Ask candidates for Legislature about clean energy

Clean Wisconsin's Keith Reopelle emphasizes clean energy and energy efficiency policies in the upcoming elections in this article from The Cap Times:Now is the time to make sure you know where your candidates stand on the day’s most important issues. Two important issues that will have a major impact on our state’s future are clean energy and energy efficiency.Voters typically consider energy a national issue, but state-level politics often have as much or more impact on our energy future. In Wisconsin, state laws determine the how much of our electricity comes from renewable sources like wind and solar power. Additionally, programs like Focus on Energy, the statewide energy efficiency program, help homeowners and businesses save millions of dollars on energy bills.Despite these laws...

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Today's radio show on WARL 1320 and Blog Talk Radio

Features one of my rotating co-host, Jim Murphy from RI College as we look at an educational bond in the State asking for 50m to remodel facilities on campus, and use that issue to take a much broader look at how,  here in the US, we currently finance public schools, and take suggestions on how we can improve the financing model for education in the future.Feel free to listen and send us emails or questions through our social media sites.  Just look for Renewable Now on the web.Also, this just hit our desk this morning and will be the subject matter for a future show:  Of course, that show will look at how other states evaluate their government's green focus and progress.You can find the report at ECRI's site or request a copy from us:Lawmakers, Take Note:  Environment...

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A Founder's League

What is is....what does it mean?Last week, we posted a link to our first show with a RI-based business accelerator, Betaspring.  Right after that we received their notice of helping to form a new founder's league in RI, and thought it would be of interest to our global audience as a model for what is possible, in any city or country, in assembling teams and resources to help entrepreneurs.Here's part of the announcement.  You can find the rest at the Betaspring web site:Introducing the Founders League!The Founders League isn't something brand new hatched in our heads. Thanks to our friends at theCambridge Innovation Center, we have borrowed many ideas on how to build a strong, resiliant startup community. I read every email that General Assembly sends out and keep...

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Interviews from Betaspring

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From the Providence Journal

A terrific story on a vacant lot in Providence that is bring planted into an urban tree nursery.  What makes this story even more impressive is watching them do this on a brownfield site...amazing.This is a nice follow up to the segment we did with New Urban Farmers here in RI who are cultivating ugly urban lots into community gardens.  If you have not looked at their work, take a look at their site.We love the reuse of wasted, barren sometimes abused pieces of land.  This creative investment in nature beautifies cities while increasing the value of the adjacent lands.  They also act as an attraction and mecca for the neighborhood.Send us your stories on similar developments in your cities:Reinvent RI: Using vacant lots...

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Enjoy the show and tour

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Solar panels and snow - minimum power losses

Snow and solar cells are not always put together in the same equation but this however does not mean that photovoltaic panels are not worth the investment in the areas characterized by long winters and plenty of snow. They can still be worth of money.The major negative side in the relation solar panel-snow is that the layer of snow can cause a solar-cell blackout for awhile therefore...

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Introducing our audience to eNow

We love sharing good news and information on companies making a difference.My company, Arpin Group, used our renewable energy company to start the process of innovating solar systems for transportation companies that would, through solar panels on the roof tops and battery systems in the truck, reduce idling and wear and tear on trucks, thereby saving the truck owners money and saving our air mountains of dirty carbon.That work was so successfully, as tested across our own trucks, that we merged our efforts with an innovator named Jeff Flath who had helped Cooley Group install the first solar outdoor billboard in Times Square NY.Together, we formed a new company, eNow, and that company has taken the technology to a very broad group of companies, and government agencies, who are helping us...

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Solar powering your community with Clean Energy Choice

Clean Energy Choice (sometimes called third-party ownership) allows a customer to get electricity from a third-party which installs and maintains a renewable energy system on the customer's premises. With Clean Energy Choice, customers don't have to put any money upfront, the major barrier to installing renewables. The customer either buys the output directly from the third-party owner or pays to host the energy-producing equipment and uses the electricity without any further cost under a long-term contract.From a presentation by Michael Vickerman, RENEW director of policy and program, at Solar Powering Your Community, October 11, 2012:  No up-front capital required from host customers Allows nonprofit entities to partner w/ for-profit companies that can use the 30% federal tax...

