A retailer who’ve come to rely on for cough syrup, toothpaste and greeting cards has decided to push the envelope on green energy with a model net-zero store that hopes to turn a loss — of energy costs.
Tags: · Chicago, Evanston, Geothermal, Illinois, LEED, net zero, platinum, Solar Power, Walgreens, Wind Power
Wind energy enjoyed a record year of installations in the US in 2012, adding 13,124 megawatts of capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
Tags: · renewables, States, U.S., wind capacity, Wind Power
Despite having escaped this summer without rolling blackouts and the kind of heat we experienced last year, Texas is still dealing with the energy crunch issue. Luckily, our state is home to the nation’s largest wind power industry and it contains about a fifth of the country’s wind turbines. The Electric Reliability Grid of Texas (ERCOT), the Texas grid operator, announced that earlier this month wind throughout the state contributed 26 percent of the load on the grid, setting a new record…This is in addition to wind helping Texas avoid blackouts in February of last year, when a cold front proved too much for many traditional power plants.
Tags: · production tax credit, Renewable Energy, Texas grid, Wind Farms, wind jobs, Wind Power, wind record
The Texas electric grid, known a ERCOT, set a new record for wind energy use in the state at 10:21 a.m. on Nov. 10, when wind power output provided nearly 26 percent of the “system load” at the the time.
Tags: · ERCOT, Green Energy, Texas, Wind Power
You know that argument about how the U.S. can’t really impact greenhouse gases because they’re spiraling out of control in other developing nations like China and India?
It’s illogical on its face, but that’s not stopping fossil fuel interests from pushing this idea.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, carbon pollution, coal, Fossil Fuels, oil, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Wind Power
It’s one of those cold, white-bright days of winter. We’ve not had many like it this January. Instead, we’ve been walking around outdoors in our shirt sleeves, sneezing from pollen allergies and having a lot of little conversations about the unusual warm “spell”.
We’re experiencing climate change, of course, and it’s not a spell, but a new norm. Nearly everyone recognizes that something’s going on. Sometimes I feel like a character in Twin Peaks, exchanging knowing glances with the neighbors over these changes we cannot speak of because it’s somehow become radical to openly declare that climate change is happening, even though people in all walks of life can see it plainly. I’m thinking about farmers, landscapers, urban planners, builders, utility managers, insurers, scientists, oceanographers, biologists, botanists, power plant operators….
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, carbon pollution, clean energy, Climate Change, community wind, Detroit CAFE standard hearings, EPA, Iowa, oil dependence, smart grid, Solar Power, Texas, Wind Power
In an ominous sign that the world economy is dragging on the wind industry, Denmark-based Vestas Wind announced today that it will lay off more than 2,300 employees as part of a reorganization to keep the company competitive.
The lay off of employees — 1,749 in Europe, 182 in the US and 404 in China and elsewhere — will help the company streamline and reduce its fixed costs by more than 150 million Euro, according to a statement.
Tags: · Congress, production tax credit, PTC, US support for wind, Vestas Wind, wind jobs, wind layoffs, Wind Power
If you’re wondering what to worry about in the coming year, look no further than the eco-landscape.
Climate change, species extinctions, ocean acidification, forestry losses, soil erosion and air pollution. We humans, now 7 billion strong, are pushing the planet hard, creating a brew of intractable environmental issues that threaten our way of life, and ultimately our survival.
Grim? It doesn’t get much more so.
There were bright moments in 2011. A sampling:
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, biggest ecological threat, clean energy, Climate Change, Drought, global warming, hot summers, mileage standards, oil pipeline, snowstorms, Solar Power, top environmental story of 2011, Tornadoes, wildfires, Wind Power
In recent days, both the wind power and solar power advocates have been protesting the potential expiration of three key tax incentives that have helped drive the expansion of renewable energy in the US, even amid the economic stall out. With Congress and President Obama both seeking ways to trim the federal budget deficit, and the tug of oil and coal money ever-present on Capital Hill, these incentives for clean energy are being considered for the axe.
Tags: · AWEA, BarbaraKesslerBlog, clean energy, clean energy jobs, clean energy security, Earl Blumenauer, green energy jobs, renewable power, SEIA, Solar Power, wind manufacturing, Wind Power
Wind energy leaders are warning Washington that thousands of U.S. jobs in the sector would be lost if Congress fails to renew a key tax credit tied to wind production.
The Production Tax Credit (PTC) also supports solar power and other renewable energy projects by providing tax breaks to the qualifying businesses that build wind farms (and solar and geothermal facilities).
Tags: · AWEA, production tax credit, wind in US, wind jobs, wind manufacturers, Wind Power
Governors representing a majority of the U.S. population have asked Congress to extend tax credits for renewable energy to help keep wind power moving forward in America, and to retain green jobs in the wind sector
Tags: · Congress, governors appeal, Governors' Wind Energy Coalition, tax credits for wind, Wind energy, Wind Power
Solar power has great potential in the desert. But don’t count out wind.
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) tapped a pocket of high winds in Deming, New Mexico for a 28-turbine wind farm that will sending power to nearby Tucson.
Tags: · desert, Solar Power, Tucson Electric Power, Wind Power
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift