Monthly Archives: July 2010

Solyndra Gets Biggest Chunk of SCE's 250 MW Distributed Solar Project

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Solyndra was the very first of the renewable energy companies funded through the (newly renewable energy-friendly) Department of Energy under Secretary Chu, who guaranteed a $535 million loan so Solyndra could build a factory to make its innovative cylindrical CIGS thin film solar modules. That factory is now due online this fall in the Bay Area’s Fremont, ahead of the original schedule. Now Southern California Edison (SCE) has awarded Solyndra (through its subsidiary, Photon Solar) … Read More

The 23 Most Cost-Effective Policies for Stopping Climate Change

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The Center for Climate Strategies has issued a report laying out in detail the cost/benefit analysis underpinning 23 policy options and their expected net cost per ton of greenhouse gases removed. [social_buttons] Like the three climate bills that would have reduced the deficit by about $20 billion by 2020, these 23 carbon reduction policies would also save Americans money – $5 billion a year – while reducing carbon emissions. Because this group has already helped … Read More

India: Doubling Renewable Energy Capacity Would Have Negligible Impact on Power Tariffs

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A study by one of the leading ratings firm in India shows that the cost of doubling the renewable energy generation capacity over the next five years would be negligible. [social_buttons] The Indian government has announced a the National Action Plan on Climate Change according to which the contribution of renewable energy resources to power generation would be increased to 10 percent by 2015 and 15 percent by 2020, as opposed to the current four … Read More

Fossil Fuels Get Tons More in Subsidies than Renewable Energy

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[social_buttons] 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 New Energy Finance shows that governments worldwide spend a ton more on fossil fuels than on renewable energy. … Read More

Russia Plans its Largest Wind Farm and 1st Major Solar Plant

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[social_buttons] Russia, heavily focused on oil and gas, has just unveiled plans to build its biggest wind farm. The country also intends to build its first solar power plant soon. Are the heat waves and fires getting to the country and President Medvedev? Perhaps, but Medvedev has been talking about diversifying Russia’s energy base and economy for a little while now. … Read More

More Green Jobs Will Sprout from Brownfields

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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.  The funds are targeted to brownfields projects that create new green jobs in nearby communities. [social_buttons] So far, the EPA’s brownfields/green jobs program has provided more than $96 million in revolving loans and grants to dozens of projects, which in turn has leveraged more … Read More

If Texas Leaves the U.S., Do We Get Our Light Bulbs Back?

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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 state’s unemployment fund.  Fast forward to this summer, and the state’s capital city Austin is busy installing high efficiency fluorescent light bulbs at its Palmer Event Center as part of a $7.5 million municipal energy efficiency project funded by the federal American … Read More

Do You Know Your Representatives in Congress?

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  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). You can blame: the Republican party and a broken Senate the media immoral billionaires Obama environmentalists a handful of Democratic senators (see below) the public greed and cowardice and probably more Arguments on all of these are good, meaning … Read More

Hair Care Company Tops Them All with Biggest Wind Power Installation

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In a daring display of green chutzpah, a hair care products company called Zotos International, Inc. has seemingly come out of nowhere to grab the title of biggest wind energy generator of any U.S. manufacturer.  The company has just won approval install a $7 million, 3.3 megawatt wind power project for its facility in Geneva, New York.  The American Wind Energy Association has said that the project is the largest of its kind in the … Read More

One Good Thing About the Spill Bill

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It gets mom and pop out of the oil drilling business, and that is a good thing. [social_buttons] While undeveloped countries might have kids slaving over the kitchen fire melting electronics to mine them for lead – in a supposedly developed nation like this, competence should be a sine qua non in the drilling business, for all of our sakes. It is amazing that just about anyone is allowed to drill – even if they … Read More