Alternative Energies
Obama’s Clean Power Plan survives a legal challenge

Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied motions to stay the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Wondering what that means, exactly? Here’s a handy legal cheat sheet. What’s the Clean Power Plan? The Clean Power Plan is a set of restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power plants. Projected to cut the electric sector’s CO2 output to 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, the plan is generally acknowledged as one of the most significant efforts to curb greenhouse gas pollution in U.S. history. Unsurprisingly, it’s also quite controversial. Who’s fighting it? Twenty-seven states, along with a bunch of coal companies and coal-dependent utilities, are suing to block the plan, arguing that it exceeds the EPA’s authority under…

Canada’s clean electricity exports to triple under U.S. Clean Power Plan

Originally published in the Toronto Star tablet edition, Star Touch. By Tyler Hamilton As Canada’s petroleum sector struggles with the reality that sub-$30 (U.S.) oil could be here for some time, the country’s power sector is prepping for a dramatic increase in U.S. demand for clean electricity. Call it a shift from pipelines to power lines. Action on climate change is the reason — more specifically, U.S. President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to slash carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by a third by 2030. The plan is expected to triple the flow of Canadian electricity into Midwestern and northeastern border states, part of a broader U.S. effort to comply with the international climate obligations that 196 countries agreed to …

Floating Solar Panels: A Viable Solution?

Hydro Power | Photovoltaic Cells | Solar PowerSince 2011, French Company Ciel & Terre has been developing large-scale floating solar solutions. Their innovative Hydrelio Floating PV system allows standard PV panels to be installed on large bodies of water such as: drinking water reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals, remediation and tailing ponds, and hydro electric dam reservoirs. This simple and affordable alternative […]

Speeding up the hydrogen highway

Drivers are seeing more hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles on the road, but refueling stations for those vehicles are still few and far between. This is about to change. One reason is the Hydrogen Station Equipment Performance device, or HyStEP, which will greatly accelerate station commissioning.