Saturday, June 2, 2012

How to Make Renewable Energy Competitive - NYTimes.com

 By FELIX MORMANN and DAN REICHER
Published: June 1, 2012
But current law makes using both of these investment vehicles for renewable energy difficult if not impossible. Washington could help in two ways. First, the Internal Revenue Service needs to clarify the eligibility of renewable power generation for REIT financing. Second, Congress needs to fix a bizarre distinction in the tax code that bars master limited partnerships from investing in “inexhaustible” natural resources like the sun and wind, while allowing investments in exhaustible resources like coal and natural gas. In 2008, as surging gasoline prices were infuriating American voters, Congress amended the tax code to enable master limited partnerships to invest in alternative transportation fuels like ethanol. We should treat power sources, like wind and solar farms, similarly.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Musical Chairs at the FCC - Tech Daily Dose

By Juliana Gruenwald, May 30, 2012
The Federal Communications Commission announced Wednesday that Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Rick Kaplan would be leaving the agency in mid-June. But he'll be replaced by a familiar face -- Ruth Milkman, currently special counsel for innovation in government.

SCE&G plans to shutter Lake Murray coal plant, others - Business - TheState.com

Tim Flach, May 30, 2012
Under the plan, the coal-fired plant downstream of the dam will switch to power generation with natural gas in 2015 before shutting down three years later.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/05/30/2295081/sceg-plans-to-shutter-lake-murray.html#storylink=cpy

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Is sewage the next energy source?

The researchers from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology claimed that they have significantly improved the capacity of microbial fuel cells by modulizing them.

The device converts the chemical energy from organisms into electricity using bacterial metabolism as the catalyst. It is regarded as one of the most promising technologies for producing renewable energy as well as treating polluted waste water.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Brooklyn Apartments to Generate Their Own Power - NYTimes.com

Ronda Kaysen, May 24, 2012
When the developer, Voltaic Solaire, finishes a $1 million rehabilitation of a 19th-century brownstone at 367 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope next year, the facade will be covered with a solar skin and a solar awning will sit on the roof. The panels will generate 18,000 watts of energy a year, enough to power all six units in the 7,000-square-foot building. Voltaic Solaire is so confident in its ability to create a “net-zero” building that utilities will be bundled into the rent.

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