Imagine dozens, maybe even hundreds, of towering turbines, spinning in concert to generate a steady, non-polluting supply of electricity for a city somewhere. The array looks almost like any other wind farm … only residents of the city can’t see it.

That’s because those turbines are below the surface of the city river, producing power from the continual flow of water downstream.

It’s called hydrokinetic power, and there’s a growing effort around the world to tap into it. After all, with nearly three-fourths of the Earth’s surface covered by water, much of which is in constant motion, it makes sense to try and put all that liquid energy to good use.

Easier said than done, though. For all the world’s hydrokinetic riches, a lot of obstacles stand in the way of harnessing that power. It’s …

The US will produce 20 percent more crude oil a decade from now, become a net exporter of liquefied natural gas by 2016 and will see energy-related carbon dioxide emissions stay below 2005 levels all the way through 2035 … if current laws and regulations remain unchanged.

That’s a big if, of course. But that’s what the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) sees in the country’s energy future under status quo circumstances.

Released this week, the EIA’s “Early Release Reference” case provides a sneak preview of the agency’s Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), which is scheduled to come out this spring. The predictions based on a business-as-usual environment paint a fairly encouraging broad-brush picture, from an energy security standpoint.

As usual, though, the devil is in the details. Study the image a bit more closely, …

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address this week highlighted a lot of issues related to energy and sustainability, sandwiched between opening and closing nods to the military.

Which, when you consider the oil-rich hotspots where US armed forces have been engaged lately and how much fuel the military itself consumes, is also an issue related to energy and sustainability.

Coming from a leader who has emphasized the need for clean energy and advanced technology development throughout the first three years of his term, most of Obama’s speech wasn’t surprising in content. The tone in many parts, though, was more forceful than usual — almost in-your-face forceful — clearly a message intended for political opponents from the right wing.

So what do Obama’s words signal for the year ahead and, depending on the outcome of November’s presidential election, …

In a warming, rapidly urbanizing and penny-pinching world, what’s the best way to help move millions of people around cities without the carbon pollution of cars or the budget-busting expense of light rail?

Many urban areas have found the answer in bus rapid transit, or BRT. Using standard-issue but efficient buses on standard-issue but dedicated traffic lanes, BRT systems can be relatively quick, easy and affordable to implement, and can help cure numerous commuting headaches in big cities. And they’ve proven to be popular from Göteborg to Johannesburg, and many other places in between.

Officials in cities that haven’t yet jumped aboard the BRT bandwagon will soon have some extra encouragement, thanks to a “one-stop shop” for BRT information from around the world. Being created with support from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the …

Will computers one day replace that TV drama favorite, the police detective? Analytics programs might not offer Columbo’s quirky brand of human insight or “Minority Report”-like prescience, but they’re advancing rapidly in their own abilities to put more than two and two together.

In other words, it’s no accident that IBM’s Jeopardy!-winning computer system is named “Watson.”

A growing number of police and public safety departments around the world are already finding that silicon-based detective work is providing invaluable help to traditional, carbon-based detectives. Consider these examples:

Smarter technology is helping to bring together public-safety agencies that have traditionally had separate responsibilities: police and fire, for example. In Hamburg, Siemens helped put in place a command-and-control center that lets information systems for police, fire and ambulance service work together seamlessly. …

There’s been plenty of squawking about the Obama Administration’s spending on solar-energy development (ie, the overwrought hoopla surrounding the Solyndra “scandal”). But any missteps the US government has taken pale in comparison to what’s been going on across the pond.

Coming into office with the promise to build the “greenest government ever,” Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition has instead drawn an increasing amount of fire from environmentalists, clean-energy advocates and others calling for a more sustainable Britain. In the case of the government’s proposal late last year to abruptly cut incentives for solar-panel installations in half, even the country’s High Court of Appeals is crying “foul.”

A three-judge panel found today that the government’s claim that it could reduce those incentives at will ahead of the predetermined expiration date “offends …

It’s not a modern, technology-focused retelling of “Goldilocks,” but Mitsubishi’s “Pittari Home” aims to portray a future that’s “just right” from an energy and sustainability perspective.

Set to go on display when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries reopens two newly revamped exhibits at its Minatomirai Industrial Museum in Yokohama next month, the Pittari (Japanese for “just right” or “perfect”) Home was designed to portray “the basic unit for living in the community of tomorrow.” Among the technologies on display will be smart energy meters, next-generation energy-saving appliances, electric vehicles and large-scale batteries.

Another updated exhibit, the Transportation Zone, will feature a bird’s-eye view of the fictional Pittari City, “a typical smart community.” In the display, the city’s virtual mayor will discuss how the city works, using systems that, for example, enable a stable …

Smarter energy grids with more renewable power, automated controls and electric cars will bring changes to the buildings we live and work in too. And the sooner our buildings can adapt to tomorrow’s energy environment, the smarter and more energy-efficient they — and we — can be.

