One big problem with renewable energy projects is that they have to go somewhere. They have to occupy a part of the very environment that their proponents are often trying to save. Photographer Jamey Stillings beautifully captures this tension in his images of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS). Located in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, the plant aims to eventually be the largest solar thermal power plant in the world – making enough electricity to run 140,000 homes all by focusing the sun’s energy to create steam. Problem is, the system is located smack in the middle of the threatened desert tortoise habitat and the companies that built the system have already had to allocate $56 million to care for and relocate these ground dwellers. At least one major environmental group has argued the plant should have never been built on its current location. “What I’ve discovered along the way is the issue of building renewable energy is a lot more complicated than one what might assume from afar,” says Stillings, who has been photographing Ivanpah since 2010. Known for his photos of other large-scale industrial engineering projects at the intersection of nature and human activity, Stillings hopes the Ivanpah photos provide a way for people on opposite sides of the issue to find common ground for negotiations. More @ Raw File.

One big problem with renewable energy projects is that they have to go somewhere. They have to occupy a part of the very environment that their proponents are often trying to save.

Photographer Jamey Stillings beautifully captures this tension in his images of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS). Located in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, the plant aims to eventually be the largest solar thermal power plant in the world – making enough electricity to run 140,000 homes all by focusing the sun’s energy to create steam.

Problem is, the system is located smack in the middle of the threatened desert tortoise habitat and the companies that built the system have already had to allocate $56 million to care for and relocate these ground dwellers. At least one major environmental group has argued the plant should have never been built on its current location.

“What I’ve discovered along the way is the issue of building renewable energy is a lot more complicated than one what might assume from afar,” says Stillings, who has been photographing Ivanpah since 2010.

Known for his photos of other large-scale industrial engineering projects at the intersection of nature and human activity, Stillings hopes the Ivanpah photos provide a way for people on opposite sides of the issue to find common ground for negotiations.

More @ Raw File.

  • November 14
  • , 2012
From a castle built in the 16th century to a beach volleyball arena erected in 36 days, the London Olympics has some beautiful, historic, unusual and interesting venues. Watching the Games on television from afar, you can get a feel for what it is like to be there, and appreciate the views spectators have of the sports and the surrounding iconic London scenery. But from further afar, much further afar, you gain a whole new perspective. Viewed from space or an airplane, the range and breadth of the different arenas, structures, parks and courses comes into focus. Here we bring you most of the sites of the 2012 Olympic Games, stretching from Scotland to the southern edge of England. [Image: Olympic Park, London taken May 24, 2012 by the GeoEye-1 satellite (GeoEye).]

From a castle built in the 16th century to a beach volleyball arena erected in 36 days, the London Olympics has some beautiful, historic, unusual and interesting venues.

Watching the Games on television from afar, you can get a feel for what it is like to be there, and appreciate the views spectators have of the sports and the surrounding iconic London scenery. But from further afar, much further afar, you gain a whole new perspective.

Viewed from space or an airplane, the range and breadth of the different arenas, structures, parks and courses comes into focus. Here we bring you most of the sites of the 2012 Olympic Games, stretching from Scotland to the southern edge of England.

[Image: Olympic Park, London taken May 24, 2012 by the GeoEye-1 satellite (GeoEye).]

  • August 6
  • , 2012