Investments to Accelerate U.S. Manufacturing of Energy Efficient Lighting Technologies

The innovative LED/OLED hybrid solution combines design and efficiency.

As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to help reduce energy costs for America’s homes and businesses, the Energy Department today announced more than $7 million for three innovative lighting projects at companies in California, Michigan, and North Carolina that aim to lower the cost of manufacturing high-efficiency solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

LEDs and OLEDs are generally ten times more energy-efficient than conventional incandescent lighting and can last up to 25 times as long, and by 2030, these technologies have the potential to reduce national lighting electricity use by nearly one half, which could save up to $30 billion a year. … Continue Reading

Should The U.S Have A Clean Energy Policy Or Not

• The Federal government has aggressively committed to supporting clean energy over the last few years.

• More importantly, based on early returns, this support for clean energy appears to have paid off handsomely.

• In spite of the success of these policies, many of them are about to vanish.

Experts from Brookings, Breakthough Institute and WRI released a report today with some insightful and thought-provoking conclusions.  In it, they quantify the amount of government funding provided to clean energy from 2009-2014 and the rate that funding will fall off post 2014 (from $44 billion in 2009, to $16.1 billion in 2012, to $11.0 billion in 2014), and the impact that will have on clean technology industries. The report then outlines a host of policy reforms that would improve the efficiency and functioning of our clean energy policy framework.  It represents a well-researched and well-intentioned attempt to start a conversation about energy policy reform that we really need to be having.

Do you think we should continue and thus have a Clean Energy Policy or should we just forget about it all together and stick with what we’ve been doing for the past 100-years -

What Do You Think…?

New Report Highlights Importance of Clean Energy Policy, as Well As Need For Reform

North America’s Largest Rooftop Solar Power Plant Formally Completed

The Riverside Project calls for the installation of 27528 photovoltaic rooftop solar - that's plenty of jobs created and energy being saved.

GLOUCESTER CITY, N.J., PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., today presented Gloucester Marine Terminal officials with an award letter announcing an $11 million federal tax credit rebate for the recently-completed groundbreaking new rooftop solar power plant project, the largest of its kind in North America. … Continue Reading

Clean energy becoming a needed reality for the Great Lakes

If the U.S. wants wind power, The Great Lakes are definitely windy.

Illinois and four other states came a step closer to offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes (New, April 1), and that is welcome news. Wind farms, once mocked by climate skeptics and opponents of renewable energy, are now a profitable way to generate clean electricity for our homes and businesses. … Continue Reading

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

Hydrogen Storage Could Be Key to Germany’s Energy Plans

Hydrogen storage tanks presently used in hydrogen-powered vehicles

If Germany is to meet its ambitious goals of getting a third of its electricity from renewable energy by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050, it must find a way to store huge quantities of electricity in order to make up for the intermittency of renewable energy. … 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