The Siemens Green City Index has highlighted some of the most creative city-led initiatives to reduce consumption of energy and electricity, green city spaces, and change the way consumers think about energy.
This video shows some of the country’s major cities in action as they work to limit energy use and promote efficiency. Keep reading →
Over the last few days, experts in fields from neuroscience to music to energy came together to share ideas at the TEDGlobal 2011 conference. With Shell one of the conference sponsors, there was extensive discussion of the energy sector and the industry’s future.
Among the speakers was Pavan Sukhdev, an energy economist who worked at Deutsche Bank for 15 years before writing a groundbreaking report, The Economies of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.” Sukhdev chairs the Global Agenda Council on Biodiversity and Ecosystems for the World Economic Forum. Keep reading →
New Yorkers are not widely known for their shyness in making suggestions. Now the city’s leadership is encouraging them to take their ideas to the internet.
Change by Us NYC is New York City’s latest attempt to encourage energy efficiency innovation. Initiated by CEOs for Cities, a think tank for urban leaders, the Change by Us website combines the messaging tools of social media with the concept of a new energy economy to create a new model for the traditional town hall meeting. Keep reading →
Development of a new urban strategy is part of the World Bank’s new energy strategy as well as its performance review for this year.
The institution worried that the sheer number of requests coming from the bank on its variety of strategic updates would overburden its own staff as well as stakeholders, but in an effort to create a truly interlinked strategy the funding organization has decided to move ahead. Working with energy firms and the urban sector to be sure they leverage data and strategy synergies will be a major part of that effort, Evans said. Keep reading →
New record today for highest electricity demand in July: 64,203 MW. Previous records: 63,863 MW on 7/8/11, and 63,400 MW on 7/13/09. @ERCOT_ISO
Who builds, owns and ultimately foots the bill for building transmission lines? US policy has long maintained that whoever benefits from transmission lines must help shoulder the costs.
But some claim that a June 2010 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposal, which outlined pricing mechanisms for the construction of new transmission lines, defined “benefits” too loosely and that utilities, and ultimately their customers, are unfairly paying the price. Keep reading →
Big data is a BIG ISSUE for utilities deploying #smartmeters & #smartgrid. Pre-deployment planning is crucial for success. #IBMSG
@IBMSmartrEnergy
For years China has been known for its factories and for mass-producing everything from clothing and purses to tchotchkes and little American flags.
In recent years, China has used that same manufacturing expertise to race ahead in renewables. Keep reading →
With all of AOL Energy’s reporting on energy policy and regulation across the country and even the world, we have not forgotten to look at what we’re doing right here at home.
AOL has been busy implementing various energy savings programs since its very inception. According to AOL’s very own energy guru Brenda Rian, this was initially because data centers, filled with computers that host every word and program featured on AOL, easily gobble up megawatts of energy (This is mostly because the computers must be constantly cooled to prevent overheating). Keep reading →
This video shows algae, which eats carbon dioxide and excretes oil, in action. Over time, the biomass falls away to the bottom and leaves the oil at the top.
This technology is part of a new movement towards green oil, including products like ethanol, biofuels and oils like this one from algae. While the number of companies working on extracting the oil has multiplied, few companies specialize in harvesting the algae itself. Keep reading →
