photo: BrightSource Energy I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. Some good news on the environmental front for a change: Global investment in green technology in the first quarter of the year spiked 52 percent compared to the previous quarter, to $2.57 billion. That’s according to a report released Tuesday by the [...]
Archive for the ‘alternative energy’ Category
Powering up: Green tech investment surges in first quarter
Posted in alternative energy, biofuels, electric cars, enviro capitalism, enviro startups, green financing, renewable energy, solar energy, tagged Cleantech Group on April 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Starter homes get solar panels as standard equipment
Posted in alternative energy, green buildings, green packaging, renewable energy, solar energy, tagged KB Home on March 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
photo: KB Home In The New York Times on Thursday, I wrote about a home builder installing solar arrays as standard equipment in new developments in Southern California: Among the standard features offered for new homes at Manzanita at Paseo del Sol, a KB Home development in a desert suburb southeast of Los Angeles, are [...]
Google-backed startup aims to slash gadgets’ energy use
Posted in alternative energy, energy efficiency, Google, tagged Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Transphorm on February 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In Wednesday’s New York Times, I write about a Google-backed startup that unveiled a new power conversion technology it claims will dramatically cut the energy consumption of motors, electronic gadgets and other devices: A Southern California start-up backed by Google and prominent venture capital firms announced on Wednesday a technology it claimed could slash the [...]
Report: Californians paying too high a price for green energy
Posted in alternative energy, green policy, PG&E, San Diego Gas & Electric, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison on February 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. Are Californians forking over too much green for green energy? A new report from a ratepayers advocacy group found that the price of electricity in 59 percent of renewable energy contracts signed by the state’s three big utilities exceeded the market price referent, or MPR [...]
China widens gap with U.S. in green energy race
Posted in alternative energy, tagged China, United States on January 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared on November 30, 2010. A day after Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s “Sputnik speech,” in which he warned that China was investing billions in renewable energy while American politicians bickered over small-potatoes stimulus spending on green technology, a report from Ernst & Young released Tuesday confirmed [...]
Report: U.S. utility-scale photovoltaic industry set to boom
Posted in alternative energy, NRG Energy, solar energy, solar power plants on January 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I wrote this story for Reuters, where it first appeared on November 30, 2010. With NRG Energy’s announcement on Tuesday that it will invest $450 million investment in a California photovoltaic project, the New Jersey-based power provider has pledged a total of $750 million for big solar plants in the past two months. A new [...]
Calico solar project delayed, enviros may sue over wildlife
Posted in alternative energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Tessera Solar on November 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Tessera Solar I wrote this story for Reuters, where it first appeared: The California Energy Commission has temporarily withdrawn approval of a controversial solar power plant by NTR’s Tessera Solar after opponents protested that the 663.5-megawatt Calico project had been improperly licensed. California aims to get a third of its electricity from renewable energy [...]
Utility makes big bets on solar technology
Posted in alternative energy, Amonix, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison on November 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Amonix I wrote this story for Reuters, where it first appeared: As solar panel prices have plummeted over the past year, photovoltaic power plants have become a more attractive option for utilities under pressure to meet renewable energy targets. Case in point: Late last week utility Southern California Edison announced it had signed contracts [...]
Why the green energy revolution needs the smart grid
Posted in alternative energy, environment, green policy, green tech, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison, tagged Sacramento Municipal Utility District on November 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Todd Woody I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. If you want a birds-eye view of the future of power, scramble up to the roof of a 562,089-square-foot warehouse in Ontario, a city that sits in the smoggy heart of Southern California’s Inland Empire east of Los Angeles. On a roof [...]
