Energy

Energy

We won’t kill again, promises National Grid

National Grid shut off power to a New Hampshire woman who needed oxygen. She died and an investigation continues. The company changed its policy on disconnections after learning that it faced possible criminal charges…

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New Jersey solar incentives the best in US

New Jersey is the sunniest state in America, offering solar energy incentives for residential systems that can pay for themselves in as little as three years.
The state is second only to California in the number of homes outfitted with solar technology, drawing so many applicants for generous rebates in May that the Board of Public Utilities has put new requests on hold.
New Jersey is the only state to mandate a Solar Alternative Compliance Payment, essentially a penalty a utility must pay if the company does not reach its SREC target. To make that goal, utilities buy these green-energy credits from consumers and businesses.
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Solar Hydrogen building

A zero-emission and self-powering building to be driven by solar-powered hydrogen energy is planned for
Griffith University in Australia. Deputy vice-chancellor Professor Ned Pankhurst described the  $33 million teaching and research building, due for completion in 2012, as a showcase for “breakthrough technology”.
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Energy

Renewable Energy training

Here is a listing of some of the best Renewable Energy training courses around the United States. For a more thorough list, visit the Renewable Energy Training Catalog published by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

Also, check out this blog series from Mother Earth News contributing editor Dan Chiras about finding a green job in the field of renewable energy.

Solar Education Programs

The Evergreen Institute’s Center for Renewable Energy and Green Building

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Energy

India’s off-grid whiz-kids

Off-Grid ideas are flowing from the classrooms of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford and Virginia University into commercial products in rural India.
Here’s a look at how a new generation of off-grid whiz-kids are creating affordable, scaleable, high-tech business models to improve quality of life in rural India.

An extraordinary bunch of entrepreneurs is attempting projects ranging from rural electrification to solar-powered refrigeration systems.…

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Energy

Giant UK Green Investment Bank

The UK Government plans to launch a £1,000 billion ($1.44 Trillion) Green Investment Bank today. The Queen’s Speech, setting out the legislation for the next parliament, will include the Green Bank, which will be massively upgraded from the puny £2bn affair that the previous Labour government had been planning. It will be part of the Energy Security and Green Economy Bill.

There is expected to be a government-backed Green bond issuance to kick-start the anticipated programmes, focusing on investments with stable revenue schemes, such as the Feed-in tarrif for home-produced electricity.

Several senior Executives are vying to run the new bank, which will have a capitalisation of up to £20 billion, injected by the government at a rate of £2 billion per year.  It will then leverage that capital to gain up to fifty times that funding from the private sector. The European Investment Bank operates on the same principle…

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Energy

Dow’s chemical home – its green, but is it toxic?

Midland 21 May — The Dow Chemical Co. has launched a show-home that it contends will eliminate utility bills, but at what price?

The 3,400-square-foot “Vision Zero” home in Bay City, Mi will produce as much energy as it consumes – using Dow Chemicals products, from Styrofoam to insulate the basement to Powerhouse Solar Shingles to generate solar power on the roof.  But the effect on health has not  been measured by the company.
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Energy

Piggy power (aka Anaerobic digesters)

Anaerobic Digestion could transform the economics of livestock production and save energy, according to a packed workshop at the 2010 British Pig & Poultry Fair.Across Europe there are more than 4,000 anaerobic digester plants, but only 25 in the UK.…

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