May 8th, 2013 
Eric Wilson 
My wife and I recently ended a 5-month long home search. Our parameters were a bit tight. Between budget and location, we automatically discounted a number of homes. We have one car and wanted to keep it that way for sustainability reasons (financial and environmental). We looked for a place close to the bus line [...]
February 1st, 2013 Eric Wilson 
Following the lead of other cabinet officials, Dr. Stephen Chu submitted his resignation from the Department of Energy (DOE). Chu, a former academic from the University of California Berkeley and past winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, stepped down today. He led the DOE during President Obama’s first term in office. Like many other [...]
January 24th, 2013 Chris DeArmond 
Two of the biggest challenges to solar power are cost and efficiency, though scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, took another small step towards conquering both obstacles. Less than a week ago, an independent laboratory confirmed that Empa surpassed the previous world record (which it also held), for energy [...]
January 17th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
What comes to mind when you think of New Jersey? Snooki? The Situation? The Boss? Fughedabouddit, try solar. New Jersey is the second largest installer of solar energy in the United States behind only California. National Geographic’s Great Energy Challenge has a piece looking at the revolution in solar that’s taking place in the “Garden [...]
Posted in Behavior, Business, Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy 
Tags: California, Landfill, Photovoltaic, Solar Energy 
No Comments » November 26th, 2012 Sean Connell Japan has reached an important initial milestone in its efforts to advance renewable energy generation. According to data released on November 16 by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), renewable energy projects that went on-line between April and October 2012 had a combined output of 1.15 million kilowatts—roughly equivalent to the amount of [...]
Posted in Clean Technology, Japan, Policy, Renewable Energy Tags: Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Energy, Feed-in Tariff, Japan, Nuclear, Photovoltaic, Sean Connell, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments » October 15th, 2012 Sean Connell Earlier this year the small village of Sanno, in the city of Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan became Japan’s first municipality to generate all of its electricity from renewable resources. As described in a July 15, 2012 Japan Times article, this hamlet of 42 people whose average age is over 60 installed a system of 216 [...]
Posted in Clean Technology, Japan, Local Energy/Food, Renewable Energy Tags: Clean Energy, Fukushima, Japan, Photovoltaic, Sean Connell, Solar Energy No Comments » October 15th, 2012 Eric Wilson The equation is simple enough, and so is the basic idea. Spinach converts sunlight into chemical energy, as all producers (think green plants, algae, etc) do via photosynthesis. Humans want to convert sunlight into a usable form of energy too. Currently, solar panels are arguably the most popular way this is accomplished. Making solar panels [...]
Posted in Clean Technology, Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy Tags: EPA, Photovoltaic, Solar Energy, Video No Comments » October 5th, 2012 Eric Wilson Despite a continued weak economy, solar energy installation is going strong. Here are five facts about the growth in the US solar industry from April to June of this year. A related Five Friday Facts a few weeks ago looked at some of the figures behind the investment in new renewable energy projects during the [...]
September 4th, 2012 Nick Grue The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released a technical potential report for the entire United States that gives a solid limit to the amount of renewable energy generation that can be achieved. Technical potential refers to the amount of energy a certain technology can produce while observing technological, land use, and environmental constraints.
Posted in News, Renewable Energy, Transportation Tags: Concentrated Solar Power, Nick Grue, NREL, Photovoltaic, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments » August 10th, 2012 Eric Wilson A spate of reports about the health and future projection of investments in renewable energy have been released lately. Bloomberg News released the following findings regarding the second fiscal quarter of 2012: New investment in renewable energy totaled $59.6 billion in the second quarter. This was up 24% on Q1, but still 18% below the [...]
Posted in China, Eric Wilson, Five Friday Facts, Renewable Energy Tags: Bio-fuels, Photovoltaic, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments »
