Climate and energy items of interest

Pacific Island Nations Tell The World ‘Climate Change Has Arrived’

“Climate change has arrived,” and the world must act. That’s the message from fifteen nations in the southwestern Pacific, who signed a statement yesterday calling on other countries to join them in “the urgent reduction and phase down of greenhouse gas pollution.”

With Climate Journalism Like This, Who Needs Fiction?

(Just go read the post)

U.S. Navy Triples Clean Energy Startup Funding In Hawaii

A clean energy seed money startup program in Hawai’i will now have triple its existing budget courtesy of the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research.

Energy Excelerator provides between $30,000 to $100,000 in seed money to clean energy startups in Hawai’i. If a more advanced company wishes to create a pilot project on Hawai’i and can raise $500,000 in matching funds, the program will supply a $1 million grant. Every summer, the program selects 13 businesses that have ideas related to: grid integration of renewable energy; bioenergy and transportation; and energy efficiency for built environment and agriculture.

Hundreds of companies apply for grants, but...

Dominion Virginia wins right to lease ocean tract for wind farm

Plans for the first offshore wind farm in the region moved forward Wednesday when Dominion Virginia Power won the right to lease nearly 113,000 acres off the Virginia coast to generate power with wind turbines.

The utility outbid Apex Virginia Offshore Wind in a six-round auction held by the Interior Department, paying $1.6 million for the right to install wind turbines 27 miles off the state’s coast. When completed, the project could provide electricity to about 700,000 homes.