Alternate Energy

Are Technological Solutions to Peak Oil Possible?
Honda hosted a truly excellent “thought leadership series” this week, “ Race Against Time ,” on the topic of our diminishing oil supply (especially relative to global demand) and how we ca…..

Fill ‘Er Up…With Hemp Biodiesel
Hemp could be on the verge of joining the growing number of weeds that could power your car. Researchers at the University of Connecticut have found that industrial hemp seeds could make an ideal f…..

Wind Power Gains Speed: Efficient, Clean, Endless Energy Source
Thanet Offshore Wind Farm (image: Vattenfall/Lavernder Blue)Wind power produces no pollutants like carbon dioxide, and it requires no input of water or fuel resources, making wind one of the plane…..

Didcot, UK, Heated by Odorless Human Waste Biogas
Approximately 200 households in the town of Didcot, UK now benefit from gas produced out of human waste. Despite being generated at a sewage station, the gas is highly purified and has no odor. …..

Paris Motor Show 2010: Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 Diesel Cross-Sectioned And Detailed
I have to say I was very excited when, a month ago, I first saw the news of world’s first diesel hybrid appearing on the market. I was even more surprised when I saw the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 at the Pa…..

Wisconsin’s green economy offers 15,100 jobs
From a report published by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council, The Green Tier Porgram at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the Wisconsin School of Business: By 2007, 68,203 b…..

Now possible: Environmentally-Friendly Houses Made From Corn
Corn Board Manufacturing, Inc has patented a corn-based composite board that can successfully replace the traditional plywood fiberboard. The invention makes use of corn stover, (corn husks and stalks…..

German Utility EON Launches New Wind Power Plant in Poland
EON inaugurated on Thursday a 52.5 MW wind farm located in Poznan, Poland. The wind plant is worth approximately 100 million euros and is part of a company’s program meant to deliver more renewable …..

Update on the California Feed-in Tariff
A year ago, I worked with Scott Hempling, a colleague of mine now at NRRI, on a report for NREL on preemption issues related to feed-in tariffs.  The report is available here at my law firm website.…..

Smart meters are here…. Get over it
My Clean Break column, which now appears Friday in the Toronto Star , questions whether we have the capacity as a society to invest in long-term infrastructure transitions that don’t bear fruit right…..

Obama’s on a Strong Clean Energy Streak [VIDEO]
We covered the great news this week that Obama finally accepted the solar panel that Jimmy Carter originally put on the White House and is going to put it on there again.But there are a couple of othe…..

I’m Back…With Slides!
If you’re still following this blog, you’re probably wondering whether it’s washed away permanently.  After all, six months is a long, long time to be away.  Well, fear ye not, those loyal readers s…..

Solar Stocks Continue to Sizzle; Solar Stocks Commentary with J Peter Lynch
A month ago (September 2nd) I said that the market over the past weeks (August) had been a “trendless” and very frustrating market for investors and traders alike and that the volatility was very extr…..

Environment/ Cleantech Stocks; OTC Trading Alert: ($0.14-$0.25): ( OTCBB: SNRY), (OTCBB: GNOLF), (OTCBB: ARDM), (OTCBB: SFMI)
Point Roberts, WA (Investorideas.com Newswire) October 8, 2010 – OTC VOLUME LEADERS reports on the most active trading stocks on the OTCBB. …..

Zoe Preview: Renault’s New-Age Gadgetized Electric Car Concept at Paris Motor Show 2010
When I first saw it at this year’s Paris Motor Show, I thought I was looking at something having to do with Steve Jobs, or something called iCar… but it was not like that at all. Renault’s Zoe Previ…..

Prenova – One of the Fastest Growing Companies in America
Company Ranks as a Leading Energy Management Services ProviderPrenova, Inc., a privately held energy services provider managing over $2 billion in energy spend for dozens of national brands, today ann…..

FTC’s New Green Marketing Rules Warn Against Sweeping Claims
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AlertMe Closes $23.9 Million Funding Round for Home Energy Management Service
10/08/2010 – AlertMe, a provider of online home energy management, has closed its second round funding raising a total of GBP 15 million ($23… …..

100 Electric Car Charging Stations Planned for Massachusetts
The state of Massachusetts will benefit 100 electric vehicle charging stations in the near future, officials announced on Wednesday. Cities and towns interested in installing electric car stations are…..

