Early-Stage Energy Ideas Also Receive Funding  The California Energy Commission approved a $5 million research grant today to address the unprecedented tree die-off across the state and turn dead trees to energy. More than 100 million trees have died across the state due to drought and bark beetles since 2010, and the dead trees can fuel larger, more damaging wildfires. The Fall River …

CAN’T TOUCH THIS! Renewable Energy Will be the Cheapest Energy Available by 2020 By: Laureen Peck, VP Marketing, Solar Energy World New research from Morgan Stanley estimates that renewables will be the least expensive source of power in the world in less than three years. “We project that by 2020, renewables will be the cheapest form of new power generation …

WIND + SOLAR PROVIDE MAJORITY OF NEW GENERATING CAPACITY IN FIRST QUARTER 2017   Washington DC – According to the latest issue of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) monthly “Energy Infrastructure Update” (with data through March 31, 2017), wind and solar provided 50.84% of the new electrical generating capacity added to the U.S. grid during the first quarter of 2017. …

NRDC Report: Replacing Coal with Renewables and Energy Efficiency Can Lead U.S. to Cleaner Energy Future WASHINGTON (March 2, 2017) – It’s cheaper and cleaner to replace retiring coal-fired power plants with wind and solar power and energy efficiency upgrades rather than to saddle the nation with more costly and climate-polluting natural gas plants, according to a report released today …

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2017 Interactive Table Viewer The mix of fuels used to generate electricity in the United States has changed in response to differences in the expected cost of fuels and electricity-generating technology costs and their deployment. These factors, together with policies affecting emissions from power generation, will determine the generation fuel mix of …

January 05, 2017 John Moore Part of NRDC’s Year-End Series Reviewing 2016 Energy Developments As 2016 fades away in the rear-view mirror, we reflect on a year of increasing tensions between the wholesale electricity markets – where utilities and other power suppliers purchase, sell, and trade energy to meet our energy needs – and our ever-growing appetite for cleaner, carbon-free …

  Virtual power plant: that sounds like part of a video game like “SimCity” or “Cities: Skylines” — but it’s not. The virtual power plant (VPP) is a real, up-and-coming energy source. It’s a widespread collection of modest power systems with one control site that runs them like a single power plant. The control room increases or decreases production or …

SolTerra Recognized for Providing Jobs and Clean Energy in the Puget Sound Region Solar power is a booming business worldwide, and local installer SolTerra is among the companies recently named to an annual and well-recognized list of North America’s top solar contractors. SolTerra achieved a rank of 258 out of 500 solar companies. The Top 500 Solar Contractors List is …

SACRAMENTO – Hosted by the California Energy Commission, the Clean Energy Jobs Act (Proposition 39) Citizens Oversight Board today elected Kate Gordon as board chair and James Ray as vice chair. The six board members in attendance were joined by the two ex-officio members, Energy Commission Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller and California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Picker. Approved by …

Of the 326 Gigawatts (GW) of current coal power capacity in the US, a potential 60 GW could be lost by 2020 due to government’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) ‘With the US boasting significant renewable power potential, the CPP has created a huge opportunity for companies in this sector,’ says analyst   The US government’s recently-announced Clean Power Plan (CPP) …

63 Megawatt Preferred Resource Fuel Cell Energy Park Proposed for Beacon Falls, Connecticut — Preferred resource power plant producing energy at market-level pricing while enhancing grid resiliency — Expected to pay up to $90 million in local property and State sales taxes over project life — Generates and maintains local advanced manufacturing jobs as well as construction and service jobs — Ultra-clean, quiet and …

Innovative partnership is celebrated on Earth Day for turning waste to watts, saving tax dollars GRESHAM, Ore. – The City of Gresham today celebrated the ingenuity and collaborative spirit that made possible an environmental achievement – engineering the Pacific Northwest’s first energy net zero wastewater treatment plant. Achieving net zero status means that the plant makes about the same amount of electricity as …

The race for renewable energy has passed a turning point. The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined. And there’s no going back. The shift occurred in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity, compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants that burn fossil fuels, according to …

By Robert Sanders, Media Relations | February 9, 2015 BERKELEY —Generating electricity from biomass, such as urban waste and sustainably-sourced forest and crop residues, is one strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, because it is carbon-neutral: it produces as much carbon as the plants suck out of the atmosphere. A carbon dioxide injection well in Australia. (Photo courtesy of CO2CRC) …

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 …

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 …

Infusing more energy efficiency into the US economy could ease pressure on coal states that feel under attack by pending federal greenhouse gas rules, says a new study. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy outlines four energy efficiency strategies that could reduce carbon dioxide emissions 26 percent below 2012 levels in Change is in the Air: How States Can Harness Energy Efficiency …

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 …

Why Insiders are Bullish on Microgrid   Microgrids are coming to the US, but they face some significant roadblocks. What’s driving the sudden upswing in their development? And what’s getting in the way? A panel of microgrid experts tackled these questions last week at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) BuildingEnergy 14 conference in Boston. Ed Krapels, founder of Anbaric …

Regular inspections have been conducted on the No.4 reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant. However, delay on the inspections has once again led to Japan’s “zero nuclear power” status. Since nuclear power is still the major source of base-load electricity while other units are still applying for re-activation, it’s estimated that it will take at least half a year …