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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… Around the States: Arizona Back-Steps, Vermont To Retire Nuke… Around the States: Wyoming Wants Wind Tax Hawaiian Regulators Approve ‘Decoupling’ To Support Renewables Darden Restaurants, Office Depot Announce LEED Initiatives TD Bank Goes Carbon Neutral Whale Wars Continue Australia Threatens Japan With Legal Action on Whaling Draft Plan Would End Whaling Ban Plus, a summary of the week’s top cleantech headlines. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com
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$1.4B in Loan Guarantees to BrightSource Energy EIS Issued for 750 MW Solar Two Project Biofuel Options Expand as Science Taps New Sources U.S. Utilities Spent $5.3B on 2009 Efficiency Programs Winter Olympics Sets Public Transit Records Copenhagen Accord Pledges Fall Short $1.4 Billion in Loan Guarantees to BrightSource Energy DOE announced on February 22 its conditional commitments for $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to BrightSource Energy, Inc. in support of the construction and start-up of three utility-scale concentrated solar power plants (CSP) in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California. The loan guarantee is funded under the Recovery Act and is predicated on BrightSource meeting financial and environmental requirements. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is leading a federal review of the project with support from DOE. Pending local, state, and federal regulatory approval, the plants will generate 400 MW of electricity. This output would nearly double the existing generation capacity of U.S. CSP facilities. The Ivanpah Solar Complex will be located on federally owned land near the Nevada border and will be the world’s largest operational CSP complex. BrightSource will employ solar tower technology, using thousands of flat mirrors, or "heliostats," to concentrate the sun’s heat onto a receiver […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… Breaking News: UN Climate Secretary Resigning Texas, Chamber of Commerce Challenge EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Finding Arizona Abandons Western Cap-And-Trade Initiative BP, ConocoPhillips Pull Out of Climate Action Partnership New USDA Rules Praised By Organic Farmers Plus, a summary of the week’s top cleantech headlines. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com
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In 2009, investors didn’t have to be great stock pickers to see their stocks rise, but some sectors (and stocks) performed much better than others. Although clean energy stocks rose about 40%, that only reversed about a third of the losses from 2008. Energy efficiency, grid and energy storage stocks were the place to be, pre-empting more "traditional" clean energy solar and wind stocks. 2009 winners had spectacular share price performance, including: LED Lighting: Cree (255%) and Dialight (100%) Smart Grid: EnerNOC (308%); Comverge (128.6%) Energy Efficiency: Johnson Controls (64.64%); Baldor Electric (57%) Energy Storage: BYD Company (439%); Maxwell Technologies (252%). Geothermal Heat Pumps: LSB Industries (69.9%); WaterFurnace (60.22%) Let’s look at the green stock landscape through some of the leading green Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). When we look at the performance of green ETFs in 2009, most rose 30-40%, easily beating the S&P at 28.8%, but underperforming the Nasdaq at 43.9% and a multitude of individual stocks. Still, ETFs are a great, inexpensive place to invest for those hesitant to pick stocks. For investors not very familiar with the advantages of ETFs, they have the compelling advantages of being convenient, low cost, diversified, transparent and liquid investment vehicles. Over […]
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Obama Administration Launches $130M Building Efficiency Effort 16 Tribes Earn Bonding Authority for Renewable Energy Facilities SMUD Receives Huge Response for Feed-in-Tariff Cellulosic Ethanol Facilities Sprout Up in 4 States 2009 Global Investments in Clean Energy Fell Less than Expected Obama Administration Launches $130M Building Efficiency Effort The Obama Administration announced on February 12 a multi-agency initiative to spur regional economic growth while making buildings more energy efficient. Seven federal agencies issued a combined Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) of up to $129.7 million over five years to create a regional research center. The center will develop new building efficiency technologies and work with local partners to implement them in local buildings. DOE is providing up to $22 million in the first year, and as much as $100 million over the next four years. The agencies are working together to leverage funding and resources to promote regional growth through an Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (E-RIC) that’s centered on an Energy Innovation Hub. The hub, one of three funded by Congress in fiscal year 2010, is focused on developing new technologies to improve the design of energy-efficient building systems. The E-RIC will be based at a university, DOE national laboratory, nonprofit organization, […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… Senate Bill Aims For 10 Million Rooftop Solar Systems Senate Bill Creates Cap-And-Trade for SO2, NOx Plus, a summary of the week’s top cleantech headlines. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com
