Obama's Homestar Plan Would Pay for Home Energy Efficiency Retrofits

SAVANNAH, Georgia, March 3, 2010 (ENS) - President Barack Obama has outlined the details of a new "Homestar" program that would help create jobs by encouraging American families to invest in energy saving home improvements. The President spoke of the new program Tuesday while touring a training facility at Savannah Technical College.

The Obama administration expects the Homestar program to create tens of thousands of jobs while saving the equivalent of the entire output of three coal-fired power plants each year.

California Limits SF6, World's Most Potent Greenhouse Gas

SACRAMENTO, California, March 2, 2010 (ENS) - The California Air Resources Board has adopted a measure developed with representatives of the electrical utilities that will limit and monitor the emissions of the greenhouse gas sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, from high-voltage electrical applications.

Bloom Energy to Unveil "World-Changing" Energy Device

Bloom Energy will unveil the Bloom Box, a fuel cell that allows consumers to generate their own electricity with double the efficiency and less than half the emissions of commercial power plants.

After over a decade of secretive development, Bloom Energy revealed their fuel cell design that they believe could transform the electricity industry forever. Their fuel cell, which generates electricity by combining natural gas and oxygen without combustion, is small and scalable, enabling consumers to generate electricity in their own back yard. A fuel cell large enough to power an American home is small enough to be held in your hand.

Industries Sue California's New Low-Carbon Fuel Regulations

Industry groups filed lawsuits against the state of California due to the newly adopted low-carbon fuel standard, which they claim is protectionism in disguise.

Industry groups are suing California's recently adopted low-carbon fuel regulation on the basis that it discriminates against fuels not produced inside California's state limits. The first-of-its-kind law requires petroleum producers to reduce their carbon footprint by 10%, including extraction, production, and transportation of the fuel. Oil and natural gas groups say that the bill has two true purposes. The first of which is to penalize fuel companies for refining out of state, away from the additional costs associated with California's energy and corporate excise tax.