Category Archives: solar

Ten planning lessons from our national parks

Provided below are ten planning lessons garnered from having the honor and pleasure of visiting countless national parks, monuments, historic sites, battlefields, lakeshores, seashores, trails, and preserves across our nation. The lessons are not necessarily presented in order of importance, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, Animals, archaeology, architecture, art, Astronomy, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, branding, Bus transportation, Cars, charities, Cities, civics, climate, culture, deserts, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, education, electric vehicles, energy, entertainment, Environment, EVs and hybrids, family, fitness, geography, Geology, government, Green roofs, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, land use, mountains, natural history, Nature, parking, placemaking, planning, politics, recreation, rivers/watersheds, solar, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, transit, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, walking, water, water conservation, water trails, waterfalls, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A global map of active solar observatories

The map provided below identifies the currently active solar observatories on Earth. While other observatories may include some facets of research related to the Sun, this map identifies those optical and radio observatories whose primary purpose is the study and … Continue reading

Posted in aerospace, Africa, Asia, Astronomy, China, civics, Communications, digital communications, education, engineering, environment, Europe, geography, government, history, humanity, India, infrastructure, land use, Latin America, light pollution, Maps, military, mountains, nature, North America, Oceania, Outer Space, pictures, place names, planning, politics, pollution, Radio, Russia, Science, Skies, solar, South America, space, spatial design, technology, tourism, Transportation, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from astronomical research sites

The following are ten planning lessons learned from visiting multiple astronomical research sites including the Kitt Peak National Observatory, the Very Large Array, Griffith Observatory, and similar facilities across the country. It also includes information learned from the International Dark-Sky … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, aerospace, architecture, Astronomy, books, Cars, cities, climate change, colleges, culture, digital communications, engineering, environment, fun, futurism, geography, government, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, light pollution, literature, Maps, mountains, natural history, nature, Outer Space, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, revitalization, Science, Skies, solar, Statistics, technology, Television, third places, tourism, traffic, Travel, urban design, urban planning, video, visual pollution, weather, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tuesday Tunes: Out-of-this-world rock band names

Listed below are band names (primarily from rock) that are out-of-this-world in nature. The most common terms are star (17), star (13), moon (13), sun (13), and space (7). Meanwhile Mars (8), Venus (6), Mercury (2), Jupiter (2), and Pluto … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy, entertainment, fun, history, Language, Music, music reviews, Outer Space, Science, solar | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cities/suburbs should replan street networks for low-speed electric vehicles

As the electric vehicle revolution expands around the globe, one factor that cities and suburbs need to start accounting for is the increased adoption of low-speed electric vehicles for personal and transit use. Whether you refer to them as low-speed … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Alternative transportation, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, climate change, commerce, consumerism, density, downtown, electric vehicles, engineering, environment, EVs and hybrids, fun, geography, health, highways, history, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, logistics, new urbanism, parking, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, product design, revitalization, shopping, solar, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, Trade, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten+1 planning lessons from Maharishi Vedic City

The Vedic/Vastu planned and designed community of Maharishi Vedic City in southeast Iowa offers a number of interesting and insightful lessons for planners. Here are the ten primary lessons from researching and visiting this unique sustainable city: 10/7/22 Addendum – … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, cities, civics, civility, climate change, culture, ecosystems, environment, geography, health, history, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, natural history, nature, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, Renewable Energy, social equity, solar, spatial design, sustainability, urban design, urban planning, water conservation, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Enlightened” city planning amid rural Iowa cornfields

In the film Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s father asks him, “Is this heaven?” His response is, “No, it’s Iowa.” Well, to some, Iowa may just be their slice of heaven, especially those who reside in and around the City … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, agriculture, Alternative energy, architecture, art, Asia, Astronomy, cities, civics, civility, climate change, colleges, commerce, Cuisine, culture, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, entrepreneurship, environment, food systems, geography, government, health, history, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, India, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, Maps, natural history, nature, peace, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, Religion, Renewable Energy, social equity, solar, spatial design, sustainability, topography, tourism, trails, transportation, urban design, urban planning, Wildlife, writing, zoning | 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 , , , , , , , , , | 1 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