Georgia Tech-trained computer scientist Shwetak Patel is one of 22 2011 MacArthur Fellows, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced early this morning. Patel, now a faculty member at the University of Washington in Seattle, won the honor and its accompanying no-strings-attached $500,000 award (widely known as the “genius grant”) after inventing “a…
Now that declining budgets have reduced the outlook for federal largesse, what big ideas might help to continue growth among solar, wind and other clean energy industries? With the help of his sources in the “the renewables and efficiency space,” Climate Progress’ Stephen Lacey came up with five priorities for “business-oriented” policies that could keep…
Longtime environmental leader John Sibley III is joining Southface Energy Institute as a senior policy fellow, I learned today at the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable. An Atlanta native and Yale-educated lawyer, Sibley has a long track record of playing at the highest levels in Georgia environmental politics and policy. He’s a former president of the Georgia…
Early indications show that the renewable energy industry stands to lose some serious ground in the debt ceiling deal that has gripped Washington for the better part of a month. The first warning sirens sounded as July came to an end and House Republicans unveiled their wish list for environmental cuts. But as July turned…
Jonathan Bardelline reports on LG Electronics’ efforts to develop the world’s most efficient refrigerators, TV, washing machine and other projects. LG Electronics is hoping to appeal to the more climate-savvy consumer when it launches next year the first TV, fridge and other products to carry the CarbonFree logo. Created by the Carbonfund.org Foundation, the certification…
Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a clean energy tax credit that came back from the dead during the 2011 Georgia Legislature. House Bill 346 doubles to $5 million the amount of money authorized for clean energy tax credits in Georgia, and revives — at least for the next three years — a program that had…
The Atlanta suburb of Decatur has launched DecaturWISE, an energy rebate program similar to Atlanta’s SHINE program. Funded with federal stimulus money, the program offers rebates of up to $1,000 for homes that save up to 15 percent on their energy bills. Plus it dovetails with Georgia Power’s Home Energy Improvement Program, which can get…
Here’s good fodder for solar installers on the residential sales trail: A federal study finds this month that photovoltaic systems increases the sale prices for existing home sales by about the same amount that the PV systems cost. Add in the savings on energy bills — not to mention the feel-good effect of lowering a…
The folks at MAGE Solar, the German-owned solar panel maker with a plant in Dublin, Ga., posted an interesting press release this week to our Inside Stories section. MAGE has cut a deal with a De Lage Landen to provide financing for solar installers, or “integrators.” “Like in any other business where the contractor has…
Southern Co. CEO Thomas A. Fanning cited two factors today when explaining why the company was able to raise shareholder dividends for the 10th straight year. The first was a standard line you’ll here from any public company: a “commitment to customer satisfaction.” But the second factor says more about a competitive advantage that’s helped to…
