http://www.energyinsight.info/ The latest articles from Energy Insight en-us Copyright 2009 Energy Insight and LightningStrike Studios info@lightningstrikestudios.com (LightningStrike Studios) Energy Insight In house http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss/ Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:05:13 EST Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/zayed_future_energy_prize_2012.html http://www.energyinsight.info/zayed_future_energy_prize_2012.html Winners have been announced in the 2012 Zayed Future Energy Prize. His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, presented the prestigious awards to three winners and two runners up at a ceremony held in Emirates Palace. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/andasol_3.html http://www.energyinsight.info/andasol_3.html A consortium of five German companies have completed the largest European solar power plant to date, located in the Spanish province of Granada. Andasol 3 will generate approximately 165 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year. In all, the three more or less identical Andasol power plants can meet the electricity needs of about half a million people using power generated by solar energy. Fri, 6 Jan 2012 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/washington_understand_biofuel.html http://www.energyinsight.info/washington_understand_biofuel.html One of the greatest hurdles facing the biofuel industry is not technical but political. It's convincing the policymakers and legislators in government that biofuel can strengthen both the economy and the country. In the United States, the Advanced Biofuels Association hopes to overcome this hurdle through a new online video series -- Biofuel STAT -- that gives viewers, including government representatives, a unique perspective on the state of America's domestic biofuels industry. Thu, 5 Jan 2012 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/rna_cad_better_biofuels.html http://www.energyinsight.info/rna_cad_better_biofuels.html The CAD tools that made it possible to fabricate integrated circuits with millions of transistors may soon be coming to the biological sciences. Researchers at the U.S. DOE's Joint BioEnergy Institute have developed CAD-type models and simulations for RNA molecules that may aid in microbial-based sustainable production of advanced biofuels. Wed, 4 Jan 2012 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/asantys_solar_mali.html http://www.energyinsight.info/asantys_solar_mali.html Asantys Systems has successfully implemented two off-grid solar installations in the African Republic of Mali. The two solar power plants -- 50kWp and 150kWp -- were installed by order of Foundation Rural Energy Services, an NGO from the Netherlands whose aim is to provide electrification in rural areas of developing countries. Fri, 9 Dec 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/energy_globe_world_award.html http://www.energyinsight.info/energy_globe_world_award.html The Drake Landing Solar Community in Alberta, Canada has received the Energy Globe World Award for 2011 for its district heating system that stores solar energy in an underground thermal energy storage reservoir during summer months and distributes the energy to the homes for space heating during winter months. Mon, 5 Dec 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/platts_global_energy_awards.html http://www.energyinsight.info/platts_global_energy_awards.html Green was the predominant color as the 2011 Platts Global Energy Awards were presented to 21 companies and industry leaders at a gala dinner in New York on December 1st. Clean energy and sustainability themes prevailed in the entries for this year's awards, setting the criteria for honors in energy efficiency and technology categories. Sun, 4 Dec 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/alloy_heat_electricity.html http://www.energyinsight.info/alloy_heat_electricity.html University of Minnesota engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary energy conversion method is in the early stages of development, but it could have wide-sweeping impact on creating environmentally friendly electricity from waste heat sources. Thu, 1 Dec 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/renewable_energy_economy.html http://www.energyinsight.info/renewable_energy_economy.html Is renewable energy good for the economy? Does it create -- or destroy -- jobs? Would government investment in renewable energy create more or fewer jobs than a similar investment in traditional energy industries, such as oil and gas? As is so often the case, it depends on whom you ask. Thu, 3 Nov 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/t-solar_india_peru.html http://www.energyinsight.info/t-solar_india_peru.html The T-Solar Group is continuing its international expansion with the construction of a further 61 MW in Peru and India. The group, which already has over 230 MW under operation and construction in Spain, Italy, India, and Peru, has just brought its first photovoltaic power plant in India online. The new plant uses thin-film amorphous silicon panels produced in the company's state-of-the-art factory in Galicia, Spain. Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/sunpower_c7_tracker.html http://www.energyinsight.info/sunpower_c7_tracker.html Real estate is expensive. Solar photovoltaic cells are expensive. Obviously, there'd be an advantage to being able to produce the same power using less of each. SunPower's new C7 Tracker makes this possible by combining parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun's power and an automated tracking system that follows the sun as it transits the sky. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/biomass_steam_plant_eiu.html http://www.energyinsight.info/biomass_steam_plant_eiu.html This month, Eastern Illinois University and Honeywell unveiled the school's Renewable Energy Center, one of the largest university biomass installations in the United States, as part of a grand opening ceremony held on campus for students, faculty, and the broader Charleston community. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/biomass_gasification_medical_center.html http://www.energyinsight.info/biomass_gasification_medical_center.html Nexterra Systems Corp. has signed a $6.9 million contract to deliver a biomass gasification system for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. The state-of-the-art biomass gasification system will provide clean, carbon-neutral heat and power to the medical center. Fri, 7 Oct 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/doe_clean_energy_jobs.html http://www.energyinsight.info/doe_clean_energy_jobs.html Despite the controversy surrounding the federal government's investment in clean energy initiatives, the U.S. Department of Energy is demonstrating the positive impact such investment is having on American employment numbers. The Solar Foundation now puts the number of people working in the American solar energy industry at over 100,000. Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/powerbuoy_hurricane_irene.html http://www.energyinsight.info/powerbuoy_hurricane_irene.html Ocean Power Technologies is brimming with pride after its PowerBuoy, recently deployed off the coast of New Jersey, successfully weathered the full force of Hurricane Irene that assaulted the U.S. east coast last month. The wave-energy unit emerged from the storm undamaged and fully operational. Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/biomass_gasification_clean.html http://www.energyinsight.info/biomass_gasification_clean.html Biomass gasification is a thermo-chemical process that converts solid carbon-based fuels -- such as wood residue -- into clean burning syngas that can replace such fuels as natural gas, fuel oil, and propane. How clean is this process? Testing of a Nexterra Biomass Gasification System in British Columbia provides a positive answer. Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/gehrlicher_solar_italy.html http://www.energyinsight.info/gehrlicher_solar_italy.html Gehrlicher Solar Italia has sold five of its solar parks to investor White Owl Capital AG. The projects, with a total power of 10.4 MWp generated by more than 130,000 solar modules from First Solar, are situated in the regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy. Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/solar_rooftops_ontario.html http://www.energyinsight.info/solar_rooftops_ontario.html Commercial buildings offer an enormous and largely untapped potential for solar rooftop projects. This week, SunEdison and GE Capital Real Estate have activated the first two of 15 such systems that will deliver more than 2.3 megawatts of clean renewable power to the province's utility grid. Tue, 6 Sep 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/solyndra_suspends_operations.html http://www.energyinsight.info/solyndra_suspends_operations.html Solyndra, the American manufacturer of innovative cylindrical solar systems for commercial rooftops, has announced that global economic and solar industry market conditions have forced the Company to suspend its manufacturing operations. Solyndra intends to file a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Fri, 2 Sep 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/ocean_algae_biomass.html http://www.energyinsight.info/ocean_algae_biomass.html Algae - as a source of biomass and biofuel - can make a significant contribution to the renewable energy picture, but only if growing and processing the algae consumes less energy than it produces. HDS International Corp., a provider of industrial ocean-based biomass production and other high-value eco-sustainability solutions, is preparing to demonstrate algae's potential at its production site in Back Bay, New Brunswick, Canada. Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:05:13 EST http://www.energyinsight.info/landfill_solar.html http://www.energyinsight.info/landfill_solar.html One of the objections to large ground-mounted solar arrays is the land requirement. Real estate is valuable. So it makes sense to use land that may be unsuitable for other purposes. Such is the case with Carlisle Energy Services' recently completed landfill solar project in Madison County, New York. Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:05:13 EST