Grist | Topics | 82 Results

RESULTS		Results 26 – 50 of 82
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Doing the math Are solar incentives a subsidy for the rich?	Guest author	12 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay by Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, a freelance writer, and a contributor to AltEnergyStocks.com. ----- One of the most common arguments against incentives to help people buy solar panels for their homes is that they are a subsidy for the rich, paid for by everyone. The argument is that only the rich can buy a photovoltaic system, which, even with subsidies, costs thousa ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Next Up on the Panel ... Solar-panel manufacturers dumping toxic waste in China		10 Mar 2008	News
Posted at 4:54 PM on 10 Mar 2008 Solar panels may look bright and shiny, but they have a dark underbelly: production of polysilicon for panels gives off a highly toxic byproduct called silicon tetrachloride. In China, where factories are rushing to alleviate a polysilicon shortage that's cramping the global solar-panel industry, the bubbly white liquid is often just dumped in nearby villages. "The land where yo ...
Topics: business, China, energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, toxics (all these topics)

Blow by Blow Company creates global map of wind patterns		04 Mar 2008	News
Posted at 10:11 AM on 04 Mar 2008 Any way the wind blows, weather-consulting service 3Tier wants to map it. The company has created a global map of weather patterns that's available free on the internet, allowing anyone to check whether there's strong enough air movement -- and transmission capacity -- to power property in a certain area. 3Tier plans to do a similar project to show the potential of solar energy, to keep the renewable-energ ...
Topics: business, energy, greenish companies, innovation, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, wind power (all these topics)

We'll Buy What You're Cellin' Solar photovoltaic cells are quite eco-friendly, says research		26 Feb 2008	News
Posted at 4:56 PM on 26 Feb 2008 Are photovoltaic cells truly easy on the earth when manufacturing is factored in? If the question's been keeping you up at night, rest easy: According to a solar-cell life-cycle analysis to be published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, they are. From the Archives Making a Splash. Large water utilities form climate alliance. C ...
Topics: energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Sun spotty Borenstein analysis of solar PV misses the point of California's solar program	Adam Browning	25 Feb 2008	Gristmill
I've been getting a lot of questions about this: "Solar panels a 'loser,' professor says."Severin Borenstein is an economics professor at UC Berkeley. He did an analysis of California's solar program and found that if you compare the current cost of distributed generation solar PV, which delivers retail power, with the wholesale power cost of a gas peaker running on pre-Katrina natural gas prices -- and leave global warming and environmental benefits ou ...
Topics: California, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Alternate futures Two huge power plants offer different paths forward	David Roberts	22 Feb 2008	Gristmill
In Sweetwater, Texas, a company called Tenaska has applied to build what will be the nation's first bona fide "clean coal" plant -- an IGCC plant that will capture and sequester CO2 emissions. (Said emissions will be used to pump more oil out of the Permian Basin oil fields, which will then be burned and create more CO2, but who's counting?) The 600MW plant is projected to be completed in 2014. Meanwhile, Spanish engineering firm Abengoa has signed a deal w ...
Topics: Arizona, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, Texas (all these topics)

Why solar? The numbers add up for solar power, whether you're in Seattle or Albuquerque	Edward Mazria	19 Feb 2008	Gristmill
The New York Times published an article yesterday titled 'Silicon Valley Starts to Turn Its Face to the Sun': 'This is the biggest market Silicon Valley has ever looked at,' says T. J. Rogers, the chief executive of Cypress Semiconductor, which is part-owner of the SunPower Corporation, a maker of solar cells in San Jose, Calif.'The solar industry today is like the late 1970s when mainframe computers dominated, and then Steve Jobs and I.B.M. came out with personal c ...
Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Masdar	David Roberts	05 Feb 2008	Gristmill
I know you can never bank on these things until they're completed, but if this goes as planned it sure will be righteously cool: Groundbreaking is scheduled for Saturday for Masdar City, a nearly self-contained mini-municipality designed for up to 50,000 people rising from the desert next to Abu Dhabi's international airport and intended as a hub for academic and corporate research on nonpolluting energy technologies. The 2.3-square-mile community, set behin ...
Topics: energy, international politics, politics, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, United Arab Emirates (all these topics)

