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Warmest Decade Yet, China is World’s Largest Energy User $188M to Small Business Clean Energy Technologies U.S. Wind had Strong 2009, Weak 2010 DOE: $43M Loan Guarantee for NY State Energy Storage Xcel Energy Wind-to-Battery Test Shows Promise San Francisco Bay Area Gets $5M for EV Charging Stations $117M Loan Guarantee for Hawaii Wind Project Past Decade Warmest on Record, China Takes Top Spot in Energy Use The Earth has been growing warmer for the past 50 years, and the past decade was the warmest on record, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report. State of the Climate in 2009, released July 28, draws on contributions from over 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries. The report examines 10 key climate indicators, which all point to a warming world. Seven indicators are rising: air temperatures over land, sea-surface temperatures, air temperatures over oceans, sea levels, ocean heat contents, humidity, and temperatures in the troposphere, the active weather layer of the atmosphere that’s closest to the Earth’s surface. The three declining indicators are arctic sea ice, glaciers, and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere. Not only were the 2000s the hottest decade on record but […]
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Past Decade Warmest on Record DOE: $188M to Small Businesses for Clean Energy U.S. Wind Installations Fall to 2007 Levels DOE: $17M Loan for Battery Energy Storage in NY DOE: $117M Loan Guarantee for Hawaii Wind Project GM Boosts Chevy Volt Production Plans 9 Finalists for $10 Million Automotive X Prize Past Decade was Warmest on Record The Earth has been growing warmer for the past 50 years, and the past decade was the warmest on record, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). State of the Climate in 2009, released on July 28, draws on the contributions of more than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries. The report examined 10 key climate indicators, which all indicate the world is warming. Seven indicators are rising: air temperatures over land, sea-surface temperatures, air temperatures over oceans, sea levels, ocean heat contents, humidity, and temperatures in the troposphere, the active weather layer of the atmosphere that is closest to the Earth’s surface. The three declining indicators are arctic sea ice, glaciers, and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere. The report finds not only that the 2000s was the hottest decade on record but […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable media player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer each week. In this week’s show… Senate Delays Energy Bill; World Watches House Passes Oil Spill Legislation Extractive Industries Are Incapable of Restraint EPA Says Oil Dispersants No More Toxic than Oil Subsidies for Renewables, Biofuels Dwarfed by Supports for Fossil Fuels Ecuador Signs Deal to Protect Amazon From Oil Drill Plus, a summary of the week’s top cleantech headlines. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com
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By Jake Greear For three months Americans have watched an ecological disaster unfold in the Gulf of Mexico in excruciating slow motion. A mixture of outrage, fear, suspicion, helplessness, and uncertainty has naturally led to a lot of scapegoating. The public and many media figures have alternately heaped scorn on President Obama, Mr. Hayward, and even Admiral Allen. And the same ire has been directed toward the less personified entities of BP, “the administration,” and occasionally Haliburton. No doubt there is enough blame to go around, but to concentrate on specific instances of incompetence and negligence is to miss the point. The spill shows that we have a problem, but the solution is not more competent, less selfish, or less neglectful people at the heads of corporations and governments. In fact, when it comes to extractive industries, a really good corporate executive—one who selflessly, boldly, and competently pursues the interests of the shareholders—is often the worst thing that could happen to the communities that have the misfortune of living in the vicinity of coal or oil reserves. A good executive will find inventive ways around the rules, count on forgiveness rather than permission, take chances, and stop at nothing. We […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… Democrats Unveil Senate Energy Bill Energy Bill Includes Homestar Program, Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosures Wind Power Sinks Back to 2007 Levels in 2Q U.S. Stuck with ‘Patchwork’ Approach to Climate Change WCI Releases Comprehensive Plans for Regional Cap and Trade Study Analyzes Regulatory Scenarios for Reducing Carbon Emissions Plus, a summary of the week’s top cleantech headlines. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com
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Great & Important News: a federal court just prevented oil and gas drilling operations from moving ahead in millions of acres spanning Alaska’s Chukchi Sea — one of our nation’s two "Polar Bear Seas." The ruling is a huge victory – it will forestall a potential disaster that would make the Gulf look like child’s play and will immediately protect sensitive Arctic habitat for endangered polar bears, walruses and bowhead whales, already besieged by melting ice from climate change. One of the last things the Bush Administration did in its final days was initiate a massive fire sale of drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea. Very unfortunately, the Obama Administration has adopted this reckless "drill everywhere" policy, including the Arctic, where BP is a main player. In a successful federal lawsuit, NRDC, Earthjustice, Alaska Native groups and others charged the government failed to analyze the potential impact on the Arctic from an oil spill and in handing out the permits, broke US environmental law. The judge ordered the drilling rights be revoked until a science-based environmental analysis is conducted. The fight continues to stop Shell from drilling off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Beaufort Sea […]
