Alternate Energy

Fossil Fuels Get Tons More in Subsidies than Renewable Energy
Fossil fuel subsidies are huge. It is something many of us now know, but which even more people don’t. Thus, it is something we come back to from time to time on here. A new report out by Bloomberg Ne…..

Let Renewables Compete Fair & Square? You Bet!
I frequently encounter the challenge, “When will solar and renewable energy be able to compete on their own?” The implication of course is that the renewable energy industry is artificially proppe…..

Thoughts on an Ethanol Pipeline
Join the forum discussion on this post Local Production for Local Needs I currently live in Hawaii, and one thing I hope to help facilitate is for Hawaii to become more sustainable in food and ener…..

Look ma, no wires: charging plug-in vehicles, without the plug
Earth2Tech has an interesting post here (hat tip to Katie) about a company called Evatran that has developed a system for charging electric vehicles that doesn’t require a plug or a charging cord. The…..

Canada to accelerate green technology patent process
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has proposed changes to federal patent law that would help speed up the patenting process for “green” technologies. “No additional fee would be r…..

How Zinc Oxide Nanostructures Improve Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
In the latest generation of dye-senzitised solar cells, a ZnO nanostructure works as a medium for electron transport and as a scaffold for light harvesting dyes. …..

UW-Rock County turns to sun power
From an article by Frank Schultz in the Janesville Gazette: JANESVILLE — The sun doesn’t always shine.Such was the case during a recent week—wouldn’t you know it—as Bob McCallister was show…..

Two exits for cleantech VC investors this week
There were 2 successful exits for cleantech investors this week and 2 new investments of over $100 million. …..

Headed to the Clinton Global Initiative!
I am PUMPED to be heading to the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York City in September. You’ll see posts and updates here at Maria Energia and at Earth & Industry. Stay tuned! …..

Latest Earth & Industry Podcast
You know it’s been awhile since you’ve blogged when it takes you 10 minutes to figure out your passwords to log in! But I do continue to record podcasts with some of the smart folks over at Eart…..

Ratio Between Black Carbon and Sulphates in Atmosphere Crucial to Global Warming
Black carbons are emitted from diesel exhausts and burned biomass and are considered an environmental and health hazard all over the world. Besides the fact that they favor global dimming, black carbo…..

Research and Markets: Electric Car Markets in Europe: Analysis and Strategic Review of 10 Countries
DUBLIN – July 30, 2010 (Investorideas.com renewable energy/green newswire) – Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “Electric Car Markets in Europe: Analysis and Strategic Review of 10…..

Green OTCBB Stocks; OTC Volume Leaders; Most Active ($0.14-$0.25): (OTCBB: PTSC), (OTCBB: WNDT), (OTCBB: OOIL), (OTCBB: CPTC)
Point Roberts, WA (Investorideas.com Newswire) July 30, 2010 – OTC VOLUME LEADERS reports on the most active trading stocks on the OTCBB. …..

Free Cleantech sector update report published by PSQ Analytics
LONDON – July 30, 2010 (Investorideas.com renewablle energy/green newswire) – PSQ Analytics yesterday published the second Cleantech sector update report to provide investors with an update on key dev…..

Green and Tech Stocks; OTC Volume Leaders; Most Active ($5.00-$10.00): (OTCBB: HBMD), (OTCBB: EVCPD), (OTCBB: NEWN), (OTCBB: PMUG)
Point Roberts, WA (Investorideas.com Newswire) July 30, 2010 – OTC VOLUME LEADERS reports on the most active trading stocks on the OTCBB. …..

UK Gov't Department of Energy and Climate Change Pathways 2050 report – July 30
-2050 Pathways Analysis -UK energy scenarios: working with a flawed model -DECC publishes plans for achieving 2050 targets -DECC lays out six possible futures for low-carbon energyread more …..

More Green Jobs Will Sprout from Brownfields
The U.S. EPA has just announced that is is allocating an additional $16 million in funding for projects to reclaim brownfields, which are former industrial sites with varying degrees of contamination…..

Lithium Manganese Phosphate Batteries Break Efficiency Records
Paraffin wax and oleic acid have been discovered to make up good materials for battery electrodes, which could have applicability in electric cars and power storage systems. A team of Pacific Northwe…..

ODAC Newsletter – July 30
Another week on and there has been no further leak from the BP Macondo well. Officials are now “optimistic” about preparations for a new attempt at a, with the initial step of pumping mud into the t…..

U.S. Navy Soars into Solar Energy Future to the Tune of $100 Million
(none) …..

Sulfurcell to Supply More Than 16 MW of Thin-Film Modules to China and India
07/30/2010 – Sulfurcell GmbH, a Germany-based manufacturer of CIS thinfilmsolar modules, has concluded supply agreements with new customers in India andChina in excess of 16 MW… …..

