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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
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 ... |
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| Topics: energy, placemaking, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Floatovoltaics
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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. |
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| Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Rise to Power
Clean-tech and wind power both soaring |
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18 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:23 PM on 18 Jan 2008 Investment in clean-tech companies rose 44 percent from 2005 to 2006, and jumped an additional 44 percent from 2006 to 2007, soaring to $5.18 billion, according to the Cleantech Group LLC. Last year in clean-tech, energy generation received $2.75 billion in investment, followed by energy storage ($471 million) and transportation ($445 million). And you know what that means: "More new car companies were fi ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, energy, news, renewable energy, tech, wind power (all these topics) |
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Can the environmental economy dodge a recession?
As economic indicators trend downward, the clean-tech sector is still looking up |
Mark Pawlosky |
18 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| As one key economic engine after another -- housing, finance, autos, retail -- sputters and stalls out, the fledgling eco-economy is purring right along, fueled in no small part by venture capital firms hungry for new opportunities in industries that promise outsized returns on their investments. In the first three quarters of 2007, VCs poured $2.6 billion into alternative energy and clean-tech firms, more money than they invested for the whole of 2006. The new y ... |
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| Topics: business, economy, energy, investing, renewable energy, tech (all these topics) |
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Coal is the enemy of the human race: Goliath, meet David edition
Google invests in solar thermal company eSolar |
David Roberts |
18 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Today, Google announced it's investing $10 million in eSolar, a solar thermal company, as part of its RE<C project. (Speaking of the latter, we've got an excellent interview on it coming up soon.) Here's what esolar has to say about itself (PDF): To serve the renewable electricity needs of utility-scale energy providers, eSolar has developed a market disrupting solar thermal power plant technology. Generation can be scaled from 25 MW to over 500 MW at energy p ... |
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| Topics: business, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar thermal power (all these topics) |
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Charlie Crist Superstar
An interview with Florida's governor, a Republican climate crusader |
Amanda Griscom Little |
14 Jan 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Charlie Crist. Photo:Steven Murphy/WireImage Meet Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a surprising blend of Grand Ol' Party and bleeding-heart greenie. As a Republican, he defends the Bush administration's environmental record, but he also counts among his personal heroes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote an entire book condemning Bush as "America's worst environmental pre ... |
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| Topics: climate, coal, energy, Florida, interview, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Caping By
Cape Wind project given preliminary environmental approval |
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14 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:58 PM on 14 Jan 2008 Seems it was only October that the controversial Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound was dealt a setback. Now here it is January, and the wind farm that NIMBYs love to hate is inching forward, having been given preliminary environmental approval from the Minerals Management Service. After a public comment period, the final fate of the project is expected to be announced later this year. source ... |
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| Topics: energy, Massachusetts, news, renewable energy, wind power (all these topics) |
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Investors see opportunity in efficiency and wind
Energy stocks are looking attractive |
Joseph Romm |
10 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following essay is a guest post by Kari Manlove, fellows assistant at the Center for American Progress. ----- CNNmoney.com just released a summary outlook on the solar, wind, biofuel (mainly ethanol), and efficiency industry financial sectors. The two looking most optimistic are wind and efficiency, and thus both sectors are overflowing with opportunity. According to one investment portfolio manager, efficiency investments are reliable and essentially fu ... |
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| Topics: business, economy, energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, wind power (all these topics) |
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But what about the less attractive countries?
Swedish company to warm buildings using body heat |
Adam Browning |
09 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The legendary hotness of Swedes is now useful for more than getting dates. Calls to the French Embassy about plans for using the famous Gallic 'icy superciliousness' for air conditioning were not returned by press time. |
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| Topics: business, energy, innovation, renewable energy, Sweden (all these topics) |
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The high costs of doing nothing, part II
True costs of fossil fuels make renewables seem cheap in comparison |
Joseph Romm |
09 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- In November 2006, California voters rejected Proposition 87, a ballot initiative to raise the oil industry's taxes by $4 billion for research into renewable energy. Four months before the ballot, a survey (PDF) by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 61 percent of likely voters favored the idea, including 51 percent ... |
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| Topics: climate, consumerism, energy, fossil fuels, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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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. |
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| Topics: energy, innovation, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, tech (all these topics) |
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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 ... |
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| Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Taking Germany 100 percent renewable
German scientists develop Combined Power Plant |
David Roberts |
08 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Via the The Sietch blog, some very, very cool stuff out of the University of Kassel in Germany -- the Combined Power Plant: The secure and constant provision of power anywhere and at anytime by renewable energies is now made possible thanks to the Combined Power Plant. The Combined Power Plant links and controls 36 wind, solar, biomass and hydropower installations spread throughout Germany. It is just as reliable and powerful as a conventional large-scale power ... |
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| Topics: energy, Germany, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Predictions for 2008: III
The renewable portfolio standard will return |
David Roberts |
04 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Renewable Portfolio Standard will return to Congress. Multiple Dems have vowed that the RPS will return as a separate bill when Congress is back in session. I believe them exactly 87 percent. Despite the recent energy bill debacle, the RPS is not entirely political poison. Some 29 states have adopted one (a confusing patchwork!) and a 10 percent RPS actually passed in the Senate in 2005, only to be rejected by the House (the inverse of what happened this year). ... |
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| Topics: energy, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Greening the Export-Import bank
Ex-Im to finance more clean energy exports |
Joseph Romm |
03 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The appropriations omnibus bill just passed through Congress 'recommends that the Export-Import Bank provide 10 percent of its financing capacity to promote the export of clean energy products and services.' This was a recommendation by many groups, including the Center for American Progress: Having supported more than $400 billion dollars of U.S. exports during the past 70 years, the Export-Import Bank is one of the most powerful tools at the U.S. government's ... |
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| Topics: renewable energy, legislation, energy, politics, economy (all these topics) |
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Survey says ...
Two thirds of likely caucus voters in Iowa think conservation more important than coal |
Sean Casten |
02 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, the Iowa Farmers Union, and Plains Justice have just completed a survey (PDF) in advance of tomorrow's caucuses. Short version: Iowans think that we've squandered chances to do something meaningful about energy, and that it's time we started to do so before building new coal plants. The executive summary is below the fold, but it's worth having a look at the whole presentation.A scientific, phone-based survey conducted by Opi ... |
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| Topics: coal, elections, energy, energy efficiency, Iowa, politics, presidential race 08, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Green energy is the bottomless well
The poverty of fossil fuels becomes apparent |
John McGrath |
27 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Martin Wolf makes what I think is a really bad argument in the Financial Times:We live in a positive-sum world economy and have done so for about two centuries. This, I believe, is why democracy has become a political norm, empires have largely vanished, legal slavery and serfdom have disappeared and measures of well-being have risen almost everywhere. What then do I mean by a positive-sum economy? It is one in which everybody can become better off. It is one in ... |
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| Topics: energy, fossil fuels, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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The Year of the Renewable
China releases energy white paper, plans to boost renewables R&D |
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26 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 11:32 AM on 26 Dec 2007 China has released its first-ever white paper on energy policy, stating that the country "attaches great importance to environmental protections and prevention of global climate change" and plans to give "top priority to developing renewable energy" as a long-term pollution solution. That includes wind, solar, natural gas, and nuclear, as well as a ... |
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| Topics: China, energy, news, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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The renewable Janus
Renewables are pulling two directions, nationwide and local |
David Roberts |
23 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Recently a study found that wind can serve as reliable baseload power. The key is to link wind farms together with a high-speed transmission grid. "This study implies that, if interconnected wind is used on a large scale, a third or more of its energy can be used for reliable electric power, and the remaining intermittent portion can be used for transportation, allowing wind to solve energy, climate and air pollution problems simultaneously," said Arc ... |
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| Topics: energy, renewable energy, wind power, electricity grid (all these topics) |
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Renewing Renewables
Tax incentives for clean energy not yet renewed -- but probably will be |
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20 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 10:24 AM on 20 Dec 2007 A renewal of tax incentives for building and installing clean energy sources was stripped from the recently signed energy bill, putting wind and solar boosters just a wee bit on edge. Current federal tax credits for renewable energy will expire at the end of 2008; Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association predicts that U.S. solar installations, which jumped 8 ... |
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| Topics: energy, legislation, news, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Keep it in the ground
Efficiency without renewable energy is not sufficient |
Jon Rynn |
18 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Recently George Monbiot argued that humanity must figure out a way to leave the fossil fuels in the ground: Most of the governments of the rich world now exhort their citizens to use less carbon. They encourage us to change our lightbulbs, insulate our lofts, turn our televisions off at the wall. In other words, they have a demand-side policy for tackling climate change. But as far as I can determine, not one of them has a supply-side policy. None seeks to reduce the sup ... |
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| Topics: renewable energy, fossil fuels, energy (all these topics) |
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Get in the van
It's not whether we can beat climate change with today's tools, but whether we can get moving |
David Roberts |
17 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Tyler Hamilton ran across some elaborate, multibillion-dollar plans for a carbon capture and sequestration network in Canada, geared around enhanced oil recovery. Naturally it was asking the government (read: Canadian taxpayers) to assume the bulk of the risk. Naturally it won't be done for well over a decade. Then he ran across something else: Then I read about a new law passed in Germany that, among other things, will require all new homes built in the country to ... |
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| Topics: Germany, renewable energy, energy, climate (all these topics) |
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How can California become more energy efficient?
California looks for yet more clean energy |
Joseph Romm |
17 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The following essay is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. ----- The California Energy Commission (CEC) has released its biennial integrated energy policy report (PDF). The 301-page report looks at various issues confronting California and makes recommendations on how to address them. The issues include: Rising population leading to greater demand for energy (natural gas, petroleum, and electric power). Rising natural gas demand while pr ... |
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| Topics: energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy, California (all these topics) |
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Question of the day
What about the RPS in Texas? |
John McGrath |
16 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| So Senate Republicans managed to kill the Renewable Portfolio Standard in the energy bill. One question: who was the big-government, nanny-state liberal who forced one of the nation's largest and most successful RPSs on the poor, unwitting state of Texas? Hint: As Governor of Texas in 1999, he signed the RPS into law and later moved to the District of Columbia to pursue other opportunities, like threatening to veto a bill that would have treated all Americans like ... |
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| Topics: energy, renewable energy, legislation, politics, Texas (all these topics) |
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Annals of irritants, part three
Louisiana's Sen. Landrieu votes against party, for Big Oil |
David Roberts |
14 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| When the energy bill went before the Senate yesterday morning, it had been stripped of the Renewable Energy Standard, but it still retained the tax package, which would have reversed $13.5 billion in tax breaks to oil and gas companies to help pay for $21 billion worth of investment in renewable energy. Republicans, as always, threatened a filibuster, so majority leader Harry Reid went for a cloture vote, for which he needed 60 votes. He got 59. The final roll call s ... |
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| Topics: energy, politics, legislation, renewable energy, Big Oil (all these topics) |
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