An innovative new book from Routledge explores the rise of wind power as a global industry and examines the challenges it faces in today’s unpredictable energy climate.   Wind Power: The Struggle for Control of a New Global Industry, written by Ben Backwell and published by Routledge, looks at the nations, companies and people fighting for control of one of the world’s …

SUNRUN UNVEILS THE SUNRUN BRIGHTPATH STATIONÔ FOR CONSUMERS TO RECEIVE AN INSTANT HOME SOLAR QUOTE   Interactive Kiosk Enables Consumers to Learn About Home Solar at Select Retail Locations    Sunrun, the largest dedicated residential solar company in the United States, today unveiled the Sunrun BrightPath StationÔ, an interactive, multi-touch kiosk that enables consumers to pinpoint their home on a …

Retail residential electricity prices across the U.S. rose in the first half of this year, averaging 12.3 per kilowatt hour, a 3.2 percent price hike from the same period last year. This is the largest six-month rise since 2009, the U.S Energy Information Administration has reported. Factors that affect your electricity bill There are two main components that contribute to …

New SolarCity Product Makes it Possible for Businesses to Significantly Increase Solar Output From Each Rooftop Incredibly Lightweight, “Snap Together” Mounting System Allows Businesses to Fit 20-50 Percent More Solar Panels on Each Roof, Promises to do for Commercial Solar What Zep Has Done for Residential SolarCity (Nasdaq:SCTY) unveiled a new product in its Zep Solar line of solar products today–a flat roof solar …

What if we could take all that carbon dioxide that we have too much of and turn it into a clean energy source? Sound far-fetched? Well, it isn’t really. After all, plants do it every day. That is much of the rationale behind biofuels. Let the plants store the solar energy as sugars, starches, etc., which we then convert into …

Energy efficiency advocates have argued for years that energy efficiency should be a first fuel – considered before others in portfolio planning.  Today, they appear victorious with the release of the US’ first-ever carbon dioxide restrictions for existing power plants. The draft rule places energy efficiency in good position to be a top choice as states set strateagies to meet …

To the consumer, the microgrid market will simply appear one day. Like the IPhone or the Kindle or solar panels, it will be the latest cool wonder of our high tech society. But those behind the scenes know that most products are many years in the making. Electricity innovation is no different, except perhaps that industry gestation requires a lot of government …

Last week, Charlie Rose presented this summary of a report which laid out how the melting of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet is “beyond the point of no return,” reminding us of the grim consequences: the slow but significant rise in the earth’s sea levels. I always wonder when I come across scientific findings like these: what does the common American think …

It’s never a bad thing to have the leader of the free world in your corner. And President Barrack Obama made clear again last week that he’s with energy efficiency. At a Walmart in Silicon Valley, Obama laid out his next round of green energy expansion plans. Sexy solar got much of the play in the media coverage. But staid …

New Worldwatch Institute analysis examines the trends in global biofuel production In 2012, the combined global production of ethanol and biodiesel fell for the first time since 2000, down 0.4 percent from the figure in 2011. Global ethanol production declined slightly for the second year in a row, to 83.1 billion liters, while biodiesel output rose fractionally, from 22.4 billion …

Though the first official assessment that climate change was caused by human activity came in 1988, with NASA scientist James Hansen’s famous testimony to the U.S. Congress, the “carbon neutral” concept, which refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions, is a relatively new one. The non-profit Climate Neutral Network, which developed the Climate Neutral Certification, was incorporated in 1999; the …

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 …

Geothermal power potential in California still largely untapped, says industry group As the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is examining their new scoping plan for implementing the state’s ambitious climate law, the leading geothermal industry group has issued a status report on California’s geothermal resources that says they are still largely untapped. Geothermal power is “a viable, cost effective, and …

Image Caption: By placing colonies of E. coli engineered to produce pinene into test tubes containing glucose, researchers were able to determine which enzyme combinations produced the hydrocarbon most efficiently. Credit: Georgia Tech/Rob Felt John Toon, Georgia Institute of Technology Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Joint BioEnergy Institute have engineered a bacterium to synthesize pinene, a hydrocarbon produced …

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, …

 Latin America Leads Manufacturing Capacity Growth With capital expenditures for the photovoltaic (PV) industry set to bounce back in 2014, a new round of solar spending will commence that will reach $3.8 billion by year-end, according to IHS Technology (NYSE: IHS). PV capital spending has been rising notably over the past two quarters, en route to a third straight increase with the …

New White Paper Report on Racking Reliability for Residential Rooftop Solar Released Today Report Highlights How to Scale Residential Solar While Minimizing Potential Pitfalls and Rooftop Damage Today, Solar Marketing Group announces the release of a new white paper on improving quality control in residential rooftop solar installations. The white paper entitled: “The Importance of Reliable Solar Mounting Systems” was …

It seems hard to believe that we have come so far in the adoption and acceptance of solar energy in our country both on the commercial power development side and on the home solar power side that a dispute like the one brewing the St Louis area could still be happening. CLARKSON VALLEY • The fuss over the solar panels remains …

WELTEC Optimises Wastewater Plants In the future, the anaerobic fermentation and utilisation of sludge from wastewater plants will play an increasingly important role. To ensure an economically and ecologically sustainable solution, more and more municipalities decide to optimise the energy potential of their sewage plants. For a plant dimension of 20,000 to 30,000 PE (population equivalent), biogas plant manufacturer WELTEC …