In the 19th century, Texas became well known for its longhorns and the Alamo. The 20th century saw the oil boom, the Cowboys, and an infamous Dallas afternoon in November, 1963. In the 21st century, the state is becoming defined by its surprisingly progressive stand on energy through its wind farms and embracing of electric vehicles. (more…)

The drive towards alternative energy continues at full steam in Ontario, Canada.

According to a report in the London Free Press, Ontario Liberals are pressing ahead with 25 wind and solar projects for the Southwestern region.

The announcement was made earlier this week. (more…)

Breakthroughs in green energy technology, coupled with supportive government policies, could add $155 billion to the U.S. economy annually and create more than 1.1 million jobs by 2030, according to an analysis by Google.org, the internet search giant’s philanthropic arm. (more…)

Scientists at the Madagascar Biodiversity Center have a new tool to help them study species that are being threatened by deforestation – reliable clean power. Volunteers have installed solar panels that prevent the loss of valuable research time during occasional power outages while simultaneously reducing the center’s carbon footprint. (more…)

As far as renewable energy goes, the London Olympics, which will take place next year, is already a loser.

According to a BBC report, the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 said only the original 20% target will not be met as only 9% of the carbon-reduction measures in place will come from clean power. (more…)

Spain is currently the second largest global solar market and the third in the global wind market. Spain houses some of the leading renewable energy research centers, including Almeria Solar Platform, the National Center for Renewable Energy, and ISFOC, one of the cornerstones for concentrating photovoltaics. The Spanish government has created many progressive (more…)

Imagine a world where you can buy electricity from your choice of vendor (not the utility) at prices that can be negotiated with the vendor. Kind of like shopping at eBay or Amazon. Want to buy a week’s worth (1,000 kWh) of power from SebaSolar at 9 ¢/kWh? Just click here. How about switching to WindyWelly for the weekend (300 kWh) at 8.5 ¢/kWh? Click! Wait, NeoGeo just announced it has a ‘fire sale’ at 7 ¢/kWh for next Tuesday through Thursday. Click!

Well, imagine no more. This electricity world exists today. To see this new architecture of energy at work I went to Wellington, New Zealand.

Powershop is a unit of Meridian Energy, the largest electricity generator and retailer in New Zealand. “The vision of Powershop is to be like eBay for electricity,” says CEO Ari Sargent. “Any electricity generator in New Zealand, including Meridian’s competitors, can offer their own brands of electricity at different prices and different times.”

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The earth is the water planet, so it should come as no great surprise that forms of water power have been one of the world’s most popular “renewable” energy sources. Yet the largest water power source of all – the ocean that covers three-quarters of earth – has yet to be tapped in any major way for power generation. There are three primary reasons for this:

The first is the nature of the ocean itself, a powerful resource that cannot be privately owned like land that typically serves as the foundation for site control for terrestrial power plants of all kinds;

The second is funding. Hydropower was heavily subsidized during the Great Depression, but little public investment has since been steered toward marine renewables with the exception of ocean thermal technologies, which were perceived to be a failure.

The third reason why the ocean has not yet been industrialized on behalf of energy production is that the technologies, materials and construction techniques did not exist until now to harness this renewable energy resource in any meaningful and cost effective way.

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