
In case you missed it,
Bloom Energy, a fuel cell maker based in the Silicon Valley city of Sunnyvale, CA, had their "Bloom Box"
profiled by CBS 60 Minutes Sunday. The spotlight has expanded the attention to other fuel cell makers.
Oorja Protonics, also based in Silicon Valley, has been producing fuel cells for forklifts, but is looking to produce them for
alternative fuel vehicles including long haul trucks as well. By 2020 there are expected to be 2.8 million
fuel cell powered cars and trucks on the road.
Roof top solar companies in New York and California have been
given a boost by their state legislatures when they each passed net metering. Net metering allows home owners with small solar and wind installations to receive credit for the power they generate.
The
state legislature in Arizona,
on the other hand, is considering making a change to its definition of
renewable energy to include nuclear power. Because AZ has a nuclear
power plant that already produces 25% of the state's power, other
sources of renewable energy, such as solar, wind and geothermal, would
no longer be needed to meet the renewable energy standard in that
state. If this measure passes, solar companies based in Arizona could
decide to leave the state and take their jobs with them. (If you live
in AZ, now would be a good time to make your voice heard about this
issue!).
Two large corporations have partnered to work on reducing energy and water usage in buildings.
IBM and
Johnson Controls
will combine their expertise in technology and building efficiency to
offer services to building owners. IBM estimates the IT portion of
green building efficiency in 2010 at $3 billion with expectations that
it will rise to $6 billion by 2015.