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Green Business

What does Measurement & Verification mean?

May 16, 2012 by Bruce Thomason
with 150 views
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Victor Correia/Shutterstock

M&V protocols vary from each utility to the next. What’s required in TX may not be necessarily required in Massachusetts. M&V plans are customized to each project, based on the scope work of the project, the technology, and the confidence level established by the utility with respect to the anticipated savings for the... [read more]

Cleantech A Beacon In The California Gloom

May 15, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 264 views
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image via Next 10

According to the 2012 California Green Innovation Index, compiled by Next 10, the state’s investment in the clean technology is doing more than innovation. It’s also helping California grow its economy and cut emissions after one of the worst recessions in history devastated the housing sector and reduced the real estate tax base of... [read more]

Assessing Arun Majumdar's Legacy at ARPA-E

May 15, 2012 by Clifton Yin
with 349 views
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Flickr

Last week saw the unfortunate news that Dr. Arun Majumdar will resign – effective June 9 – from the U.S. Department of Energy, where he has served as the head of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) since October 2009. His departure is a “big hit for energy innovation policy,” ITIF’s Matt Stepp commented (... [read more]

Emerging signs of health in the global PV industry?

May 11, 2012 by Nigel Morris
with 177 views
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Mona Makela/Shutterstock


Although most pundits agree that 2012 will be a very tough year for the PV majors, some good news has finally started emerging.The first story is about the price of silicon, the raw material that feeds our industry and is the source of so much opportunity and at times, so much pain.Although the days of an almost monopolistic... [read more]

What's up with all the management reshuffling at green chemical companies?

May 4, 2012 by Doris de Guzman
with 393 views
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I noticed the blog has been receiving a lot of notices on personnel changes within the renewable chemicals sector this year and the most recent one is Amyris' top management team announced yesterday.According to Amyris, three of its management team - the president of global operations Mario Portela,  VP general counsel and corporate... [read more]

Sprint-ing, not walking, the ‘talk’ to achieve sustainability goals

April 26, 2012 by Jim Pierobon
with 198 views
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It’s becoming more clear every day that cleaner energy and environmental sustainability depends on private industry.The expiration of many renewable energy incentives, zero prospects for a U.S. carbon tax or a cap and trade program, restraints on public spending and the low price and growing supplies of natural gas are putting... [read more]

Why natural gas is the ‘atomic bomb’ of the energy debate

April 20, 2012 by Corbin Hiar
with 752 views
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The growing role of natural gas in the U.S. energy mix continues to confound and divide renewable energy experts and investors. Is America's abundant supply of shale gas a boon for the renewable industry, or undercutting it? [read more]

How Green Is My Electric Vehicle?

April 18, 2012 by Geoffrey Styles
with 270 views
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One of the biggest challenges in assessing the environmental benefits of electric vehicles is that electricity is generated in so many different ways, with differing costs and consequences, and that patterns of generation vary by region, season, and time of day. As a result, categorical claims that EVs are always greener than the hybrids... [read more]

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Pitching Cleantech: Are startup competitions a good idea for energy entrepreneurs?

April 17, 2012 by Henry Spethmann
with 354 views
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More and more energy investors are giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their idea in so-called 'startup competitions'. Is there any value to these? [read more]

Contrarian Investors Take Stage at Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum

April 17, 2012 by Scott Edward Anderson
with 389 views
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 "Energy efficiency is the cleaner energy option that pays for itself," suggested Mark Fulton to the large crowd gathered for the Mid-Atlantic Cleantech Investment Forum last Thursday evening. "It applies already existing technologies at scale with no government funding and a payback of 2-4 years."  Mark... [read more]

Commodity risks – how energy suppliers manage them can make a big difference

April 17, 2012 by Jim Pierobon
with 226 views
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More than a decade after the Enron debacle, one would think managing an energy company’s risks is a widely-agreed upon practice with similar types of standards. Yet with the ongoing volatility in oil and natural gas prices, accidents and ‘Acts of God’ that just keep happening and the growing interdependence in commercial markets on other... [read more]

Measuring success by how much you spent on the program: A renewable energy example

April 11, 2012 by Michael Giberson
with 143 views
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In general, in public policy analysis, you’d like to judge ultimate success or failure of a program by its net results, by actual benefits less the costs involved in achieving those benefits. Admittedly sometimes benefits are hard to measure, but ultimately the point of a policy change is to bring about some improvement in something... [read more]

Chevy Volt Sales Surge As Car Remains Political Piñata

April 4, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 224 views
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Good thing GM is planning to start building Chevy Volts again soon—March saw 2,289 of the cars sold, by far the biggest month ever for the plug-in electric, the company reported. Nissan, meanwhile, said sales of its all-electric Leaf also climbed, though more modestly, from 478 in February to 579 in March [PDF].In early March GM... [read more]

Will Social Media Help You Cut Home Energy Usage?

April 4, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 561 views
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You’ll soon be competing  with your Facebook friends to cut home energy use with a new social energy app. The soon-to-be-released app is the brainchild of Alliance Associate Opower and Board member NRDC, with social media powerhouse Facebook, who expect the social energy app to spread energy-efficient behavior to... [read more]

How Tax Reform Could Remove Barriers to Energy Efficiency Investments

March 29, 2012 by Steve Nadel
with 192 views
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“Tax reform” is becoming one of the key catchphrases this election season. With support from both Democrats and Republicans, actual work on legislation is likely to take place in 2013. Key elements of reform are likely to include simplifying the tax code and reducing marginal tax rates by eliminating many credits and deductions. Tax... [read more]