Archive for April, 2008
« Previous EntriesENERGY: THE WATER FACTOR
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
Water is a big deal. Even the few climate change deniers left can’t deny droughts are becoming more common.
40% of the daily water used in the U.S. is for energy. It only makes sense to build the kind of energy infrastructure that least impacts water supply.
When cities use water to [...]
OFFSHORE WIND - GREAT FOR THE GREAT LAKES?
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
Offshore wind installations are a reality in Europe and will sooner or later be a reality in the U.S. The Great Lakes region has really wonderful energy resources and somebody is going to get really rich by taking on the challenges and winning through.
The challenges, though, are daunting. Other U.S. [...]
SOLAR BREAKTHROUGH: HOW PLANTS DO IT
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
Efficiently converting sunlight into energy is the dream. Plants do it at nearly 100% efficiency. Humans have figured out how to do it at anywhere from 10% to 40% (or so) efficiency (depending on how much you want to spend).Maybe it’s because plants don’t waste their efforts on American Idol [...]
RX FOR OHIO: RES, WIND AND SUN
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
Think of the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) as a doctor’s prescription. The state is suffering economically from the decay of its manufacturing base and it is heavily dependent on fossil fuels for energy.
The RES is the Rx the state needs to get well. It prescribes a little more New Energy [...]
SPECULATION, GEOPOLITICS AND THE PRICE OF OIL
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
The OPEC nations like to make money. No surprise? OK, then why aren’t they pumping more oil into the system while prices are higher than a 1960s college student?
2 possibilities: (1) They can’t pump any more; Or, strange as it seems, (2) pumping more oil won’t relieve demand.
A lot of [...]
SOLAR 2008: CATCH THE CLEAN ENERGY WAVE
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
The American Solar Energy Society’s SOLAR 2008 (San Diego, May 3-8) is not just another beach party. ASES has been advocating on behalf of solar energy since 1954. This is their 37th annual get together.
ASES will no doubt put on an exciting and entertaining event but this organization goes back [...]
Report Card Grades for 6 Big Nuclear Reactor Makers (Part 1 of 2) – GE/Hitachi, Areva & Toshiba/Westinghouse
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
It’s time to hand out the first set of report card grades for six of the world’s leading nuclear reactor makers. Serving as “professor” is Bruce Lacy, head of Lacy Consulting Group in Cedar Rapids, IA, a 27-year nuclear industry veteran who closely follows the financial side of commercial nuclear power. Lacy was [...]
They Own All the Oil, So What Will the Petro-Princes Buy Next? (Part 1 of 2) How About Potash Firms?
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
National oil companies (NOCs) concentrated in the Middle East own more than 80% of the world’s known remaining oil reserves. In short, they’ve cornered the market. And yet, this year alone, they will rake in another $1 trillion from their oil exports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Even with pressing [...]
Investor Alert 4-30-08
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
When it comes to blasting the Bush administration for not doing enough to fight global warming, nobody screams louder than German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But according to Reuters www.reuters.com her administration is fighting on behalf of big German car manufacturers that are opposed to the European Union’s new rules aimed at reducing carbon emissions [...]
ETS Investor Alert 4-29-08
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Why are oil prices so high? One big reason is the increasing number of experts acknowledging what peak oil advocates have been screaming for months now – Russian oil production has peaked.
Here’s a Bloomberg News story www.bloomberg.com quoting yet another Russian oil industry figure who believes the nation’s output can’t rise any higher.
Hey, [...]
Is There Any Reason Why Investors Should Still Own Airline Shares? (Well, Yes, Actually, There Is)
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Don’t say they didn’t warn you. Back in June 2006, the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) chief economist told an Agence France-Presse reporter, “Oil prices of $100 a barrel or more are a possibility that would seriously threaten airlines.”
With oil now well above $100 a barrel, is there any reason why an investor [...]
Investor Alert – Forget 2012. The Electric Vehicle Revolution Will Reach the United States in 2009
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Forget that General Motors says it will have to push hard to have a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle ready for market by 2010. Forget that Toyota is having trouble developing a lithium-ion battery for its plug-in models. The electric vehicle revolution will officially arrive in the United States in 2009, three years sooner [...]
