Renewable Energy | ClimateBiz.com

U.S. Navy Signs On Johnson Controls to Retrofit Base in Guam

GreenerBuildings Staff — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:38:00 -0700

The U.S Navy has enlisted Johnson Controls Inc. in a $34.1 million energy efficiency and conservation project at the naval base in Guam.

Bill Gross's Solar Breakthrough

Marc Gunther — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:36:00 -0700

The founder of eSolar is about to open his first concentrating solar power plant, which could end up achieving the holy grail of renewable energy: producing solar energy at a much lower cost than utility-scale solar photovoltaic arrays.

Intel, PepsiCo, Whole Foods Top EPA Lists of Green Power Purchasers

GreenBiz Staff — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:55:00 -0700

Intel, PepsiCo and Whole Foods Market ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of top green power purchasers among the Fortune 500.

Onion Power: Tops, Tails and Skins Become Electricity

Matthew Wheeland — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:56:00 -0700

Gills Onions, a large-scale onion processor in Oxnard, Calif., is unveiling a first-of-its-kind method of turning waste from business operations into electricity and major cost savings.

U.K. Low Carbon Transition Plan Puts Government In Charge of Renewables

James Murray — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:16:00 -0700

The U.K.'s Low Carbon Transition Plan released Wednesday secures wide-ranging praise as the government outlines how it plans to deliver deep emission cuts of 34 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Discarded Food Finds New Life as Electricity

Tilde Herrera — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:17:00 -0700

Unwanted, thrown away food in the San Francisco Bay Area soon find new life as electricity. The East Bay Municipal District plans to dramatically boost the amount of food scraps it converts to energy via anaerobic digestion from 90 tons per week to 1,000 tons, or 200 tons per weekday.

California's Solar Cities

ClimateBiz Staff — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:55:00 -0700

This report from the nonprofit Environment California charts the growth of solar power installations in California, and ranks that state's top cities for solar development.

Solar Incentives in S.F. Show How Smart Green Investments Pay Off

Gavin Newsom — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:17:00 -0700

Since San Francisco's solar energy incentive program GoSolarSF launched last year, the city has seen a 450 percent increase in applications over the previous year; putting the city in third place over much larger and sunnier California cities, and providing environmental and economic boosts despite a sluggish economy.

Path to $3B in Stimulus Funds Revealed to Renewable Energy Developers

Tilde Herrera — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:01:00 -0700

The Energy and Treasury departments released eagerly awaited guidance Thursday to help renewable energy project developers apply for roughly $3 billion in stimulus funds, which experts say will open the market to many technologies that weren't economically feasible before.

Why Biofuels Burned Up (Your) Dollars

Marc Gunther — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:19:00 -0700

Farm state politicians, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have sold biofuels to rest of us as a way to revive rural America, attack the problem of global warming and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. In response, investors and taxpayers have poured many millions of dollars into corn ethanol. But returns have been skimpy, says a new report.

Technology for a Low-Carbon Future

ClimateBiz Staff — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:15:00 -0700

This report from the Climate Group finds that scaling up energy efficiency and renewable energy while avoiding deforestation can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, and are much-needed steps to achieve global climate goals.

Coca Cola to Put Fuel Cells to Work at N.Y. Bottling Plant

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:06:00 -0700

Coca Cola signed a 10-year contract with UTC Power that will bring two fuel cells to a southern New York bottling plant, where they will produce enough heat and energy to satisfy nearly a third of the facility's needs. The state of New York also provided $2 million for the project.

Can Mud Make the Perfect Biofuel?

Marc Gunther — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:42:00 -0700

In the search for a clean, planet-friendly fuel, the startup Qteros has discovered and refined a microbe it calls the Q Microbe that turns biomass -- switchgrass, wood chips, grass, corn stover or even municipal liquid waste -- into ethanol.

Natural Gas: The Rodney Dangerfield of Fuels

Marc Gunther — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:29:00 -0700

In the energy and climate change debate, environmentalists are mostly united in their feelings about coal (very bad), gasoline (avoid gas guzzlers), nuclear energy (scary), hydropower (small is better than big), wind (good unless you worry about birds), solar thermal (nifty) and rooftop solar PV (even niftier). But what about natural gas?

We Can Solve the Climate Crisis

Marc Gunther — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:32:00 -0700

Sunil Paul thinks big. He also is well-connected in D.C. and has an exquisite sense of timing. He released his report Gigaton Throwdown in the company of green jobs czar Van Jones and key players from Energy Secretary Steve Chu’s brain trust on the eve of the House vote on the climate bill.