Clean Energy Digest

There has been a lot of chatter about feed-in tariffs lately as a way to jump start the solar industry in North America. Here are some recent news links. Feed-in tariff to aid solar weighed Arizona utility regulators are designing rules that would require power companies to buy electricity from solar developers at prearranged prices. [...]

A recent story about how solar power plants are now more cost effective  to build than nuclear power plants in Carolina has created quite a bit of buzz especially amongst staunch advocates of renewable technology. Here’s how the New York Times framed the issue on July 26th. Solar photovoltaic systems have long been painted as [...]

This is sure to stir up some controversy about the reliability of renewable energy. The following video shows a news report from Minnesota about 12 wind turbines that won’t operate in cold weather due to an issue with the hydraulic fluid. The Minnesota State Municipal Power Association paid $300,000 for each of the turbines. What [...]

Bill Gates has a new website called Gates Notes where you can find out more about Mr. Gates, his charitable foundation and his thoughts on a variety of topics. One of the posts on his site is a podcast series on energy. There are four audio files in the series in both Windows Media and [...]

As I survey the clean energy landscape at the beginning of the new year I think about the prospects for technological milestones and breakthroughs in 2010. We’re coming out of a year where billions of dollars have been either granted or loaned to companies in the name of the next generation of clean energy. You [...]

Google has done a good job throwing mainstream media reporters off of the scent when it comes to their recent filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The New York Times Bits Blog (which is a tech focused blog) seemed to take the following quote from a Google rep at face value. “We want [...]

There may not have been two phrases that garnered much more buzz in 2009 than “smart grid” and “cloud computing.” They have a lot in common too. Both refer to a collection of technologies that few people understand in depth. Both are understood to refer to forward looking, game changing technologies. And both have the [...]

During his Presidential campaign President Barack Obama pledged, “…to transform our entire economy – from our cars and our fuels to our factories and our buildings.” In the last few months President Obama’s administration has made good on that pledge by unlocking billions of dollars in government coffers to benefit companies developing clean energy technologies in [...]

About a year ago we mentioned that Google was investing in an enhanced geothermal energy company called AltaRock Energy. In fact, both Google and the U.S. Department of Energy made significant investments in AltaRock’s plan to drill deep into dry but hot caverns in Northern California in a bid to, “…create an EGS reservoir that [...]

Courtesy of Jay Leno, this video provides a very detailed look at the Aptera electric vehicle. This vehicle is not a car. In California this vehicle will be registered as a motorcycle. It is a very cool vehicle, combining futuristic looks with ultra-modern technology. Is it practical? Definitely not. Is it safe? We’ll wait for [...]