Results from a global trial of light-emitting diode (LED) street lights confirm that the fixtures can deliver electricity savings of up to 85% over incumbent technologies. The two-and-a-half-year pilot, called LightSavers, tested […]
Electricity storage: Location, location, location … and cost
Electricity storage can be deployed throughout an electric power system—functioning as generation, transmission, distribution, or end-use assets—an advantage when it comes to providing local solutions to a variety of issues. Sometimes placing […]
New Federal Rules Boost Grid Access For Wind, Solar, Storage
Like a Jedi responding to changing events by striving to bring balance to the Force, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under Chairman Jon Wellinghoff has been rapidly reshaping the formerly sclerotic electricity […]
Western Colorado Struggles as Energy Jobs Fade
MEEKER, Colo. — The news of a nationwide energy boom is almost too much for people in this town built atop a sea of oil shale and natural gas, where rusting tanks […]
Solazyme now moving into biofuels in a major way
Algae company Solazyme was one of the first of the biofuel startups to decide to focus on the food, nutraceutical and specialty chemical markets first, before tackling the daunting fuel industry. But […]
AEO2012 considers three cases for the future of world oil prices – Today in Energy – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
[Editors Note: Well, that is helpful… Might go up, might go down, might not move at all.] The Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (AEO2012) presents three alternative paths for world oil prices based […]
Burning Desire for Efficiency
Ever wonder how efficient it is to heat water? Of course you have! Ever measured it? Whoa, mister, now you’ve gone too far! I recently devised a laser-phototransistor gauge to monitor my […]
Coal plants: Filthy, dangerous, and now a terrible investment!
Despite what the coal industry would have you believe, the days of affordable coal-fired power are over. That’s the conclusion of the Sierra Club’s recent ”Locked In,” a report that analyzes the […]
Fitch Ratings report says construction delays, unpredictable technology among risks to PV projects
Fitch Ratings recently released its “Construction and Operational Solar Project Issues” report, stating that construction delays, solar energy output, unpredictable technology and regulatory stability are all risk factors to solar projects. The […]
The Rise and Imminent Fall of Biodiesel
Right now, all across the US, producers of an alternative fuel called “biodiesel” are in a state of panic. Over the next year, up to three-quarters of them may have to shut […]
Prometheus Institute 