Alternative Energy

To the consumer, the microgrid market will simply appear one day. Like the IPhone or the Kindle or solar panels, it will be the latest cool wonder of our high tech society. But those behind the scenes know that most products are many years in the making. Electricity innovation is no different, except perhaps that industry gestation requires a lot of government …

Initial fueling infrastructure built at 50 locations in collaboration with Propane Education & Research Council ATLANTA, March 5, 2014 – UPS® (NYSE: UPS) today announced plans to purchase 1,000 propane package delivery trucks and install an initial 50 fueling stations at UPS locations. The investment in propane vehicles and infrastructure is approximately $70 million. The propane fleet will replace gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles used largely …

HOPE FOR THE PLANET: CALTECH‘S RESONATE AWARD HONORS INNOVATORS IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND SUSTAINABILITY   Five Big Ideas in an Often Overlooked Field Get a Moment in the Sun   PASADENA, CA – May 19, 2014 – To promote innovative and potentially game-changing solutions to some of the hardest problems in alternative energy and the environment, Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Institute …

In his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to make 2014 a year of action. And today, we announced new ways we’re taking action to advance clean energy and create opportunity for hardworking Americans. The Obama Administration has made historic investments in the research, development, and deployment of clean energy. And these investments are paying off; solar power …

Report commissioned by LABC Institute encourages incentives to share benefits of emerging commercial solar market with low-income areas throughout Los Angeles; many local programs already benefiting from the LADWP feed-in tariff   A significantly expanded commercial rooftop solar program in Los Angeles would create thousands of new jobs and spur hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment, with particular …

More than a decade ago, Ruihong Zhang, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at the University of California, Davis, started working on a problem: How to turn as much organic waste as possible into as much renewable energy as possible. Today, on Earth Day, the university and Sacramento-based technology partner CleanWorld are officially unveiling the UC Davis Renewable Energy …

CLEAN ENERGY VICTORY BOND PUSH IN CONGRESS WOULD GENERATE $150 BILLION IN FINANCING, 1 MILLION JOBS Updating WWII “War Bond” Model to Spark Job Creation, Energy Security, Clean Energy, and Increased Energy Efficiency WASHINGTON, D.C.///April 8, 2014///Clean energy boosters on Capitol Hill are borrowing a page from World War II “war bonds” by introducing today a new bill – the …

Environmental Advocate Shares Affordable Gadgets that Shrink Your Footprint – and Your Bills   Just as intended, the 44th annual celebration of Earth Day on April 22 will be surrounded by talk of our environment, our impact on it and what we can do to better live in harmony with it. “We’re seeing more and more people who realize that, …

Hydropower – Powerspout Generator How would you like to create power for your home or work space with the energy of that water flowing on or near your property already? We found this Australian built power generator and thought our readers would like to know more about this sort of option. If you live off the grid or would just …

RENEWABLE SOURCES PROVIDE 92% OF NEW CAPACITY FOR FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 2014    According to the latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects, wind and solar provided 80.9% of new installed U.S. electrical generating capacity for the month of February. Five new “units” of wind provided 99 MW while 12 units …

Phoenix Marketing International’s Recent Research Shows Luxury SUV and Non-Luxury Car Consumers Continue to Lead in Alternative Fuel Vehicle Consideration Year-over-year Data Show Increase in AFV Consideration among Non-Luxury SUV Consumers  Phoenix Marketing International’s Automotive Practice has released the latest findings from its ongoing tracking of alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) purchase consideration. In its Syndicated Automotive Brand and Advertising Audit, …

Why Insiders are Bullish on Microgrid   Microgrids are coming to the US, but they face some significant roadblocks. What’s driving the sudden upswing in their development? And what’s getting in the way? A panel of microgrid experts tackled these questions last week at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) BuildingEnergy 14 conference in Boston. Ed Krapels, founder of Anbaric …

Did I Just See Energy History Made in Atlanta? Every once in awhile, after  a lot of humdrum news, something really cool comes along, the kind of thing that can reshape the energy industry. That’s what might have happened last week in Atlanta at the 27thAnnual Campus Energy Conference of the International District Energy Association (IDEA). IDEA members formed a …

99% OF NEW U.S. ELECTRICAL GENERATING CAPACITY IN JANUARY FROM SOLAR, GEOTHERMAL, WIND, BIOMASS According to the latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects, non-hydro renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) accounted for more than 99% of all new domestic electrical generating capacity installed during January 2014 for a total of …

The global cumulative hydropower installed capacity is expected to increase from 1,065 Gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 1,407 GW in 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.5%, with investments reaching $75 billion in the same period, forecasts research and consulting firm GlobalData. According to the company’s latest report*, the total for 2020 is expected to be comprised …

Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Institute Director Congratulates Taiwan and Calls for More International Cooperation Programs to be Created In order to achieve important breakthroughs that will have substantial impact on the earth’s sustainability, international organizations must work together, said Dr. Harry A. Atwater, Director of Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Institute and Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics. He was speaking at a …

Unique Program Reduces Costs for Customers by About $7500 Each, Making Solar Power More Affordable and Attractive To Homeowners The Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) and SmartPower released today a report that reveals a proven model for dramatically reducing the cost barrier that has stood in the way of wide-scale adoption of residential solar power in the United …

Microbial Fuel Cells How can we turn waste water in a fuel source to create electricity? Well this video will show you how it is possible to do it right now. Watch the video and comment below. The next challenge is to scale it up for use in industrial power generation. It now becomes an engineering problem since the bacteria …

Combined heat and power, or CHP, continues to be one of those great ideas that can’t seem to get traction. In fact, the technology has lost ground, according to a recent energy efficiency report. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy found that CHP installations fell 1.5 percent at industrial facilities from 2010 to 2011 in the July 2, 2013 …

North American Wood Stove Program Focuses On Clean Air Effort–  This summer, Jøtul North American (Jøtul) is spearheading an effort focused on removing non-EPA-certified wood stoves from communities around North America.Jøtul is the first wood stove manufacturer in the hearth industry to implement a program encouraging wood stove users to get rid of their old wood stoves and replace them …