February 29, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Today, in the UK, the world’s oldest nuclear power plant shut down. Actually, it did so just a few hours ago.
Energy Panel Archive: February 2012
posted February 29, 2012
February 29, 2012 By Pete Danko
The U.S. led the world in clean energy investment in 2011, but China retained the top spot in the latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index [PDF] from Ernst & Young, with the U.S. second and Germany third.
...
posted February 29, 2012
February 29, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
In the month of February, wind energy supplied Spain with a record 21.7% of its electricity needs, 4.890 GWh of electricity. This helped keep the country’s price of electricity lower and was a huge benefit for the country’s economy (see more details at the end of this post).
posted February 29, 2012
February 29, 2012 By Dan Haugen
A blower door test is a way of measuring how airtight, and therefore energy-...
posted February 28, 2012
February 28, 2012 By Kristy Hessman
Smart meters, which can provide real-time energy use information to consumers, are yielding “modest” savings in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland, according to a study out from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The study said residential electricity...
posted February 27, 2012
February 27, 2012 By Dan Haugen
Minnesota regulators last week rejected a wind farm developer’s plan for protecting eagles, bats and other wildlife from its turbines as inadequate.
“Inadequate” is also a good way to describe our knowledge of how wind farms actually affect eagle populations.
“There’s just not a lot of good scientific studies that have...
posted February 27, 2012
February 27, 2012 By Silvio Marcacci
South Africa proposed a national carbon tax as part of the country’s national budget at the end of last week, becoming the latest major economy to move toward charging for emissions. But, a large swath of emissions would be exempt until 2020.
posted February 26, 2012
February 26, 2012 By Tina Casey
The California biofuel company Cool Planet BioFuels has announced the successful test of a pilot biorefinery that can convert an acre of the giant grass miscanthus into gasoline at the rate of 4,000 gallons per acre. You read that right – the process yields straight, drop-in quality gasoline that is chemically identical to its petroleum-based cousin.
...
posted February 24, 2012
February 24, 2012 By Pete Danko
Hoping to avoid environmental conflicts and speed development of renewable energy in Arizona, the Obama administration recently laid out a plan that puts into play 237,100 acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The draft plan for the Restoration Design Energy Project (RDEP) is among the more land-intensive of six alternatives...
posted February 24, 2012
February 24, 2012 By Willem Post
Some Vermont renewable energy policies and programs are the result of "constituent service" by eager-beaver legislators to enable the grabbing of as much federal subsidies as possible by Vermont and out-of-state renewables oligarchies (vendors, project developers, financial-types-selling-tax-shelter LLCs, i.e., the top 1% of households), but end up raising household and business electric rates higher than they would have been, raising the prices of goods and services, and lowering standards of...
posted February 24, 2012
February 24, 2012 By Joseph Baker
As the U.S. federal election begins to heat up and the Republican's close in on choosing a presidential candidate, President Obama and his Administration find themselves under the financial microscope again.
The current pressure comes with the recent and steady price increase Americans are paying to fill their vehicles with fuel. Due in part to Iran's threats to withhold its...
posted February 23, 2012
February 23, 2012 By Steve Duda
After its recent wave of good fortune and good press, Tesla Motors is said to be working furiously behind the scenes to stem the tide of what’s either a potentially devastating issue with their battery systems, or simply some very ticked off people. In a...
posted February 22, 2012
February 22, 2012 By John Farrell
In 30 states, citizens have just one choice for their electricity service. It’s like the old communist truism: “you can have any color car you want, as long as it’s red.” What if citizens could collectively shop around for electricity in bulk to get lower prices and cleaner, local power?
In six states, they can, with community choice aggregation.
Community choice aggregation is an alternative to (or complement to) electricity deregulation, allowing residential and commercial customers to...
posted February 22, 2012
February 22, 2012 By Geoffrey Styles
The Obama administration is proposing significant changes in US corporate taxes, as reported in today's Wall St. Journal. If enacted, the corporate tax rate would fall from 35% of income to 28%, although the elimination of numerous tax incentives would subject many companies, including most in the energy sector, to higher taxes overall. On the surface, this...
posted February 22, 2012
February 22, 2012 By Elizabeth Smyth
Recently the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released The 2010 U.S. Lighting Market Characterization report, which examines the current conditions and broad trends in the U.S. lighting market. The report included many promising trends, of which a shift to more energy-efficient lighting was perhaps the most important.
