Energy Solutions

As gas prices climb, President Obama is touring the country, talking about energy. As we try and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, renewables have been in the news quite a bit lately—new jobs and new solutions, with energy potentially coming from the most unusual places.

Yesterday the government released the number of green jobs in 2010, the New York Times reports. But last week, NPR reported on the number of standard energy (think petroleum) jobs—on the rise, as well.

Many news outlets have been talking about our “energy independence”—relying less on foreign oil. In that thread, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Scientific American earlier this month about how we need an “all-of-the-above” strategy for energy resources.

“We've got to develop every source of American energy—not just oil and gas, but wind power and solar power, nuclear power, biofuels."

But if we do use more renewables, NPR says that current power grids will have to adapt.

Solar has been getting a lot of attention lately, moving one step forward, despite the recent two steps back, according to the Times. As Japan continues to recover from its nuclear disaster last year, National Geographic illustrates that new solar technology is blooming in that country. Also, New Scientist describes an inventive astronomer getting into cheap solar technology.

Biofuel innovation continues to make headlines—from sources like seaweed and plastic waste.

Speaking of waste, how about rechargeable batteries fashioned not from lithium but from paper and pulp waste?

Finally, our favorite, snail electricity. Nature News has a great article about researchers that have implanted snails with “tiny biofuel cells that extract electrical power from the glucose and oxygen in the snail’s blood.” Who knew?

What’s your favorite energy solution? Share with us!

Image: Journal of the American Chemical Society