At first glance, you might mistake the potential future of wind energy as a blimp—the type of added effect perfect for flying over a carnival or football game. Instead, the BAT—Buoyant Airborne Turbine—is a wind turbine inside of an inflatable, helium shell capable rising 1,000 feet above ground. Altaeros Energies, a firm housed at small business […]
Here in the Midwest we are seeing the perennial first signs of Spring: a few early buds are appearing on the magnolia trees, rivers and lakes are starting to thaw, and of course, ALEC and the Koch brothers are pushing yet another pointless and harmful attack on Kansas’s wildly successful Renewable Energy Standard. This year’s bill, Senate Bill 433, is sponsored by the Kansas Senate’s Committee […]
By Sierra Martinez California took another major and symbolic step this month with its decision to rely significantly on energy efficiency and other clean energy resources to help replace electricity once generated by the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station (SONGS) serving San Diego and the greater Los Angeles area. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) made official […]
With wind energy rising to the fifth-largest electricity source in the U.S., the desire for more information and help deploying it won’t be dying down any time soon. Recognizing this, the the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have announced the development of six Wind Energy Regional Resource Centers around the country. The […]
Solar energy wasn’t the only renewable that had details of a milestone-setting 2013 revealed this week. Wind power checked in this week, too, as the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released data regarding the nation’s wind generation last year. Wind energy is now the fifth-largest electricity source in the U.S., providing 4.13 percent of the nation’s […]
President Barack Obama’s $3.9 trillion budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year contains billions in potential renewable energy investments. The funding would vary from research to deployment efforts on federal lands and waters. In all, the president is requesting about $27.9 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). President Barack Obama signs copies of the […]
During his years reporting on the meat industry and gathering information for his latest title, The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business, there were times when Chris Leonard couldn’t believe he was actually in the U.S. The book’s inspiration began about a decade ago when he visited one of the many small towns […]
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock While projects in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine are all vying to make the New England the home of the nation’s first offshore wind farm, one of those states recently amped up its on-land renewable energy in a major way. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said the state’s Department of Public Utilities (DPU) approved […]
After analyzing data and commentary from producers, pipeline operators, equipment vendors, service providers and more, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and ICF International conclude that the onshore oil and gas industry could collectively reduce methane emissions by at least 40 percent below 2018 projections. According to a report released Monday, the organizations say that could be […]