US Power Grid’s $2 Trillion Upgrade Needs European Efficiency
A $2 trillion push in the U.S. to blend renewable energy into the power supply and fortify transmission lines against extreme weather means that Americans must act more like Europeans to keep their power costs down.
New National Research Council Study Delivers Roadmap to Put Electric Cars into Fast Lane
Our country faces the important challenges of overcoming our oil dependency and cutting carbon pollution. Fortunately, as confirmed by a new National Research Council (of the National Academies of Science) study which I was a committee member, electric cars can be a key part of moving America forward. The study concludes that the Federal Government can and should do more to accelerate the market.
Japan Anticipates Clean Energy Will Edge Out Nuclear Power
Japan anticipates that by 2030 clean energy such as solar and hydro will generate slightly more of the nation’s electricity than nuclear power plants.
New World Bank Report: Chinese Clean-tech SMEs Embrace Opportunities
The World Bank indicated in its new report "Building Competitive Green Industries: The Climate and Clean Technology Opportunity for Developing Countries" that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries are set to undergo significant growth and create more jobs in the field of clean technology. Anabel Gonzalez, senior director for the World Bank's Global Practice on Trade and Competitiveness, said developing home-grown clean-tech industries will help developing countries more effectively increase the adoption of low-cost clean energy and drive sustainable economic development.
8.4-MW Cogeneration Plant to Power Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has opened its new 75,000 square foot, $438 million Central Utilities Plant (CUP).
Engineering Possibilities Versus Practical Implementation: Utility Portfolios and Business Models
Europe’s utilities are re-evaluating their business models due to the energy transition. Members of POWER-GEN Europe’s Advisory Board consider how a reliance on fossil fuels is no longer politically desirable, forcing utilities to transform their portfolios to adapt to radical change.
Value Trapped: Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015, April Update
My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio held on to first quarter gains in April, despite a 29 percent fall for one of the stocks. (For details on that decline, see the Power REIT (NYSE:PW) section below.)
Summers’ Law Strikes Again
Lawrence Summers famously wrote, “there are idiots, look around” in an attack on the theory that markets are rational. What some have called “Summers’ Law” certainly applies to the markets’ response to the slide in the price of oil as it relates to stocks of renewable energy companies.
The New Normal? Renewables, Efficiency, And “Too Much Electricity”
Just over a decade ago, the state of California faced serious concerns about whether its utilities could generate and/or buy enough power to assure that the world’s seventh-largest economy could keep the lights on. The infamous California energy crisis, which affected several other western states as well, was a complex tangle of poorly structured deregulation, significant market manipulation (remember Enron?), and other causes. Along with rolling blackouts, California endured an official state of emergency that lasted 34 months, led to the recall and replacement of Gov. Gray Davis, and cost the state and its ratepayers billions of dollars — a cautionary tale for all states of electricity supply unable to meet demand.
Egypt’s Renewable FiT Program Gains Traction