As he has done previously in talking about the state of America, President Obama had several things to say about energy in Tuesday night’s speech (transcript here). For one, due to a surge in domestic oil production, imports of foreign oil have fallen to the lowest levels in 16 years and “American oil production is the highest that [...]
Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Obama Returns to Energy Theme in State of the Union
January 26th, 2012 
2nd Green Revolution 
Posted in Behavior, Business, Clean Technology, Economics, Energy Efficiency, Eric Wilson, Green Economy, Justin Manger, News, President Obama, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, Transportation 
Tags: Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Congress, Electricity Generation, Energy, Green Technology, Renewable Energy, Washington DC 
No Comments »52 Japanese Municipalities Now Energy Independent
January 24th, 2012 Justin Manger Given the dearth of natural resources, new concerns over nuclear power, and a “mottainai” mentality, it seems natural that Japan should look to put in place policies and develop technologies in order to increase renewable energy. A non-profit organization called Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, in conjunction with a research lab at Chiba University, completed a study [...]
Poll: Obama’s State of the Union Speech
January 23rd, 2012 Justin Manger On Tuesday, January 24th President Obama will deliver his State of the Union Address from Capitol Hill. How prominently do you think clean energy and the “green” economy will be featured in the speech? Choose from one of the options below:
From Used Mattress to Commodity
January 23rd, 2012 Eric Wilson If you’ve ever wondered what happens to your mattress after you’re done using it, Spring Back Recycling has one answer. The new company started recycling the old foam and spring amalgamations. Spring Back Recycling, which was founded last year, charges patrons $10 per mattress to recycle the old sleep-aids. More than just an environmentally friendly [...]
Secretary Chu Says EV Batteries Will Be 70% Cheaper in 3 Years
January 17th, 2012 Justin Manger At a recent speech in Detroit - a kind of pep rally for the city and its car industry – Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu had some good news about the cost of the batteries that power electric vehicles. In addition to making inroads on new kinds of battery technology, he talked about the likely decreases in [...]
Posted in Business, Clean Technology, Economics, Green Products, Justin Manger, News, Policy, Transportation Tags: Battery, Cars, Electric Vehicles, Stephen Chu, Washington DC No Comments »My Issue with Keurig Coffee Cups
January 15th, 2012 Megan Stilley The new rage is K-cups, also known as Keurig individual cups of coffee. Not only do these individual coffee cups have individual packaging that is not recyclable, it also has its own coffee maker that you have to purchase in order to use the K-cups. The idea of these coffee cups bothers me, deep down to [...]
Posted in Behavior, Business, Conservation, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Recylcing, Sustainability Tags: Environment, Megan Stilley, Waste 6 Comments »Automakers Unveil Electric Vehicles at Detroit Auto Show
January 13th, 2012 Chris DeArmond Despite the fact that hybrid and electric vehicles accounted for less than 3 percent of cars sold in 2011, they dominated this week’s Detroit Auto Show for the second year in a row. While several hybrid/electric vehicles revealed at the show were concept cars—for example, the hybrid Lexus LFLC sports coupe and the iconic Acura NSX [...]
ARPA-E Director Majumdar Lays It Out Plain and Simple
January 11th, 2012 Justin Manger Modeled after the successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the agency responsible for such technological innovations as the Internet and the stealth technology found in the F-117, the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) within the Department of Energy (DOE) was established to focus on creative “out-of-the-box” transformational energy research. Regarding our current energy situation, this [...]
Top Polluting Power Plants in North America
January 9th, 2012 Justin Manger Here is a little bit of news that slipped under our radar as 2011 ran out. In October of last year, the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) published a report on the emissions on 3,000 power plants in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. These are the three countries that signed the NAFTA trade agreement back in the [...]
Posted in Business, Justin Manger, News Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Coal, Electricity Generation, Environment, Pollution No Comments »British Firm Doubles Up with Solar/Wave Power Combo
January 5th, 2012 Justin Manger Wouldn’t it be nice to harness the power from all that turbulence in the seas? There are numerous startups working to try to perfect a technique to do just that from waves and tides. What if you could add a solar powered top to that device, creating the ability to harness both sun and sea? Marine Solar [...]
