Eco20/20

Today the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the award of 16 new Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) that could result in up to $80 billion in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation projects at federally-owned buildings and facilities. ESPCs help to meet the federal government's energy efficiency, water conservation, and renewable energy goals. The federal government is the largest single user of energy in the United States and these awards demonstrate a commitment to sound government stewardship by recognizing efforts to save energy, reduce federal energy costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions, bring more cutting-edge technologies to use, strengthen national security, and create a stronger economy.

While harnessing more energy from the wind could help satisfy growing demands for electricity and reduce emissions of global-warming gases, turbulence from proposed wind farms could adversely affect the growth of crops in the surrounding countryside. Solutions to this, and other problems presented by wind farms - containing huge wind turbines, each standing taller than a 60-story building and having blades more than 300 feet long - can be found blowin' in the wind, a University of Illinois researcher says.

Shin Abe doesn't find it odd that the picturesque little Japanese town of Kuzumaki, where he has lived all his life, generates some of its electricity with cow dung. Nor is the 15-year-old middle school student blown away by the vista of a dozen wind turbines spinning atop the forested peak of nearby Mt. Kamisodegawa. And it's old news to Abe that his school gets 25% of its power from an array of 420 solar panels located near the campus. "That's the way it's been," he shrugs. "It's natural." To Abe, it is. But the blase teen has grown up in an alternative universe - one that might be envisioned by Al Gore. That's because Kuzumaki (population 8,000) has over the past decade transformed itself into a living laboratory for the development of sustainable and diversified energy sources. "When I was growing up, all we had [to generate power] was oil," says Kazunori Fukasawaguchi, a Kuzumaki native who now serves in local government. "I never imagined this kind of change." (Read TIME's Top 10 Green Ideas of 2008.)

A MAJOR criticism of wind farms is that they are intermittent. Wind does not blow consistently and, as a result they do not provide a continuous supply of power, but must be backed up by conventional fossil fuel plants. However, a renewables firm believes it has hit on a solution, and is hoping to use it in Scotland. A hydrogen plant would store energy from the wind farm, creating a reserve that could be dipped into on demand, so that even when the wind was not blowing, an electricity supply would be available.

Nanosolar, a heavily financed Silicon Valley start-up whose backers include Google's co-founders, plans to announce Tuesday that it has begun selling its innovative solar panels, which are made using a technique that is being held out as the future of solar power manufacturing. The company, which has raised $150 million and built a 200,000-square-foot factory here, is developing a new manufacturing process that "prints" photovoltaic material on aluminum backing, a process the company says will reduce the manufacturing cost of the basic photovoltaic module by more than 80 percent.

This book is part of a course which was offered at MIT and is part of there Open Course Work project. This is important for learning what is going on, and why, in the International community concerning Climate Change, and International cooperation.

The South Korean government has allocated 18.3 trillion won (about US$14.2 billion) for an energy efficiency initiative that will run until 2012 and save 34.2 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe). The goal is an 11.3% improvement in energy efficiency by 2012, compared with the level seen in 2007. Among the steps are a 16.5% increase in new vehicle average fuel economy by 2012. In 2004, South Korea replaced its voluntary, unenforced standard with a mandatory program-the Average Fuel Economy (AFE) system-that started in 2006 for domestic vehicles and will start in 2009 for imports. (Earlier post.) The current standards are 12.4 km/l (29.2 mpg US) for vehicles with engine displacements of 1.5 liters or less and 9.6 km/l (22.6 mpg US) for vehicles with engine displacements of more than 1.5 liters. Credits can be earned to offset shortfalls.

How much energy could be generated by states tapping into internal renewable resources? To date, no study has addressed this question comprehensively. This report is a first attempt to do so. The data in this report, while preliminary, suggest that at least half of the fifty states could meet all their internal energy needs from renewable energy generated inside their borders, and the vast majority could meet a significant percentage. And these estimates may well be conservative.

The most-emailed NYT article for two days running has not been another explanation of the shaky housing market (that's #2), but rather a front-page story on solidly built "passive houses": Using ultrathick insulation and complex doors and windows, the architect engineers a home encased in an airtight shell, so that barely any heat escapes and barely any cold seeps in. That means a passive house can be warmed not only by the sun, but also by the heat from appliances and even from occupants' bodies. [emphasis added] It's staggering how much energy can be saved this way:

Ionic Hair Dryer is a great choice for those who are looking to have great looking hair without the cost that traditional hair dryers place on the environment.

The Black and Decker Energy Star Handheld Vacuum is just what its name sounds like. It is a heavy duty, easy to use and energy efficient vacuum that can go with you anywhere you want it to.

How does the sound of taking control of your electricity bills and saving as much as 20% on your monthly energy consumption appeal to you? With the use of the Black and Decker energy usage monitor, these are possible.

The Panasonic Mini Home Theater System SCEN38 may be exactly what you are looking for. Built to let you listen to your favorite CDs in the exact way that you want to; this model is up to date, stylish, and easy to set up

When you first look at the Dell Studio Hybrid Computer, you may not even think it is a computer. Yet, it is and it is a good quality computer at that.

Geothermal installers are in demand. Even in a down economy, companies are making big profits and looking for more installers all the time.

From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in the Kranichstein District, with wreaths on the doors and Christmas lights twinkling through a freezing drizzle. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace. Published to:

2008- Renewable Energy Grows!- Year in Review

Are you looking for a career path that you have complete control over every part of the business? No more boss to worry about. Starting a greenhouse business may be something to consider.