Santa Clara County (in California) has mandated that new homes, and non-residential buildings be pre-wired to accommodate electric vehicle charging stations during their construction. This prevents owners from having to pay up to $2,000 to redo wiring in a building that has already been constructed. Pre-wiring for the chargers only costs up to $200. The…
The world is not yet accustomed to electric cars, therefore, they are still skittish about purchasing them. In response to this, some have been test driving the few electric cars on the market. Many of the tests are intended to show how long their range is in reality, but, they were not very realistic. Some…
Storm Emily is threatening north Ireland and northwest Scotland on the days leading up to Christmas. Donegal, northern Ulster, Hebrides, the western and northern mainland of the Highland region in Scotland are also at risk. Storm Emily is expected to approach with very strong winds to the first two regions mentioned, through tonight and early…
I have been using a Kill A Watt P4480 energy use monitor/timer to monitor energy usage and to do other things, for example, I used it to program the washing machine to start automatically at a specified time. I also used it to program my mobile device chargers to charge for a few hours, then…
Toyota has licensed wireless charging technology for electric vehicles from WiTricity. Wireless charging technology is usually touted because of the fact that owners don’t have to plug their cars in themselves. This is a very minor benefit compared to what these charging stations can offer. Capabilities and Benefits of Wireless Charging Technology Wireless charging stations…
People have been debating the V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) concept (which involves using electric vehicle batteries to provide backup power to electricity grids) for some time now. However, it hasn’t yet come to fruition. Nissan tested a more decentralized way to use electric vehicle batteries at their Advanced Technology Center in Atsugi City, Japan. They used Nissan…
Water has always been a necessity as our bodies cannot survive without hydration, plus the rest of the ecosystem relies on it for that, and other reasons. Over the past century, energy has evolved from merely a convenient light source to an integral part of the global economy and it helps to sustain us by…
In large parts of Britain, a yellow warning for wind has been issued (this was on Thursday), as a cold front approaches. Cold winds could attain speeds of 70 MPH and disrupt travel, especially in Northern England, according to the Met Office. Temperatures below the average for this month are expected across the country throughout…
In Scotland, the development of offshore wind as been slowing down due to the high cost of installing wind turbines into the sea floor. However, the concept of floating wind turbines may resolve this issue, as it was discovered that North Sea offshore oil and gas platforms are much cheaper to float than install in…
In the northern region of New South Wales, Australia, a tornado wreaked havoc, and destroyed at least one house. A local resident saw it uproot trees and destroy his 70-year-old neighbour’s house. Fortunately, she was uninjured. The resident, Alexander Martin said that he suddenly heard a loud roaring, and that the tornado ‘ran out of…
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, England, has decided to use distribute waste heat from subway tunnels and electrical substations to homes in London (a form of district heating). Benefits of this include reduced heating costs for these homes by enabling residents to turn their heaters down or off. According to the executive member of…
In Southern Ontario, Old Man Winter decided to wake up early, and on the wrong side of the bed. On Saturday, it caused heavy precipitation in the form of snow, which was severe enough to make vehicles ‘disappear’ into snow within seconds of driving into the storm. From what I saw in the CTV video, there…