New Ventures

Cost Review Set For World’s ‘Most Expensive Wind Farm’

By


A developer hoping to build America’s first offshore wind farm is taking another look at its costs after reports attacked its plans as too expensive, technically unproven, and likely to have a negative effect on the local economy.

Fishermen’s Energy, a consortium of fishing companies, plans to build the wind farm in New Jersey waters three miles off the coast in a five-turbine pilot project that it hopes will pave the way for a bigger installation in federal waters farther offshore. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 6, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Solar Energy Flower Power Tower

By


Like your typical garden flower, this tulip captures heat from the sun for energy. But unlike most flowers, this one is 115 feet tall and uses a combination of gas and mirrored heliostats to spin a gas turbine that creates electricity.

AORA‘s concentrated solar power (CSP) systems – designed in southern Israel where sunlight is abundant and water is scarce – uses pressurized air, rather than water, to spin a conventional gas turbine. If the air momentarily cools, from cloud cover for example, the tower automatically reroutes the air through a combustion chamber that can use anything from biogas and methane to natural gas and diesel to heat the air and spin the turbine. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 5, 2012 at 11:00 AM

US Leads In Energy Innovation, Loses In Manufacturing

By

Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta moderates as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and US Energy Secretary Steven Chu deliver remarks on the state of energy, February 28, 2012 during the US Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, DC.

We can dream it – so why can’t we make it? Keep reading →

 /  Published March 5, 2012 at 9:00 AM

US Ethanol Industry Re-tools As Biofuels Struggle To Scale Post-IPO

By

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory biofuels lab.

Corn-based ethanol production is set to peak this year as the Environmental Protection Agency’s advanced biofuels mandate has capped production of conventional ethanol at 15 billion gallons, or about 357 million barrels. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 2, 2012 at 9:00 AM

GE Energy Financial Services Doubles Down On Solar Investment

By


GE’s energy investment arm has more than doubled its global solar power investment commitments since early 2011. The company recently reached $1.4 billion in cumulative solar investment, and has enabled nearly $5 billion in solar project value.

“We continue to seek to invest in the best solar power projects – with solid partners, power contracts and proven technology,” says Kevin Walsh, Managing Director and leader of power and renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 1, 2012 at 9:00 AM

All Charged Up Over Electric Car Breakthrough

By


There will be no “Who Killed the Electric Car? – Part two,” asserts Atul Kapadia, Chairman/CEO of Envia Systems.

Kapadia said he’s confident electric vehicles will conquer the consumer market this time around because his Newark, California company has been able to nearly triple the energy density of a typical lithium-ion battery. Independent testing has just confirmed the Envia battery performed in the range of 378-418 watt-hours per kilogram, he says. Current batteries operate at about 140 Wh/kg. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 29, 2012 at 3:30 PM

Advanced Biofuels Startups Grow With Green Promise

By


Developers of new advanced biofuels technologies are evaluating the entire energy production, service and delivery chains for commercial opportunities.

OriginOil’s ambitions are much larger than its small IPO from last year’s registration suggests, and the company claims it has pioneered technology that will revolutionize the service industry for advanced biofuels as Halliburton and Schlumberger had done in the petroleum and petrochemical industries. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 29, 2012 at 9:00 AM

San Francisco Bay Sets Stage For Battle Over Next Generation Oil

By

Golden Gate Bridge

Over the next decade, a battle over the next generation of oil will be waged not in a Middle Eastern Gulf, but San Francisco’s Bay. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 27, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Lithium Battery A Solar Storage Game Changer?

By


The wonders of solar and wind power are incredibly promising, but the true barrier to effective energy use is in the storage. When the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, the battery takes center stage. Therefore, making energy storage systems as efficient as possible has taken over the labs and minds of researchers around the world.

Giving a new perspective to your mother’s assertion that it’s what’s inside that counts, researchers at the University of Southampton believe it’s perhaps most true when talking about batteries. Their research presents a compelling argument that lithium batteries are the clear choice over traditional lead acid batteries for storing the sun’s energy in photovoltaic systems. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 22, 2012 at 12:15 PM

The next generation of natural gas partnerships?

By
 /  Published February 21, 2012 at 3:00 PM
Page 6 of 281...2345678910...28