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Obama Announces Steps to Boost Biofuels Biomass Crop Assistance to Spur Renewables 10,000 MW Wind Installed in 2009 Geothermal Grew 6% in 2009 GM to Build Electric Motors, Components in Baltimore Florida Company Donates Solar Lights to Haiti SEC: Businesses Should Disclose Climate Change Impacts President Obama Announces Steps to Boost Biofuels President Obama announced on February 3 three actions the federal government is taking to boost U.S. biofuels production. The measures include: a final rule from the U.S. EPA to implement the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) of 36 billion gallons by 2022; a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which provides financing to increase the production of biomass for bioenergy (see article below); and the release of Growing America’s Fuel, the first report from the president’s Biofuels Interagency Working Group. The report lays out a strategy to advance the development and commercialization of a sustainable biofuels industry. The primary measure is the change in the RFS program, required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which mandates that biofuels production will grow from last year’s 11.1 billion gallons to 36 billion gallons in 2022. The 2022 goal requires […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… Climate and Energy in Obama’s State of the Union Obama Announces $8B for High-Speed Rail Development Obama’s Nuclear Plans Draw Sharp Criticism Radioactive Leaks Draw Attention to Aging Nuclear Reactors in US Obama’s Budget Request Ups DOE Spending Federal Government to Cut Emissions 28% By 2020 EPA Includes Land-Use Changes in Renewable Fuels Standard New Seattle Ordinance Will Identify Energy-Wasting Buildings Plus, a summary of the week’s top cleantech headlines. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com
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When it comes to the environment, many view the Obama Administration’s record as related to two areas: energy and climate legislation; and the clean energy and efficiency provisions of the Recovery Act. Beyond the very impressive funds disbursed by the Department of Energy (DOE), we hear little about what’s happening in the many government agencies that also address the multitude of environmental issues our nation faces. This article summarizes a white paper produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that outlines the remarkable number of actions Obama and his administration have taken during their first year. They have done more to protect the environment this year than in the past decade under the Bush Administration, when the environment took a back seat to every single corporate interest. While much work remains, the level of protection has been raised in many areas and much of the damage from the previous administration has been reversed. Just today (end of January), President Obama signed an executive order requiring the federal government to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 28% by 2020. The federal government is the nation’s single largest energy consumer and GHG emitter and spends $25 billion a year on energy […]
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Feds to Cut GHG Emissions 28% by 2020 DOE: $2.4B for Clean Energy, Efficiency in FY 2011 Budget Ag, Interior Departments Propose Boosts for Clean Energy Funding DOE, EPA Join States to Speed Progress on U.S. Energy Efficiency Transportation Dept Awards $8B for High-Speed Rail DOE Closes $1.4B Loan to Nissan Under the Copenhagen Accord, 55 Countries Agree to Cut GHG Emissions Federal Government to Cut GHG Emissions 28% by 2020 President Obama announced that the federal government-the largest energy consumer in the U.S. economy-will achieve a 28% reduction in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2020. The president issued the Executive Order on October 5, 2009, requiring each federal agency to submit by January 4 a 2020 target for reducing its GHG emissions from its estimated 2008 baseline. The new target is the aggregate of those set by 35 federal departments and agencies. As a next step, the Office of Management and Budget will validate and score each agency’s sustainability plan, assuring a long-term return on investment to the U.S. taxpayer. To ensure accountability, progress will be measured and reported to the public annually. See the White House press release and the Executive Order (PDF 87 KB). Achieving the […]
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