China attracted more asset financing in clean-energy technology in the second quarter than Europe and the U.S. combined, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A clever piece of legislation created the renewable energy bonanza. [social_buttons] Six months ago, China made it the law that all utilities have to buy any … [continued]
As part of the new ARPA-E program designed to bring “game-changing” technologies to market, one of the 43 breakthroughs the Department of Energy has funded is the invention of a metal alloy for use instead of refrigerant in air conditioners and advanced refrigeration systems. The completely new thermally elastic metal … [continued]
Terra-Gen Power has just received the financing needed to build the next four wind farms in the largest wind energy project on US soil. The company can now build another 570 MW of the gigantic 3,000 MW Alta Wind Energy Center, in the same energy-rich Tehachapi region of California where … [continued]
The same day that the US Senate gave up on cap and trade climate legislation that would make polluters pay for the switch to clean energy, because not even one Republican will vote for it, news comes that China has just beaten us to implementing their own cap and trade … [continued]
Virtually every state has rising energy costs. California, for example, has seen a 7% per year average hike ever since the ’70s. But in Pennsylvania; caps on rate hikes expire next year, and there will certainly be at least a 10% rise, and there could even be as much as … [continued]
[social_buttons] China Development Bank recently agreed to loan the Argentinian government $10 billion for new railway and metro construction. China has become a major source of funds for countries around the world, acting essentially as an alternative or competitor to the World Bank. It has been increasing its spending in … [continued]
If you’ve ever blown up a balloon and let it go flying across the room, you’ve got the basic idea behind a new technology for storing energy from wind power: use compressed air. ARPA-E, the federal agency charged with providing seed money for transformative energy technology, is so impressed with … [continued]
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $9 million in funding for research into the use of algae that occur naturally in seawater to produce a sustainable twofer: renewable algae biofuel and algae fodder for cattle, too. Hey, make that a threefer: studies have found that an algae diet can … [continued]
[social_buttons] The world’s largest stand-alone integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) project began transmitting power to the electric grid in Shanghai on Sunday. This 6.68-megawatt ($23.6 million) solar system, which can produce 6.3 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity per year (enough power for 12,000 Shanghai households), will cut coal consumption by 2,254 tons … [continued]
Lattice strain refers to a slight, atomic-level displacement in the structure of a material, and researchers at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology have just won research funding to investigate how this phenomenon can be harnessed to produce high efficiency fuel cells. The grants came from MIT, the Department of Energy, … [continued]
