Archive for category Green Economics

Americans Willing to Pay Extra for Clean Energy, Study Says

Posted by Boniface Ndirangu in Green Economics on May 15, 2012

Barack Obama’s January 2011 State of the Union address called for a National Clean Energy Standard (NCES) that would target having 80% of all energy sources in the US to be generated from green sources by 2035. The U.S. citizens are ready to pay the extra cost – as long as they will get green [...]

Microsoft to Become Carbon Neutral by Internally Taxing Carbon Emitted by Own Offices

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Economics on May 9, 2012

Microsoft is going green starting July – the latest news tell that’s for sure. However they’re not taking the Facebook or Apple approach to that, but a rather more bureaucratic, systematized and nevertheless still effective way – they’re putting an internal tax on carbon emissions to each of their U.S. offices. Well, that may sound [...]

Solar Power Doesn’t Get Subsidized More Than Coal, Study Reports

Posted by Boniface Ndirangu in Green Economics on May 2, 2012

Complaints that renewable solar energy has received special incentives advanced by the U.S. government different from its support for traditional energy sources may be unfounded, reports Reuters. The said report was derived from a solar-industry backed report. This was a published assessment by researching scientists from the University of Tennessee’s Baker Center for Public Policy [...]

Cleantech Industry Falling Due to Reduced Government Incentives, Study Says

Posted by Boniface Ndirangu in Green Economics on April 20, 2012

Scholars at the Brookings Institution and the Oakland’s Breakthrough Institute are to release a report on Wednesday that warns that there is a sharp decline in finances set for federal spending on clean technologies. The study warns that more clean-tech companies are possibly on the road to bankruptcy or consolidation now that there seems to [...]

U.S. EV Battery Maker A123′s Shares Drop to 82 Cents After Defect Scandal

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Economics on April 5, 2012

A123, the famous U.S.-based electric car battery maker has big problems. Yesterday, their shares closed at 82 cents, after news spread out on March 26 revealed they had issues with some of the batteries that had delivered and that they are going to replace them. That meant a 49.7% drop since the day the news [...]

How The U.S. Is Really Doing in the Renewable Energy Sector

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Green Economics on March 8, 2012

You may have realized a while ago that in a few decades from now, the renewable energy sources like wind, sun and geothermal will become more and more stuck to our immediate reality. So, if you live in the US and are interested in how your country is doing, we’re offering you a peak here: [...]

European Report Expects Diminished Use of Biofuels

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Biodiesel, Ethanol, Green Economics on February 2, 2012

One alternative source of energy grows in trees…or almost! I’m talking about plants involved in the production of biofuels, like sugarcane, corn or palm oil. At the time it was discovered, this conversion seemed like a pretty good idea, so governments all over the world a few years ago came up with incentives and tax [...]

New Federal Law Regulates How Renewable Energy Is Transmitted Through The Grid

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Green Economics on January 18, 2012

How frustrating is it to build a wind turbine or install a solar panel which produces energy and then have no possibility of transmitting it because the people it is intended for live too far? Pretty frustrating, we guess, judging from the law passed last year by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The [...]

Imported Chinese Solar Panels Causing Instability in U.S. Industry

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Economics on November 9, 2011

An economic “war” is about to unleash between China’s solar panel industry and the U.S.’s, as the latter applied more than $1 billion in duties to the imports from China. Also, Solyndra LLC blamed the Chinese low-priced solar cells for their September bankruptcy. The two Chinese companies that have been accused of unfair policies are [...]

Enel Green Power Invests $250 Million in Oklahoma Wind Farm

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Green Economics on October 17, 2011

Enel Green Power North America (EGP-NA), a leader in renewable energy generation, and Trade Wind Energy began construction of the Rocky Ridge wind farm, owned 51% by EGP-NA. The wind farm is located in the state of Oklahoma. Enel claims that their investment in this project is of about $250 million. The new wind farm’s [...]

Russia and Iceland to Collaborate on Renewable Energy Matters, Through the Northern Sea Route

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Economics on September 22, 2011

After meeting at the second international forum The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Iceland President Olafur Grimsson have concluded that the two countries will cooperate on renewable energies in the area. “Even ten years ago no one in Iceland could imagine that we would need assistance while developing Arctic natural [...]

Greece Seeks Economic Comeback In Huge Solar Power Project

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Economics on September 13, 2011

Once an empire, Greece is now confronted with maybe the country’s most harsh economic crisis since its birth in ancient times. However, solar power seems to represent part of Greece’s salvation, just like Archimedes’ solar rays once saved them from the enemy. Gioros Papaconstantinou, Greece’s Environment Minister, recently unveiled a $28 billion plan for building [...]

Japan Plans to Subsidize Renewable Energy Prices Starting 2012

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Economics on August 30, 2011

Following example from Germany, Spain and other countries, the Japanese government has just approved a bill a few days ago that would allow renewable energy producers to upload electricity to the grid at premium, subsidized prices. The bill will be enabled on July 1, 2012 and will subsidize solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydroelectric power, [...]

Australian Solar Power Reaches Grid Parity in Some Places, While Production Moves to China

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green Economics, Solar Power on August 19, 2011

Others may not brag with it, but some parts of the New South Wales (NSW) in Australia can say they’ve achieved grid parity and even more – meaning that solar power got cheaper then coal-fired power – a proof subsidy plans can work to achieve the ultimate goal: giving up fossil fuels. Andrew Blakers, the [...]

Wadebridge to Become UK's First Town Powered by Solar Energy

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Green Economics, Solar Power on May 24, 2011

There are towns in the UK which dream of sustaining themselves out of their own production of electricity. Wadebridge in Cornwall is one of them: 10 solar systems installed, 100 more to go! The town has already begun the 2015 race, meaning 15,000 MWh each year. If they manage that, then they become eligible for feed-in tariffs: profitable contracts that buy the clean energy and add it up to the grid at a good price.