Over the course of the past academic year, 30 collegiate athletic conferences comprising more than 70 universities competed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) College and University Green Power Challenge. The competition, which is an offshoot of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, wrapped up last month with the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania taking the top [...]
Archive for the ‘Renewable Energy’ Category
EPA’s Green Power Challenge
May 15th, 2012 
Eric Wilson 
Posted in Education, Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy 
Tags: Biomass, EPA, Geothermal, Hydroelectricity, Solar Energy, Wind Power 
No Comments »First Major Solar Installation on Public Property Goes Online
May 10th, 2012 Chris DeArmond While renewables accounted for just 1.5 percent of total energy production last year, the Obama administration has approved at least 29 green energy projects on public lands as part of its “All-of-the-Above” initiative. If all projects are completed, the renewable projects will produce more than 6,500 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power more than [...]
DOE’s SunShot Initiative Announces Funding Opportunity for “Plug and Play” Photovoltaic Systems
May 4th, 2012 Chris DeArmond The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) SunShot Initiative is an ambitious program that aims to dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy. By the end of the decade, one of SunShot’s official goals is to cut the cost of photovoltaic (PV) systems by 75 percent, or to about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Besides making the cost [...]
May 2012 Clean Energy and Sustainability Events
May 1st, 2012 Eric Wilson A recent report measured American “Green Jobs” for the first time. Perhaps no place in the U.S. was hit as hard by the economy of the past several years than Detroit. The Motor City has seen a decline for quite some time, but later this month there is a conference focused on green jobs in [...]
Posted in Conferences, Education, Eric Wilson, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Tags: Army, Calendar, Economy, Green Jobs, Los Angeles, Solar Energy No Comments »2012 HGTV Green Home Unveiled
April 28th, 2012 Eric Wilson This year’s 2012 HGTV Green Home, a sweepstakes give away, is located just south of Atlanta, Georgia. Individuals may enter twice a day at either HGTV.com/greenhome or HGTVremodels.com. June 1st at 5pm ET is the deadline for entering the sweepstakes, valued at roughly $800,000. A car (from sponsor GM), the house, and $100,000 comprise the [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Green Building, Local Energy/Food, Real Estate, Renewable Energy Tags: HGTV, Organic, Photovoltaic, Wastewater No Comments »America’s Largest Solar Panel Producer Struggles to Remain Sustainable
April 23rd, 2012 Chris DeArmond As we have become somewhat accustomed to bad news in the solar panel industry, it is hardly surprising to hear that some companies are struggling to remain profitable. Earlier this week, First Solar, America’s largest solar panel producer, announced a plan detailing significant cutbacks to its workforce and production. The announcement came just weeks after [...]
Posted in China, News, Renewable Energy Tags: Chris DeArmond, Photovoltaic, Solar Energy No Comments »FFF: Green Peace Study on Server Farms
April 20th, 2012 Justin Manger Mobile internet services based in the “cloud” are a part of daily life and continue to proliferate. Given the huge amounts of energy needed to power the data centers that are the backbone of our online life, Greenpeace recently released a “How Green Is Your Cloud” study comparing which internet companies are the most environmentally [...]
Offshore Wind Project on the Great Lakes
April 17th, 2012 Eric Wilson When you think of offshore wind, what comes to mind? Cape Cod, Massachusetts? Great Britain? How about a different “Great”? The Great Lakes to be exact. Governors of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at jump starting offshore wind development in the Great Lakes. The Department [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy Tags: Army, Department of Energy, EPA, Minnesota, NREL, Wind Power No Comments »An Unusual Two For One: Controlling Weeds While Generating Energy
April 16th, 2012 Justin Manger Working with Coretec Inc., a manufacturer that specializes in energy-saving machinery and systems, Fuji Electric announced last December that they had come up with a weed-control mat that is now getting attention as a possible new application for photovoltaic power. Municipalities in Japan occasionally use weed-control mats over soil to keep unused or sloped areas [...]
What Does the Natural Gas Boom Mean for Sustainability?
April 15th, 2012 Eric Wilson Both NPR and the New York Times ran stories last week that highlighted the role of natural gas in the U.S. energy economy. NPR interviewed Amy Myers Jaffe, director of Rice University’s Baker Institute Energy Forum. Jaffe predicted that natural gas prices would remain low for the foreseeable future, specifically 5-10 years. The New York [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, Transportation Tags: Biomimicry, Fracking, Natural Gas, Solar Energy, Wastewater No Comments »
