Archive for the ‘Energy’ category

Dell Has a solar parking-lot with plug-in charging stations

October 30th, 2009

Dell’s headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, now has a parking that is shaded with an added benefit: The “Solar Grove” shading creates electricity, namely 130 kilowatts. Built by Envision Solar, it does more than create clean electricity: The shade makes cooler cars, so less auto air conditioning is needed.

The boy who flew with the wind

October 12th, 2009

William read whatever he could find. As a fourteen-year-old in a poor African village, he appeared least likely to become a miracle worker, regardless of his drive to learn. Tied to the chores of the family farm–school was too expensive–his appetite for education appeared to be mocked by literal and figurative starvation. What could anyone expect of him?

But the boy found Using Energy, a book about generating electricity from windmills. He became filled with a passion to supply electric light and water pumping to his village. Using scraps of wood and tree branches, he built a tower; using junk, he built a windmill. To the amazement of villagers, it worked.

And William has recently become the co-author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, a bestselling book on Amazon.com. His accomplishment now amazes the world.