The new report updates a similar DOE model of the 2001 U.S. lighting market inventory. During the intervening decade, two trends emerged. First, there is push toward energy-saving lighting. Second, there is...
posted February 22, 2012
February 22, 2012 By Joseph Baker
Boston-based wind energy developer First Wind has completed its first project of 2012.
Joined by U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-New York), First Wind executives cut a red ribbon officially adding Steel Winds II to its operational wind energy portfolio.
...
posted February 22, 2012
February 22, 2012 By Steve Duda
Getting from western Michigan to the suburbs of Chicago just got a bit quicker [PDF] thanks to the inauguration of an Amtrak line covering the 97 miles from Kalamazoo to Porter,...
posted February 21, 2012
February 21, 2012 By Susan DeFreitas
When disaster strikes, rebuilding is in order, and it seems that more and more of those rebuilding are focusing on building green. A number of organizations in New Orleans have helped residents return to greener homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and the entire town of Greensburg, Kansas, decided to rebuild to LEED standards after a devastating 2007 tornado. Now the state of...
posted February 21, 2012
February 21, 2012 By Maria Surma Manka
The recent projections of $4 - $5 gasoline this summer has been flooding the news, with repercussions predicted for everything from vacation trips to the housing market. This may be especially hard for consumers to stomach after 2011, which saw the most expensive average cost ever for a gallon of gas, at $3.513 per gallon.
...
posted February 21, 2012
February 21, 2012 By Jace Shoemaker-Galloway
The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) recently awarded a contract...
posted February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
A director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was in Vancouver on Friday for the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual convention and mentioned in a talk there that clean, renewable energy (not even including hydroelectric) could cheaply supply 48 states of the continental U.S. with 70% of its electricity demand by 2030. The other 30% would be half from fossil fuels and half from nuclear and hydro.
...
posted February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012 By Lauren Craig
After receiving a $3 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Incubator program in 2007, Colorado-based thin-film manufacturer PrimeStar commercialized thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels based on technology pioneered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Last year, the company was acquired by GE, which now plans to construct a large-scale manufacturing plant in Colorado...
posted February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012 By Kristy Hessman
Soon, Australia won’t just be home to kangaroos, kola bears and those yummy chocolate Tim Tam treats. It will also be the home of the world’s greenest supercomputer. The IBM Blue Gene/Q will take up residence at the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI) at the University of Melbourne. And its mission is a lofty one: to help find cures to life-...
posted February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012 By Keily Miller
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi’s statement in mid-January that $100 constitutes a “fair” price for a barrel of crude appears to have been met with uncharacteristic agreement across OPEC member states. In an interview with Austrian newspaper Kurier at the end of the month, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem al-Badri went so far as to declare that “$100 a barrel doesn...
posted February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012 By Dan Haugen
We’ve long known about the hidden health and environmental costs associated with burning coal, but until very recently, no one questioned that it was a cheap source of electricity for utility customers.
Today, the economics of coal are changing.
The nation’s aging coal-burning power plant fleet faces rising repair and maintenance costs, looming environmental regulations, and increasing competition from cleaner energy sources. For the first time in history,...
posted February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012 By Joshua S Hill
Nameless reports floating around the internet make it clear that Japanese trading house Marubeni is planning on building a floating wind farm off the Fukushima coast in Japan.
posted February 19, 2012
February 19, 2012 By Andrew Burger
Targeting new, emerging technologies in locations and environments where they can make the greatest impact makes a lot of sense, and when it comes to renewable energy, island communities, cities and states fit the bill. A clean, renewable energy movement is afoot in Hawai’i, where proponents are laying out a path to a 100% renewable energy future. A similar initiative is underway in...
posted February 19, 2012
February 19, 2012 By Steve Duda
Ernst &Young makes its money giving advice and telling people what to do. The massive global accounting and consulting giant just concluded talks with the bigwigs of the electric vehicle industry in Bonn, Detroit and Beijing and they’ve got some rather bracing advice for the burgeoning electric car industry: Now is the time to get serious.
