Author Archives: Tina Casey


About Tina Casey

Tina Casey specializes in military and corporate sustainability, advanced technology, emerging materials, biofuels, and water and wastewater issues. Tina’s articles are reposted frequently on Reuters, Scientific American, and many other sites. You can also follow her on Twitter @TinaMCasey and Google+.

Wisconsin Wins Coal Battle, Loses Energy War

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Wisconsin coal dependency

Despite its abundant wind resources, Wisconsin has been clinging with affection to coal for electrical power generation, but it looks like the bloom is off the rose. A new report identifies Wisconsin’s coal dependency as a significant drag on the state’s economy, and urges a greater effort to diversify into renewable energy sources. File that one away under “o” for oopsies, since it was just a couple of years ago that Republican legislators in Wisconsin … Read More

US Navy Trains Laser Weapon On Research Critics

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Navy uses laser gun in defense of scientific research

For years now, the US Navy has been raising alarms over the impact of continued petroleum dependency on national security, and now it looks like the oil-soaked chickens have come home to roost. According to an article last week by the Office of Naval Research, the Navy’s new laser weapons system (LaWS) makes a stem-to-stern overhaul of the way that warships deploy energy a matter of top priority. Quite simply, LaWS and other new systems … Read More

Reshuffling Our Top 5 Micro Wind Turbines

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JLM's Zefr could make top 5 micro wind turbine list

One of the most popular micro wind turbine companies around, Southwest Windpower, began to scale back operations last year and has apparently closed its doors, which means that our list of Top 5 Micro Wind Turbines is overdue for a re-do. As a preliminary step, let’s take a look at JLM Energy, Inc., an all-around renewable energy company that has figured out a way to piggyback its Zefr micro wind turbine arrays onto Southwest’s poles, … Read More

Dude, Where’s My Electric Mobility?

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BMW i series EVs will get home solar power

The tipping point between electric vehicles and gasoline power is still far away in the distance, but the changeover has been accelerating with lightning speed over the past couple of years. The raw sales figures only tell a small part of the tale. What really matters is the way that auto manufacturers have begun rolling out integrated EV systems that go beyond promoting vehicle ownership as a form of self expression, to recast the car … Read More

Navy Biofuel Program Goes Full Steam Ahead With Four New Pilot Projects

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New DOE biofuel projects for Navy and DoD

Last year certain members of Congress waged an all-out war against the Navy’s ambitious biofuel initiatives, supposedly because they were too expensive. Fast-forward another year and the Navy biofuel program is still going full steam ahead, even though those same members are still trying to stomp it down. In the latest development, another $18 million in matching funds has just been announced for four new pilot projects. Funny thing is, this time around there’s been … Read More

EPA Schools State Department On Keystone XL Pipeline

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EPA criticizes State Department's Keystone review

The deadline for public comments on the State Department’s environmental review of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline passed on Monday, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came in just under the wire with a scathing review of the review. The failing grade won’t surprise opponents and reporters covering the project, who traced the authorship of the review back to a consulting firm paid by TransCanada, the Canadian company behind Keystone XL. To be … Read More

Why Chevron Won’t Make Bio-Gasoline For $2.18 Any Time Soon

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Chevron and Weyerhauser team for Catchlight biofuel project

If you think of a sustainably managed forest as one immense field of renewable oil, that goes a long way toward explaining why a global oil corporation like Chevron would team with the forest products giant Weyerhaeuser, in a venture to develop a cost-effective, sustainable biofuel from woody biomass. The venture is called Catchlight Energy, and so far the forest-to-fuel model looks promising. It’s so promising, according to a new report in Bloomberg, that Catchlight … Read More

Ford And KB Home Mashup Will Let You Live Like The Jetsons

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Ford and KB Home team up

Now here’s a corporate America green mashup for you: Ford Motor Company has teamed with U.S. home building giant KB Home to create an ultra-efficient model house that seamlessly integrates plug-in electric vehicles and solar power into its energy mix. Specifically, KB’s ZeroHouse 2.0 is being introduced in San Marcos, California complete with Ford’s new MyEnergi Lifestyle household and EV energy management system. The idea is to demonstrate that the interaction between house and car … Read More

Google Backs New Plan For Utility-Supplied Renewable Energy Option

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Google proposes new renewable energy tariff

In a new post on Google’s blog, Google Director of Global Infrastructure Gary Demasi has just put forth a plan that could really blow up the domestic renewable energy market. Since utility companies have long charged different rates (aka tariffs) for different classes of customers, the idea is to establish a special renewable energy tariff for customers that request it. In typical Google fashion the company is already putting its money where its mouth is, … Read More