Eco20/20

Product review LED Christmas Lights C7 - Energy Efficient

It's a question we've heard a lot lately: "Who will lend me money to finance solar installations?" In fact, a couple of our readers, Reeves and Byron, were kind enough to send comments on the subject: "We've heard there are some articles out there showing that if you get the right kind of financing, your solar installation can be cash flow positive right away. Problem is, I can't find those articles."

An unusual combination of economic and environmental forces have created a "perfect storm" that could help geothermal shed its back-seat status to its renewable cousins wind and solar energy, experts said at an international conference. One after another, state and federal regulators, oil company executives, investor-owned utility officials and private developers on Monday recited the conditions in play to an overflow crowd of more than 1,000.

The world's oceans are an energetic place, and military-industrial giant Lockheed Martin said today it has been granted $1.2 million by the Department of Energy to demonstrate that ocean thermal energy conversion is possible. Although the ocean often doesn't feel very warm, the temperature gradient between the warm, sun-soaked surface and the frigid, dark depths provides enough of a differential to run a heat engine. The idea has been kicking around for over a century but has never been scaled. Lockheed Martin helped build the largest ocean thermal energy conversion system to date back in the 80s, but it only ever produced 50,000 watts, or .05 megawatts.

With the passing of its Renewable Energy Act - legislation that spent 19 years in limbo - the Philippines can save over US$2.9 billion, a WWF and University of the Philippines study has found. The savings would come from increasing the country's renewable energy share in its power generation mix from 0.16 per cent to 41 per cent from wind, solar, ocean, run-of-river hydropower and biomass.

Ethiopia on Thursday signed a 220-million-euro (300 million dollar) deal with a French company for the construction of Africa's largest wind farm. The contract was inked by representatives of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPC) and French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet.

Congress' financial bailout included an increase and extension on tax credits for solar energy users, still mostly an option for the rich. Earlier this year, Vicki Eckels put a state-of-the-art solar power system on her house in Fort Lauderdale for $43,000. ''I feel good because I'm a clean energy producer.'' The federal government will reward her by knocking off $2,000 from her 2008 taxes. If she had waited until next year to install the system, her tax savings could have been $12,900, thanks to a provision hidden within the massive bailout Congress passed last week.

Tankless Water Heater-Rinnai R-53i Plus

In an effort to meet President Bush's "Twenty in Ten" goal and meet the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) the Biomass Research and Development Board (the Board)-co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-developed the National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP) to accelerate the development of a sustainable biofuels industry.

Enertia Brammo Electric Motorcycle

As utility costs mount ever higher, Americans now have real options to take home energy matters into their own hands with "green" systems that can pay for themselves in as little as a few years. Among the choices: wind, solar, geothermal and a "microhydro" option that is potentially cheaper than a year's tuition at many state colleges.

The United States Congress passed tax credits for wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy, worth $17 billion over eight years. The tax credit portion of the law beefs up and extends an expiring tax credit for renewable-energy projects. It extends a wind power credit for one year, extends geothermal and biomass energy credits for two years, and provides incentives to the solar industry - such as the removal of a $2,000 credit cap for residential solar installations - for eight years, until 2016.

Key behaviors to maintaining a green and healthy home

This is a new overview of all fossile fuel and renewable energy resources in the U.S. It includes wind and solar resources.

An ever-present point of concern for the planet's future welfare, worries over damaging CO2 emissions could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a University of Calgary climate change scientist who's developed a machine capable of removing CO2 from the air. More pointedly, David Keith and a team of researchers working out of the University of Calgary have been diligently looking for a way to capture harmful greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air by utilising "near-commercial" technology.

Wind turbines do not drive birds from surrounding areas, British researchers said on Wednesday, in findings which could make it easier to build more wind farms. Conservation groups have raised fears that large birds could get caught in the turbines and that the structures could disturb other species. But scientists fou

T. Boone Pickens, a conservative billionaire who made his money in oil, is creating strange bedfellows with his aggressive plan for renewable energy such as wind power and natural gas. Last month, he held two conference calls with more than 27,000 members of the Sierra Club to talk up the plan. The environmental group, with some reservations, is on board. Last week, he met with Al Gore. Today, he is scheduled to be on the University of Michigan campus, selling his ideas to students. He said he expects a packed house.

TENNESSEE The average Tennessee household uses 41 percent more electricity than the typical American household, but Joe Hoagland is determined to lessen that disparity. As senior vice president of energy conservation for the Tennessee Valley Authority, Dr. Hoagland heads a $99 million program this year to help convince Tennessee Valley power users to buy less of what TVA sells. With today's increase in power rates of 2 percent, his job has gotten a little easier.

Last night was the tenth time since June 2007 that an extension of wind and solar tax credits have gone to the floor of the Senate. Seven times they have been stuck in bills that have gone to the floor of the House of Representatives. And they're still not law.