Yesterday, the House Energy & Commerce Committee passed Waxman-Markey’s American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act by a 33-25 vote. This passage does not guarantee ultimate passage in the full House or Senate, but gets some positive political momentum behind necessary federal (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Electricity’
House committee passes climate bill as electricity emissions plunge
Friday, May 22nd, 2009Much of US to enjoy solar grid parity by 2012
Monday, May 11th, 2009
The economics of solar power are changing rapidly. And if the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development (PI) is right that solar module prices will fall more than 50% by 2012, grid parity will be achieved across many parts of the US. Solar electricity currently carries a price tag that is higher than (more…)
US Electricity Emissions in Freefall
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) US electric power estimates for January and February just came out. And the numbers are dramatic. Net generation in January was down ~3.3% from January 2008, largely on lower demand from industrial users. February showed an even greater ~6.9% nosedive in (more…)
Report: 2008 US Wind Growth Even Faster
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
The American Wind Energy Assocation (AWEA) reported yesterday that their initial estimate of US wind growth was too slow. It turns out wind capacity grew more than 8.5 GW rather than 8.3 GW, a white-hot 51%! And they released a projection for 2009 of (more…)
Report: NC Doesn’t Need More Coal Power
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
A new report by the NC Waste Awareness & Reduction Network (NC WARN) makes a strong case that my native state of North Carolina can manage its population growth without adding new coal-fired power plants like the 800 MW Cliffside project which just began construction. Report authors John Blackburn and John Runkle even suggest we can phase out many (more…)
Solar power prices continue slide
Friday, February 6th, 2009
The monthly review released today by solarbuzz.com shows solar prices have fallen a bit further over the last month. Prices fell more slowly than last month due to price stability in Europe, but made a step in the right direction. While this price remains significantly above that of coal, oil, and natural gas – it positions solar closer to achieving grid parity in the mid-2010s. (more…)
Record Global Wind Growth: Becomes Race Between US & China
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009Wind power did not just have outstanding growth in the US last year. This renewable energy success story was a worldwide phenomenon. Global wind capacity grew a record (more…)
New York Becomes 8th State to Join 1 GW Wind Club
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
As I mentioned yesterday about solar — when you start talking GWs (gigawatts = 1 billion watts), we’re dealing with significant amounts of energy. And I’m proud to say that my home state of New York just became the 8th state in the country that has over 1 GW in wind power online. (more…)
California doubles solar in 2008
Sunday, February 1st, 2009The good news in 2008 regarding US wind was matched by its renewable sister industry, solar. California is the leading state in solar deployment and it doubled capacity last year. While numbers have not yet emerged from other states, it looks to be a banner year for the industry nationwide. (more…)
Top Wind States Emerge from the Great Plains
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
The Great Plains have long been touted as an area of vast wind power potential. And I’m glad to report that the people living there are now beginning to take significant advantage of their renewable resource. North Dakota, the state with the most wind potential in the lower 48, just became the biggest wind producing state by percentage of electricity consumption at ~20.8%. (more…)