A new study commissioned by the Civil Society Institute demonstrates how significantly higher levels of renewable energy penetration are consistent with maintaining a reliable grid. Read More
One of the nations largest suppliers of utility power generation, NRG Energy, is shifting its focus to distributed energy technologies that bypass the need for traditional utilities. Solar leasing is firmly in their crosshairs. Read More
The Obama Administration is conferring with energy executives representing a broad range of technologies in preparation for a revised approach to meeting our country’s energy demand in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Read More
In January of 2013, all new power generation brought online in the U.S. came from renewable sources (1,231 MW). Read More
A new North Carolina study reveals clean energy policies in that state created over 21,000 jobs and generated $1.7 billion in economic activity between 2007 and 2012. In addition, these policies are expected to result in $173 million in customer savings between 2006 and 2026. Read More
Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), e.g., chicken houses, produce significant challenges for farmers with regard to the handling and disposal of organic waste. But Santee Cooper has partnered with Green Energy Solutions to make some of South Carolina’s CAFOs more sustainable. The partnership’s first plant in Lamar, SC will “produce electricity and heat by converting waste into methane gas, using a unique yet simple technique, bacterial digestion.” Read More
European countries committed themselves to dramatic reductions in carbon emissions, but at the same time, Great Britain and others have moved forward with industrial-scale biomass facilities which will encourage forest degradation here in the South. For example, a UK company announced that two “monster pellet plants” will be built in Mississippi and Louisiana. Read More Here and Here
Joanna Angle of Chester, SC was named SC Tree Farmer of the Year for her management of the 65-acre Cedarleaf Farm. She says, “my…goals are very long term because what matters most to me is creating a ‘legacy forest’ and supporting wildlife.” Read More
Turning whole trees into pellets and shipping them to Europe to be burned is not a climate solution. But if we embrace highly-efficient, local bioenergy projects which use waste wood, South Carolina could transition from imported, polluting fuels to cleaner, in-state energy resources. Read More
In the ongoing effort to find energy sources which don’t pollute our air, land or water, biomass generates both considerable hope and concern. This article examines one particular species of plant, known as “Giant Reed”, which could possibly become an energy miracle or the next Kudzu invasion. Read More
