New Solar Modules Blossomed Despite a Tough Year for the Industry

From the NY Times Green Blog we have a bit of good news. Despite all of the doom of gloom that some would have you believe, the solar industry doubled its solar capacity from 887 to 1855 megawatts of sweet clean and free solar energy. I think the solar industry shows a surprising resilience and will continue to in the future. And the steep plummet in solar PV prices is beginning to raise the eyebrows of the most cost conscious among us. So, congratulations to all of the solar installers across the United States for your hard work doubling our solar capacity. The planet thanks you.

Six Surprising Sustainability Facts

This article in Environmental Leader is so beautiful in its simplicity. The six sustainable facts the author mentions could be the basis for sound policy decisions and even sound business decisions. Some of the questions posed in the article are profound, for me at least:

• Why has fuel efficiency gone backwards since Henry Ford released a 25 mpg Model-T?
• Why does our government subsidize the most profitable industry in the world?
• Since reducing carbon is profitable why don't businesses fund more carbon reduction efforts?
• Why don't office buildings turn off all desktop computers at night?

I know it's possible for us to both reduce our carbon footprint and to enhance investment in renewable energy technologies even though sometimes on the surface it seems as though these challenges are insurmountable. By digging a little deeper using business sustainability tools we can find social, environmental, and economic profit in a low carbon world.