Green Innovation

The beginning of 2013 has continued many of these same themes. In the U.S., conservative organizations and politicians continue to attack pro-clean energy policies at both the state and federal level. Numerous groups, most prominently the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are feeding off election-season rhetoric by ratcheting up efforts to roll back supportive policies such as state-backed renewable portfolio standards (RPS). In Europe, ongoing economic struggles continue to slow demand for a host of clean technologies. Even in China, where economic growth and clean-tech commitments seem to carry on unimpeded, the country’s overleveraged solar manufacturers are being forced to crawl back to the government for even larger (and we’d say unsustainable) safety nets.

Analysts have spoken and are expressing very specific views -- some fairly obvious and others packing a surprise punch -- on what the future will look like for the utility industry.

These are heady days for us California climate policy watchers. Last month, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) reported that the state’s carbon emissions declined in 2011 for the third straight year.

 National Harbor, MD – Today, at the fourth annual Energy Innovation Summit of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), Deputy Director Ch...

In the energy world, centralized technologies and institutions are giving way to dispersed, networked, small-scale solutions. It's exciting.

When a mass of charged particles slams into our planet’s magnetic field, it can send jolts of electromagnetic energy shooting in all directions, causing what’s known as a geomagnetic storm that can threaten communications satellites and radio transmissions, and even trigger blackouts like the one that struck Quebec in 1989 when a CME zapped a regional power grid...

In his remarks Monday after taking the oath of office, Obama chose to make a moral case — rather than an economic or national security one — for taking action. “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” he said.

The bad news – there are big, big challenges looming for the electric utility industry. The good news – agencies and regulators are

Senate's Top Energy Republican, Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, gives her outlook for exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), offshore oil and gas drilling, nuclear-waste disposal, climate change and other critical energy-policy issues.

Highlighting the growing momentum behind the spending, 2012's total alone represents 48% of smart grid spending to date, the report says. During the year, spending on transmission and distribution capabilities surpassed smart meter investments as utilities increasingly looked to improve their core networks and maximize the benefits of their growing advanced metering infrastructure deployments.

Smart Grid - Central Hudson Gas and Electric is working with authorities to investigate a recent cyber attack where hackers gained entry to as many as 110,000 customer accounts. So far there appears

A pathbreaking energy agency explores potential solutions like finding something to burn other than hydrocarbons.

That’s the bet behind an ambitious plan to boost the number of electric vehicles and hybrids plying European roads by making electric charging stations nearly as common as gas stations.

 

The European Union wants to build a half million charging stations by 2020.

India tosses more than 188 million tons of garbage each day, but is falling behind other Asian nations in early efforts to turn it into electricity. The Chinese government claims to be on track to produce three gigawatts of power from city waste-to-energy factories by 2015, and Malaysia plans to build a second, larger plant...

According to early results of PG&E's trial with smart thermostats from Honeywell and Opower, customers really like controlling the thermostat remotely with their iPhones.