Green

Environmentally friendly, green ways of living

There are 363 posts filed in Green (this is page 14 of 37).

Solar tax credits safe … for now

Kelly and I were concerned that the current shenanigans in the North Carolina General Assembly might put the kibosh on our claiming tax credits for our impending solar PV installation. Southern Energy suggested we reach out to Randy Lucas of Lucas Tax and Energy for his take.

Randy responded with this:

I can say as a licensed CPA with 20 years of tax experience, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the NC Sustainable Energy Association, despite the current activities in the NCGA, it is highly unlikely that any potential changes to the NC renewable energy investment tax credit would have any impact on any activity/transactions made by NC -based taxpayers in calendar year 2013. It would be unprecedented for the tax laws to change within the active tax year and would cause an administrative catastrophe for the NC Dept of Revenue to carryout the tax law change mid-year. That said, if you are making a purchase of renewable energy property in 2013, and have plans/intent to complete the install in 2013, you should be safe to claim both the Federal (30%) and North Carolina (35%) investment tax credits on your 2013 income tax return.
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Cheaper green energy storage solution invented by Calgary profs – Technology & Science – CBC News

Great news on the renewable energy front. I hope this works out!

A new discovery by a pair of University of Calgary chemists could make the large-scale use of wind and solar energy more feasible.

Curtis Berlinguette and Simon Trudel have invented an environmentally friendly, highly customizable way to make a key component in a process that stores electricity by turning water into hydrogen fuel — at a price they say is roughly 1,000 times cheaper than current methods for making that component.

via Cheaper green energy storage solution invented by Calgary profs – Technology & Science – CBC News.

Solar Roadways

Remember last year when I wondered when someone would start building roads made of solar panels that generated electricity? I found out today that someone actually is doing this. Pretty cool!

Years ago, when the phrase “Global Warming” began gaining popularity, we started batting around the idea of replacing asphalt and concrete surfaces with solar panels that could be driven upon. We thought of the “black box” on airplanes: We didn’t know what material that black box was made of, but it seemed to be able to protect sensitive electronics from the worst of airline crashes.

Suppose we made a section of road out of this material and housed solar cells to collect energy, which could pay for the cost of the panel, thereby creating a road that would pay for itself over time. What if we added LEDs to “paint” the road lines from beneath, lighting up the road for safer night time driving? What if we added a heating element in the surface (like the defrosting wire in the rear window of our cars) to prevent snow/ice accumulation in northern climates? The ideas and possibilities just continued to roll in and the Solar Roadway project was born.

via Solar Roadways – Introduction.

Going solar!

We are in the process of getting solar PV panels put on our roof, generating our own electricity from the sun. I believe June is the target date for completion. Local solar firm Southern Energy Management is doing the install, which will set us up with a 4kW grid-tie system. It’s not enough to cover all of our electricity needs but considering the shade still on our afternoon rooftop it’s not too bad. We can always cut down a tree or two in the future should we want to boost this output, but that wouldn’t necessarily be green, would it?
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LED bulbs: a bright idea

The three or four regular MT.Net readers know of my long history of griping about CFL bulbs. I’m a greenie, don’t get me wrong, but aside from the handful of CFL bulbs I bought when they were first introduced in the market the CFLs I’ve had have fizzled depressingly quickly. The culprit? Cheap electronics.

Imagine my surprise today when I was wandering through Costco and saw an end-cap stacked with LED bulbs on sale. These bulbs are normally $15 apiece but a manufacturer’s instant rebate knocks them down to under $5! What’s more, this rebate runs through the rest of 2013!
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Duke rate increase public hearing

Duke Energy will be going before the N.C. Utilities Commission (while it still exists) to argue for an almost 10% increase in their rates. This comes on the heels of Duke’s announcement that it’s closing its crippled Crystal River nuclear plant.

If you’d like to weigh in on this proposed rate increase, you can speak during the hearing. It will be held on Monday, February 11, 2013 at 7:00 pm before the NC Utilities Commission. The Commission meets in the Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh.

Bike lanes or parking places?

The family and I had a very active day yesterday, taking advantage of the balmy (if cloudy) 75 degree weather. First I met my brother for a run around Shelley Lake. After that, the family and I did some biking along the Crabtree Creek Greenway. After a quick lunch, we took some of the kids’ friends with us to Buffalo Road Aquatic Center for a swim. I call it a triathlon, though Kelly insists that it’s not.

There is a sewer line replacement project taking place along the greenway and, as a result, we had to detour onto Anderson Drive to get around the construction. Upon reaching Anderson Drive, I was dismayed to see there were no sidewalks but a bike lane instead. That would’ve been fine but there were a number of cars parked along the street, sending my family and me out into traffic to get around them.
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SolarIndustryMag.com: Costs Of Solar Energy Dropping

For all the right’s whining about Solyndra, the dropping price of solar materials is good news to most everyone else.

I’m thinking it might be time to get another quote for panels on our home.

The installed price of solar photovoltaic power systems in the U.S. fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost-tracking report produced by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The median installed price of residential and commercial PV systems completed in 2011 fell by roughly 11% to 14% from the year before, depending on system size. In California, prices fell by an additional 3% to 7% within the first six months of 2012.

These recent installed price reductions are attributable, in large part, to dramatic reductions in PV module prices, which have been falling precipitously since 2008, according to Berkeley Lab.

via SolarIndustryMag.com: Costs Of Solar Energy Rapidly Declining Throughout U.S. Market.

Sidewalks

The sidewalks along Frank Street across from Conn Elementary don’t reach to Brookside Drive. Being the civic geek that I am, I thought I would petition the City of Raleigh to put one in.

It looked like a slam dunk to me: the city will install sidewalks and pay for them provided the affected property owners agree. There’s been a well-worn “goat trail” from the Brookside crosswalk to the corner of Frank and Norris from years of kids coming and going to school. The city owns 75% of the affected property, with only one private property owner to deal with.

Therein lies my problem. The city may own most of the property affected but it doesn’t take a position on these projects. Thus it doesn’t count towards the petition. That means instead of getting the normal 75% of property owners to agree, I have to get 100% of one property owner to agree.
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