NJ looking to rescue ailing solar industry
Updated: 2012-05-20 15:00:00
Burlington County Times: New Jersey has long been known as the Garden State, but during the last five years, it could have easily been known as the Solar State from all the sunlight-absorbing panels that have cropped up nearly everywhere.
They’re on the roofs of schools, churches, municipal buildings and sewage treatment plants. They’re in farm fields and attached to utility poles. Even one of New Jersey’s trademark diners recently went green and installed panels.
But all is not well with New Jersey’s once-thriving...
Scientific American: This week, the U.S. government slapped tariffs (pdf) of more than 31 percent on the price of solar cells made by Chinese companies that cooperated with a recent probe. Those companies that stayed mum face even higher tariffs—as much as 250 percent.
Why? The feds suggest that Chinese solar companies are selling their modules at less than fair value. (pdf)
In 2011 alone, we imported more than 93 million photovoltaic modules from China, thanks to prices that fell below $1 per watt.
Raising...
Mongabay: The palm oil industry has hired lobbying powerhouse Holland & Knight to help overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s finding that palm oil-based biodiesel fails to meet greenhouse gas emissions targets under the country's Renewable Fuels Standard, reports The Hill.
"Lobbying disclosure records show that the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, the Indonesian Palm Oil Board and Neste Oil have brought on Holland & Knight, which is among K Street’s highest revenue lobby shops," writes Ben Geman on...
Yale Environment 360: Apple Inc. has received approval to build two solar power installations at its main data center in North Carolina, allowing the technology giant to run the center entirely with renewable energy by next year. The two solar farms, which will cover 250 acres near its core data center in Maiden, N.C., will utilize high-efficiency solar cells and an advanced solar-tracking system provided by SunPower Corp and startup Bloom Energy. The solar arrays will generate 84 million kWh of electricity per year....
Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to comments c Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile Your profile Your details Your comments Your clippings Your lists Sign out Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport Film music Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital edition
Cooking's a killer activity in the developing world: millions die from smoke inhalation, and forests are stripped bare as billions gather wood for their stoves (or for making charcoal for cooking). Take a look at five organizations working to address these multiple challenges.
No related posts.
Guardian: In the Sahel region of west Africa drought and conflict have left millions of people facing severe shortages of food and water. The situation is critical near the border between Mali and Burkina Faso, where thousands of Malians have poured into refugee camps and many Burkinabes are surviving on aid from the Red Cross 
Inter Press Service: The latest session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), taking place May 15-25 in the former German capital Bonn, is the perfect opportunity to reaffirm the enormous and growing body of scientific expertise on policies to tackle global warming.
During the current session, attended by hundreds of scientists, environmental activists, and government delegates from all over the world, the UNFCCC – the agency tasked with fulfilling the obligations of the Kyoto Protocol...
. Home About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics May 20, 2012 U.S . Orders Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels Los Angeles Times China Warns Solar-Panel Tariff May Backfire Wall Street Journal Climate Activists Rip Clear Channel for Rejecting Billboard The Hill see all headlines May 16 Frequent Floods Force Farmers to Rethink Age-Old Practices May 9 Why the Discredited Cloud Theory of Global Warming Won't Die May 2 What Tomorrow's Shift in the La Nina-El Nino Cycle Means Misgivings Raised as Nebraska Prepares to Speed Keystone XL Review Clean Economy News May 14 FIT to Be CLEAN : EU's Feed-In Tariff' Rebranded for Americans May 11 Bill to Ban Sustainability
Environment News Service ENS
Guardian: From the Amazon to Cerrado the production of pig iron in illegal charcoal kilns is driving Brazilian rainforests to destruction. A two-year investigation by Greenpeace shows how trees are being burned to make charcoal, used in the production of 'pig iron'. This pig iron is exported to the US and converted into steel, which is bought by some of the biggest car makers in the world 
Guardian: A furious row has broken out among local politicians over a proposal to build a nuclear waste dump in Kent.
Romney Marshes is being mooted as a site for Britain's first store for high-level radioactive materials by members of Shepway district council but the move has infuriated the leader of Kent county council and a local MP.
"Let's not sell Romney Marsh short; I believe it has and deserves a better future than being the dumping ground for all of Britain's high level nuclear waste," said Damian...
New York Times: In just over a month, policy makers from around the world will meet in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The meeting has been called Rio+20, reflecting the two decades that have passed since a landmark conference on the environment and development was held in Rio in 1992. This time the main themes are energy, sustainable cities, food security, water shortages, the health of oceans, disaster readiness and assuring people a livelihood. Bangladesh is a prime...
: Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to comments c Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile Your profile Your details Your comments Your clippings Your lists Sign out Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital edition All our
New York Times: Renewable energy companies around the world are awaiting a decision Thursday by the U.S. Commerce Department on whether to impose anti-dumping tariffs on solar panels imported from China, as a little-noticed policy shift by the department last year has made the outcome of the case unusually hard to predict Chinese companies grabbed nearly half the U.S. market for solar panels last year through aggressive price cuts that helped make solar energy considerably more affordable for U.S. families and...
Lisa Friedman: China will fail to meet its carbon and energy intensity targets unless it makes dramatic changes to its electricity grid, a groundbreaking new report finds.
The study, two years in the making, finds that China's grid is its "Achilles' heel," said lead author and Energy Transition Research Institute Research Director William Chandler. While newer and in many ways more technologically advanced than the U.S. grid, China's system is nevertheless being built to perpetuate the use of coal and large...
Portland Tribune: All six proposed coal export projects would sent coal through the Columbia River Gorge, five by train and one by barge.