That’s the premise behind a new suite of tools and products unveiled today by the smart-grid firm Echelon. Designed for building owners and professionals working with energy technologies, the new offerings are designed to help make buildings more “grid-aware” and ready to respond to a changing energy environment.

Built on Echelon’s existing energy-management platform, the new suite includes a guide for defining and building “grid-aware” buildings, an application that integrates current building automation standards, a royalty-free network operating system for energy management and grid awareness, a software and …

Rising levels of dissolved carbon dioxide in the world’s oceans could drive fish “crazy,” seriously threatening their survival, according to Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

Earth’s oceans are currently the largest natural “sink” for carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, and the amount of CO2 they absorb is rising along with atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas. The more carbon dioxide seawater absorbs, the more acidic it also becomes.

That increased acidity poses a threat to shellfish, because more acidic water can dissolve the calcium carbonate that makes up their shells. But now it looks as if dissolved carbon dioxide itself is also bad for sealife, by affecting their brains and central nervous systems.

In fact, the carbon dioxide levels predicted for the oceans …

North Sea oil production passed its peak more than a decade ago, but the UK is still looking offshore for future energy supplies … from the ocean waters themselves.

With the potential to generate up to 27 gigawatts of ocean energy by 2050 — that’s as much as is produced by eight coal-fired power plants — the southwestern coastal regions of Britain have been officially dubbed the nation’s first “Marine Energy Park.”

The designation is aimed at bringing together national and local government agencies, local enterprise partnerships, local industries and the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter for a common goal: speeding up the development of marine power in the UK. Among those taking part is Cornwall’s Wave Hub, a grid-connected, offshore research facility for testing wave-energy technologies.

The South West …

The smart grid is often referred to as the “internet of things,” but does the comparison really hold up?

In one way, the analogy works pretty well: the “regular” internet links computers (and now smartphones, etc.) around the world with one another to create one giant, interconnected, information-based thing. In a similar way, the smart grid would network homes, businesses, power plants, transmission and distribution systems, electric cars, etc., to create one giant, interconnected, energy-based (and information-based) thing.

When you think about how each of these internets is used, though, the resemblance isn’t so clear. We rely on the server-based web for news, business, social interaction and entertainment. But the internet of things would be all about monitoring, measuring and managing energy — hardly fun-and-games-type material.

Or is it? Some smart-grid observers believe fun and games (along with …

Purpose-built, wood-burning cook stoves have been in use for hundreds of years, so could they really be made any more efficient? And even if we could improve stove design, would it make that much of a difference?

The answer to both questions is an emphatic yes.

Not only can cook stove technology be dramatically improved, but doing so could be life-saving. Pollution from wood-burning indoor stoves still widely used in developing countries can cause all kinds of respiratory problems and is even blamed for many premature deaths every year. And in conflict-torn regions like Sudan’s Darfur, a better stove can prevent women in refugee camps from having to exchange precious food for fuel … or to risk assault or death by venturing out to gather firewood.

As of October 2011, more than 20,000 such stoves have been distributed in …

Averaged globally, temperatures around the world have been rising pretty much since modern instrumental record-keeping began. But average global warming doesn’t mean steady, year-round warming everywhere.

Now, new research suggests that some of the cold, snowy winters that parts of the world have seen lately aren’t due just to random variations, but could in fact be caused by climate change. Yes, global warming might be causing more cooling and snow.

Led by Judah L. Cohen of Atmospheric and Environmental Research, the new study explains the effect this way:

The Arctic, which is warming more strongly than other parts of the globe, now sees more sea ice melt all the way into late summer and early fall;
The warmer conditions over open Arctic waters (remember, dark waters absorb heat from sunlight while light-colored ice reflects …

Maybe it’s Yankee thrift. Or maybe your blood really does get thinner in warmer climates. For whatever reason, it seems cold-hardy residents of New England keep their home thermostats set much cooler in the winter than do their Southern and Midwestern neighbors.

Good thing, too: setting their thermostats low saves the average Vermonter more than $500 a year in heating costs.

EnergyHub, a New York-based company that develops software and tools for home energy efficiency, crunched data from its Mercury smart thermostat platform to find that the typical customer in Vermont had a heating setpoint of 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit (17.4 degrees Celsius) in November 2011.

By contrast, in Oklahoma and Texas, the average settings for customers’ thermostats were 70.0 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 21.1 degrees Celsius) and 69.9 degrees Fahrenheit (just under 21.1 degrees Celsius), respectively.

“If Vermonters …

Innovation is good for the economy and jobs. But when times are tough — politically or economically — companies might not be able to innovate like they used to.

And that’s exactly the problem many business executives are reporting these days.

A whopping 88 percent of them say they’re finding it hard to access venture capital, private investment and government funding that could support innovation. And 77 percent say their companies have developed much less appetite for risk lately.

