Author Archives: Zachary Shahan


About Zachary Shahan

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on your favorite social network, go to: zacharyshahan.com

Tesla Plans To Pay Off DOE Loan Early, Issues 2,703,027 Shares Of Common Stock + $450 Million Of Convertible Senior Notes

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tesla-service

We previously reported on Tesla’s aim to pay back its Department of Energy (DOE) loan 5 years early. The company has made some strong steps in that direction this week with a couple of major fundraising announcements. As part of that, Elon Musk himself is investing a good chunk more money ($100 million) into the company. Naturally, these positive announcements (on top of all the others Tesla has been making in recent weeks) have helped … Read More

New DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz Gets Support From Cleantech & General Green Organizations

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Image Credit: MIT

With Dr. Ernest Moniz officially confirmed at the next US Secretary of Energy, leading cleantech and green groups are getting their statements out regarding what they think of this. Here are a few I thought were worth publishing, followed by some of my own thoughts: EDF President Fred Krupp: Today’s unanimous Senate vote to confirm Ernest Moniz as our next Secretary of Energy is great news for America. It shows that when Congress puts politics aside, … Read More

Nearly 100% Of New California Electricity To Be Solar In 2H 2013

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Image Credit: California ISO

Herman Trabish of Greentech Media has happened across a pretty interesting find — 97% of new electricity generation capacity in line to be added to the California grid in the second half (2H) of 2012 is from solar power projects. This is according to the California Independent System Operator (the ISO), as published in the 2012 Annual Report on Market Issues and Performance. In total, 1,633 megawatts of generation capacity are in line to be added to the grid in … Read More

Bicycle Friendly Community Infographic

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BFC-infographic

This article was originally published on Bikocity. Several years ago, I was the director of an organization in the Charlottesville, Virginia region that got Charlottesville designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFA). There were great guiding documents that the League of American Bicyclists supplied as part of the application process, but it certainly would have been nice to have this infographic* below that the League just created to delineate the differences between Bronze, Silver, Gold, … Read More

Maryland vs Virginia On Solar Power (Infographic)

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virginia maryland solar infographic

A Twitter friend recently tweeted me the infographic below (or, to be specific, the Renewable Energy Corporation webpage where it was posted). It’s quite interesting; though, in this “solar smackdown,” the beautiful state where I lived for one year (Virginia) doesn’t compare to Maryland when it comes to solar power, solar jobs, etc. Maybe some Virginians could spread this around enough to stimulate better solar policies (hint: share this infographic). … Read More

Coal Would Be A Poor Investment For Arizona

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nancy laplanca

One of CleanTechnica’s dedicated readers and tweeters, Nancy LaPlaca, is running for a position on the Arizona Corporation Commission. Without a doubt, we endorse her 100%. I always respect and value Nancy’s statements and wealth of experience. Here’s a recent article by Nancy that we’re reposting from azcentral.com to help get the word out about some of the important matters on which she’s campaigning. With recent research suggesting a link between coal and suicide (among many … Read More

Scotland’s Rockstar Clean Energy Leadership — 39% Renewable Electricity Today, 100% By 2020, & More

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Scotland’s Rockstar Clean Energy Leadership — 33% Renewable Electricity Today, 100% By 2020, & More

Scotland may not be as large as Germany or Australia or the US, but it certainly deserves a bit more attention when it comes to its clean energy leadership. Scotland already gets over 30% renewable electricity — about 33% today according to the interviewee in the first video below; 39% of total electricity demand in 2012, according to the Scottish government. It has a 2020 target of 100% renewable electricity. And it also has an … Read More

“Fatbergs” In London Sewers To Be Transformed Into Electricity

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Image Credit: Thames Water

This job is not for those with a weak stomach. The man in the picture below is Danny Brackley, a sewer flusher. He is shoveling out a “fatberg” from under Leicester Square. Oil and fat accumulating under the streets of London is apparently causing a bit of an issue. However, the city is going to burn these fatbergs in order to create electricity — about 130 GWh of electricity per year. A power station at Beckton in … Read More

Solar PV Investment Attractiveness Of Sunbelt Countries (Graph)

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Image Credit: EPIA. Click to enlarge.

The solar investment attractiveness of a country is based on many factors. Some important ones are the overall investment attractiveness of a country, solar policies in the country, and the natural solar power potential of a country. Putting these figures together, below is solar PV investment attractiveness index for Sunbelt countries that was created by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) that I thought was quite interesting and worth a look. China, India, and Australia (which … Read More