Sunshine for India

India has a large solar energy potential. According to Reuters, in July 2009, India had unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20 gw of solar power by 2020. According to this plan, the use of solar power will become mandatory in all government buildings, hospitals and hotels.

T Muneer and colleagues in an article published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews say the daily average solar energy incident on our country varies between four and seven kWh/m2 with about 1,500-2,000 sunshine hours per year. This amount of solar energy is far more than the current domestic total energy consumption and even with a low 10 per cent efficiency of solar cells would still be greater than the domestic electricity demand projected in 2015.

Transparent Solar Cell

UCLA researchers have developed a new see-through solar cell for windows that generate electricity. According to the researchers, it is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. In other words, these transparent solar cells could one day be used to build solar windows or even sun collecting smartphones.

                The UCLA team says that the new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells almost 70 per cent transparent to the human eye. They made the device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biofuels

          The world is getting warmer and the price of oil continues to rise. Fortunately, there are several different important methods and innovative resources that are now being taken advantage of that are helping to address these very important issues. Among the top things that we are doing to address these important issues is biofuel. However, as the different types of biofuels that are now in production and development are still relatively new to the market, there is still a good degree of debate as to the overall efficiency, effectiveness and safety of biofuels. Keep reading for an overview on the advantages and disadvantages of biofuels.

Recycling

Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. Collecting used bottles, cans, and newspapers and taking them to the curb or to a collection facility is just the first in a series of steps that generates a host of financial, environmental, and social returns. Some of these benefits accrue locally as well as globally.