Since the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, and which resulted in one of the worst nuclear accidents in recent history, Japan has signaled its intentions to transition towards clean, alternative energy. Japanese officials recently announced that the country intends to build the largest wind farm in the world. The offshore wind farm will be built ten (more…)

Preserved natural lands are a national treasure that protect wildlife and allow us to see and enjoy the natural landscape of our beautiful country as it has existed for millenniums, without human “improvements”. But there are lots of areas in national parks, monuments, and wildlife areas that are not pristine. These areas are targeted for low-impact energy development by (more…)

The last-minute tax deal brokered by U.S. lawmakers to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” included a one-year extension of the wind energy tax credit, a subsidy that industry officials say is critical for the growth of the wind energy sector.

The bill, which now awaits President Obama’s signature, preserves the 2.2-cents-per-kilowatt (more…)

According to a recent joint University of Delaware and Delaware Technical Community College study, a well-designed combination of wind energy, solar energy, and storage in batteries and fuel cells would be a cost effective way of meeting electricity demands. (more…)

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced plans to provide $28 million in grants to seven proposed offshore wind projects, a financial commitment the Obama administration hopes will provide a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to gain a foothold in American waters.

Each of the seven projects — located in Maine, New (more…)

Every year around this time since 2007, as executive editor of a leading global cleantech research and news service, I’ve contributed to predictions on what to expect in the year ahead in cleantech.

We’ve kept that tradition alive here at Kachan & Co. We don’t claim a perfect track record, but we’ve been eerily prescient and nailed some biggies a (more…)

A new report compiled by Greenpeace International and the Global Wind Energy Council on the future of the wind industry and released yesterday in Beijing says wind power could supply up to 12 percent of global electricity by 2020, creating 1.4 million new jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 1.5 billion tons per year, more than 5 times today’s level. By 2030, (more…)

Here’s an important white paper that my friend Tim Kingston just sent me, that frankly, I’m unlikely to read.

Say what?

It’s on a financial issue, master limited partnerships (MLPs), that I’ve heard plenty about over the last two meetings of the Renewable Energy Finance Forum, (more…)

The pace of wind energy development on public lands is picking up. Interior Ken Salazar announced this week that the Department has reached its goal of authorizing 10,000 megawatts of renewable power on public lands with the approval of the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project site as suitable for wind energy development. The Project is (more…)

The age of the fossil fuel is dying out, and the time for energy efficiency is rising. Thanks to a combination of the depletion of available fossil fuel resources and a global shift towards cleaner, greener fuels, it won’t be long before coal, oil and natural gas will be taught in school history lessons.

The focus instead has now shifted to renewable (more…)