#EnergyChat: Why David Kroodsma Rode his Bike 30,000 Miles for the Climate, and Where He's Off to Next

David Kroodsma has already logged more than 30,000 miles traveling the world by bicycle and raising awareness about climate change. This week, the author, data journalist, and travel adventurer embarked on his latest journey: an 8,000 mile journey across Asia from Turkey to Bangladesh.I caught up to David to record this #EnergyChat...

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Diesel Truck Pollution: The Truth is Lost in the Fumes

Diane Bailey, Senior Scientist, San FranciscoA couple things about diesel truck pollution: there’s still a lot of it in California, truck drivers are suffering from it, and most truck owners oppose rolling back the statewide truck clean-up rule.  These facts have been obscured by all the fumes emanating from a tiny but...

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Energy Quote of the Day: 'No Country ... Can Expect Old-Style Geopolitics to Go Unchallenged'

About the panel Scott Edward Anderson is a consultant, blogger, and media commentator who blogs at The Green Skeptic. More » Christine Hertzog is a consultant, author, and a professional explainer focused on Smart Grid. More » Elias Hinckley is a strategic advisor on energy finance and...

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California to Utilities: Connect Battery-Solar Energy Systems to the Grid

California regulators have just issued a rebuke to utilities, and a thumbs-up to customers and companies that want to connect hundreds of now-stalled battery-backed solar PV projects across the state.LastTuesday, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision that would exempt most storage-solar projects...

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The Losing Economics of Investing in Aging Coal Plants: Part 2

Noah Long, Legal Director, Western Energy Project, Energy & Transportation Program; and Clean Energy Counsel, Land & Wildlife Program, San FranciscoThis entry is the second of a two-part follow up to the blog I posted last fall. The first entry focused on the national story of coal's decline, this entry focuses on...

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IPCC Working Group III Recommends Nearly Quadrupling Nuclear Energy

A few of my pronuclear friends have been disappointed by the treatment of nuclear energy in the recently released final draft of the IPCC working group III Summary for policy makers. For example, Steve Aplin at Canadian Energy Issues thinks that the IPCC is prejudiced against nuclear energy.While there may be some members of the...

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Java for the Grid Edge: From Blu-Ray Players to Smart Grid Devices

The long-promised goal of embedding open, flexible computing power in all types of smart grid devices is starting to be realized in 2014.Open platforms from Silver Spring Networks, Cisco, Itron and other grid vendors are being introduced. Multi-vendor partnerships driven by utilities like Duke Energy and Toronto Hydro are creating...

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DOE Poised to Hit a Home Run with Its New Proposed Efficiency Standards for Linear Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Noah Horowitz, Senior Scientist and Director of the Center for Energy Efficiency, San Francisco, CAThe Department of Energy has just hit a home run with the recently proposed minimum energy efficiency standards for linear fluorescent light bulbs, the tube lamps that are located in virtually every office, hospital, school and airport...

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Climate Preparedness Task Force Should Use Water Infrastructure Funding to Protect Communities from Climate Risks

Ben Chou, Water Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.Recent disasters in communities throughout the U.S. vividly illustrate that we’re increasingly at risk from flooding and drought events. Torrential downpours swept across the South earlier this week, causing at least one death and flooding numerous homes, streets, and businesses....

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Seeking Consensus on the Internalized Costs of Coal

What is meant by "internalized costs"?Internalized costs are the costs which can be accurately accounted for in our current systems. In energy production, these costs typically consist of capital costs, financing costs, operation and maintenance costs, and exploration costs. Some energy options incur these costs in various stages...

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Must See Video: Showtime Climate Series 'Years of Living Dangerously'

Showtime has posted online the entire video of Episode 1 of its visually and emotionally gripping documentary series event, “Years of Living Dangerously.” The landmark 9-part series is produced by the legendary James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jerry Weintraub â€" together with former 60 Minutes producers who have 18...

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Driving Into an Age of Increasing Oil Freedom

Deron Lovaas, Federal Transportation Policy Director, Washington, D.C.Photo by Nayu Kim, courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsWe are living in exciting times when it comes to the nation’s oil and energy dependence. You could call this era the age of increasing oil freedom. From the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s the U.S. used and imported...

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