There’s a common belief that even as solar power takes off, utility companies will retain their hold on energy markets as the need for standard electrical grids remain. But a report from the Edison Electrical Institute (EEI), a trade group of US utilities, doesn’t have a particularly optimistic outlook for their own long-established business model. They predict solar-based off-grid power usage to take off, which could cause rates for conventional utilities to skyrocket. Ostensibly, they fear the demise of their industry.

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Post tags: "clean energy", coal power, david crane, duke energy, edison electrical institute, eei, energy cost, fossil fuels, future of fossil fuels, green energy, nrg energy, nuclear power, Solar Power, us utilities

Read the rest of Parallax Landscape Re-Imagines a Low-Carbon Future for a Coal-Dominated Australian City

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Architecture, australia, brownfield, coal power, Competition, electrical generation, green architecture, Green Building, green design, latrobe city, parallax landscape, recovery, sustainable design, transiting cities, Urban design, victoria

First Solar Inc., the world’s largest producer of thin-film solar panels, will sell electricity at the rate of 5.8 cents per kWh in New Mexico – half the price of power from local coal plants. According to its Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with El Paso Electric Company, the local grid will be supplied with power from First Solar’s 50-megawatt Macho Springs project.

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Post tags: Agua Caliente Solar, Antelope Valley Solar Ranch, coal, coal power, El Paso Electric Company, First Solar Inc, Macho Springs Solar Farm, New Mexico solar power, renewable energy sources, Solar Power, thin-film solar panels, US clean energy

South Africa, a historically coal-dependent nation, has approved an incredible $5.4 billion investment in renewable energy projects, which are predicted to be capable of producing 1,400MW of solar and wind generated energy. Twenty-eight initial projects have been approved for the program, with these solar and wind farms expected to go online between 2014 and 2016. The government hopes that the new facilities—while providing cleaner, greener energy—will bolster job creation and regional economies, with requirements set in place to ensure that energy companies use locally-sourced materials.

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Post tags: "sustainable energy", "wind power", air pollution, coal power, concentrated solar power, eskom, government supported renewable energy, green energy, solar farm, Solar Power, South Africa, wind farm

As part of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency has implemented rules that has forced coal and gas companies to either close down high-polluting plants or retrofit them to meet air safety standards. However some energy companies are refusing to comply and a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council has revealed that eight leading U.S. utilities, known as the “Gang of Eight” has spent millions of dollars lobbying and litigating to block, weaken or delay major Clean Air Act safeguards.

Read the rest of NRDC Report Exposes the Millions Spent By Utility Companies Fighting EPA Clean Air Regulations

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Post tags: carbon emissions, clean air, clean air act, coal power, Environment Protection Agency, epa, gang of eight, gas power, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pollution, utility companies

Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed setting federal limits on carbon emissions from new power plants, a move could spell the beginning of the end for conventional coal-fired power plants in the US. The new rules would effectively ban any new coal plants that don’t trap CO2 before it leaves their smokestacks. The historic announcement represents a major step towards moving past one of the biggest contributors to climate change.

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Post tags: CO2, CO2 emissions, coal plants, coal power, coal-fired power plants, enbvironmental protection agency, energy policy, epa, greenhouse gasses, obama

In the wake of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in a generation, yet another nuclear reactor in Japan was taken offline for maintenance on Monday, leaving only one of the country’s 54 nuclear reactors operational. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the company responsible for the three reactors in Fukushima that suffered a meltdown when the area was hit with a tsunami last year, took the last of its 17 nuclear reactors offline this week for safety and stress tests. Japan’s last operating reactor is scheduled to be taken down in early May, leaving threats of power outages for that nation, which previously depended on nuclear energy for as much as one-third of its power.

