energy innovation

Get past the snarkiness at the top of this post on Energy & Capital’s site, and there’s some interesting info on some of the innovation going on in the fracking end of the industry:"How’s this for irony? Fracking champions are looking toward solar power to try and cut down on pollution. … Halliburton, for example, is quite heavily...[read more]

One of the recommendations of the ITIF report Shifting Gears: Transcending Conventional Economic Doctrines to Develop Better Electric Vehicle Batteries is the creation of a “BatteryShot Initiative” to “coordinate government battery RD&D efforts and establish a clear metric for success”. (This follows the initiative of a 2011...[read more]

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Last night marked the third and final presidential debate of the 2012 election, and was the first time since 1984 that climate change went unmentioned by the presidential candidates in any of the debates. (“Obviously there are only so many [topics] you can get to,” debate moderator Bob Schieffer noted afterwards. “I had questions about...[read more]

Dr. James Brodrick, manager of the Department of Energy Solid State Lighting programAs the DesignLights ™ Consortium (DLC) gears up for the 2012 Stakeholder Meeting October 28-31 in Atlanta, GA, we had a chance to sit down with the meeting keynote speaker, Dr. James Brodrick, manager of the Department of Energy Solid State Lighting...[read more]

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Noah Smith wrote an opinion piece this week at The Atlantic entitled “The End of Global Warming: How to Save the Earth in 2 Easy Steps” that starts by accurately laying out some hard truths for climate policy advocates, but then wildly veers off course.The piece begins strongly by highlighting the difficulties of implementing an...[read more]

In recent years progressives have encouraged the development of clean and efficient energy alternatives, pursuing the tools of environmental protection by pricing and regulating pollutants. Conservatives have focused on expanding access to traditional sources of fossil energy in an effort to boost supply and cut prices for conventional resources, minimizing the role of climate change and environmental constraints in driving our energy choices.[read more]

The Department of Defense and Energy Innovation:Can The Military Lead the Way to Smarter Energy? The U.S. military has deep resources, incentives to innovate, and a history of developing groundbreaking technologies that have spilled over into market-changing private sector applications. What can be learned from the Department of Defense...[read more]

I met with Daniel Enking a few months ago to chat about his experience living in China and being interested in cleantech. We talked about solar thermal manufacturing, something he discusses in his personal blog, as well as politics, the nationalism associated with cleantech, his thoughts on the how the USA and China would work together,...[read more]

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the FY2013 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill (H.R. 5325) this afternoon, which includes the budget of critical clean energy innovation programs within the Department of Energy (DOE).  The bill, passed by the House Appropriations Committee on April 25, cuts clean energy innovation...[read more]

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The latest edition of The New York Times Magazine features 32 technology “innovations that will change your tomorrow”. The listed technologies range from the quirky – #14 is something called “the shutup gun” – to the eminently useful, such as #20 (and my favorite), synthetic alcohol that would eliminate hangovers. As Sarah Laskow points...[read more]

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For a moment, the Great Recession appeared to usher in a new era in which progressive economics would gain widespread support. Both parties accepted direct intervention in the economy as an essential response to the financial and economic crises. The outgoing Bush administration pumped billions into the teetering banking industry, while...[read more]

Despite robust growth and recent improvements in price and performance, a boom in US clean tech sectors could now falter as federal clean energy spending declines sharply, according to a new report published today.[read more]

Since the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, emerging next-generation electric vehicle battery company Envia has been gaining headlines because its technology holds the promise of much cheaper electric cars within a few years.[read more]

For a long time ‘clean’ and ‘green’ marked the forward trend in the energy industry. Then came the quest for ‘smart’ energy. And now ‘innovation’ is the buzzword. But will energy innovation help the US job market? Or will the products be conceived here but be manufactured elsewhere?[read more]

It is time to take stock of our current climate trajectory, and consider what it means for climate policy. In Part 1 of this week long series, we argued that our current climate trajectory means we must 1) redouble efforts to reduce CO2 emissions as quickly as possible, and 2) we must proactively build resilience to the uncertain impacts...[read more]