After years of lobbying, Portland environmentalists won a remarkable victory in 2010 when Portland General Electric consented to halt coal-burning by 2020 at its Boardman power plant -- the single-largest Oregon source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Washington environmentalists replicated the feat months later, securing a similar pledge for the Northwest's other coal plant in...
Guardian: The last 60 years have been the hottest in Australasia for a millennium and cannot be explained by natural causes, according to a new report by scientists that supports the case for a reduction in manmade carbon emissions.
In the first major study of its kind in the region, scientists at the University of Melbourne used natural data from 27 climate indicators, including tree rings, corals and ice cores to map temperature trends over the past 1,000 years.
"Our study revealed that recent warming...
redOrbit: Scientists in Australia have used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the last 1000 years. This is the first study of its kind. Researchers at the University of Melbourne led the study. They used a range of natural indicators including tree rings, corals and ice cores to study the temperatures in Australia over the past millennium and compared them to climate model simulations. “The results show that there are no other warm periods...
Scientific America: Soot may be responsible for the tropics expanding north, according to an analysis involving multiple computer models of the climate. By absorbing sunlight and trapping extra heat in the atmosphere, the tiny, black particles may be helping the poleward march of tropical conditions. The research will be published in Nature on May 17. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) The tropics—the belt of land around the equator characterized by abundant rainfall and torrid temperatures...
Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile Your profile Your details Your comments Your clippings Your lists Sign out Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport EducationGuardian Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital edition All our
Wouldn't it be great to know if a piece of fruit was overripe or otherwise lacking in quality before you bit into it? You may soon be able to test it with your smart phone before buying it.
No related posts.
Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to comments c Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile Your profile Your details Your comments Your clippings Your lists Sign out Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport EducationGuardian Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital
Recently, Sol Systems published a piece on D.C.’s solar density that places the District ahead of all other states, with an impressive 65.5 kW/mi2 of solar. However, the true test for D.C. – which admittedly has more in common with a city than a state – is how it stacks up against leading solar cities [...]
Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to comments c Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile Your profile Your details Your comments Your clippings Your lists Sign out Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport Film music Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital edition
Does the documented rise in narcissism spell doom for environmental initiatives? Or, can selfishness and environmentalism coexist?
No related posts.
Could urban agriculture provide a viable economic alternative for kids in poor neighborhoods? St. Louis' The Sweet Potato Project will find out this Summer.
No related posts.
Wednesday , May 09, 2012 Photo via Flickr Vermont first state in nation to ban fracking for oil and gas With a 103-36 vote in the House of Representatives , Vermont on Friday became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing to extract oil or natural gas . The bill passed the Senate earlier this week . The House debate was short . Heidi Scheuermann , R-Stowe , raised concerns that Vermont was banning the practice without knowing what natural gas resources it was giving up . We have no idea if some farmers in Franklin County might be able to take advantage of an economic opportunity on their property , 8221 she said in floor debate . Scheuermann urged the House to vote for a moratorium , which would sunset after a number of . years David Deen , D-Westminster , argued that there was a small
When you live in a somewhat unpredictable climate, it can be truly frustrating to try and deal with a gardening routine. Many plants might even die if you accidentally plant too soon. That is why it can really pay off to do an indoor garden or, at least, prepare for it indoors until you are really sure a garden is workable outside.
No related posts.
Could existing cities adopt the mindset and practices found in ecovillages? What would that look like? Dancing Rabbit co-founder Tony Sirna imagines the possibilities.
No related posts.
Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport MediaGuardian Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital edition All our services The Guardian Environment User comments Web News Sport Comment Culture Business
Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport MediaGuardian Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital edition All our services The Guardian Environment User comments Web News Sport Comment Culture Business
Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content s Jump to comments c Jump to site navigation 0 Jump to search 4 Terms and conditions 8 Edition : UK US Sign in Mobile About us About us Contact us Press office Guardian Print Centre Guardian readers' editor Observer readers' editor Terms of service Privacy policy Advertising guide Digital archive Digital edition Guardian Weekly Buy Guardian and Observer photos Today's paper The Guardian G2 features Comment and debate Editorials , letters and corrections Obituaries Other lives Sport Film music Subscribe Subscribe Subscribe to the Guardian iPhone app iPad edition Kindle Extra Guardian Weekly Digital edition All our services The Guardian Environment User comments Web News Sport Comment
Dear Blog Readers: There will be a very important decision one week from today facing Indiana Republican primary voters. This blog post features three recent articles to help you to decide who supports the development of renewable energy resources in the State of Indiana and our nation. These articles are just a small representation of [...]
Why I think computational power will solve the world's energy problems in this century.
: Wednesday , April 25, 2012 Renewable Energy Law News Week of April 23 Photo via Flickr More than 100 renewable energy and associated Vermont businesses urge legislative action MONTPELIER , Vt Demonstrating the size and diversity of Vermont’s renewable energy economy , more than 100 businesses that work in the renewable energy industry are urging legislative action before the session closes on a package of clean energy . legislation In a letter led by Renewable Energy Vermont to Governor Peter Shumlin , Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott , and lawmakers , the businesses urged passage of five House-passed , bipartisan bills , stating that our industry is growing and it is strong , 8221 but to remain competitive , we need to continue to foster a strong local industry . 8221 The letter continued
If you care about the future of the American renewable energy industry, you need to learn what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calls “passive activities.” Because these important rules mean that as long as the U.S. relies on the tax code to provide renewable energy incentives, renewable energy can only grow as fast as Wall