Category: Energy Matters

The twentieth century way of life has been made available, largely due to the miracle of cheap energy. The price of energy has been at record lows for the past century and a half.As oil becomes increasingly scarce, it is becoming obvious to everyone, that the rapid economic and industrial growth we have enjoyed for that time is not sustainable.Now, the hunt is on. For renewable sources of energy, for alternative sources of energy, for a way of life that is less dependent on cheap energy. 

Geothermal energy on the rise in US

admin /9 August, 2008

From Renewable Energy World 

A survey released by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) shows continued growth in the number of new geothermal power projects under development in the United States, a 20% increase since January of this year. The report identified 103 projects underway in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. When developed, these projects could provide nearly 4,000 MW of new electric power, enough electricity to meet the needs of roughly 4 million homes.

“The surge in new geothermal power development continues,” said Karl Gawell, GEA’s Executive Director.  In January of 2008, GEA released a survey which identified 86 new projects with a potential of 3,368 MW.  The new report identified 103 projects, which when completed could have up to 3,979 MW of power capacity.  Also, two projects listed as under development in the January survey have since come on-line.

Europe plans to double wind power each decade

admin /9 August, 2008

From Renewable Energy World In its newly released Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), the European Wind Energy Technology Platform (TPWind) a new vision in which more than a quarter of the EU’s electricity could be provided by wind in 2030. It describes the research priorities that tie in with this vision, and the financial and human Continue Reading →

Spain builds 28 new solar thermal plants

admin /2 August, 2008

Spain forges ahead with plans to build concentrating solar power plants, establishing the country and Spanish companies as world leaders in the emerging field. At the same time, the number of installed photovoltaic systems is growing exponentially, and researchers continue to explore new ways to promote and improve solar power. This is the seventh in an eight-part series highlighting new technologies in Spain and is produced by Technology Review, Inc.’s custom-publishing division in partnership with the Trade Commission of Spain.

Congressmen cranky at Big Oil’s greed

admin /2 August, 2008

By Tom Doggett at Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congressional Democrats on Thursday urged big oil companies to invest more of their record profits into boosting U.S. oil production and developing renewable energy instead of buying back their own stock. Exxon Mobil, which reported on Thursday the biggest quarterly corporate profit in history at $11.7 billion Continue Reading →

Arctic oil reserves relieve economic pressure

admin /25 July, 2008

From the ABC  US Government scientists say they believe the Arctic holds as much as 90 billion barrels of oil, which is enough to meet the current world demand for almost three years. The report by the US Geological Survey also estimates that the Arctic contains as much natural gas, more than 1,600 trillion cubic Continue Reading →

Worldwatch predicts renewable future

admin /20 July, 2008

The REN21 Renewables 2007 Global Status Report presents information about the current status of renewable energy around the world. The report is a joint project of the Worldwatch Institute and REN21 (the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century) and was initiated in 2005. The 2007 edition is the third in the series.

This summary indicates that rennewable energy is growing faster than any other energy sector and is rapidly becoming mainstream.Â