If Texas Leaves the U.S., Do We Get Our Light Bulbs Back?
What a difference a year makes.  In the spring of 2009, Governor Rick Perry famously suggested that Texas could secede from the United States, and he rejected federal money meant to recharge the st…..

Do You Know Your Representatives in Congress?
There are a lot of ways you can throw the blame after the horrible death of a comprehensive climate change and clean energy bill, and the seeming death of a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES).Yo…..

Waukesha tech college turbine impact will be negligible
From an article by Jim Stevens in the Lake Country Reporter: Village of Pewaukee — Residents in a subdivision near Waukesha County Technical College are objecting to a 95-foot tall wind turbine th…..

Ford Prodigy: The 80 MPG Diesel Hybrid Car Built in The 1990s
So it’s possible to build an 80 mpg (2.3 L/100km) car, with all the accessories it needs, and still claim it can’t be done. This pisses me off. The Ford Prodigy concept, unveiled in 2000 at the NAIAS …..

How Scientists Made Moulds From Blowflies’ Eyes And Used Them in Solar Cells
Along with butterflies and moths, whose eyes have inspired scientists to build more efficient solar cells, a particular type of fly (the blowfly) has been discovered to have the right properties that …..

Europe Weekly: More marine energy activity in the UK
Two significant marine energy funding announcements are made in the UK, while the largest VC deal of the week goes to a remote wind energy monitoring company. …..

Asia Weekly: Solar IPO in Taiwan, 2 new VC deals
2 Indian cleantech companies received investment from venture and private equity investors this week whilst 1 venture backed solar company listed in Taiwan …..

N. America Weekly: 2 large funding rounds of > $100m
2 cleantech companies reveal funding rounds greater than $100 million this week, whilst a third venture-backed cleantech company in the nanotechnology arena has been acquired. …..

Top Five Electric Vehicle Developments
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Consolidation Continues: Panasonic To Buy Sanyo
On Wednesday this week, Panasonic announced its intentions to purchase remaining shares of Sanyo Electric Co and Panasonic Electric Works (PEW). Panasonic already had a 50% stake in Sanyo as of last …..

Recurrent Finances 5-MW PV Project
The solar PV development company Recurrent Energy has been making some big project announcements lately. The developer said yesterday that it had raised $18 million in debt for a 5-MW PV system in San…..

Solyndra Signs PPA with SCE
The cylindrical CIGS thin-film manufacturer Solyndra just signed a power purchase agreement with the utility Southern California Edison for 16-MW of projects. …..

CSP Today: Interview with Anoop Mathur from Terrafore
Ahead of the First Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Summit India, CSP Today catches up with Anoop Mathur from Terrafore, who will be speaking at the Summit. …..

Bigger Blades and Better Designs in Wind Energy
Evidence that wind generation equipment development continues apace emerges from a swath of new designs that are intended to extend the operational range of existing machines into previously untappe…..

US Company Sending Wind Energy Parts To China
The Timken Company yesterday announced that it had received a contract worth US$26 million to supply wind turbine products and services to China’s Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Company, one o…..

Utility-scale Battery Research Underway
What happens when the U.S. government awards DuPont, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Bosch, and 3M $1.6 million to develop a longer-lasting, less expensive way to store clean energy? We will s…..

Certification Requirements Could Hinder UK Solar Market
According to EUPD Research, an organization that is studying the UK PV market, an important aspect of the feed-in tariff (FIT) regulation could stymie growth of the solar market in the UK. …..

SMA Expands North American Utility-Scale PV Inverter Line
SMA America LLC, the U.S.-based subsidiary of global solar technology leader SMA Solar Technology AG, has expanded its U.S. line of utility products with the Sunny Central High Efficiency (HE) line o…..

Audio Interview: eIQ Energy Partners with Shoales to Reduce BoS Costs
Michael Lamb tells editor Debra Vogler how the company’s vBoost technology and its partnership announcement with Shoales will address reduced balance-of-system (BoS) costs. …..

Audio Interview: The Future of Thin-film Solar Cell Manufacturing, Chris Eberspacher
Eberspacher summarizes sessions on thin-film photovoltaics and PV fab management from Intersolar NA 2010. …..

House approves oil spill reform bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives on Friday approved the toughest reforms ever to offshore energy drilling practices, as Democrats narrowly pushed through an election-year response t…..

BP to try well kill Tuesday
BILOXI, Mississippi (Reuters) – BP said on Friday it could seal its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by next week as the House of Representatives voted to toughen regulation of offshore energy drillin…..

