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UK Wind Power Roars To Record Output

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December was an extremely windy month in the United Kingdom, resulting in wind farms supplying a record high of 12.2% of the UK’s electricity demand on December 28, and an average of 5.3% of demand over the entire month. That surge in wind power helped the UK cut its carbon emissions by over 750,000 tons – equivalent to taking over 300,000 cars off the road.

Wind power is accounting for an increasing proportion of the UK’s energy supply (maybe that’s what inspired the recent, seemingly desperate high-profile attack on wind). Two UK wind power developers have already hit the 1-gigawatt (GW) mark in installed capacity, and the trend shows no sign of slowing. According to new figures released by the the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC), the UK now has enough wind power to keep the lights on at more than 3.3 million homes. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 18, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Is Drilling Causing Ohio Earthquakes?

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In what may be the nation’s next boomtown, the ground is, literally, booming. Residents here in northeastern Ohio are receiving up to $5,000 an acre from energy companies that lease their land — plus monthly royalties. But they have also experienced at least 11 earthquakes since last March, state officials say. Scientists say the region’s quakes are likely tied to the burgeoning oil and gas industry. At 3:05 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, the people of Youngstown, Ohio, felt their homes shake. “I thought a jetliner crashed into the side of my house,” said resident Jim Bunosky. He was one of 300 to 400 local residents who attended a community meeting last week to discuss the quake’s origin, which some believe is linked to a local well used for wastewater disposal from oil and gas drilling.

 /  Published January 17, 2012 at 2:55 PM

People are asking: Can I choose my electricity supplier? http://go.usa.gov/RvR #energy #efficiency #electricity

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People are asking: Can I choose my electricity supplier? http://go.usa.gov/RvR #energy #efficiency EIAgov

 /  Published January 17, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Venture Capital Investments In Energy: PwC’s Tracy Lefteroff

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The first in a two-part series in which Breaking Energy asks a leading venture capital specialist about the intersection of two of the hottest parts of the economy today. Both are also are major contributors to hopes for increased hiring and accelerated tecnology innovation.

Q: What is the state of the venture capital industry, particularly in the energy sector, at the start of 2012? Keep reading →

 /  Published January 17, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Health Problems Ignored In The Incandescent Bulb Ban

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It’s hard to envision myself ever being on the same side of an issue with Tea Party supporters. However, I too am glad to see that the impending ban on incandescent light bulbs, at least here in the United States, has been put on hold. A mid-December concession in the battle to pass a new budget saw the ban on 100-watt incandescent bulbs (that was supposed to begin in January) delayed until October of 2012.

Of course the political arguments against such a ban center on economic issues, jobs and the involvement of the major light bulb manufacturers (and their political interests). Those of us who are actually concerned about the environment, myself included, rarely factor into such “politics-as-usual” debates. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 17, 2012 at 8:00 AM

US Shale Gas Development May Be Tough To Copy

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The unique structure of the US natural gas industry enabled development and rapid deployment of new shale gas technology, and the lack of that structure is complicating efforts of other countries to follow suit.

That’s according to Laszlo Varro, head of the Gas, Coal & Power Division at the International Energy Agency, speaking at the Center for Strategic & International Studies recently. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 17, 2012 at 6:00 AM

CES Show Gets Green Energy

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The International CES features cutting-edge technologies for an influential audience, so it makes sense that it would also feature some of the most aggressive energy efficiency and cleantech investing for an event of its scale in the US.

Smart grid and smart meter products that leverage the power of the internet to automate energy efficiency on devices and in buildings is the logical next step of communications technology, AlertMe CEO Mary Turner told Breaking Energy from the floor of the CES this week. The link between communications technology developments and energy research continues to grow stronger, and the efforts of CES organizers to demonstrate their energy efficiency and cleantech credentials further underlines the trend. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 13, 2012 at 3:30 PM

Where Is The Greed In Climate Change Markets? AOL Energy Comment

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Investors representing staggering sums of money gathered at the headquarters of United Nations to hear a day of discussions on climate risk and energy solutions this week.

The packed room included bankers, pension fund executives, policy-makers and the usual crowd of climate change professionals largely made up of consultants that cycle in and out of public and private organizations wearing different hats but often propounding the same message. Their message is one that seemed welcome in the last decade – that markets could be harnessed to solve climate change problems, that a price on carbon emissions would be good not just for health but for businesses currently facing (in the oft-quoted Nicholas Stern phrase) “a result of the greatest market failure the world has seen.” Keep reading →

 /  Published January 13, 2012 at 2:00 PM
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White House Briefing Paper: Natural Gas Propelling The Economy

Source: White House

Stealth Smart Grid Company Hopes To Revolutionize Demand Response

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A Silicon Valley smart grid startup is gunning to lower the cost of demand response by 90% while increasing efficiency 30%.

Palo Alto, CA-based AutoGrid was founded by Stanford University professor Amit Narayan. Its most recent hire is smart grid pioneer Chris Knudsen. Knudsen, who formerly ran PG&E’s Technology Innovation Center, joins as chief technology officer. AutoGrid has already attracted marquee investors including Foundation Capital, Voyager Capital and Stanford University. What’s more, it is leading a $4-million grant project funded by DOE and the California Energy Commission to investigate “highly dispatchable and distributed demand response for the integration of distributed generation.” Keep reading →

 /  Published January 13, 2012 at 11:45 AM
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