You can’t beat the satisfaction of making the world a cleaner, more pristine place. For this reason, more and more people want green jobs. The more President Obama talks about them, the better they sound. In reality, many of us can have a tremendous impact, without working for a wildlife reserve or a solar energy company.

Here are some ways to green your existing job:

Start a Game
People love competitions, even if it is ultimately for a mundane goal. What department can reduce their electricity use the most or have the largest number of employees commute by bike? How can you replace bottled water consumption with filtered tap water?

“We have people here in our offices that are creating contests around printing,” said Matt Arnold, Partner, Pricewaterhouse Coopers in an interview with PlanetSave. “Think about how day-to-day this can get. We are having a contest to see who can print the least, floor by floor, department by department. We are keeping score and it’s a little game. The people that designed it are having a blast and we’re reducing paper consumption.”

Read more of this story »

France

The vast majority of the electricity generated in France comes from its 59 nuclear reactors. It has not been considered a global leader in renewable energy, but France has taken some bold steps recently to support growth in this industry.

The government plans to have 23% of its electricity generated from renewable energy sources including hydroelectric by 2020. A feed-in tariff of 30 Euro cents for commercial buildings has been introduced to encourage solar energy growth.

France now exceeds Denmark in wind energy capacity after adding 950 MW in 2008. The country currently has 3,400 MW of wind power and plans to increase this to 25,000 MW by 2020.

Read more of this story »

“We are making electricity from a free fuel and not using a fossil fuel,” Michael Newell said this week in an interview with TriplePundit. “Every kilowatt you are generating from our system is a kilowatt you don’t need from fossil fuels.”

Read more of this story »

U.S. schools spend more on utilities than books and computers combined.

Public schools spent $8 billion on utilities in 2002, up by $2 billion from 2000, and the fluctuating utility and oil prices can be daunting when planning for the future.  Although natural gas and oil prices have come down significantly from their high last July, it is important to remember their recent impact.

Read more of this story »

Perhaps these conditions will encourage innovation. Here are some tactics for solar companies to weather the storm in the short-term:

Read more of this story »

Read more of this story »

Waste wood from used electricity poles will be the negative-cost feedstock used.  One metric ton is required to produce 95 gallons of ethanol.  Compared to other feedstock, wood does not have a high energy density.

Enerkem has developed a proprietary gasification process that allows biofuels to be produced from non-homogeneous materials.  It is important however to ensure that contaminants such as arsenic are not present, which is a challenge when using such feedstock.

Read more of this story »

Read more of this story »

Just how steep are we talking?

Akeena Solar

(NASDAQ:AKNS) is a large US-based solar installers for residential and commercial systems in California, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Their stock was valued at nearly $17 at the beginning of the year and is now just above $2.

Ascent Solar

(NASDAQ:ASTI) is based in Colorado and produces high efficiency, thin film solar products. They saw stock prices rise to over $25 a share at the beginning of the year, but are currently under $4.

Read more of this story »

First of all, congratulations on your resounding win! Many of us campaigned tirelessly for you, and we opened our doors and our hearts to join you in celebration last night. This is a great victory we will savor for years to come!

Americans have heard a great deal about hope and change during this election season. Together, those two words evoke a compelling vision for the future of our nation. Once the election is over, the questions for our policy makers (at all levels) will be how to move the nation towards this positive future, especially in the face of an economically challenged present.

Read more of this story »

“This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,” said Professor Gary Strobel from Montana State University. “The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel than anything we use at the moment.”

Like many scientific breakthroughs, scientists stumbled upon this discovery by accident.

“Gliocladium roseum lives inside the Ulmo tree in the Patagonian rainforest. We were trying to discover totally novel fungi in this tree by exposing its tissues to the volatile antibiotics of the fungus Muscodor albus. Quite unexpectedly, G. roseum grew in the presence of these gases when almost all other fungi were killed. It was also making volatile antibiotics. Then when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end!”

