Inspiring the Nation - First the Moon, Now Cleaner Energy at an Affordable Price

Fifty years ago, in 1962 President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation's greatest scientific and business leaders to "put a man on the moon by the end of the decade." We rose to the challenge and we hit that goal in the summer of 1969.
Fast-forward to the 21st century, and we are facing a new challenge: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically very soon, or face more extreme weather patterns and destructive, volatile weather events due to climate change.
And what better way to promote rapid advancement in technology than to throw down the gauntlet. Speak out loud an outrageous goal, and challenge everybody to rise to the occasion.
CLEANER ENERGY AT AFFORDABLE PRICES
That challenge has now been issued for clean energy! The U.S. Department of Energy wants to reduce the cost of solar energy systems by 75% by the end of the decade. DOE has created a collaborative program called the SunShot Initiative, and the goal is to kickstart the solar industry with laser-focused research and design so that a decade from now it is self-sustaining with no taxpayer subsidies necessary, with competitive market forces working to spur innovation, growth and investment in a sector driven by greater consumer demand: cleaner energy at affordable prices!

It's the Economy - Energy Efficiency Gains Big Believers

Bill Clinton said it best: "It's the economy, stupid."
The former president reiterated his economy comment in a piece in Newsweek, offering energy efficiency measures as several of 14 ways to jump start the U.S. economy and create jobs.
He's hardly the first. The corporate sector, utilities and governments are swapping out old lighting and inefficient energy-hungry systems like crazy. Why? It saves money.
This rapid embrace of energy efficiency over the past couple years has a lot to do with money. IBM says it's saved $50 million since 2008 through energy saving and conservation measures. "Bottom line; it pays dividends," the company said in a statement.
Converts are signing up in droves. Wal-Mart, an early believer in sustainability, played a big part in expanding the movement's reach. For instance, the retailer has provided more than 100,000 of its global suppliers with a sustainability survey and encourages them to embrace energy efficiency policies.
Utilities also are playing a major part, especially in California where representatives work one-on-one with clients to install retrofits and save money and kilowatt hours. While they are somewhat inspired by financial incentive, most of these reps have become some of the best educated on how to adopt energy-saving measures for the least amount of money.

A Chinese Solar Future

          
                 

projects planned for China

The Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2008 highlighted to the world the problems that China is having with pollution in urban areas where population density and heavy road traffic has contributed to a situation where on some days visibility is severely reduced.
The televised images of the Beijing skyline obscured by a murky cloud of smog offered a grim reminder of the contamination which is of course an inevitable by-product of a rapidly industrializing economy.
However, China has embraced the concept of renewable energy with a massive shift towards solar energy. Legislation introduced by the Chinese government has been designed to spark investment in renewable energies and has so far, proved to be successful.
As the largest manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) components, China has been a market leader in developing new products for markets elsewhere. Certainly, the Spanish market which experienced its own boom following the introduction of a feed-in tariff in 2007 relied massively on Chinese PV imports with the market experiencing a glut of Chinese produced PV plant when the Spanish industry went through its downturn and failed to install the solar plant which had been ordered. However, in a bid to alleviate some pollution problems and help meet climate change targets, the Chinese government has recently sought to increase the number of solar installations within the country.