concerned enough about our environment and our energy consumption.

This new mandate will give construction builders incentives to think of new ways to attain the net zero energy rule. The innovation in California will lead to other states adopting the same rules and thus spreading their energy efficient ways. This is really exciting news for all of us, although I wish the net zero energy rule would be applied a lot sooner than by 2020. We have the technology to attain this goal and it would not take very much more but new building methods and construction methods such as passive solar heating and better insulation techniques to conserve the amount of energy consumed in the first place.

Technorati Tags: global warming

Will Al Gore Use the Nobel Peace Prize to run for President?

On October 12th 2007, Al Gore sent out a Press Release stating that he is deeply honored to receive the Noble Peace Prize. He also mentioned that he is donating 100% of the proceeds to Alliance for Climate Protection which is a bipartisan non profit organization dedicated to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world on climate change. The total amount of money for the prize is $1.4 million.

Many democratic activists are hopeful that the ex vice president will run for president in 2008 despite the fact that he has mentioned that he has no interest in doing so. These hopefuls are citing the fact that he hasn't ruled the possibility out by explicitly saying that he will not run. Personally, if the man says he isn't going to run, then I dont think he is going to run. There are too many democratic presidential candidates that are raising a lot of money in order to win the democratic primaries already. I think it may be too late for Al Gore to win even if he decided to join the race today.

"I will be doing everything I can to try to understand how to best use the honor and recognition of this award as a way of speeding up the change in awareness and the change in urgency," Gore said.

Some think that his recent recognition with winning the Nobel Peace Prize is enough to hurdle him past all the other current candidates. If Al Gore were to run, I don't think I would vote for him. However, a lot of democrats would. I would still probably go for John Edwards, I think he has a really great strategy for most of the issues that are most important to me. The point I am trying to make is that there are plenty of really good candidates already, and adding another is just going to confuse everyone who aren't quite sure on who they should pick.

There is even a website out called www.draftgore.com that is bound to pull a lot of support for Gore as president in 2008. This guy does have an enormous following, and sites like these will probably only continue to glorify him like a god. Don't get me wrong I think Al Gore is great and has definitely contributed to raising the environmental awareness all around the world, but the guy should have done more as vice president back when he had the chance.

I suppose we will all have to wait and see what truly happens. Either way, I know who I am voting for when it comes time for the election.




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BP Solar Decathlon

The BP Solar Decathlon is a parntered event by BP that has received 20 selected teams by the U.S. Department of Energy to work on this project. The teams are from various colleges and universities from around the world and will work together as teams competing in a competition to design and build the most energy efficient and aesthetically appealing home powered by solar energy. The event started this month and will be based off of 10 different contests for the overall winner. The homes will ultimately be transported to the national mall in Washington D.C. for viewing. The whole event is a great opportunity to showcase the young bright minds of new clean and renewable technology.

This is a great idea that could inspire many young and aspiring students for the new wave of alternative energy building methods and the new wave of green tech. For one, this is great PR for BP considering it got a lot of negative attention over its Oil Refinery in Whiting, Indiana. Now this could a chance for BP to regain its name as a "green" company that truly cares about the environment.

With BP fully supporting this competition, they have designated an on-site reporter to which the reporter and the teams can all post about the challenges of the event. The whole idea is to have the competition get media coverage through the internet as well as other means.

From an environmentalist point of view, this is a very good move for BP. It shows that it cares about the future of renewable energy and hopefully it convinces the many residents surrounding the Great lakes as well.

Geothermal Energy Production Ramp Up in California

California's Northern Bay Area is home to the largest geothermal energy producer in the country. Geothermal energy supplies about 5% of all of California's needs.

The rising costs of oil and growing concerns about global warming have led to new legislation in California that requires energy companies to produce a 20% renewable energy portfolio by 2010. This has many companies scrambling to find the most effective method in achieving the goal. Should they not meet the goal they face harsh fines.

The geothermal plants in Sonoma County has been producing the same amount of energy the past 47 years. But now geothermal is getting another good look at its potential. The geothermal fields that emit a foul stench of sulfur are highly under utilized.

