According to a recently published report by Groom Energy Research, the market for carbon reporting software, known as Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software, is expected to increase seven-fold by 2011 as more firms begin measuring and reporting on their carbon emissions. While these programs allow a company to input its direct emissions data, they also [...]
Author Archives: Aaron Paulding
U.S. Energy Department Affirms Wind Power Potential
According to a study released by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, wind could produce 20% of the electricity required by households and businesses in the eastern U.S. by 2024, although this would require a $90 billion investment in the power grid. “We can bring more wind power online, but if we don’t have [...]
Getting Smarter - Smart Grid on the Rise
While the original electrical grid facilitated the industrial innovations of the 20th century, the smart grid will inspire the green advances of the 21st. “Without it, most of the other green technology won’t work,” says Ben Kortlang of KPCB, a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm. While technologies in fields such as communications and medicine have steadily [...]
EPA Implements Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Rule
As per the new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, facilities that produce in excess of 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year must begin to report their annual emissions to the EPA, effective January 1, 2010. Under this rule, only direct emissions occurring on the facility’s grounds are included in determining its total [...]
Posted in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Legislation Leave a comment
Google Aims to Become Electricity Marketer
On Thursday, Google leapt forward into the energy industry in an effort to find reliable supplies of renewable energy for its power-hungry data centers. Google applied for approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to become an electricity marketer, which would give Google the authority to buy and sell bulk power at market [...]
Posted in Energy Sourcing, Renewable Energy 1 Comment
New York’s New Energy Conservation Incentive
In 2007, the New York State Public Service Commission decided to further its push to promote energy conservation by adopting a revenue decoupling scheme for utility billing. This program aims to incentivize customers to use less energy, while maintaining a consistent revenue stream for utilities by eliminating the correlation between revenues and sales volumes.
The [...]
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New Natural Gas Supplies Delay Energy Crunch
Global supplies of natural gas may be much larger than once thought. Breakthrough technology in gas exploration and production has advanced much more rapidly than predicted, which will unlock vast fields of previously irretrievable fuel. A new process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, which involves injecting liquids, sands, and chemicals underground to [...]
New York City Increases Sales Tax Rate on Gas and Electricity
On July 13, 2009 the New York State Senate passed A.B. 8615, A.B 8866, and A.B. 8867, which modify the New York City sales tax code. Effective August 1, 2009, the New York City sales tax rate increased from 4.0% to 4.5%. The combined state and local sales tax rate effective in New [...]
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