Posts tagged as:

renewable sources

Los Angeles Lays Out Largest Solar Plan In The Country

by David Heyerman on November 24, 2008

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  • Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, gave a speech this afternoon at Solar Integrated Technologies, in South LA, to announce his plans to deliver solar energy to the city.
  • The plan, supposedly, will supply 10% of LA energy needs by 2020 coming from a network of thin film solar panels owned by the city, as well as residences and businesses.
  • The mayor explained that the plan includes incentives and low-interest loans for residences and businesses interested in installations.
  • As of now, 8% of LA’s energy comes from renewable sources, up from 3% in 2005.  Looks like Moore’s law doesn’t exactly apply to energy production and monopolistic organizations.

LAist, Earth2Tech

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10 Years: 100% Clean Energy, Says Al Gore

by David Heyerman on November 12, 2008

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  • Al Gore recently utilized the New York Times’ op-ed portion to promote his lofty goal of 100% clean energy from renewable sources in a decade.
  • The plan he lays out describes 5 steps that the US must take to achieve this goal.  Here’s the tiny version:
  1. Constructing wind, solar thermal, and geothermal power plants through federal incentives.
  2. Construct a national smart grid of renewable energy.
  3. Help out Detroit and other struggling clean-tech vehicle startups.
  4. National effort to retrofit buildings with energy efficient windows, lighting, and insulation
  5. Make more effective/replace Kyoto treaty with one that caps global carbon emissions and inspires world nations to reduce global warming at quicker pace.

Obviously this is an immensely difficult task.  People are already speaking out about how crazy he is to think it’s a possibility.  I personally think that Al Gore knows it’s not possible, but grasps the fact that he must be an extremist in the green/cleantech sense to get things moving along as fast as possible.  I applaud Gore for presenting a challenge like this.  Nothing gets done unless action is taken.  What are your thoughts on the proposal.

Earth2Tech, NYT, WCSI, CTB

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