I'm proud to say that 252 megawatts of that new power was developed, constructed, and is managed by my company. In case you're curious, that's enough energy for about 100,000 homes annually.
Wait, this can't be true! We became #1 in Wind Power production while Dubyah was in office! But, that's not right! Awwww people of Sherwood Forest we've been had, bamboozled, flimflammed... We didn't land on wind power, wind power landed on us.
This is great news! Obama is going to DOUBLE the production of renewables...so in the next few years it's going to be very promising, slowly releasing our thirst for oil.
I just can't wait for a time when electricity and clean energy are rife, clean air....mmmmmm. Knowing that using energy is not damaging anything, so i can use things without any 'guilt'.....twenty years from now the world will be a very different place, especially when considering China is making HUGE efforts to come out of the recession in a 'green' way
@Luke Thornton: People keep talking about reducing the thirst for oil, but there really aren't enough electric powered vehicles on the market to do this, or even coming to market in the next 4 years.
Most plants are coal or natural gas powered in the US. Not OIL powered anyway.
I think you mean cleaner energy sources here. It's going to be a LONG time until we're really off of oil.
But, what about the noise pollution from windmills? Or, you know, the fact that they kill birds? Even wind power isn't perfect here.
I'm glad we're pursuing alternative fuel sources, but I can tell you that ethanol is a sham and yet another way to starve poor people.
@Lite: must go faster.: OK, seriously. If a bird can't spot a whirling 150 foot blade, perhaps it's good we eliminate that bird. It seems that's the kind of bird who would ignore a plane flying at it until it gets sucked into the engine.
I just saw our governor giving some line about how she's going to set it up so that everyone in Michigan can sell solar power back to the power companies. And I though to myself...so what will we do the other nine months of the year?
@Lite: shops smart. He shops at S-Mart.: In Michigan, we have these things called "clouds". That and the blanket of snow that's likely to be covering the solar panels during the winter months means that solar panels are pretty much just a fancy way to dress up your roof for most of the year. I understand the whole thing with being able to sell excess home-generated power back to the company (and indeed, I didn't think it required a new law for that to work). It's just that solar power would be a lot more cost-effective if we were, say, a desert. Wind-power would make more sense, especially given how much coastline we have, but people don't like having those things parked in their backyards.
No, the only way you're likely to be able to sell solar power back to the power company while living in Michigan is if you cover every square inch of your property in solar panels and go on vacation for most of the summer. Otherwise it'll just cut down on your power bill a little bit.
@Theophilus P. Wildebeeste: Yeah...I was kinda leery about that as well. I got an RF remote control outlet thingy (where you could simply turn a device on and off with a little keychain remote) from Radio Shack, and until I reset the dip switches, someone else in the area was turning it on and off.
Honestly, if you don't want to keep sending alkalines to the landfills, start buying the newer hybrid NiMH batteries instead, like Sanyo's Eneloop brand. They'll hold some portion of their charge for over a year, so once the remote stops working properly all you have to do is drop them in the charger overnight. Alternately, simply realize that unless you're one of those idiots who spends more time channel-surfing than actually watching something, alkalines should last you a few years if they're fresh. Alternately-alternately, if you use alkalines in other devices, simply realize that a remote control uses a fraction of the amount of power that, say, a camera uses, so once your batteries stop working in a different device, put them in the "for use with remotes" pile, and swap them out as necessary (you were already going to throw those batteries out anyways, and now you don't have to pay to recharge batteries just for your remote).
why is there a light (I'd assume infrared) if it is radio? And if it's radio there has to be some IR blaster that sends the IR signal unless they are going to make all new TVs etc use radio signal remotes (bluetooth?)
@ERIFNOMI: Although not mentioned here, the original article refers to the fact that the new RF standard for remotes is not Greenpeak's idea, rather, it's a new standard being developed for remotes by a group of electronics companies in the industry. Greenpeak's technology is merely evolutionary, and utilizes both RF as well as traditional IR methods. They are hoping to sell their technologies to companies who already make remotes.
From what I've read, Greenpeak hasn't done much more than lower power requirements slightly, and stick some non-replaceable lithium batteries in the unit, which depending upon usage, could either be fantastic, or extremely annoying. I'd prefer to see manufacturers utilize a system where rechargeables in the remote could be charged by docking the remote to the television or stereo receiver, amplifier, etc.