Related Articles:

Wind Power and Bird Deaths

Wind Energy in the Caribbean

20% Wind Energy by 2030?

Studies have estimated that an additional 3,000 to 10,000 Megawatts of energy can be generated in California. With the state adding incentives for renewable energy as well, the prospect of geothermal energy production is getting ramped up. Many new plants are being considered and expansions at existing geothermal plants are already underway.

Its exciting to see the energy and media attention all of the renewable energy market has been getting lately. California's wind farms and geothermal plants and solar plants, and Oregon's Solar Power manufacturing ramp up, plus tidal wave projects all add up to a movement that will ultimately bring a positive future for all us.


Technorati Tags: geothermal, energy

Wind Power and Bird Deaths

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, they have constructed voluntary guidelines for wind developers to follow to try and minimize the risk associated with wind power and bird deaths. Although there is no way of knowing the exact amount of bird deaths attributed by wind power, the estimates are currently between 30,000 and 60,000 deaths a year. This number may sound astonishingly high, but when compared to the amount of deaths attributed to birds by skyscrapers or vehicles it is relatively low.

Related Articles:

Geothermal Energy Production Ramp Up in California

Wind Energy in the Caribbean

20% Wind Energy by 2030?

Currently, wind power generation only accounts for about 1%, roughly 3 million homes, of all the energy being generated in the US. I believe the greater concern here is that if renewable energy is mandated to increase to 20% over the years to help curb global warming, the number of bird deaths associated with wind power could increase 20 fold, to roughly 900,000 to 1.8 million deaths a year. This figure is far more damaging and should be taken a little more seriously. However, it is my position to not hinder the progress being made in renewable energy. Perhaps a new design can help alleviate the damage being done to these benign flying creatures.

With wind projects on the rise, it is absolutely paramount that we keep our environmental impact to a minimum. Letting a government agency regulate wind energy is the wrong way to go, the guidelines suffice. New and innovative projects are continuing to cut back on bird deaths by as much as half. For example, in California, the developers at Altamont Pass, FPL Energy (the largest wind energy company in the US), are going to implement fewer but more efficient wind turbines that are constructed taller and with larger blades that are higher than the direct flight path of the migratory birds that fly through.

This is exactly what we need in the US, more innovation and better efficiency with our renewable energy. If our renewable energy demand is going to increase over the years as it will, then our expectations for maximum efficiency with minimal environmental impact should also be high. We are on the road to converting our fossil fuel ways, and it will take a period of years to convert. This is the natural progress of our evolution, we as a society are finally growing mentally to higher grounds with more intelligence and more common sense. The Earth cannot continue to support its inhabitants without sustainability.

Technorati Tags: global warming, wind power, bird deaths

Environmental Impact of Disposable Diapers

Disposable Diaper Dilemma

The problem with disposable diapers, besides them being really expensive, is that they end up in landfills by the millions. These diapers take an estimated 500 years to decompose. Additionally, it takes up huge amounts of resources including wood pulp and plastic during their manufacturing.

Fact: Americans throw away enough disposable diaper each year to stretch from the moon and back at least seven times. -Julia Butterfly Hill

Another point of note, is that only a small fraction of parents wash out disposable diapers before they throw them away. This is a huge problem because that means that millions of tons of potentially virus-infected diapers end up in our dump sites. This can result in the potential for hundreds of different viruses that are associated with the human feces can seep into our groundwater.

Disposable Diaper Alternatives

The alternative to disposable diapers are using cloth diapers. They can be reused at least a hundred times and will decompose in a few months. If saving anywhere from $500-$2000 a year with each child from not using disposable diapers sounds like a good idea to you then please use cloth diapers instead.

There is also a biodegradable diaper available if you like the convenience of disposable diapers. It is called the gDiaper, and they are actually flushable down the toilet, you can either flush them down the toilet putting the poop where it belongs, or if you do throw it away, the diaper will decompose because it is made from organic ingredients. You could even put the diapers in your compost pile to return nutrients to your soil.


Technorati Tags: global warming