On the verge of a solar revolution?
It could be about to get a lot cheaper and easier to have solar panels in your home. Windows could be used as powerful solar panels thanks to a potentially world-changing new technology that focuses the sun’s rays using transparent dyes to capture, concentrate and redirect light along the surface of the glass to photovoltaic (PV) cells in the frame, which convert the light into electricity. There is a tenfold increase in power output compared to use of the PV cells on their own.
The technology could dramatically cut the cost of generating electricity from sunlight, making it much more competitive against conventional grid-supplied power. This is because the expensive PV cells only need to be installed at the sides of the panels, rather than across the whole surface. Less PV cells, less expense. Or so the theory goes.
tags: environment, solar energy, solar panelsToo much meat, too much nitrogen
The human race is responsible for too much nitrogen being produced, which threatens the environment in a number of different ways, all potentially devastating. The primary causes, according to this very interesting BBC article, are the overconsumption of meat and chemical fertilisers used in intensive farming.
Policies to reduce nitrates in water have banned wintertime spreading of farm manures across much of Europe’s farmland. The focus on springtime manure spreading has intensified peak ammonia emissions, giving a new threat to biodiversity and air quality. Most organic gardeners in the West, as yet unrestrained by this governmental stupidity, continue to be well aware that manure is best applied from October through to December. By doing so, its breakdown is much slower and emissions from its decay dramatically reduced when compared to applications from March onwards.
tags: carbon, composting, emissions, environment, global warming, intensive farming, manure, nitrogen, toxicity
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