EFFICIENCY, EFFICIENCY, EFFICIENCY
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
After studying the subject of efficiency, U.S. News & World Report energy writer Marianne Lavelle came to the conclusion that efficiency remains a vital and unappreciated fraction in the New Energy equation. More disturbingly, it is the same vital and unappreciated fraction it has been for more than three decades.
As [...]
INSTALL SOLAR PANELS & BE A POWER PRODUCER?
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
Chris Bellizzi ran his air conditioning more than he normally would, more than he needed to, in Summer 2007. Why? Because he didn’t want utility PG&E to profit from the free electricity his home solar installation was sending it.
Bellizi: “If you owe them, you’ve got to send them a check…If [...]
BIG UTILITY, BIG OIL TO BUILD BIG WIND
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
NewEnergyNews pop quiz -> What drives a powerful utility heavily invested in fossil fuels and a huge oil company to get into wind?Answer: Renewable Electricity Standards (RESs) Dominion and BP Alternative Energy are splitting costs and benefits of wind installations in Virginia and North Carolina because the wind is there [...]
NEW ENERGY IN CHINA
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
For the third week in a row, NewEnergyNews leads “Sunday World” with a story about a U.S. New Energy producer gearing up to produce overseas. China is going to incentivize solar installations. The U.S. Congress doesn’t seem inclined to.
China is unimaginably energy hungry. China is a factor in coal, driving [...]
LATIN AMERICAN MONEY LOOKS HARDER AT BIOFUELS
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
That there are problems with ethanol, especially corn ethanol, will come as no surprise to NewEnergyNews readers. That the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has now shifted its financing strategies in response to the problems will come as good news, especially on the heels of last week’s news that the EU [...]
U.S. BLOCKS AGREEMENT AT PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
An important preliminary meeting in Paris of 16 major world economic powers responsible for 80% of world greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions to set goals and pick methods for the fight against global climate change ended April 18 with little of importance accomplished.
NewEnergyNews readers might wonder why, considering how much of [...]
Analyst’s Long-term Solar Picks: Evergreen Solar, JA Solar, SunPower, Suntech and Trina Solar
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Raymond James & Associates believes the companies “best-positioned to ride the solar wave of the future” are Evergreen Solar, JA Solar Holdings, SunPower Corp., Suntech Power Holdings and Trina Solar.
In a report last week, these five companies were singled out by the brokerage firm based on their effective cost management, robust R&D, strong [...]
Investor Warning – Oil Refiners’ Strategy Could Send U.S. Economy Into Freefall This Summer
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
To protect their bottom lines, oil refiners are employing a strategy that could send an already weak U.S. economy into freefall this summer. To be sure, the U.S. summer could pass without serious incident. But the potential exists for things to get ugly.
As has been widely reported, U.S. oil refinery utilization has been [...]
ETS Investor Alert 4-28-08
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Though he’s hardly a disinterested party, Arch Coal’s chief executive, Steven Leer, expects power shortages in the U.S. within two to three years unless more coal-fired power plants are built. www.reuters.com
Emphasizing that much of the U.S. will by then fall below the 15% reserve level, Leer said that unless governors and environmentalists essentially [...]
Let The Sun Shine In
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
This is what a solar panel installation is, in 4 minutes. It rocks. From GreenEnergyTV.
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Wind Industry Leaders Call For New Energy Incentives
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
Highlights of a recent National Press Club event describing the American wind energy industry’s current contribution, its recent growth and the potential it holds for the U.S. – if the Congress extends the New Energy incentives (including the production tax credit). From the American Wind Energy Association via YouTube.
Rating 3.00 [...]
Putting a Price on Carbon
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
The European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) - An extended (10 minute) and engaging look at how it works, what it seeks to accomplish and how it is doing. From EUXTV via YouTube.
Rating 3.00 out of 5
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THE SOUND OF THE WIND
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
What a great story this is: Which brother-in-law is Cain and which is Abel? Or, from a different point of view, which is Abbott and which is Costello?Charlie Porter and County Commissioner Gary Carlson, his brother-in-law, came to blows in February. Charlie says Carlson’s Blue Ridge wind farm is making [...]
