Originally published on the NRDC Expert Blog. By Arjun Krishnaswami The cost of energy storage is plummeting as performance is improving, and Congress is moving to help storage technologies continue to advance. Spurring innovation is far from all we need to do to address the climate crisis facing us, but it’s a necessary component and a
If anyone needed proof that the US Congress is now a whipped puppy that slavishly obeys the orders of its masters — Charles and David Koch — the House last week completely eliminated funding for ARPA-E while giving the administration more money for fossil fuel research than the #FakePresident asked for. What Is ARPA-E? ARPA-E
Wave power could be one of the world’s most abundant source of renewable energy, as oceans cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface and hold onto a large amount of energy. But what needs to be done so that the world’s oceans can become attainable, sustainable energy resources? And how can wave power become competitive
There happens to be a bunch of extra clean electricity now being fed to the grid, the renewable kind we like to applaud — generated from sources like wind and rooftop solar. The Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative is pushing the growth along, aiming to cut the cost of solar electricity to $0.06/kWh by
The Solar Foundation has announced that it has been selected by the US Department of Energy SunShot Initiative to lead a nationwide solar energy training program for former military members, Solar Ready Vets. Of note, the program will work with military bases and local training providers in order to prepare transitioning military personnel for careers in solar,
Thanks to human ingenuity and persistence, hydropower energy represents one of the oldest power sources on this planet. Best, its is clean, renewable, and sustainable as long as there is available water. That may be a larger challenge, according to some viewpoints. A very quick glimpse into hydropower history Humans have been harnessing water to
In a boost for clean energy, the US Department of Energy will provide funding for 24 American Indian and Alaska Native communities to deploy clean energy and energy efficiency projects. In today’s press announcement, the DOE outlined plans to invest over $9 million in 16 facility- and community-scale energy projects in 24 tribal communities. This represents a
Originally published on CleanTechnica Student teams of environmental entrepreneurs are being sought for this year’s FLoW competition. Why? $100,000 in prize money is available to winners, plus our planet and its population need as much in the way of sustainable innovations as possible. The FLoW Basics Here’s what you need to know for starters. FLoW (first look
The US Department of Energy loan program was infamous in some circles after Solyndra went bankrupt. Of course, some of us realized there was nothing scandalous about the program and it was providing a big net benefit for the country. It’s not even hard to understand. Investors don’t invest in one company and put all their
Originally published on 1Sun4All. Imagine the potential! It’s not just for roads — the possibilities with Solar Roadways include your home, it could be all or nearly off grid thanks to your solar patio, walkway, or driveway (which you no longer have to shovel or plow if you live in the north). When you leave home, you could drive on Solar
Cree is one of a handful of early LED companies that is leading us into super-efficient lighting faster than any projected would be possible. In fact, Cree may very well be the #1 LED leader. Below is yet another groundbreaking announcement from the LED company. Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) raises the performance bar again with
This article was sponsored by SuperBrigthLEDs.com. Thanks, LED leaders! We all agree that our leaders need to get together and come up with actionable legislation that will curb global warming. That being said, what can the average non-politician type do in their everyday lives to better promote this sustainable style of living. Many eco-minded individuals
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has said that it would repay the debt induced by the loan they received from the US government to develop electric vehicles early, and it appears this will be possible, with a bit of personal help from Elon. The company appears to be on track to pay the loan back years
The Department of the Interior, working with the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Energy have identified solar energy development potential in six Western states in seventeen different areas. These areas are: Arizona 663 MW — Brenda and Gillespie California 17,070 MW — Imperial East and Riverside East Colorado 1812 MW — Antonito Southeast,
The Federal Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) have reported that the average German solar system price in the second quarter of 2012 is estimated at €1.776 per watt peak, or $2.24 per watt peak at current exchange rates. Considering that the German solar market is dominated by rooftop installations (72 percent of installations in 2011 were
In creating the shortest (fastest) and “purest” x-ray laser pulses ever achieved, scientists working at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, in Menlo Park, California, have fulfilled a 1967 prediction that atomic scale x-ray laser could be made in the same manner as visible-light lasers. With the help of SLAC’s Linac
Here’s a good news story — the Department of Energy (DOE) announced last week that it had reached a national target of getting 600,000 U.S. homes weatherized (including over 125,000 multi-family homes, like apartment buildings)… and the target was reached 3 months early! “The Department reached this major milestone as part of its efforts
Reporting her results from a fifth Gulf of Mexico expedition ending this past December, University of Georgia marine scientist Samantha Joye has been to the bottom and back, and her findings are anything but optimistic. Her team has found numerous expanses of oil and soot covered sea floor that were “chemically finger-printed” as deriving from
…And with it, our chance to beat the Europeans to the quantum punch: the confirmation of the Higgs Boson — the mysterious particle that bestows mass unto all other particles. It’s one of physic’s biggest “prizes”, but, it seems that our Dept. of Energy couldn’t come up with the extra 35 million to keep the
Ever get upset because you got stuck behind a bus while driving your car? Think again. That bus is saving you time. How many people are on that bus? If they were driving, how many cars would be in your way instead? A new report by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) finds that public transit
[social_buttons] In light of the 40th anniversary of mankind’s first steps on the moon, the Department of Energy (DOE) has launched its own “giant leap” venture. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is taking his small step into the Facebook world (an ever growing, ever consuming world). Chu set up a page that will hopefully make a
Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It could be many things: God, love, E.T., or even Michael Jackson. But today, right now, it is wind. Wind has always been around. I think that few would argue with that. But wind power, on the other hand, has been hidden from mankind’s
Oh! The weather outside [can be] frightful, which is why Stephen Chu of the U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday that 7 states (Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire) will be the recipients of more than $288 million dollars, which will be put toward weatherization projects.
Solar Energy Comes to the DOE Headquarters One of the largest solar power systems in Washington, D.C. was inaugurated atop the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Forrestal Building today (9-9-08). Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, shown here, energized the system for the first time, saying: “The significance of this solar array is both practical and symbolic–it
Well, this may not be a hidden issue, but I think it is a highly under represented issue. Transportation is the leading contiributor to greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the country, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and is also the fastest growing contributor, at a time when we are supposed
As promised in a podcast interview on February 11th, Edward Sproat, manager of the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, filed a license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
That’s the question I posed to Ward Sproat, the DOE’s manager of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. His agency is in charge of the Yucca Mountain waste repository project in Nevada. This is the classic “Not in my back yard” battle, even more understandable since Nevada was the site of nuclear weapons testing
I’ve been going on for some time now about the nuclear industry, the possibility of more nuclear power stations going online, and especially what to do with radioactive waste that’s been piling up for 50 years. The answer to the waste situation was supposed to have been Yucca Mountain, a remote natural structure some 100
