Turning Commercial Engines into Hybrids

 by Dana Blankenhorn – HPEV  is among the many companies trying to transform transport by making it more efficient.

CEO Tim Hassett said his Hybrid Plugin Electric Vehicle has patents on a technique for using heat pipes to turn engine waste heat into electricity, which can then help power the vehicle. The electric motor acts as a “load assist,”  meaning the main engine doesn’t work as hard and uses less fuel. It all gets attached to your rear axle. … Continue Reading

Airplane Manufacturers Join to Develop Sustainable Jet Fuels

Biofuel collaberation in the airline industry

Competitors Airbus, Boeing and Brazil’s Embraer, announced they will work together to develop affordable biofuels for the airplane industry. … Continue Reading

Obama Administration Offers $35 Million for Biomass Research

The Biomass Research and Development Initiative will help develop economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass. Credit: Todd Johnson

The White House on March 22 announced an offer of up to $35 million over three years to support research and development in advanced biofuels, bioenergy, and high-value biobased products. The projects will be funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI), a joint program of DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). … Continue Reading

The War Against Oil is Being Won

by Dana Blankenhorn – With natural gas prices having tanked, and the President being given stick on the campaign trail over high gas prices and failed subsidies at Solyndra and elsewhere, it may be hard to see that the War Against Oil is being won.

But it is.

The War Against Oil is a long-term project, begun some years ago, meant to wean the market from its dependence on fossil fuels and create a new era of sustainable abundance. It is at the heart of today’s politics, oil interests having taken command of our politics 12 years ago and retaining an absolute stranglehold on the Republican Party. But this is, in the end, an economic struggle, and what ultimately matters is cost. … Continue Reading

Renewable Energy Rises 27% Since Obama Took Office, But Clean Car Policy Isn’t Working

Since President Obama entered office three years ago, renewable energy production in the US has climbed 26.9%, according to the Energy Information Agency’s (EIA) latest “Monthly Energy Review.”

For the three years ending November 30, 2011, domestic oil production has also risen, by 13.7%, natural gas production grew 13.4%, nuclear power decreased by 2.8% and coal production plummeted by 7.3%.

For the first 11 months of 2011, renewables accounted for 11.76% of domestic energy production, up from 10.83% for the same period in 2010.

In terms of actual production, renewables rose 13.4% in 2011, with hydropower supplying 34.9%, followed by biomass (26.6%), biofuels (22.0%), wind (12.7%), geothermal (2.4%), and solar (1.3%). … Continue Reading

Obama Says Energy Costs Show U.S. Must Go Beyond Drilling

NBA star Vince Carter of Dallas Mavericks hosts a high-end fundraiser for President Obama's election campaign in his home in prestigious Windermere, Florida

President Barack Obama said rising gasoline prices are a “painful reminder” of why the U.S. must develop alternative energy sources, and he criticized Republicans who he said were offering slogans rather than strategy.

Obama, in Miami promoting his administration’s energy and economic policies as the Republican presidential candidates have ramped up attacks on him over prices at the pump, said the U.S. must go beyond focusing on domestic gas and oil exploration. … Continue Reading

Amory Lovins Lays Out His Clean Energy Plan

For four decades, Amory Lovins has been a leading proponent of a renewable power revolution that would wean the U.S. off fossil fuels and usher in an era of energy independence. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about his latest book, which describes his vision of how the world can attain a green energy future by 2050.
Amory B. Lovins is fond of referring to the Rocky Mountain Institute, where he serves as chairman and chief scientist, as a “think and do” tank, and it’s clear that to Lovins the doing is every bit as important as the thinking. Hardly lacking in confidence or ambition, Lovins — in conjunction with his colleagues at the institute — has published Reinventing Fire, his step-by-step blueprint for how to transition to a renewable energy economy by mid-century.

Amory Lovins

Impressive in both its scope and detail — Lovins discusses everything from how to redesign heavy trucks to make them more fuel efficient to ways to change factory pipes to conserve energy — the book lays out a plan for the U.S. to achieve the following by 2050: cars completely powered by hydrogen fuel cells, electricity, and biofuels; 84 percent of trucks and airplanes running on biomass fuels; 80 percent of the nation’s electricity produced by renewable power; $5 trillion in savings; and an economy that has grown by 158 percent. … Continue Reading

White House response: Obama environmental record “historic” on fuel standards, climate change

President Obama SOTU address presses the need for increased Clean and Renewable Energy production with "all of the above" approach

Responding to concerns of leading progressives and donors in the Bay Area about President Obama’s environmental record, the White House says his Administration has achieved “historic fuel economy standards,” while taking unprecedented efforts to supporting development of renewable energies and reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil. … Continue Reading