News, Trends & Analysis
Archive for March, 2010
White-Collar, Green Tech (Green Technology Alliance)(Smart Grid Maturity Model)
Mar 30th
Maryruth Belsey Priebe
March 30, 2010
Green IT is a booming industry, but how can students interested in smart grid or renewable energy technologies distinguish themselves in the field? We asked several experts to describe the way forward in the land of green information technology.
“This is a growth area, and a student that maintains a narrow focus in computer science would find it difficult to get immediate employment in [the renewable energy sector],” explains Dr. Ravi Prakash, associate professor in computer science at the University of Texas at Dallas. Traditional information technology (IT) programs, whether they are offered by a community college or More >
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Loading ...Who Killed Cap-and-Trade?
Mar 28th
by Robert Stavins on 03/28/2010 12:41
In a recent article in the New York Times, John Broder asks “Why did cap-and-trade die?” and responds that “it was done in by the weak economy, the Wall Street meltdown, determined industry opposition and its own complexity.” Mr. Broder’s analysis is concise and insightful, and I recommend it to readers. But I think there’s one factor that is more important than all those mentioned above in causing cap-and-trade to have changed from politically correct to politically anathema in just nine months. Before turning to that, however, I would like to question the premise of my own essay.
Is Cap-and-Trade Really Dead?Although cap-and-trade has More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Masdar (Abu Dhabi | Net Zero Carbon City) Starts Geothermal Drilling
Mar 25th
Posted on March 24, 2010 Masdar Starts Geothermal Drilling Abu Dhabi, UAE [Powergen Worldwide]
Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Government’s renewable energy initiative, has begun drilling two wells commencing the first geothermal energy project in the Middle East.
“There are two well designs. One is to the order of 2,800 metres and the other is to the order of 4,500 metres. There could be several other wells [dug at a later stage],” a source involved in the project told Emirates Business. “How many wells are to be drilled is something that is to be still decided,” he added declining to disclose the More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Pecan Street Project Releases Report of Recommendations for New Energy System
Mar 24th
Pecan Street Project Releases Recommendations for Launching Clean Energy Economy and Bringing Transformative Change to Electricity
Collaboration includes University of Texas, Austin Energy, Environmental Defense Fund, major technology companies and business leaders
(Austin – March 24, 2010) – Participants of the Pecan Street Project today released a report of recommendations for transforming electricity delivery into a customer-focused clean energy system. The report stems from a year-long collaboration that included more than 200 volunteers from the City of Austin, Austin Energy, Environmental Defense Fund, The University of Texas, The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and more than a dozen local and national technology More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Pecan Street Project (#Austin’s #SmartGrid) releases report of recommendations (@PecanStProject)
Mar 24th
Pecan Street Project releases report of recommendations
Pecan Street Project, Inc. today issued a report of recommendations spurred by the research and deliberations conducted throughout 2009.
Many thanks to the staff and board of the Pecan Street Project, Inc., as well as the hundreds of volunteer experts who helped shape this important set of recommendations.
A press release regarding today’s report will be posted on this web site later this morning.
Also, don’t miss our new short video that introduces many of the team members that have led this effort and explains what this unique effort is trying to accomplish.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Control4 Gives Its Home Energy Management Platform a Turbo Charge
Mar 22nd
Mar 22, 2010
IP-based home control systems company Control4 has released its Control4® ADVANTAGE Software to help utilities maximize load management. The new software, which analyzes residential power use, will support the company’s Control4® Energy Management System (EMS 100). Read more about the new Control4 software.
Quick Take: This integration software will help utilities with a tough job — load management. But hopefully it will also lead to new applications that will make consumers eager to get involved in energy management on the homefront.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Petra Solar: Distributed PV Mounted on Existing Power Pole
Mar 22nd
Check out this company! They install the PV panels on power poles, and feed the electricity directly into the grid. Each unit also sends voltage and current data to the utility in real-time. Easy distributed power. No transmission problems. No NIMBY issues.
ERIC WESOFF 03 22 10
A new application and a new sales channel—microinverters to utilities.
Petra Solar, armed with $54 million in venture capital raised over the last three years, has built itself into a distributed generation firm leveraging microinverter and grid availability technology with a unique product and sales channel. Up until now, the startup has been relatively secretive about its More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Control4 Announces New Software, Partners With Lockheed Martin
Mar 22nd
KATHERINE TWEED 03 22 10
Control4 releases new open-source software it says is geared towards the user experience, as well as the utility’s back end.
Control4 unveiled new software today to accompany its Energy Management System 100 (EMS 100). The flash-based open platform software, called ADVANTAGE, is designed so that utilities and developers can build applications to integrate with the EMS 100.
Control4, which also builds other wireless home networking systems from audio systems to temperature control, is confident that their system will not only blend in with a utility’s back end to optimize demand response, but also engage the customer.
“We’re coming from the consumer More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Renewable Energy Investment May Reach $200 Billion in 2010
Mar 22nd
By Jeremy van Loon
March 17 (Bloomberg) — Renewable energy investment may rise by 23 percent this year as government stimulus funds mainly in the U.S. and Europe are spent on wind turbines and solar panels.
Spending may rise to between $175 billion and $200 billion this year from $162 billion in 2009, said Bloomberg New Energy Finance Chief Executive OfficerMichael Liebreich today.
“There’s a big bulge of stimulus money coming through this year,” he said during a press conference at the consultant’s annual conference in London. “The question is what happens when they switch off the stimulus.”
Governments in the U.S., China, Europe and More >
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