NREL RE Atlas Shows Intersection of Resources

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Robert Hash

(Clockwise, from top left: concentrated solar in red and wind; concentrated solar, wind and biomass in green; hydro in purple and geothermal; PVs and wave energy.)

It’s easy to spend a lot of time adding and removing layers from NREL’s RE Atlas tool. It’s simple to use, and provides a wealth of information. Recently, while using the RE Atlas we started looking at where the various RE resources intersected.

Why? Well, not so much for land-use questions (biomass and wind don’t really compete for land) but for investment. Yesterday’s post showed that the U.S. had a strong year for RE investment, but that different technologies fared better than others. So, we wanted to see which states had a diverse range of resources and which didn’t. Above, you see a few images of what we found.

One more thing that came to mind while using the RE Atlas, none of these places are that close to major urban areas on the east or west coasts. Which made us wonder, where are the transmission projects?

Did You Know? Renewables Investment Surged in 2011

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Robert Hash

Did you know that global investment in renewable energy in 2011 set a new record? Despite the “sluggish global economy,” renewable energy investment increased by 5% over 2010 figures, to $260 billion, as reported by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The Bloomberg report is full of detailed information on how the $260 billion was spent, but there was one item that stood out above the rest that we wanted to highlight:

In 2008, the US was by far the largest single country worldwide in terms of total investment in clean energy, but it was overtaken by China in 2009. China increased its lead in 2010. However in 2011, the US roared ahead once again, with total investment surging to $55.9bn, up 33%; China saw investment rise just 1% to $47.4bn.

Good news indeed. Read more about the report today.

Could Thorium Solve our Energy Issue?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Robert Hash

Kirk Sorensen seems to think so. Watch his TED talk to learn more.

Greener Buildings Through Better Occupant Behavior?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Robert Hash

Even in the best car, I’m not likely to win the Indy 500. The same goes for high performance buildings. Even the best, LEED-certified, low-impact building can lose its green benefits if the building’s occupants don’t utilize the systems in place and follow good green practices.

In an effort to help building managers and occupants reach their environmentally-friendly potential, Ashley Halligan with the Property Management Software Guide blog has identified five ways to encourage green-friendly behaviors among occupants:

Engage Occupants Before They Move In
Take A Holistic Approach
Measure with New Technologies
Provoke Competition
Create Transparency

This seems like a pretty good list, so head over to the Property Management Software Guide blog to read more on each point.

The Energy Department’s Impact on Detroit

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Robert Hash

Here’s a nice video, filmed at the Detroit Auto Show, that features a lot of Federal officials and automotive industry leaders discussing the benefits of DOE-Detroit collaboration.

D.C. Tops LEED Buildings List

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Robert Hash

The USGBC recently announced their 2011 list of top 10 states for LEED green buildings. DC beat out every state with 31 sq. ft. of LEED-certified space per person. The fact that this announcement comes not long after the Treasury Building was LEED certified – and became the oldest building to receive certification – firmly places D.C. in a leading role for building efficiency and design in the nation.

Read more about the list, including notable projects from the top ten, at CEILeadership.org.

A Tale of Two States

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Robert Hash

The state in the darkest shade of blue on the map above is New York. In New York in 2009, per person energy consumption was 196 million BTUs. This was the most efficient number, as a state, in the nation.

The state in the darkest shade of orange on the map above is Wyoming. In Wyoming in 2009, per person energy consumption was 956 million BTUs. This was the most inefficient number, as a state, in the nation

The fact that New York was the most efficient state in 2009 isn’t that surprising. New York had, and still has, a lot of great financial incentives for energy efficiency in place. And there’s no real surprise that Wyoming came in where it did either, though some incentives and policies are in place in the state to encourage efficiency and renewables. What really struck us after looking at the map and the per-person data, is the size of the gap between #1 and #51 (including DC) and the apparent positive results of good policy. States known to have good energy policy show up in blue right across the country.

EPA’s Really Cool Greenhouse Gas Data Tool

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Robert Hash

We’re not sure how we missed this when it was released, but, as they say, better late than never.

The EPA has released its 2010 greenhouse gas data. Even better, they’ve made it available through a very easy to use web-based interactive map. Simply visit their site and choose your location. Next thing you know, institutions, power plants and buildings will start populating your screen. Click on any of these to find out good, hard data about their CO2, N2O, and CH4 (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane) outputs.

The EPA has a nice press release about the new data and program, so be sure to check it out to find out just how powerful and information-packed this new tool really is.

Fuel Efficiency on Display in Detroit

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Robert Hash

FordFusionHybrid NissanVan
Chevy Concept HondaAccord

The Detroit Auto Show will continue for a few more days, but we wanted to share some of the fuel efficient models put on display from major car makers. Above you see the latest from Ford, Chevy, Nissan and Honda. All of these vehicles have fuel efficiency credentials – high 30s and low 40s MPG ratings as well as EV or hybrid options.

We’ve posted the press releases for these new models over at CEILeadership.org, so check them out!

Better Solar Cells and Batteries from Particle-free Silver Ink?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Robert Hash

silver ink
Photo via S. Brett Walker at UofI

What is particle-free silver ink, and why should you care about it?

A researcher at the University of Illinois, Jennifer Lewis, and a graduate student, S. Brett Walker have developed a new particle-free silver ink. This is the kind of ink that transmits electrical current, so it has many applications in renewable energy. The problem with the older inks were that they had particles in them, which apparently made this less stable, harder to print, and generally more difficult to use. This new ink solves many, if not most, of these problems. Which means, as their paper describes, that an ink now exists that can transmit electrical current and can be used by an inkjet printer or “direct ink writing.”

Sounds pretty cool to us, and any thing that makes solar energy and batteries more efficient and better-performing makes us take notice.

Read the full press release on the CEIL website.