renew

Mobile trade group pushes green initiative

The GSMA, a trade group representing more than 750 GSM mobile operators across 218 countries, has launched a plan to help mobile operators in developing markets go green.

The organization announced Thursday the Green Power for Mobile initiative, which will help the industry use renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and biofuels to power 118,000 new and existing mobile base stations in developing countries by 2012. The initiative is backed by 25 mobile operators and will provide expertise and guidelines for operators deploying low-energy base stations or base stations that use renewable energy.

The vast majority of mobile … Read more

California utilities lead in solar energy, report says

Southern California Edison is leading the way as utilities become the solar industry's largest customers, according to a report Wednesday by the Solar Electric Power Association, whose members include solar tech companies and more than 300 utilities.

The utility is ahead of its counterparts in both overall solar energy capacity per megawatt and per customer, the study found (PDF). Further north, Pacific Gas & Electric is in front in terms of overall solar capacity and megawatts per customer.

The nonprofit solar association compiled the rankings from data collected from 50 utilities this spring. It projected growth in U.S. … Read more

Is Al Gore nuts?

In his speech in Constitution Hall this week, former Vice President and renewable energy investor Al Gore extolled a stretch goal challenging America to achieve 100% renewable power within 10 years.

The quote: "Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years." And my favorite part: "When President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon and bring him back safely in 10 years, many people doubted we could accomplish that goal. But 8 years and … Read more

Clean-energy tea leaves show choppy growth

NEW YORK--Economic and policy problems have placed a few potholes in front of the fast-growing clean-technology business.

Forecasts for clean-technology adoption all point upward these days, buoyed by high double digits growth rates in sectors like wind and solar power over the past several years.

But a panel of financial experts here at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum on Thursday detailed several challenges to scaling clean technologies beyond their current niche status of about 2 percent of energy in the U.S.

"The fundamental drivers have never been better," said Michael Liebreich, the CEO of New Energy Finance. &… Read more

Solar grants sweeten San Francisco for start-ups

Aggressive plans to expand renewable energy in San Francisco moved ahead Tuesday as the city's lawmakers approved grants to help homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits add solar panels to their buildings. Solar power companies are gearing up to meet an anticipated jump in demand in the city.

Over the next decade, between $3,000 to $6,000 will be available to each homeowner to cover the installation of solar panels, as well as $10,000 for businesses and nonprofits, and $30,000 for nonprofit affordable housing.

"This rebate program further establishes San Francisco as America's solar energy leader … Read more

Solazyme's algae diesel ready to hit the road

Tiny algae is ready for some long-haul trucking.

Solazyme, a South San Francisco, Calif.-based company that creates synthetic biological products, said Wednesday that its microalgae-derived fuel is the first renewable diesel to meet the American Society for Testing and Materials' D-975 specifications.

The fuel is chemically the same as petroleum-derived diesel, Solazyme said, so it can be distributed using the existing infrastructure. But it burns cleaner than petroleum-derived diesel, with fewer particulates and sulfur levels.

A 100 percent blend of Solazyme's diesel has been road-tested in a 2005 Jeep Liberty with a diesel engine, the company said in … Read more

Wind power outlook weak in Europe, report says

Rising materials costs, engineering challenges, and installation snags threaten European goals to dramatically expand wind power, according to a report by Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

The European Union aims to get 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020. But wind power won't meet a significant portion of that unless more government subsidies help companies offset increased costs, the firm warned Wednesday.

The world market for wind power will grow by 155 percent by 2012, according to a March report by the Global Wind Energy Council.

But a global backlog of turbines has sent wind park builders scrambling … Read more

Putting wind to work on farms

Financing company MMA Renewable Ventures is branching into wind energy, betting places like family farms are underserved.

The company on Wednesday is expected to announce the launch of its wind business, which will provide financing and project management for installations between 10 megawatts and 50 megawatts.

Its first customer is a planned 10-megawatt project, the PaTu Wind Farm in Oregon, which is expected to go up by 2009. MMA Renewable has a pipeline of deals worth 200 megawatts, said Moira Geraghty, vice president of wind finance at MMA Renewable Ventures.

In general, the deals will be structured so that MMA … Read more

Is anyone doing any business in renewable energy?

Okay, that's kind of a specious lead in, but seriously, both the investment tax credit (ITC) for solar and the production tax credit (PTC) for wind are up for expiration in barely 6 months in the US. And that seems to be much higher on industry workers minds than actually doing business.

I have had conversation after conversation over the past weeks indicating that the policy renewal is increasingly the biggest topic of concern.

M&A deals are getting held up waiting to see the impact on valuations

Sales teams have added the "fear factor" of … Read more