The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) released figures yesterday showing that the global solar photovoltaic industry had a record year in 2009. But it is expecting a lot from 2010 as well.
Solar Industry Has a Record Year, but Expecting to Climb Much Higher in 2010
March 31, 2010 By 10 Comments
U.S. Air Force Pumps Up A-10C Thunderbolt II with Camelina Biofuel
March 31, 2010 By 4 Comments
This is a lesson to all weeds: dream big. Camelina is a scrawny looking plant that also goes by the unflattering moniker “false flax,” yet it may turn out to be the biofuel of choice for U.S. military aircraft. The U.S. Air Force has just announced the successful flight of an A-10C Thunderbolt II using [...]
Inverter Shortage Hobbling European Solar Installations
March 30, 2010 By 2 Comments
Because of healthy European solar PV demand and the fact that there are a growing number of new entrants to the sector, the solar solar inverter industry supply chain is fluid and a bit unstable.
Canadian Scientists Put the Hex on Hexane Emissions
March 30, 2010 By 2 Comments
So who knew? The manufacture of cooking oil involves hexane, a solvent that separates the oil from crushed seeds. Hexane is a volatile organic compound found in gasoline. Hexane is also a degreaser used in the printing industry. It dissolves glues, varnishes, and inks. Aside from the ick factor of having the same compound used [...]
Cargill Generates Sustainable Biogas from Cow Pies
March 29, 2010 By 13 Comments
It looks like our energy future is at least partly in the hands of cows, now that agribusiness giant Cargill has joined the manure-to-biogas gold rush. The company has just announced that its second biogas project is up and running at the Bettencourt Dairy B6 Farm in Jerome, Idaho. Using manure produced by the farm’s [...]
"Clean Coal" Looking More Like a 21st Century Dinosaur
March 28, 2010 By 1 Comment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seems to be making up for lost time when it comes to enforcing the Clean Water Act. That includes closing the door on mountaintop coal mining, also known rather delicately as mountaintop removal. In reality there is nothing delicate about it. The practice involves blowing hundreds of mountains to smithereens [...]
GAO Sting Finds EnergyStar® Program in Need of Independent Review; Overhaul Imminent
March 26, 2010 By 3 Comments
While much of the EnergyStar® program is sound, and has led to real quantifiable energy savings over time, over the last four years, alarm bells have been sounding on the increasingly lax certification process. Just how lax? A gasoline-powered alarm clock the size of a microwave was one of the more ridiculous items able to [...]
NTPC, India's Largest Coal Power Generation Company, Plans 500MW Solar, Wind Energy Project
March 26, 2010 By 1 Comment
NTPC Ltd., formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation, is planning to develop 500MW wind and solar energy projects in the Indian state of Orissa. NTPC is India’s largest power generation company and generates a big majority of power from coal-fired power plants. However, the company is now foraying into renewable energy and low carbon intensive [...]
