According to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Americans are willing to pay for slightly higher electricity bills for clean energy. The survey, led by researchers from Yale and Harvard, asked this question: would consumers be interested in a law requiring utilities to source 80 percent of their power from sources including nuclear, solar and wind by 2035? The results indicated that on average, Americans are willing to pay an extra $162 more a year for an energy policy that mandated 80 percent of electricity is generated from renewables by 2035.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "wind power", Andrew Leiserowitz, clean energy policy, congress, Joseph Aldy, Matthew Kotchen, national clean energy standard, NCES, renewable energy, solar

Saudi Arabia has long been a wealthy country because of its enormous oil reserves. But the kingdom also is rich in sunlight, and it now promises to invest over $100 billion to develop 41 gigawatts of solar electricity by 2032. The plan could eventually transform Saudi Arabia from the world’s largest oil exporter to a leading innovator of solar energy and technologies.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "solar energy", carbon emissions, Middle East, oil and gas, renewable energy, saudi arabia, solar, Solar Power, solar thermal

Tomorrow, One Ocean, the stunning solar-powered, naturally ventilated Thematic Pavilion designed by Vienna-based Soma Architecture will open in Yeosu, South Korea. The auditorium hails Yeosu’s redevelopment along its waterfront as this southwestern Korean city of 300,000 hosts EXPO 2012. Designed to keep visitors cool during humid summers, One Ocean is also a nod to biomimicry with its gill-like façade that overlooks the harbor. The soaring glass fiber gills are designed to function like lamellas, the papery ribs under a mushroom’s cap.

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Post tags: Architecture, biomimicry, dmp, EXPO 2012, EXPO Yeosu, Jan Cremers, korea, One Ocean, solar, soma, sustainable design, Thematic Pavilion, Transsolar, yeosu

Imagine a solar cell that comes in a jar instead of a big, clunky panel, and that could be painted on a piece of plastic. It might be closer than you think - scientists at the University of Southern California have developed a new type of solar cell made from nanocrystals that are so small that you could fit about 250 billion of them on the head of a pin. Due to their size, the nanocrystals can be made into an ink and painted or printed onto clear surfaces. The breakthrough could open the door to solar cells that can be printed onto plastic instead of glass, and then bent and shaped to fit anywhere.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "solar energy", clean tech, green technology, liquid solar cell, nanocrystals, nanotechnology, renewable energy, science, solar, Solar Cell, Solar Power, University of Southern California, USC

Engineers at Stanford University appear to have come up with a way to make solar cells and batteries more efficient by “decorating” nanowires with chains of nanoparticles. The process has been likened to dressing up the nanowires with jewelry, a step which helps to enhance their catalytic and electrical performance. The process is simpler and faster than previous techniques, and the development could lead to better lithium-ion batteries and more efficient solar cells, according to a study published in the journal Nano Letters.

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Post tags: batteries, bejeweled nanowires, green technology, lithium-ion batteries, nanoparticles, nanotechnology, nanowires, solar, Solar cells, stanford, stanford university, tech

Do you think homeowners should have the right to install solar panels on their own condos? Many homeowner associations (HOAs) in the United States don’t think so. Even as solar energy becomes increasingly cheaper with tax incentives bringing the costs down even more, the vast majority of homeowner associations in the United States ban the practice for aesthetic reasons. Now homeowners are fighting back, taking their cause to state legislatures and the courts.

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Post tags: "solar energy", condo, condominiums, David Dobs, georgia, hoas, homeowner associations, solar, solar panels, Solar Power, virginia

The world’s largest solar thermal plant recently opened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The new plant is almost double the size of what was previously the largest solar thermal facility (located in Denmark), and it will generate enough power to heat water for a university of 40,000 students. GREENTecONE, an Austrian solar design company, supplied the solar panels for the project.

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Post tags: GREENTecONE, Middle East, Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University for Women, Riyadh, saudi arabia, solar, solar panels, solar thermal, solar thermal plant

Leading British singer Adele isn’t just rolling in the deep – she’s also rolling in the green! We found out this morning that the chanteuse will be giving her new seaside home in Brighton a solar-powered makeover to make the property more eco-friendly. The solar retrofit will allow the house to be powered without the use of any fossil fuels.

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Post tags: Adele, adele house, adele solar house, adele's house, brighton, eco design, green design, renewables, Simon Konecki, solar, solar home, solar panels, Solar Power, solar retrofit, sustainable design, sustainable lifestyle, UK, united kingdom

According to a Pew Charitable Trusts survey, the United States has reclaimed the top spot in clean energy investment, toppling China from its number one global ranking. Meanwhile, investment in renewables around the world continues to surge, reaching $237.2 billion in 2011, up almost 8 percent from the previous year. Despite austerity measures, expiring tax credits and the continued global hunt for oil, developed and developing nations alike are striving to add more non-fossil fuels to their energy portfolio.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "solar energy", "wind power", clean energy investment, investment in renewables, Pew Charitable Trusts, renewable energy, renewables, solar, Solar Power, stimulus, tax credits

Natcore Technology scientists have created a black silicon solar cell with an average reflectance of 0.3%, making it the “blackest” solar cell ever designed. Compared to the most efficient solar cells currently on the market, Natcore’s development offers a tenfold decrease in reflectance over the solar spectrum. The result is an increase in energy efficiency that could help solar power compete even more effectively with traditional fossil fuels.

