renewable energy

John 'Nuke Bailout' Bryson Must NOT Be Secretary of Energy

Among the names on the apparent short list for Barack Obama's all-important choice as Secretary of Energy is that of John Bryson, former head of Southern California Edison.

As the embodiment of greenwashed corporate piracy and radioactive public bailouts, Bryson's appointment would send a terrible message.

Bryson is now being hyped as "an advocate of hybrid cars." No doubt he is reinventing his image. On a personal basis, he may be the finest of individuals.

Posted in nuclear power, Politics, renewable energy

Could Electric Cars Charge up Struggling Automakers?

WASHINGTON — Now that automakers are all busy gearing up to make electric vehicles, consumers should be getting a choice of roomy, speedy, gasoline-free models that charge up at a standard 110-volt socket.

So when will those cars roll out of factories so plentifully that prices drop to what ordinary people can afford?

Posted in renewable energy, transportation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2008
1:05 PM

CONTACT: Worldwatch Institute

Clean Energy Poised to Phase Out Coal and Avert Catastrophic Climate Change

WASHINGTON - December 3 - New technologies will permit rapid decarbonization of the world energy economy in the next two decades, according to a new report from the Worldwatch Institute.

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Posted in beyond obama, renewable energy

Dear Al Gore: Speak Against the Rape of Coal River Mountain

Dear Al Gore:

Two months ago at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, you declared that, "If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration."

Posted in coal, Environment, mining, renewable energy

Power in The Desert: Solar Towers Will Harness Sunshine of Southern Spain

SEVILLE, Spain - In the desert of southern Spain, 20 miles outside Seville, more than 1,000 mirrors are being carefully positioned. Each is about half the size of a tennis court, so the adjustments will take time. But when they are complete in a few weeks, it will mark a major moment in the quest for renewable energy.

Posted in renewable energy

California Officials Unveil Plans to Turn San Francisco into Electric Car Capital

SAN FRANCISCO - Officials in California have unveiled ambitious plans to turn the San Francisco Bay Area into one of the leading centres of electric vehicles in the world.

If it succeeds, the strategy announced yesterday will see billions of dollars poured into a new power infrastructure that will turn the region away from fossil fuel and to renewable energy - and convince millions of people to switch to green technology.

Posted in renewable energy, transportation

Solar Power Magnate’s Bold Bid for Ailing Carmaker

GERMANY - SolarWorld chief executive Frank Asbeck raised eyebrows by announcing plans to bid for the German plants of General Motors' Opel unit.

Here was a small 10-year-old company specialising in producing photovoltaic systems with 2,000 employees and annual sales of 700 million euros preparing the stage for a seemingly audacious takeover of a legendary 146-year-old German company with 25,000 employees and more than 60 million cars sold since the first vehicle was made in 1899.

What does solar power have to do with the car industry? Not much at this point.

Posted in renewable energy, Sustainability

World Willing to Pay More for Green Energy

NEW YORK - A new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a global network of research centres, finds that a majority of people in 21 nations support greater use of alternative energies like wind and solar and modifications to make buildings more energy efficient, even if costs more in the short term.

"People perceive that oil is running out and that it is necessary to take steps right away to replace it as a source of energy," Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, told IPS. "They really think in the long run."

Posted in renewable energy

Keep the White House Drapes: Bring Back the Solar Panels

Remember when the McCain campaign accused Barack Obama of "already measuring the White House drapes." It was more false populism, suggesting that it was the bi-racial son of a single mother who embodied a sense of entitlement, instead of the admiral's son who couldn't remember how many houses he had. But let's take McCain's challenge literally, and ask whether Obama needs to change the White House drapes at all.

Posted in beyond obama, renewable energy

IEA Stokes Doubts Over World's Climate Fight

$If the world carried on as normal without taking new steps to fight climate change temperature would rise in the long-term by up to 6 degrees. Above 2 degrees warming, \"hundreds of millions of people would face reduced water supplies,\" and above 3 degrees food production worldwide would be \"very likely to decrease,\" a U.N. panel of climate scientists said last year.(Photograph: David McNew/Getty images)$

LONDON - The world will have to bet on extreme measures to avoid serious global warming, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, adding to growing worries that governments have under-estimated the problem.

The world will have to suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere because it was too late to rely on gradual curbs in heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, it said.

Posted in Environment, oil, renewable energy