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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Scientists Get First Look Inside Mysterious Siberian Crater

Russian scientists got their first look inside the mysterious crater in Yamal, Siberia on Wednesday, July 16, while the Siberian Times took a helicopter ride to get another look down into the hole.

Based off of the original video of the crater, it was estimated that the crater could have been up to 80 meters wide. However, Andrey Plekhanov of the State Scientific Centre of Arctic Research told The Siberian Times that the hole is about 30 meters wide and the outer portion that includes the soil emission is around 60 meters in diameter. The researchers were also able to get their first look at the icy lake that exists at the bottom of the 70-meters-deep hole. Soil, air, and water samples have been taken in order to help determine the cause.

Preliminary results indicate that the hole was formed within the last two years and satellite data is being examined to try and identify exactly when it first appeared. Plekhanov told the Siberian Times that it was an ejection from within the permafrost, but it was not an explosion as there was not a release of heat.
Some had initially speculated that natural gas had been trapped underground in ice, as the area had been locked in permafrost for thousands of years. However, as the ground thawed and the gas became warmer, the increased pressure may have ejected outward and caused the hole. The summers of 2012 and 2013 were especially warm in the region, but the researchers still have more work to do before naming a specific cause.

While the world waits for the samples to be processed and analyzed, please enjoy this video that gives a closer look at this mysterious formation:

Friday, November 11, 2016

Can’t afford solar panels Heres How You Really Get Solar Panels Installed for Free

The solar energy is one of the fastest growing renewable sources of electricity, with several advantages over the other forms of electricity generation. In fact, solar energy is a resource that is not only sustainable for consumption indefinitely renewable ( at least until the sun runs out in billions of years). Solar energy also doesn’t require fossil fuels, producing clean energy with limited impact on the environment and smaller investments in production and transportation.

For these reasons and so many more, the government would like people to switch to solar because it's clean and better for long term economic strength, So what's the hold up?

The cost of the installation of solar energy is typically high. In order to encourage more people to go solar, governments around the world are setting up programs to incentivize the use of solar and other renewable energy sources to help fight global warming.

The Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) in the U.S., for example, currently provides a 30% federal tax credit claimed against the tax liability of residential, commercial, and utility investors in solar energy property. It allows the homeowner to apply the credit to their personal income taxes. “This credit is used when homeowners purchase solar systems outright and have them installed on their homes. In the case of the Section 48 credit, the business that installs, develops and/or finances the project claims the credit,” a statement on Solar Outreach explains.

There are various other initiatives working to ensure solar powered energy continues to makes its way into everyone’s homes. Oakland, California nonprofit Grid Alternatives, for example, is an organization that implements solar power and energy efficiency for low-income families. They currently have ten regional offices and affiliates serving all of California, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. They also have staff on the ground in Nicaragua.

One California resident, Kianté London, used the program to put panels on his three-bedroom home.

“It helps me and my family a great deal to have low-cost energy, because these energy prices are really expensive,” explained London. “And I wanted to do my part. It’s clean, green energy.” He had wanted solar for years, but couldn’t afford it before. This new program paid the entire up-front cost of his array, however.

“These systems are saving families money every month for food, for clothes, for medical expenses,” noted Julian Foley, communications director for Grid Alternatives.

The organization, which targets working-class communities, is using $14.7 million raised through California’s cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “That system forces factories, power plants, oil refineries and other large businesses to buy credits for every ton of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases they pump into the atmosphere,” reported David R. Baker. Grid Alternatives plans to install arrays on more than 1,600 California homes by the end of 2016.

Most homeowners are asked to provide small contributions for the installation, like feeding the crew or agreeing to help with the process themselves. But otherwise, it’s completely free. And the arrays are thought to save homeowners anywhere from $400 to $1,000 per year on electricity, depending on where they live.