A new way to use natural gas could cut its carbon dioxide output to zero, making it competitive with solar or wind farms. [social_buttons] MIT Postdoctoral associate Thomas Adams and Chemical Engineering Professor Paul I. Barton have proposed a system which produces power from natural gas without burning it, and … [continued]
The Obama administration is moving ahead with not one, but three EPA rules that will start to reduce our use of coal, (by far the worst emitter of greenhouse gases in the nation) to move the nation towards a cleaner, safer, healthier energy future, despite misuse of the Senate filibuster by Republicans who are paid to support coal.
Surprisingly, in climate policy discourse, the cost/benefit analysis of the health benefits has not been a consideration – because the focus has been on just minimizing the cost of the transition to renewable energy.
If the USA was smart, we would make a massive switch to renewable energy now, while we still can. By 2012 we could be out of luck.
Other states could learn from this innovative idea. Distributed solar could be a way that cities with regions of urban blight to re-purpose all those empty big box stores so their roofs could supply neighbors with power, and in the process, bringing about urban renewal and lots of clean energy American jobs.
In just the first ten days, Wyoming voters used up their share in the funds from The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act designed to end dependence on dirty energy. They voted with their feet against the Senators they sent to vote for dirty energy.
Since September, when the Ontario Power Authority began its generous payment for rooftop solar power, Toronto’s commercial roof acreage has become the site of a new renewable energy gold rush by solar developers now able to earn a steady income farming solar power to local utilities for 20 years. [social_buttons] … [continued]
Private solar installations are really taking off nationwide. In just two years, (about the same length of time it takes to get a pair of 250 MW solar power plants approved in California, for example), homeowners and businesses have added that much power to the Californian grid, just from individual rooftops throughout the state.
When the 30% tax credits as cash grants were instituted with the American Recovery Act, I was doing solar estimates for a small start-up in California. I was surprised to find that the 30% tax credit (available as a cash grant for businesses) for solar, was applicable to solar thermal only if it was not used for swimming pools.
Here’s some more good news about our renewable energy future. Another nation has reduced greenhouse gas emissions, while not taking an economic hit. Canada’s top 10 industrial greenhouse gas emitters reduced their emissions by 9% in a year, while the economy grew in the meantime by 0.5%.
