Free Republic

Colorado has long drawn on its high-altitude sunshine and wintry winds for energy. Now Gov. Jared Polis (D) is determined to tap into another renewable resource: one simmering under the Centennial State’s surface. “The low-cost workhorses of the clean energy economy will always be solar and wind energy, especially in places like Colorado that have great wind and great sun,” Polis told The Hill in a Zoom interview this week. But as states strive to cut down on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, they are left with an incomplete solution to the energy transition puzzle and need to...

Nik Wallenda says he’s like a kid on Christmas morning, about to live a dream he’s had since he was six years old, when he first visited Niagara Falls and decided he wanted to walk across it. Now he’s about to attempt it for real, crossing the Falls on a specially-installed 1,800 foot, 2-inch steel cable for a live television special Friday night. “I’ve done walks higher, I’ve done walks longer, but none will compare to this,” he says. Wallenda has been wire walking almost since he took his first baby steps.as a child. He comes from seven generations of...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-national-broadband-plan Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release March 16, 2010 Statement from the President on the National Broadband Plan America today is on the verge of a broadband-driven Internet era that will unleash innovation, create new jobs and industries, provide consumers with new powerful sources of information, enhance American safety and security, and connect communities in ways that strengthen our democracy. Just as past generations of Americans met the great infrastructure challenges of the day, such as building the Transcontinental...

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho is hoping to capitalize on more than just the milk emerging from its cows. The state's mountains of manure are fueling dreams of pipelines linking waste treatment facilities at dairies large and small to central refineries that produce natural gas pure enough for homes or cars. State energy czar Paul Kjellander, who heads up Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's Office of Energy Resources, is pushing a package

Researchers work to shrink technology that harnesses sun's energy to both heat and coolEvery day, the sun bathes the planet in energy--free of charge--yet few systems can take advantage of that source for both heating and cooling. Now, researchers are making progress on a thin-film technology that adheres both solar cells and heat pumps onto surfaces, ultimately turning walls, windows, and maybe even soda bottles into climate control systems. On July 12, 2006, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) researcher Steven Van Dessel and his colleagues will announce their most recent progress--including a computer model to help them simulate the climate within...

The first commercial subsea power station to harness the tidal currents of the sea was hooked up to an electricity grid on Saturday. The rise and fall of the sea, caused by the moon's gravitational tug on the Earth, could be generating electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes within five years if the new Norwegian power station proves successful. The power station, which resembles an underwater windmill, began generating electricity for the town of Hammerfest. Although still largely a prototype, the generator is the first in the world to harness the power of the sea and be connected to...

The prospect of a new generation of devices that harness the spin of electrons has moved closer following a recent experiment in the US. Min Ouyang and David Awschalom of the University of California at Santa Barbara have transferred electron spins across molecular 'bridges' between quantum dots for the first time. Even better, the pair found that they could transfer the spins most effectively at room temperature (M Ouyang and D Awschalom 2003 Sciencexpress 1086963). Conventional electronic devices manipulate the flow of electronic charge, but spintronic devices would also exploit the intrinsic angular momentum or spin of electrons. Several proposals...