renewable energy
Five Reasons to Support the Consumer Renewable Credit
In his recent address to the U.S. House and Subcommittee on Energy and Power, Xcel Energy Inc. Chair...
Xcel Energy on Track to Surpass CO2 Reduction Goal by 2020
Xcel Energy today announced a 16 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, or 14 million tons, ...
Rethinking Renewables | A Little Goes a Long Way
When it comes to the environment, I wouldn’t classify myself as an extremist. But I like to do my pa...
Fowke Addresses House Energy and Power Subcommittee
On Tuesday, March 5, 2013, Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO of Xcel Energy, addressed the U.S....
Solar Flare
Just a few short years ago, if you mentioned “rare earth metals,” most folks would assume you were t...
Community Solar | Get Renewable Energy without the Panels
How would you support the growth of renewable energy on a community level? Many environmental scienc...
A Broken Record
Xcel Energy reaches 57 percent wind capacity for new world record One early morning this past April,...
The Value of a Diverse (Energy) Portfolio
Talk to any financial advisor, and they’ll tell you diversity within your portfolio is import...
A Most Excellent Solar Adventure
Photo courtesy of PlanetSolar.org. It’s been an incredible ride, but today will be the culmination o...
Debunking Energy Myths
Dear Mythbuster Woman – I’ve heard that CFLs are harmful to the environment because they conta...
Could It Be I'm Green?
I have a confession to make. Even though I live in a part of Denver particularly proud of its green ...
Partnering to Make Improvements
Integrating wind into any system is inherently difficult. Due to the wind’s erratic behavior, one of...
If These Walls Could Generate Power
The ever-changing solar market continues to move ahead with enormous strides. While such innovations...
A New Play on Solar
The launch of new “plug-n-play” solar panels has generated buzz in recent weeks. The manufacturer, C...
A New Twist on Power Walking
The average human takes 3,000-5,000 steps a day. Seems like a lot, but most health experts would tel...
Going Green by Partnering with Purple Pros
We can’t do it alone. And we don’t really want to. We partner with the pros all of the time. We ask ...
The Solar Decathlon
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon began last week with an impressive display of energy...
Making the Most of Wind Testing
When I meet people and tell them what I do at Xcel Energy (environmental communications manager), th...
Harvesting the Wind
My husband, a proud Colorado native, has shared with me that one day he will pack his bags, grab his...
It’s Like Putting Sunshine in a Battery
I am not going to lie — when I first heard about solar battery storage, I was not overly excit...
Energy Efficiency vs. Renewables: Do We Need to Choose Just One?
What came first – the chicken or the egg? It’s an age-old quandary that has no right or wrong answer...
Sometimes it Takes a Community to Harness the Sun's Power
The house in which I grew up sat on a narrow plot of land – only 15 feet separated us from the...
On a Roll: Wind Energy
Whenever I’m at a party and someone hears that I work at a utility they usually begin grilling me on...
Let’s Play (Greener) Ball!
The dirt is raked. The grass is mowed. The lines are chalked. And the high-efficiency field lights a...
How to Generate Electricity in Your Spin Class
What if we, as individuals, could contribute to renewable energy simply by working out? Imagine hitt...
It’s the Prius of Power Plants
Don’t you hate it when your power goes out? Truth be told, we hate it too. It makes customers unhapp...
Sustainably: Keeping the Naked Mole Rats Warm
Talk about creative accounting for a good cause. The Pueblo (Colorado) Zoo leveraged grants f...
Growing Fuel: Biomass Plantations
Biomass generation plants primarily burn waste wood, but as their role in clean energy is expanding,...
Wind Energy Creating New Jobs
How great is it when one good thing creates a bunch of other good things? According to national aver...
Sun to Battery: Real-Life Testing of Solar Storage
[Note: As an ongoing feature, we take a look at cutting-edge clean energy technologies and highligh...
Hit the Glass, Jack
For many, the winter of 2010-11 has been brutal. From coast to coast, we’ve seen massive snow storms...
Is “Low Exergy” the New Recycling?
I’m embarrassed to admit this. In the early ‘70s when we took road trips in the family station wagon...
Sustainable Corndogs, and the Continued Growth of the Green Segment
The recent Greenbuild 2010 Expo, held in Chicago this past November 17-19, provided unique insight i...
A Glimpse into our Energy Future: Brought to You by Some Unlikely Allies
I still remember how surprised I was the first time I heard Bing Crosby and David Bowie’s duet/mash-...
It Takes the Right Stuff to Keep Wind Turbines Spinning
According to the American Wind Energy Association, 40 percent of new generation capacity added to th...
The Sun (Also) Rises on SolarTAC
The last time I visited the Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC), I was huddled under a t...
Wind to Battery: Storing Wind Energy for Times When the Wind Isn’t Blowing
[Note: As an ongoing feature, we’ll take a look at cutting-edge clean energy technologies and highl...