tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:/xml/geothermal_energy1 2011-09-06T13:54:12Z tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/8365 2011-09-06T13:51:00Z 2011-09-06T13:54:12Z As many people in the United States question whether renewable energy is a viable alternative to fossil fuels, Germany now derives 20.8 percent of its electricity from renewable sources—a 15 percent increase since 2000, reports Der Spiegel. In contrast, the United States generates only 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, 6 percent of which comes from hydroelectric power, which some environmentalists see as unacceptably damaging. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/7349 2011-01-26T22:39:00Z 2011-01-26T23:00:04Z Last night US President Barack Obama called for a massive green energy make-over of the world's largest economy. Describing the challenge as 'this generation's Sputnik moment' the US president set a goal of producing 80 percent of America's energy by clean sources by 2035. While this may sound improbable, two recent analyses back the president up, arguing that a global clean energy revolution is entirely possible within a few decades using contemporary technology and without breaking the bank. "Based on our findings, there are no technological or economic barriers to converting the entire world to clean, renewable energy sources," Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford said in a press release. "It is a question of whether we have the societal and political will." Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5 2008-12-15T14:30:39Z 2008-12-16T10:06:01Z Geothermal — the tapping of steam from hot underground rocks — could provide a source of clean, renewable energy in parts of Africa where electricity is currently limited, according to an assessment by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/3294 2008-09-24T14:30:39Z 2008-12-16T10:15:14Z Tuesday the U.S. Senate passed a bill that will extend tax credits on solar power installations through 2016. The House approved the measure Wednesday. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/3214 2008-08-20T14:30:39Z 2008-12-16T10:14:53Z Geothermal energy got a big boost this week with Google and the Australian government announcing multi-million initiatives that make use of Earth's heat as a clean and renewable source of power. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/3128 2008-07-17T14:30:39Z 2008-12-16T10:14:36Z In a speech Thursday, Al Gore challenged the U.S. to generate 100 percent of its electricity from zero carbon emission sources within 10 years. Speaking at Washington's Constitution Hall, Gore said America's security, environmental and economic crises are all related, and that measures to rein in greenhouse gas emissions will make the U.S. stronger, safer, and cleaner. "The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk," Gore said. "I don't remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously." Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/2435 2007-11-28T14:30:39Z 2008-12-29T06:47:06Z Tuesday Google announced an initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/2056 2007-06-07T14:30:39Z 2008-12-29T06:45:50Z Two renowned energy experts sparred in a debate over nuclear energy Wednesday afternoon at Stanford University. Amory Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy think tank, argued that energy efficiency and alternative energy sources will send nuclear power the way of the dinosaurs in the near future. Dr. Burton Richter, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in physics, said that nuclear would play an important part of the future energy portfolio needed to cut carbon emissions to fight global warming. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/1693 2007-03-13T14:30:39Z 2008-12-29T06:44:41Z The Bush Administration is seeking to eliminate federal funding for geothermal energy research according to a report from Reuters. Oddly, the move comes as the White House has made a push for renewable energy to reduce dependence on foreign oil imports. Apparently the administration appears to be focused on biofuels as liquid fuels and nuclear for electricity generation. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/1504 2007-01-22T14:30:39Z 2008-12-29T06:44:11Z Geothermal energy could eventually power some 25 million homes across the United States at a cost of $40 million per year according to a Department of Energy sponsored study released Monday. Lead by Jefferson Tester, a professor at MIT and lead author, the report argues that unlocking the heat stored in Earth's crust could improve American energy security while reducing emissions greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/1321 2006-11-13T22:20:39Z 2008-12-29T06:43:43Z Renewable energy sources could supply one quarter of America's electricity and motor vehicle fuel needs by 2025 according to a new study from RAND, a nonprofit research organization. Currently six percent is energy used in the United Stats comes from renewable sources like solar, biomass, hydroelectric, tidal, wind, and geothermal. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/935 2006-05-14T15:19:39Z 2008-12-29T06:42:52Z Surging oil prices have fueled calls for the United States to develop new sources of affordable and secure domestic energy. While renewable energy -- especially biofuels, wind power, and solar technologies -- is an area of particular interest, researchers from the Earth Institute at Columbia University say that the U.S. already has relatively low-cost alternatives to imported oil, including coal, tar sands, and oil shale. These resources can be extracted and used at a lower cost to the environment than some might expect. In a report published in the most recent issue of Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Klaus S. Lackner and Jeffrey D. Sachs argue that "coal alone could satisfy the country's energy needs of the twenty-first century." They say that "coal liquefaction, or the process of deriving liquid fuels from coal, is already being used in places and with expanded infrastructure could provide gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel at levels well below current prices." Further, Sachs and Lackner suggest that "environmental constraints such as increased carbon dioxide emissions arising from greater use of coal and other fossil fuels could be avoided for less than 1 percent of gross world product by 2050," a sum far less than others have estimated. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/363 2005-09-09T15:19:39Z 2008-12-29T06:42:10Z For energy-hungry Asian governments, the answer could literally be blowing in the wind. Across the region, renewable energy such as solar, wind and geothermal power is gaining ever greater credence as a way to curb the region's appetite for oil and cut runaway import bills. Rhett Butler