Green Options

Renewable energy is big, big, big: Josh just wrote about the world’s largest wind farm possibly going up in South Dakota (yahoo!), California could see the world’s largest solar power plant, and now Singapore is in the foray with landing the largest solar manufacturing facility the world’s ever seen.

A Norwegian company called Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) will build the complex, which will be completed in different stages to incorporate wafer,

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Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak may be the first mayor in the nation to drive a plug-in hybrid vehicle as his official city car.

Since he was first elected in 2002, Mayor Rybak’s official car has been a Toyota Prius. But the dramatically superior gas mileage of a plug-in hybrid vehicle prompted him to make the switch: he had his hybrid converted to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, from which he expects to get

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If you haven’t heard yet, peak oil is here: the Energy Watch Group released an analysis this week indicating that global oil production peaked last year and is now likely to start dropping by several percent annually.

Ironically, on the same day, the InterAcademy Council announced a new report titled, "Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future." While that report didn’t include the peak oil news,

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How much do Americans know about nanotechnology in the products they buy? According to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, about as much as you could measure on a nanoscale … which is to say, a very, very little amount.

That’s part of the reason the Project on Emerging Technologies got started in the first place. Established in 2005 by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

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This Friday is the opening day of the 3rd Solar Decathlon Exhibition. The exhibition takes place on the National Mall in Washington DC from October 12th to 20th. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the competition invites 20 teams from colleges and universities across the United States, Germany, Spain, and Canada to participate. The objective is to "design, build, and operate

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General Electric (GE) has announced it is restructuring its lighting business towards energy efficiency models and decreasing its emphasis on traditional incandescent bulbs. Thanks to consumer demand for efficient lighting and some governments even threatening to ban old fashioned bulbs, GE is refocusing its products to align more closely with the need.

Jim Campbell, President and CEO of GE’s consumer and industrial division, explained:

"We are increasing our focus on the development and production of

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Coal and nuclear plants may not be dropping like flies, but the business climate and the planet’s climate have caused some utilities to think twice about investing in them.

Tampa Electric of Florida has announced that it won’t build a coal plant to meet future energy needs, as originally planned. The coal plant was going to be an integrated gasification combined-cycle plant, or IGCC, which means that the coal is broken down into

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Canadian and U.S. officials are respectively discussing impending regulation to cut down carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Businesses in both nations are slowly getting the message and working together to prepare for – and perhaps help mold – the change.

The Canadian Council of Chief Executives reached an “unprecedented consensus” last week when they officially called for action that included “absolute” emissions cuts. A national strategy is needed, they argue, rather than the patchwork [...]

Every year, Gustavus Adolphus College in tiny St. Peter, MN holds a Nobel Conference, authorized by the Nobel Foundation of Stolkhom, Sweden. The conference brings together renowned experts to discuss timely issues, like aging or globalization. This year, it was “Heating Up: The Energy Debate.”

I attended the two-day event, which delivered in its round-up of impressive energy and global warming experts: Nobel Laureate in Physics Dr. Stephen Chu, biofuels expert Dr. Lee Rybeck

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Former President Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative has been all over the news lately, working with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and big business to move the ball forward with clean energy solutions to global warming. Whatever you think of the guy, it’s hard to deny that his partnerships are impressive and the results could be revolutionary.

Besides the agreement by utilities to invest in energy efficiency, and besides Florida Power & Light’s major new commitment

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Thanks to Erin over at RE-AMP for the heads-up on this great piece of news: Eight major utilities have agreed to implement energy efficiency measures in order to meet the growing demand for electricity. By emphasizing efficiency over coal, they will cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30 million tons — the equivalent of taking almost 6 million cars off the road — and avoid the need to build 50 500-megawatt peaking power

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