China oil spill could be 60,000 metric tons: Greenpeace
BEIJING (Reuters) – As many as 60,000 metric tons of heavy crude oil could have been spilled into China’s northeast coastal waters as a result of an explosion that rocked the port of Dalian on July 16…..

Obama says U.S. automaker rescues paying off
DETROIT (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday defended his decision to bail out General Motors and Chrysler in 2009, saying he had proven the naysayers wrong as he touted his economic policies …..

GT Solar to buy Crystal Systems, eyes LED market
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. solar equipment maker GT Solar International Inc said on Friday it would buy privately held sapphire maker Crystal Systems for about $57.8 million in cash and stock, giving i…..

U.N. panel to probe further Kyoto CO2-cut projects
LONDON (Reuters) – A United Nations climate panel will ask a working group to investigate further claims that a Kyoto Protocol scheme may be incentivizing participants to emit more greenhouse gases, i…..

Analysis: Pickens must wait for payday on energy bill
NEW YORK (Reuters) – T.Boone Pickens’ proposal to run more U.S. vehicles on natural gas got a boost in Congress this week, but the energy billionaire must wait a few years before profiting from any in…..

Analysis: Global solar sector faces fresh cell glut
FRANKFURT/MILAN (Reuters) – The global solar industry is likely to face a fresh sector trough if the recent European demand feast ahead of subsidy cuts turns into a famine next year. …..

Enbridge sees Michigan oil line back up in days
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – It will be days before Enbridge Inc can get a damaged section of oil pipeline in Michigan back into service as it begins assessing the cause of the rupture and cleans up c…..

Canadian oil sands profits jump amid green battle
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Four of Canada’s biggest oil sands companies posted higher profits on Thursday, on stronger oil prices, as controversy builds over the environmental costs of tapping North…..

Arab Atomic Energy Agency reaffirms countries’ right to peaceful use of nuclear energy
The Executive Council of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency reaffirmed here Friday that every country has the inalienable right to use and develop nuclear energy in peaceful ways. …..

Nuclear Fusion Reactor [Flickr]
The heart of the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Labs. …..

U.S., India formally sign nuclear reprocessing pact
The United States and India on Friday formally signed an agreement on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel that U.S. officials hope will allow American firms a share of India’s $150 billion nuclear energy …..

U.S. Nuclear Front-Runners Begin to Slow Spending
Two companies leading the U.S. nuclear power revival may curb spending on the next generation of reactors due to delays in federal loan support, officials said. …..

Areva net profit soars despite new EPR charge
France’s state-owned nuclear reactor builder Areva SA said Friday its net profit soared in the first half after it booked a euro1.3 billion gain selling its electric transmission and distribution divi…..

Electricite de France gets $9 billion Hong Kong bid for UK networks, but profits dive
Electricite de France announced a plunge in profits Friday but was boosted by a surprisingly high euro6.9 billion bid by East Asia’s richest businessman for the utility’s British electricity grid. …..

India, Russia to iron out nuclear issues Monday
India and Russia will try to iron out differences over liability issues in their civil nuclear cooperation when Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao holds talks with senior Russian officials in Moscow Monda…..

yawn
Kathy Naylor of Pawnee ISD gained first-hand experience from experts in the mining and nuclear energy fields at the third annual Texas Mining and Reclamation Association uranium mining teacher worksho…..

IAEA to examine platform for Armenian nuclear power unit
“Experts say Armenia’s uranium reserves could amount to between 30,000 and 60,000 metric tons”. 20:52 Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency and other organizations will visit Armenia fro…..

New nuclear energy blocks will be built in Armenia
The European Commission will provide funding for the second part of the 2009 nuclear security plan of actions costing a total of 11,000,000 euros. …..

SRS accident may lead to changes
A June 14 accident in which a Savannah River Site worker was contaminated with plutonium could yield new training programs and waste handling procedures, according to a report on the accident made pub…..

China shows strong resolve to develop clean energy: ITER
China had shown its commitment to developing clean energy through its strong support for an international alternative energy program, the head of the program’s China office said Wednesday. …..

Slight rate increases for 2 Entergy units
Customers of two Louisiana power utilities owned by Entergy Corp. will pay a bit more, starting next month, to close gaps in federally required funds to eventually dismantle two nuclear generating pla…..

Plan to ship radioactive generators on Great Lakes faces backlash
Bruce Power, the country’s only private nuclear station operator. Photograph by: Screen grab, Handout A global outcry is growing over a proposal to ship 16 aging radioactive steam generators across On…..

Westinghouse to dismantle Spanish reactor
Westinghouse Electric Co. said Wednesday that it was awarded a contract to dismantle a nuclear reactor in Spain. …..