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Terrific show yesterday with Calvert Funds

That ran live on WARL 1320 and Blog Talk Radio.  It is now available 24/7 on Blog Talk.  Here's the link.  We hope you enjoy the show.  Send us your comments and suggestionshttp://www.blogtalkradio.com/renewable-now/2012/10/24/sustainable-investing-resea...

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Thanks to EcoGeek

US Military Embracing Green EnergyWritten by Philip Proefrock on 01/10/12We see this as good news.  Typically in the US, the military--and space agency--lead the way in new technology and migration to alternative methods of operations.  If that holds true here, we'll see similar adaptation of clean energy by businesses and consumers.  That would be a wonderful change.Here's the story:  The US military is one of the biggest users of renewable energy, and the Pentagon is continuing to investment in a variety of renewable power systems. Eleven former 3- and 4-star generals have made a strong argument for renewables in a joint paper they have issued titled 'A National Security Imperative to Reduce U.S. Oil...

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Listen today on WARL and Blog Talk Radio...

As we pick up our previous conversation and talk more about global sustainable investing with Todd Dahlstrom, my co-host, and Bennett Freeman from Calvert Investing.  Here's some background, which is very impressive, on Mr. Freeman:Don't forget we are live today from 12-1p, EST, then we'll post a link to the recorded show here so you can find it 24/7 on our the Renewable Now channel on Blog Talk Radio.  Feel free to contact us during the show.For those of you who missed a previous episode of our show, here's the link to those shows:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/renewable-nowBennett FreemanSenior Vice President, Sustainability Research and PolicyMr. Freeman leads Calvert’s Sustainability Research Department and oversees its company research and analysis as well as its policy...

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Good economic news on the green economy side

We needed some good news this week, given the demise of a major battery company,  and we got it from the National Wildlife Federation.  Note how quickly the assets of that battery company got swooped up by Johnson Controls, a terrific company:We, too, are finding lots of great stories and successes out there.  We relish finding and reporting on success stories in this fledgling but steady new economy.  Our cameras have filmed achievements across many industries,  including fishing, farming, urban development and education.  No doubt we will find many more.Breaking News – 98% of Clean Energy Investments Still Creating Jobs and Reducing Pollutionfrom Wildlife Promise0 10/16/2012 // Zoe...

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First show with Betaspring

Is now on our global TV site, The Arpin Broadcast Network.Betaspring is on our county's leading accelerators of start-up businesses, and their story is inspiring.  This is the first of a five-part series show at their offices, incubator in Providence RI, and will be followed up next month with a companion nationally radio show on our two outlets, WARL 1320 AM and Blog Talk Radio, Renewable Now channel.For now, here's the link.  Enjoy the first segment:  http://www.arpinbroadcastnetwork.com/http___handylawllc.com_.h...

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INCREDIBLE INNOVATION! Recycled material starting a whole new company that could be a game changer.It's a pretty nifty idea assuming it all comes together: An Israeli inventor has made a bicycle almost entirely out of cardboard and hopes to have it in mass production in months, reports Reuters. Izhar Gafni swears his $20 bike is uber-durable, thanks to a treatment of organic materials that makes it both waterproof and fireproof. It has no metal parts, and its tires are made of recycled rubber from car tires. It can accommodate a simple motor, too.This is inspiring, look at the video to your right. ...

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Thanks to Mrs.Green's World

Forgetting back in touch with us (we did a great show with Mrs. Green last year) and sending us the email on their recent film--which we are happy to share with you--The Silent Killer.Mrs. Green's show, which originates in AZ, does a great job of looking at the consumer side of green. That is an nice compliment, and certainly different terrain, then our focus on the business side of green.  Together, we cover lots of different stories and give you a different perspective on global sustainable changes.Let us know what you think.  We will try to post this on our show site (Arpin Broadcast Network--arpin.tv.com--this week or next. To Renewable Now:Because we have been honored to have you as a guest on our show, we wanted to...

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EU leads the way in installing photovoltaics

The newly installed photovoltaics are appearing all over the world with Europe still leading the way. In fact, according to a latest study by the by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, Europe accounted for two thirds of the global newly installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2011, with 18.5 GW. With it, the Europe's overall PV capacity increased to 52 GW and solar power now...

