As SET’s involvement in the Solar College Initiative heats up, it’s important for all of us to celebrate the victories for campus solar already taking place. And today is a big day – as Arizona State University dedicated its new solar projects which add up to be the nation’s third largest on campus. At a capacity of (more…)
Archive for March, 2009
Arizona State University becomes 3rd biggest solar campus!
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009China Poised to be Global Solar Leader?
Monday, March 30th, 2009
Last year, China was nowhere to be seen on the top ten solar PV market list. Major players Spain, Germany, the US, South Korea, and Japan were joined by small European countries like Belgium, Portugal, and the Czech Republic as biggest global installers. But a new Chinese initiative may rearrange the global picture soon. Late last week, (more…)
SET to be Featured Monday on NY’s WFMU.org
Sunday, March 29th, 2009
Image from rushkoff.com
Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) will be featured in its first New York radio spot this coming Monday night 7-8pm. I will be interviewed live by new media and pop culture author and professor Douglas Rushkoff on his new show, The Media Squat. The interview will probably be around 10-15 minutes and in the first half of the show. So if you’re interested in hearing a voice connected to the blogs, (more…)
Natural Gas Rig Count Continues Nosedive
Friday, March 27th, 2009
Baker Hughes reported today that the number of active natural gas rigs is now half the peak level hit last September. That’s right – in just 6 months US companies have gone from actively trying to increase production (taking advantage of high US natural gas prices above $10 per MMBtu) to not even having the rigs to maintain (more…)
Say Hello to $2 Gas Again
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
As I projected last week, the average price of gasoline nationwide climbed above $2 again. This morning, AAA reported prices increased 2.3 cents to $2.009 per gallon. The range in prices remained wide as the state with the lowest price averaged $1.798 and the highest averaged (more…)
Coal Share of US Electricity Falling
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
I’ve got some good news to share — coal is losing its market share in the US electricity mix to less carbon-intensive sources. In the late 1990s, coal-fired power plants produced almost 53% of total US electricity. And the US EIA just released in its estimate for 2008 electricity that coal’s share fell to (more…)
US Solar Market Has Room to Grow
Monday, March 23rd, 2009The US pioneered solar in the 1950s, and was the largest market for a long time. But as I have discussed in previous posts, it’s been many years since the US market led global growth. Germany has dominated PV growth for a number of years until Spain’s strong 2008 growth of 2.46 GW. Today’s post will discuss the whole solar market (including solar thermal) after perusing the 2008 Year in Review published by (more…)
Natural Gas Recovering on Prospects of Lower Supply
Friday, March 20th, 2009The price of natural gas increased significantly the last couple of days. And it’s not just because of a weaker dollar. The US natural gas rig count fell another 3% last week to 857, more than 46% below their September peak. It is now at a number that threatens (more…)
Oil Passes $50 on Dollar’s Slide
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
I said yesterday that oil may pass $50 per barrel, but I didn’t know it would take just one day to occur. That’s what happens when the Fed announces it will print a few hundred billion more to buy debt. The weaker dollar sent dollar-denominated commodity prices up, with oil reaching (more…)
US Oil Supplies Climb Further – Records May be Tested
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
The US Energy Information Agency reported another build in fuel supplies last week on low demand and high production. If crude supplies continue on this trajectory another few weeks, they may hit record levels. And lower heating needs from the fast-approaching Spring mean that diesel prices are indeed close to the parity with gasoline I mentioned (more…)