Read more of this story »

The credit crunch is not just hurting the banks and the real estate market. Even the billionaire and wind energy enthusiast, T. Boone Pickens is having trouble financing his high profile 4000 MW wind farm. The proposed Texas wind farm has a hefty $10 and $12 billion price tag.

Although we are used to hearing about climbing energy costs, the price of natural gas is actually down. Natural gas accounts for 20% of the nation’s electricity generation. The energy sector is also suspecting that the financial crisis may result in a global reduction in energy demand. Pickens’ plan calls for replacing natural gas with wind energy for electricity generation, while converting vehicles to run off natural gas. The natural gas currently used for electricity would be used for transportation and America could wean itself off foreign oil.

Read more of this story »

By turning a long line of mirrors, the first solar thermal plant in nearly two decades was launched last week in Bakersfield, California. Unlike solar photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into electricity, this plant will focus sunlight on tubes that contains water. The light heats the water, creating steam, thus turning turbines.

Read more of this story »

Disposable Cups

Starbucks stores use billions of cups annually. This requires enormous quantities of natural resources and energy before finding their way to landfills. Starbucks does however use cups that contain 10% post consumer recycled content.

Read more of this story »

As part of Prime Minister Gordan’s reshuffle, a new department was created that is likely to boost growth in the renewable energy industry, while addressing climate change.

The UK is a country that is particularly vulnerable to the affects of climate change and has identified it as an issue of vital national importance. The EU’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2020 may help mitigate this predicament, but requires significant action.

Energy and climate change had been addressed across two departments, the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) . As an attempt to bridge the gap between energy strategy and climate change policy, the UK has created a new department, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Read more of this story »

Here’s why clean coal is so dirty:

1. Clean Coal Requires More Coal

30% more energy is required to pump carbon underground for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The captured carbon dioxide has to be compressed to 100 times the atmospheric pressure, transferred to an underground storage reservoir and then pumped in the ground. All of this requires large amounts of energy, thus the coal plant must burn an additional 30% more coal to generate the same amount of usable electricity.

Read more of this story »

Hurricanes Ike and Gustav and Ike caused many refineries to be closed, affecting north Georgia, parts of Tennessee, and west North Carolina. Metro Atlanta has been particularly hard hit because cleaner fuel standards prohibit gas being diverted from other areas where supplies are more robust.

Gas prices have soared as a result from $3.75 per gallon on average in the Southeast just two weeks ago to $4.14.

Read more of this story »

Across the country in the month of October, solar system owners will open their doors to the solar curious as part of a national self-guided solar tour. Ranging from single family homes to restaurants to laundromats, participants can get an up close and personal look at solar systems.

Read more of this story »

An International Whaling Commission’s moratorium on commercial whaling has in place since 1986, but has not stopped this practice. The Japanese government states that thousands of whales are hunted each year for scientific research, totaling 23,000 dolphins and small whales.

Many environmental groups believe it isn’t necessary to kill the whales to obtain scientific data. “There is no need to kill whales to study them. ‘Research’ whaling is just commercial whaling under another name,” said John Hocevar, oceans specialist for Greenpeace.

Meanwhile, the majority of whale meat finds its way to supermarkets, restaurants and even school lunches. The health risks are very high as this meat can have up to 16 times the mercury levels advised by the health ministry.

Read more of this story »

Offering insight into where future growth is likely to occur, Ernst & Young produced a report that follows a variety of indices including long-term wind, near-term wind, and all renewables.

Here are the top five prime nations for renewable energy investment:

1- United States

The U.S. has particularly high scores in the areas of onshore wind, solar, and infrastructure. The sheer size of the country provides an advantage with plentiful wind, solar, and agricultural resources. This high score is likely to decrease if the Production Tax Credit expires at the end of the year. Both presidential candidates however support a cap and trade system for carbon, creating another means to promote renewable energy.

Read more of this story »