Energy and Climate Change


Who's Doing What

Find out who was hired, what companies were acquired, and which smart bidders won contracts since the start of 2011.

Survey of EUEC Attendees Finds More than Half Are Not Measuring Carbon

Enviance commissioned a survey of 143 energy and utility professionals at EUEC 2011 to determine the industry's progress toward compliance with new regulations.

GE Signs Wind Services Agreement with Cobra Energia

In a 10-year contract, the company will support reliable wind power for 178 wind turbines across eight sites.

Ameresco to Build Power Plant Using Republic Landfill Gas

Silicon Valley Power has signed a long-term power purchase agreement to purchase the renewable energy captured from Republic Services’ Vasco Road Landfill in Livermore, Calif.

Muskegon County Wastewater System Seeks Utility-scale Wind Developers

The system has 11,000 acres near Lake Michigan it would like to develop as a wind farm.

COMFEDE Standard Contributes to Improving Smart Grid Reliability

The interoperability standard defining a Common Format for Event Data Exchange helps utilities integrate and analyze fault and disturbance conditions from multiple vendors’ devices.

Movable Solar Panels Can Precisely Track the Sun

Photovoltaic modules equipped with a moveable mounting and a new control system from Siemens are able to precisely follow the course of the sun.

Agency Seeks Input for Common-sense Design of GHG Rules

EPA has slated five listening sessions related to updating the Clean Air Act's pollution standards for power plants and refineries.



SFPUC OKs Calaveras Dam Replacement in Water Improvement Program

After seven years, San Francisco's Planning Commission certified the project's environmental impact report for work that is designed to improve Bay Area water supply in the Alameda Creek habitat.

Energy-efficient Intelligent House Monitors Health

An energy-efficient house that can send alerts if its residents are ill has been developed by researchers at the University of Hertfordshire.

Australia Coal-fired Plant to Test OriginOil Algae Oil Extraction System

MBD Energy, owner of three CO2-to-energy projects, will pilot the extraction unit.

Prarie Cordgrass

Scientists Develop Preliminary "Genetic Map" of Cellulosic Ethanol Crop

The first rough draft of a “genetic road map” of prairie cordgrass, a biomass crop, is giving scientists an inside look at the genes of one of the crops that may help produce the next generation of biofuels.

Turbine Spacing May Be Reason for Underperforming Wind Farms

A new spacing formula based on wind tunnel testing recommends turbines be spaced 15 rotor diameters apart, more than half the current standard.

Liz Kujawinski, left, and colleague Melissa Kido Soule work on oil dispersant study in WHOI Fourier-Transform Mass Spectrometry Facility. Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Woods Hole Dispersant Study Suggests Prolonged Deepwater Fate

The good news is that the dispersant stayed in the deep ocean after it was first applied; the bad news is that it stayed in the deep ocean and did not degrade.

Keerthi Venkataramanan

Bacteria Eats Glycerol and Makes New Products

A University of Alabama graduate student is using Clostidium pasteurianum bacteria to break down a biodiesel waste product and find uses for its byproducts: butanol, propanediol, and ethanol.

AWEA: U.S. Wind Energy Industry Now Cost-competitive with Natural Gas

America's wind industry built 5,115 megawatts of wind power last year, barely half of 2009's record pace, but entered 2011 with more than 5,600 megawatts currently under construction -- and with wind cost-competitive with natural gas for new electric generation, utilities are moving to lock in favorable rates.

Personal Solar Panels Could Make Electricity More Accessible in the Developing World

The founders of June Energy developed the Emerald, a personal solar panel the size of a paperback, that can be used in developing countries.

Office of Naval Research, Marine Corps Have Reduced Petroleum, Energy Use in Afghanistan

To cut down on convoys trucking fuel to forward operating bases, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and elements within the Marine Corps have successfully demonstrated their goal to reduce petroleum and energy usage in remote locations in Afghanistan.

More than 24 million Americans have asthma.

NRDC: Lawmakers' Actions against Clean Air Will Put Children at Risk

The Natural Resources Defense Council and Health Care Without Harm say that efforts to block EPA's carbon dioxide pollution actions will result in adverse health consequences.

CarSharing Industry Forms Association to Drive Best Practices

Founding members are signatories to the Carsharing Industry Code of Ethics and Standards of Practices, which articulates the purpose, definition, and goals of carsharing.