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Soaking in the Sun
November 5, 2008 - PV-tech.org
A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have produced a new antireflective coating that increases the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels, while also allowing the panels to take in sun from almost every angle. A current untreated silicon solar cell absorbs about 67.4 percent of sunlight, but after the silicon surface is treated with their reflective coating, the panel absorbs 96.21 percent of the sunlight shone on it. Full Article
© 2008 Semiconductor Media Limited
 
Under Obama, Dark Days Seen Ahead For Fossil Fuels
November 5, 2008 - CNN
Under President-elect Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the fossil fuels industry may face "dark days ahead," while alternative energy sectors are likely to flourish. Full Article
© 2008 Cable News Network
 
Oil Price Fall, Crisis May Delay US Climate, Energy Policy
November 1, 2008 - Yahoo! News
Washington -- The financial crisis and falling oil prices risk setting back attempts by the next US president and Congress to promote renewable energy and the fight against climate change, analysts say. The price of oil has fallen from its high of 147 dollars a barrel earlier this year to around 65 dollars a barrel recently. Full Article
By Jean-Louis Santini © 2008 Agence France Presse. © 2008 Yahoo!
 
Texas Approves Major New Wind Power Project
July 17, 2008 - CBS News
Austin, Texas -- In what experts say is the biggest investment in clean and renewable energy in U.S. history, Texas utility officials gave preliminary approval to a $4.9 billion plan to build new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from gusty West Texas to urban areas like Dallas. Texas is already the national leader in wind power, generating about 5,000 megawatts, but the lack of transmission lines has kept a lot of that power from being put to use and has hindered the building of more turbines. Full Article
© 2008 The Associated Press © 2008 CBS Interactive Inc.
 
Solar Water Heat Required in New Hawaii Homes
June 27, 2008 - MSNBC
Honolulu -- With a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, Hawaii has become the first state to require solar water heaters in new homes. A traditionally powered water heater is the largest consumer of electricity inside a home, accounting for about 25 to 40 percent of the power used. A solar system costs about $5,000 more than an electric or gas water heater but it may save about $50 a month in utility costs. Full Article
By James Song © 2008 The Associated Press © 2008 Microsoft
 
Wind Farm To Be Built Off Delaware Shore
June 23, 2008 - CNN
The nation's first offshore field of wind turbines will be built about a dozen miles from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The 150 wind turbines are expected to be operational in four years and supply enough power to light about 50,000 homes. Delmarva Power will get about 16 percent of its electricity from the wind turbines, which the utility believes will help stabilize consumer energy costs since their 25-year contract locks in the price Delmarva will pay per kilowatt-hour. Full Article
By Paul Courson © 2008 Cable News Network
 
With Gas Prices Soaring, Americans Driving Less
June 19, 2008 - CNN Money
New York -- Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April compared with the same month last year, and 400 million fewer miles than they did in March, according to the Transportation Department. With Americans driving less and opting for more fuel-efficient vehicles, gasoline demand will likely decline in 2008 for the first time in 17 years, according to the energy consulting firm Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Full Article
© 2008 Cable News Network
 
Germany Touts Wood Residue, Straw and Sour Milk as Biofuel Sources
April 17, 2008 - Google News
Berlin -- A group of German companies and leaders are working to generate biofuels from excess biomass so that edible food does not need to be used. “Second generation” biofuels aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while also leaving cropland available to grow food that is increasingly in demand and becoming significantly more expensive. However, the technology is still early in development and refineries are very expensive. Full Article
By Aurelia End © 2008 Agence France Presse © 2008 Google
 
Westinghouse Strikes Deal to Build US Nuclear Power Plants
April 8, 2008 - Google News
Washington -- Two Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants will be built at a site near Augusta, Georgia. The two plants will have an electric generating capacity of 1,100 megawatts and are expected to be built by 2017. No nuclear power plants have been built in the United States since 1978. Full Article
© 2008 Agence France Presse © 2008 Google
 
