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Congress Approves Renewable Energy Grants for Another Year
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| As Congress approved the Obama-McConnell tax deal, they also signed off on extending the 1603 Treasury Grant Program, a government incentive program for renewable energy projects, reports the Los Angles Times. The program covers up to 30 percent of the installation costs of solar, wind or other renewable, sustainable energy sources.
Also in the world of renewable energy, Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Department of Energy Chief Steven Chu have announced the release of a new study that identifies huge tracts of public land in the West that would be ideal for solar energy projects.
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White Roofs Bring Cool Savings
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| White roofs, aka cool roofs, are a “hot” topic these days as a means to help stem global warming. Most of us know better than to wear black on a hot day, but when it comes to the roofs on our houses, temperature often takes a back seat to aesthetics?. Dark roofs mean higher air conditioning bills, and higher carbon dioxide emissions as a result. The good news is you can save money and help protect the planet by lightening the color (and therefore the temperature) of your roof, or by switching to a white roof the next time your house needs a new hat.
White roofs, aka cool roofs, are a “hot” topic these days as a means to help stem global warming. Most of us know better than to wear black on a hot day, but when it comes to the roofs on our houses, temperature often takes a back seat to aesthetics?. Dark roofs mean higher air conditioning bills, and higher carbon dioxide emissions as a result. The good news is you can save money and help protect the planet by lightening the color (and therefore the temperature) of your roof, or by switching to a white roof the next time your house needs a new hat.
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‘Heck of a good return’ to be made from solar photovoltaic systems
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Ontario’s feed-in-tariff program – which offers stable prices under long-term contracts for energy generated from renewable sources – represents an opportunity that commercial building owners should not pass up.
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Green roofs offer antidote to urban heat island effect, say researchers
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| Researchers at Columbia University have demonstrated that a layer of plants and earth can cut the rate of heat absorption through the roof of a building in summer by 84%
Green roofs, like the one pictured above, benefit more than just their owners, according to Stuart Gaffin, a researcher at Columbia University. "They are a win-win on so many fronts," he said.
Perhaps the greatest overall benefit of green roofs comes in tackling the "urban heat island" effect, which Gaffin suggests is responsible for two-thirds of New York's localized warming over the last century. The conventional black rooftops that he calls "tar beaches" are major contributors to this phenomenon, absorbing and re-radiating the sun's energy as heat. "We're going to want to cool regional climate down, especially where people are living," Gaffin noted. "So we're going to have to confront the urban heat island effect."
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