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Post tags: "clean energy", coal power, fossil fuels, Fukushima, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power, Japan, japan tsunami, nuclear energy, nuclear meltdown, nuclear power, nuclear reactors

Natural gas has been widely billed as a “bridge fuel” – a low-carbon alternative to coal that will help us make the transition to cleaner energy – but a new study pokes some big holes in that argument. According to the study, which was published last month in Environmental Review Letters, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is already so great that switching to natural gas would do very little to counter current warming trends. However, the study shows that switching to renewable energy could begin to cut the warming effect within two decades.

Read the rest of New Study Shows Natural Gas is a Bridge (Fuel) to Nowhere

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Post tags: alternative energy, carbon, carbon dioxide, Climate Change, CO2, coal power, fracking, global warming, hydroelectric, natural gas, nuclear power, renewable energy, solar

The Energy Information Administration has released data to show that in 2011, coal power made up less than 40% of all U.S. electricity. As coal-fueled electric dropped to 30 year lows last year, the profoundly dirty fuel rounded out its year in decline by providing its lowest monthly rates of power production since March 1978. With coal plants shuttering their doors and production down, this looks like great news. But before we get too excited, the EIA attributes the drop in coal usage to a mild winter and a decline in the prices of less-than-environmentally-friendly natural gas (a.k.a. that stuff we’re fracking for).

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Post tags: air pollution, coal decline, coal power, electric production, Energy Information Administration, epa regulations, fracking dangers, mercury emissions, Michael Bloomberg, natural gas, renewable energy, Sierra Club

Think air pollution in the US is just a local problem? Think again – a new study published in the journal Biogeosciences finds that man-made ozone pollution in North America can cause European farmers to lose 1.2 million tons of wheat per year. Ozone pollution, which is partly produced by car exhaust and coal power plants, was already known to damage crops, but the new study demonstrates that ozone produced in the Northern Hemisphere has the ability to affect crop yields in separate continents that are located downwind. The findings prove that air pollution poses a serious threat to food security worldwide, and it reinforces the urgency to develop a binding agreement to curb emissions.

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Post tags: air pollution, coal power, emissions, farming, food security, fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, ozone, Pollution

There have been a lot of articles about how many Asian countries, namely China, are starting to dominate the solar energy sector. However, General Electric Co. has decided to enter the Asian alternative energy sector by announcing they will be providing 31 turbines for a $100 million wind farm in Mongolia. The farm will be built by Newcom LLC, a Mongolian investment company.

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Post tags: "wind power", coal power, ge wind power, ge wind turbines, general electric mongolia, Salkhit Wind Farm, Salkhit Wind Farm $100 million, Salkhit Wind Farm coal power, Salkhit Wind Farm GE, Salkhit Wind Farm mongolia, Salkhit Wind Farm Newcom LLC, Salkhit Wind Farm wind power, wind energy, wind turbines

New power plant regulations unveiled yesterday by the EPA will prevent as many as 34,000 deaths a year and eliminate millions of tons of pollutants from our air. The tougher regulations affect coal fueled power plants in 28 states, and they are part of an overall effort to reduce carbon emissions along the East Coast. The announcement came as great news for environmental activists; chemicals from carbon emissions have affected the environment along the east coast for years. The regulations, known as the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) will take effect in 2012.

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Post tags: american coalition for clean coal, barack obama environmental policies, clean energy group, coal power, coal power plant, coal power plants, coal regulations, cross state air pollution rule, CSAPR, east coast air pollution, environmental protection agency, environmental sustainability, epa, EPA new coal regulations, george w bush environmental policies, lisa jackson

The next time you’re marveling about the amount of information you can access at the click of your mouse, think about this: if it were considered a country, our collective computing carbon footprint would place 5th in world for energy use. What shows up on your computer screen is most likely coming from a large data center — or “data farm” — thousands of miles away from you. Today Greenpeace released a study detailing the amount of energy consumed by data centers and revealing that most data centers are run by coal fired power plants — one of the most destructive kinds of energy there is.

Read the rest of Greenpeace Reveals the Internet’s Biggest Secret – Dirty Coal!

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Post tags: clean coal, coal, coal power, data center, dirty coal, Greenpeace, internet, smart 2020, teledata