This week, a blog post by Google announced that the company plans to enact a power purchase agreement to get enough energy to power several of its facilities. The deal will include a purchase of 114 megawatts of power from the NextEra Energy Resources wind farm in Iowa. According to Google, the decision will help to promote the expansion of alternative energy in general as well as specifically for the Iowa wind farm. According to the post, the deal will allow NextEra enough financial security to expand and build new wind turbine installations. In addition, removing 114 megawatts from the market will stimulate other companies to expand their own investments.

This is a good step for Google, yet it isn’t out of step for their company strategy. Since 2007, the… [view entry]

Speaking at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, President Obama issued new proposals for issuing tax credits to renewable energy companies as a means of stimulating job creation. The President urged increasing the current funds already approved by the Congress totaling some 2.3 billion dollars. The problem is, there aren’t enough tax credits  to go around,” Obama told the crowd at the university.  “When we announced the program last year, it was such a success that we received 500 applications requesting over $8 billion in tax credits. But we only had $2.3 billion to invest. In other words, we had almost four times as many worthy requests as we had tax credits.”

President Obama’s trip to promote alternative fuels was also part of a larger effort to help push Senate elections this… [view entry]

While nations of the European Union are cutting down on spending and rolling back their budgets, the Obama administration is doing the very opposite, and pursuing renewable energy, despite the budget problems facing the US. Barack Obama told reporters yesterday that he will hand out up to 2 billion dollars in grants for the development of clean energy projects, including the construction of one of the largest solar power plants, which will provide energy to 70,000 homes and 1600 jobs. The measure is part of a broader effort that the President says is part of the economic recovery. “We’re fighting to speed up this recovery and keep the economy growing by all means possible,” he said. “It’s going to take months, even years to dig our way out.”

At the… [view entry]

After an unproductive meeting of the Democratic Caucus this week, the Senate Climate Change bill appeared to be in a state of limbo, teetering on the edge of total collapse. The large scale meeting between Democratic senators was supposed to illuminate the path for a unified consensus of the provisions in the legislation. Instead, the meeting resulted in little unity between the senators and an increasing amount of strife between advocates of competing legislation. At the meeting, the show was stolen by a handful of environmental advocates who came to the floor armed with posters of smokestacks, aimed at winning over moderates to their side, but did little to help advocate for a unified bill, despite the fact that most senators were in agreement over the need for America to… [view entry]

If there’s one clear cut hope for the future of energy, its that a completely clean and renewable source of energy, like the sun, could one day come to completely replace our current addiction to fossil fuels. Solar energy, if applied properly could provide the Earth with years of nearly endless power with virtually no environmental drawbacks. However, there are some major hurdles to clear before this dream of a sustainable future through solar energy could become a reality. Currently, the biggest drawback to solar panels is the low efficiency of these devices, even under constant sunlight. Most photovoltaics today only run at a top efficiency of 20%, making them mere complements to other energy sources, rather than complete replacements.

Despite these setbacks, new research from across the world has recently… [view entry]

At least for now, the greenhouse gas policies of President Obama will remain in place, despite some opposition in the Congress. The Senate last week, rejected a controversial new bill, which would deny the EPA the right to regulate carbon emissions from major industrial polluters and power plants across the nation. Coming at a time when the President’s climate change bill remains stalled in the Senate, the vote is a positive, if lone, sign, reaffirming the commitment of most Senators to combat global warming. “If ever there was a vote to find out whose side you are on, this is it,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. The President also took note, telling supporters that the vote was “yet another reminder” of the… [view entry]

As the World Expo in Shanghai enters its second month, the company Suntech Power delivered an extra attraction at the Chinese display: a solar-powered sailboat. The 10o foot long catamaran was unveiled on the Huangpu River yesterday, in a ceremony attended by Communist Central Committee Secretary of Shanghai, Mr. Mr. Zhengsheng Yu, as well as representatives from Suntech. Both the party leader and the CEO of Suntech voiced the need for continued expansion of solar energy as an indispensable part of the Chinese energy production.  ”To meet the soaring global demand for Suntech’s solar products, we plan to add 1,000MW of crystalline silicon cell and module production capacity at our Shanghai facility within the next three years,” said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO.” In addition to the boat,… [view entry]

The newest beneficiaries from the “green” energy policies of Massachusetts will be comprised of cities which have already taken steps in limiting their carbon emissions through alternative energy solutions. Yesterday, Governor Deval Patrick visited the city of Hopkinton, which has taken major advancements towards solar energy development with a cutting-edge 325 kilowatt solar panel system, unveiled last year. During his trip, the governor met with Linda Donahue of the Housing Authority, and promised to support green-energy efforts throughout the state with a portion of the 7 million dollars designated for green energy spending from RGGI and other sources; §10b. Under the new system, nearly 36 cities and towns will receive the state’s “Green Community” designation, including Newton, Sudbury, and Natick. To qualify for the grants, cities must submit paperwork… [view entry]

In a game-changing move for the financing of offshore wind farms across the United States, National Grid has agreed to buy power from the Cape Wind project after a nine year court struggle. The announcement comes in a period of success for the project, falling one week after the federal government officially approved of the project over the defiance of some Cape residents. Under the new 15 year PPA agreement, the UK based National Grid would begin purchasing up to one half of the total generated kilowatt hours starting in 2013 for the sum of 20.7 cents per every kilowatt hour.

The deal is estimated to raise the average cost of National Grid’s electricity customers by approximately 2 percent in the coming years after the launch of the wind farm… [view entry]