Category Archives: Green Flashes

Car giant, American Honda Motors, is on the path to construct a sustainable “smart home” that will use advanced technologies and design principles to utilize net zero energy, meaning the home will produce equal or greater amounts of energy using … Continue reading →

The disaster at Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan is shaping the country’s energy future and renewable stand at the forefront. Of the country’s 52 nuclear plants that were operating before the disaster, only two are continuing to run. Japanese utilities … Continue reading →

North Carolina law makers voted to retain the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) last week, a move that affirms the state’s investor-owned utilities goals to generate 12.5% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2021. House Bill 298 sought … Continue reading →

A new report in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests that the urban heat-island effect may not be limited to “islands” and may instead be altering weather far from the cities that cause it.  Computer modeling is showing that the … Continue reading →

A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, suggests that reduced emissions of black carbon, or soot, could have an immediate cooling effect on the climate.  The authors conclude that global warming contribution of black carbon has … Continue reading →

The city of Minneapolis is the latest municipality to require commercial building energy rating and disclosure. Building owners must benchmark energy peformance against that of similar buildings and report the results to the public.  The ordinance applies to publicly owned … Continue reading →

Clean energy investments have shifted from being predominantly in U.S. and European markets to newer, emerging markets. Research from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that investment in clean energy worldwide dropped by 11% in 2012, which was largely attributable to … Continue reading →

The number of U.S. homes using high-efficiency light bulbs like compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and light emitting-diodes (LEDs) is steadily increasing, according to research conducted by E Source in partnership with the Nielson Company. In 2012, 87% of households … Continue reading →

For the ninth year in a row, Xcel Energy leads U.S. utilities in producing electricity from wind resources, according to report by the American Wind Energy Association. In 2012, Xcel had enough wind generating capacity to power 1.5 million homes … Continue reading →

A recent survey of home builders conducted by the Professional Remodeler finds that consumers remain reluctant to build green primarily because of the higher costs. A secondary concern is that consumers lack trust in their return on investment.  Forty-one percent … Continue reading →