Texas approves massive new wind project
AUSTIN, TEXAS - Texas utility officials have given preliminary approval to building billions of dollars worth of transmission lines to bring wind energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.
Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and supporters say the latest move will bring more wind energy projects, create jobs, reduce energy costs and reduce pollution.
The Public Utility Commission, however, didn't commit to as big of a project as some environmental and consumer groups had wanted. The chosen plan would transmit a little more than half the energy those groups wanted.
Environmental groups estimate Texas electric customers will see a bump of about $4 on their monthly bills to pay for construction over the next six or seven years.
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Scientists generate 'electricity from thin air.' Humidity could be a boundless source of energy.
WASHINGTON - Sure, we all complain about the humidity on a sweltering summer day. But it turns out that same humidity could be a source of clean, pollution-free energy, a new study shows.
"Air humidity is a vast, sustainable reservoir of energy that, unlike solar and wind, is continuously available," said the study, which was published recently in the journal Advanced Materials.
“This is very exciting,” said Xiaomeng Liu, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and the paper’s lead author. “We are opening up a wide door for harvesting clean electricity from thin air.”
In fact, researchers say, nearly any material…