New Street Light Technology Could Save Energy, Money
April 6, 2008 - The Detroit News
Washington -- According to a new study, the 10 largest U.S. metropolitan areas could reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million metric tons and save $90 million a year, just by switching to more efficient street lighting. The report focuses on two energy saving strategies: changing the lamps to LEDs and creating centrally controlled street-light networks so that managers can adjust lamp brightness based on environmental conditions. Full Article
By Sarah Karush © 2008 Associated Press © 2008 The Detroit News
 
Paris Airport to Go Green with Geothermal Energy
April 3, 2008 - WBCSD
Orly Airport, one of the two big airports serving Paris, will drill two, one-mile deep shafts on the airport's perimeter to access a water table warmed by heat emanating from the Earth's hot core. Drawn upwards by natural pressure, the water will emerge at the surface at 165 degrees Fahrenheit and then be injected into the airport's heating system. It will then be pumped back into the ground at a temperature of 113 F. Full Article
© 2008 Agence France Presse © 2008 World Business Council for Sustainable Development
 
Wind Power Breaks Records in Spain
March 25, 2008 - WBCSD
Madrid -- For a brief period of time last weekend, over 40 percent of Spain’s electricity was supplied by wind power. Heavy winds lashed Spain on Saturday evening which generated 9,862 megawatts of power. Spain, which along with Germany and Denmark, is among the three biggest producers of wind power in the 27-nation European Union, is aiming to triple the amount of energy it derives from renewable sources by 2020. Full Article
© 2008 Agence France Presse © 2008 World Business Council for Sustainable Development
 
Study Finds Profit in Cutting Emissions
February 14, 2008 - Financial Times
Half the cuts in greenhouse gas emissions needed to make the world safe can be achieved at a net profit to the global economy, a study has found. Investing about $170 billion a year worldwide into energy efficiency would yield a profit of about 17 percent, or $29 billion. The energy savings would be equivalent to 64 million barrels of oil a day, while the cost would amount to about 0.4 per cent of GDP. The study also found that the most inefficient sector in the world is heavy industry in China, with the second being residential housing in the US, where homes are large, poorly insulated and equipped with a range of appliances that are often themselves inefficient or poorly used, such as air-conditioning systems left on unnecessarily. Full Article
By Fiona Harvey © 2008 The Financial Times Ltd
 
US Energy Dept Sets New Power Transformer Efficiency Rules
October 12, 2007 - SmartMoney
New York -- Under a new rule, new electricity transformers will need to be 38% more efficient than current models. However, this measure still falls short of the standards requested by both utilities and environmentalists. Transformers only lose about 1%-2% of electricity through heat, but because there are millions of them in the United States tremendous amounts of energy could be saved through improved efficiency. The implementation of this requirement is expected to save 320 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over the next 29 years, according to the DOE.
By Matthew Dalton © 1995 - 2007 SmartMoney © 2007 Dow Jones Newswires
 
After Oil and Gas, Sahara Sunshine?
August 11, 2007 - The Boston Globe
Algiers, Algeria -- Work has begun on a 150 megawatt hybrid power plant that will use a combination of solar energy and natural gas. This is part of a larger plan to tap the vast amount of land in North Africa and the high amount of solar radiation that hits the area everyday. The potential for energy production is huge since the country receives enough sunshine to meet Western Europe's needs 60 times over. Full Article
By Aidan Lewis © 2007 The Associated Press © 2007 The New York Times Company
 
House Shifts $16 Billion Toward Renewable Energy
August 5, 2007 - Planet Ark
Washington -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed a Democratic rewrite of U.S. energy policy that strips $16 billion in tax incentives away from Big Oil and puts it toward renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. Included in the bill is an amendment that would require U.S. utilities to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2020. Republicans criticize the lack of drilling incentives and “green pork.” The White House threatened to veto the bill on concerns that it could boost energy prices. Full Article
By Chris Baltimore © 2007 Reuters © 2007 Planet Ark
 
 

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