February 14th, 2013 
Chris DeArmond 
As you’re probably aware, natural gas prices in the United States have plummeted in recent times with the development of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” The controversial, but very effective drilling technique has freed a glut of natural gas from shale rock formations, reducing domestic natural gas prices substantially. Between 2009 and 2011, the wellhead price [...]
January 29th, 2013 Justin Manger 
Perhaps it is the “can’t see 200 yards in front of you” air pollution, or possible political backlash from unaddressed environmental problems, but China just unveiled a major plan to push further into developing renewable energy. It wants to add 49GW of capacity this year, composed of as much as 18GW of new wind power [...]
January 14th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
A report from the Energy Information Agency has laid out the future diminution of coal fired electricity. Once the stalwart of electricity generation, coal has begun to cede its crown to natural gas. In fact, overall electricity generation has flattened out. Many anticipated this day would come, but envisioned carbon pricing playing a significant role [...]
Posted in Agriculture, Behavior, Clean Technology, Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Eric Wilson, Green Economy, Local Energy/Food, News, Renewable Energy, Sustainability 
Tags: Biogas, Coal, Electricity Generation, Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas, New Belgium Brewery, Solar Energy, Waste, Wind Power 
No Comments » January 4th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
It appears that I misspoke in the calendar post from earlier this month. The Production Tax Credit for renewable energy, namely wind, which expired on December 31, 2012 after 20 years, was spared in the deal to avert the fiscal cliff. According to the White House’s blog, “Tax credits that encourage the production of clean [...]
January 1st, 2013 Justin Manger 
A few weeks ago, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) took back control of the Japanese government and named Shinzo Abe Prime Minister. If this name seems familiar, he was Prime Minister for 1 problem plagued year from 2006-2007. This is the same party whose nearly uninterrupted half century in power was resoundingly broken in 2009 [...]
Posted in Business, Clean Technology, Green Economy, Japan, Justin Manger, News Tags: Alternative Energy, Electricity Generation, Environment, Fukushima No Comments » December 19th, 2012 Justin Manger 
There are a lot of them – 62,500 power plants operating today, in fact. That number includes everything from coal-fired power plants to wind farms to hydroelectric dams with a capacity of 30 megawatts or greater. The map comes from a recent GE report and really makes it easy to see where the various plants [...]
Posted in Economics, Justin Manger, News, Renewable Energy Tags: Alternative Energy, Coal, Electricity Generation, Energy, Power plants, Solar Energy No Comments » December 6th, 2012 Justin Manger 
Back in August, Bernalillo County, New Mexico approved 20 million dollars in industrial revenue bonds to support the Tres Amigas power infrastructure project, an unprecedented effort to connect North America’s three major isolated electric grids. Should all go well, the project will enable efficiency gains, aid in the integration of large-scale renewables, and support power [...]
November 5th, 2012 Sean Connell The recent announcement of a major new wind energy farm project in Mongolia could represent an early step towards the establishment of an envisioned electricity “super grid,” powered by renewable energy resources, connecting across Asia. The Softbank Corporation announced on October 24 that its green energy subsidiary, SB Energy Corporation, had formed a joint venture [...]
Posted in Business, China, Clean Technology, Japan, Policy, Renewable Energy Tags: Alternative Energy, China, DESERTEC, Electricity Generation, Fukushima, Japan, Mongolia, Sean Connell, Wind Power No Comments » October 30th, 2012 Eric Wilson 
Philip Anschutz, the multi-billionaire and philanthropist who has been in the news lately because of the proposed sale of AEG, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Staples Center, and the second largest concert ticket vendor, recently received approval from the United States’ Department of the Interior for the largest wind farm [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, President Obama, Renewable Energy Tags: Colorado, Electricity Generation, Production Tax Credit, Wind Power No Comments » October 29th, 2012 Sean Connell Last week The Oregonian reported that wind energy farms connected with the Bonneville Power Administration’s transmission network had, for the first time, generated more power than the BPA’s hydroelectric power system. While the result of several converging factors—including a hydropower system operating below full capacity, and the rapid increase of wind generation facilities linked to [...]
