U.S. Residential Solar Just Beat Commercial Installations For The First Time

The first quarter of 2014 was another big one for the U.S. solar industry, with 74 percent of all new electricity generation across the country coming from solar power. The 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) installed last quarter bring the total in the U.S. up to 14.8 gigawatts of installed capacity — enough to power three million homes, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Read more

Food, energy, finance: A solutions movement takes root in northern California

Petaluma, Calif.—There’s a new currency here called Bay Bucks that’s helping businesses trade in services and get off the dollar. There’s a new agriculture-tech startup called CropMobster helping redistribute excess produce and cut down on food waste. And a new electricity provider, Sonoma Clean Power, just flipped on the switch May 1 to supply tens of thousands of Sonoma County residents and businesses with renewable energy. Call it the ... Read more

The Paper Chase

The recent speculative euphoria on Bitcoin has been accompanied by a wave of media reports on cryptocurrency, most of which seem to assume that the existence of non-government-issued currency is unprecedented. In one sense, they are correct and Bitcoin certainly is something new: Of all the alternative and local currencies that have circulated in the U.S. and beyond, none of them have ever connected so many geographically distant individuals ... Read more