The...
posted February 17, 2012
February 17, 2012
Editor’s Note: EarthTechling is proud to repost this article courtesy of Tecca. Author credit goes to Laura Selby.
Maybe you’re a full-fledged tree hugger who’s already drooling over the new Ford Fusion Energi electric hybrid sedan. Or maybe you’re just hoping to save a few bucks on your next electric bill or make your living room...
posted February 17, 2012
February 17, 2012 By David Thorpe
Figures show that the UK and Germany have the largest deficit of allowances to pollute under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), meaning they have to purchase more to meet their obligations.
The deficit arises exclusively from their...
posted February 17, 2012
February 17, 2012 By Joseph Baker
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced plans to identify public lands in Arizona that would best suit wind and solar power development.
The Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft of the plan which it has titled the...
posted February 17, 2012
February 17, 2012 By Drew Kerr
Forget the bus and the skip the train, the future of American urban transit could be the old-fashioned streetcar.
Signs of what U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has called a “streetcar revival” are popping up all over the country.
In St. Paul, officials are embarking on a yearlong, $250,000 study of potential streetcar routes, following the lead of neighboring...
posted February 17, 2012
February 17, 2012 By Andrew Burger
US solar energy industry participants are having to rely increasingly on private sector capital to meet their project and longer term financing needs. The Treasury 1603 grant program for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy expired at year-end 2011, leaving equity issuance and a very limited market for tax equity transactions as the only real “staples” for raising capital. This is as solar industry players, the DOE and the Obama administration expected, but it comes sooner, somewhat abruptly, and at a particularly difficult period of time...
posted February 16, 2012
February 16, 2012 By Pete Danko
The gray cylinder rising 540 feet skyward in the Nevada desert looks like a giant smokestack. But it’s actually something quite different—a new kind of tower for a new kind of power plant. The literal centerpiece of the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant near Tonopah, Nev., the tower was completed this month after workers toiled around the clock since early November,...
posted February 16, 2012
February 16, 2012 By Kristy Hessman
It’s not just the dinosaur bones that are attracting visitors to the newly reopened Natural History Museum of Utah. Visitors are also interested in the bones of the building itself. Located in Salt Lake City at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, the museum opened in its new, green building this past November.
...
posted February 16, 2012
February 16, 2012 By Dan Haugen
Minnesota drivers like their E85, and they’re willing to pay a premium for it.
A new study by a Michigan State University economist shows that even when the higher ethanol blend is a more expensive option than regular gasoline, some flex-fuel vehicle owners in Minnesota continue buying the higher-blend ethanol.
E85, which contains a mix of 85 percent...
posted February 16, 2012
February 16, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), solar power installations increased 67% in the 4th quarter of 2011. Of course this was largely driven by the expiration of the 1603 Treasury program, which the solar industry is working hard to get renewed and Obama included in his latest budget proposal. Additionally, if you haven’t heard (a...
posted February 16, 2012
February 16, 2012 By David K Thorpe
While politicians talk of Scottish independence from England, a world-beating €1.1 billion contract has today been announced to make the two countries even more interconnected.
The Western HVDC Link will be the first submarine grid interconnector ever that uses a high voltage direct current (HVDC), and is to join the Glasgow and Wirral areas along the bed of the Irish Sea. It is planned to be up and running by 2016.
...
posted February 16, 2012
February 16, 2012 By Joseph Baker
Swedish furniture manufacturer IKEA has released its 2011 Sustainability Report, which reaffirms the company's status as a global leader in the increasingly important area of corporate sustainability.
The annual report further reveals the company's commitment to...
posted February 16, 2012
February 16, 2012 By Shannon Roxborough
While lofty expectations have being placed on the future of plug-in hybrid cars and electric trucks, another, less-heralded green transportation boom is taking place: the rise of natural gas vehicles.
