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wind energy

Podcast

A Boston formula for clean tech success

Innovation has resulted in remarkable advances in clean energy technology, like solar and wind energy systems that are becoming increasingly competitive in the U.S. And more breakthroughs are coming, as ambitious scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs make headway on products and services that will change the way we produce, use and save energy. But getting a good head start on innovation is challenging for pioneers, who often lack the wherewithal to design, build and test their inventions. That’s where institutions like Greentown Labs can play a big role. In this edition of the Columbia Energy Exchange, I visit Greentown Labs in Somerville, Mass., and meet with its CEO, Emily Reichert to talk about the outlook for clean technology in the U.S. and what programs like hers can do to help entrepreneurs get a good head start. Greentown Labs bills itself as…

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Article, Energy, Government and Politics

Trump may not be able to reverse coal industry’s slump. Here’s why

Coal may make a political comeback in Washington, where President Trump is eager to make good on his promise to revive the sagging industry. But politics aside, it’s the greener forms of energy that are changing substantially the way the USA produces, uses and even saves energy, particularly when it comes to electricity. The trends are detailed in a new report from the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) that provides 163 pages of data on the impact of renewable energy, natural gas and energy efficiency on the U.S. economy. (read more)

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Climate, Energy, Technology

Offshore wind farm a green-energy milestone

The first offshore wind energy farm in the USA is up and nearly ready to go, marking a new chapter in the nation’s changing electricity grid. Thursday, workers finished installing the last of five turbines off Rhode Island’s coast, a little more than a year after the Providence-based developer Deepwater Wind first put steel in the water. (Read more.)

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Article, Climate, Economy / Finance, Energy, Technology

Turbine industry aims to keep tailwind blowing

The U.S. wind energy industry is the fastest-growing new source of electricity in the country. But it’s not resting on its laurels, especially in an election year. Hence the launch of American Wind Action, a group that will promote the benefits of wind energy to the public as voters consider whom to elect for the White House, Congress, state legislatures and other offices where public policy is made. (Read more)

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Article, Consumer, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics, Technology

Clean-energy effort avoids D.C. dystopia

Democrats and Republicans agree on little when it comes to government policy, including how Washington should influence the ways that Americans produce and use energy. But one exception is a relatively small program at the U.S. Department of Energy that invests in early-stage technologies with the potential to provide new forms of low- or no-carbon energy efficiently, economically and satisfactorily. Established with bipartisan support in Congress in 2007 and first funded two years later, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has awarded $1.3 billion to more than 475 projects formed by teams from academia, private industry and national laboratories with ideas for technologies in such fields as biofuels, energy storage, superconducting wires, and solar and wind systems.

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Article, Climate, Energy

Corporate bonds show green shoots

Politicians may disagree over the need to address climate change, but companies and investors are increasingly financing technologies that provide energy more efficiently and cleanly. Among the latest indications is a report from Standard & Poor’s Rating Services on green bonds, a relatively new financing instrument, and one that is suddenly attracting attention from corporations around the world. (Read More)

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