Energy Collective Exclusive posts, articles, and infographics

Audio Archive: The Future of Oil & Gas: Exploring New Innovation in Old-Fashioned Energy

February 3, 2012 by Henry Spethmann
with 226 views

While renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biofuels experience unprecedented levels of growth and attention, such projections seem to confirm that these fossil fuels will make up large parts of our energy mix for quite some time to come.With that in mind, it's important to ask: What significant innovations, if any, are... [read more]

Industrial energy efficiency for sustainable wealth creation

January 27, 2012 by Charles Arthur
with 265 views

A recently published report by the UN Industrial Development Organization addresses the role of industrial energy efficiency in sustainable industrial development. [read more]

Are Hybrid Ribbons the Future of Renewables?

January 24, 2012 by George Green
with 404 views

Weather based renewables tend to be, by their nature, unpredictable. Your solar panel works most efficiently when there are clear skies and no clouds, while wind power clearly needs wind. Anything based on rain requires a good downpour. This means that, although you can store energy in batteries for later, these renewables are... [read more]

Community Power Gains Momentum

July 11, 2011 by Rosana Francescato
with 658 views

You may or may not have noticed, but a grassroots movement in community power is picking up speed around the country. What's community power, you may ask, and why does it matter?The community power movement aims to decentralize electricity generation, which provides benefits to communities beyond local, clean, and more... [read more]

Ok Computer: IT Waste Heat Warms Workers' Showers

June 17, 2011 by Helmuth Ziegler
with 404 views

The garbage men of the city of Hamburg/Germany are showering with water that is heated by the waste heat of a server room. The key to this ecologically and economically favorable solution is a large heat accumulator with a volume of 30,000 liters. Stadtreinigung Hamburg (SRH) is the company responsible for the waste collection and the... [read more]

Lighting, Sensors and Lumens, Oh My

June 7, 2011 by Scott Edward Anderson
with 549 views

From poor lighting in the Hilton's Trianon Room to the endless parade of LED products on display in the Exhibit Hall lighting was the word at Con Ed's Energy Efficiency Summit in New York on Wednesday. Mike Jackson, director of sales with VC-backed Digital Lumens, even brought along a prop for his presentation in the Pitch Stop, Con... [read more]

German Nuclear Power Politics: A Political Football

June 7, 2011 by David Lewis
with 1,222 views

Image source: Wikipedia:Public domain

"We believe that we can show those countries who decide to abandon nuclear power — or not to start using it — how it is possible to achieve growth, creating jobs and economic prosperity while shifting the energy supply toward renewable energies." I presume Chancellor Angela Merkel made this sound as if she was sincere, as she... [read more]

Why We're Here: Day Two at AWEA Wind Power 2011

May 25, 2011 by Alex Trembath
with 491 views

Picking up from where we left off yesterday, WindPower 2011 revved into gear early this morning in Anaheim, California. Kicking off the official start of this week's conference, the CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Denise Bode, rode onto the main stage of the convention center arena on a custom motorcycle... [read more]

How Walnuts WIll Make Offshore Oil Drilling More Efficient

May 14, 2011 by John Sealander
with 643 views

One of the most interesting things I discovered while wandering through the multitude of exhibits at last week’s Offshore Technology Conference in Houston was that walnuts have a natural affinity for oil. The same English Black Walnuts that we routinely crack and eat can be ground up and used to safely and efficiently clean up... [read more]

Why We Must Still Innovate Around ALL Forms of Energy Supplies

May 13, 2011 by Uwe Schuetz
with 257 views

Today, to ensure reliable, ecological and affordable energy supplies exist globally, the entire energy chain must be optimized - from the production and transport of oil and gas to the various types of power generation, transmission and distribution. This means we must look at all the ingredients of the energy mix... [read more]

Audio Archive: Smarter Grid, Better Demand Response

May 9, 2011 by TheEnergyCollective Admin
with 697 views

Featuring:Patty Durand is the Executive Director for the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, a consumer focused non-profit aiming to promote the understanding and benefits of modernized electrical systems. Pattyhas previously conducted smart grid research at Georgia Institute of Technology, and served as the State Director for the... [read more]

How Subsea Power Grids Bring Problem Oil Fields Back To Life

May 6, 2011 by John Sealander
with 568 views

The days of easy oil are over for everybody. Increasingly, producers are facing the challenges of recovering oil and gas from depleted or dispersed fields. To make things even more challenging, many new offshore reservoirs are more than 3000 meters below the surface. How do you process this oil when it is so difficult to reach?... [read more]

Smart Grid: Getting (Even More) Heated

May 1, 2011 by Anto Budiardjo
with 527 views

Photo by Onatos.

Very few would contest the potential benefits of Smart Grid, but the topic has always been a little … heated. Why? Perhaps the number of stakeholders involved -- surely, any time you sit consumers, policymakers, utilities, technologists, and environmentalists at the same table, you’re bound to get some friction.Very few initiatives... [read more]

Moving Demand Response Forward

April 28, 2011 by Sachin Gupta
with 703 views

Topics like "Smart Grid" and "smart meters" have practically become cocktail party conversation, but "demand response" can evoke spirited debate as well.“Demand response” is a topic that piques my interest. As a national business development manager for Siemens Energy, I work closely with utilities all over the United States facilitating... [read more]

Interview: Siemens CTO on Building Energy-Efficient Cities

April 6, 2011 by Helmuth Ziegler
with 586 views

Siemens Energy CTO Dr. Michael Weinhold

At Hanover Fair I met Dr. Michael Weinhold, chief technology officer of Siemens Energy. Here are his thoughts on how to make cities more energy-efficient. [read more]