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Wind Turbines, The Key To New Jobs

admin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:24:44 +0000

Wind turbine giant Vestas is planning to build a new factory in the UK, creating 2,000 jobs, the company said. The Danish-owned firm is applying for planning permission for a new plant at Sheerness in Kent to build turbines for the offshore wind industry. Greenpeace called on the Government to ensure support for offshore wind, including improving skills and training, the electricity grid and the offshore planning regime and making sure planned reform of the energy market backs renewables rather than focusing on nuclear. The news is a massive boost for Kent after drug giant Pfizer said earlier this year that it would be shedding more than 2,000 jobs when it shuts its renowned research and development facility at Sandwich. The UK is the world’s largest offshore wind market and has a massive offshore project pipeline. Vestas said the project will go ahead provided it receives enough orders for its V164-7.0 MW purpose-built offshore turbine. A spokesman said: “Vestas is prepared to make the necessary significant investment in turning the option into a full lease and building the planned new production facilities, thereby creating more than 2,000 direct and indirect new jobs provided the V164-7.0 MW order pipeline materializes as expected.

Title: Wind turbine plant to create 2,000 jobs
Publication: The Independent, May 11, 2011
Author: Alan Jones and Tom Pugh
URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wind-turbine-plant-to-create-2000-jobs-2282275.html
Faculty Evaluator: Caden Hare, Sonoma State University
Student Researcher: Michelle Fielder, Sonoma State University

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Internet’s Expanding Carbon Footprint

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:35:30 +0000

The internet’s increasing appetite for electricity poses a major threat to not only companies such as google and the future of internet use, but is also having a negative impact on the environment. “In an energy constrained world, we cannot continue to grow the footprint of the internet…we need to rein in the energy consumption” (Suodh Bata, Vice President at Sun Microsystems). With more than 1.5 billion people online around the world, scientists estimate that the energy footprint of the net is growing by more than 10% each year. This leaves many internet companies in a bind: energy costs are escalating because of increasing popularity, while at the same time advertising revenues come under pressure from the recession. Thisdouble bind poses a problem for internet companies affording enough energy to meet consumer demand; and while the demand for electricity is a primary concern, a secondary issue as a result of the explosion of internet use, is the computer industry’s carbon debt, which is increasing drastically. From having a relatively small impact just a few years ago, it is now leapfrogging other sectors like the airline industry that are more widely known for their negative environmental impact. It is apparent, that the demand for internet access far exceeds the readily available amount of energy available.

Title: Web Providers Must Limit Internet’s Carbon Footprint, Say Experts”

Author Bobbie Johnson,

Source: San Francisco Guardian News Media Limited. May 3, 2009

http://guardian.co.Ku

Student Researcher: Anne Cozza

Faculty Evaluator: Buzz Kellogg
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