Tag Archives: blog
Paperwork: Dragging The Adoption of Home Solar Power Systems
The average retail price of home solar power systems is higher in the United States than what it is in other countries that have been significant adopters of solar power. This prompts the question, why? While the tariffs imposed on Chinese solar panels in 2012, and the difficulty of installing solar panels on some common [...]
Change the World and Win a Great Prize
Do you care about the planet? Do you want to do something great for the environment and also have a chance at a really cool prize? You could become a VIP blogger at the largest sustainability gathering in the history of the Middle East! Leading up to Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, January 13-17, 2013, Masdar [...]
Energy Questions People Want Answered by Obama and Romney
Tonight’s presidential debate, which takes place in Hempstead, Long Island, is a town hall, where undecided voters get to ask the questions. Unfortunately, the subject matter is limited to foreign policy, so many important questions average voters would ask won’t be allowed (how about their positions on a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United?). Is [...]
Panasonic’s “Eco Ideas” Factory Opens in Vietnam
Panasonic has opened its fifth “eco ideas” factory in the Asia Pacific region – the company’s latest initiative to showcase best practices in sustainable manufacturing. The new Panasonic Vietnam Group facility, located at the Thang Long Industrial Park, sets benchmarks – or eco ideas – for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reductions, waste management and recycling, [...]
Suntech Power Gets Much Needed Loan
The world’s largest solar panel maker, China’s Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) is getting an emergency $31.7 million loan from the local government to help it weather its financial troubles. The lifeline comes from the city of Wuxi in Jiangsu province, where the company is based. The mayor created a task force to help Suntech. He offered a package [...]
Broken Promise? Solar Panels Still Not on White House Roof
It’s the season of campaigns and campaign promises, but for the solar industry, an unfulfilled presidential promise from nearly three years ago is still rankling. In 2011, President Obama announced that he was bringing back solar panels to the White House. Over twenty years before, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter installed a solar hot water [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Submerging Data Center Servers in Mineral Oil
With all of the information that is being sent back and forth in our world, you can imagine how much heat data servers are emitting each day. But there’s an innovative idea that’s turning heads in the data services industry. There are reports that Intel has given the thumbs up on the idea of cooling [...]
U.S Promises $2B in Renewable Energy Loans to South Africa
Eyeing South Africa’s potential as a key export market, the US is coming up with $2 billion in financing for clean energy projects. The agreement signed this week between the US Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank and Industrial Development Corp. (IDC) of South Africa is aimed at supporting solar, wind and other clean-energy projects that use U.S. [...]
Interactive Map of Los Angeles Electricity Use
A new energy map of Los Angeles developed at UCLA lets residents find how much electricity the average customer in their neighborhood uses, see how a neighborhood’s energy use relates to its average income level and track energy use over time. The map, released by UCLA’s California Center for Sustainable Communities, is the most highly interactive map of [...]