Category Archives: energy

Confessions of a recovering freeway nerd

Source: wired.com I’ll admit it. In my younger days, I was a certified freeway nerd. Growing up in Indianapolis, I was in awe of the Interstate Highway System. Lucky for me, Indy had plenty of them, including my teenage and … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, bridges, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, climate change, commerce, culture, density, distribution, downtown, economic development, electric vehicles, energy, engineering, environment, EVs and hybrids, fun, futurism, geography, health, Highway displacement, highways, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, product design, racism, rail, Railroads, recreation, Renewable Energy, revitalization, scenic byways, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, trucking, tunnels, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Timeless Portraits of the Oklahoma Panhandle

Some places seem to remain largely fixed in time despite the constant changes that occur in the world around them. The narrow strip of land, affectionately known as the Oklahoma Panhandle, is just one of those places. Even today, the … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, archaeology, books, business, cities, climate change, commerce, culture, economics, energy, environment, geography, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, Maps, Mining, movies, Native Americans, nature, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, poverty, rail, Railroads, Renewable Energy, scenic byways, Skies, skylines, Small business, spatial design, Statistics, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

15 years after the tornado – Planning lessons from Greensburg, Kansas

May 4, 2007, will always remain a pivotal day in the history of Greensburg, Kansas. On that day, much of the city of Greensburg was obliterated by a EF5 category tornado. Thankfully, most residents survived the tragedy due early and … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, book reviews, books, branding, business, charities, cities, civics, civility, climate, commerce, culture, downtown, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, education, energy, environment, geography, government, health, Health care, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, literature, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, recycling, Renewable Energy, revitalization, Small business, solar, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, volunteerism, walking, water, water conservation, weather, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A comparison between Burning Man’s Black Rock City and the Greater World Earthship Community

The American West is blessed with two modern utopian communities — Burning Man’s Black Rock City on a high desert playa in northwestern Nevada and the Greater World Earthship Community located west of Taos, New Mexico. As Burning Man/Black Rock … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, art, branding, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate change, Communications, culture, deregulation, deserts, diversity, economic development, energy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, food systems, fun, futurism, geography, government, health, history, Housing, human rights, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, literature, Maps, marketing, minimalism, nature, peace, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, recycling, Renewable Energy, social equity, spatial design, sustainability, technology, third places, tourism, Trade, Travel, urban design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Solar energy production in the USA on former surface mines

The following list identifies those solar farms that have been commissioned and/or proposed to be located on a former mining site. Since many of these places have been severely impacted by mine operations, installing a solar array allows the impacted … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Alternative energy, climate, economic development, energy, engineering, environment, geography, Geology, infrastructure, land use, Mining, natural history, nature, planning, product design, Renewable Energy, Science, solar, Statistics, sustainability, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Soaking up the sun with floating solar farms

In recent years floating solar farms have been popping up on water bodies around the globe. While typically more expensive to initially install, floating solar facilities have several notable advantages, including: Less use of productive farm land or valuable lands … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, agriculture, Alternative energy, architecture, Asia, China, climate, climate change, economic development, ecosystems, energy, engineering, environment, Europe, geography, India, infrastructure, Maps, nature, North America, pictures, planning, politics, Portugal, product design, Renewable Energy, rivers/watersheds, Science, solar, spatial design, States, Statistics, technology, topography, UK, urban planning, water | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

India’s largest solar parks by acreage and megawatts

Below are two (2) lists identifying the largest solar parks in India by acreage and by megawatts. As always, addition information, corrections, or suggestions are most welcome. ACREAGE – for those solar parks with a published size available online Dholera … Continue reading

Posted in Asia, climate, climate change, energy, environment, geography, India, land use, nature, planning, Renewable Energy, Science, solar, spatial design, Statistics, technology, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Collegiate carport solar energy production in the USA

Below are more than 75 colleges and universities in the United States that have installed solar carports on campus, along with information available on them via the internet. Data includes the school, location, megawatts, year completed, and number of spaces/acreage … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, colleges, economic development, energy, Environment, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, Nature, pictures, planning, product design, Renewable Energy, Science, solar, Statistics, technology, Transportation, Uncategorized, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Airport solar energy production in the United States

The list provided below identifies those airports in the United States that have installed a minimum of 0.5 megawatt (0.5 MW = to 500 kW) of solar arrays/farms on their property. While the list may seem long, it is but … Continue reading

Posted in air travel, airport planning, airports, Alternative energy, architecture, aviation, Cars, cities, civics, climate, climate change, economic development, energy, engineering, environment, geography, government, infrastructure, land use, Maps, nature, pictures, planning, product design, Renewable Energy, solar, spatial design, States, Statistics, technology, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Building solar farms on closed landfills in Massachusetts

As the list directly below demonstrates, over the past decade more than 80 communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have successfully turned their closed brownfield landfills into green energy producing “bright fields.” Acton Landfill = 1.59 megawatt solar array on … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Astronomy, business, cities, civics, climate, climate change, economic development, economics, ecosystems, energy, engineering, environment, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, nature, pictures, planning, politics, product design, Renewable Energy, Science, solar, spatial design, States, Statistics, sustainability, technology, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment