The future of easy home energy monitoring may be a little bit closer, thanks to a government initiative designed to allow consumers direct access to their energy consumption data.

The White House’s new Green Button gives utilities a way to simplify and standardize sharing usage statistics with their customers via a one-click download. Two California providers, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric, already launched the feature, adding what is literally a green button to their websites. Utility companies in other regions are expected to implement it within the next year. Customers can click the button to download their personal usage information in one place.

The interesting aspect isn’t so much in the download itself, but what can be done with it. Federal officials hope this kind of data liberation will inspire developers to build apps and services that will help customers track and reduce their energy consumption. One study showed that subjects who were given access to their data reduced their usage by 8.7% just by tracking it. At scale, this could mean an annual savings of $32 billon per year on the country’s annual $369 billion power bill.

The Green Button was inspired by the government’s success with its Blue Button initiative, which allows veterans instant access to their health care data.

In an unusual hybrid, British industrial designer Phil Pauley created Marine Solar Cells that harness energy from both the sun and water.

The web of energy generators capture energy off-shore, using a combination of floating photovoltaics and natural buoyancy displacement. Thanks to the reflective nature of water, the solar component’s efficiency is up to 20% greater than it would be land-locked.

The devices can be made using recycled materials and, by attaching the units to underwater mooring, can be placed nearly anywhere off-shore, creating subsea batteries or power plants.

The technology is currently in concept stage, so you won’t need to dodge them on your next water sport adventure, but it does have the potential to be a substantial source of new energy, especially if installed in turbulent high sea areas.

Photos by PAULEY Interactive

Facebook, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and clean tech startup Opower are today announcing a partnership on a new social networking-based energy application that will help consumers monitor, improve and compare their home’s energy usage with their friends and other Facebook users.

The app, designed to improve energy awareness, has the potential to combine the 800 million+ users on Facebook with Opower’s network of over 60 utility partners reaching 55 million U.S. households. However, the social app will start off with just a few participating utilities when it launches in early 2012.

Opower, a software-as-a-service company, currently helps electric and gas utilities understand their customers and how they’re using power. Home owners use Opower’s online applications to gain insights into their usage patterns, set personal goals to reduce consumption and even receive alerts if they’re headed towards a big electric bill at the end of the month. The proactive alerts give customers a chance to reduce consumption before it’s too late.

Now, the new Facebook application will bring some of these same features to the social networking service. Participating users will be able to automatically pull in data from their utility provider in order to benchmark their home’s energy usage against a national average of similar homes, compare their energy use with their Facebook friends, enter energy-saving competitions and share tips on how to become more energy efficient. In addition, users will be able to share their energy use, ranking and group participation to their Facebook News Feed.

The NRDC’s involvement will be to provide additional environmental expertise while also seeking out new partners and encouraging consumer participation.

Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), the City of Palo Alto (Calif.) and Glendale Water & Power (GWP) will be the first U.S. utilities to offer their customers the ability to import usage data into the social energy application. Combined, these utilities offer access to 4 million customers, including all of Chicago’s residents.

The NRDC states that improvements to energy efficiency has the ability to generate $700 billion in cost savings in the U.S. alone, but consumer participation is key to making that change happen. The organization is no stranger to the use of word-of-mouth techniques in this area, going all the way back to its Hood River Conservation Project in the 80′s which, at the time, leveraged real-life social networks to spread word of an energy improvement program. Now it hopes to use word-of-mouth on Facebook’s online network to enact similar behavioral change.

The organizations will formally announce the partnership later this afternoon. More information will be posted to Facebook’s “Green on Facebook” page.

2011 Boulder TechStars graduate Simple Energy is teaming up with San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) to help the utility engage its customers in energy conservation efforts.

To accomplish this, Simple Energy is running an energy saver contest that offers a social gaming experience with real-world rewards.

The contest is in collaboration with the White House’s recent smart grid announcement, which detailed a number of new initiatives meant to accelerate the modernization of the U.S.’s electric grid through the use of smart grid technologies.

In the case of the Simple Energy contest called “Biggest Energy Saver,” the idea is to make energy saving a fun game where customers compete against their neighbors to waste less, and subsequently lower their electric bills.

Using data from the home’s smart meter, SDG&E will measure year-over-year energy consumption (kWh) of the participants for three months. Customers can “compete” by making changes to their home, like weatherizing doors and windows, sealing air leaks, adjusting thermostats, switching to energy-saving lightbulbs and more.

Participants are also encouraged to visit www.biggestenergysaver.com, where they can join with others in an online community to talk about smart meters and how to use smart technology to reduce their electricity consumption, control their electric costs, and help the environment.

The contest is sponsored by GRID 21, a new non-profit organization committed to engaging electricity customers in reducing consumption. During the course of the 3-month challenge, daily top savers are entered into drawings for $25 gift certificates to local stores, monthly savers can win an iPad 2 and the “Biggest Energy Saver” of them all wins a gaming laptop worth $1,500.

It does seem to be a bit odd that the energy saving contest awards energy-gobbling gadgets as prizes instead of something like discounts on new insulation or weather strips, for example. However, those awards clearly reflect the desire of today’s electricity-using households to fill their homes with more and more devices, which, in aggregate, help put a strain on the grid.

Teaching the early adopters of smart meters, who are also likely to be the gadget-obsessed top power consumers, how to better save energy may not be such a bad idea.

Today, EnergyHub launched its new, comprehensive, in-home energy management system for U.S. consumers. The system includes the EnergyHub Home Base, for centralized management of the electricity usage in the home, as well as The EnergyHub Thermostat, Sockets and Strips.

The Home Base also connects to the Web via Wi-Fi, allowing users to remotely manage individual components via Web-based or mobile applications that run on iOS and Android devices.

The new system is notable not only for its ease-of-use – just plug in your devices, and you’re ready to go – but also because it’s now available outside of a utility-sponsored program.

Previously, the company sold its hardware to utility providers, who then installed the devices in customers’ home. Today’s launch of a direct-to-consumer offering democratizes access to these same energy monitoring systems and tools.

The EnergyHub Home Base is the central station for interacting with the home’s connected devices, where it displays your current and projected energy use on its colorful touchscreen. Here, data is tracked in real-time, and you can program various usage parameters in order to control energy usage automatically.

There are also modes called “At Home,” “Goodnight,” and “Away” that let you program various configurations that can be enabled with just one touch.

The system’s Wireless Thermostat lets you track and manage your home’s heating and cooling systems, while EnergyHub Sockets, Strips and Heavy Duty Controllers let you monitor individual appliances.

The Home Base comes in two versions: ZigBee and ERT-compatible, which refers to two common radio types used by smart meters. (This video helps explain which one is right for you).

And when you’re away from home, the EnergyHub Web-based and mobile apps help you switch between the various modes and remotely control appliances.

EnergyHub pricing is as follows:

• Home Base + Thermostat  – ZigBee version: $299.99 / ERT version $389.99
• Starter Kit (Home Base + Socket + Strip) – ZigBee version $324.99 / ERT version $414.99
• Starter Kit + Thermostat – ZigBee version $399.99 / ERT version $499.99
• Sockets, Strips, and Thermostats are also available individually for $39.99, $89.99, and $99.99, respectively

EnergyHub raised $14.5 million in a Series B round last week, as two new investors, Acadia Woods and the New York City Investment Fund, joined existing investors .406 Ventures and Physic Ventures. The funds will be used to support commercial deployments and the launch of the new Mercury wireless thermostat software service.

Gleaning electricity from radio signals isn’t super-efficient (or a new concept), but it’s possible technically. Two companies from Japan have recently come up with new devices that can do just that: one is harvesting energy from cell phone signals, the other uses a rectifying antenna (Rectenna) to produce energy.

First, a device [JP] recently announced by Tokyo Electron Device can pick up radio signals from cell phones in the 800MHz band and convert them into electricity (800MHz is the frequency used in handsets in Japan). The company says that users can expect to get up to 2.5 milliamperes of charge (stored in a small lithium-ion battery).

The device collects signals from other wireless gadgets, too, and it can provide a few more minutes of run time when built into tablets and notebooks (which is better than nothing). Tokyo Electron markets it as “green” product and cooperated with US company Powercast in its development.

We don’t have media for that device but a professional video shot of the next one, a newly developed Rectenna coming from Tokyo-based Nihon Dengyo Kosaku. The device (pictured above) itself has two main selling points: it’s thin (12mm for collecting Wi-Fi signals and 30mm for digital terrestrial broadcast waves) and needs just 50µW of power to start.

Nihon Dengyo says that their rectenna can glean power in the micro-watt range from Wi-Fi signals at a distance of around 10cm, enough to power sensors, for example. The device can be used both inside and outside of buildings.

Here’s a video (shot by Diginfonews in Tokyo, in English) that provides more insight:

This DIY solution uses a small breakout box with an IR sensor that senses an IR light that flashes when you’ve used a kilowatt hour of electricity. You could also retrofit this to work with older boxes using a light that is interrupted as the disk inside the meter spins. The sensor can tell how often the beam is interrupted and transmit that data to a computer or other device.

the box holds some minimal electronics (14 pin AVR micro, a resistor, a capacitor, and a phototransistor), the piece of rubber shades the meter, and the bungee cord holds it all together in a most attractive way. okay, i was kidding about the last part.

Project Pagevia IRMeterMon

IThe news has become muted regarding fuel cells and their future role in energy supply in recent years, but it seems we’re getting there step by step: Panasonic today said that it has developed a new type of home-use fuel cell [press release in English], which is more efficient and cheaper than its existing solutions.

Created in cooperation with major Japanese energy company Tokyo Gas, Panasonic’s new Ene-Farm fuel cell boasts an energy conversion efficiency of 40%, which is the world’s highest (according to the companies involved in the development). Panasonic’s previous offering just reached an efficiency of 37%.

This new model features a power output of 250 to750W, and it and needs just 2sqm for installation, slashing the footprint of existing offerings by about 50%. It cuts primary energy consumption approximately 35% and CO2 emissions by around 48%.

Panasonic also says that the new Ene-Farm can help an average Japanese family reduce electricity bills by $600 to $725 per year. Partner Tokyo Gas will start selling the fuel cell in Japan on April for between $14,000 and $17,000 (after government subsidies), which is 30% cheaper than existing fuel cells.

Fujitsu today announced the development of a single device that’s capable of generating electricity from either heat or light. Previously, two devices had to be combined to generate electricity from these sources (through energy harvesting, energy can be derived from external sources like light, heat, vibrations, wind energy etc.).

On paper, Fujitsu’s so-called hybrid energy harvesting device doubles the energy-capture potential (see below).

The company also says its new device doesn’t require wiring or battery replacements, meaning it can serve as a rather inexpensive solution in areas with insufficient energy supply in the future.

What you can see on the picture on top of this post is a prototype device manufactured on flexible substrate. Fujitsu says it’s now working on improving their technology to commercialize it by around 2015.

For all the talk about solar, the US market for solar power still has a long way to go before it makes a real dent in the country’s overall power capacity.

On Monday morning, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a major aggregator of green industry data released a few key projections: the US solar market is on track to grow 30x to 44 gigawatts by 2020 and could make up 4.3% of America’s total power capacity. Of this fraction, the bulk (or approximately 68%) will be in photovoltaics with solar thermal making up the remainder.  Furthermore, Bloomberg predicts that consumer traction will also move noticeably higher, with 2.4% of homes solar-equipped by 2020.

Of course, that path to 4.3% of national power capacity is not cheap. In order to get there, the US market will need to attract $100 billion in investment dollars.

The possible leap from 1.4GW to 44GW is an impressive growth curve, but these figures certainly highlight the simultaneous growth and challenge of solar installation.

As Bloomberg New Energy Finance points out, the surge in solar capacity has been supported by two crucial trends: the drop in prices (the price of photovoltaic modules has tumbled from roughly $300 per watt in the mid-20th century, to less than $5 per watt today) and the heavy hand of government support. And yet, even as solar becomes more affordable, it’s still playing catch up to other sources of energy. That may be a well known fact but it often gets muffled in the bucolic vision for solar panel farms as far as the eyes can see.

“The group’s latest analysis places the unsubsidized cost of best-in-class photovoltaic and solar thermal electrivity generation at just below $200/megawatt hour— nearly four times the equivalent cost for a coal-fired power plant ($56/megawatt hour)— and between two and four times the cost of onshore wind power, ” according to the Bloomberg report.

On the investment front, it will be interesting to see how the solar industry fares in the money race. Overall, the sector has been a major beacon for investment dollars but momentum has recently waned. According to a Mercom Capital report for the third quarer,  VC funding for the solar sector was $169.35 million on 11 deals, versus $922 million for 18 transactions in the prior quarter. On the flip side, there was strength in other funding sources (including credit lines from banks), which totaled a healthy $20.7 billion for the quarter.

(Image: Flickr/Warm N’ Fuzzy)

Sanyo in Japan today announced [JP] what it says is the world’s first solar-cell-equipped public bus, the Solarve (which stands for Solar Vehicle). The bus was unveiled to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a Japanese transportation and logistics company called Ryobi [JP]. The Solarve is essentially a city bus with solar cells on top that generate power for its interior LED lights.

Sanyo says the solar panels atop the diesel-electric hybrid bus are good for a total output of 798 watts (420W through crystalline silicon cells, and the rest through amorphous silicon cells). When the sun isn’t shining for an extended period of time, power will be supplied by storage batteries inside the bus for about nine hours.

The Solarve is expected to be first used as early as September 1 (in Okayama City in Southern Japan).

Keeping lights off isn’t a bad idea in itself, but it has significantly less impact than swapping out the bulbs for more energy-efficient ones, says Shahzeen Attari, who published a paper on the survey.

In some cases, leaving energy-efficient lights on may actually be more effective: according the the Department of Energy, the lifespan of compact fluorescents, or CFLs, is decreased by being frequently switched off and on. If you are leaving the room for less than 15 minutes, it is actually more efficient to keep a CFL on for that time. If you will be gone for more than 15 minutes, however, it is more efficient to switch the light off.

Survey participants were asked an open-ended question on what they thought was the single most effective thing they could do to conserve energy in their lives. Attari put the most common responses into two main categories: curtailment, meaning not doing something as often, and efficiency, meaning making their energy use itself less wasteful.

The majority of the participants’ answers, such as turning off lights, changing thermostat settings and unplugging appliances, fell into the curtailment category. These actions are certainly helpful, but even more effective are efficiency changes, such as using CFL light bulbs, buying Energy Star appliances, and driving a hybrid car. In other words, it’s better to buy new, efficient equipment than to sparingly use older, energy-hungry products.

This graph shows survey participants’ mean perceived energy usage or savings in watts per hour versus actual energy usage or savings. The dotted line represents perfect accuracy:

Perceptions were often inaccurate. For example, many thought central air conditioning uses only 1.3 times the energy of a single room AC unit, when it actually uses around 3.5 times as much energy.

Many consumers don’t have a good concept of how much energy per hour a given appliance uses. People understand how much energy goes into a light bulb per hour, Attari said, but not the equivalent of how many light bulbs per hour are used by a dishwasher.

Attari also attributed a psychological phenomenon called single action bias, in which a person does one or two things to address a problem and considers themselves off the hook, as an explanation of why some believe they do more to conserve energy than they really are. When those one or two things fall into curtailment, like turning off the lights, instead of efficiency, like replacing the washer, they help less than some perceive.

Psychology aside, if each of us were to do just one or two things to save energy, Attari recommends they be replacing light bulbs with CFL bulbs and weatherizing our homes. Generalized recommendations can be muddy, however, as each person’s energy usage is different. This means that for some, the most effective thing might be to use public transportation instead of driving, or to line-dry clothes after washing them.

In another report, Gerald T. Gardner and Paul C. Stern compiled a short list of the most effective things Americans can do to save energy. Using warm or cold water to wash clothes and installing or upgrading attic insulation are two of their suggestions. See the full list in the table below:

Here are five of the most effective things you can at home to lower your energy consumption:

1. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs
2. Weatherize your home with caulk or weather-stripping (80% of older homes are under-insulated)
3. Install a more efficient heating and/or air conditioning unit
4. Install or upgrade attic insulation and ventilation
5. Adjust your washing machine settings to warm, or even cold, water

Photo credit: Flickr via lunchtimemama
Graph via the paper “Public Perceptions of Energy Consumption and Savings“
Table via Environment Magazine

It generally also requires plugging your energy source into the grid so you’re not left in the dark when the wind calms or the sun lingers behind clouds.

Here is a roundup of solutions that can help power a home.

Solar

Solar is, in some ways, the easiest solution, or at least one of the most accessible. Plugging into the sun requires photovoltaic solar panels, an inverter, and batteries that can store a bit of any excess energy for a rainy day.

Performance varies regionally, of course, with states in the southern and southwestern regions enjoying the most days of sun per year.

Solar panels require little maintenance once installed and can provide large amounts of electricity in fair weather. It can be expensive, however, even with incentives, and even when hooked up to batteries, it doesn’t do much good when there’s no sun for stretches at a time.

Resources

GetSolar has a database for finding a solar installer in your area. It’s wise to compare quotes from several companies. Some installers prefer to install panels sold by their companies, while others will install any panels you purchase.

It’s also possible to rent solar panels. One of the largest renters is Citizenrē REnU, which offers 1, 5 or 25-year contracts that include installation.

Wind

Wind energy is often associated with mammoth wind farms, but smaller sized turbines are also produced for backyard energy production.

The speed of the wind is the determining factor in whether wind power is the right solution for your home. Weather services can tell you what the average wind speed in your region is, but it can vary within a region.

Not surprisingly, bigger turbines can produce larger amounts of energy. A 10-kilowatt turbine can usually provide enough energy for a house and is usually around 100 feet tall with a 23-foot turbine.

As with solar, wind energy is climate-dependent so when the turbine’s not turning, you might need a different energy source. Unlike solar, wind turbines have the added con of being built of out of moving parts that need regular maintenance.

Resources

A turbine large enough to power a home often requires a permit. The American Wind Energy Association offers a useful guide for going through the necessary steps to install your own turbine, as well as a list of wind gear providers.

If you’re low on space or looking for a plug-and-play solution, try a personal wind turbine like Southwest Windpower’s Air-X. It can produce up to 400 watts, enough to offset some lighting and appliance usage, and can be installed on top of a roof.

Alternatively, try Clarian’s Jellyfish When it hits the market next year, i will be able to provide the same potential wattage and also feature the ability to power your home by plugging into any standard wall outlet.

If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, find an old treadmill and take a stab at making your own as in this video:

Geothermal

Most geothermal energy is produced large scale, so single-home geothermal is usually limited to heating and cooling solutions. Still, considering how much energy indoor climate control can consume, geothermal heat pumps can significantly reduce your energy needs.

Geothermal heat pumps tap into the earth’s stable temperature to regulate that in your home. The pump moves heat from the earth to your home in winter and pulls the heat inside your house outside in summer.

Most pumps are built simply so they require little, if any maintenance, and can be equipped with a household water heater as well.

Geothermal heat pumps are not a full-service solution, even for heating and cooling. Some models have been shown to reduce energy bills by up to 40%, which means you can’t say goodbye to your utility company and be completely comfortable indoors.

Cost is another concern. A heat pump with enough capacity to keep a home cozy averages just shy of $8,000, but the drilling required to install it can be upwards of $30,000.

Resources

Because of the amount and depth of drilling involved, geothermal heat pumps are not typically a do-it-yourself project. To find a reliable contractor, check the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association‘s directory of accredited installers to find one in your area.

Micro hydro electricity

This one only works if you live near moving water, but it can be very effective. Installation requires running a pipe from a high area where water is flowing to a lower piece of ground. Energy is produced as water moves downhill and turns a turbine at the end of the pipe.

Some micro hydro systems have been capable of producing ten or even 100 times more power than wind or solar. Unlike wind and solar, it can run non-stop and overnight, so long as the water continues to flow. An inverter and batteries can be connected to store extra energy if needed.

As with wind, the turbine requires maintenance and has the potential to break. Also, the size and pressure of the stream affects its energy production, so a very small stream might not be enough to power an entire house. Small streams also carry the risk of drying up in summer or freezing in cold weather.

Resources

You’ll probably need a contractor to install a micro hydro system. Many cities and states require anyone installing alternative energy sources to be a licensed electrician, especially if it connects to the grid. Although there isn’t a national licensing organization for micro hydro installers in the U.S., a local search should or call to your utility company should point you in the right direction.

Or, if you know what you’re doing and are as handy and patient as this guy, you can build your own micro hydro system.

Kössler, a joint venture between Siemens and Voith, makes several turbines designed for small power stations.

Energy Systems & Design also produces micro hydro equipment that can be used for a single home.

Fuel cells

Fuel cells use fuel and an oxidizing agent, typically hydrogen and oxygen, to produce heat and electricity. Inside the cell, he hydrogen’s ions and electrons are separated. An electrolyte substance inside the cell lets ions pass through but blocks electrons, which travel through a wire instead, in the form of electricity. The remaining ions turn into water or carbon dioxide when they meet with oxygen.

Resources

Bloom Energy‘s relatively new Bloom Box, which we reported on earlier this year, might be one of the most talked about home fuel cell solutions, though with its current price tag of $700,000-$800,000, it’s not exactly cheap.

Acumentrics manufactures fuel cells primarily for military use, but can also supply you with one for your home.

Most fuel cell companies don’t sell directly to the public, so you’ll have to search for an installer. FuelCellToday‘s directory can help you find one in your area.

The Department of Energy is working on developing best practices for safe hydrogen handling.

Biomass

Biomass for the home usually comes in the form of a stove used either for general home heating, or to heat water. Stoves are usually fueled by plants, including crops, trees, wood waste or grass. Biomass stoves do pollute the air, but many still consider them green because they contribute less pollution with fewer harmful chemicals than fossil fuels.

Resources

Those looking to buy a biofuel stove might try Bixby‘s MaxFire, which can be fueled with dry-shelled corn or wood pellets.

Bixby claims the stove can reduce heating costs by up to 50% and keep a typical home warm for about $1.50 per day. The stove ignites immediately with the push of a button and has eight heat level settings. When fuel is burned, the stove automatically pushes ash into a drawer that can be emptied without too much of a mess.

None of these solutions provide a fail-safe way to meet all your energy needs, but with blackouts from overburdened grids and severe weather conditions, neither do utility companies. It can be argued that some of these solutions are not entirely green, but even if they can’t completely alleviate the need for fossil fuels, they can help reduce the amount we need.

Most states offer incentives for alternative energy investments, and the Department of Energy suggests additional ways to lower usage and costs and lists products that are currently eligible for federal tax credits.

Despite state incentives, installing alternative energy is still an expensive proposition for most, but it can pay off in the long run.

Photo credit: Flickr by Lodian

It is estimated that the amount of heat within 30,000 feet below the earth’s surface holds potentially 50,000 times more energy than all global oil and natural gas resources combined. According to the Geothermal Energy Association, up to 6,400 megawatts of new capacity could be created from the geothermal projects under development in the U.S. But getting to that energy is proving to be a challenge.

Geothermal energy comes in a variety of forms, from residential fixtures to power a single home, to commercial plants that can power a city. Energy is usually harnessed from hot underground water or steam that naturally rises to the surface. Power plants drill holes into the rock to gain more direct access and use the hot water and steam to drive electric generators. After its use, the water can be pumped back underground to heat up anew. Power plants use different energy harnessing designs based on the type and temperature of the geothermal resource available.

Geothermal deals are heating up as it begins to prove itself as a viable energy source. For instance, Ormat Technologies recently bought Constellation Energy’s 50% share of the Mammoth Geothermal Plant in California for $72.5 million. The deal gives Ormat three power plants capable of generating 29 megawatts of power and rights to more than 10,000 acres of undeveloped federal lands.

