The Austin American-Statesman

By Asher Price

Published: February 2, 2009

 

Part of a continuing series about emerging industries and efforts to bring them to Central Texas. Positioning Texas to jockey with other states for green energy jobs, lawmakers are unveiling plans to spur the research and manufacture of solar power in the state. The series of proposals is as broad as giving tax breaks to manufacturers of made-in-Texas solar panels and as narrow as barring homeowner associations that try to forbid solar panels in subdivisions.

The Washington Post

By Steven Mufson

Published: January 31, 2009

 

Two big batteries stand side by side at the General Motors testing lab in Warren, Mich. One is an artifact, built a dozen years ago. Weighing 1,200 pounds, it could fill the back of a large pickup truck. Standing on one end, it towers over GM's Robert A. Kruse, executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids and electric vehicles.

ABC News

By Laura Coverson

Published: January 31, 2009

 

On a sunny winter's day in Southern California, a group of students sits in windowless classroom at Los Angeles Trade and Technical College, eyeing the contents of small bottles of alternative fuels. "This is actually biodiesel, but this is not derived from the soy bean, this one is actually a plant," explains associate professor Jess Guerra to the group.

The Boston Globe

By Erin Ailworth

Published: January 31, 2009

 

Last summer, wind turbine manufacturers couldn't make parts fast enough to meet demand. Now, industry executives say, financing has all but disappeared because of the economy, causing some planned projects to be put on hold. Unless there's a robust economic rebound, or the government steps in, they say, construction of wind turbines nationwide will be set back, and the companies that make turbine parts could be forced to cut jobs.

The New York Times

By Leslie Kaufman

Published: January 31, 2009

 

A frowny face is not what most electric customers expect to see on their utility statements, but Greg Dyer got one. He earned it, the utility said, by using a lot more energy than his neighbors. “I have four daughters; none of my neighbors has that many children,” said Mr. Dyer, 49, a lawyer who lives in Sacramento. He wrote back to the utility and gave it his own rating: four frowny faces.

The Wall Street Journal

By Rebecca Smith

Published: January 31, 2009

 

Congress is beginning to fear that the Obama administration's push for renewable energy will produce more jobs in Asia and Europe -- where most wind turbines and solar panels are made -- than in the U.S. The proposed remedy is a provision in the economic-stimulus bill that offers tax breaks to U.S. producers of the equipment.

The Wall Street Journal

By Stephen Moore

Published: January 31, 2009

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was all smiles in 2006 when he signed into law the toughest anti-global-warming regulations of any state. Mr. Schwarzenegger and his green supporters boasted that the regulations would steer California into a prosperous era of green jobs, renewable energy, and technological leadership. Instead, since 2007 -- in anticipation of the new mandates -- California has led the nation in job losses.

Scientific American

By David Biello

Published: January 30, 2009

 

On Feb. 16, 2002, the nuclear power plant called Davis–Besse on the shores of Lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio, shut down. On inspection, a pineapple-size section on the 6.63-inch- (16.84-centimeter-) thick carbon steel lid that holds in the pressurized, fission-heated water in the site's sole reactor had been entirely eaten away by boric acid formed from a leak. The only thing standing between the escape of nuclear steam and a possible chain of events leading to a meltdown was an internal liner of stainless steel just three sixteenths of an inch (0.48 centimeter) thick that had slowly bent out about an eighth of an inch (0.32 centimeter) into the cavity due to the constant 2,200 pound-per–square-inch (155-kilogram-per-square-centimeter) pressure.

The Olympian

By John Dodge

Published: January 30, 2009

 

This state should choose to be a leader in creating a new green economy built on jobs that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and wean citizens and businesses off reliance on fossil fuels, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Thursday. To that effect, she introduced her signature environmental legislation for the 2009 Legislature, brushing aside criticisms that it would be too costly and too aggressive in the face of a state budget deficit of nearly $6 billion and an imploding economy.

The Washington Post

By Warren Brown

Published: January 30, 2009

 

It began 88 years ago as the moral equivalent of an annual tent sale for regional car dealers. Today, it is a major platform used by the global automobile industry to lobby the political and regulatory leadership of the world's most lucrative car market. It is the Washington Auto Show, the 67th staging of which takes place this week, Feb. 4-8.

