News
Power the whole world with solar power?
Written by Olivier Adam on Sunday, 27 September 2009 09:09
Granted there are a lot of impracticalities with this idea, but it is an interesting thought exercise. What if we could power the whole world only with solar energy, how much space would that take? Our friends at the Information is Beautiful site have done a little research on how much energy is required now (and in 2030) to power the whole planet (assuming no carbon emission) and what space it would take. They also assumed that the solar panels would be located in well lit areas of the world and tried to spread them to cover the energy need of the different part of the world too.
Solar panels on your car shelter
Written by Olivier Adam on Wednesday, 20 May 2009 14:12
In some countries in the world, the sun shines enough to see some good benefits from solar panels. Normally, solar panels are installed on the roof of the house which can feed some quite interesting energy savings all year long. The problem is that sometimes, the roof orientation is not optimal to capture the most solar energy. Also, some roofs are made of materials that are not appropriate to install solar panels like clay roofing tiles. A French company came up with a car shelter with solar panels on the top. This makes it very easy to deploy and offer some benefits in addition of providing free, clean energy. Savings can be up to 2000 euros ($2700 US) if the shelter is deployed in a sunny area.
City 2.0 - A new concept
Written by Olivier Adam on Saturday, 16 May 2009 07:53
A new concept is making its way; after Web 2.0, we are now talking about City 2.0. This concept is actually regrouping multiple technologies like:
- Smart Grid (Two way communications between the users and the production facilities of energy so we can produce just the exact amount at any given time. Appliances and other energy consuming devices would know as well the optimal period in the day during which to operate to minimize the impact on the grid)
- Social Networking for Cities (Give the community a chance to discuss on ideas for the city and let the mayor and his team communicate more openly with the citizens)
- Citywide wireless coverage (be it either WiFi or WiMax, there are projects in development like this all over the world)
This is a well thought concept that encompass many of the popular technologies being deployed these days in cities, most often time as test projects and hopefully soon as full deployment.
- Sustainable data centers (Connect all the city services together, reducing waste and optimizing their efficiency)
- Cloud-Computing (to connect all those ideas together)