Caption: (image: Mike Lester, Rome News-Tribune via cagle.com)

Opposition to offshore oil drilling has swelled in the aftermath of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but environmental risk may not be the only argument against offshore drilling, points out Glenn Morton at The Oil Drum blog. Morton looks at BP’s Thunder Horse drilling platform (not the Deepwater Horizon platform that collapsed and spilled) and finds that it is not performing nearly as well as expected, which could be another reason to recalibrate the cost-benefit analysis of offshore drilling.

If you own a large building and you want to save $100,000 a year, here’s a tip: don’t run your heating and cooling systems at the same time. That’s the sort of fix that can be found through “building commissioning,” the surprisingly little-used practice of having an outside expert test a building’s climate control and energy systems, reports Richard Conniff at the Yale Environment 360 blog. If applied to all non-residential buildings, commissioning could save $30 billion dollars by 2030.

Building-top turbines seem like a neat way to add some self-sufficiency to a home or building and cut down on energy bills in the process. Now just imagine how cool they would be if they worked. The trouble is, they usually don’t, as the Museum of Science in Boston found out. Martin LaMonica of CNET tells the story of how the museum is taking advantage of its failed urban wind effort to learn more about the challenges of small-scale wind energy.

Buying oil exports from Iran is legal, but it’s a secretive trade nonetheless, says the Wall Street Journal. Sanctions against Iran only apply to selling oil to Iran, but oil majors like Shell and Total still alter ship-tracking data and turn off electronic transponders when doing business with the ostracized country.

Pickens remains committed to energy independence, but is cutting back on wind power. (image: jurvetson via flickr.com)

T. Boone Pickens, recently an outspoken (and somewhat unexpected) proponent of wind power, has changed course again. Pickens announced earlier this week that he is reducing his investment in wind to focus more exclusively on natural gas. The Dallas Morning News reported that the former oilman’s company, Mesa Power, LP, will be taking a delivery of only 300 wind turbines, down from an order he announced in May of 687 turbines.

Those turbines were meant to become part of an ambitious wind farm in Texas; now, none of the turbines will be sent to the Lone Star state. Pickens told reporters that America has only one resource that can compete with oil “and it’s natural gas.” Pickens said that one reason wind energy has become less important is because of the drop in the price of natural gas.

The change in Pickens’ energy interest—wind energy was one of the lynchpins of his Pickens Plan—likely won’t earn the billionaire any points with environmentalists though, as the New York Times notes. The paper highlights that, once again, Pickens has “tweaked the Pickens Plan in a way that just happens to conform with his changing business interests.” The paper goes on to note that many of Pickens’s business investments will benefit if natural gas usage were to rise.

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(image: Thomas Boldt, The Calgary Sun via cagle.com)

It’s cold out there. You’ve probably noticed, because it’s cold pretty much everywhere. Freezing weather has bumped up the price of heating oil and crude oil, and Morgan Downey has an impressive array of colorful maps at his blog Scarce Whales that show how much colder than normal it is not just in the US, but also in Europe and northeast Asia, which are also large markets for heating fuel.

To combat heating costs, you might be trying to make your home more energy efficient, or at least turning down the heat at night. If you do, you’re already smarter than Morgan Stanley, which until last year kept its skyscraper in Times Square at the same toasty temperature at 3:00 am as it did at 3:00 pm, reports Russell Gold at the Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital blog. They had to hire the energy-efficiency specialists at EnerNOC Inc. to teach them to lower the thermostat at night and turn off bathroom fans when the building was empty. Unfortunately, you probably won’t see the savings that Morgan Stanley did—energy-efficiency measures saved them $100,000.

Is it just me, or is green technology getting grosser? Wind turbines look cool, but getting energy from cow manure? Or biofuel from sewage? Awfully resourceful, but still, blech. Now ABC News has a report from the AP’s Jason Dearen on a California landfill that’s capturing the methane released by garbage and turning it into liquid natural gas. Sure, we’ve already covered the Altamont landfill’s LNG program at HeatingOil.com (ahem), but the work by the AP and ABC is still worth a read.

For a reminder that green tech can also be awesomely futuristic, Ocean Power Magazine has us covered. A company called SeaKinetics has developed the HydroWing, which converts the energy of the tides into electricity. SeaKinetics envisions a whole underwater farm of HydroWings feeding an underwater power substation. It’s not all Jules Verne, though—people still get to live on solid ground.