Ohio’s New Solar Power Plant to Create More Than 600 Green Jobs
A former coal strip mine is going to be transformed into a huge solar power plant in Ohio, creating 600 permanent jobs. The 49.9-megawatt project will be developed by New Harvest Ventures and Agile En…..

British Gas takes 16% stake in UK energy management firm
Plus Goldwind raises $917M in its IPO and Siemens grows its smart grid presence, among 20 deals we spotted in the past seven days. …..

Metso to Help Automate Waveroller Demo in Portugal
One of the charming things I discovered about Finland’s green tech sector on my blogger tour this summer is how close-knit a group the whole green energy sector can be in a nation of just 7 million…..

Asia Weekly: Chinese JV to form EV battery replacement services co.
Meanwhile, China-based wind turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind raises $917M in its Hong Kong IPO. …..

N. America Weekly: Siemens acquires energy management firm
Purchase of Texas-based Site Controls signifies Siemens’ interest in accelerating its growth in the smart consumption and smart grid markets. …..

Former Xantrex CEO joins ZENN board
Many things reflect the credibility of a company, and among them is the composition of its board of directors. So I find it interesting that ZENN today announced that John Robert Wallace, former CEO o…..

Google Investing in Human-Powered Monorail [VIDEO]
Human-powered transport is up my alley. And I have to say that I’m a Google fan. So, when I found out about Google investing in human-powered monorail a couple days ago, my back straightened up, my ey…..

How to approach investors with a component idea (components part 3)
In the last post I walked through questions entrepreneurs need to think through, research, and thoughtfully answer before attempting to turn a component-level cleantech innovation into a business. …..

Drawing boundaries (components part two)
In the last post I lamented seeing so many entrepreneurs pitching components in cleantech, not fully fleshed out companies. Then I helpfully mentioned that building a fully fleshed out company is …..

Components are not companies
Yesterday I had the pleasure of being one of the judges of the New England regional finals of the Cleantech Open, an annual nationwide cleantech business pitch competition. I never get to do as m…..

Rich Hessler Releases NABCEP PV Technical Sales Job Task Analysis & NLP Solar Sales Training Review
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groSolar Announces New “Dealer Training Program”
groSolar, the nation’s premier provider of solar energy solutions and a leading installation company in North America, announced today the launch of its new “groSolar Dealer Training Program.” The pr…..

Fourth Generation Family Farm Goes Solar
Gurda Gardens, one of the northeast’s largest produce suppliers, has flipped the switch on a solar power system that now provides approximately 30% of the company’s electricity needs. The 80-kilowatt…..

GESOLAR Sampling ‘Smart Panels’ Featuring National Semiconductor’s SolarMagic Chipset
National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:NSM) a leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance analog semiconductors, and Green Energy Solar (GESOLAR), a leading provider of solar energy products…..

What’s Behind Record-Breaking Solar Cell Efficiencies, Part 1
In solar, it’s hard to go a month without hearing news about conversion efficiencies. In September, for example, Oerlikon Solar and its partner, Corning, said they broke the world efficiency record f…..

Is Algae Biodiesel a Decade Away?
Over the last two decades, the cost of producing biodiesel from algae has dropped steadily, from hundreds of dollars per gallon to tens of dollars. But getting the final cost reductions that will bri…..

CSP Power Tower OK’d by Federal Government
The approvals for large concentrating solar power plants are coming fast and furious now. Today brought another good piece of news for BrightSource Energy, which got the go-ahead from the federal gov…..

60 Second Interview with Paula Mints from Navigant Consulting on thin film´s potential
Ms. Mints is widely recognized as an industry expert on PV technologies and markets. In 2009, she spoke at over 40 conferences and published over 30 times in industry journals, magazines and newslet…..

CSP Today Site Visit to NREL- Online registration closes this week
The CSP Today site visit to the CSP facility at NREL on October 29th in Denver has almost sold out of places. This will immediately follow and only be open to delegates of the CSP Yield Optimization …..

Is all CO2 created equal?
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CSP project siting: Public or private?
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has responded to industry concerns over its bureaucratic and convoluted project licensing process. Despite recent concerns that new regulations are pricing some sol…..

System Capacity Quadrupled
The end of August 2010 saw solar module manufacturer Avancis lays the foundation stone for its second production facility in Torgau, Saxony. The firm has commissioned Leybold Optics with the …..

Catching Waves
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Generation 5 for Taiwan
Leybold Optics is currently bringing a Phoebus linear cluster system into commission at NexPower in Taiwan city of Taichung. Having been delivered as individual components, the system for the manufac…..

