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Perhaps it's not surprising that balmy Hawaii is home to a company that's pushing the envelope of solar thermal technology. Start-up Sopogy, based in Honolulu, has taken the basic design of large solar thermal power plants and shrunk it down so it can fit on a building's roof.

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.

Warnecke, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California, has been generating lots of attention lately for his work with termites. The insects are remarkably efficient at turning cellulose into sugar-the first step in making fuel from plants like switchgrass or poplar trees. Scientists can't compete with termites.

BPA - Elliot Mainzer takes the key role in developing energy agency policy on climate change, planning and renewables As renewable energy becomes a bigger slice of the Northwest's energy pie, few institutions have as important a role to play as the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that markets electricity generated at 31 dams and a nuclear plant in the region. BPA's regionwide web of transmission lines delivers electrons generated at wind farms east of the Cascades to power-hungry consumers in the Willamette Valley. The agency's flexibility to modulate electricity production at dams on the Columbia allows utilities to safely feed their spiky supply of wind energy onto the grid.

Federal policy-makers have taken few of the steps necessary if greenhouse emissions from coal-fired power plants are to be captured and stored underground, according to a new government report. Coal industry backers are banking that "carbon capture and storage" will allow the industry to survive efforts to control global climate change. But the U.S. Government Accountability Office report, released this week, adds to growing concerns that the technology isn't ready now - and might not be for a long time.

- U.S. producers of solar power will no longer need federal subsidies within eight years because by then solar power will cost less than electricity generated by conventional power plants, industry players said this week. The U.S. government recently extended tax breaks for wind and solar producers for another eight years. They are set to expire in 2016.

The US could replace all its cars and trucks with electric cars powered by wind turbines taking up less than 3 square kilometres - in theory, at least. That's the conclusion of a detailed study ranking 11 types of non-fossil fuels according to their total ecological footprint and their benefit to human health. The study, carried out by Mark Jacobson of the atmosphere and energy programme at Stanford University, found wind power to be by far the most desirable source of energy. Biofuels from corn and plant waste came right at the bottom of the list, along with nuclear power and "clean" coal.

The best ways to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution are blowing in the wind and rippling in the water, not growing on prairies or glowing inside nuclear power plants, says Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. And "clean coal," which involves capturing carbon emissions and sequestering them in the earth, is not clean at all, he asserts.

The second Environmental Hall of Fame ceremony will be held in Chicago beginning tomorrow through Saturday, Nov. 20-22. Among the environmental celebrities to be honored are Pierc Brosnan (James Bond) and his wife, who have been activists in the movement. Two of the New Energy Congress' Global Top 100 Clean Energy Technology companies will also receive awards: Stirling Energy Systems, a concentrated solar technology that heats a highly-efficient Stirling engine, has been in first place in the Top 100 for over a year. Green Power Inc., which is commencing commercial production of a 100 ton per day municipal waste-to-diesel plant, recently rose to 15th place on the Top 100 list.

Granted, the risk that a nuclear reactor might fail today is fairly small on a per plant basis. "clean coal", because this source of energy is our most abundant and cheap.

Coal plants are abundant in the United States. According to the Department of Energy they produce around 49% of the energy that we use.

CleanTechnica has a post from San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom on the city's proposal to build a wave power plant offshore - Wave Energy to Bring Power and Jobs to San Francisco. Today, San Francisco took a meaningful step toward turning the promise of renewable ocean energy into reality. We submitted a preliminary permit application to the federal government to develop a wave power project off our coast that we believe can generate between 10 to 30 megawatts of energy, with potential of up to 100 megawatts. When this project is fully operational, upwards of 100 jobs could be created in San Francisco. Ocean power is a true "game changer" in the area of renewable energy. When wave and tidal power technologies reach commercial scale, they are expected to be able to provide thousands of megawatts of power to our coastal communities, dramatically green our energy portfolios and create thousands of new American jobs. In San Francisco, we've been doing our part to spur these technologies by aggressively advancing tidal and wave power pilot projects. We are 100% committed to this challenge. Wave power is not a new concept. In 1887, San Francisco Mayor Adolph Sutro recognized the power of San Francisco's waves and built a wave catch-basin to harness the ocean's power. Over the next century wave power development took a backseat to our dependence on oil, with oil platforms built along our coasts to feed our oil addiction.

The Alliance to Save Energy hailed new Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) legislation, introduced today by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), as effective federal policy that would reduce consumers' energy use and therefore costs; cut global warming pollution; and supplant the need for new power plants to meet rising energy demand. The Save American Energy Act would cut electricity and natural gas demand and, in combination with another newly introduced Markey bill creating a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), create more than a half million jobs and save U.S. consumers more than $180 billion, according to Markey's office.

California's utilities are in a tight spot. They're mandated to procure 20 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by the end of next year. Currently, renewable energy provides only 12 percent of the state's needs. Green energy is needed, and fast. Where to get it? The southeastern corner of California is becoming the state's Wild West of renewable energy. Five years from now this patch of desert will hold one of the largest solar thermal plants in the world. An area of 10 square miles will be filled with 38,000 "sun catchers," which look like enormous satellite dishes with mirrors.

SunEdison has activated a 1.2-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) energy system for Progress Energy Carolinas. Sited on 10 acres of land at Progress Energy's Sutton Plant near Wilmington, the 1.2-MW ground mount system is the largest in North Carolina. SunEdison financed, built, and operates the PV solar energy system. Progress Energy purchases electricity from SunEdison under a 20-year solar energy purchase agreement. Progress Energy also purchases renewable energy credits from SunEdison.

Carbon sequestration is on the forefront of the fight against carbon dioxide. By sequestrating carbon dioxide, it can be stored and prevented from entering the atmosphere.

President Obama's proposed $9.9 billion Energy Department budget contains up to $28 million for a Pantex wind farm that would be designed to meet the nuclear weapons plant's energy needs. The Pantex Renewable Energy Project would be built on land in the vicinity of the plant and could generate surplus electrical power that could be sold to utilities, according to budget documents. Preliminary plans call for the wind farm to be built by 2012. The project's overall scope would depend on future funding, but plans call for enough wind turbines to generate up to 75 megawatts of electrical generating capacity. Initial funding would only support construction of a 10- to 15-megawatt system.

Hot on the heels of the release of the NRDC's renewable energy map, we have another piece of first-rate energy geek eye candy: NPR: Power Hungry: Visualizing The U.S. Electric Grid. This map will let you check different sources (with separate maps for wind and solar, in addition to traditional sources), and toggle transmission lines and other features on and off. My only gripe is that you can't zoom the maps, which in some cases makes it a challenge to click on the circle for a particular power plant.

I read U.S. opens way for wind power off coast and wondered "what's in it for me"? The federal government has cleared the way for developers to plant wind farms in offshore waters on the Outer Continental Shelf, a move that could have a significant impact for North Carolina. ... Eventually, the regulations could help shape energy production in North Carolina, where the Outer Banks jut sharply into the Atlantic. The area has some of the strongest and steadiest winds on the East Coast, according to a report from the U.S. Department of the Interior. ... In a scheme similar to some offshore oil and gas drilling leases, states would get about 27 percent of the revenue sent to the federal government from offshore wind and hydrokinetics leases.