Later this year, Florida Power & Light Company will start operating its new concentrated solar power plant that has enough mirrors to cover 80 football fields on the shores of Lake Okeechobee in Florida. The mirrors will direct sunlight and produce steam to turn a turbine and generate electricity. The 75 megawatt plant will provide enough power for 11,000 homes.

Solar energy analyst say that a new age of cheap solar is upon us. By the year 2019, prices could decline by 60 percent from an average of $5.12 a watt to $2.11 per peak watt. That would mean widespread use of solar will prevail as prices decline.

We' ve always maintained that the reak kingpins of wind energy are the various States in the Midwest that have good wind resources. Recently Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed a bill that removes barriers to the state’s wind development, especially for facilities built to export electricity to other states.

Why the Change?
Turns out that energy companies wanted no part of wind energy in Nebraska. That was becasue the States's antiquated 1934 Public Power Law gave public power authorities the right of eminent domain, both to build transmission lines and to take over any generation facility with only “reasonable compensation.”  So if someone spent $500 million to build a wind energy farm, the State could come in and condemn the project and pay the owner only $400 million.

The Federal government recently granted Google the authority to trade power and to buy and sell wholesale power. With this new authority, Google hopes to reduce its electricy bills by trading directly with suppliers. The federal government will specifically allow a newly created subsidiary, Google Energy, to do everything that a traditional utulity does.

Natural gas from Alaska's North Slope may finally find its way through Alaska and Alberta Canada via a 1,700-2,000 mile long natural gas pipeline by the year 2020. if required, a 1,500-mile long pipeline from Alberta to Chicago would also be built. Like anything else of this magnitude there are pluses and minuses. I'd love to see that natural gas power our cars and fleet vehicles in the lower 48 and be used to produce electricity. However, I would hate to see some of it used to make a barrel of oil from Alberta's tar sands.

Right now, there are two competing proposals to build a pipeline to Alberta with costs ranging between $32 billion and $42 billion. The proposed pipelines would be the first to tie into natural gas fields on Alaska's North Slope. As you might expect, both U.S. and Canadian oil and natural gas giants are involved in these projects since the pipeline will run through Alaska, Canada and then the northern part of the U.S.:

The rising cost of electricity and recent polls show that people across the world want greener power. In fact, most proponents of electrical cars and trucks want to see wind and solar energy power most of these vehicles. It sounds so simple, but how we consume, produce and distribute electricity are very complicated. Fact is that the kinds of power plants that are built and operated are driven for the most part by cost. However, renewables are often the highest cost power plants to build. Despite this, renewable energy projects in the United States are built because of State Mandated Renewable Energy Portfolios.

To make a difference to policy makers and politicians it pays to understand how things work. Although there are many books about electricity, they are way too technical for the average person. I came across a slide presentation by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., (Tudor) an energy investment & banking company that has the right balance as far as I'm concerned.

We are always on the look out for products that will reduce pollution and our carbon footprint. It's seldom that we find a company that is attacking the problem with drywall, windows and soundproofing materials that are important components of every remodeling and new construction project. Serious Materials is such a company and it's CEO Kevin Surace was named Inc. Magazine's 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Serious Materials provides three kinds of products- windows and glass, drywall and soundproofing materials. When you buy these products from the compnay you can be assured that they were manufactured in an environmentally conscientious manner and that they will save you money, energy and reduce your environmental footprint. If buying American is important (we think it is), you can also feel good that this is an American company that is creating green jobs here in the U.S. Serious materials manufacturers it's products in Sunnyvale, California; Newark, California; Boulder, Colorado; and Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.

Finally an automaker with the guts to build an "emission free electric car". Hmm, maybe the car does not emit emissions but the power plant that produces the electricity may.

Nissan made headlines this weekend when it unveiled its new electric car, the Nissan Leaf, which will hit the U.S. market in the second half of 2010. The car will also be sold in Europe and Japan.

The latest polls have shown that 1 out of 3 Americans would gladly switch to an electric car if they were readily available, affordable and could travel extensive distances. So what's really getting in the way? It's the battery. They are usually expensive and most people can't stand the idea of waiting for the darn things to charge. Um um um.....

Federal regulators gave hope to proponents of a Smart Grid. They approved financial incentives to allow a company to develop a 3,000-mile long powerline in the Midwest to serve Chicago and points east. If built, the U.S. would be able to tap into sizeable wind power resources in the Midwest. While hope lives eternal, the odds of it ever getting this project built are slim and none unless the Obama Administration Congress get their acts together.

We love it when someone takes two easy to understand technologies and produces a fun and practical item that anyone can buy for less than $20. That someone is IKEA and their new line of Solar-Operated Lighting is called SOLIG. It's presence in the market place and its ease of use may be just what many people need to get their arms around a green energy future.

Most people think "summer"  when it comes to ceiling fans. However, using your ceiling fan properly during winter can reduce your heating bills. This is especially true in homes with cathedral and tray ceilings.

In 2008 the U.S. market for 'green' building materials generated sales of almost $57 billion, according to a study from the Freedonia Group, Inc.," and "this market is projected to expand 7.2% annually to over $80 billion in 2013. Recycled concrete, certified lumber, water efficient plumbing, energy efficient lighting, and green flooring have been the most popular.

When it comes to the 1.1 billion cars and trucks on the road across the world, the talk is usually about flex fuel or hydbrid cars or trucks. It seems like there are few pure plays that readily acknowledge that any country's dependence on oil is a big mistake and actually does something about it. A relatively new company called Better Place does.

In a recent New York Times blog, we found that several municipalities across the county were getting creative and experimenting with incremental, neighborhood- or district-based lending programs that help homeowners pay the up-front capital costs for residential renewable energy projects.

You can save up to 55 percent on hot water and get a $300 tax credit by choosing the new Energy Star rated water heaters.The water heater accounts for 17% of the energy consumption in the average U.S. home, ranking third behind heating and cooling, and kitchen appliances.

Finally someone is not waiting for the Federal Government and President-Elect Obama to solve our dependence on foreign oil. Hawaii wants to to be first in the nation to roll out electric car stations statewide.

The fact that buildings constitute 40 percent of U.S. energy consumption is not new. Just look at the skyline of any big city and you'll see the lights of empty offices. If we are serious about going green and reducing energy, then we've got to use energy more efficiently in buildings. This includes condominiums, coops, office buildings etc.

Temple University announced that six months of road testing in a diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz automobile showed the device increased highway fuel from 32 miles per gallon to 38 mpg, a 20% boost, and a 12% to 15% gain in city driving. The device consists of an electrically charged tube that can attach to the fuel line of a car’s engine near the fuel injector.