Planet Relations

If you want to save energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions then focus on urban water conservation. That’s according to a new report entitled Drops of Energy: Conserving Urban Water in California to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (May 2011). The policy paper was produced by the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy [...]

For a country with only 1.2 million residents and a record rainfall of almost three meters per year, you wouldn’t think that the tiny island nation of the Republic of Mauritius would have a water supply problem. But as of January 2011, local reservoirs are only at roughly 30-40 percent of capacity and the Minister [...]

In a state where the legislature is dysfunctional and often prefers to legislate through the initiative process, California lawmakers passed the California Energy Storage Bill – AB 2514. The bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to set targets for systems that store energy. Such systems are regarded as important for the efficient operation of an [...]

Today, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory based in Golden, CO released the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study. The goal of the study is to better understand the costs and operating impacts due to the variability and uncertainty of wind, photovoltaic, and concentrated solar power. The study found that a 35-percent target for wind and [...]

According to the California Department of Water Resources, California agriculture irrigates 9.6 million acres using roughly 34 million acre-feet of water (1.1 trillion gallons) diverted from surface waters or pumped from groundwater. This water produces amazing results. California produces over 250 different crops and leads the nation in production of 75 commodities. California is the [...]

Fresh off the federal government’s first-year progress report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its creation of roughly 1.2 million jobs (recipient reported) through December 31, 2009, chip maker Intel announced a $3.5 billion initiative to support investment in U.S.-based growth-oriented industries. Led by Intel and supported by several venture capital firms and [...]

The U.S. electric power industry withdraws an estimated 136 billion gallons of freshwater per day for generating and then cooling the steam that drives electric turbines. That’s roughly 41 percent of the country’s total withdrawals according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Recent guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that “changes in the [...]

In a speech delivered yesterday at The Brookings Institute, President Obama announced a series of proposals to boost job growth. Acknowledging that the federal government must be fiscally prudent, he indicated that additional funding would come from “savings” from the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP. According to the Associated Press, the Administration now estimates [...]

The second of the two main smart grid funding announcements (DE-FOA-38) from DOE was issued today by Secretary Chu while visiting Columbus, Ohio. According to the Department’s press release, the award includes $620 million for projects around the country to demonstrate advanced smart grid technologies and integrated systems that will help build a smarter, more [...]

Back on November 17, 2008, just two weeks after Obama’s election, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order S-14-08, which required that all retail sellers of electricity in California serve 33 percent of their load with renewable energy by 2020. This increase in the State’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) made California the leader in renewable [...]