1. With Energy in Focus, Heat Pumps Win Fans:
The business for ground-source heat pumps is so hot that when some people driving in and around Seattle see Gerard Maloney's EarthHeat van, with the company's phone number on the side, they call from their cellphones. "Really, we have people doing this," Mr. Maloney said.Like other energy alternatives, ground-source heat pumps have won new admirers as energy costs have skyrocketed.
The pumps, also called geothermal heat pumps, use the relatively constant temperature just below the earth's surface - six feet below, in many cases - to draw warm air into a building in winter and remove warm air in summer. Advocates say the systems can save building owners 25 percent to 65 percent on energy costs while reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
I've always wanted one of these systems...maybe now is the time.
2. Two Large Solar Plants Planned in California:
Two California companies said Thursday that they would each build solar power plants that were 10 times bigger than the largest now in service, creating the first true utility-scale use of a technology now mostly confined to rooftop supplements to conventional power supplies.The solar power will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric, which is under a state mandate to get 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010...
The key phrase: "which is under a state mandate." Also, later in the same article: "such developments are only possible in states that have ambitious quotas for renewable power..." Of course, that would be far too logical for Virginia to do, especially when Dominion Power ("global warming starts here") is busy planning a huge bash in honor of our governor. Ugh.
or instead of drilling off the coast of Virginia, why not construct some Wind Power Farms...yeesh, THAT might lower fuel prices too. hrmph