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Alternative Energy

Is Waste-to-Energy the future of energy in New York?

January 18, 2012 by Next American City
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Coverage of Mayor Bloomberg’s state of the city address focused, as the speech did, on the mayor’s raft of education proposals, with some additional attention to his mentions of police corruption and the minimum wage. But the mayor’s reference to a once-controversial notion—“the possibility of cleanly converting trash into renewable energy”—passed all but unnoticed. [read more]

To Frack or Not to Frack?

January 12, 2012 by The Dirt ASLA
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New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation is poised to make a long-awaited decision that will determine if and how High Volume Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing (or fracking) should proceed. [read more]

Think Buildings: At the Vanguard of the Green Economy

December 12, 2011 by Jason Hartke
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One of the bright spots at this COP is the work being done to quick start funding for the Green Climate Fund, which was one of the most significant outcomes from last year’s COP in Cancun. The idea is to create and grow this Fund to $100 billion a year by 2020, which would support climate mitigation and adaptation measures. As you can imagine, delegates are negotiating intensely through the end of the week to determine how to best and most fairly finance this fund, including opportunities to leverage private sector investment. [read more]

The U.S. Needs a National Renewable Energy Standard

November 17, 2011 by The Dirt ASLA
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D.C., Carol Browner, who was very recently climate change “czarina” at the White House and once head of the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.); Jim Connaughton, Constellation Energy, and former head of the Council for Environmental Quality under President George W. Bush; David Hawkins, Natural Resources Defense Council; and Dave McCurdy, American Gas Association, all emphasized the need for a national renewable energy standard given no big climate change and energy legislation will be coming out of Congress in the next 18 months to 2 years. [read more]

Why the Defense Department is Way Ahead of Congress on Clean Energy

October 24, 2011 by Bob Leonard
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It should come as no surprise that fossil fuel companies are trying to discredit their biggest competitors: the clean energy industry. Together with their allies in Congress, they are trying to use the failure of one solar company to paint the entire renewable sector as a dangerous risk. [read more]

The Snowflake Problem: Why Energy Efficiency Projects Are So Damned Hard To Finance

October 19, 2011 by Shari Shapiro
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Photo by jbalint1via Flickr

Uniqueness may be good for snowflakes, but lousy for financial transactions. At least part of the problem in harnessing private capital to fund energy efficiency projects is the lack of standardization across projects. Major financial institutions need big pipelines of medium- to large- deals to make the sector worthwhile. [read more]

Eye Candy From The Solar Decathalon

October 4, 2011 by Douglas Reiser
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Every once in a while, I pay my respects to the art of green design. In an industry where each and every one of your clients and colleagues are looking for the latest and greatest, you have to take notice of innovation. The Solar Decathlon is a major venue for this type of innovation. Put on the by the US Department of Energy, the Decathlon showcases the best home designs from universities all around the world. [read more]

Update on the Solar Decathlon

September 30, 2011 by the polis blog
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Empowerhouse, Parsons the New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology.Almost exactly two years ago, I went to visit the Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. This year’s Solar Decathlon had the same goal — to design and build the best energy-efficient house powered by the sun. Like the houses in 2009, and the houses designed... [read more]

Green is Gold: States Invest In Avenues For Scaling Solar

September 27, 2011 by Sheila Oliva
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Last week’s Solar Exchange East was hosted in the heart of the Southeast U.S.A. – North Carolina. The state’s own Governor Bev Purdue is fond of saying “Green is Gold” in regards to her stance on renewable energy sources in the state. And the event, taking place at North Carolina State University in the capitol of Raleigh, focused... [read more]

Operation 'Use The Sun': The U.S. Military’s Sustainability Strategy

September 23, 2011 by Sheila Oliva
with 253 views
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For those of you who did not know, our military spends a lot of money to support itself. One of its biggest expenses is its huge appetite for energy. Specifically, according to Colonel Dan Nolan, “The DOD is the world’s largest oil consumer,” accounting for 25% of the globe’s consumption. Due to that need for oil, Colonel Nolan says that... [read more]

GMA Executive Conference Notes 1: Sustainable Energy for Sustainable Cities

September 21, 2011 by Jeff Hojlo
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At the GMA Executive Conference in August, the primary topics of discussion included food safety, retailer and manufacturer collaboration, innovation, operational efficiency, and sustainability.  Siemens Corporation CEO Eric Spiegel hosted a panel on sustainability with the CEOs of Cargill, Kroger, and CH2M Hill – all made it... [read more]

DC vs. Philadelphia: An NFL Rivalry…Over Solar

September 16, 2011 by Marc Gunther
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Image source: Author's blog

 Dan Snyder, the owner of The Washington Redskins, is not exactly a tree-hugger. To the contrary, he once offered to pay the National Park Service $25,000 to cut down trees on federal land near his estate overlooking the Potomac River. So when Snyder embraces solar power, by installing more than 8,000 solar panels at FedEx Field,... [read more]