Solar power is on the brink of becoming profitable in Japan and when it does, the technology will have achieved “commercial viability” in all of the G7 countries, Reuters is reporting. “Solar has come of age in Japan and from now on will be replacing imported uranium and fossil fuels,” said Tomas Kåberger, executive board chairman of Japan… Keep reading →
Mark Lynas has spent the last decade or so researching and writing about global warming, and his work has been especially important in detailing the real dangers posed by rising temperatures. His 2007 book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet won the Royal Society’s Science Book Prize. But Lynas has become a controversial figure among greens for his support… Keep reading →
As if being in the middle of Tornado Alley wasn’t enough, Oklahoma is now at the heart of Earthquake Country. “The earthquake rate in Oklahoma has increased so significantly that it raises the risk of a larger damaging earthquake….Oklahomans should be concerned about this increased risk.” — William Leith, senior science advisor for earthquake hazards… Keep reading →
An oil company CEO endorsing a global carbon tax? Forbes energy reporter Christopher Helman says he’s never heard the head of an American oil giant do it, although many – including ExxonMobil – factor a carbon price into their long-term planning. So he was surprised this week when recently installed Statoil CEO Eldar Saetre offered up just… Keep reading →
When SolarCity management had its most recent earnings call, in February, there was a lot of disappointment about deployments in the commercial sector. The company built just 28 megawatts in the final quarter of 2014, less than it had in the same quarter in 2013. On an annual basis, commercial went from 75 out of… Keep reading →
They just sit there most of the day and night, storehouses of electricity, doing nothing. So in an era of increasing renewable energy penetration, why not use electric vehicles and their batteries to help make way for more variable renewable energy? It’s an idea that’s been kicked around a lot, and now the Chinese are getting… Keep reading →
Apple’s renewable energy enthusiasm is spreading to China – that was big news last week. But the story’s more interesting player might be SunPower, with its efforts to expand deployment of concentrator photovoltaics (CPV). The two 20-megawatt plants that Apple and SunPower have partnered on in China will use CPV, long thought to be a… Keep reading →
It’s going to take a while – until 2030 for full implementation – but nine countries, ten oil companies and six development institutions have joined a World Bank effort to end the practice of routine gas flaring at oil production sites. “Gas flaring is a visual reminder that we are wastefully sending CO2 into the atmosphere,” said World Bank President… Keep reading →