CSP Today saca a la luz el MAPA CSP TODAY GLOBAL 2010
El Mapa CSP Today Global 2010 incluye la lista detallada de todas las plantas termoeléctricas anunciadas, en construcción o en operación. …..

Resettlement: A New Paradigm
Resettlement refers to the relocation of people displaced because of large-scale national development projects. These people must move from areas where they have lived and worked to other locations. …..

CSP Today releases the CSP Today World Map 2010 version
The CSP Today World Map 2010 includes an itemized list of all the MW sized concentrated solar thermal power plants in the world that are either announced, under construction or in operation. …..

Nuclear agency defends chairman’s Yucca Mountain shutdown directive
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday moved to dampen speculation that its chairman was acting outside the lines in directing scientists to begin closing down their work on the Yucca Mountain Pr…..

Constellation pulls out of new Calvert Cliffs nuclear power venture
Constellation Energy said early Saturday that it would not be moving forward with a loan guarantee process that would allow a third nuclear reactor to be built at Calvert Cliffs on the Chesapeake Bay,…..

NRC: Minor Security Violation at Georgia Nuclear Site
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the failure to properly screen workers at a Georgia nuclear construction site was a low-level violation of federal rules. …..

N-plant crews prepare
As the nuclear power industry undergoes a national renaissance, officials in Chattanooga are going full steam ahead to prepare for expected demand in the field. …..

Vt. Yankee tritium found in well tied to aquifer
Radioactive tritium that has leaked from the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant has turned up for the first time in a former drinking water well tied to a deep underground aquifer, plant and federal officia…..

South Africa: Bold Bid to Double Use of Nuclear Energy
AN AMBITIOUS plan to reduce SA’s reliance on coal by almost half by 2030 and to more than double the use of nuclear energy was released by the Department of Energy yesterday, while the contribution of…..

SC nuclear plant shut down by coolant issue
A South Carolina nuclear reactor shut down after regulators say a motor that powers a pump to cool the reactor malfunctioned. …..

Panel debates merits, threats of nuclear energy in West Michigan
Nuclear power plants aren’t merely a national issue, but should be part of a backyard debate on clean power and its ramifications, according to a local panel. …..

PSEG Nuclear granted permission to produce Cobalt-60 at its Hope…
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a plan by PSEG Nuclear to produce Cobalt-60 at its Hope Creek generating station on Artificial Island here, officials announced this morning. …..

SA to halve reliance on coal, push for nuclear
South Africa expects six new nuclear plants and renewable energy to play a major role in plugging its power deficit as it seeks to halve reliance on dirtier coal-fired plants, a draft of a government …..

Anishinabek Nation opposes nuclear shipment
UNION OF ONTARIO INDIANS NEWS RELEASE ************************* Anishinabek Nation opposes the nuclear shipment by Bruce Power – Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee says that the A…..

NRC hears support, opposition to reactors
Southern Nuclear’s $14.5 billion plan to add two reactors to Plant Vogtle needs more study, environmentalists told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission tonight. …..

TVA contracts to buy more wind-generated power
The Tennessee Valley Authority announced today it is contracting with a wind farm in Kansas to add more renewable power to its power generation mix. …..

Japan lays down proposal to construct nuclear power plant in Turkey
Japan has proposed to construct a nuclear power plant in Turkey. Turkey’s Energy & Natural Resources Minister Taner YA ldA z received executives of Japanese “Toshiba” firm in Ankara on Thursday, who b…..

OPPD Nuclear Power Plant Slapped With Violation
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in a news release Thursday, said it has issued a violation of substantial safety significance because of inadequacies in the flood protection plan for the Ft. …..

Barrow, McKinney Speak at 12th District Race Forum
The candidates for the 12th District Congressional seat participated in a forum at Digital Bridges in Milledgeville Wednesday night. …..

Nuclear plant wants to ship waste on river
Debate has brewed for months along the St. Clair River about a Canadian power company’s desire to ship 16 radioactive steam generators to Sweden for recycling. …..

Nuclear, again
I’m sure quite a few regular commenters are keen for me to lift my ban on discussions of nuclear power . …..

Nuclear power technology focus of upcoming
The nuclear festival will feature programs distribution. and hands-on activities to provide a greater understanding of nuclear energy. …..

Al Qaeda suspect at nuke plants leads to improved security
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it plans to improve security procedures in the wake of an investigation into an al Qaeda suspect’s employment at several U.S. nuclear power plants. …..