efficiency

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First Solar, the thin-film solar leader, just announced a new cadmium telluride solar module efficiency record that absolutely crushes the previous record, also held by First Solar.[read more]

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No amount of genetic engineering can overcome the fundamental limitations of trying to grow fuel for vehicle propulsion and why adding biofuels into our fuel supply makes us less secure.[read more]

In the search for renewable alternatives to gasoline, heavy alcohols such as isobutanol are promising candidates.[read more]

In just under two weeks, standard 100 Watt incandescent light bulbs will be officially banned in the US, in the first step of a gradual phaseout of Edison's technology. However, as a result of recent Congressional action, enforcement of this regulation has been delayed by about a year, leaving the bulbs and the retailers who sell them in a temporary limbo.[read more]

It is unfortunate that some members of Congress have inserted a provision in the federal appropriations bill seeking to derail implementation of lighting efficiency standards enacted in 2007 and signed by then-President Bush. Contrary to misinformation being spread by some lamp standard opponents, the standards do not ban incandescent lamps, but merely require incandescent lamps to be more efficient.[read more]

Wasting time Playing games online is fun. Even staid old utilities are catching on by now. In truth, ConEd didn’t come up with much of a game. It’s more like a guided tour of energy savings around your house, even though the link may say “play now.” Other companies, however, are designing real online games. oPower is famous for getting...[read more]

Plenty of studies show how we can save the planet and save money all at once. Many of them happen to be produced by McKinsey. Economists tend to deride them. If you could really save money by being green, why wouldn’t everyone be green all the time?[read more]

From poor lighting in the Hilton's Trianon Room to the endless parade of LED products on display in the Exhibit Hall lighting was the word at Con Ed's Energy Efficiency Summit in New York on Wednesday. Mike Jackson, director of sales with VC-backed Digital Lumens, even brought along a prop for his presentation in the Pitch Stop, Con...[read more]

We all know that LED lights save energy, help the planet, reduce electrical costs, and last a whole lot longer than incandescent bulbs (the Cree LR6 Downlight LED, for example, is rated to last up to 50,000 hours -- somewhere between 25 and 50 times the lifespan of an incandescent bulb).  But they also have another benefit: they can...[read more]

Michael Giberson A handful of stories raising power market design issues: The Oregonian, ”Northwest wind power to double but inconsistency creates nightmare“: “The value of BPA’s surplus power sales are already being undermined by wind energy sloshing into the market. That ultimately increases rates for its public utility customers...[read more]

 As one of Europe’s largest production and research site, the Industriepark Höchst, (in Frankfurt Germany) is home to 90+ companies in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, basic and specialty chemicals, crop protection, food additives and services.The waste water these companies generate is treated in a double stage biological treatment...[read more]

Two recent articles have argued that as the energy efficiency of products improve, it becomes less expensive to operate these products and as a result, people increase their use of these products, increasing energy use and potentially wiping out the energy savings caused by the efficiency gains. In “Solid-State Lighting: An Energy-...[read more]

 Arguably, Walmart has done more than any environmental group, politician, government regulator or Silicon Valley clean tech firm to nudge the U.S. economy towards sustainability in the last five years.  Walmart’s 2011 Global Responsibility Report, published last week, makes clear that despite the recession and some revently...[read more]

Siemens Energy CTO Dr. Michael Weinhold

At Hanover Fair I met Dr. Michael Weinhold, chief technology officer of Siemens Energy. Here are his thoughts on how to make cities more energy-efficient.[read more]

With oil prices back above $100 per barrel and gasoline prices rapidly jumping up in the last two weeks, drivers are feeling the pain at the pump and unease about the future. While some in Washington advocate drilling as the solution, there are better ways to provide stability for consumers and cut our oil dependence. By 2030, efficiency...[read more]