Renewables future left blowing in the wind

Ireland has the potential to produce three times the country’s energy needs using renewable resources.

Ambitious plans to capitalise on renewable opportunities in Ireland appear to have stalled and it remains to be seen if the Government can get things back on track, writes JOHN REYNOLDS

THE GOVERNMENT’S jobs action plan talks of building upon our Emerald Isle image and capitalising on opportunities, particularly in renewable energy, to “green” the economy. But has the dream faded? … 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

Department of Defense Releases Clean Energy Implementation Plan

Increased access to clean and reliable energy has become a leading priority for DOD and Military.

 US Military to Invest $10 Billion a Year in Renewable Energy

Noting that almost every military capability relies on energy, the Department of Defense (DOD) released its Operational Energy Strategy Implementation Plan last week, which will “transform the way” it uses energy. … 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

Congressional Republicans and Media Debate Contraception Issue

GOP leaders from left to right, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Eric Cantor

With so many major items before the U.S. and the rest of the world, the main topic during the past few weeks in the U.S. has been about contraception and birth control. One would think Women’s Rights and related issues have long been settled.

Aren’t there more pressing and immediate concerns Congress and therefore, the Media should be discussing. For example; What about Energy? How about an Energy Policy which includes renewable energy standards; and as an extension, what about Gas Prices – how high is it going and why? What about our Importing Oil  – how do we eventually become independent of foreign oil? Are we simply suppose to “drill baby drill” or as others decry, immediately and totally cease all oil and coal exploration and its’ use, or as President Obama requested, have an “all-of-the-above” strategy?

The issues of expanding drilling capacities, the expansive inclusion of solar power, wind power, biomass/biofuels, hydropower, geothermal power, natural gas, and nuclear power are far more pressing to the nation and the world at large, both immediately and also to our future. Instead we’re left to hear talk and argument about old and long settled matters, and of impossible ways to “fix” the past.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Agree or Not, Leave Your Comment…

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

Why America Is Failing in its Energy Independence and Security Needs

At our current rate do Americans really expect to be “in-charge” of the world for much longer? At its heart, the U.S. is a place for all those who seek freedom. A place where through capitalism, one can achieve a great financial wealth through enormous opportunities. Yet because of politics, and maybe even because of the system we so dearly strive to maintain, we are coming apart at the seams. … 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