THIN FILM SOLAR PANELS

Archive for February, 2010

Carbon Trust is a British non-profit aimed at accelerating Britain’s move to a low carbon economy. As one part of the broad work it does, Carbon Trust offers 0% interest loans to businesses for energy saving equipment.

The organization just awarded its first £500,000 ($788,384) interest-free loan to a small business, the highest possible under its government-backed program. But, in total, it has given out a lot more (creating huge financial and energy savings) since the program started less than a year ago.

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Clever boffins over at Imperial College, London, have announced their intention to kill off the battery once and for all.

They’re working on a $4.5m project to develop a lightweight material capable of storing electricity.  The carbon fibre based polymer resin is already patented and will be light enough to form the casing of anything from MP3 players to car bodies.

In addition, unlike batteries the substance’s performance won’t degrade over time because the electricity storage and release doesn’t rely upon a chemical reaction.

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A new way to use natural gas could cut its carbon dioxide output to zero, making it competitive with solar or wind farms.

MIT Postdoctoral associate Thomas Adams and Chemical Engineering Professor Paul I. Barton have proposed a system which produces power from natural gas without burning it, and produces a stream of clean water, and almost pure carbon dioxide, making it easy to harness for sale to cement manufacturers now developing a use for it, or pre-separating it cheaply for Carbon Capture and Storage. (more…)

There they go again: just one day before Nike, Starbucks, and a slew of clean energy companies are uniting with labor leaders to launch the Race for American Jobs in support of  green jobs related to climate and clean energy policies, environmentalleader.com reports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a petition challenging the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act.

Nike has already resigned its position on the Chamber’s board over the organization’s backward-looking environmental policies. Other major companies have withdrawn outright because of the Chamber’s over-the-top lobbying.  Last fall Apple and Exelon (the nation’s largest utility company) quit in protest, along with utilities Pacific Gas & Electric and PNM Resources.  Leading paper company Mohawk also withdrew, telling the Associated Press that the Chamber’s naysayer position on climate change was hurting the company’s cred on environmental issues.  With friends like these, right?

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As California moves to implement cap and trade to reduce harmful greenhouse gases, the UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy and the Environment has published a new study designed to help lawmakers in California fine-tune the legislation.

As with the studies by the German Marshall Fund with its Ten Insights from Europe on the EU Emissions Trading System – the UC Environmental Law Center studies those who have gone before us.

They want to fine-tune legislative ideas that can help us reduce greenhouse gases by holding polluters accountable, and by using the proceeds to implement clean and safe renewable energy that builds a prosperous economy in California.

One interesting finding is that the EU cap and trade system grew China’s clean energy. (more…)