Green Hygienics to Address Critical Global Power Demands and Conservation The advantages of low-cost, clean forms of energy are increasingly moving from the margins to the mainstream of public awareness in countries around the world, especially developing nations with fast-growing economies, rising numbers of middle class consumers and traditional power supplies that are unreliable or heavy polluters or both.The decision by Warren Buffett’s utility company …

More than a decade ago, Ruihong Zhang, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at the University of California, Davis, started working on a problem: How to turn as much organic waste as possible into as much renewable energy as possible. Today, on Earth Day, the university and Sacramento-based technology partner CleanWorld are officially unveiling the UC Davis Renewable Energy …

Environmental Advocate Shares Affordable Gadgets that Shrink Your Footprint – and Your Bills   Just as intended, the 44th annual celebration of Earth Day is surrounded by talk of our environment, our impact on it and what we can do to better live in harmony with it. “We’re seeing more and more people who realize that, if each of us …

Marc Lopata says his job is to uncover the dark side of microgrids. And that’s just what the president and principal engineer for Microgrid Solar is doing in a project that combines energy storage and solar energy at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). The project is located at the “Solar Village,” which consists of multiple houses built by …

This chart shows the production tax credit at its most recent level (dashed lines). The credit is currently worth 2.3 cents per kWh for ten years, or about 1.6 cents per kWh when levelized over the 20-year life of a typical wind contract.    The costs of using wind energy and natural gas for electricity are virtually equal when accounting for …

Environmental Advocate Shares Affordable Gadgets that Shrink Your Footprint – and Your Bills   Just as intended, the 44th annual celebration of Earth Day on April 22 will be surrounded by talk of our environment, our impact on it and what we can do to better live in harmony with it. “We’re seeing more and more people who realize that, …

Californians consume the least electricity per-person of any state in the country, according to new 2014 state energy rankings from EnergyTrends.org. Behind California, Hawaii, Rhode Island and New York used the least electricity per person. Meanwhile, Californians consumed the fifth-lowest total energy per person of any state. This ranking has remained unchanged in recent years – and shows California’s residential …

Battery storage is gaining more and more traction in the distributed energy resources community. Last fall, California passed the first statewide energy storage directive in the United States. Issued by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the mandate requires all investor-owned utilities in the state including Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric, to …

UPS TO EXPAND NATURAL GAS FOOTPRINT Thirteen new LNG fueling stations to be operational by the end of 2014 UPS® (NYSE:UPS) announced today plans to invest approximately $50 million to build an additional nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations, bringing the total number of stations to 13. Four were announced in April, and all should be operational by the …

The global energy industry must play a greater role in the transition to sustainable energy systems if United Nations development goals are to be met, warns a report launched today by the World Energy Council (WEC). The potential for billions of people benefiting from sustainable energy systems in future decades hangs in the balance without increased private sector support, it …

The Geothermal Energy Association today released a new report showing continued strong growth signals in the international market for geothermal power. The report, 2013 Geothermal Power: International Market Overview, identifies 70 countries moving forward with nearly 700 geothermal power projects. “The number of geothermal projects continues to grow as more and more countries recognize the potential economic and environmental benefits that geothermal …

Despite demonstrating a slowed growth rate, China will continue to be the largest wind power market in 2020, as it attempts to reduce its carbon footprint while increasing electricity production in rural areas, says research and consulting firm GlobalData. According to the company’s latest report*, China has doubled its cumulative wind capacity every year between 2006 and 2011, growing at …

New Worldwatch Institute study examines the global market for solar and wind energy production Global use of solar and wind energy continued to grow significantly in 2012. Solar power consumption increased by 58 percent, to 93 terrawatt-hours (TWh), and the use of wind power increased by 18 percent, to 521 TWh. Although hydropower remains the world’s leading renewable energy, solar …

Replacing synthetic fertilizers with organic ones could help reduce climate impacts and improve agricultural systems By Deirdre Lockwood In efforts to mitigate climate change, we’re more likely to think about changing how we power our cars than how we grow our food. But as University of Washington geologist David R. Montgomery likes to remind people, farming has a huge impact …

Geothermal Energy’s Environmental and Health Benefits Worth $117 Million Annually Benefits of geothermal energy touted in air emissions analysis The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) has released an Air Emissions Comparison and Externality Analysis showing geothermal energy provides significant benefits to public health and the environment as one of the least-polluting and most environmentally friendly forms of energy. The analysis found …

Responding to a challenge by California Gov. Jerry Brown, more than 500 of the world’s top global change scientists have outlined the main environmental issues – from climate change to pollution and population growth – that policy makers must address immediately to avoid an approaching global tipping point. Gov. Jerry Brown discussing Earth’s tipping point with UC Berkeley professor Tony …

Benefits of geothermal energy touted in air emissions analysis The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) has released an Air Emissions Comparison and Externality Analysis showing geothermal energy provides significant benefits to public health and the environment as one of the least-polluting and most environmentally friendly forms of energy. The analysis found binary geothermal plants produce virtually no greenhouse gases (GHG) and …

Xcel, MidAmerican among leaders as more utilities sign up for consumer savings U.S. electric utilities are locking in fixed-price contracts for wind power, now more cost-competitive than ever, illustrating the success of a key federal tax policy in holding down rates for consumers. A total of 66 U.S. utilities bought or owned wind power by the start of this year …

Alternative Energy HQ has been featured in a list of 101 Terrific Energy sites. Thanks! Techniques for harvesting solar energy, wind energy, and even the tidal movements of the ocean have been around for decades, but the importance of improving their efficiency and increasing their availability is growing rapidly. As oil companies sink more resources into dangerous practices like hydraulic …

Have you heard about Energy By Water? It’s amazing. It’s the latest innovation in the field of power generation. Do you need to power your house? Are you looking for a cheap source of electricity? Energy By Water is the perfect solution for you. It will give sufficient power to power your entire house and it’s cheap. You just need …