Access to Low-Cost Feedstocks Remains a Key Barrier to Wider Adoption of Biofuels</h1> <article> <h1>Access to Low-Cost Feedstocks Remains a Key Barrier to Wider Adoption of Biofuels</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:14:20 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>After healthy growth over the past decade, the global biofuels industry is entering a new era marked by feedstock flexibility, product neutrality, and sustainability.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>After healthy growth over the past decade, the global biofuels industry is entering a new era marked by feedstock flexibility, product neutrality, and sustainability. As a near-term solution, biofuels are a proven alternative to petroleum-based fuels. Long term, biofuels could radically alter the fuel market’s geopolitical landscape by meeting an expanding portion of consumer demand in ground, aviation, and maritime transportation fuel markets.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Exelon-Constellation Merger Approved by Maryland Public Service Commission</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:09:03 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Exelon Corporation and Constellation Energy have announced that the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved their merger.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Exelon Corp. and Constellation Energy have announced that the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved their merger. The PSC’s order adds new conditions, but retains many of the terms of the settlement reached in December by the companies, the State of Maryland, the Maryland Energy Administration, the City of Baltimore and the Baltimore Building and Construction Trades Council.</p> </article> <article> <h1>U.S. Grid Energy Storage Market to Reach 4 GW by 2016, Driving an Increase in Copper Demand</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:53:23 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The projected increase in the U.S. market for grid energy storage devices could result in an increase in the demand for copper over the next five years.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>The projected increase in the U.S. market for grid energy storage devices could result in an increase in the demand for copper over the next five years according to a market study by KEMA, conducted for the Copper Development Association, Inc.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Smart Grid, Schmart Grid! Who’s Gonna Pay For It?</h1> <p>Paul Mauldin — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:21:07 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Sure it’s a big, exciting paradigm shift! But before we high-five in the parking lot, we better figure out how we’re going to get the customer to cough up the bucks.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p><strong>The late 1800’s - with the likes of Edison, Steinmetz, Westinghouse and Tesla – saw the beginnings of one of the greatest engineering achievements in history</strong>: delivery of usable, affordable electric energy to ordinary citizens. During the early and mid-1900’s just about every dollar invested in system improvements clearly benefited the customer. Outages became less frequent and shorter.</p> </article> <article> <h1>How Green Was My Tally</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:16:33 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>For most businesses, the question increasingly is not whether or not you should do a sustainability report. It has become: “Are you doing ongoing sustainability reporting and integrating your environmental efforts with your finances?”</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>For most businesses, the question increasingly is not whether or not you should do a sustainability report. It has become: “Are you doing ongoing sustainability reporting and integrating your environmental efforts with your finances?” </p> <p><em>Waste Age</em> reports that <a href="http://waste360.com/sustainability/how-green-was-my-tally?page=1" target="_blank">for waste and recycling companies, it’s also increasingly becoming a way to show your customers how they can achieve those sustainability goals</a> with your unique position as an environmental business.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Security Risks</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:53:02 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>How secure are industrial control systems within today's facilities from cyber threats?</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Until a few years ago, breaches in cybersecurity, largely consisting of data theft and invasions of privacy for financial gain, were strictly the domain of information technology. However, in March 2007, researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho, at the behest of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, demonstrated the vulnerability of a diesel generator by hacking in from a remote access point and causing it to self-destruct.</p> </article> <article> <h1>U.S. 2013 Energy Budget Makes Investments in Innovation, Clean Energy, and National Security</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:30:14 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has detailed President Barack Obama's $27.2 billion Fiscal Year 2013 budget request for the Department of Energy, emphasizing the commitment to an all-of-the-above energy strategy that includes critical investments in innovation, in the job-creating clean energy technologies, and in national security strategy. </p> </div> </div> </div> <p>U.S.</p> </article> <article> <h1>San Diego Region Prepares for Electric Vehicles With Energy Commission Grant</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:07:34 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The San Diego region is about to become much more friendly to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), thanks to a planning grant of nearly $200,000 from the California Energy Commission.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>The San Diego region is about to become much more friendly to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), thanks to a planning grant of nearly $200,000 from the California Energy Commission.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Interest in Distributed Energy Generation is Driving Growth in Small Wind Power</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:42:57 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Increased government incentives, the desire for customer and community ownership of power generation, and the recognition that investment in small wind turbines can be an enduring source of economic development for the rural locales in which they are typically deployed are driving accelerating growth for the small wind power market.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Small-scale wind power has a long history of successful development in both Western Europe and the United States. During the 18th and 19th century, it is estimated that some 100,000 windmills were scattered throughout Europe. After wind power was largely displaced by steam engines and other sources of mechanical power in Europe, America became fertile soil for the next generation of wind power technology, with farmers and rural communities relying upon the technology. More recently, interest in win</p> </article> <article> <h1>TVA Study Shows Regional Energy Efficiency Potential</h1> <p>Nikki Chandler — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:39:35 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The Tennessee Valley Authority's energy efficiency plans are within the achievable range of potential energy savings for the region, a study commissioned by TVA shows.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>The Tennessee Valley Authority's energy efficiency plans are within the achievable range of potential energy savings for the region, a study commissioned by TVA shows.</p> <p>The study by Global Energy Partners said the Tennessee Valley could reduce energy use over five years by 2.2 percent to 5 percent by taking advantage of energy efficiency programs offered by TVA and local distributors, such as compact fluorescent lighting and heat pump heating and cooling systems.</p> </article> </main></body></html>