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What does "energy policy" mean to you? Does it conjure up questions of national security and terrorism? Or is it more about promoting cheap, renewable fuels? Maybe your take is about climate change and reducing greenhouse gases? Despite the various interpretations of the issue, or perhaps because of them, energy policy ranked high on the priority lists of voters of both parties on Nov. 4. Much of the interest can be attributed to the record run-up in oil and gasoline prices earlier in the year, which have since fallen off by about half, but increased awareness of climate change also played a big role.

The GENI Initiative focuses on linking renewable energy resources around the world using international electricity transmission.

tullamarine interchange, tullamarine solar power, solar power, solar sound barrier, solar power barrier, sound-proof solar panels, noise reduction solar barriers In the search for a solar solution to power our cities, one of our biggest obstacles is the massive acreage required by conventional arrays. Photovoltaic panels are flat and expansive, and urban centers are at a serious loss for free space. Now Australian renewable energy retailer Going Solar has conceived of a clever strategy that infuses urban transit systems with energy producing potential - install solar panels in highways as sound barriers!

Feed-in Tariffs in 70 words or less: Government and power utility offers premium, long-term contracts to residential, commercial, and industrial citizens to generate power on-site. Rates are based on the cost of buying and installing various renewable energy systems, but only paid on actual power produced. Citizens purchase back grid power, as per usual, from utility at regular prices. Increase in cost is paid for with a small surcharge to all electricity ratepayers.

The world is finally doing something about climate change. People are changing their light bulbs and buying hybrid vehicles. Renewable energy is gaining ground. But is this enough? Policy-makers insist that environmental responsibility not come at the expense of economic growth. Massive populations in China and India are playing catch-up with America's consuming and polluting ways. And on a planet biologists believe can only support a few billion humans over the long haul, our population is near seven billion and continuing to rise. Will our efforts to save the planet be nullified by our worship of growth?

The current energy crisis has made American voters look more favorably on a wide range of ideas that can be used to deal with our energy problems. But voters don't favor all of these ideas equally; they have clear views on which approaches they think will work best. Consider these data from a recent Quinnipiac University poll of voters in four key swing states: Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency David Rodgers today announced the launch of DOE's Zero-Net Energy Commercial Building Initiative (CBI) with establishment of the National Laboratory Collaborative on Building Technologies Collaborative (NLCBT). These two efforts both focus on DOE's ongoing efforts to develop marketable Zero-Net Energy Commercial Buildings, buildings that use cutting-edge efficiency technologies and on-site renewable energy generation to offset their energy use from the electricity grid by 2025.

The search for sustainable energy will dominate the twenty-first century. This unit provides an introductory overview of the present energy systems and takes a brief look at where the world may find energy in the future - cleaner use of fossil fuels or renewable energy sources?

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Department of Energy (DOE); and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Department of the Interior (DOI), are preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to evaluate utility-scale solar energy development, to develop and implement Agency-specific programs that would establish environmental policies and mitigation strategies for solar energy projects, and to amend relevant Agency land use plans with the consideration of establishing a new BLM solar energy development program.

Pioneering effort alters 'food vs. fuel' debate, supports American energy independence with revolutionary platform that harnesses microorganisms, sunlight, CO2 Leading investors commit over $50 million to scale effort; production innovator Brian Goodall hired, team leader behind first biofuel 747 flight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday blocked debate of a bill to offer about $17.7 billion in tax incentives for consumers to build renewable energy sources like windmills and solar arrays, and buy plug-in cars that run on electricity rather than gasoline.

We also believe that people make better choices when they have information to help them, especially if the information is easy to understand and easy to find. Determining the greenness of a product can be a complex task; to form an accurate picture, the following kinds of questions must be answered: * The materials within the product: Are they harmful to the environment? Where were they sourced, and at what environmental cost? Are they renewable resources? Are the materials recycled? How much transportation is involved in getting the materials to the manufacturer? * The manufacturing process: How much energy was consumed in creating the product? What kind and how much waste is created in making the product? Is this waste reused in any way? If not, how is it disposed? * Product usage: Does using the product release any pollutants into the environment? How much energy is consumed while using the product? What is the average life expectancy of the product? * Product disposal: Can the product be recycled? Does the manufacturer have a recycling program? Is the product bio-degradable? Considering all these factors is enough to make anyone's head spin! That's why Greener One created a way for people to compare products on an environmental basis and to share product information with one another. A variety of factors for each product are converted into a simple "green index" score that can be easily understood by anyone. How Green Index is Calculated Greener One was created by a group of technology veterans committed to the idea that people who are empowered with information can change the world. We put the tools in your hands to make the right decisions, to share your knowledge and to open conversations with companies about the products that they produce. Everything you consume has an impact; Greener One gives you the knowledge to determine the size of your environmental footprint.

KINGSTON, Ontario, Jun 25 (IPS) - North America's abject failure to meet the challenge of climate change has been "un-American", environmentalist and scientist David Suzuki told delegates Tuesday at the World Wind Energy Conference, the first ever in the region. "We're facing an ecological crisis, a crisis far, far worse than Pearl Harbour," Suzuki said. Twenty years ago this week, one of the United States' leading scientists warned Congress of the imminent danger of climate change and said that waiting decades to take action was too risky. Now James E. Hansen of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has published new research indicating that greenhouse gas concentrations have pushed the climate near a dangerous tipping point that will unleash far-reaching changes in the atmosphere and oceans that could take millennia to reverse.

LONDON: The government opened a major new phase on Wednesday in its drive for renewable energy, calling for bids to build up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind turbines, triple the amount in the pipeline. The announcement by the government agency, the Crown Estate, which owns the seabed surrounding the country was welcomed by British Wind Energy Association chairman Adam Bruce as "impressively bold."

Electricity from geothermal sources is set to soar in Germany -- and all thanks to a law that has made drilling wells deep enough to hit the hot temperature water, which is needed to produce electricity, financially viable. Less than 0.4 percent of Germany's total primary energy supply came from geothermal sources in 2004. But after a renewable energy law that introduced a tariff scheme of EU €0.15 [US $0.23] per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity produced from geothermal sources came into effect that year, a construction boom was sparked and the new power plants are now starting to come online.

June 5, 2008 -- Solar power from Africa's deserts could supply all 600 million citizens currently without electricity and even export power to Europe, a green energy conference in Nairobi heard Thursday. The ferocious desert sun could provide the energy equivalent of 1.5 barrels of oil per square kilometer, said Gerhard Knies, project manager for Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), at a meeting of nine African states.

Texas, headquarters of America's oil industry, is about to stake a fortune on wind power. In what experts say is the biggest investment in the clean and renewable energy in U.S. history, utility officials in the Lone Star State gave preliminary approval Thursday to a $4.9 billion plan to build new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from gusty West Texas to urban areas like Dallas.

An underwater turbine that generates electricity from tidal streams was plugged into the UK's national grid today. It marks the first time a commercial-scale underwater turbine has fed power into the network and the start of a new source of renewable energy for the UK.

Converting livestock manure into a domestic renewable fuel source could generate enough electricity to meet up to three per cent of North America's entire consumption needs and lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), according to new research.

Last week, Vice President Al Gore presented the American people with a challenge: meet 100% of our electricity needs through renewable energy within 10 years. Al would be the first to acknowledge this is not a minor task. And yet it is an urgent one, a challenge that will require a transformation in how we invest our time and money, and how we view ourselves.