The sky is not falling, but it is shrinking
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
Scientists have discovered yet another enigma about our planet: the thermosphere has undergone serious shrinkage. The thermosphere is the largest portion of the Earth’s atmosphere and is the next-to-last region before you reach the vacuum of outer space. The fact that it has contracted is not surprising; the thermosphere absorbs extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons from the sun and warms and cools—expanding and contracting—in a pattern that follows the 11-year solar cycle. While we are coming out of one of the longer periods of low solar activity in a century, scientists have found that the thermosphere has shrunk some 28 percent....
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
Obama’s Solar Energy Fantasy
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
In true postmodern fashion, objective facts have vanished in the mist of a progressive wish. Obama has now committed $2 billion more of the taxpayers’ money to pursue his solar energy fantasy: Abound Solar is supposed to create 1,500 “permanent” jobs, while Abengoa Solar is promising just 85 “permanent” jobs, according to the Department of Energy fact sheet, at its plant in Arizona. Add another 3,600 construction jobs, which will disappear after the three plants are built, and the cost per job created still amounts to $386,000 — which is more than seven times the median household income in this country....
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
Space Weather Turns into an International Problem
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
Sometimes a problem is so big, one country cannot handle it alone. That's the message scientists are delivering at today's International Living with a Star (ILWS) meeting in Bremen, Germany, and representatives from more than 25 of the world's most technologically-advanced nations have gathered to hear what they have to say. "The problem is solar storms—figuring out how to predict them and stay safe from their effects," says ILWS Chairperson Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters. "We need to make progress on this before the next solar maximum arrives around 2013." The sun and Earth are separated by 93 million miles...
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
Solar drone stays aloft for record 7 days: company
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
An ultra-light unmanned aircraft powered by solar energy and designed for military surveillance and other uses has stayed in the air a record seven days, its manufacturer said Friday. The British-based firm QinetiQ said its 22.5 meter (74-foot) long Zephyr, weighing just 50 kilos (110 pounds), continued to fly over a US military testing ground in Arizona, and could stay aloft for another week. The flight doubled the unofficial world record for the longest duration unmanned flight of 82 hours by the same aircraft in 2008. Zephyr's records will not become official until the aircraft is back on the ground....
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
Spain overtakes US with world's biggest solar power station (output of a nuclear power station)
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
Spain has opened the world's largest solar power station, meaning that it overtakes the US as the biggest solar generator in the world. The nation's total solar power production is now equivalent to the output of a nuclear power station. Spain is a world leader in renewable energies and has long been a producer of hydro-electricity (only China and the US have built more dams). It also has a highly developed wind power sector which, like solar power, has received generous government subsidies. The new La Florida solar plant takes Spain's solar output to 432MW, which compares with the US...
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
Our Tough-Luck President (taxpayers may lose $390 million on solar power loan guarantees)
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
... You've never heard of Solyndra? That's strange, because it was supposed to be the cornerstone of Obama's vaunted green-energy future, but now is a king-size political embarrassment. Solyndra, recipient of a $535 million Department of Energy loan guarantee, last month cancelled a $300 million initial public offering because auditor PricewaterhouseCoooper said its operating losses and negative cash flow raise doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern. Ouch! It gets worse for Obama. When he toured Solyndra's Fremont, Calif., factory in May, he gushed that the company was "leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous...
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
Solar plane lands after completing 24-hour flight
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
An experimental solar-powered plane completed its first 24-hour test flight successfully Thursday, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night. The test brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun. Pilot Andre Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse out of the clear blue morning sky onto the runway at Payerne airfield about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of the Swiss capital Bern at exactly 9 a.m. (0700 GMT; 3 a.m. EDT). Helpers rushed to stabilize the pioneering plane...
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
$2 billion For 1600 Jobs: Let The Sunshine In
Posted by admin / Under Solar Power
Your money at sort-of work. Obama awards $2B for solar power, hails new jobs WASHINGTON – The government is handing out nearly $2 billion for new solar plants that President Barack Obama says will create thousands of jobs and increase the use of renewable energy sources. Obama announced the initiative in his weekly radio and online address Saturday, saying the money is part of his plan to bring new industries to the U.S. The thing that immediately leaps to the front of one's mind- if this is such a great investment, why is the government investing as opposed to...
Published on Thursday 29th of July 2010 05:09:32 PM
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