Too little, too late? Congress may fail to move from oil spill to a robust energy bill

After decades of scientific data gathering, years of growing public and business support and more than three months of an unmitigated environmental catastrophe, it is reasonable to expect that citizens and leaders would all support a paradigm shift in U.S. energy policy. In fact, even before BP’s Gulf oil disaster began, President Obama and Congress [...]

Dams in the desert, windmills in the doldrums, biopower in the Berkshires

From SACE’s perspective, the Manomet study of biomass and carbon offers an important new way to describe and think-through the possible impacts on the climate from biomass energy. Although the study’s findings are limited in geographic scope, the methodology can be applied elsewhere to great benefit.

Shifting Winds Push Oil and Dampen Enthusiasm for More Offshore Drilling

Today marks the 23rd day of the BP Gulf Oil Disaster. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlPPFcy-3Vo As we watch oil gush from a well-head 5,000 feet below the surface of the water because technological fixes have been unsuccessful, residents of the region grow anxious waiting for the full impacts of this environmental catastrophe to be felt.  In the coming [...]

Florida Mayor Calls for State to Foster Renewable Energy Jobs

Renewable energy expansion can drive Florida jobs growth–we just need to post our “Open for Business” sign.  Orange County, Florida (home of Orlando), is inviting cleantech investments, in engineering, manufacturing and development of innovators by entrepreneurs and at our centers of higher education.  This is the Sunshine State: Power generation from local biomass, collection of sun energy [...]

Tracking the Biodiesel Industry

Policies that will Help Grow the Industry The past 12 months have been a rough time for the biodiesel industry and some believe much of the biodiesel industry’s problems are self-induced. The industry has been betting that two federal policies, a tax credit (blenders credit) and production requirement (called the Renewable Fuel Standard), would help [...]

Florida RPS: Glass half-full or half-empty?

Opposition to a state RPS is economically self-defeating

It Is About the Jobs

These are permanent jobs, tied to the local base of renewable biomass resources; they can’t be outsourced or off-shored.

Cellulosic Ethanol Comes to the Southeast

We have heard a lot of promise and lots of talk about cellulosic ethanol. Friday January 29th, I attended the opening ceremony of the DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE)/Genera cellulosic ethanol plant in Vonore, Tenn. This scale-up of the technology represents a major milestone in sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels.  SACE has not been [...]

Cold snap burning you up?

Across the southeast and beyond, we’ve been “enjoying” a pretty crisp cold snap. For my family, it started with a lovely, deep and playful snowfall the weekend before Christmas. That brought the kids outdoors – but the recent colder temperatures made outdoor activities planned for New Year’s a hurried affair. We’ve also been using our [...]

Copenhagen Close-up: Denmark’s Thrifty Use of Bioenergy

Both open-burning and rotting are worst-case scenarios for the climate.