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Post tags: black silicon, black silicon solar cells, blackest solar cell, Natcore, Natcore Technology, NREL, reflectance, solar, Solar cells, Solar Power

Yesterday Walmart announced the installation of six more solar projects in Denver, Colorado, bringing the total number of Walmart’s solar power installations to 100. The rooftop solar installations, built in a partnership with SolarCity, are enough to power 225 homes annually. Walmart and SolarCity say that these projects will prevent 5 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

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Post tags: "clean energy", colorado, Denver, power purchasing agreement, ppa, renewable energy, solar, solar installations, Solar Power, solarcity, tobey corey, walmart

Kyocera announced today that it will partner with two other companies to build Japan’s largest solar farm. Located on the southwestern island of Kyushu, the 70-megawatt solar power plant is the start of an effort to explore opportunities to integrate solar within Japan’s electricity grid. Kyocera estimates the cost of the project at approximately $309 million (¥25 billion).

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Post tags: "solar energy", green design, green energy, IHI Corporation, Japan, japan solar power, Kagoshima, kyocera, Kyushu, Mizuho Corporate Bank, solar, solar farm, Solar Power, solar power plant, sustainable design

When news broke earlier this week that Solar Trust of America (a big solar company backed by the US Department of Energy) had filed for bankruptcy, conservatives predictably took to the airwaves to denounce the Obama administration’s energy policy. “Another $2 billion of taxpayer money lost on solar companies,” read one headline. “Another Obama Solar Company Goes Bankrupt … Taxpayers Lose $2 BILLION?” screamed another. The only problem? Solar Trust of America never took the money.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "solar energy", California, DOE, ken salazar, mirrored solar panels, parabolic trough, renewable energy, solar, solar array, Solar Power, solar trust of america, solyndra, steven chu, us department of energy

Scientists from Austria and Japan just announced that they have created micro-thin solar cells that are thinner than a human hair and even narrower than spider silk. These sheer solar cells are ten times thinner than any other solar technology ever created. The innovation transforms thin solar technology as we now know it, and it could pave the way for the development of electronic textiles, advanced robotics, and synthetic skin.

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Post tags: micro thin solar, solar, Solar cells, solar technology, thin film, thin film solar, Tsuyoshi Sekitani, university of austria, university of tokyo

Why do cloudy European countries produce so much more solar energy than the United States? Because countries like Germany, for example, have programs that require local utility companies to buy solar energy from local producers. This week, the city of Los Angeles moved one step closer to that type of arrangement when the LA City Council gave the green light to the Clean LA program, a feed-in tariff pilot program that will require the Department of Water and Power to buy solar power generated by local property owners.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "solar energy", California, Feed-in Tariff, la, Los Angeles, photovoltaic, renewable energy, solar, Solar Power

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.

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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

Frank Lloyd Wright‘s reverence for the natural world is well documented – the famed architect coined the term “organic architecture,” a style of building that blends in seamlessly with the natural world. But although his buildings did complement their surroundings, they still depended on many of the same energy inputs as other buildings. Now, more than 50 years after his death, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is planning to give Taliesin West — Wright’s winter home in Scottsdale, AZ — a net zero energy upgrade.

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Post tags: "clean energy", Arizona, AZ, FLW, frank lloyd wright, green renovations, green retrofits, historic architecture, national register of historic places, net-zero energy, phoenix, prairie style architecture, Scottsdale, solar, Taliesin West

Read the rest of Electric Utility To Buy University of Maryland’s Solar Decathlon-Winning WaterShed House

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Post tags: design contests, energy efficient design, green architecture, green design, Pepco, photovoltaic, solar, Solar Decathlon, solar thermal, sustainable design, University of Maryland, Watershed

The U.S. Department of Energy has just announced the location of the 2013 Solar Decathlon – as well as the 20 lucky teams who will be competing for green design glory! After being kicked off the National Mall last year, organizers scrambled to find a back up location – and they’ve found a gem in the Golden State. This fall, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California will be filled with energy-efficient prefab homes as they duke it out to see which house can generate the most solar energy!

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Post tags: Department of Energy, orange county great park, orange county great park solar decathlon, solar, Solar Decathlon, solar decathlon 2013, solar decathlon 2013 news, solar decathlon news, SOLAR HOMES, solar news, Solar Power, solar powered homes, U. S. Department of Energy

An average global temperature of 57.9 degrees Fahrenheit marked 2011 as the 11th hottest year on record. At a full 0.9 degrees warmer than the 20th century average, this past year was hotter than every year in the last century except for 1998. The sentiment among climate scientists is that higher temperatures are largely sustained by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. This means that if global emissions aren’t curbed and development continues without consideration for climate, the future will be full of freaky storms, extreme weather, and even more record-breaking weather anomalies.

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Post tags: 2011 was 11th hottest year on record, carbon dioxide, Climate Change, climate model, CO2, Drought, eco habitat, eco-conscious, emissions, emissions reduction, extreme weather, giss, global climate, green infrastructure, green living, green technology, green transportation, heatwave, hottest year, infrastructure, localize, municipal water, nasa, nasa giss, Recycle, renewable energy, solar, sustainable design, sustainable living, water conservation, water issues, weather