September 28, 2009

Global leaders have wrapped up their presentations to the United Nations. But the question before their respective constituencies is whether the fanfare that they created will carry forward.

While the UN's global warming experts are all pushing hard to force countries to tackle the reduction of heat-trapping emissions head on, the reality is that key countries are becoming ensnared in their own domestic issues. It likely means that the upcoming talks to take place in Copenhagen in December will result in a launch pad for more serious discussions to occur later as opposed to a time and place where the world made hard and firm commitments to resolve the matter.

September 23, 2009

Wisconsin's largest electric utility says that it will ask permission to build a 50-megawatt wood-burning power plant that would go into operation in 2013. It is part of the state's renewable energy mandate and it would be the third such biomass facility announced there this year in what could become a trend in certain regions.

Wood-burning power plants have some key advantages over types of renewable energy programs and namely that such generators are not subject to the whims of the weather -- that they can remain running as long as the wood gets shoveled into the furnace. And in many parts of the nation, such agricultural products are abundant.

September 16, 2009

Solar panels have never been cheaper. But that development may not be welcome news for the industry unless it is able to sell more units.

While it's all generally good for consumers who will see the cost of installing solar at their homes fall dramatically, it's potentially troubling for solar manufacturers that have excess inventories. Altogether, solar system installation prices have dropped by 50 percent from a year ago and mostly because of unsold systems.

September 09, 2009

Wind power's potential could be improved if developers had better forecasting tools. Knowing about when, where and how fast the wind blows is one thing. But being able to more accurately make those assessments is clearly a cut above.

As it stands now, if the estimates are off and the wind takes a hiatus, utilities must crank up their backup generation and their production costs will rise as a result. The issue will invariably compound itself as state mandates force power companies to provide more wind power. By taking years of real weather data and modeling it to fit a specific location, however, forecasters say that they can come within a few percentage points of what the actual results will be -- even years down the road.

August 24, 2009

Americans have been given a respite from the constant dribble of bad news. And so have the country's entrepreneurs. As the nation's gross domestic product is stabilizing, investment in start-ups is considerably picking up.

It's due in part to more optimism about what the future holds. It's also because of the massive government stimulus plan passed early this year. That package was enacted to not just to stop the bleeding of the country's collective wealth but also to spawn the next-generation of technologies and jobs, specifically those centered on green energy and innovation. And according to the president's men and women, it is working.