(image: laist.com)

Just when you thought you’d read it all when it comes to creative ways of generating energy, here comes a new one: vibrations. And anything that vibrates: highways, train stations, or even a disco dance floor, could potentially be used to garner energy.

A team of researchers has developed a micro-scaled device that uses vibrations, or piezoelectric energy, formed by the conversion of mechanical strain into electrical current, reports Clean Technica.

This device could be used to convert energy from vibrations in machines, engines, and other industrial appliances. It can also be used to detect early signs of deterioration in bridges or machines and may potentially play a role in more energy efficient maintenance for technologies such as wind turbines.

Vice President Biden announced the White House’s support for an expansion of tax credits for green technology. (image: lycoming.edu)

The Obama administration wants to offer $5 billion in tax credits to green technologies and jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector, reports Bloomberg. Vice President Joe Biden announced the plan, which is an expansion of a program begun under the $787 billion economic recovery plan that President Obama launched in February. If Congress approves the plan, new or expanded factories that make products such as wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles would get a 30 percent tax credit. The program may also help green companies that increase their production in the US, such as Vestas Wind Systems A/S and First Solar, Inc.

Administration officials said they expected quick Congressional support for the plan, which they expect to generate $15 billion in private investment and create thousands of new manufacturing jobs. Vice President Joe Biden said the first round of tax credits was an “overwhelming success” and that there were more qualified applicants than expected. The announcement was timed to accompany a new White House report on the vital role manufacturing plays in the U.S. economy.

“I don’t understand why we can’t once again produce cutting edge technology that will create 21st century jobs that are here in America, not abroad,” said Biden as he hosted a meeting to discuss the administration’s latest jobs initiative with executives from Dow Corning, Procter & Gamble, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. “If we’re going to lead the world in production of clean energy, shouldn’t we build our capacity to make clean energy equipment?”

The meeting is a part of Biden’s task force on the U.S. middle class, which is targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families.

Besides the obvious wind and solar beneficiaries of this program, this program should also be good news for hurting biodiesel manufacturers, who were recipients of a recent chunk of money under the stimulus package. With the biodiesel industry nervous about a tax credit that is due to expire on December 31, 2009, this might signify that the White House will support a re-upping of the biodiesel tax credit for next year.

Government reimbursements could entice more people to make their homes more energy efficient. (image: jladvenco.com)

Okay, the name is a little corny, but who cares when we’re talking up to $12,000 in rebates?

That’s the amount a homeowner could receive under a new program proposed by President Obama on Tuesday, reports CNN Money. “Cash for Caulkers” would reimburse homeowners for energy-efficient appliances and insulation as part of a broader plan to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Immediate details were not provided, but the administration said it would work with Congress to craft legislation. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is helping to write the bill. This program, also known as Homestar is an evolution of a plan suggested by venture capitalist John Doerr.

While there have been many programs for tax credits for home energy efficiency, they aren’t widely used. The average American home is still inefficient in its energy use and Cash for Caulkers is an attempt to dramatically increase efficiency efforts.

The program designates money for homeowners to undertake efficiency measures, and money for companies in the renewable energy and energy-efficiency sectors.

Nadel mentioned that the plan will likely create a new program in which private certified contractors conduct energy audits and then install the necessary improvements. Large items such as refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, windows, and insulation would all likely be included, he added.

Consumers might be eligible for a 50 percent rebate on both the price of the equipment and its installation, up to $12,000, said Nadel. Currently, there is no income restriction on eligibility, meaning that a household could spend as much as $24,000 on upgrades and get half back. The details of how the program would work are not clear yet; the government may issue rebates to homeowners directly, homeowners may get a tax credit, or the program could be run through state offices.

The renewable business side of the plan calls for additional support from the government, which could come from loan guarantees. These loan guarantees—used to secure loans for startup companies—were actually in the original stimulus bill that was passed earlier this year, but a portion was then axed to fund Cash for Clunkers.

The $4 billion in loan guarantees left from the original bill has funded about $40 billion in loans, said a staffer on the Senate Energy Committee. Renewable businesses are hoping for another $4 billion in loan guarantees, since they have another $40 billion worth of projects that need funding.

A bill on energy-efficiency reimbursements already has supporters in the Senate.

In talking about the new program, Obama said, “We know [it] creates jobs, saves money for families, and reduces the pollution that threatens our environment. With additional resources, in areas like advanced manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels, for instance, we can help turn good ideas into good private-sector jobs.”