Jim Pierobon is Founder and principal writer of The Energy Fix. He is a policy, marketing and social media strategist who has reported on, testified and consulted about smarter grids, cyber-security as it affects the power grid, fossil fuel shortages, price spikes, energy efficiency and the rise and fall -- and the rise again of nuclear and renewable energy sources.Federal Court’s Upholding EPA on Greenhouse Gases Boosts Opportunity for Hybrids and Power from Renewables and Natural Gas
A federal appeals court has done for natural gas and renewable sources of electricity that no executive branch stimulus package could ever hope to do: raise the bar higher still to justify building another coal-fired power plant in the U.S. The same can be said in favor of hybrid and all-electric passenger cars. Now that [...]
Fuel Cell Backers Are Tackling Infrastructure Challenges; Research Showing Potential for NGVs
Here’s another game-changer in the making brought to you by America’s burgeoning supplies of shale natural gas: alternative fuel vehicles and distributed power generation using fuel cells. Emboldened by low prices and booming supplies of natural gas in the U.S , the American fuel cell industry is clawing its way back from the brink. The [...]
Can ‘Energy Fact Check’ from ACORE balance fossil-vs-renewables debate?
Acknowledging that opponents of renewable energy “are dominating the conversation” and asserting they are doing so “through misrepresentation, exaggeration, distraction and millions of dollars in lobbying and advertising,” the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) is launching EnergyFactCheck.org to “help ensure that the facts about our industry are front and center.” With those stated aspirations, [...]
FAST FIX: Score a win for Supermodel Elle Macpherson over OK Sen. James Inhofe
The Senate has voted 53-46 to defeat Republican Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe’s bid to halt the U.S. EPA restrictions of mercury and air toxic emissions standards (aka MATS) from coal-fired power plants. While not all, or even most of the credit goes to celebrities such as supermodel Elle Macpherson (photo), it certainly didn’t hurt that [...]
Support for cleaner energy surcharges, carbon expectations, firms controlling their energy costs–Deloitte study
More companies are setting formal energy cost-cutting goals and in the process making energy management a strategic discipline. That is one dimension of Deloitte’s second annual survey designed to help executives make energy-related investment and business decisions. Conducted for Deloitte’s Center for Energy Solutions by the Harrison Group market research firm, the survey also found [...]
How the U.S. Dept. of Energy is raising the bar in green buildings
How can the sustainability world best brand more energy-efficient buildings without focusing solely on cost savings? That is the quintessential challenge of the recently launched Better Buildings Challenge by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). After its first year, the initial 60 participating organizations appear to be off to a smooth start; but using 20 [...]