Earlier this week, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported on a new study "by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [which] found that more than 9 in 10 people who live close to wind turbines view them positively or neutrally." Yet a recent series by GateHouse Media, ominously entitled "In the Shadow of Wind Farms," somehow manages to find the 8% of people who view wind farms negatively and to focus exclusively on them, not on the 92% who are either positive or neutral about neighboring wind farms. 

Apex Clean Energy has a great story about the Sioux Nation investing in wind power. Check out the video, below, which explains how "the winds that blow across millions of acres of tribal land in South Dakota are some of the strongest in the country," and how "[s]ix tribes of the Sioux Nation united to form the Oceti Sakowin Power Authority (OSPA) with hopes of harnessing that wind to generate clean energy and a brighter, more independent future." According to Apex Clean Energy, "The wind farms will contribute millions of dollars to the tribes and create jobs on the reservations, preserving the health, sovereignty, and culture of the Sioux Nation for years to come." And wind power, of course, is a 100% renewable, clean energy source, unlike the polluting, finite oil transported via the Dakota Access Pipeline, which the Standing Rock Sioux and others have fought for years.

Over at Renewable Energy World, Jayesh Goyal of Younicos has an interesting article examining the growth in electric vehicles (EVs) and the potential impact of this growth on C&I energy managers. According to Goyal, “C&I energy managers will want to keep an eye on EV growth, because five accelerating trends could put EV impacts right on the driveway of the way they operate.” The five trends Goyal identifies are:

For years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has been accused of being too conservative in its forecasts for clean energy. With its latest report, however, it seems that the IEA is shifting its views in a much more bullish direction when it comes to the future of renewables.

The "hot topic" of renewable heating and cooling was reportedly much discussed at the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) Summit the past couple days in Santa Clara, California. Here's what they were talking about.

Thanks to Steve Vavrik of Apex Clean Energy for the "heads up" on the new study, 2017 State of Corporate Renewable Energy Procurement. As Vavrik explains (bolding added for emphasis), "In new research conducted in partnership with Apex, the GreenBiz Group surveyed more than 150 business leaders from companies with annual revenues over $250 million about their energy strategies, specifically the factors driving their consideration of, commitment to, or contracted direct procurement of renewable energy."

Next time you hear someone - perhaps from the fossil fuel industry - argue that it's not feasible to transition the entire world to 100% clean energy in a relatively short time frame (e.g., by the middle of the 21st century), you now can point them to the voluminous, detailed new report by Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson  and 26 other energy experts. Here are a few highlights from the report, "100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight All-Sector Energy Roadmaps for 139 Countries of the World," as well as a few graphics that demonstrate how a 100% clean energy transition could be achieved in the world's top energy-consuming countries.

The other day, we posted about how coal's future is bleak, while clean energy's future is bright. Now, a new report by Frontier Group for Environment America, entitled "Renewables on the Rise: A Decade of Progress Toward a Clean Energy Future," has even more great news about U.S. clean energy. Here are a few highlights.

A recent article in the Financial Times yet again drives home the fact that dirty energy, particularly coal, "has no future."