Japan has announced its vision of becoming a carbon-neutral, hydrogen-fuelled society by 2040. [The Guardian] American oil-and-gas producers are struggling to cut back the output that has lead to a global oil glut, despite spending cuts and idle drilling rigs. [WSJ Blog] Over the past two years, Microsoft has contracted for 285 MW of renewable energy from… Keep reading →
The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined, attendants heard at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance annual summit in New York on Tuesday. “The shift occurred in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity, compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants… Keep reading →
Fuel cell proponents like to talk about how the devices can use biogas to create zero-carbon power, but that actually doesn’t happen very often. Typically, natural gas is the fuel that feeds the electrochemical process. Not so at the Microsoft Data Plant in Cheyenne, Wyoming, however. This data center was built alongside a wastewater treatment… Keep reading →
Chevron has signed a $10 bin, 50-year agreement with the government of Ukraine to explore for and develop oil and gas in the Olesska field in the western part of the country. Chevron is expected to spend $350MM for exploration over two to three years. Ukraine has a strong interest in developing its domestic resources as a means of reducing… Keep reading →
Microsoft’s announcement yesterday that it had signed a 20-year agreement to buy all of the 110 megawatt Keechi wind farm’s electricity production marks a big step for the company in going “carbon neutral” through the purchase of wind and solar power. Its rival Google is way ahead, having invested more than $1 billion in wind and… Keep reading →
Not green enough, which is worrisome given how fast its energy use is growing At first blush, the Internet appears as green as it gets. Buying and reading an e-book on line obviates the need to drive to the bookstore, or having it shipped, and avoids chopping down trees to make paper to print it… Keep reading →
Sophisticated worms – automated software that spreads between computer devices – can infect an entire electric grid in a matter of seconds, but there may be effective defenses against them, according to Rob Johnson, assistant professor of computer science at Stony Brook University.
The critical role various computing devices have assumed in the daily functioning of the power grid has dramatically altered the security needs of utilities. While safeguards are already in place to protect against physical threats, like natural disasters, utilities may lack the tools to protect their networks from cyber attacks, such as worms. Keep reading →
When it comes to saving energy and pursuing sustainability, corporate peer pressure can be a wonderful thing.
That’s the experience of Walmart, which since 2010 has been using its own environmental policies, along with its considerable corporate muscle, to persuade suppliers to join its ongoing campaign to reduce carbon emissions. Keep reading →
Could data centers someday stand alongside drilling rigs in the Marcellus Shale gas fields? It is an increasing possibility, says an energy expert at an international buildings efficiency firm.
Data centers are sometimes built for the exclusive use of such giants as Google and Facebook, but most of them are intended for hosting companies, which process data for multiple tenants. Keep reading →
An environmental activist and two business executives walk into a bar…and they start a solar power company. While this may not make your favorite jokes list, it serves as an interesting background story for an innovative residential solar startup.
“The solar power industry is at an inflection point,” and with low cost cells produced in China and elsewhere, companies like Sungevity are on the cusp of putting solar everywhere – “it’s becoming ubiquitous,” the company’s President and founder Danny Kennedy recently told Breaking Energy. Keep reading →
