Report: America could power itself 100 times over with solar energy

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 19: Solar panels cover the employee parking lot on the Patagonia corporate headquarters campus in Ventura, California on Friday, September 19, 2014. (Photo by David Walter Banks/For The Washington Post)

It is widely known that among all the sources of alternative energy, the one with the greatest potential is solar. How could it be otherwise? Staggering amounts of solar radiation strike the Earth each day; the only trick is capturing more of it.

In a new report, the Environment America Research and Policy Center seeks to visualize and quantify this potential as it pertains to the United States. The report argues that the U.S. “has the potential to produce more than 100 times as much electricity from solar PV and concentrating solar power (CSP) installations as the nation consumes each year.” It adds that every single state could generate more solar electricity than its residents currently consume.

Here’s a visualization, showing states that can get 1 to 5 times their current energy needs from solar, states that can get 5 to 25 times their energy, states that can get 25 to 100 times what they’re using, and states that can get over 100 times their current needs:

Environment America, “Star Power: The Growing Role of Solar Energy in America,” 2014.

The map above, notes the report, was created by comparing technical estimates of solar potential from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with state level electricity sales data from the Energy Information Administration.

The report also suggests that 35 million homes and businesses could potentially install solar on their roofs:

Environment America, “Star Power: The Growing Role of Solar Energy in America,” 2014.

Here again, the map is based on data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which laid out the percentage of potential rooftops that could host solar panels in various climates.

Granted, it is not that all of this solar potential will necessarily ever be exploited. But then again, we only need to exploit some of it. “It’s technically achievable, and we only have to capture a fraction of it, one hundredth of it to get all of our current electricity needs,” says Environment America’s energy program director Rob Sargent.

Chris Mooney reports on science and the environment.

Report: America could power itself 100 times over with solar energy

CARS of America Engine Air Filter Replacement

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When your experienced CARS of America service specialist technician changes your oil, he will also inspect your air filter. You shouldn’t need a new filter at every oil change, but you will need to change it regularly. Heed your service professional’s auto advice if they tell you to change your filter. It’s not costly, and it makes a big difference to your minivan.

An air filter does what its name implies: it filters stuff out of the air. Air is drawn into your engine through the filter because your engine needs air to burn fuel. If the filter weren’t there, a lot of dust and debris would come into the minivan engine with the air. That dust and debris would get hot, burn, and produce all kinds of ash and gumminess that would eventually clog up your engine.

Drop in an air filter and voilá! Problem solved.

But air filters themselves get clogged up with all the junk they clean out of the Chicago air. This doesn’t allow the junk into the minivan engine, but it does block up the airflow. A blocked airflow will reduce engine efficiency.

An engine needs about 12,000 gallons of air to burn just one gallon of gasoline. Think of a runner. If he is breathing well, he can run well. But if he has a lung condition, he won’t be able to generate the oxygen necessary to keep his cells powered up. He won’t be able to run at peak efficiency.

Or consider a vacuum cleaner. Even without the light, you can tell when the vacuum bag is full because the machine just doesn’t clean anymore. Change the bag and its efficiency immediately improves.

So keep your minivan breathing well by keeping its air filter clean. That’s good car care.

Glenview drivers who get a charge out of the feeling of power in their engine might consider upgrading their air filter. Talk to your friendly and honest. CARS of America service professional. Premium air filters have been proven to increase horsepower and torque. So with the cost of a premium air filter, you can increase the horsepower in your engine — there’s no cheaper way to do that!

It’s also one of the least expensive and simplest elements of critical routine preventive maintenance – and protects against damage to expensive minivan electronic systems. No Glenview resident should have an excuse to drive around Chicago roads and expressways with a dirty air filter.

CARS of America Engine Air Filter Replacement