Jobs, jobs, jobs Green energy projects bloom in California	Adam Browning	04 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Right on the heels of Tappergate, The New York Times comes out with a couple of articles exploring the economic benefits of fighting global warming. As is evident to anyone but a Taphole, the energy business is the largest business there ever is or was or will be, and therein lies not only enormous money-making opportunities but jobs, jobs, jobs. These things, we hear, are good for the economy. So, take California, which decided to get serious about developing a so ...
Topics: California, economy, energy, green jobs, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Here comes the sun California and New Jersey have high numbers of PV installations	Joseph Romm	31 Jan 2008	Gristmill
The following essay is a guest post by Earl Killian. ----- Cooler Planet looked at the solar photovoltaic (PV) installation data from the California Energy Commission and made it visual to show just how it is growing. A static view of their data is at the right, but go to the site and move the slider to see the growth from only 1,675 grid-connected photovoltaic installations in 2002 to 29,628 installations in 2008. According to SolarBuzz: In 2006, 112 me ...
Topics: California, energy, New Jersey, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Solar to the electric car: You complete me The electrification of transportation will also help green the grid	Adam Browning	30 Jan 2008	Gristmill
I promised more on the impact of Project Better Place's electric car plans -- and I deliver with an article here.
Topics: cars, electric vehicles, electricity grid, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

If you build it, they will come Growing solar industry depends on key tax credit that will expire this year	Adam Browning	22 Jan 2008	Gristmill
Advocates talk a lot about how renewable energy is not just good for the environment, but good for the economy as well. And here is some real-world proof: New Mexico, with strong leadership by Gov. Richardson, PRC Commissioners Lujan and Marks, and many others, has done more than most to establish the full suite of policies necessary to build a solar market. And the reward? Schott AG is investing $100 million in a new manufacturing facility outside of Albuquerque. It w ...
Topics: business, economy, energy, New Mexico, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

The hybrid solar home An alternative housing concept	biodiversivist	21 Jan 2008	Gristmill
Seattle is having a cold snap. It's 25 degrees outside. Our rare freezing winter days correspond with equally rare clear winter skies. Days like this make me wish I had a solar powered home that could harvest and store that free burst of energy for later use. The bottom line is that American homes are just too large to be cost effectively heated with solar energy. The push has been to get the cost of solar panels down. But, what would you get if you crossed a ...
Topics: energy, placemaking, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Floatovoltaics	Adam Browning	20 Jan 2008	Gristmill
Land is -- and will always be -- expensive. Which is why someone should take this, and combine it with this. They could even sell the electricity back to DWR, whic uses an incredible amount of it to pump LA's drinking water up and over the Tehachapis. And if DWR would allow project developers to monetize the water savings from avoided evaporative loss, project economics would be even better.
Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

The future is ... less far in the future New nanoantennas capture sun's energy 24-7; are cheap; are not yet for sale	David Roberts	09 Jan 2008	Gristmill
Via SolveClimate, the latest whiz-bang new gonna-change-the-world solar technology: nanoantennas! They harvest the sun's energy even at night! They're cheap "as inexpensive carpet"! They're printed on thin, flexible sheets! They're ... in a lab somewhere. Here's hoping.
Topics: energy, innovation, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, tech (all these topics)

A solar grand plan A roadmap to getting 70 percent of U.S. electricity from solar by 2050	David Roberts	08 Jan 2008	Gristmill
OK, having spent an absurd amount of time bashing on a crappy article that came out while I was on vacation, let me turn my attention to an extraordinarily good one (via HillHeat): "A Solar Grand Plan," by Ken Zweibel (NREL), James Mason (Solar Energy Campaign), and Vasilis Fthenakis (Brookhaven National Photovoltaic Environmental, Health and Safety Research Center). Some flaw in my character leaves me much less able to analyze things I like, so mostly I'l ...
Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Project Better Place CPR for the electric car	Adam Browning	31 Oct 2007	Gristmill
Project Better Place has a new take on jumpstarting the electrification of transportation: they've raised $200 million (about enough to buy, what, three fuel cell vehicles?) to start building infrastructure for charging and battery exchange stations. That's just a down payment. If you play Internet Nancy Drew for a sec you will quickly find out that Israel Corp, a major investor, also has a stake in oil refineries, and 45 percent of Chery, the Chinese car company t ...
Topics: cars, electricity grid, energy storage, energy, solar voltaic power, electric vehicles, renewable energy (all these topics)