Ormat’s home state of Nevada is a geothermal powerhouse. According to the Geothermal Energy Association, the state produces more geothermal energy than all but eight nations. Its geothermal capacity jumped from 200 to 400 megawatts during the last five years, and as many as 3,000 more megawatts are expected to be generated from developing projects. A typical coal-fired power plant can generate about 500 megawatts, though some are much larger. Nuclear power plants typically range from a 500 to 2000 megawatt capacity.

Unlike wind and solar, whose energy outputs fluctuate based on weather conditions, geothermal provides consistent base load electricity, which is the minimum amount a power utility’s customers need. It is also considered clean because it produces no greenhouse gas pollution, and renewable because the water can be reused. Last year, Obama gave $350 million in Recovery Act funding for geothermal projects.

Most geothermal plants have been located near the edges of tectonic plates, where there is a lot of geothermal activity, but companies like AltaRock Energy, which has received funding from Google, among others, are developing ways to generate steam in other geographic areas. The technology, known as Enhanced Geothermal Systems, drills into hot rocks miles below the surface and pumps cold water down to them to generate steam. The technology has been in development for a while, though there have been concerns that EGS might trigger seismic activity that could lead to earthquakes.

It’s been a very rocky road, to say the least. Last year, AltaRock abandoned its trials near a plant called The Geysers in northern California when instabilities in the rock caused the borehole to collapse. The company moved its tests to Oregon where it is working on a three-year EGS demo near Newberry National Volcanic National Monument. AltaRock’s competitor, Ram Power Corporation, purchased The Geysers in June. If the AltaRock’s Oregon demo is successful, a power generator will be placed next to the wells to test how much energy can be harnessed from them.

Photo credit: Flickr/Johann kr.

The project is in part inspired by the way plants produce energy, and will use artificial photosynthesis to turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into clean fuel. Researchers will be charged with finding ways to use technologies like light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers and separation membranes to transform sunlight into fuel, and the DOE aims to quickly turn the research into a viable product in the form of fuel that can go directly into cars without any additional processing.

Artificial photosynthesis is not a new technology, and researchers at MIT and the University of Rochester have been seeking solutions for some time. The DOE hopes the Hub will spark collaborations to make more progress in the field.

The Hub will have two locations: One on Caltech’s campus in Pasadena and one at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley. Several other California universities will participate as well, including UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Funding will be provided over five years, with $22 million awarded this year and up to $25 million per year thereafter.

Photo via Flickr by Jennifer Boyer

The Alta Wind Energy Center currently hosts 150 megawatt GE turbines and is expected to become the largest wind energy farm in the country with a capacity of 3,000 megawatts when completed. Terra-Gen has agreements with Southern California Edison to feed the energy into its grid.

The wind farm’s financing is the largest of any wind energy project in North America and comes primarily from Citibank, which committed to buy the projects when they start operating commercially. Terra-Gen will lease the projects from Citibank and continue to operate the farm.

The completed wind energy farm will raise California’s wind capacity 25%, supplying renewable energy to about 200,000 homes. Vestas will deliver its turbines beginning in October, and the first project phase is expected to go online in January of 2011.

Is there a green movement in China? Maybe there ought to be, considering the numbers that have just come out. China is now the planet’s number one consumer of energy, overtaking the U.S. in the process. But at the same time, the U.S. has improved its energy efficient more so than China, meaning that the U.S. can get the same amount of work done while consuming less, say, coal or oil.

The actual numbers are pretty impressive, particularly when you consider that a mere 10 years ago China was quite a bit behind the U.S.

China consumed some 2,252 millions tons of the oil equivalent of sources such as coal, nuclear power, natural gas, and hydropower. The U.S. consumed 4 percent less. These are numbers from last year, by the way.

But that’s where energy efficiency comes into play. Since the year 2000, the U.S. has increased its energy efficiency by about 2.5 percent annually. China? 1.8 percent. So not a huge difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Does this really mean anything to you? Eh, maybe. Certainly it’ll have implications for the world at large though. Now that China is the biggest consumer of energy, it alone is in the position to tell energy providers, “Look, we’re willing to pay X for Y units of energy.” If China’s X is bigger than the U.S.’s X, then we may be looking at a situation where energy prices will go up simply because “someone else” is willing to pay more.

