Clean Tech

The Department of Energy announced the 20 university teams selected to participate in the next Solar Decathlon in the U.S....and California is a big winner with four teams from the Golden State. The third place winner in 2009, Santa Clara University, will be joined by newcomers Stanford, University of Southern California, and a collaboration between Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology.

And, none of the four teams will need to travel far. Read more

A notable development in the renewable energy industry has been the swift ascendency of China in solar cell manufacturing. It took under five years for Chinese manufacturers to dominate production and the global market. Many of these manufacturers are Applied Materials customers. So, when MIT’s Technology Review started to research their February cover feature on “manufacturing breakthroughs” that includes a look at China’s leadership in solar, they reached out to Applied for perspective. Applied EVP and GM for the Energy and Environmental Solutions team, Mark Pinto discussed with Technology Review the evolution of China’s solar industry and how it is changing to being driven by not only scale but also technology advancements in conversion efficiency to reduce cost.Read more

Recently I had the opportunity to use a Nissan Leaf™ for several full days, a much more interesting exercise than a simple test drive. As someone working in the sustainability area, as a co-chair of the California Clean Cars campaign and as a likely car buyer in 2012 (my current vehicle has over 230,000 miles on it) I am very interested in the electric vehicle (EV) market.

Nissan’s Leaf™ is among the handful of low emission cars that are presently authorized to carry a Clean Air Vehicle Sticker, entitling a single occupant to use the carpool lanes during rush hours – a very nice side benefit to EV ownership that helped speed my commute this week.

My general impression of EV driving is very favorable. Read more

This week marks an important milestone in the development of a robust solar industry in the US. The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) and the Solar Alliance have merged to form one voice advocating for policies that advance solar deployment in the US.

SEIA traditionally focused on federal legislative and regulatory policy which drives solar deployment like clean energy standards, the Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy generation and the loan guarantee programs for renewable energy projects. Meanwhile, the Solar Alliance was a state based organization, working to advance renewable energy standards and incentive programs at the state level as well as ensuring that appropriate net metering policies and renewable energy credit mechanisms are in place to allow solar markets to flourish.

With the merger, the two entities will now speak with one strong and consistent voice about the jobs created by growing domestic solar energy, the advances the industry has made in cost reduction, and the value of including solar in the US’s energy generation mix. Read more

At this time of year, when many of us will be traveling to visit families--either by plane, train or automobile, it is worth reflecting upon one of the United States’ seminal pieces of environmental legislation, the Clean Air Act.

The Clean Air Act, established in 1970, is celebrating its 41st anniversary this December 17.

In 1970, California’s population was only 20 million. During that same decade, in 1975, the Los Angeles basin recorded 118 Stage 1 smog alerts. By 1980 the state’s population had reached 24 million and 17 million automobiles racked up over 155 billion vehicle miles (!) By 2010 our population reached over 38 million, a doubling from 1970, but many air quality statistics demonstrate some remarkable improvements: the number of smog alerts in the South Coast has fallen by over 95% and some years have seen zero such incidents; emissions of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons from cars are down 200,000 tons from the peak in 1990 despite vehicle miles growing to 280 billion miles annually. Read more