@MainPageFeature

The Business of Wind Energy in Europe

By


The European Union (EU) has the reputation of a bureaucracy awash in red tape. Yet when it comes to wind power, and above all onshore wind, its policies over the last decade have proven enormously effective getting this precocious branch of business in Europe on its feet – and even booming.

Despite an ongoing economic crisis, Europe’s wind power industry has flourished as few others, not least as a consequence of the EU targets, national action plans, and other framework regulation including carbon pricing. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 23, 2012 at 1:00 PM

EIA Chief: US Could Reduce Oil Imports to Zero

By


US dependence on imported crude oil is expected to drop to 41% this year, but it could drop even faster, and even to zero, says Adam Sieminski, Administrator of the Energy Information Administration.

EIA’s forecast is a substantial reduction even from 2011, when imports met 45% of US demand, and way below the record year of 2005 when the US imported 60%. Analysts agree that discoveries of new US resources, improvements in US auto fuel economy, and lower overall demand due to the recession have combined to reduce the need for imports. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 23, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Caterpillar Has A New Hybrid Excavator For Your Sandbox

By


When one thinks of hybrids, cars like the Toyota Prius come to mind. There’s no reason though green vehicle technology like this needs to be limited to passenger cars or commercial vehicles like moving trucks. It is also turning up in the construction industry, in part via the unveiling in the last week of a new hybrid excavator from Caterpillar.

Caterpillar said its new Cat 336E H is a derivative of the company’s 336E large hydraulic excavator, which is described as a “recognized industry-leading workhorse” by its manufacturer. The new hybrid version is the company’s first to make use of what it calls “a novel hydraulic hybrid technology developed internally” that reportedly uses 25 percent less fuel compared to its regular sibling. Torque News noted of this machine that it has a drive train that “is a diesel-electric design but Caterpillar is not describing the electrical storage capacity nor power of the electric motor.” Keep reading →

 /  Published October 22, 2012 at 3:45 PM

Politics and Power Markets

By


When it comes to energy and politics, the United States is not what it appears. Deregulation of the power markets is one example. Some regions of the nation have developed robust power markets. Others regions do not and they don’t want it.

The regionalization of the power markets means there is no such thing as a national grid. According to The ISO/RTO Council, the United States has seven formalized power markets and vast regions where no markets exist at all. Approximately two-thirds of US consumers are served by the seven deregulated power markets. The objective of these markets is to provide buyers and sellers price discovery, liquidity, and non-discriminatory access to wholesale power. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 22, 2012 at 8:30 AM

To (the Future) Mr. President: Our Energy Problem Won’t be Solved with Incomplete Equations

By


Tuesday night, Obama championed his commitment to more oil and gas exploration, as well as reinforced the doubling of U.S. clean energy production under his leadership. And Romney, advocating our energy independence, solidified his strong commitment to drilling and promoting a surplus of oil and gas.

What I’d like to know, however, is their plans on the other side of the energy equation: the demand side. No matter how much new generation we bring to the table, energy independence just isn’t possible without curbing our exponentially rising need for electricity. And so far, neither candidate has pontificated on how to make this possible. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 19, 2012 at 10:00 AM

Saving Energy in Commercial Buildings: Setting the Example in Philadelphia

By


The Energy Efficient Buildings Hub, a public-private organization whose largest funder is the U.S. Department of Energy, is leading an ambitious charge to reduce energy consumption in Philadelphia’s commercial buildings. The hope is the model can be replicated in other cities across the US.

Because of the Hub’s efforts to “start moving the needle” on discussion of energy retrofits, the City of Philadelphia is likely to have a successful response to its new law requiring energy disclosure for large buildings, predicted Marla Thalheimer, Director of Sustainability at Liberty Property Trust, a commercial real estate firm and Hub partner. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 19, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Who Owns the Energy?

By


The question of natural resource ownership has been answered in many different ways over the course of human history, with compromises between the interests of societies and individual developers taking on a variety of forms.

While it often seems that the basic parameters of ownership and regulation of ownership have been sorted out in places like the US, comparatively small evolutions in the perception of these relationships can have outsized impacts on specific energy projects or companies. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 18, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Could Cleanweb be New York’s Next Big Tech Industry?

By


When most people think of clean technology, the images that spring to mind are often solar panels and wind turbines. However, the Cleanweb Hackathon in New York City, which took place three weekends ago, showed that computer code and social media are also changing how people interact with energy and other resources, and should perhaps also be on that list.

Hackathons, most often found used within digital industries, are weekend gatherings in which small teams build applications in just two intense days. Cleanweb, as defined by venture capitalist Sunil Paul of Spring Ventures, is “a category of clean technology that leverages the capability of the internet, social media, and mobile technologies to address resource constraints.” Keep reading →

 /  Published October 18, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Why the New York Times is Wrong on the National Ignition Facility

By


On Saturday October 6th, the New York Times wrote an editorial that criticized the mission, effectiveness, and budget of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), an experimental laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. This editorial followed an article from the prior week noting scientific challenges in the NIF’s mission and airing division among scientists about the facility’s future.

The NIF consists of 192 lasers, each of which is among the largest and most energetic in the world. It was built between 1997 and 2009 for the purposes of conducting experiments with fusion energy. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Saving Energy in Commercial Buildings: Philadelphia Navy Yard

By


Around 3,000 commercial building owners and contractors are weighing a new request for proposals on energy retrofits from an institution that’s a national leader in reducing energy consumption by existing buildings.

The Energy Efficient Buildings Hub, a public-private organization whose largest funder is the U.S. Department of Energy, sent out the RFPs on October 12 as the latest step toward fulfilling its ambitious goal of reducing energy use by commercial buildings in the Philadelphia region by 20 percent by 2020. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 17, 2012 at 8:30 AM
Page 33 of 1081...293031323334353637...108