Chinese skyscraper designed to set efficiency benchmark

China is in the middle of the greatest building boom in human history, with armies of construction workers erecting skyscrapers that will soon eclipse anything in New York City in terms of height and energy consumption.

Shining a (Natural) Light on Green Schools

Faced with a large stock of deteriorating public school buildings, school districts across the country are experimenting with new construction and renovations that save energy as well as improve educational facilities.

Will the world use less energy?

World energy consumption is forecast to increase by 44 percent from 2006 to 2030, with almost two-thirds of that coming from developing countries and fossil fuels that continue to dominate energy supply, according to the Energy Information Administration’s 2009 outlook report released today.

Obama touts solar power to break U.S. oil addiction

President Barack Obama provided a spending boost to the solar and geothermal energy industries on Wednesday and said increased use of the fuels would make America more secure.

Harnessing the Sun When it Doesn’t Shine

Daniel G. Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thinks the key to our energy future may be found in the cells of plants.

In Hot Pursuit of Fusion (or Folly)

Here in a dry California valley, outside a small town (Livermore), a cathedral of light is to be dedicated on Friday. Like the cathedrals of antiquity, it is built on an unrivaled scale with unmatched technology, and it embodies a scientific doctrine that, if confirmed, might lift civilization to new heights.

Global carbon market doubled in 2008, cut less CO2

The global market for carbon emissions trading doubled in value last year, but actual realised emissions cuts fell as the global economic slowdown dented clean energy financing, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

Rice For Nice Low-Price Ice

The fridge is one of your home’s biggest energy hogs. Better insulation can make refrigerators much more efficient. And a panel encasing a vacuum is one of the best insulators known. But vacuum-insulated panels are too pricy for widespread use.

Too much emphasis on emission targets: Chu

Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said on Tuesday that setting exact targets for carbon dioxide emissions had led to an “over-obsession” with numbers, as the United States moved closer to overhauling its energy policy.

2008 U.S. Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions See Biggest Drop in Nearly 30 Years

Sky-high fuel prices, declining energy use and a slumping economy gave the U.S. its largest annual decline in fossil fuel-based carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions since 1982, when emissions fell 5.3 percent.

Building ‘Climate Positive’ Communities

It’s one thing to put up a LEED-certified building, but quite another to develop an entire urban community with enough energy-efficient bells and whistles that its on-site emissions are actually less than zero.

Geothermal Is Not So Clean

Geothermal energy has always been thought of as a clean, renewable form of power, but since the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant began operation about 30 km from central Reykjavik in 2006, various problems have come to light.