Missouri

On Friday, the United States Department of Agriculture rolled out two new funding programs which it hopes will both increase the production of advanced biofuels and also promote the use of renewable energy to create the biofuel.

As part of the RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which manages the Superfund reclamation initiative, and the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, are considering using brownfields and closed landfills to develop renewable energy projects.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has released its fifth annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, which ranks all 50 U.S. states for their various energy-efficiency programs and policies.

The U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, has awarded $156 million in funding for cutting-edge energy technology projects running the gamut from innovative plant-based fuels to conversion devices aimed at transferring utility-scale solar energy directly to the grid at much higher voltages than is currently possible.

Students from Virginia Tech University  are the overall winners of the 2011 EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge. Sponsored by General Motors and the U.S Department of Energy, students from North America competed in E

Texas retains its huge lead as the largest generator of electricity in the U.S., including the largest total amount of renewable energy generation and the largest year-over-year additions of renewable energy, according to EnergyBoom’s analysis of the latest U.S. Energy Information Agency data for January and February 2011 released May 13. Renewable energy in this data is defined as wind, solar, wood-derived fuels and biomass, and geothermal.

Although the Obama Administration and many environmental organizations are diametrically opposed on the potential of “clean coal” and carbon capture and storage (CCS), venture capitalists are funding companies with a range of CCS technologies. 

Here are four venture-funded companies at the leading edge of “clean coal”: Calera Corporation, Novomer Inc., Akermin, Inc., and GreatPoint Energy.

In an effort to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) will soon be adding all-electric, class six trucks to its delivery fleet.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) generated much excitement in the media this week with its plan to build a smart grid undersea power transmission line along the U.S. Atlantic coast over the next decade.

A partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S.