by Timlynn Babitsky
The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change set in 2055. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated world 45 years from now. He looks back at video footage from 2007 and asks: Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? (more…)
By Timlynn Babitsky
We hear a great deal about wind farm development and even more about off-shore wind projects, but what’s being done on the urban wind scene? Are there wind projects afoot that will change the urban landscape?
Back in the 1970s a small Jacobs windcharger was installed on a tenement roof in Bronx, New York. The Bronx project succeeded. It proved that rooftop generated electricity could be fed back into a utility’s network without destroying the network, the building, or the city. And then the project was dismantled. What is the status of urban wind development today? (more…)
By Timlynn Babitsky
With wind energy now such a broad topic of conversation, a number of places are looking to claim “best wind” bragging rights. Take Chicago for example. Widely known as The Windy City, locals there shiver, shake and proudly state how nearly continuously the wind off Lake Michigan blows briskly up and down their streets. As we take a deeper look at the state of urban wind energy today, is Chicago the best site for urban wind power development? (more…)
by Timlynn Babitsky
The wind energy industry is the fastest growing segment of renewable energy production. There is a great need and increasing demand for skilled wind energy related technicians. Right now in the US, there are jobs going unfilled. Community Colleges - mandated to respond quickly to changing demands in the job market – are scrambling to retrain Americans for the next wave of job opportunities. Are you ready for your new job? (more…)
by Timlynn Babitsky
Demand is growing nationwide for wind turbine technicians, technologists, engineers, and wind energy educators. How is this pressuring universities, colleges, community colleges and technical schools to prepare their students for this rising job skills demand? A small sample of the educational scramble to meet the demands of this new “industrial revolution” points to an area of exploding job growth. Are you ready? (more…)
by Timlynn Babitsky
The small wind turbine market is expected to grow by 18-20% through the next two years. When new tax incentives ($1,000 – $4,000 per system) go into effect in January ‘09, that growth will only accelerate. Between tax incentives, rising energy costs and increased environmental consciousness, residential and commercial scale wind turbine demand is already exploding. But until now, small wind systems have disappointed many. (more…)
by Timlynn Babitsky
Layoffs continue to mount, unemployment claims reach new highs, and all indicators are “consistent with a deep recession” in the American economy. Let’s stop focusing on what has been and now is gone. We need to gear up ASAP for what Tom Friedman calls “the next great industrial revolution” – ‘green jobs’ in the new energy technology revolution. (more…)
by Timlynn Babitsky
Foregoing daily towel and sheet changes have given travelers a way to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Offsetting the carbon footprint of your hotel stay has gotten even greener. Here’s a MD hotel example. (more…)
by Timlynn Babitsky
Tom Friedman’s latest book comes out today. In it he says that we need an “Earth race” with China, Europe, and Japan, to see who can create the technologies to make the Earth livable for man. New energy technology is the next great industrial revolution. (more…)
by Timlynn Babitsky
Tapping into the jet stream for unending, reliable wind power is no science fiction fantasy. Researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the US, and Italy are all flying kites to capture that power. And, Google invested $10m last year in US kite company, Makani Power. The higher you go, the better the wind, but can kites really capture wind power? (more…)