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Staying with Environment News Service today

Earlier this week we reported, thanks to the ENS site, on France's investment in EV's. We stick with ENS today and their excellent article on the US's update truth-in-advertising standards for "green" products and standards.We applaud this increased scrutiny for use of "green" by advertisers as we all need to deliver on our promises, and not lose credibility with consumers as we taut sustainability improvements.  As they say, let's walk the talk.Headlines: Feds Update Truth-in-advertising Guides for Green MarketingPart of the story. The rest is at: http://ens-newswire.com/2012/10/01/feds-update-truth-in-advertising-guides-for-green-marketing/WASHINGTON, DC, October 1, 2012 (ENS) – Marketers can no longer make broad, unqualified claims...

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Dan York: Wisconsin slips down in energy-efficiency ranking

A letter to the editor from Dan York, with a correction to the original article "Wisconsin slips down in energy-efficiency ranking.". It's worth reading the original, and the correction is listed below:Dear Editor: The Biz Beat article “Wisconsin slips down in energy-efficiency ranking,” published Oct. 6, reveals how Wisconsin has lost its one-time leadership position for policies and programs to achieve greater energy efficiency according to annual rankings performed by my organization, the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy (ACEEE). We are pleased to see this issue raised in Wisconsin.The article contains one statement, however, that is incorrect. A spokeswoman for the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Kristin Ruesch, states that our group (ACEEE)...

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Thanks to the Environment News Service

For a great article on France investment in electric mobility.  Good news and a giant step forward for EV's.Let's see more of this worldwide.  Keep in mind these investments in infrastructure--making the way for a much cleaner transportation system--also bring new jobs into the economy.  Note the financial advantages built into the system.The headlines: France Invests 50 Million Euros in Electro-mobilityPart of the story:  The link for the balance of the story is:  http://ens-newswire.com/2012/10/05/france-invests-50-million-euros-in-electro-mobility/ PARIS, France, October 8, 2012 (ENS) – A new 50 million euro investment program to support electric vehicles and charging infrastructure was launched Wednesday...

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From Environment Council

We'd like to see a stronger push for wind power, nationally and internationally.  Here's a recent note we received which bears consideration.  We love the green jobs coming out of investments in clean energy."Wind power companies are laying off thousands of workers across America — and that means less clean, renewable, American wind power for our homes and our communities.And it's all because House leaders refuse to renew a simple tax credit that enjoys rare bipartisan support.Tell John Boehner: Stop listening to ExxonMobil, the Koch brothers, and the coal industry and renew the American Wind Power Tax Credit.This should be a no-brainer. Instead, it's turning into an American tragedy. Thanks to the Wind Power Tax Credit, wind...

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Good radio show yesterday

As we touched on an institute implementing standards for packaging and recycling into manufacturing, while creating new jobs, and got introduced to an amazing new technology--wireless electricity.When you can listen and let us know what you think.  Here's the link:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/renewable-now/2012/10/15/wi-tric...

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Company and Local Officials Team Up to Advance “Epic” Wind Project

Immediate releaseOctober 15, 2012More informationMichael Vickerman608.255.4044, ext. 2State’s largest customer-owned renewable energy system breaks ground in Dane County(Madison) – Within a day after receiving the go-ahead from the Springfield town board, heavy construction equipment broke ground on Epic Systems’ Galactic Wind Farm, a six-turbine facility along U.S. Highway 12 in western Dane County.  The 10- megawatt project should begin producing power by year’s end.Epic Systems’ project, the third customer-owned windpower installation to go forward this year, will be larger than the two-turbine Cashton Greens project in Monroe County and the two-turbine Waxdale project in Racine County.  Organic Valley and Gundersen Lutheran completed their Cashton project earlier this year, while...

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Special Radio show today

On both WARL 1320 AM and Blog Talk Radio, Renewable Now channel as we go live today, 12-1P, EST, and repeat on Weds, our normal time, 12-1P, EST, so that we can go on the road for the rest of the week (which may mean will miss a few blogs this week, but we will try to post each day as we traverse the West Coast of the US).My co-host today is Jack Gregg, our Boston-based real estate expert and founder of Carbon Day in Boston, and we have 2 great guests.  Here's some background:Dave Schatz, Director of Business Development, will be talking about WiTricity.  Here's sneak preview on the company:Imagine a future in which wireless electricity makes everyday products more convenient, reliable, and environmentally friendly.Cell phones, game controllers, laptop computers, mobile robots, even...

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