At this time of partisan wrangling in Congress, energy efficiency stands as a rare issue that crosses party lines to garner bipartisan consensus.
That comes as no surprise to efficiency advocates, who know that energy-efficiency programs are one of our best national investments. By lowering energy costs, they return more money to the economy than they cost taxpayers. Keep reading →
There’s no better place to talk engineering than Detroit. And this week, it’s been electrical power engineering, specifically. The Motor City is proudly hosting top engineering talent from around the world this week at the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting.
More than 2,000 power engineers are participating in the IEEE conference–promoting, sharing and discussing important issues and developments in the field of electrical power engineering. This is particularly relevant against the backdrop of our nation discussing how to create a 21st century power grid. Keep reading →
A return to the moon for NASA may be a distant goal as the organization works to find a replacement for the Space Shuttle orbiter. But some scientists and investors see private space flight as both a path to the moon and a way to alleviate energy concerns at home.
Gerald Kulcinski, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin, explained to CNN that there is an abundance of a rare isotope of helium on the moon–one which could provide fuel for nuclear power plants on earth. There is only a 30 kilogram supply of helium-3 on earth, and it costs $7,000 per gram. Keep reading →
Energy is core to our nation’s vitality. Our economy is dependent on it. Our alliances, fiscal strength, and overall competitiveness as a country are all strongly influenced by how we supply our energy needs. And right now, we’re endangering American leadership by not moving more quickly to develop a cleaner, more competitive energy economy.
The cost of our heavy reliance on fossil fuels is growing rapidly. It hurts our trade balance. Oil imports now account for nearly half of our trade deficit. It makes us vulnerable to global instability. Recent disruptions in even a tiny oil state like Libya sent gas prices soaring to $4 per gallon, causing hardship for millions of Americans. And it hurts our competitiveness. We use roughly 30 percent more energy to produce a dollar of GDP than Europe or Japan. Keep reading →
The big news of the week for solar was the US Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee for 733 MW of distributed rooftop solar projects. In case you missed the nuance, NRG, Prologis and Bank of America (BOA) are taking the first steps towards solar project securitization of rooftop installations. A few weeks ago NRG had announced they would be entering the rooftop solar sector and look at securitization as possible funding strategy.
This week’s news lifts the veil on the big plans that BOA, NRG and Prologis have hatched. We’ve been advocates of a securitization solution (see ASF Journal, Winter Edition 2011, “Securitization’s renewable opportunity,” by John Joshi) for solar leases and power purchase agreements for some time now and the recent news only confirms that it’s going to happen a lot faster than we expected. Keep reading →
“To everything there is a season, a time to sow and a time to reap ….” Now is the time for America to realize the results of our investments in renewable transportation fuels. For the past 10 years, the U.S. government and industry have invested millions of dollars to drive the development of cellulosic biofuels. The bench work is complete and technology developments have exceeded expectations. Today pilot facilities across the country are producing cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues, dedicated energy crops and municipal waste. But the real promise of these breakthroughs will not be recognized in pilot-scale.
The discouraging truth is that market access for renewable transportation fuels is restricted by formidable barriers. A primary barrier is infrastructure. Consumer demand will never become a driving factor in renewable fuels adoption until there are real options that allow consumer choice and create open-market competitive solutions. It is time for a new direction in biofuels policy. Keep reading →
Last week’s release of the White House’s Policy Framework For The 21st Century Grid signals that the national policy focus will shift back to energy in the coming months. This development is welcome news to a transmission industry that has weathered the ambiguity created by the absence of a national energy policy for years. It is smart for the Obama Administration to focus on our energy grid – a vital piece of infrastructure that is long past due for an upgrade, but a focus on “smart grid” technologies may be putting the cart before the horse.
Americans now rely on an antiquated grid that is used in ways it was never intended to be used. The majority of the existing transmission system was built more than 30 years ago and has received incremental investment since. Consider these facts: Keep reading →
Last week was a good one if you happen to own a natural gas well. Two reports on the outlook for natural gas, both in the U.S. and worldwide, gave a glowing assessment of the fuel’s future prospects.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) cheekily titled its report, “Are We Entering a Golden Age of Gas?” The conclusion: global gas use will rise, in one scenario, by more than 50 percent by 2035. So, yes, it would seem the “golden age” is nigh. Meanwhile, the U.S.-centric report from the M.I.T. Energy Initiative, “The Future of Natural Gas” blasted critics who claimed that gas, when it comes from shale formations, is worse for the environment than coal. Keep reading →
It’s official.
New “Lighting Facts” labels are coming to US light bulb packaging in mid-2011. Watt’s up with that? (Sorry, couldn’t resist). Well, the new labels mandated by the Federal Trade Commission mean many consumers may finally start to put “Watts” in the right context. Keep reading →
Melting chocolate bunnies! Do I have your attention?
LED company Cree certainly hopes so; they use the highly unexpected prop to illustrate the energy efficiency provided by new lighting technology. Keep reading →
