There’s high trust in clean power despite the negative headlines
Contrary to the politics and headlines of the day, clean energy is a relatively trusted sector, and companies should be leveraging that good faith to lead. Read more »
3 hurdles for Japan’s gas “discovery”
photo: Shunkoh
Dreaming and doing are far apart. Here’s three potential problems — from environmental containment to economics to infrastructure — for mining natural gas from the sea in Japan. Read more »
President Obama: If Congress won’t act on climate change, I will
President Obama made one of his most aggressive declarations to using market-based means to fight climate change since early on in his first term. Read more »
7 major energy trends to watch for in 2013, via DOE bigwig David Sandalow
What are the most important energy trends that the U.S. acting under secretary of energy, David Sandalow, is seeing in 2013? Check out these 7 that are at the top of his mind. Read more »
Yikes: Peabody uses Super Bowl blackouts to push coal agenda
Coal giant Peabody turns to a tactic that has long been used to cling to old school technology: the manipulative press release. Read more »
What eBay’s bet on fuel cells means for the modern data center
EBay’s decision to install 6 megawatts of fuel cell capacity at its Utah data centers marks a shift in thinking toward on site power generation for the modern data center and using the grid as backup power. Read more »
T. Boone’s wind farm plans finally blow away
Four years after the Pickens Plan was first announced, former oil baron T. Boone Pickens finally sells off his stake in the planned wind farm in Minnesota. Read more »
The energy-water nexus Part I
Water and energy are intimately related in what has been termed the Energy-Water Nexus. In this 2-part article we’ll explore aspects of this connection, touching on pumping water, use of water for the production and extraction of energy, and desalination. Read more »
Why the natural gas lobby is wooing the clean power industry
Renewable energy proponents haven’t always considered the natural gas industry an ally. But a natural gas lobby hopes to change that by pitching an idea that it says will benefit both sides. Read more »
Google powers a data center directly with wind for the first time
For the first time Google has purchased wind power to directly power a data center in Oklahoma. Previously Google has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into clean power projects, but had yet to power its data centers directly with clean power. Read more »
A startup looks to make money from emissions detectors
Counting emissions accurately — from carbon dioxide to methane — in the air and soil has long been the domain of academia. But Silicon Valley startup Picarro is hoping to turn that practice into a booming commercial business by wooing the natural gas industry. Read more »
Cheap natural gas: Could it be a transportation fuel?
So with natural gas prices so low – under $2 per thousand cubic feet for the first time in April — it’s worth taking a look at whether natural gas could play a larger role as a transportation fuel. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Locating data centers in an energy-constrained world
Changes in the power market are rippling through the Internet industry, altering both the location of data centers and their sources of power. There are many factors in picking a data center location beyond the geographic location, such as how to procure energy and green-energy models. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The new resource dependencies
The five natural resources that will significantly impact the future development of renewable energy. Read more »
End times near for U.S. support of cleantech
It looks like the end times are near for U.S. support for cleantech, at least according to a report out from the Breakthrough Institute, the Brookings Institution and the World Resources Institute. Read more »
The politicization of cleantech & the history of energy subsidies
In the wake of Solar Trust’s recent bankruptcy, conservatives were eager to brand the company’s collapse as another Solyndra. Cleantech has become highly politicized, so much so that Obama’s first reelection ad was a defense of his clean energy policy. Read more »
Subscriber Content
The politicization of cleantech and the history of energy subsidies
As the 2012 election unfolds and debates about clean energy foment, looking back at the history of energy subsides tells us how the bulk of subsidies have gone to fossil fuels. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
How the natural gas craze will impact renewable energy
The abundance of natural gas in the U.S. was referred to as a game-changer and a black swan event at the Wall Street Journal Eco:nomics conference last week, but what will the effect be in renewables and climate change? Read more »
Subscriber Content
How the natural gas craze will impact renewable energy
A morning chunk of last week’s Wall Street Journal ECO:nomics Conference focused on hydraulic fracking and natural gas. It represents an aggressive new vision for the U.S. energy economy that will contribute to climate change and could slow development of renewable energy. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
My great hope for the energy future
Professor Tom Murphy lays out his rosy vision for what he thinks the world could accomplish in the near term to maximize the chances of coming out shiny and happy on the tail end of the fossil fuel saga. Read more »
A push for cheaper, safer natural gas cars
President Obama wants more natural gas development, and with it he wants to see more natural gas powered cars on American streets. He announced Thursday a $30 million R&D fund to develop technologies that will make natural gas cars cheaper and safer to drive and refuel. Read more »
What’s up with Google and biomass power?
Out of all of Google’s close to $1 billion in clean power projects, turning biomass into energy seems like the least relevant technology to Google’s core business. But Google has made a few small investments into biomass projects, including a hog waste to energy project. Read more »
The next hot cleantech sector: clean water for gas fracking
There’s a big problem with natural gas fracking, which has been making headlines lately: the potential issues with water pollution. However, the problem has not gone unnoticed as a major opportunity for cleantech investors and startups. Read more »
Chesapeake launches clean energy tech fund
Corporations are some of the few types of investors still pursuing new opportunities in greentech investing. Here’s the latest: natural gas company Chesapeake Energy announced on Monday that it plans to invest up to $1 billion into technologies that can use natural gas instead of oil. Read more »
GE’s key to clean power: natural gas
General Electric is a major wind turbine maker and has announced big plans in the past year to tackle the solar market. But it may be the company’s strategy to expand its natural gas power plant equipment business that could be a significant driver of renewable energy. Read more »
GE to Crank Up Gas Power Plants Like Jet Engines
Natural gas power plants aren’t usually all that efficient. On Wednesday, GE announced a power plant design that’s more efficient than the standard and also allows plant operators to better manage supply and demand and integrate clean power with natural gas. Read more »
How Green are Bloom Electrons? Depends on the Gas
Last week, fuel cell startup Bloom Energy launched its power purchase agreement business that repositions it from being a provider of fuel cells to a provider of the power those fuel cells generate. But what is a Bloom electron worth to Bloom’s would-be customers? Read more »
Don’t Underestimate The Impact of Natural Gas on Renewables
Whether natural gas is friend or foe to renewable energy development has been hotly debated. For Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency, the world isn’t paying enough attention to the impact that natural gas production and pricing will have on renewable energy. Read more »
Natural Gas: Cheap and Chic In Climate Talks
As countries gather in Cancun, Mexico to figure out a coherent plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, you can bet that natural gas will get plenty of attention. A study says 40 percent of the U.S.’s electricity could come from natural gas by 2035. Read more »
FuelCell Energy Finds Niche in Natural Gas Stations
The launch of Bloom Energy’s fuel cells has refocused the energy industry on just how to get this decades-old technology to compete on a cost basis with traditional forms of energy generation. For most fuel cell makers, that means finding niche markets — data centers, perhaps, […] Read more »
