Archive for August, 2009
Green Tech Brightens
Americans have been given a respite from the constant dribble of bad news. And so have the country's entrepreneurs. As the nation's gross domestic product is stabilizing, investment in start-ups is considerably picking up.
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Australian Senate Passes Renewable Energy Target Bill
Australia's upper house has passed a climate change bill, effectively mandating a renewables portfolio standard that should establish a 20% contribution to electricity production from renewables by 2020.
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Solar Power International Sells Out Exhibit Floor as 900+ Companies Reserve 203,900 Sq. Ft., More Than Doubling Show Size from 2008
Solar Power International 2009, the largest business-to-business solar trade event in North America, will welcome 900+ companies from every part of the solar value chain to a sold-out exhibit floor at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), co-presenters of Solar Power International since 2004, reported that the 2009 event will be more than double the size of the 2008 event, in terms of exhibiting companies and the net square footage of the trade show. More than 900 companies will exhibit, reserving a record 203,900 net sq. ft. of floor space. In 2008, Solar Power International had a total of 422 companies occupying 88,000 net sq. ft. of floor space.
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SEPA Commends Southern California Edison
The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) commends the announcement today that Southern California Edison and First Solar have agreed to build two large-scale solar power projects in southern California. The agreement marks a key milestone in achieving SEPA's prediction that electric utilities will quickly become the largest and most important customer for the solar industry. According to Southern California Edison (SCE) and First Solar, the two installations will have a generation capacity of 550 megawatts of photovoltaic solar electricity, enough to provide power to approximately 170,000 homes.
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More Stimulus Dollars Delivered to States for Renewables
The U.S. Department of Energy delivered more than $119 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects last week to a variety of states and territories, including: American Samoa, the District of Columbia, and the states of Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, North Dakota, and Wyoming.
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Fight Climate Change Fast
The U.S. House of Representatives has finally passed climate change legislation, but the national debate on this issue continues to be based on a false assumption: that any major reforms will inevitably take decades to make a serious dent in greenhouse gas pollution.
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Utilities: Scaling the Clean-Tech Mountain
I'm not exactly a patient guy. My singer-songwriter sister once wrote a song with the following lyrics: "I am from a wanting breed, I am full of expectation, I want everything I see." Despite my years of meditation practice, I'd say that immediacy of "wanting and desire" often sums me up.
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Act Now on the Right FIT for California
California is on the precipice of passing into law a game-changing Feed-In Tariff (FIT) policy that will unleash the tremendous potential of renewable energy and provide a massive economic boost in California. A lot rides on getting the support of California State Senator Christine Kehoe (San Diego), so get ready to encourage her to do the right thing.
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Another Record for U.S. Renewable Electricity
The latest figures from the Energy Information Administration show that net U.S. electrical generation from renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) reached an all-time monthly high in May 2009. Combined, those sources accounted for 13 percent of total electrical generation in the U.S., according to recent analysis from the Washington, D.C.-based Sun Day Campaign.
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Treasury & DOE To Release US $2B for Renewables Manufacturers
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have released guidelines for the long awaited program to award $2.3 billion in tax credits to manufacturers of advanced energy equipment. Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), this new program will provide tax credits to manufacturers who produce renewable energy equipment.
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