Eco20/20

With the economy spiraling downward and pink slips being handed out left and right, many people are finding that small living is smart living.

President Obama today announced over $467 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to expand and accelerate the development, deployment, and use of geothermal and solar energy throughout the United States. The funding announced today represents a substantial down payment that will help the solar and geothermal industries overcome technical barriers, demonstrate new technologies, and provide support for clean energy jobs for years to come. Today's announcement supports the Obama Administration's strategy to increase American economic competiveness, while supporting jobs and moving toward a clean energy economy. "We have a choice. We can remain the world's leading importer of oil, or we can become the world's leading exporter of clean energy," said President Obama. "We can hand over the jobs of the future to our competitors, or we can confront what they have already recognized as the great opportunity of our time: the nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. That's the nation I want America to be."

China is planning a stimulus package worth 440 billion dollars to expand its renewable energy use, state media said, as the country aims to rely more on cleaner ways to power its growth. The three trillion yuan (439.7 billion dollars) investment will see part of the focus on wind power, the Beijing Morning Post said, citing Liang Zhipeng, a State Energy Administration official. The government has collected opinions from local economic planning agencies and relevant companies about a draft plan, Liang said, according to the report. Under the plan, China's wind power capacity will reach over 100 gigawatts by 2020, the report said, more than triple a goal of 30 gigawatts announced in 2007 in a renewable energy development plan.

Technology Review has an update on cheap, energy efficient OLED lighting - Ultra-Efficient Organic LEDs. An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) developed in Germany has the potential to produce the same quality of white light as incandescent bulbs but with power efficiencies considerably better than even fluorescent lighting. The prototype OLED could emerge as an ultra-efficient light source for displays and general lighting, says Sebastian Reineke, who led the research at the Institute for Applied Photophysics, in Dresden, Germany. The long-term goal is to fabricate the device using conventional low-cost roll-to-roll printing. In recent years, many countries have begun looking to switch from incandescent lighting to compact fluorescent bulbs because the latter are so much more energy efficient. There has also been a lot of interest in using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for displays and general lighting, again because of the potential energy savings they offer. But with both fluorescent and LED lighting, the quality of white light produced has always left something to be desired. Fluorescent lighting can make people appear unhealthy because less red light is emitted, while most white LEDs on the market today have a bluish quality, making them appear cold.

The 2008 figures are in from the new REN 21 Renewables Global Status Report: Renewable power capacity (excluding large hydropower) increased a hefty 16 percent last year, which is remarkable given that world oil use actually declined. Growth in some renewable sectors was even more impressive. Biodiesel production increased 34 percent, and solar power took the prize with a 73 percent jump. Renewable energy has not entirely escaped the impact of the global recession - growth this year will almost certainly be slower - but it is clear that global energy markets have turned a corner. Political support and business investment in new energy sources have reached the point where the new industries appear hard to stop. REN 21 reports that 64 nations now have policies to promote renewable power generation. Scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs across the globe are responding with unprecedented innovation. Overnight, the energy business has begun to resemble the I.T. industry more than it does the energy industry of the past.

Renewable Energy World has a report on a new Scottish wind farm - Europe's Largest Onshore Wind Farm Is Switched on in Scotland. Today, the final phase of Europe's largest onshore wind farm is being turned on in Scotland. The 322-megawatt (MW), 140-turbine Whitelee wind farm was built by ScottishPower Renewables, which is part of the Spanish power business Iberdrola. In Spain and internationally, the Iberdrola Group, is the world's largest developer of wind power, with nearly 9700 MW of installed capacity. The wind farm uses Siemens 2.3-MW machines. Positioned 370 meters (1200 feet) above sea level, 15 kilometers (9 miles) outside of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, the new wind farm has over half a million people living within a 30-km radius of it. It's one of the first large-scale wind farms to be constructed close to a large population center. The first phase of the wind farm started feeding power into the grid in January 2008.

a brief review about the risk factors of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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An open letter from Mother Earth. Please read this.

Cap and trade is being discussed in the halls of the U.S. Congress. It is one of the touchiest subjects that are on the docket to be voted on.

Identifying the different areas of growth within this new green push will help the current unemployed gain leverage with the economy gets better.

Global wind capacity increased an estimated 27,051 megawatts in 2008, with cumulative installations up almost 29 percent. The United States led in new installations, surpassing Germany to rank first in wind energy cumulative capacity and electricity generation. Nearly 400,000 people are employed by the wind industry worldwide, though this number could slide in the near term due to project financing difficulties, particularly in the United States. A new snapshot of wind energy trends from Worldwatch Institute analyzes data since 1980 and reveals that for the first time last year, wind power represented Europe's leading source of new electric capacity (with 8,877 megawatts added), well ahead of natural gas at 6,939 MW and coal at 763 MW.

DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar have announced that they will invest EUR 2.2 billion (US $3 billion) in building the first 630-megawatt (MW) phase of the London Array offshore wind farm in England's Thames Estuary. The wind farm is set to be build the world's largest offshore wind farm. The consortium hopes the first phase of 630 MW will be completed and generating in 2012. The first phase will consist of 175 turbines. The announcement comes after the UK Government's recent proposal to increase its support for offshore wind power. The partners are satisfied that the project is now financially viable and are now keen to push ahead with construction and to produce the first renewable power in 2012. Onshore work is now due to start in the summer, with offshore work due to start in early 2011.

TreeHugger has a post on a solar thermal power plant planned for Arizona (Which isn't the largest announced, but how many of these get built in the short term remains to be seen) - Largest Solar Plant in the World Coming to Arizona ?. Could be--details are still emerging and sketchy, but it looks like one of the world's biggest solar projects will find its home in Arizona. The proposed 340 megawatt system would use advanced parabolic trough technology, and would cost over $2 billion--and yes, it would take advantage of stimulus funding. Looks like Arizona's becoming a hotbed for solar power indeed--this would be the fourth solar plant in Mohave County, AZ alone. Here are the whispered details: Mohave Sun Power and Albiasa Solar are the companies behind the ambitious installation, and they'll be using the same technology as another recently proposed massive solar project: