On August 29, 2012 the Department of Energy (DOE) announced new investments for two university-led solar projects over a five-year period, under its SunShot Initiative. The investments amounting to $10 million are aimed at enhancing innovative technologies in concentrating solar power (CSP) systems. Such innovations can make solar power a practical energy option by increasing…
According to a report released by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on August 27, 2012, applying a carbon tax at the rate of $20 per ton in 2013 and increasing it by four percent per year can raise $1.5 trillion over a span of 10 years. The report, which comes at a time when Congress…
Ocean Power Technologies, a New Jersey-based renewable energy company, announced on August 20, 2012 that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a license for its 1.5 MW Reedsport wave energy park, the first of its kind in the U.S. The 35-year license approves the operation of up to 10 devices that can generate wave…
According to an announcement from the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Secretary Steven Chu convened a group of technical experts on August 2, 2012 to review the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at Hanford Site, in order to assess its capability to detect and rectify equipment failure inside the plant’s black cells. Due to high levels…
On May 12, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) introduced the discussion draft of the American Power Act—their long-awaited energy and climate change legislation. The bill’s stated goal is to “secure the energy future of the United States, to provide incentives for the domestic production of clean energy technology, to achieve meaningful…
Congressional leaders are growing increasingly concerned over domestic supplies of rare earth elements that are critical to producing multiple clean-energy technologies. These elements, which share unique properties of magnetism, luminescence, and strength, are used in products such as energy-efficient phosphors in fluorescent lamp products, advanced wind turbines, hybrid locomotives, high-speed motors, high power density motors…
