Tag Archives: electricity

Get Off of My Cloud – Online Storage is Not as Environmentally Sustainable as I Thought

This post was previously published on ACOEL.org.

I read an article last week in Fortune magazine (free registration required) about the large amount of energy actually consumed by cloud storage and thought that must only apply if you are actively uploading, changing, or downloading documents and pictures.  But I was wrong.  With a little digging, I was able to determine that all of those family photos and videos of your cats (not to mention huge folders of environmental analyses) automatically uploaded to iCloud,… More

SMART Moves to a New Forum: Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities to Consider a SMART Tariff

Stakeholders have been following the development of “SMART” as a successor to the SREC program in Massachusetts for more than a year.  (See our previous posts on the development process herehere, and here.)  As it stands, SMART reflects a determined effort by the Department of Energy Resources (“DOER”) to craft a program that balances multiple interests and sets a sustainable path for solar development in Massachusetts. … More

House Energy & Climate Bill: The Renewable Electricity Standard

Congress moved one step closer to adopting a federal renewable electricity standard ("RES") with the narrow passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act by the House.  Twenty-nine states already have adopted some form of renewable energy portfolio standard, but a federal RES is widely thought to be important for creating a national renewable energy and energy efficiency market.  The House RES establishes a national compliance obligation overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) under which large retail electricity suppliers (“Suppliers”) are required to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.… More