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DOE’s New Energy Hub to Develop Fuels from Sunlight DOE: $30M for Energy-Efficient Housing Partnerships DOE, DOD Announce Clean Energy Agreement Maine, Nova Scotia Signs Ocean Energy Agreement Unmanned Solar Aircraft Soars 14 Days International Renewable Energy Agency Gets Global Status DOE announced on July 22 the creation of the "Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub" to develop revolutionary methods of generating fuels directly from sunlight. The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), led by the California Institute of Technology in partnership with the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, will operate the initiative. JCAP will bring together leading researchers in an effort to simulate natural photosynthesis for practical energy production. The goal is to build an integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system. The hub will receive up to $22 million in Fiscal Year 2010, then an estimated $25 million a year for the next four fiscal years. Research will be directed at finding the functional components needed to assemble a complete artificial photosynthetic system, including light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers, and separation membranes. The hub will then integrate those components into an operational solar fuel system and will develop scale-up strategies to move the product from the lab to commercial […]
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This article is reprinted from the June issue of our green investing newsletter, Progressive Investor. To learn about which green stocks to invest in, and to read the rest of the issue, subscribe or just purchase this issue. After a strong 2009, the problems associated with the recession and lack of a US energy policy caught up with the wind industry this year. Wind supplied 2% of the world’s electricity in 2009. Even during the dog days of the recession, installations charged ahead 31%, ending the year with a breathtaking 38,343 MW in new capacity for a cumulative world total of 158,505 MW. It was the highest growth rate in the last eight years. Also of note, China surpassed the US as the largest wind turbine market, installing 13,803 MW, and reaching a total of 25,805 MW. China accounted for over a third of the world’s wind installations in 2009, more than doubling its cumulative capacity for the fourth consecutive year. The US also had a record-breaking year, installing over 10,000 MW. China introduced a feed-in tariff for new onshore wind plants, but because of inadequate transmission capacity about 25% of its existing wind capacity has yet to be connected […]
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First Half of 2010 is Warmest on Record on Earth Global Clean Energy Initiatives Launched $30M for Small Business Clean Energy Technologies Recovery Act Boosts Advanced Vehicle Investments Cool Roofs across the Federal Government Home Size Declining, Energy Efficiency a Factor First Half of 2010 is the Warmest on Record on Earth The first six months of 2010 were the warmest on record, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) analysis. The agency’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) finds that combined global land and ocean surface temperatures averaged 57.5°F for January through June, which is 1.22°F above the 20th-century average. By comparison, the second-warmest January-June on record was in 1998, when the average global temperature was 1.19°F above the 20th-century average. Land temperatures were the second-warmest on record, falling behind 2007, while ocean surface temperatures were also the second-warmest on record, falling behind 1998. In addition, every month from March to June 2010 was the warmest on record for the globe. See the NOAA press release and the NCDC analysis. 11 International Clean Energy initiatives Launched The U.S. is helping launch 11 international clean energy initiatives, DOE announced on July 20. The initiatives will eliminate the need to […]
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Why would a parking garage be eligible for LEED certification when the goal is get rid of cars in cities? It turns out that as much as 30% of the congestion in major cities is caused by cars circling and idling while they search for parking. Cities would have lots less cars driving around if they didn’t have to look for spaces, leaving more room for public transport, walking, bicycling and just breathing better air. The time consuming practice of circling city blocks or driving up and down garage ramps searching for open parking spaces frustrates drivers, wastes gas and contributes to global warming and deteriorating air quality. Parking lots and garages also takes up a lot of space – a Facebook page devoted to parking in Columbus, Ohio points out that 233 acres or 24% of the city’s developable land is consumed by parking lots. One solution is automated parking garages, which VLF Development LLC is about to pioneer in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. Its Green ParkTM Eco Garage will be the first LEED-Gold certified parking facility in the U.S. Its patented automated parking system will double or triple the number of cars that can be parked with a smaller […]
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