There is much more to renewable energy than saving fossil fuels and improving carbon emissions. Because water and energy are closely connected, technologies like wind and solar power, digester-gas-to-energy, and geothermal heating and cooling also help make optimal use of increasingly stressed water resources.
On March 18 and 19, 2009, Sandia National Laboratories
and the University of California San Diego
Sustainability Solutions Institute brought together 27 leaders from academia, government,
and the private sector to discuss key energy
policy issues and proposed values- and outcomes-based
approaches to energy policy. The goal of the
workshop was to bring together leaders from diverse
backgrounds to identify promising areas for energy
policy, based on the understanding of intersecting
issues, assumptions, and priorities from the national
security, economic, and environmental perspectives.
Solar thermal energy appears poised for a renaissance in the
United States, as the Obama Administration presses forward with
its green energy agenda. But the revival could be short-lived unless
solar hot systems are maintained properly.
Prefurbia is a neighborhood planning method that produces organically designed, low environmental-impact neighborhoods through varied streetscapes, more public/private spaces, and better pedestrian connectivity.
Today climate change, greenhouses gases (GHG) and global warming are front page issues the world over. The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify taking prompt action. As a result, and for environmental, ethical and economic reasons, governments, businesses and individuals are responding to this challenge by attempting to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally.