The whole better-greener-more-awesome-cities movement has a problem: We haven’t found a good name for it. Sustainable cities! The term brings to mind such mundanity as energy audits and transit routes. Resilient cities! The notion requires us to consider, first, what … Continue reading
For some conservatives, solar is a big green boondoggle promoted by a liberal president to benefit rich environmentalists. But for a growing number of libertarians and conservatives, solar is seen as a tool for promoting competition in electricity markets and … Continue reading
Creating a sustainable long-term distributed photovoltaic (DPV) market will require aligning the interests of utilities, solar companies, technology providers, and customers. Aligning those interests does not mean discarding the business models that have served the solar market until now. Rather, … Continue reading
Would anyone be interested in supporting a crowd-funding project to bring this technology to San Antonio and SouthTexas Region? Picarro is a leading provider of solutions to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, trace gases and stable isotopes across many scientific … Continue reading
For a while now, we’ve been hearing that big oil companies have assigned an internal price on carbon in anticipation of societal response to global warming. Some companies, like Shell, have come out publicly for carbon pricing, which might seem … Continue reading
When Christine Fisk toured a foreclosed home in Phoenix that had been renovated to be more energy-efficient, she wasn’t sold on its environmental benefits. But the two-bedroom bungalow was just minutes from her office and in good shape, so the … Continue reading
Climate: Now or Never Here’s why something as basic as a battery both thrills and terrifies the U.S. utility industry. At a sagebrush-strewn industrial park outside of Reno, Nevada, bulldozers are clearing dirt for Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA)’s battery factory, … Continue reading
You remember Fillmore. He’s the resident hippie of Radiator Springs in the Pixar blockbuster Cars. Much to the chagrin of his neighbor, Sarge the Army Jeep, Fillmore greets each new day with Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock rendition of A Star Spangled … Continue reading
Last week, for the first time in memory, the wholesale price of electricity in Queensland fell into negative territory – in the middle of the day. For several days the price, normally around $40-$50 a megawatt hour, hovered in and … Continue reading
Massachusetts, USA — While China boasts the most installed wind capacity, the U.S. can now push that statement aside and claim the throne for what arguably matters most — wind energy production. According to a new report from the American … Continue reading
It is easy to forget that once upon a time all agriculture was organic, grassfed, and regenerative. Seed saving, composting, fertilizing with manure, polycultures, no-till and raising livestock entirely on grass—all of which we associate today with sustainable food production—was … Continue reading
Reinventing Fire: Electricity – YouTube. … Continue reading
Dive Brief: Southern California Edison (SCE) has signed contracts for 2,221 MW of power from new resources to meet it customers’ long-term electricity needs, including 250 MW of storage capacity, Greentech Media reports. It is the first time SCE has … Continue reading
Renewables scored a major victory recently in the natural gas heartland that is Texas. In a resolution adopted by the Austin City Council on August 28, the city declared solar energy its default generation resource, in part noting “that solar … Continue reading
Solar Continues Trumping Fossil Fuel Pricing, With More Innovations To Come Solar power has come a long way in a short period of time. Just five years ago, the bulk of the energy community viewed it as being unreliable, expensive … Continue reading
Imagine if several of the world’s largest companies joined together to make clear their common interests in accessing renewable energy. Such an accord, if it contained actionable intent, would send a potent signal to the energy market that corporate renewable … Continue reading
Talk about risky business. Over the last decade, oil went from being a necessary ingredient of global growth to being its primary constraint. New modeling is now blaming oil’s inability to keep up with demand as a primary driver for … Continue reading
This map shows how little space we’d need to power the entire world with solar panels. The area in the red box is about 25,000 square miles, slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The small red square shows … Continue reading
Now is your chance to tell City Council to reject CPS Energy’s proposed fees on solar. The utility will make the proposal at City Council’s B-Session at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11. The proposal, approved by the utility’s Board … Continue reading
Will efficiency projects get sliced and diced like mortgages, car loans and rental units? Only if the industry gets serious about standards. For proof of how securitization can grow a market really quickly, consider the single-family home rental market. After … Continue reading