Denmark is going to be the first test market for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology, it was announced at Smart Grid Applied 2011 in Palo Alto, California yesterday. Electric Vehicle owners will be able sell back power from their EV batteries to the grid, with estimated compensation for EV owners of about $10,000 over the lifespan of the car.
A recent report by the Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) provides the latest and greatest evidence that the addition of solar panels on homes increases the resale value of these homes.
I’m on a webinar about the new WindMade label and its newly proposed technical standards right now. Below are some of the key points and some thoughts of my own….
I was communicating with a knowledgeable reader on the topic above and got the following response from him (with some minor editing to make it into a post not an email). I thought this was well worth posting as a guest article. He decided, in no need of ‘fame and fortune’, to remain anonymous. Check it out, drop extra comments below the post, and let me know if YOU are interested in guest posting here on CleanTechnica (I know we have many knowledgeable readers who could definitely offer some useful 2 cents.)
A new report from the clean tech research firm Pike Research confirms a trend that has been percolating along mainly under the radar: the U.S. Department of Defense is gung ho for clean energy. In an interesting twist, Pike states that “increased access to clean and reliable energy has become a leading priority for the U.S. Department of Defense.” By stressing the reliability of clean energy, rather than focusing on the renewable aspect, Pike effectively steamrolls over any further discussion of whether or not the U.S. should continue to promote oil drilling, at least not for national defense purposes.
Piggy-backing on my article from a few hours ago on how energy-efficiency standards for lights will create thousands of jobs, a new report out on Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative finds that energy-efficiency policies for commercial buildings under this program will create 114,000 jobs.
There’s a lot of fuss made of wind turbines being an eyesore for people. This is something I have never understood, as I think they are quite nice looking and, furthermore, they are certainly tons more attractive and pleasant than a coal-fired power plant.
Innovative products in the packaging and insulation industries are always nice to find. One of those innovators to keep in mind is New York-based Ecovative Design.
President Obama and General Electric Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt toured the facility of an LED manufacturer (Cree Inc.) in Durham, North Carolina this week. And, of course, Obama discussed the job creation benefits of energy efficiency policies and put a strong emphasis on young Americans pursuing degrees in the “hard sciences” and leading us forward in the cleantech industry.
Google announced today that it is investing $280 million in a rooftop solar power company, California-based SolarCity. Included with the announcement was the short YouTube video above.
Of course, this is just the latest announcement of many demonstrating Google’s tremendous investment and belief in truly clean, renewable energy.
