Could superconducting cable revolutionize the way electric grids operate? American Superconductor believes so, and plans to test it out in projects including one on South Korea’s smart grid test bed of Jeju Island. Read More »
Cleantech
Nobody likes high-voltage transmission lines running through their backyards, not even in the energy-loving heart of Texas. Recently a group of landowners (the Heart of Texas Landowners Coalition) persuaded the state’s regulators to force utility Oncor to reroute a $100 million transmission line around their property. Read More »
Two years ago energy baron T. Boone Pickens had visions of building the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, starting with a $2 billion order of wind turbines from General Electric. That project was put on hold indefinitely last year, but… Read More »
Time for Contingent Climate Commitments: Should the Obama administration get out ahead of Congress, pledging to set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that 67 senators may not be willing to ratify? — Grist GM Marketing Volt to…Middle Schoolers?: “On November 30th, hundreds of middle school students… Read More »
Hundreds of bills escaped California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto power last night ahead of a midnight deadline to act on a mountain of legislation — but not a pair of long-debated clean energy bills. As expected, the governor killed two items, which would have required… Read More »
If California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has his way, utilities in the state will get at least a third of their energy from renewable sources by 2020 — and they’ll have free reign to import it from out of the state. The move, which has been… Read More »
Slow Going for Solar Phones: “Solar technology in mobile computing devices is still impeded by performance and price issues and isn’t likely to entirely replace batteries anytime soon, according to analysts.” — CNET’s Green Tech Farmers in the Climate Crossfire: Unrestricted greenhouse gas emissions will be… Read More »
It’s official: Long-awaited clean-energy manufacturing tax credits are really happening, finally. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday announced a program awarding $2.3 billion in tax credits for clean-energy equipment manufacturers. While there are already some tax credits for… Read More »
Cozy Coda-Goldman Sachs Connection: Former treasury secretary Henry Paulson, onetime chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs, recently invested in electric car startup Coda Automotive and joined the advisory board. Coda’s ties to the firm run deeper than that: CEO Kevin Czinger and co-chairman Steven Heller… Read More »
Andy Grove on Industry Transformation: Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, says the auto industry “today is as vertical as the computer industry was before the PC,” and warns that government efforts to protect the viability of General Motors may be as detrimental to innovation… Read More »
As far as regional rivalries go, competition among U.S. states to lead the way on clean energy, efficiency and smart grid tech could be one of the more productive ones. Today the Obama administration gave a few points to states on the Western team, opting to… Read More »
The three grid musketeers are at it again. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, energy magnate T. Boone Pickens and Center for American Progress Action Fund President and Chief Executive John Podesta kicked off a new policy push today, calling for the Obama administration to invest in… Read More »