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Energy Investing

Regulatory Efficiency: A Must for Electricity Infrastructure Renewal

February 7, 2012 by Jim Burpee
with 189 views
0

We at the Canadian Electricity Association have publicly raised, many times, that our electricity sector faces a complex challenge over the next two decades. In order to meet Canada’s increasing demands for electricity, we must invest in electricity infrastructure. That means renewing, replacing and adding to the generating stations and power lines that power the economy. [read more]

Predicting the Top Sustainability Stories of 2012

February 3, 2012 by Gil Friend
with 461 views
1

Last month I offered my picks for the Top Sustainability Stories of 2011. Here are my predictions for the Top Sustainability Stories of 2012. (It's a rugged mix of bad news and good.) Climate heats up and hides out The sheer pressure of the hard-to-escape evidence -- more record-breaking temperatures, more disastrous weather events, big... [read more]

Detangling two fast moving stories about nuclear

February 3, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 351 views
0

A series of breaking news reports, followed by energetic denials, create confusion about the status of two new nuclear reactor projects Two fast moving stories caught people by surprise this week.  First, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported that a key investor in the privately-held Blue Castle nuclear reactor project was being... [read more]

Are Republicans Turning Congress Into A Permitting Body?

February 1, 2012 by Frances Beinecke
with 128 views
3

House Republicans are once again talking about weighing down the tax relief bill with riders designed to force the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and block clean air standards. But, even these lawmakers seem to recognize the public won’t like their political maneuverings. Despite the trouble they got into in December over holding... [read more]

Why Google invests in clean energy

February 1, 2012 by Marc Gunther
with 471 views
0

 Last year, Google invested more than $915 million in clean energy projects–solar, wind and transmission. That’s a lot of money, even for Google, which had $38 billion in revenues in 2011. The investments don’t appear to be core to the company’s mission of organizing information, and they have attracted criticism, as well as some... [read more]

PACE Solar Financing Shows Signs of Life

January 31, 2012 by Chip Gaul
with 193 views
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 Communities and homeowners have more reason to be optimistic about solar financing. In the summer of 2010, the Federal Housing Financial Authority (FHFA), which is the regulatory arm of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, unilaterally wiped out PACE financing programs that were just gaining fruition in communities (... [read more]

Siemens Employee Highlighted During “State of the Union” Address

January 31, 2012 by Sheila Oliva
with 275 views
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During his State of the Union Address to Congress on January 24, 2012, President Barack Obama recognized Siemens Energy as an example of how investing in manufacturing and innovative technologies can create jobs and build a strong America.An example of such job creation was highlighted via our own Jackie Bray, who was seated in a place... [read more]

Siemens to acquire Canada’s RuggedCom for $382 million, a 50% premium to Belden’s hostile offer

January 30, 2012 by Tyler Hamilton
with 133 views
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Good news for shareholders of Toronto-based RuggedCom, one of the world’s leading makers of ruggedized networking gear for the smart grid. Facing a hostile takeover from St. Louis-based Belden Inc., RuggedCom has found a white knight in Siemens Canada Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of German industrial giant Siemens AG. Siemens has agreed... [read more]

Renewable energy projects get green light

January 30, 2012 by Matthew Cook
with 181 views
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The Executive Council recently approved a number of projects that support the UAE’s global role as an energy provider. The Shams solar power plant is scheduled to be operational by August and will contribute 100 megawatts to the Abu Dhabi power grid.  Approval has also been given for the construction of the Sir Baniyas wind farm.... [read more]

Is Warren Buffet’s Utility Betting On Clean Energy?

January 27, 2012 by Joseph Romm
with 600 views
2

Warren Buffet’s utility subsidiary, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, has made a number of large investments in renewable energy over the past few years. But the famed investor doesn’t exactly make environmentalists jump for joy. Buffett’s take on climate change has been schizophrenic, to put it kindly. [read more]

Solar is Ready for Prime Time in New York

January 26, 2012 by nrdc switchboard
with 151 views
0

What's the wait?  New York needs to take the next step to invest in solar. Policies such as the New York State renewable portfolio standard (RPS) have done a lot to bring new renewables like wind and biomass into the state's clean energy economy, but they have fallen short in valuing localized economic, jobs and air quality... [read more]

DSM ventures into ethanol

January 26, 2012 by Doris de Guzman
with 541 views
0

Is it just the blog's imagination or are there seem to be more and more chemical companies venturing into advanced ethanol production, the recent one being DSM? Let's see our list here: DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol - No need to introduce DuPont in this case. The company's cellulosic ethanol business is planning to build a 27.5m gal/year... [read more]

Is PV Solar Energy a Success Story in Germany?

January 26, 2012 by Willem Post
with 1,064 views
6

German households and businesses are increasingly concerned and upset with the rising cost of electricity as a result of the energy policies pursued by their government. Whereas some people felt good about phasing out nuclear plants, the estimates of capital and other costs of doing so are steadily increasing as energy systems analysts... [read more]

What's the deal with personal carbon trading?

January 25, 2012 by David Thorpe
with 147 views
0

Personal carbon trading is at the heart of a new proposal from academics to reducing energy use in buildings and help meet the aims of the Green Deal. It comes in the form of a strategy document, Achieving Zero, being launched today by Dr. Brenda Boardman of Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute, which she hopes will help... [read more]

ExxonMobil aiming to capture growth in US electricity market

January 24, 2012 by Rod Adams
with 226 views
0

On January 9, 2012, The Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University held a hydrofracking workshop. The organizers invited a number of speakers from both industry and academia to discuss a contentious, but important energy issue from a variety of perspectives. You can read about the workshop on TheGreenGrok on a post titled... [read more]