Compressed natural gas...
posted February 15, 2012
February 15, 2012 By Kristy Hessman
Can electric cars, which are touted for lowering greenhouse gases and producing less emissions than gasoline-fueled cars, be bad for people’s health? In China, apparently so. Findings from University of Tennessee, Knoxville study showed that electric cars in China have an overall impact on pollution that could be more harmful to health than...
posted February 15, 2012
February 15, 2012 By Pete Danko
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), stung by a federal regulatory ruling regarding its treatment of Northwest wind power producers, is proposing new measures—including splitting the cost for lost revenue—to mollify the wind producers when an overabundance of hydroelectric power leads BPA to curtail the wind turbines in the region.
BPA sells power...
posted February 15, 2012
February 16, 2012 By Joseph Baker
Once upon a time, not so long ago, Solyndra was a little known solar development firm. Based out of silicon valley, the company was working to manifest its budding technology.
In 2009, to help it achieve this goal, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) under the guidance of the Obama Administration granted Solyndra a...
posted February 15, 2012
February 15, 2012 By Andrew Burger
From wind and geothermal power to fuel cells, the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred March 11 off the coast of Fukushima — along with much longer standing energy security concerns — has revitalized clean and renewable energy prospects in Japan. Smoothing the way forward is the introduction of a national feed-in tariff that’s slated to go into effect on July 1 this year....
posted February 15, 2012
February 15, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Yes, the price is $4.95, but nonetheless, a long-lasting, efficient LED bulb for $4.95 is a win! The announcement was just made a few minutes ago, as Lemnis unveiled three new lines of its Pharox LED replacement bulb. The 200-lumen Pharox BLU is the bulb selling for $4.95, and the 350-lumen Parox Blu is selling for $6.95. They are, apparently, only sold through the Pharox website.
...
posted February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012 By Pete Danko
The White House pointed to a new independent report into the government’s energy loan portfolio as evidence that the program has functioned well and “holds less than the amount of risk envisioned by Congress when it created and funded the program.”
Did that lead House Republicans to drop their objections to the program and...
posted February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012 By Pete Danko
The federal government is looking for more renewable energy, and it’s looking again to Constellation Energy to get it. Baltimore-based Constellation said it had struck deals with the General Services Agency (GSA)—the bunch who oversee the functioning of the federal government—that will bring its supply of electricity to the U.S. to 2.7 million megawatt-hours (MWh) annually.
Under the...
posted February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012 By Timothy Hurst
Once taught that that corn-based ethanol was a cleaner, greener fuel, we soon learned that large-scale production of corn-based ethanol not only had a direct impact on the price of food, life cycle analyses showed that it had a deleterious effect on air quality, water quality and was a net producer of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent heat-trapping greenhouse gas.
So when the federal tax credit for corn-based ethanol expired at the end of 2011, companies began stepping...
posted February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012 By James Coan
With the high gas prices we are facing today, the popularity of the fuel-efficient car is seeing its inevitable increase. Two of the fiercer competitors of this type of car are the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf, both released within days of each other in December 2010. Although the Volt was more substantially advertised and thus greatly anticipated, the Leaf (according to the sales numbers), is dominating....
posted February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Clean energy jobs in the EU have now passed the 1 million milestone. According to a new report [PDF] out by the European Commission, ...
posted February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Yesterday, Energy Points launched what is, reportedly, “the world’s first universal metric for measuring sustainability.” While there are different measurements and labels out there for different sustainability topics, Energy Points claims that it is the first to provide a comprehensive measurement (and, as far as I know, it is).
...
posted February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012 By Dan Haugen
As a public comment period closed Monday for new proposed federal fuel-economy standards, a major expansion project was underway in Davenport, Iowa.
Alcoa Davenport Works, which rolls aluminum sheets and plates for the aerospace, defense and automotive industries, is spending $300 million to expand its facility.
The reason: rising demand from automakers for lightweight vehicle materials.