Those findings are part of GE’s second annual “Global Innovation Barometer,” which surveyed nearly 3,000 senior executives in 22 countries.

“Innovation is a powerful lever to address the challenges of a growing world,” said Beth Comstock, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of GE. “It allows us to use resources more efficiently, produce more with less …

What will our energy landscape look like in, say, 30 years? As physicist Neils Bohr is quoted as saying, “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” But that doesn’t stop us from trying to envision the future anyway.

Here are a few prognostications about what energy markets might look like in 2040, based on ExxonMobil’s 2012 “Energy Outlook”:

With a global population of nearly 9 billion, we’ll be using about 30 percent more energy than we use today.
Our biggest energy appetite will be for electricity, which will account for more than 40 percent of the all power we consume in 2040.
For all the growth we’ve seen in renewables, oil, gas and coal will still be king, together generating around 80 percent of all energy we’ll use.
With natural gas set …

Scientists have known for a while about the water-purifying properties of seeds from Moringa olfeira, the so-called “miracle tree” that’s native to northwest India but can grow in many other parts of the world. But past approaches to using the seeds to remove disease-causing microbes from drinking water have proven too complicated and expensive.

New research from chemical engineers at Pennsylvania State University, though, has identified a simpler and more affordable way to harness Moringa’s purification powers.

The secret, according to Stephanie B. Velegol and her colleagues, lies with adding an extract from the seeds — which contains a positively charged protein — to negatively charged sand. The resulting “functionalized sand,” or “f-sand,” not only helps to kill bacteria in water but helps to remove them as sediment.

The process …

What do career politicians know about energy efficiency, renewables and low-carbon technology? The answer, in many cases, is (notwithstanding the occasional exception like German Chancellor/physical chemist Angela Merkel), “Probably not a whole lot.”

And that’s cause for concern in an era when energy and carbon have become critically important issues for politicians to tackle. So it’s good to see that the International Energy Agency (IEA) actually offers courses for officials and others who want to learn about things like energy security, markets, sustainability and technology.

This year’s IEA Energy Training Week, which actually lasts just five days, is set for April 2 through 6 in Paris.

During that time, the agency will run seven English-language courses, including introductory classes on oil and gas market basics and on the basics of energy efficiency and renewable energy. …

A record number of electric cars are making their debut at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and some of them wouldn’t have been possible without cost-sharing programs between automakers and the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The program is aimed at finding new, more affordable ways to design and manufacture electric motors and to help bring down the cost of electric cars.

Working with the DOE, for example, General Motors has boosted its ability to build electric and hybrid motors in house. That’s made it possible for it to develop the Chevy Spark EV, which is set to hit the US market this summer (first-generation models have already hit the road in Europe).

While generating a publicity buzz at auto shows is good for spreading …

How can better business processes and technology find ways to solve sustainability challenges involving materials, energy, water and more?

A group of global businesses have begun working together to look for innovative answers to those problems. Along the way, they’re hoping to find solutions that are not only environmentally responsible but can help their own businesses grow … a double-pronged challenge, to be sure.

The Innovations in Environmental Sustainability Council, formed by IBM and the World Environment Center, plans to hold its first meeting in Orlando next month.

The idea behind the council is to help members share information and learn from one another about how to incorporate sustainability efforts into business strategies and corporate practice. By collaborating in this way, the companies participating hope to make their organizations more efficient and effective, while also finding …

How can automated environmental reporting help a company become greener and more sustainable? An interactive webcast later this month will explore one organization’s experience.

California’s North County Transit District (NCTD) is implementing Oracle’s environmental accounting and reporting software as part of its sustainability efforts. Angela Miller, the agency’s chief technology officer/chief sustainability officer, will discuss why her organization is taking that route during a live, interactive webcast set for Thursday, Jan. 26.

Click here to register for the webinar now.

The NCTD provides public transportation for North San Diego County, and moves more than 12 million passengers a year. To help track and manage its environmental and sustainability goals, it is implementing Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Environmental Accounting & Reporting module.

Before any company can report on what it’s doing to become more sustainable, it needs …

In an earlier post, we asked if it would be possible to power the world with clean energy. The United Nations believes it’s possible. So does the International Energy Agency (IEA). So what’s the problem? Why aren’t we there yet?

It’s not money that’s standing in the way, the IEA says in this video. Nor is it an inadequate supply of clean energy. Instead, the three things we need — but don’t have enough of, so far — to build a sustainable energy future will sound familiar to anyone who despairs while watching many of today’s political leaders in action (or, frequently, inaction): determination, creativity and courage.

As if the year 2012 doesn’t already portend challenges enough, what with all the Mayan prophecy baggage … now the United Nations wants to saddle it with the responsibility of being the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.”

An admirable goal, sure. But is it possible?

