The university is offering an online program called Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies exploring emerging technologies that offer a new way to produce, distribute and store energy.

“Determining which technologies work and can be brought to market mass-scale is an urgent challenge for engineers and businesses,” said Michael McGehee, associate professor of materials science and engineering and the academic director of the certificate program.

The program will help participants to get a better grasp of the entire energy landscape and the fundamentals of how emerging technologies work. They will also learn about opportunities to develop and market new technologies. The program requires the completion of four courses from a portfolio of six or more courses covering topics including photovoltaics, solar energy, biofuels, batteries, and shale gas.

Students can take each course at their own pace, provided they complete it within 90 days from enrollment. Participants who successfully complete the program receive a professional certificate in Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies. To find out more, go here.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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Like rollover minutes on a cell phone, net metering gives solar energy customers fair credit on their monthly utility bills for electricity they put on the grid for others to use. California’s program has allowed over 100,000 homes, businesses, schools, and public agencies to go solar and lower their energy costs. This in turn supports thousands of jobs statewide and reduces the need for expensive, polluting fossil-based power plants.

California law caps the amount of net metering that utilities must make available to their customers. The outpouring of public net metering support comes as the CPUC considers taking action to allow more Californians to participate under that cap. The state’s major utilities are opposing the proposal, instead supporting a plan that would cut the amount of net metering participation by half. The Commission could make a final decision on the issue later this week – the issue is on the agenda for the May 24 public hearing.

Go CPUC go!

A number of major organizations joined us in calling for public action, including: 350.org, CREDO Action, Environment California, Sierra Club, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“People care deeply about this issue. They want California to continue to go solar, and they agree that Californians should get fair credit for doing so,” said Annie Carmichael, Policy Director at the grassroots organization Vote Solar.”We hope that state policymakers will listen to their constituents and ensure continued access to this energy bill-saving, job-creating backbone of California’s growing solar economy.”

“With electricity bills constantly rising, it’s no surprise that Californians are responding strongly to this call to preserve access to a cheaper, safer, cleaner energy option. It’s past time for utilities to ditch dirty, out-dated fossil fuels that burden their customers with asthma and other deadly health problems and embrace clean, cost-effective rooftop solar,” said Evan Gillespie, Campaign Director for Sierra Club’s My Generation Campaign.

“We hope that the more than 27,000 CREDO Action members who signed this petition send a strong message to the CPUC,” said Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager with CREDO Action. “Californians strongly support solar energy and policies to confront climate change. We don’t want our state’s leadership and solar industry growth to be undermined by unfair electric utility loopholes.”

“California’s solar industry employs more than 25,000 Californians and has driven $10 billion of private investment — and net metering is central to that success,” said Sara Birmingham, Director of Western Policy for the Solar Energy Industries Association. “For jobs and investment to continue, the looming net metering program cap can’t slam the brakes on California homes, schools and businesses going solar.”

“Net metering is clear and simple way for Californians to help solve the climate crisis,” said Jamie Henn, Communications Director for the climate campaign 350.org. “With the impacts of climate change already being seen across California — from melting glaciers in the Sierras to increased wildfires outside of Los Angeles — utilities should be facilitating the public’s desire for more clean energy, not thwarting it.”

“To remain the country’s clean energy leader and to give all Californians the right to invest in solar, policy makers must act now to expand California’s local solar market twelve-fold by 2020—as called for by Governor Brown,” said Michelle Kinman, Clean Energy Advocate for Environment California. “Expanding the state’s successful net metering program is a critical step towards achieving this goal.”

A recent poll conducted for Vote Solar showed that an overwhelming majority (86 percent) of California voters support making net metering more widely available. In addition to the 60,000 Californians who contacted the CPUC directly, the net metering expansion proposal is supported by a broad range of stakeholders including: the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and former Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Fred Keeley who authored the original California net metering legislation.

A HUGE thank you to all who participated in the action! Your overwhelming support blew us away. Who knew when we set our original goal of 20,000 messages that you’d all go so much farther. Now let’s get it across the finish line at the CPUC later this week . . .

Vote Solar is a non-profit grassroots organization working to fight climate change and foster economic opportunity by bringing solar energy into the mainstream.

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You try to explain the profound applications: smart appliances that talk to the power grid, consumer clubs that sell energy savings, your car serving as a power plant. But the conversation then becomes one about fascinating toys, not a world change.

A new paper by Joseph Stanislaw, independent senior energy advisor at Deloitte, eloquently gets to the real meaning of smart grid. Moving beyond the gadget talk, he describes the bigger picture, how new energy efficiency and smart technologies will democratize energy.

Energy efficiency could have “a greater impact on the global energy picture than any other development,” according to the paper, titled Energy’s next frontiers: How technology is radically reshaping supply, demand and the energy of geopolitics.

“The breakthroughs have been stunning, and often elegant in their simplicity. Among the least appreciated technologies are those that empower companies and individuals to understand and manage—and thus significantly reduce—their energy consumption. Last year, venture capitalists invested $275 million—up 75% from 2010—in start-ups that make software and other technologies to manage energy use,” the paper says.

Stanislaw explains how smart technologies are bringing about ‘the Power of One’ in the energy game. No longer passive receivers, consumers and businesses become active choosers; hence they influence the kind of generation plants we build – or if we build them at all – simply by the way they use electricity. Our market signals, not central planning, shape the infrastructure we build.

The Power of One idea often gets lost in political discourse about energy. Debate tends to focus on wind power tax incentives, solar trade wars, the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing and access to public lands to drill oil.

But when it comes to electricity, it will be the Power of One that changes the playing field most by giving the individual control over energy, much the way the Internet gave us control over information. As a result, even if governments fail to act effectively, corporations and individuals now have the ability to “make a radical difference in their own consumption—and thus to materially influence the broader energy game,” the paper says.

More specifically Stanislaw explains: “The new energy-related software and hardware on the market and in development—smart meters, smart appliances, demand management programs, and so forth—liberate individual actors from being at the mercy of broader forces.” This liberation, or shifting of control over energy decisions from nations to individuals, transforms what has come to be known as ‘the Great Game’ – the wrangling of nations over energy supply.

While the Great Game previously focused on oil, technology is the new prize.

“The ‘Great Game of the 21st Century’ is the technology continuum driving along the development curve from 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0—with each version coming faster than the one before. The future is one of continuous research and development, informed investment job creation, and greater energy security—without sacrificing the environment,” the paper says.

Rapid-fire technology change heightens the need for sustainability planning by businesses, he adds. And the ability to collect and understand data about energy becomes increasingly important. Whether the company makes shoes or semi- conductors, energy is part of its business. All companies become energy companies in a smart grid world.

Stanislaw describes a “virtuous energy cycle” that occurs for households and companies that pursue efficiency: They save money and protect the environment. Moreover, “the consumption of energy is no longer just an economic act—this is becoming a conscious act and an act of conscience. This will likely intensify in the coming years.”

Stanislaw’s paper is a good read. See it here.

Elisa Wood is a long-time energy writer whose work appears in many of the industry’s top magazines and newsletters. She is publisher of the Energy Efficiency Markets podcast and newsletter.

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In a series of tests in Cornwall in western England, researchers from the University of Exeter used 28 traps to capture 1,200 animals on the ground beneath street lights and in darker areas between the lights.

According to their findings, published in the journal Biology Letters, invertebrate predators and scavengers were more common underneath the lights, even during the daylight hours.

Thomas Davies, a researcher at the University of Exeter and lead author of the study, said these findings suggest that nocturnal behavior is affecting habitat preference overall, and could have implications for critical ecosystem services, including pollination and the breakdown of organic matter.

“It’s amazing how long we’ve been using street lighting and artificial lighting, and how little research has been done on the impact of those lights on the environment,” he told BBC News.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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“This is an outstanding event for BELECTRIC and the photovoltaics industry in general,” said Bernhard Beck, CEO of BELECTRIC, which employs over 2,000 people.

