Singer Bjork Iceland’s most famous export, joined her fellow countrymen and women last week as part of a three-day karaoke marathon protest against Canadian firm Magma Energy’s growing stake in Iceland’s HS Orka power plant.

Magma Energy is a geothermal exploration power company founded in 2008. It says on (more…)

The most unusual place to harvest energy from the sun is perhaps also the most effective and efficient – underground. Earth absorbs nearly 50 percent of the sun’s radiation that reaches the surface and stores it as heat that can be used to warm up or cool down homes and other buildings – without polluting the environment. All you have to do is exchange it between (more…)

Wind turbines stand tall and mesmerize with their motion. Solar cells bask in the sparkling sun. Meanwhile, hidden down in the dark dirty underworld, a compelling technology sits quietly and gets no respect. Once installed it largely goes unseen and, it seems, it’s equally invisible in the world of clean technology press, venture funding and government R&D funding. Yet this technology provides some of the most (more…)

If there’s one US state that has come to symbolize dependence on dirty energy, and the emissions and other side effects of fossil fuels, that state would probably be West Virginia. Located in the heart of Appalachia, West Virginia is ground zero in the debate over mountaintop removal coal mining—a practice that involves literally blasting away mountaintops to get at (more…)

(Reuters) – The warmth generated by human bodies in the Parisian metro will help heat a public housing project in the city center, the capital’s largest owner of social housing said on last week.

The building, located in the famous rue Beaubourg close to the Pompidou museum, is being renovated in an environmentally (more…)

The government of St. Lucia has signed an agreement with a U.S.-based company to develop a series of geothermal plants they say will produce more than 120 megawatts of electricity, with plans to export much of that energy capacity within five years. The Caribbean island nation, located on the volcanic arc of the Small Antilles and home to about 175,000 people, has granted (more…)

Many are aware of the subsidies, tax credits, and grants available to property owners and utilities to install and utilize alternative energy (i.e., wind, solar, biomass, etc.). Unfortunately, many forget that these technologies need to be manufactured somewhere. The majority of the panels that go into a photovoltaic array and the large blades that make up wind turbines are currently being manufactured overseas, often in China. This directly contradicts President Obama’s plan to spur green job growth with the passage of the Stimulus Bill. Enter the Security in Energy and Manufacturing Act (SEAM Act). (more…)

Hallowell International in Bangor, Maine, is the manufacturer of the Acadia, a combined heating and cooling system that can be combined with solar or wind installations to take users off the grid. The system can be installed in new buildings or can be retrofitted when consumers are considering green upgrades.

CleanTechies has three questions for president and founder Duane Hallowell.

CleanTechies: Acadia uses something called “boosted compression” technology. Tell us about that.

Duane Hallowell: Since the 1950s, heat pumps, which operate by exchanging air for heating and cooling, have been the most popular and environmentally-friendly heating ventilation and cooling (HVAC) application. However, because they absorb heat from the outside air, they are inefficient in cold-weather climates, requiring additional, costly heating elements in order to work correctly.

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CleanTechies catches up with Curt Robinson, executive director of the Geothermal Resources Council, for three quick questions:

CleanTechies: You’ve spoken at a number of conferences about the opportunities in international geothermal energy.  What territories look most promising in 2010?  What, in particular, is the outlook for China?

Curt Robinson: For 2010, we’ll see continuing interest in the US, Europe, Australia, and along the Pacific Ring of Fire. If the economy has a sustained recovery, we’ll see the capital markets opening up and supporting geothermal power development.

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Have a look at this TEDx Toronto clip.

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