Day: February 4, 2019
Renewables Beat Natural Gas, Provide Half of New US Generating Capacity in 2014
Ending a year-long race that had been nip-and tuck every month, renewable energy sources cumulatively provided more new electric generating capacity in 2014 than did natural gas.
California's Clean Tech Industry Best in US for Jobs and Investment
California’s bet on green energy is paying off, with clean technology companies creating more jobs and investing more money than competitors in any other state.
Want to Buy a Used German Power Plant? Shipping Is Included
Germany’s utilities, battered by the country’s shift to wind turbines and solar panels, would be glad to sell you a power plant on the cheap. They’ll even pack it up and ship it to another country.
Carbon Nanoballs Can Transform the Renewable Energy Supply
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have discovered that the insulation plastic used in high-voltage cables can withstand a 26 per cent higher voltage if nanometer-sized carbon balls are added. This could result in enormous efficiency gains in the power grids of the future, which are…
Seven Reasons Cheap Oil Can't Stop Renewables Now
Oil prices have fallen by more than half since July. Just five years ago, such a plunge in fossil fuels would have put the renewable-energy industry on bankruptcy watch. Today: Meh.
Brazilian Bank Raises $408 Million for Renewable Energy and Water Projects
The Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco Holding SA raised 1.05 billion reais ($408 million) to finance renewable energy and water treatment projects.
Climate Change: The Need for a More Consistent Baseline and Immediate Action
The UN climate conference in Lima set the stage for Paris in 2015. Next year’s accord is to provide a working, albeit not a final, answer to the question: Is it possible to keep global warming at or below the 2 degree Celsius limit? This limit is considered the boundary beyond which the negative…
China Expected to Launch Subsidy for Electric Vehicle Lithium Batteries
China is mulling a policy to provide a subsidy for lithium batteries deployed in electric vehicles. This new favorable policy is expected to propel the development of the country’s electric vehicle sector. China has existing subsidy policies for the sector, but higher prices for the parts used in…
India Clean Energy Investments Rose 13 Percent to $7.9 Billion in 2014
Clean energy investments in India increased to $7.9 billion last year and are expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015.
Carpe Diem: Low Oil and Gas Prices Could Be a Clean-Energy Opportunity
The recent dramatic plunge in oil and natural gas prices, to their lowest level since the global recession in 2009, has some observers worried about the effect on clean tech. Conventional wisdom has it that renewables have a tougher time competing when fossil fuels are cheap, making grid parity (in…