A report last year from the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that it’s possible to provide universal access to modern energy by 2030. The price-tag for such an ambitious achievement isn’t even that high, relatively speaking: $48 billion a year, or just 3 percent what’s currently spent on global energy.

The IEA’s vision of energy for all, though, includes a significant amount of electricity from coal and other fossil fuels. Providing universal access to energy, it says, would take around 220 gigawatts …

Why the Crazy Car Project? We’re not quite sure, though it appears this electric 2000GT SEV is “crazy” because of the sounds it makes. While electric cars typically run virtually silently, this one’s programmed to produce a variety of sounds, including that of a rocket, an airplane and a galloping horse (?!), according to the PR.

Led by the Toyota Automobile Association, the project involves the conversion of a classic 2000GT — which made its debut in 1967 and is billed as Japan’s “first full-blown sports car” — into, it seems, an earth-friendly ride that appeals to a younger generation not as turned on by cars as older folks apparently are. The concept vehicle will be on display during this weekend’s 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon.

The Crazy Car Project …

Think about spending time in a state park, and what images come to mind? Camping under the stars, perhaps. Or maybe fishing on a pristine, mirror-flat lake at dawn. Whatever you imagine, an oil rig probably isn’t part of the picture.

But oil drilling is what more and more US citizens might soon be finding during their back-to-nature getaways.

Faced with steep cuts in government funding, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission this week gave its director the go-ahead to negotiate a surface use agreement and lease with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. The deal would allow Anadarko to drill multiple horizontal wells from one pad in the 688-acre St. Vrain State Park.

According to a report in the Denver Business Journal, granting drilling rights to Anadarko …

Cutting emissions of black carbon pollution and the greenhouse gas methane could do more than help control the planet’s rising fever, according to a new study led by NASA. It could also prevent millions of premature deaths and boost the world’s crop yields, the research finds.

“Protecting public health and food supplies may take precedence over avoiding climate change in most countries, but knowing that these measures also mitigate climate change may help motivate policies to put them into practice,” says lead researcher Drew Shindell of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

“We’ve shown that implementing specific practical emissions reductions chosen to maximize climate benefits would also have important ‘win-win’ benefits for human health and agriculture,” he says.

A combination of 14 pollution-control strategies could curb projected global warming by around 0.5 degrees C …

A common complaint in the “new normal” aftermath of the global financial crisis is that banks, despite receiving massive bailouts, aren’t lending … especially not to small-business owners or individuals. But would they be more likely to issue loans if they could be guaranteed repayment not by billing customers directly but by attaching the loan to people’s utility bills?

Such a program — called on-bill repayment — could hold the secret to finally getting more homeowners to invest in household energy-efficiency improvements. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which has outlined just such a plan for the state of California, says the system could overcome the biggest obstacles currently facing home-focused energy-efficiency projects:

Penny-pinching homeowners find it hard to shell out upfront cash for efficiency improvements, even if those more than pay for themselves …

Critics of environment- and efficiency-focused government regulations like to portray such laws as trampling on people’s freedoms: the freedom, for example, to buy the most inefficient light-bulb possible or to drive gas-guzzling “autos on steroids,” if that’s what they want.

It’s a libertarians-gone-wild type of thinking that can make for juicy news-hour soundbites, and sells well with a segment of the voting public. But it makes no sense in today’s increasingly energy-constrained reality.

Just as nonsensical, though, is the idea of trying to legislate into reality something that isn’t currently feasible.

Like, oh, say, mandating the use of a fuel that doesn’t yet exist as a commercially available product.

But that’s exactly what the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing with fuel suppliers that aren’t meeting federal requirements to blend …

Friction is a fickle friend for motorists. On the one hand, you wouldn’t want to find yourself without it while barreling down the highway at 75 mph and suddenly needing to apply the brakes. On the other hand, it could be costing you up to $20 on every $60 you spend at the pump.

Friction loss accounts for one-third of a car’s fuel consumption, according to a new joint study from the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and the US-based Argonne National Laboratory. Worldwide, that means we wasted 208,000 million liters (around 55 billion gallons) of fuel because of friction, and that’s in 2009 alone.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that new technology can help overcome those friction losses by anywhere from 10 to 80 percent for …

One of the most advanced power-grid control systems in the world has quietly switched on in the northeastern US. Its focus: to reduce risks to electricity supplies and enable the transition to a smarter energy grid.

Late last year, PJM Interconnection — a regional transmission organization (RTO) that handles energy trading and operates high-voltage networks serving more than 58 million people — saw five years of work and $200 million in investment come to fruition with the launch of its Advanced Control Center (AC2) program. The program replaced aging technology with two state-of-the art centers for managing the electricity grid and wholesale power markets.

Why two control centers? The idea is to make sure that grid management and power markets worth $35 billion a year can keep going even if operations at one …