Alternative energy is not only good for the environment; it’s good for job creation, too. According to the Solar Foundation, 100,237 Americans are now working in the US solar industry. The statement is based on preliminary data from National Solar Jobs Census 2011: A Review of the U.S. Solar Workforce. (more…)

A recent study, released on 11 October, “Biofuel and Technologies” released by Pike Research states that the global biofuel market will double within the next decade to $183.3 billion from its current level of $82.7 billion, with ethanol production accounting for $78 billion of future worldwide biofuel production, while predicting that biodiesel production will reach $25.5 billion. Perhaps not surprisingly, Pike Research predicts that the US will become the world’s leading biofuel producer, accounting for 71 percent of alternative fuel by 2021.

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Greening the European Union has suffered a setback.

The European Biodiesel Board is reporting that the European Union biodiesel industry production forecasts are noting a 2011 decrease in output, the first since data has been gathered, down from 2010 figures of 9.57 million tons.

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The first commercial cellulosic ethanol (ethanol made from non-edible parts of plants, grass, crop waste etc) will start production in 2013, and it will “open the floodgates” for this type of fuel, said Bloomberg.

POET, a biofuel producer building a plant in Iowa (more…)

The vast majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction when it comes to energy policy and want more leadership when it comes to dealing with future needs, according to a new poll. In survey of 3,406 Americans conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, less than 14 percent of respondents said they think the country is (more…)

A previous post reported on the consolidation of a number of patent infringement suits brought by GreenShift and its New York subsidiary, GS Cleantech, against a host of ethanol producers across the midwestern United States.

GreenShift has accused the defendants of infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,601,858 (’858 Patent), entitled (more…)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on 30 May that Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy and Europe’s biggest, would shutter all of its 17 nuclear power plants between 2015 and 2022, an extraordinary commitment, given that they currently produce about 28 percent of the country’s electricity. (more…)

Applied Materials is a capital equipment producer that services a number of manufacturing industries, including semiconductor, TFT LCD display, solar (thin film and crystalline), and glass. There are four primary groups of Applied Materials – Energy and Environmental Solutions, Display, Silicon (more…)

Some of the coldest places on Earth, including the high altitudes of the southern Andes and the Himalaya, could also have the best potential for solar power using photovoltaic technology, a new study finds.

In a global assessment of photovoltaic potential, researchers found that high-altitude regions could (more…)

Alcoa, which actually stands for Aluminum Company of America, is the third largest aluminum producer in the world. Aside from its involvement in the aluminum industry, Alcoa has worked in a number of other major industries, including automotive, aerospace, building and construction, packaging, and (more…)