"Green Peak is hoping its technology gets combined with a new RF remote control standard called RF4CE being developed by Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony. We could see a lot more RF remote controls being included with HDTVs and Blu-ray players in the fall. But Green Peak's name won't be on any of them, despite what you see in the picture. They're selling their technology to folks who make the remote controls."
@Noobs-R-Us: Too soon. I think it's just general cost savings. I was watching on the Pentagon Channel how the military was paying millions of dollars in fines to shipping companies b/c they were not returning the shipping containers back to them. So they made up a group who tracks and handles just shipping containers, and it's saving them tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
@frigg: Give McKay three minutes, will you please? Genius can't be rushed! You want fast results, call Zelenka, and don't come running to Rodney when it crashes!
02/05/09
02/04/09
02/04/09
02/04/09
I just can't wait for a time when electricity and clean energy are rife, clean air....mmmmmm. Knowing that using energy is not damaging anything, so i can use things without any 'guilt'.....twenty years from now the world will be a very different place, especially when considering China is making HUGE efforts to come out of the recession in a 'green' way
02/04/09
02/04/09
02/04/09
Most plants are coal or natural gas powered in the US. Not OIL powered anyway.
I think you mean cleaner energy sources here. It's going to be a LONG time until we're really off of oil.
But, what about the noise pollution from windmills? Or, you know, the fact that they kill birds? Even wind power isn't perfect here.
I'm glad we're pursuing alternative fuel sources, but I can tell you that ethanol is a sham and yet another way to starve poor people.
What we need, is energy from space!
02/04/09
02/04/09
02/04/09
02/04/09
In Michigan, we have these things called "clouds". That and the blanket of snow that's likely to be covering the solar panels during the winter months means that solar panels are pretty much just a fancy way to dress up your roof for most of the year. I understand the whole thing with being able to sell excess home-generated power back to the company (and indeed, I didn't think it required a new law for that to work). It's just that solar power would be a lot more cost-effective if we were, say, a desert. Wind-power would make more sense, especially given how much coastline we have, but people don't like having those things parked in their backyards.
No, the only way you're likely to be able to sell solar power back to the power company while living in Michigan is if you cover every square inch of your property in solar panels and go on vacation for most of the summer. Otherwise it'll just cut down on your power bill a little bit.
01/11/09
They had the side effect of being able to control devices throughout the block, if I can recall correctly.
01/11/09
Yeah...I was kinda leery about that as well. I got an RF remote control outlet thingy (where you could simply turn a device on and off with a little keychain remote) from Radio Shack, and until I reset the dip switches, someone else in the area was turning it on and off.
Honestly, if you don't want to keep sending alkalines to the landfills, start buying the newer hybrid NiMH batteries instead, like Sanyo's Eneloop brand. They'll hold some portion of their charge for over a year, so once the remote stops working properly all you have to do is drop them in the charger overnight. Alternately, simply realize that unless you're one of those idiots who spends more time channel-surfing than actually watching something, alkalines should last you a few years if they're fresh. Alternately-alternately, if you use alkalines in other devices, simply realize that a remote control uses a fraction of the amount of power that, say, a camera uses, so once your batteries stop working in a different device, put them in the "for use with remotes" pile, and swap them out as necessary (you were already going to throw those batteries out anyways, and now you don't have to pay to recharge batteries just for your remote).
01/11/09
01/11/09
From what I've read, Greenpeak hasn't done much more than lower power requirements slightly, and stick some non-replaceable lithium batteries in the unit, which depending upon usage, could either be fantastic, or extremely annoying. I'd prefer to see manufacturers utilize a system where rechargeables in the remote could be charged by docking the remote to the television or stereo receiver, amplifier, etc.
01/11/09
"Green Peak is hoping its technology gets combined with a new RF remote control standard called RF4CE being developed by Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony. We could see a lot more RF remote controls being included with HDTVs and Blu-ray players in the fall. But Green Peak's name won't be on any of them, despite what you see in the picture. They're selling their technology to folks who make the remote controls."
01/11/09
01/11/09
01/11/09
Or shake powered.
I already have to give my Logitech a little shake to wake it up. Might as well help charge too.
01/11/09
01/11/09
01/11/09
01/11/09
Now the scary thing is...
... What the hell are they shipping?
Toilet paper in case the shit hits the fan?
01/11/09
01/11/09
01/11/09
01/11/09
You did not just pull out the SG:A nerfdom did you?
01/11/09
01/11/09
Terrorist 1 - Look! there is 4000 green freaking led's on that building!
Terrorist 2 - wth!? Lets crash into it!
01/11/09
Why the long faces?
12/02/08
10/29/08