It was hard to get excited about IBM’s Watson besting two humans in the TV game show Jeopardy and walking away with a $1 million prize last month. After all, thanks to the entertainment industry, we’ve seen robots and computers win in all kinds of ways, from HAL duping the smart astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey to (more…)

In a move that will shake the global PV industry like an earthquake, the Italian Government approved on 3rd March a long awaited Renewable Energy Decree that marks an unanticipated, early end to its incredible solar race. After months of intense negotiations with Parliament and Industry representatives that seemed to have reached positive results, the Italian (more…)

That question, as essential as it is to any assessment of global energy consumption, is very difficult to answer. You would think, given how much time we spend in buildings, how big the real estate and construction industries are, and how useful this knowledge would theoretically be to any company that sells lighting, heating, or cooling equipment around the world, that someone ought to know. But, until (more…)

Computer models that simulate and predict future climate change patterns are far from accurate according to climate scientist Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change at the University of Manchester. Anderson believes that this is because the Integrated Assessment Models (IAM’s) that are widely used by (more…)

I covered the messy breakdown of the Carousel/Destiny USA project in Syracuse earlier this week.  In short, the Destiny USA project was selected as a green "demonstration" project under the 2004 Green Bonds program.  $255 million in tax exempt bonds were issued on behalf of the project, the revenue of which was supposed to be used to implement the (more…)

Chile has some of the best conditions available for the growing cleantech industry. There are many opportunities for companies within the sectors of waste management and renewable energy. A lot of the focus of cleantech in Chile is on renewable energy forms, including biomass, solar energy, wind, and hydro power. There is also a growing involvement in (more…)

You might think by this headline that I’m about to rant about the news regarding energy efficiency policy that was circulating last week. President Obama outlined a plan called the Better Buildings Initiative to incentivize energy efficiency in commercial buildings during his visit to Penn State. Actually, I want to explain why multifamily energy management struggles with this (more…)

Searching the internet is an essential part of daily life, but are you aware of how much energy you’re using every time you surf?

We are experiencing the peak of the information age, and thanks to wireless internet technologies, it’s happening in a less resource intensive way. Instead of printed books we have eBooks, and (more…)

Energy is required for any economy to function. From the industrial revolution, the total energy used by the world has only increased in magnitude. However, the good news is that while a hundred years ago we were getting our energy from sources like coal, today’s energy sources are not only less polluting but also more efficient. As a (more…)

Spanish newspaper El Mundo published yesterday the results of the 4,016 inspections made by the Spanish Energy Commission (CNE). The investigations show that three out of four solar photovoltaic (PV) parks didn’t comply with the Spanish (more…)