Alcoa announced the expansion in September. The project is expected to...
posted February 13, 2012
February 13, 2012 By Pete Danko
In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama said he wasn’t backing down on his commitment to clean energy, and that’s born out in the fiscal year 2013 budget the White House released today. The budget doesn’t shy away from spending on clean energy as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ...
posted February 13, 2012
February 13, 2012 By Jeanne Roberts
Fisker Automotive, the vehicle manufacturer which took the clean transportation world by storm in 2009 when it announced the debut of itsKarma model plug in hybrid...
posted February 13, 2012
February 13, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Remember PACE, the popular and promising energy financing model that the Federal Housing and Finance...
posted February 13, 2012
February 13, 2012 By Lauren Craig
Due to their dependence on imported fossil fuels, small island states typically suffer from high energy costs. However, many islands have a wealth of natural, renewable resources that could be harnessed to meet their energy needs. For example, the island of Dominica, in the Caribbean, is thought to have an abundance of geothermal resources, which could enable it to export energy to neighboring islands.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has...
posted February 13, 2012
February 13, 2012 By Joshua S Hill
While on sabbatical from RMIT University in Melbourne, Associate Professor Dr Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, joined MIT Associate Professor Michael Strano’s nanotechnology research group and together accidentally discovered a new way to generate power.
posted February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012 By Tina Casey
Clearly undeterred by the GOP’s ongoing effort to cut federal support for clean energy, the Obama Administration has just announced a new $150 million round of funding for cutting-edge research into solar, wind, geothermal, bio-based energy and ocean power along with dozens of other categories related to ...
posted February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012 By Andrew Burger
Research and analysis of solar PV manufacturing costs and international trade flows shows that Chinese silicon solar PV manufacturers have only a slight cost advantage on their US counterparts, and that excludes transportation costs, the effect of inflation rate differentials and other factors. Furthermore, the extraordinary rise in Chinese exports of silicon solar PV cells and panels to the US could only be sustained with the support of massive government subsidies, according to a US DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) presentation...
posted February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012 By Steve Duda
At the dawn of the automotive age, car makers faced a massive challenge. They had to convince consumers that their new contraptions were not, in fact, instruments of the devil. Early attitudes toward cars were often negative. Cars were seen as a menace on the streets. They mowed down innocent pedestrians. They scared horses. They blocked streetcars. Their drivers were careless maniacs out for thrills at the expense of law-abiding society.
Eventually, attitudes changed and America entered into a decades-long love affair with the automobile...
posted February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012 By Jim Greenberger
The variable nature of most renewable energy generation technology has long been recognized as an opportunity for electricity storage on the grid. Because the amount of energy provided by a wind turbine or solar panel will vary as the wind blows (or does not) or as the sun shines (or does not), another source of power must always firm this variable capacity in order to provide a steady and predictable amount of electricity to the grid.
Electrochemical energy storage is well...
posted February 10, 2012
February 10, 2012 By Joseph Baker
The International Energy Agency is making energy statistics available for iPhone and iPads. Formed in 1974 for nearly 40 years, the IEA has become known as one of the world's foremost authorities for energy statistics.
...
posted February 9, 2012
February 9, 2012 By Lauren Craig
Pennsylvania will soon see 141 megawatts (MW) of clean energy projects deployed in the state with the help of state funds. The Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) has awarded nearly $13.8 million in grants and loans to six renewable energy projects, including the 139.4-MW Twin Ridges Wind Farm, which upon completion will be one of the largest wind farms in the state. Combined, the projects will generate...
posted February 9, 2012
February 9, 2012 By Joseph Baker
United Kingdom-based DONG Energy and partners SSE and OPW have officially opened what they are calling the largest offshore wind farm in the world.
Located off the shores of Cumbria, Britain, the Walney wind farm employs...
posted February 9, 2012
February 9, 2012 By Alex Summers
As 21st century business leaders approach both improved ecological and economical models of conducting themselves, they are increasingly finding that these two concerns often intertwine. Simply speaking, energy efficiency equates to financial efficiency, which leads to more funds being put toward pushing the company further instead of keeping it afloat. As far as service industries are concerned, two particular strategies incorporating energy-saving with money-saving are on the rise.
...
posted February 9, 2012
February 9, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Reaching about 28 gigawatts (GW), solar power capacity increased about 54% in 2011, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Germany and Italy led the way.
“Photovoltaic installations rose to between 26.5 and 29.4 gigawatts last year, compared with 18.2 gigawatts during 2010,” Marc Roca of Bloomberg wrote.
