After 10 years of battling incumbent utilities, Marin Clean Energy became California’s first operational community choice aggregation authority in 2010. Already, local ratepayers can opt to get 100 percent of their electricity from renewable resources.
Some of the top (or totally depressing) cleantech and dirty tech political news of the week….
In a few minutes, the ancient maple tree across the street from my open window will explode with light as the sun rises behind it. A few minutes later, I’ll have to adjust the blinds to keep zillions of crazy excited photons out of my eyes and, in an hour or so, the cat, who loves to sleep in the window at the back of my desk, will find it uncomfortably warm. He’ll get up, stretch, toss me a disdainful look and move lazily to the bed to continue his nap, allowing me to shut the window against the onset of July’s heat.
Zipcar members in Baltimore are driving less, using public transportation more often and selling, or dropping plans to buy or lease, a vehicle. That’s translating into less traffic congestion, less demand for parking space, and lower carbon emissions in the city center.
PACE, which stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy, was one of the best things that happened to the U.S… before it got killed (or temporarily maimed) by Fannie and Freddie Mae in 2010.
On the eve of the first ever U.S. Army and Air Force joint Energy Forum, which will explore the future direction of U.S. energy policy in terms of national defense strategy, the U.S. House of representatives has just dialed the domestic energy clock back down to the 19th century.
Other cleantech news from around from the past week or so, stuff that didn’t fit into my other five categories too well — politics, solar energy, wind energy, transportation, and energy efficiency.
Energy efficiency weekly round-up. Enjoy!
Wind power research at a CalTech wind farm has yielded a 10x boost to power efficiency by using vertical axis wind turbines arranged so as to mimic schooling fish.
Like an old incandescent light bulb, the notorious BULB Act finally fizzled in the House of Representatives last night, our friends over at Think Progress report. The proposed legislation would have repealed energy efficiency standards for light bulbs that were set back in 2007. The bill required a 2/3 majority to pass and it failed, gaining only 233 votes in favor with 193 opposed.
