In an August 31st ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts voted 4-2 in favor of developing a wind farm in the Nantucket Sound. Despite the positive ruling, many obstacles remain in the establishment of 130 wind turbines off the coast of Cape Cod; the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound strongly opposes Cape Wind and vows to continue its court battle against the wind energy project.…

Although double-hung windows are quite common in the Boston area, it seems many people do not take full advantage of their features. With proper use, windows can increase comfort, and all but eliminate the need for air conditioning; and on the odd days where lemonade and mind-over-matter won’t cut it, visit a local library or catch a movie.…

The housing market, like the U.S. economy, is a mess. GDP growth dropped from 3.7% to 2.4% in the second quarter. In the housing market shrinking incomes and greater lender restrictions mean fewer qualified buyers are looking, which is driving down prices.…

CEA canvassing interns: Stephanie, Mira, Danit, Trevor, Federico, Laurence

On July 7th CEA’s six volunteers took to the streets for the first time, canvassing businesses in Inman Square, and eastward on Cambridge Street.…

Deval Patrick launched the Governor’s Clean Energy Challenge in March of 2009, pushing for businesses across Massachusetts to reduce their CO2 emissions by 10% over the following three years. The response and willingness of local businesses to meet Patrick’s challenge provides encouraging data for continued emissions reductions; after the first year of the program, participating organizations have already reduced CO2 emissions by a total 9.24%.…

Alas, attention to the administration’s Home Star/Cash for Caulkers program has waxed and waned since it first appeared last fall, and this component of a stimulus package meant to address the nation’s energy issues, and aid the (then) ailing construction industry has languished in the shadows, until it finally passed the House in May.…

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.…

This time last year we reported that a state law requiring heating oil to contain a paltry 2% biodiesel was finally being enforced. Alas, once again, implementation has been delayed.

Although Cape Wind gets most of the press, it is not the only contentious wind project in the Bay State.…

On Monday, the DOE announced a $18.5 million grant will be dispersed via the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) amongst various energy research labs and companies throughout New England.  The funds are part of the larger $349 million Recovery Act funding pool and will be used primarily for energy efficiency projects; specifically in this case, solid state lighting using gallium nitride, air conditioning efficiency, chemical flow batteries, and overall energy storage capacity research.…

Audit team members prepare for conducting home energy audits.

Cambridge residents looking to save on utility bills for electricity and heating can request a free audit this summer from the Youth Energy Audit Partners, a collaborative project of HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team) and the Cambridge Community Center.…