A Solar Airport Profits from Vegetables

Dean Sigler Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

We’ve covered several airports that have found ways to make themselves environmentally friendly, including recycling the vast amounts of waste left by passengers, and installing solar panels to help run the site. Recently honored by the United Nations. “Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has been selected for the Champion of Earth Prize – 2018, the highest environmental honor instituted by United Nations. CIAL is honored for its successful execution of one of the revolutionary ideas of using solar energy which made Cochin Airport a first in the world fully powered by it.” Besides generating 40 megawatts of electricity from its solar panels at 2018 levels, the airport grows organic vegetables beneath those panels.  To ensure optimum land use, “CIAL has successfully …

Solar Impulse’s Great Photo Op – and Special Birthday Guest

Dean Sigler Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Saturday night, if you were lucky enough to be wandering the streets of New York City, you would have seen a string of lights slowly crossing the sky above the Statue of Liberty, a stirring sight – especially for those following the over-year-long flight of Solar Impulse 2. Andre’ Borschberg had flown the giant electric airplane from the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania to the night skies over Manhattan, landing finally at John F. Kennedy International Airport.  The airplane will pause briefly before departing on a trans-Atlantic flight to an as-yet undisclosed location in Europe, from which it will make the final leg of the journey, returning to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. “The Statue of Liberty is a …

Solar Impulse Makes It to New York Early

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

It’s hard to believe that the Solar Impulse has been on its Cross America tour since May 3, but its early touchdown at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport late Saturday night was cause for elation on at least two counts. First, as the Solar Impulse team points out, “For the first time a plane capable of flying day and night powered exclusively by solar energy has crossed the USA from the West to the East Coasts without using a single drop of fuel.”  As we love to point out, though, it’s not the first time a solar-powered airplane has made the trip.  Eric Raymond did it in 21 hops in 1990 in Sunseeker 1, using the technology …

Dr. Stephen H. Schneider: 1945 – 2010

Dean Sigler Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Dr. Stephen Schneider, Stanford University climate scientist, early advocate of climate change and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.N. organization that with former Vice President Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, died Monday of a heart attack while on a flight to London from a science meeting in Stockholm, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.  He held many post-doctoral degrees and was a scientific advisor for every president from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama.  He was awarded several post-doctoral fellowships and won the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 1972.  He and his wife,  Dr. Terry Root, shared the national Conservation Achievement Award in 1993 from the National Wildlife Federation. His web site provides an …