A little village in Germany, Feldheim, claims to be the only 100% grid-independent village in the world. It is a rural community that switched to renewables for financial reasons, but is now visited by thousands and thousands of people. The tour guide who showed us around noted that his most interesting … [continued]
In the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns, suspension of all nuclear plants (which once provided about 33% of the nation’s electricity and were slated to generate half), and subsequent head-butt from expensive fossil fuel replacement, energy resource-poor Japan is aggressively pushing forward with renewable power options. Formerly a prominent nuclear booster, … [continued]
It is only a few months till the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize awards ceremony, and selection committee has just selected and announced the finalists. Included in this final pick are 5 nonprofit organizations, 3 SMEs, 4 large corporations, and 14 high schools… as well as 5 highly regarded (however, unannounced) contenders for … [continued]
Almost everyone in the media has taken a stab at summarizing, if not snap-judging, the results of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s one-day UN climate summit last week. The meeting had a real name, but Robert N. Stavins in his New York Times runup to the conference was the only writer I … [continued]
In a recent press release from Cree, Inc., the LED leader presents a new generation of high-power LEDs delivering improved performance, the XLamp® MH-B LED. It operates at higher temperatures than MP LEDS with no reduction in rated lifetime, using up to 26 times fewer LEDs than MP LEDs to … [continued]
What would you say to idea of a technology that can fill your home or office with abundant light, for little cost, without adding heat? Well you don’t actually have to imagine such a technology, it already exists. Behold, EcoNation’s “LightCatcher” — a means of channeling intense light into your … [continued]
A new vehicle navigation tool that can cut EV energy use by as much as 51% has been created by researchers at the University of California – Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering. The new tool — an “eco-routing” navigation system — works by taking into account a variety of different … [continued]
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $68 million in funding Thursday for 540 US renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the nation’s rural communities. This legislation is part of the “Swiss Army knife” of tools for jobs, innovation, infrastructure, research, and conservation President Obama has been talking about. Of … [continued]
New analysis says America’s largest grid operator ignores gigawatts of energy efficiency savings, overestimates power demand, and costs consumers billions.
Would you like to know how US power plants stack up to the rest of the world’s in terms of carbon emissions? I doubt that many Americans will enjoy the answer. A report released this morning by Environment America, the national federation of statewide advocacy groups working on clean air, clean … [continued]
