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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Renewable Energy’
DOE’s SunShot Initiative Announces Funding Opportunity for “Plug and Play” Photovoltaic Systems
May 4th, 2012 
Chris DeArmond 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 [...]
Largest Windfarm in U.S. Slated for Wyoming
February 2nd, 2012 Justin Manger Even given the backlash over the very public bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra, the Obama administration remains set on pushing clean energy. It has fast tracked plans for the largest windfarm in the U.S., a 2,000 to 3,000MW facility that will consist of 1,000 wind turbine generators and be built just south of Rawlins, Wyoming. [...]
Obama Returns to Energy Theme in State of the Union
January 26th, 2012 2nd Green Revolution 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 [...]
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 [...]
Not Your Average Bus Trip: How “Green” is that Green Bus? Part 5 (Final)
January 14th, 2012 Heather Perry This is the final installment of the green bus series. Read all five parts here. Standing as one of the most memorable and defining experiences of my life, the adventures of our green bus brought us back to Tahoe, right where we had started. From Hannibal, Missouri we continued to make a giant loop around [...]
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 [...]
MIT Invention Harvests Energy from Vibrations
October 5th, 2011 Justin Manger Bridges, overpasses, walkways…we’ve all felt the rumble or the shaking as people and vehicles cross these structures. Slightly nerve-wracking and sometimes annoying, is there any real use for these vibrations? After all, it is a form of kinetic energy. MIT has thought outside the box yet again to rig up a miniature energy-harvester that can pick up [...]
Google Invests Big in the Green Energy Revolution
October 3rd, 2011 Chris DeArmond Last week, Google announced a $75 million “initial investment” in San Francisco-based Clean Power Financethat will help as many as 3,000 homeowners secure financing for solar installations. Google stated the move “makes business sense” and will help accelerate residential solar installations. It also will bring its total investment in the development and deployment of clean [...]
2010 Carbon Emissions Up As Economy Rebounded; Still Below 2005 Level
August 29th, 2011 Justin Manger This is a good news/bad news post, though I’m more on the good news side. Whether you see the news as bad or good also depends on your perspective. The U.S. economy rebounded somewhat from the recession in 2010, thus driving up carbon dioxide emissions as the country started producing more. In fact, “energy-related carbon [...]