The Associated Press

By Ken Thomas

Published: January 30, 2009

 

Wind power advocates are pushing for billions in tax incentives and grants in the $819 billion recovery package moving through Congress, hoping to offset an economic slowdown affecting the industry. Expansion of wind energy, a key part of rural development throughout the Midwest and Great Plains, could depend on how the stimulus plan is overhauled by the Senate next week and eventually resolved by congressional negotiators.

Chattanooga Times Free Press

By Dave Flessner

Published: January 30, 2009

 

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory could get up to $300 million from the economic stimulus proposal working its way through Congress, the lab director said Thursday. Thom Mason said the stimulus plans under consideration in the Senate and approved Tuesday in the House could help speed construction of new labs and housing facilities and upgrade aging infrastructure at the Department of Energy lab.

Nashville Business Journal

By Turner Hutchens

Published: January 30, 2009

 

Hemlock Semiconductor Corp.’s planned $1 billion Clarksville plant may be a start, but Middle Tennessee seems to have a long way to go before becoming a leader in the “green” economy. Greater Nashville ranked 38th in the nation for its number of green jobs. And the entire Volunteer State, with a population of 3.4 million, has about as many green jobs as San Francisco, which has about 800,000 residents and ranked eighth among the nation’s metro areas for green jobs, according to a 2008 report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Nashville Business Journal

By Elena Babaeva

Published: January 30, 2009

 

There is a perception in the real estate industry that constructing green buildings is more expensive than traditional buildings. A California study asserted that most developers estimate the costs of building LEED-certified buildings to be 10 to 15 percent higher than conventional buildings. The actual costs are hard to pinpoint, however, because there is a lack of shared data related to costs and difficulty in separating “finish” upgrades from green upgrades, among other reasons.

The Associated Press

By John Porretto

Published: January 30, 2009

 

ExxonMobil on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for full-year earnings by a U.S. company, even as fourth-quarter profit tumbled 33%. The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.

The USA Today

By Paul Davidson

Published: January 30, 2009

 

Alternative energy is taking it on the chin this recession, with solar and wind developers canceling projects and laying off workers. But a far more obscure slice of the energy sector is hotter than ever: the electricity grid. How hot? President Obama has made modernizing the nation's vast power network a key piece of his $819 billion economic stimulus plan, passed by the House Wednesday.

The New York Times
By Andrew E. Kramer

Published: January 29, 2009

 

The titans of Russia’s energy industry gathered around an enormous map showing the route of a proposed new pipeline in Siberia. It would cost billions and had been years in the planning. After listening to their presentation, President Vladimir V. Putin frowned, got up from his chair, whipped out a felt pen and redrew the map right in front of the embarrassed executives, who quickly agreed that he was right.

Earth2Tech

By Josie Garthwaite

Published: January 29, 2009

 

Global investment in clean energy must reach $515 billion per year by 2030 — triple that of last year’s investment — in order to avoid “the catastrophic impact of climate change,” according to a report from the World Economic Forum and New Energy Finance. Released this morning in Davos, the 56-page document, “Green Investing: Towards a Clean Energy Infrastructure,” is the first such report to come out of a climate change project mandated by investors at last year’s meeting.

The Austin American-Statesman

By Marty Toohey

Published: January 29, 2009

 

Austin could soon have one of the largest solar power facilities in the world. Austin Energy, the city's electric utility, wants to set aside 300 acres it owns outside Webberville in eastern Travis County for a solar array, which would be built and owned by San Francisco-based Gemini Solar Development Co. Austin Energy would be the exclusive client and pay $10 million a year for 25 years for the power generated by the array.

Business Week

By Lauren Young

Published: January 29, 2009

 

President Obama's plan for the U.S. to derive 10% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2012, as well as his pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, should be a boon to companies that provide climate-change solutions. It could also be good for socially responsible mutual funds, which for decades have invested in companies with strong environmental records and sustainable business practices.