Which could mean that all the factories that produce all the lovely electronic gizmos we talk about day in, day out, could see their costs of doing business go up. And who would make up the difference? Yes, you!

Then again, it could have the very opposite effect, and end up lowering prices.

Or, better yet, the Sun could explode, making all of this moot. Hard to run a factory without the Sun churning away out there.

A solar-powered airplane, named the Solar Impulse, means to prove, once and for all, that harnessing the energy of the Sun is a good and practical idea. I mean, why would we try to capture some of the energy put out by a completely free nuclear reactor hanging in the sky? The plane took off from Switzerland a little bit ago, and will try to fly for 24 hours without stopping. Here’s hoping it’s a great success.

Should the flight prove successful it sure as heck will make the practice of drilling into the surface of the planet looking for a finite, and expensive to extract, power source seem awfully silly. “Hey, guys. You see that up there? It’s the Sun. It provides the energy that every single form of life on this planet needs to flourish. Why don’t we, I don’t know, try using some of that to power some of our odds and ends?”

But back to the airplane. Its maiden flight (voyage?) was back in April. This time the goal is to see if its solar cells (there’s 12,000 such cells) can power it for a single, nonstop 24-hour flight. It will fly at an altitude of 27,900 feet.

Being 2010 and all, you can follow the flight on Twitter, or, more interestingly, view a live video stream.

Exits for the quarter totaled more than $8 billion globally, with $6 billion in cleantech M&A and $2.3 billion in cleantech IPOs. Tesla‘s $202 million IPO has been in the spotlight recently, but globally, the cleantech IPO market is concentrated in China, which grabbed $1.7 billion, 75 percent of the $2.3 billion raised worldwide in the past three months, and 12 of the 19 IPOs, though not all of those are venture backed. The biggest IPO of the quarter was China’s Origin Water on the Shenzen Stock Exchange, which raised $330 million. As a point of comparison, in the U.S. alone, IPOs across all sectors totaled $900 million in the second quarter.

On the M&A front, there were 160 cleantech deals worldwide, including Switzerland’s ABB buying utility enterprise software maker Ventyx for more than $1 billion, and chip company Maxim buying smart-meter chip maker Teridian Semiconductor for $315 million.

In terms of venture funding, the most active cleantech investors in the quarter were Carbon Trust Investment Partners (6 deals), Kleiner Perkins (4 deals), Angeleno Group (3 deals), Draper Fisher Jurvetson (3 deals), and Khosla Ventures (3 deals). Mega-deals of $100 million or more are on the rise, with four such deals in the quarter, including $175 million for Solyndra, $165 million for Landis+Gyr, $115 million for BrightSource Energy, and $129.4 million for Amonix.

The industry sectors drawing the most dollars were solar, biofuels, and smart grid. Solar is one of the industry’s brightest shining stars, grabbing $811 million to mark its third highest quarter in history.

Investment in biofuels was also strong, soaring to $302 million since the the first quarter.

Spurred by the recession, investors are spending money on companies that can save money. Energy efficiency boasted 31 rounds of funding, trumping solar’s 26 and biofuels’ 13 deals.

Smart grid investments in particular experienced their highest quarter ever.

In Partovi, OPOWER is getting an experienced advisor who will help build the company in its plans to grow from 95 to 150 employees total in the coming year. Partovi co-founded online music service iLike with his brother Ali, which they sold to MySpace, before leaving in April. Previously, Partovi founded Tellme Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft for a reported $800 million. Partovi also worked on IE5.

OPOWER provides utility companies with a way to engage customers with easy-to-understand home energy reports designed to inspire them to reduce consumption. OPOWER uses behavioral economics to provide each customer with a personalized analysis of their usage, taking into account their circumstances and lifestyle.

“Instead of saying ‘you used this many kilowatts’, we say ‘you use 5% less or 20% more than your neighbors,’” says Senior Director of Marketing and Strategy Ogi Kavazovic.

The company has signed on 35 utility companies in 15 states across the country, including seven of the 10 biggest players. Yates says that by the end of this year, OPOWER will be saving more energy than the entire U.S. solar power industry is producing. The company is targeting north of $30 million in annual recurring revenue.