“Much of that which is today seen as standard in the photovoltaics industry was researched, developed and brought to market readiness by BELECTRIC,” added Chief Sales Officer Martin Zembsch.

The company’s innovations have been key to the integration of renewable energy into the grid. It has developed grid-stabilizing solar power plants that have taken the functionality of solar power generation to the level of large conventional power plants.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, a team of scientists calculated that coastal seagrass beds can store up to 83,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, compared with 30,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer in typical forests.

While seagrasses occupy less than 0.2 percent of the world’s oceans, they account for more than 10 percent of all the carbon trapped in the sea. Seagrasses have a unique ability to store carbon in their roots and soil in coastal areas, the study showed.

In some regions, they found, seagrass beds have stored carbon for thousands of years. “Seagrasses only take up a small percentage of global coastal area, but this assessment shows that they’re a dynamic ecosystem for carbon transformation,” said James Fourqurean, a scientist at Florida International University and lead author of the study.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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The reason why an EV’s price has to come down is made clear by a recent New York Times piece that examines the return on investment of an EV against a similar energy efficient vehicle. For instance, the $31,767 (after tax credits) Volt payback period is estimated at 26.6 years compared to the $19,925 Chevy Cruze Eco. For this reason the EV market is highly dependent upon a small group of “affluent green” consumers rather than a broader customer base.

The major culprit for the excessive price of the EV is the cost of the battery which can be over 35 percent of the vehicle’s cost. To be sure, some battery developers have announced technological breakthroughs that would halve that cost. But a breakthrough of that type will not be commercially available for five to ten years.

To shorten this delay, French OEMs Mia Electric and Renault are spearheading a business model that may prove attractive to more mainstream drivers. To reduce upfront costs, Mia and Renault have set up options where EV drivers can purchase the EV without buying the battery. Instead, EV owners will rent the battery at a cost of around $50 to $100 a month. Although the total costs over time are still significant, the business model allows for a more affordable initial purchase price and reduces the financial risk to EV owners, in that the battery is guaranteed for life.

Mia began production of its EV in June of 2011 and since then has sold over 1,000 of the cars at a little over €15,000 (after state incentives). The battery rents for €49/month. Four EVs from Renault, all with battery rental plans, have reached European markets with estimated prices from €7,000 for the small urban Twizy, to €21,000 for the larger Fluence Z.E. sedan. Europe’s largest automaker, Volkswagen, may also adopt the business model when it releases its EV offerings next year.

The battery leasing model certainly presents an opportunity for OEMs to make initial prices more competitive with other fuel efficient vehicles. However no maker selling plug-in models in the United States has indicated it will start a leasing program here. In an interesting development, Nissan has indicated it may lease batteries, but also just in Europe, where its Leaf will compete against the ZOE, which is made by Nissan’s European partner Renault. The ZOE is set to sell at half the cost of the Leaf, thanks to the battery leasing program.

U.S. OEMs could be wary of bearing the financial and legal burdens inherent in leasing a technology with so many perceived unknowns, or perhaps the automakers assume the economics of owning a vehicle and leasing its fundamental power source are too confusing for consumers. (The familiar telecom model of buying a subsidized handset and paying a monthly service fee would indicate otherwise.) At any rate, if the European programs boost sales, you can be sure the model will make its way across the Atlantic.

Article by Scott Shepard, appearing courtesy the Matter Network.

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This is the logical follow up of a move in the same direction by the United States, China and other countries back to February. However, like the previous agreement, CO2 is still not mentioned.

The aforementioned greenhouse gases are much more potent but remain for much less time in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide

Since CO2 is the main pollution due to fossil fuels burning, it may take some time before it is addressed. We have seen however that more and more countries are willing to address it.

I am confident carbon taxes and other emissions trading schemes will keep on being implemented locally and that some significant agreement will be reached by 2015 (perhaps earlier). Let us all act in this direction!

