Solar panels today rely on silicon to generate electricity from the sun. The technology has been around for nearly 50 years. A totally different kind of solar cell was created by Japanese researchers in 2009. Called perovskite, it doesn’t depend on silicon. Instead, it uses a hybrid organic-inorganic lead or tin halide based material as the […]
Using data provided by the US Energy Information Agency, the New York Times has created a graphic representation of how America generates electricity and compares today’s energy mix to what it was in 2001. The data shows the shift away from coal power that has occurred in recent years and charts the rise of electricity from natural […]
The word “bitcoin” is as likely to garner feverish excitement as it is glaring criticism. The financial community sees speculative promise in the form of trade that currently has little to no regulation. Meanwhile, others argue that it’s a distraction that detracts from the overall longevity of U.S. financial institutions. By Katrina Kelly-Pitou, University of […]
Hydrogen, oh hydrogen. In the race to zero-emission vehicles, there is no clear winner. Battery electric vehicles require heavy batteries to carry them over long distances while the less-developed suite of technologies supporting hydrogen vehicles results in efficiencies that drive the price of hydrogen up, especially at current low volumes. But there’s more to it […]
UK-based nonprofit giant Practical Action was one of this year’s Zayed Future Energy Prize winners. I got to interview Chief Executive Paul Smith Lomas and Global Energy Representative Aaron Leopold right after they won the prize. Below is my video interview with the two, as well as some written notes underneath. Enjoy! By Zachary Shahan In the […]
Three things to look out for at the 2017 Concordia Annual Summit When it comes to the biggest challenges facing the world today, a coordinated global approach is the only way to achieve lasting, long-term solutions. Launched in January 2016, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are designed to deliver exactly that. Our 2017 […]
Last April, the Energy Department embarked on a new grid study that seemed pre-wired to support the coal industry, but the process has gone through more twists and turns than the Coney Island Cyclone and it just keeps getting more…interesting. In the latest development, the US Department of Energy has announced a $20 million funding […]
The world has a problem with overheating. And the problem is going to last at least 10,000 years per a study published in Nature. In the near term, we have to take bold steps to move the needle on climate change – beyond the panacea of an “All of the Above” energy strategy. By Michael […]
So far, the story of US renewable energy transformation has skipped a key chapter, which is the exploitation of our massive offshore wind power potential.
By Chip Martin, Special To RGB As most of you who read me regularly know, I am all about smashing the regulated-monopoly-utility racket that currently holds us hostage. They’ve never faced real competition before, and now rooftop solar poses a significant threat. That’s why they’re hell-bent on regulating it out of the picture. In Colorado, […]
The good news – investment in renewable energy is up. The bad news – we’re still spending WAY more money on old-fashioned, dirty, carbon-heavy, climate-killing fossil fuels. In his article at TomDispatch, How to Fry a Planet, professor Michael T. Klare points out, According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an inter-governmental research organization based in Paris, […]
A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reveals that the majority of Californian residents oppose expanded fracking in the Golden State. Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) employs huge volumes of water, mixed with sand and toxic chemicals, to blast open rock formations and extract oil and gas. The technique is environmentally destructive, resulting […]
The oil industry has constantly touted the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada as a glorious project to increase petroleum supplies for U.S. consumers and provide thousands of jobs for the unemployed, but a new study reveals that the construction of the pipeline would actually cost U.S. consumers dearly at the gas pumps. The White House […]
Dozens of individuals peacefully disrupted road construction and stopped operations today at the site of a proposed tar sands mine in the Bookcliffs range of southeastern Utah. Earlier this morning, Utah residents joined members of indigenous tribes from the Four Corners region and allies from across the country for a water ceremony inside the mine […]
By Mary Anne Hitt Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign If you’re reading this post, then you are part of the last generation of people who will have the chance to stop runaway climate disruption. Coal-fired power plants are the nation’s single biggest source of the carbon pollution that threatens our kids’ future, and today President Obama made […]