Tag Archives: . politics
In Focus: India’s Energy Ties with Iran
India’s relentless search for hydrocarbons to fuel its booming economy has managed the rather neat diplomatic trick of annoying Washington, delighting Tehran and intriguing Baghdad, all the while leaving the Indian Treasury fretting about how to pay for its oil imports, given tightening sanctions on fiscal dealings with Iran. On 7 June the US State [...]
New Renewable Energy Projects Approved by Obama Adminstration
In a June press release issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior, new Interior Secretary Sally Jewel announced the Obama administration’s latest steps in its “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. The release announced the approval of three renewable energy projects and a crucial first step in development of the massive potential of U.S. offshore wind power. [...]
Solar Ready to Expolde in NYC
Thanks to solar’s resiliency, falling prices and ability to help out in disasters, New York is anticipating more solar installed in 2013 than ever before in the Empire state and in New York City. That’s based on experts who discussed the “Tipping Point for Solar in New York” at the City University of New York [...]
New York State: Solar Bill to Become a Law
Momentum is high for major solar legislation in New York State, but it’s a race to the finish to get it passed before lawmakers go home for the year. The New York Solar Bill, which would enact a ten-year extension of Governor Cuomo’s successful NY-Sun Initiative, was reported out of the Assembly Ways and Means [...]
Ernie Moniz To Lead the U.S. DOE
It’s hard to know what to make of this week’s unanimous Senate vote, confirming Ernie Moniz as the new U.S. Energy Secretary, replacing the outgoing Steven Chu. If you’re a fan of a sustainable energy policy, it’s certainly not a good sign when 100% of Senate Republicans like the way a certain person thinks. Of [...]
New Project Will Forecast Solar Generation
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has awarded $1.7 million to a partnership between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Cool Earth Solar Inc. (CES) to conduct a community-scale renewable energy integration demonstration project at the Livermore Valley Open Campus. The central idea of the project is to use solar forecasting to make photovoltaic power generation more [...]
SolarCity Earnings = MEH
SolarCity (SCTY) has been one of the hottest alternative energy stocks since its Initial Public Offering five short months ago. Yesterday it shot up 24% in one day, on the largest one-day volume since it opened, in anticipation of its quarterly earnings release. It is up 95% in the past three months, and has more [...]
Big Business: Embracing Clean Energy
Power Forward, a report commissioned by Calvert Investments, Ceres, and WWF, claims that 59% of the Fortune 100 and nearly 2/3rds of the Global 100 have invested in setting GHG reduction commitments, renewable commitments, or both. And of those companies, two-dozen have set open renewable energy commitments to be critically watched and accounted for by [...]
Fracking and Solar
Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has been widely criticized by environmentalists who cite concerns with water pollution and methane leakage from this high-volume method of extracting natural gas. However, the burning of natural gas is undoubtedly better for the planet than the burning of coal. Some experts are now saying that—toxic chemicals and contaminated water aside—fracking [...]
2030 EU Sets Energy Efficiency Targets Announced
Yesterday The European Commission took the first step towards developing a 2030 framework for EU climate change and energy policies. It adopted a Green Paper which launches a public consultation on the content of the 2030 framework. The Commission also published a Consultative Communication on the future of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Europe, [...]
Energy Security Trust Gameplan Announced
During his State of the Union address earlier this year President Barak Obama called on Congress to create an Energy Security Trust Fund to fund research into biofuels, batteries and more, to help wean the U.S. from its oil habit. On Friday the Administration elaborated on how such a system would work. “The Energy Security [...]
In Focus: Obama’s Executive Green Orders
President Obama has vowed that in the absence of congressional action, he will use his executive privileges to combat climate change. Some who are seeking a pretext to discredit the President have suggested that he is ruling by executive orders (EOs). However, President Obama has signed fewer EOs in his first four years in office [...]