Researchers report new thermoelectric material with high power factors Phys, November 14, 2016 Researchers reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they have demonstrated a step forward in converting waste heat – from industrial smokestacks, power generating plants or even automobile tailpipes – into electricity. The work, using a thermoelectric compound composed of … Read more
How to Be Energy Efficient in Your Kitchen this Thanksgiving DOE, November, 23, 2011 Many of us will be thankful for a delicious home cooked dinner this Thursday. But did you know that cooking accounts for 4.5% of total energy use in U.S. homes? And that figure doesn’t include the energy associated with refrigeration, hot water heating, … Read more
Lisa Markowski, ERS, for Zondits Two Roads Brewing Co. is expanding its Stratford, Connecticut, operation with a focus on energy efficiency. The craft brewery has purchased 2.5 acres adjacent to its campus to build a separate facility for production of fruit-based sours and barrel-aged beverages without risk of cross-contamination. Construction of the 25,000-square-foot facility is … Read more
Katie Robinson, ERS, for Zondits The Girl Scouts of Northern California teamed up with Stanford University to create Girls Learning Environment and Energy (GLEE), a program that teaches energy conservation and environmental leadership through four- or five-week courses with Girl Scout troops. Right now they offer two GLEE courses: Home Energy, which focuses on ways … Read more
Walter Schaefer, ERS, for Zondits Data centers are great. The servers they contain do much of the computational heavy lifting that makes our smartphones so powerful, allows us to stay connected to email and social media from seemingly anywhere, and facilitates endless Netflix binge-watching. Yet despite all of the wonderful things data centers do for … Read more
High times: Vertical farming is on the rise — but can it save the planet? Salon, September 25, 2016 Farming as we know it is failing. Mom-and-pop operations are struggling to survive and Big Ag cares far more about its bottom line than about your health, or the health of the planet. Ecologists, anti-GMO activists, even … Read more
Gita Subramony, ERS, for Zondits The discussion on distributed and clean energy often focuses on societies or groups of people who have access to electricity but are hoping for cleaner alternatives. But what about the 1.2 billion people in the world who do not have reliable or consistent access to electricity? How do we address … Read more
Amanda Gassé, ERS, for Zondits There is an extremely powerful dynamic that has shifted the commercial and cultural relationships in our economy. Technology has, and continues to, enable trust between strangers and is changing the way consumers do business, both locally and globally. By engaging in collaborative consumption in marketplaces, like Airbnb and Etsy, we are … Read more
GM Plants Recognized for Increased Energy Efficiency Reliable Planet Sixteen General Motors (GM) facilities recently earned recognition for their continued efforts to increase energy efficiency. GM’s Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan and Fort Wayne assembly plant in Indiana earned an Energy Star certification for superior energy performance. The certification signifies that these plants are … Read more
Manuel A. Fontan, ERS, for Zondits Steam has an important role in our everyday lives, although we don’t always realize all that it’s doing for us. It can be found virtually in any industry or technology that requires heat, moisture, sterilization, and other crucial processes. Steam can be used to heat the water in our … Read more