Revenue-neutral emission reduction for cities What if there were more Berkeleys?	David Roberts	29 Oct 2007	Gristmill
Imagine if more cities started doing this -- neutralizing the upfront costs of solar. It would stimulate competition and innovation in the solar industry (more than there already are). Pretty soon there would be large economies of scale for solar power and the price would drop (faster than it already is). More cities would be lured into the program, stimulating yet more innovation and lower prices. So on and so on, the cycle of smart long-term investment. Tell me again ...
Topics: California, solar voltaic power, energy, renewable energy (all these topics)

Sun Rise Berkeley, Calif., suggests innovative solar scheme		26 Oct 2007	News
Posted at 4:30 PM on 26 Oct 2007 The Berkeley, Calif., city council will soon vote on an innovative scheme to front the cost of solar panels to homeowners, who would pay the city back over 20 years as a property tax add-on. The amount to be paid back would be roughly what homeowners would save on electric bills by being sun-powered. "This plan could be our most important contribution to fighting global warming," says Berkeley ...
Topics: California, energy, innovation, news, placemaking, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Cities and counties take note Berkeley shows the way to climate change mitigation at a local level	JMG	26 Oct 2007	Gristmill
The city of Berkeley, Calif., shows how to take serious action on climate disruption by paying up-front costs to help residents switch to solar power. This could be done at any scale, from village to nation. All that is needed is wisdom and an understanding that any "ROI" (return on investment) calculation that doesn't include the risk that failure to respond to climate disruption will bankrupt us (in addition to its moral bankruptcy) isn't worth the paper it's prin ...
Topics: California, solar voltaic power, renewable energy, energy (all these topics)

Coal is the enemy of the human race: Survey says edition New poll finds public wants renewables over coal	David Roberts	19 Oct 2007	Gristmill
And the bad news for coal / good news for humanity just keeps rolling in. According to a new poll (PDF): 75 percent of Americans -- including 65 percent of Republicans, 83 percent of Democrats and 76 percent of Independents -- would "support a five-year moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in the United States if there was stepped-up investment in clean, safe renewable energy -- ...
Topics: coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, wind power (all these topics)

Orbit Torrent Satellite solar power plants could be coming soon to an orbit near you		11 Oct 2007	News
Posted at 3:10 PM on 11 Oct 2007 Ooh, shiny: A federal study has concluded that orbiting solar power plants could soon become economically competitive, thanks to rising oil prices. Over a one-year period, sunlit satellites could generate nearly the equivalent of all the energy available in the world's oil reserves, says the report from the National Security Space Office. In other news, we have a National Securi ...
Topics: energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

The growth of renewable energy markets In which I come to the defense of Shellenberger and Nordhaus -- sort of, anyway	Adam Browning	04 Oct 2007	Gristmill
I was planning on sitting out the Nordhaus/Shellenberger debate. But then I thought: Adam, you are not the top-rated Gristmill blogger (see list at left) for nothing. People want to hear from you. So, here's my take:The first place Nordhaus and Shellenberger go wrong is their predilection for publicity photos that resemble '80s album covers.After that, they get it mostly right. Carbon legislation is good and helpful, sure, but it's about 30 percent thought-through, eno ...
Topics: solar voltaic power, energy, business, renewable energy, climate change mitigation, climate (all these topics)

Solar Power 2007 Increasingly popular solar power conference mirrors growth in the industry	Adam Browning	27 Sep 2007	Gristmill
The heart and soul of the world's solar industry is gathered this week in Long Beach for the annual SEPA/SEIA solar conference. Five years ago, this conference drew 200 people to a dingy hotel ballroom in Reno. This year, it's sold out the Long Beach Convention Center, and you can't get a hotel room for love or money within a 20-mile radius. It's like the Super Bowl is in town. Solar has come a long way -- and there's a lot of things to thank for what's brought t ...
Topics: energy, innovation, progress, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Solar So Far Solar-powered homes a bright spot in California housing market		25 Sep 2007	News
Posted at 12:34 PM on 25 Sep 2007 Take that, housing market: Solar-powered homes in California are outshining the competition. source:� Los Angeles Times see also, in Grist:� Utility will pay for solar on Habitat for Humanity houses in California From the Archives We Really Needed Some Disclosure. More companies disclosing and mitigating emissions, says new report. Connecting the DOT. DOT offici ...
Topics: business, California, energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

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Stories About: energy AND renewable energy AND solar voltaic power