Solar electric cells have become increasingly popular as a domestic alternative energy source that lessens our dependence on foreign oil. The expense of producing them has limited their use and, therefore, their ability to bring about change.
A major breakthrough in technology makes “nanosolar” electric cells affordable for domestic use as well as available for use [...]

When Erica Grubb installed solar panels on the roof of her Berkeley house, the decision was both personal and political.
Personal because Grubb used a small inheritance from her mother to purchase the solar panels, which cost $18,000 — $13,000 after rebates.
Political because seeing “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s movie on global warming, inspired Grubb, a [...]

Shares of ethanol producers fell Friday after an analyst cut his rating on two companies and slashed his price target for a third, citing concerns about weakening pricing power for the industry.
Ian Horowitz of Soleil Securities Group trimmed his expectations for the price producers will receive for ethanol through 2008, “due to both the overall [...]

Beacon Power Corporation says that it has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to be administered by Sandia National Laboratories, to design a 20-megawatt Smart Energy Matrix frequency regulation power plant. This project directly supports Beacon’s plan to develop commercial-scale flywheel-based frequency regulation facilities in the U.S., beginning in 2007. [...]

Ascent Solar Technologies says that the Ascent Solar alliance that has been collaborating for several months in response to President George W. Bush’s Solar America Initiative, plans to produce an entirely new series of “plug and play” products for the nation’s commercial and residential building markets.
Using Ascent Solar’s thin film photovoltaic (PV) technology on plastics, [...]

BACK in 1999, when she was the head of refining at Chevron, Patricia A. Woertz told a group of energy officials that it was time to stop mixing agricultural policy with fuels policy.
In that same speech, at a fuels conference in Washington, Ms. Woertz also publicly expressed worry about the unintended consequences of a federal [...]

Thousands of farmers took to the streets across northern Bangladesh over the fatal shooting of at least five people protesting against an open-pit coal mine.
Hundreds of paramilitary and police stood guard outside coal mining firm Asia Energy in Phulbari where security forces allegedly shot into a crowd of protestors Saturday who tried to storm the [...]