The gases agreed upon last week are also responsible of more than two million premature deaths per year. This is thus a major air pollution issue.

In any case, this bodes well with the incoming Rio 20+ conference.

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Radiation readings in Odaka are well below anything that could be considered a health risk, but people are still not coming back. Indeed, the long shadow cast by Fukushima has extended over a much wider area than any scientific assessment of radiological hazard would argue is necessary. In Minamisoma, 20km north of the stricken reactor, a community centre above the town is decked out for indoor play because no one wants to let their children venture out of doors. The parents refuse to believe that radiation readings are low enough – barely above normal background, on my dosimeter – that their children’s health would be improved by letting them play outside in the fresh air. Watching the kids cooped up in a big wooden hall, I could only conclude that unnecessary fear of radiation is just as much a hazard as the real thing.

On a wider scale still, unnecessary fear of radiation now presents a serious hazard to the world’s climate. Japan’s precipitous exit from nuclear power generation – the day I arrived in Tokyo was the first non-nuclear day in Japan for 42 years – has pushed the country’s fossil fuel demand through the roof, with imports of oil and gas up by more than 100% since last year, their ballooning cost driving a record trade deficit of $32bn. As carbon emissions rise in lockstep, Japan’s leaders are now backing off from their international climate change commitments, which the country has no chance of meeting. Given that wind, solar and geothermal account for less than 1% of Japan’s electricity generation, the country will be massively dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come if the reactors stay switched off. The only alternative is blackout.

Given the trauma of the March 2011 tsunami disaster, Japan’s nuclear shutdown is understandable – if regrettable from a global warming perspective. But a flight across the Sea of Japan to its neighbour South Korea shows a very different model in evidence.

In the same week that Japan mothballed its very last reactor, Korea broke ground on two new-build nuclear power stations – a pair of APR-1400 units now being constructed at Shin Ulchin, on the east coast. They are two of eight new stations planned to add to the country’s existing nuclear fleet of 23, currently supplying 45% of the nation’s electricity. To mark the occasion the country’s president, Lee Myung-bak, paid a visit to the site, praising a “huge milestone” for South Korea’s engineers, who had helped the country achieve “the dream of independent nuclear technology”.

It is not that South Korea is not green. In fact the mantra of “green growth” has been a central component of President Lee’s policy platform since 2008, and this month – even as Japan backed away from its own climate commitments – Korea’s legislature unanimously passed a new climate act which will enforce carbon caps and an emissions trading scheme among its heavy industry and electricity sector. The country’s international carbon emissions target is for a 30% cut below “business as usual” emissions by 2020, a commitment its leaders say they intend to deliver on. It also spent a higher proportion of its post-economic crash stimulus package on environmental initiatives than any other country.

South Korea is anxious to export its green growth model to other countries. Last week President Lee spoke at a landmark summit held by the Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institute, reiterating his view that there need be no automatic trade-off between rapid economic growth and environmental sustainability. In respect of Japanese sensitivities, he refrained from addressing the centrality of nuclear to Korea’s green growth plans, but tension between the competing visions for what counts as “green” were evident throughout the two-day meeting. The president was immediately followed by the Japanese telecoms billionaire Masayoshi Son, who – having reinvented himself as head of the new Japan Renewable Energy Foundation – dramatically declared that there should be “no nuclear for mankind anywhere in the world, for the sake of the future, for the sake of our children, for the Earth”.

The Korean hosts clapped politely, but did not appear convinced – hardly surprising given that Masayoshi Son’s only proposed alternative to nuclear generation was a scheme for a pan-Asian supergrid linking Japanese cities with thousands of solar and wind plants supposedly to be built across the Gobi desert in faraway Mongolia. The plan would cost trillions and take decades to implement – and would leave Japan dependent on power lines crossing its energy-hungry and often less-than-friendly neighbour China. Koreans know that their economic miracle has been built on practical engineering success, not magical thinking.

