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

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

Chu: President’s 2013 Energy Budget Makes Critical Investments in Innovation, Clean Energy, and National Security

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the 2013 budget at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, on Feb. 13, 2012. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today detailed President Barack Obama’s $27.2 billion Fiscal Year 2013 budget request for the Department of Energy, emphasizing the President’s commitment to an all-of-the-above energy strategy that includes critical investments in innovation, in the job-creating clean energy technologies, and in our national security strategy.   The budget request for the Department is part of the President’s blueprint for an American economy that is built to last based on American energy that is cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.  At the same time, the FY 2013 budget request also represents tough choices aimed at focusing taxpayer resources on areas that will yield the greatest benefit over time. … Continue Reading

Cuba on the Road to Clean Energy Development

A tiny Cuban school with two Solar Panels affixed

 HAVANA, – More than a decade ago, solar electricity changed the lives of several mountain communities in Cuba. Now this and other renewable power sources are emerging as the best options available to develop sustainable energy across the island.

“If the world’s clean energy potential exceeds our consumption needs, why do we insist on using the polluting kind?” asked Luis Bérriz, head of the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (CUBASOLAR), a non- governmental organisation that promotes the use of alternative and environmentally-friendly power sources. … Continue Reading

Amendment to repeal nuclear cost recovery measure dies in committee

A beautiful portrait of Progress Energy's nuclear plant never to be built, and it's already been paid for by Florida rate-payers

By Virginia Chamlee – An amendment that would have repealed a 2006 law allowing utilities to collect money from customers for the future construction of nuclear power plants, even if those plants never actually get built, failed during a Senate committee this morning — much to the dismay of the amendment’s sponsor, state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey. … Continue Reading

President Obama Announces an “All-out, All of the Above Strategy” for Energy Security

President Obama made the case Tuesday night for producing more of the United States’ energy supplies domestically in pursuing an “all-of-the-above” approach to further bolster the economy and national security.

President Obama used his State of the Union address last night to again call on Congress to deliver a bill for a Clean Energy Standard. This happens to be the case in the many developed countries around the world. He stated a more effective energy policy that ends subsidies to the oil industry, bolsters US energy security, and steps up support for clean and renewable energy would create thousands of American jobs. … Continue Reading