Posts Tagged ‘Renewable Energy’
Democratizing the Grid
The Opportunities and Obstacles of Community-owned Renewable Energy By Brian Sewell When energy experts talk about distributed generation, they describe it as both a threat that will disrupt markets and erode utility profits and an opportunity that is changing the way electricity is generated, transmitted and delivered. Or as the chairman of the Federal Energy…
Read MoreReaping Renewable Rewards
Governments and utilities offer a variety of incentives to assist residents and businesses in the transition to renewable energy. Below is a sampling of federal, utility and state policies. Find more clean energy and energy savings incentives at dsireusa.org. Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit Technologies Eligible: Various solar systems, wind, geothermal heat pumps, fuel…
Read MoreBeyond Renewable: The Cutting Edge in Energy
By Chelsey Fisher The use of clean energy has increased in the nation since 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While renewable energy is mostly used in more traditional ways, such as powering homes or businesses, in recent years U.S. researchers have dug up new ways — from wave energy to micro-cell technology…
Read MoreAlmost Always Sunny in Appalachia
Whether through a power plant or from the home, solar energy’s future is bright By Matt Grimley In a meeting earlier this year with U.S. Department of Energy employees, the secretary of energy was blunt about solar power. “I would argue that the scale and time frame of the impact of solar technology is underestimated,”…
Read MoreClimate Action Plan has Major Implications for Coal
By Brian Sewell In late June, President Obama announced his administration’s climate action plan. The speech at Georgetown University signaled to Congress that the president was keeping his promise to come up with executive actions to address the threat of climate change, and reignited claims of a “war on coal” in Central Appalachia and nationwide.…
Read MoreSolar Leasing: Crediting Electric Bills with the Sun
By Davis Wax Energy distribution for the people, by the people. That was the founding principle of electric cooperatives and municipal utilities as they sprang up in the United States throughout the twentieth century. Today, any profits made by these member- or city-owned utilities go back into infrastructure, operation, or payments towards their member-investors. Seldom…
Read MoreTenn Tuesday: More Sun! Less Surface Mining! TVA, Obama Agree on Climate Plan!
TVA says they are in line with the president’s plan on climate change! National Coal is packing their bags and leaving Tennessee! More solar is on the way! Cleaner air, healthier kids, fewer coal plants? It sure does make sense for Tennessee. We’re having our Tuesday with a dash of Wednesday today over here at…
Read MoreMicrohydro Powers Mountain Farm
Our spring multimedia assistant, Matt Abele, traveled to Woodland Harvest Farm in Ashe County, N.C., to see how Elizabeth West and Lisa Redman are harnessing their creek’s energy to power their small farm and homestead.
Read MoreTenn. Tuesday: More Sun! More Wind! More Healthcare?
[Spoiler Alert] Yes, Yes, and Almost Certainly Not. American clean energy advocates are celebrating the revelation that solar energy made up half of new generating capacity for the first quarter of this year. Tennessee is a recognized leader in our region, and we have been particularly active in advancing new solar for years. Already in…
Read MoreDominion Power is Living in the Moment — and We’re Paying the Price
On June 4, Dominion Virginia Power hosted Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club, and the Southern Environmental Law Center at the second stakeholder meeting in an ongoing series designed to increase the information shared between the utility and environmental groups. The meeting was held in downtown Richmond, Va., on the banks of the James River, and…
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