The chair of the Green Growth Institute, Dr Han Seung-soo, himself a former prime minister of Korea, told me later: “Once the safety aspect is guaranteed there is no cleaner source than nuclear. It is clean energy because the amount of emissions created is almost nil.” When I asked if Korea had a target for wind and solar deployment, he shook his head. Looking out of the window, from the centre of an Asian megacity with impressive skyscrapers in every direction as far as the eye could see, the idea of powering Seoul with renewables did seem nonsensical.

The truth is that, as in Japan, the proportion of solar and wind on the Korean grid is tiny, about 0.25% – most of the country’s power comes from coal, and the only way to reduce its carbon emissions significantly is to continue to replace coal plants with nuclear. Yet as the post-Fukushima anti-nuclear hysteria continues to drag many countries – from Japan to Germany to Switzerland – back towards the fossil fuels age, South Korea is quietly getting on with reducing its carbon emissions while continuing its growth miracle.

Article by Mark Lynas, guardian.co.uk , appearing courtesy Earth & Industry.

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While becoming an advocate for Mother Earth is enough to persuade some students to pursue these fields, some experts speculate that others are more promoted to go in the field of renewable energy research or engineering for example because the more “traditional” career choices like those in business, have seen better days. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment opportunities for business careers in finance for example will slow down significantly, but those pursuing green energy careers, such as in the wind power industry, bio energy, solar power or hydropower, will just continue to grow as the world looks for new and sustainable ways to function. That said, if you are college bound student or looking to make a change in your career, below are some popular career titles to consider.

Energy Efficiency Engineer
• What do they do? An energy efficiency engineer is responsible for identifying ways that consumers can conserve energy and be more efficient in their homes or place of business. Their expertise can be used when a new building is getting constructed, or when completely remodeling a new home for example.
• How do I get this job? The minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree in electrical or mechanical engineering.
• What’s the job outlook? While job availability will vary between location, experts predict the job growth will only increase about 6%. However, experience and a higher education can increase your chances. Salary also varies, but the average yearly salary was $88,570 in 2010, according to the latest statistics from The Bureau.

Wind Turbine Drivetrain Engineer
• What do they do? A wind turbine drivetrain engineer is responsible for overseeing the safety, maintenance and installment of wind turbine devices on wind farms. They must also use their technical knowledge to ensure operations run smoothly or must correct the issue when malfunctions arise.
• How do I get this job? While it is possible to get a job with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, a master’s degree in the same field is typically favored.
• What’s the job outlook? Figures aren’t available on whether this specific job is in demand, but with the continuing necessity to use alternative energy, wind turbine drivetrain engineers will surely be needed. On average, wind turbine drivetrain engineers make about $62,000 a year.

Sustainability Specialist
• What do they do? A sustainability specialist is responsible for producing and implementing programs designed to improve the planet, conserve energy, and save money for their clients—whether it’s reducing the amount of energy needed to run a factory or eliminating a corporation’s carbon footprint by making employees use electric vehicles on grounds, sustainability specialists really work hard to help the environment.
• How do I get this job? In order to be found employable, you must have at least a bachelor’s degree in environmental science or environmental engineering.
• What’s the job outlook? Experts predict that employment opportunities for this field are expected to be “fair,” increasing about 13% within the next decade. Salary will vary depending on level of education and experience, but on average you can earn about $60,000 a year, according The Bureau.

Environmental Engineer
• What do they do? In a nutshell, environmental engineers are responsible for combining their knowledge in biology, chemistry and engineering in order come up with solutions to various environmental problems, including those that deal with renewable energy.
• How do I get this job? In order to become an environmental engineer, you must earn a bachelor’s degree in either environmental science, or a related field such as mechanical, civil or chemical engineering.
• Job Outlook? Employment opportunities are predicted to increase a whopping 22 percent throughout the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay is typically excellent as well. The average yearly salary was $78,740 in 2010, according to the latest statistics from the Bureau.

While the career titles listed above are definitely not all of the career titles offered in the green industry, they can most certainly help point you in the right direction.

Article by Maria Rainier, a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she writes about education, online colleges, online degrees etc. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

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