“The year was on the high side of even...
posted February 9, 2012
February 9, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
It’s been awhile since I read and wrote about so many huge clean energy stories in one day, or in one week. From clean, renewable energy providing Europe with 70% of its new power in 2011, to solar PV bringing down the cost of electricity in Germany, to the...
posted February 9, 2012
February 9, 2012 By Joseph Baker
German automaker Volkswagen's newest United States manufacturing facility has been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) as the ...
posted February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012 By Susan DeFreitas
It seems you can’t turn around these days without encountering news of yet another major sporting arena gone green. From the Minnesota Twins’ LEED certified ballpark to the Redskins’ major solar power commitment, it seems clear that more and more professional sports franchises have gotten the memo about conserving resources — the...
posted February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012 By Josh Freed
One of the big questions on the campaign trail today is whether there should be a government role in America's use of energy. The reality is that energy is one of the most regulated sectors of our economy—the government already plays a huge role driving innovation and investment. The question we should be asking is: since the government has a significant role within energy, in what direction should the government move?
We believe it’s clear: Government needs to move clean...
posted February 8, 2012
February 8 2012, By Lauren Craig
Last June, First Solar was riding high on the wave of three conditionally approved loan guarantees under the Department of Energy’s Section 1705 program. But things went downhill fast after that. While First Solar has so far avoided the fate of clean energy loan-guarantee 1705 poster child Solyndra, there’s no denying that 2011 turned out to...
posted February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012 By Joseph Baker
The Department of Energy (DOE) has launched its fourth...
posted February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
OK, full disclosure, I’m a huge Google fan. I love Google+, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Reader,.. and have you ever tried to do a search in something other than Google?! Additionally, it’s a clear clean energy leader. So, I’m both happy and not surprised at all to see that it is topping Greenpeace’s latest Cool IT ranking of IT companies,… based on how green they are, of course.
...
posted February 8, 2012
February 8, 2012 By Joshua S Hill
Market statistics released Tuesday by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) show that over 41,000 megawatts (or 41 gigawatts) of new wind power was installed globally in 2011, bringing the overall total of installed capacity around the world to more than 238,000 megawatts (238 gigawatts) by the end of 2011.
This represents an increase of 21 percent with an increase in the size of the annual global market of just over six percent.
Approximately 75 countries currently have commercial wind power installations, of which 22 have...
posted February 7, 2012
February 7, 2012 By Angeli Duffin
Coal power plants don’t usually come with silver lining, but in the case of Arkansas’ John W. Turk Jr. 600-megawatt coal power plant, the silver lining is approximately 400 megawatts of wind energy purchased by Southwestern Electric Power Co (SWEPCO), a subsidiary of American Electric Power. After much protest to the Turk plant and a lawsuit from the Sierra Club,...
posted February 7, 2012
February 7, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
In total, wind and solar power were responsible for 68% of new EU power installations in 2011 and renewable power as a whole was responsible for about 70%. Over 30,000 MW of the 44,939 MW of new power capacity came from wind and solar—that’s a 37.7% increase over 2010 and sets a new record for the EU.
posted February 7, 2012
February 7, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Yesterday, I focused a bit small-scale or medium-scale solar (in the US & UK) here on CleanTechnica. On the flip side, news today from Solarbuzz is that utility-scale photovoltaic solar is growing fast in North America and looking for 2012 to be its top year yet.
...
posted February 7, 2012
February 7, 2012 By Lauren Craig
The “nameplate” power rating for photovoltaic (PV) modules (i.e., what defines a 200-watt or 210-watt solar panel) is determined by a series of laboratory tests under standard test conditions (STC). But while the amount of power produced by a module at 25 degrees Celsius and exposed to a fixed amount of solar irradiation can give solar engineers an idea of what to expect from a...
posted February 7, 2012
February 7, 2012 By Christine Hertzog
The electricity value chain of generation, transmission, distribution and consumption has a number of challenges, or pain points, to overcome to deliver all Smart Grid benefits. Electric utility Smart Grid investment decisions are made on the basis of what reduces or eliminates pain. There is no “one size fits all” answer in terms of innovations that are true painkillers for them, but here are a few that are most likely to be adopted by utilities.
The most significant...
posted February 7, 2012
February 7, 2012 By Kari Lydersen
Beneath the campus of Ball State University in Indiana is a labyrinth of pipes 400 feet deep, filled with water that heats and cools much of the campus and that, when complete, will allow the school to retire four archaic coal-fired boilers.
