The U.S. defense and aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin, is partnering with a major Chinese company to build a pilot project off the southern Chinese coast that will use temperature differentials between the deep and shallow ocean to generate electricity.

The technology, known as ocean thermal energy (more…)

You know that experience, when you buy a new car, and suddenly you see the model everywhere? Since Superstorm Sandy I’ve had the equivalent experience with the term ‘microgrid.’

Policymakers and thought leaders in the US Northeast started talking microgrid in earnest shortly (more…)

Verizon has announced it will invest $100 million in a solar and fuel cell energy project that will help power 19 of its facilities in seven states across the country. The company estimates the completed project will generate more than 70 million kilowatt of clean energy, which would be enough to power more than 6,000 single-family homes a year. This amount of (more…)

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green Tags, are becoming increasingly important in a country that has set serious goals for enacting renewable energy. In general, there are currently two types of RECs. Some REC’s are used to meet compliance targets or emissions requirements; a (more…)

My loyal readers may have been surprised (or relieved) by my hiatus from publishing.  I was not idle, however.  I led a study on Energy Efficiency Policy in New Jersey and Pennsylvania on behalf of the Department of Energy-funded Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy Efficient Buildings. (more…)

At first blush, the economics of energy efficiency seem straightforward.

A business installs lighting controls or some other improvement. The business then sees its energy costs drop. From the savings, the business repays the investment over weeks, months or years, and then turns a profit on the (more…)

Politicians often tout the benefits of going green from both an environmental and economic standpoint. After all, going green helps the economy by expanding the energy sector to one reliant primarily on fossil fuels to one that includes alternative and renewable sources which tend to be cleaner for the environment. Yet, there are varying numbers about how many jobs are truly (more…)

Imagine paying less than $15 a month for electricity and gas. Imagine living in a home without air conditioning or heating vents. If the price sounds right, but the house itself sounds either drafty or stifling, think again.

If you were living in a passive house, you wouldn’t have traditional heating and cooling equipment, but you’d still be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And your (more…)

Amid the flurry of local and state ballot initiatives Californians will be voting on next month, we’re here to highlight two that have tremendous implications for our clean energy future:

Prop 23: Puts Climate Change Action & Renewable Progress on Hold:
VOTE NO (more…)

Lucky for Americans, information technology doesn’t appear to be owned by any one political party. If it were, Congress would still be squabbling over whether or not to support the Internet and you’d be reading this on paper rather than online.

Not so for energy. Generally speaking, Republicans tend to be pro-fossil fuel, while Democrats typically come down on the side (more…)