Wal-Mart, one of the largest corporations in the world, has made the opening move toward its goal of 100% renewable energy operation. As reported in Energy & Power Management Magazine under the headline “Wal-Mart Launches Solar Power Pilot Project”, Wal-Mart announced its intention to purchase solar panels from BP Solar, SunEdison LLC, and PowerLight for installation at 22 pilot locations. Each solar installation is expected to provide up to 30 percent of the power demand for the facility where it is installed.
The 22 participating Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores will be in California and Hawaii, where power is expensive. Given Wal-Mart’s concern for the bottom line, this project will demonstrate one of the long-held axioms of this blog: if executed correctly, renewable energy is more economical than conventional fossil fuel energy (see Energy Technology is NOT a Bubble). In fact, David Ozment, director of energy for Wal-Mart, said that pilot project stores are expected to achieve savings over their current utility rates immediately — as soon as the first day of operation.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plasti 2012 aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds.
The rare earth element market has become steadily more rational, and new sources coming online will continue to reduce costs. Still, it is unlikely that prices will drop to their former lows.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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