At the University of Minnesota’s twin campuses in Morris, two 1.6-megawatt wind turbines provide more than half the school’s electricity and power experimental operations making hydrogen fuel...
posted February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012 By Nino Marchetti
The bumpy world of home energy management, which in the last year or so has seen flame outs of big names like Google and Microsoft and major retooling by the likes of GE, hit another stumble today as nimble start up Nest Labs was served up with a patent infringement...
posted February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012 By Timothy Hurst
With a major EU-China summit scheduled for next week, the Chinese government on Monday banned the country's airlines from taking part in a European Union carbon-emissions scheme that levees a fee on all airlines flying into or out of EU airports.
In a decision posted on the China central government website on Monday, the Chinese government said all airlines were barred from taking part in the EU Emissions Trading...
posted February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012 By Lauren Craig
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, hospitals spend more than $5 billion on energy bills each year. With 24-hour security lights, vaccine refrigerators and rooms full of electronic diagnostic equipment, hospitals are among the nation’s most energy-intensive commercial buildings.
But Gunderson Lutheran Health System in Winona County, Minn., is trying to change that. The hospital system has...
posted February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Following up on the Las Vegas net-zero house story Charis just wrote, it looks like such stories about net-zero homes may get really common in the coming years (sorry, we might not cover them all). A new report published by Pike Research finds that the net-zero buildings market should hit a whopping $1.3 trillion by 2035.
posted February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012 By Dan Haugen
Wisconsin’s politically contested wind-turbine siting rules would quietly go back on the books if the state’s legislature doesn’t take up the issue this session.
While it’s premature for wind energy supporters to declare victory, the rules’ opponents appear to have little appetite for reopening the controversy, according to observers.
“This is an issue they don’t want to have anything to do with right...
posted February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012 By Joshua Hill
It was just announced last week that the U.S. Army awarded three Energy Savings Performance Contracts in December totaling $61 million, including a contract that will result in the largest renewable energy project put into place by the U.S. Army.
Together, the three projects will save the Army a total of 267 billion BTUs annually and provide the Army with 8.2 megawatts of renewable power capacity.
...
posted February 5, 2012
February 5, 2012 By Tina Casey
“Turbine Cowboys” is a new reality series premiering on The Weather Channel this spring, and anyone with an interest in clean energy should check it out. Despite the highly mechanized nature of wind turbine construction and the use of robotic devices for maintenance, the human...
posted February 5, 2012
February 5, 2012 By Lauren Craig
Wind energy continues to power ahead in the U.S. Recent numbers from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) show that the fourth quarter of 2011 saw wind power expanding into new states like Ohio and Nevada, while continuing to experience strong growth in the existing wind energy markets of California, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas. Two states, South Dakota and Iowa, are now generating 20 percent of their electricity with wind...
posted February 4, 2012
February 4, 2012 By Meredith Angwin
The court ruled in favor of Entergy in the recent court case. In consequence, Entergy applied to the Public Service Board for a Certificate of Public Good for Vermont Yankee.
Judge Murtha's ruling in the case is over 100 pages long. At one level, however, it can be summarized as follows:
The State of Vermont tried to alter a contract unilaterally. That is not allowed. The...
posted February 3, 2012
February 3, 2012 By Steve Duda
Outside of the Toyota Prius or the Chevy Volt, Tesla is the best known name in the ever-growing world of alternative fuel vehicles. And now, as the release of the company’s new flagship car, the Model S, creeps ever closer, the Tesla hype machine is...
posted February 3, 2012
February 3, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
For those eager to overlook words, note the important word “growth” at the end of the title above—India didn’t crush the world in cleantech investment in 2011 (as you know if you’re a regular reader here on CleanTechnica) but a recent report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) shows that India had a tremendous cleantech investment growth rate of 52%. (As I noted in my...
posted February 3, 2012
February 3, 2012 By Timothy Hurst
A 350-mile undersea electricity transmission project designed to be the "backbone" of offshore wind energy on the Atlantic Coast of the United States received an indirect boost on Thursday as the Obama administration began the leasing process for prime offshore wind energy areas off the New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia coasts.
The Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC), led by...
posted February 3, 2012
February 3, 2012 By Joseph Baker
U.S. Department of Interior announced its "Smart from the Start" offshore wind energy initiative has cleared an environmental review and is moving forward.
...
posted February 2, 2012
February 2, 2012 By Dan Haugen
The long, glass facade on the front of Siemens’ wind turbine component factory in Hutchinson, Kansas, could have been a window for the long, hot summer sun to cook the building’s interior, or at least run up a serious air conditioning bill.
Instead, as the sunlight intensifies, the panes of glass gradually tint like sunglasses to block out the heat and glare but preserve the view and some daylight.
The magic happens thanks to a thin, electrochromatic coating...
posted February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012 By Pete Danko
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said today that Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers can say no to smart meters, but it will cost them. And given the reported reaction of smart meter opponents, it doesn’t appear as though the opt-out plan will end the fierce battle over the new technology.
Under the...
posted February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012 By Geoffrey Styles
Last week I attended the media preview of the Washington Auto Show. With its dual focus on cars and energy policy, this is always a high point of the winter for me, even if this year's display lacked a draw of the magnitude of the pre-production Chevrolet Volt I drove at the 2010 show. Instead, I was pleased to find that the...
posted February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012 By Kristy Hessman
Home to Disneyland, Orange County, Calif., has been drawing tourists for decades, and soon, it will be drawing solar enthusiasts from around the world. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu has unveiled The Orange...
posted February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012 By Zachary Shahan
Top this, top that—it’s a busy week for solar lists and records. GTM Research recently put together a list of the top residential solar installers in the first three quarters of 2011. With well over 2,000 installers in a market of over $2 billion (in 2011), to top that list is clearly a feat,.. but it’s a feat...
posted February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012 By Jeanne Roberts
One of the miracles of the electronic age is the ability to plug almost any device into a computer and have it perform as described without any further effort on the part of the user.
Called plug and play, plug-n-play, or simply PnP, this interoperability across discrete and diverse systems is almost enough to make the rest of the 21stcentury tolerable, and now the National Renewable...
posted February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012 By Nicholas Brown
The European Commission has confirmed that tougher emissions regulations would be less costly to implement than previously thought, according to a study published on Monday. This is due to multiple factors, especially: 1) the economic recession, which caused a significant overall decrease in energy usage, and 2) the effectiveness of EU climate policies to date.
What's New
106 U.S. Coal Plant Retirements Since 2010
Last Wednesday was a big milestone for people who care about public health and a livable climate. Two utilities announced the planned closure of nine coal plants.
Read more ...
World’s Oldest Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down Today
Today, in the UK, the world's oldest nuclear power plant shut down.
Read more ...
Shocker! California Tops US Renewables List
The U.S. led the world in clean energy investment in 2011, but China retained the top spot in the latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index from Ernst & Young.
Read more ...
Morning News Roundup – February 29, 2012
Today's morning news roundup - all the energy and climate coverage you need to read.
Read more ...- Climate Progress
- GreenBiz
- Dot Earth
- NY Times Green Blog
- NRDC Action Fund- The Mark Up
- Grist- David Roberts
- The Energy Collective
- MAPAWATT
- Ecopolitology
- Earth & Industry
- Green Tech- Martin LaMonica
- Mother Jones- Kate Sheppard
- The Daily Climate
- EnergyBoom
- NRDC- Switchboard
- Miles Grant
- Treehugger
- Climate Compass
- The Oil Drum
- Greenbang
- Compete Coalition
- Climate 411
- EPA- Greenversations
- Taking the Initiative
- The Energy Fix
- The Heartland Institute
- The Energy Tribune
- Van Jones
- Aimee Christensen
- Amanda Little
- Mother Nature Network
- Energy Literacy
- The Heritage Foundation- Energy & Envrionment
- Green Chip Stocks
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Resources for the Future
- Josh Tickell
- Dan Weiss
- United Nations Foundation
- Global Green USA
- The Earth Institute
- The Rocky Mountain Institute Blog
- American Solutions- Energy
- Bipartisan Beat
- Green Business
- Growth Energy
- Earth Policy Institute
- EcoGeek
- Energy Strategist
- Coal Tattoo