Energy
What Minnesotans Can Do About Climate Change
As a Minnesotan, I am proud of our state’s can-do spirit. It gives individuals the ability to overcome challenges that may seem impossible. When I was young, this spirit is what inspired me to become an arctic explorer, and today it continues to push me toward new adventures. It is what also compels me to take a stand in the face of a crisis, and right now there is a global warming crisis brewing over the future of the planet.
How Do Fuel Cells Work?
In recent years, you may have seen news items about fuel cells and the coming “hydrogen economy” and wondered what exactly is a fuel cell? A fuel cell is a form of a reactor where we can create electricity through an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. The only by-products of a hydrogen-fueled fuel cell are pure water (H2O) and heat.
Our Sun - The Ultimate Energy Source
At 93 million miles from Earth, our sun is a middling star that provides nearly all the energy on Earth. The only energy sources we have on Earth which do not come from the sun are the tides caused by the moon's gravity, radioactive materials and geothermal energy. The sun provides everything else. All the energy embodied in fossil fuels and biomass is actually the sun's energy stored as carbon.
Visualizing the Future: Hydrogen Economy
What if hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, could power everything from automobiles and trucks to homes and office buildings with little or no toxic or greenhouse gas emissions? Welcome to the dream of the "hydrogen economy."
Does it seem like fantasy? For now, perhaps. But with many sharp minds focused on the science and some carefully directed private and public investment, this fantasy could become part of our everyday lives.
Pollution-free Heating and Cooling: Geothermal Heat Pumps
What is Geothermal?
Many people, when they hear the word "geothermal", think of those old plants that were built out in Western states to generate electricity using underground reservoirs of hot water or steam. Known as "direct-use" systems, they trade off dependence on fossil fuels for impacts on the hot springs from which they draw their energy.
