The Atmospheric Vortex Engine, a generator that seeks to generate power through harnessing tornadoes, could produce as much energy as a coal-fired plant, according to the technology's developer, NBC News reports.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a request for any competitive interest for a proposed 127-square-mile offshore wind project of the coast of New York. If no companies express interest, the New York Power Authority will be eligible for a lease, Bloomberg reports.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., criticized the renewed wind energy tax credit, saying the policy could face scrutiny from his committee in the new Congress, The Hill reports.
Analysts and industry leaders say the extension of a wind energy tax credit could help boost the industry that was expected to decline by 59 percent this year. The credit now covers wind farms that start construction in 2013, Bloomberg reports.
The American Wind Energy Association said the one-year extension of the wind energy tax credit passed by Congress will save 37,000 jobs and drive industry growth, Bloomberg reports.
House lawmakers late Tuesday approved the Senate-passed bill to stop the so-called fiscal cliff and to extend renewable energy tax breaks, clearing it for President Barack Obama's signature.
The House passed the bill on a 257-167 vote. A total of 85 Republicans joined 172 Democrats to send the bill to the White House.
In all the New Year's Day wrangling over the final fiscal cliff legislation, there were two clear winners beyond middle-class taxpayers -- the wind and biofuels lobbies.
But the work to keep their tax credits is just beginning. Passage of the bill late Tuesday only re-set the clock for another year, one in which every special interest tax break will face possible elimination in a push to cut federal red ink.
Wind power installations have outpaced new natural gas plants in total capacity this year, as developers try to qualify for the expiring wind energy Production Tax Credit, Bloomberg reports.
The United Kingdom's Green Investment Bank granted a $365 million loan to the Walney offshore wind facility, the largest such facility in the world, Bloomberg reports.
A Chamber of Commerce study reported more than 100 new EPA rules have been forced by "sue and settle" tactics from environmental groups, The Hill reports.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Charlotte-area residents that a crack at a reactor at Duke Energy's Shearon Harris Plant did not pose a threat to safety, WSOC-TV reports.
An international group of solar trade groups issued a statement calling on the European Union and the U.S. to avoid a trade war over solar panels with China, The Washington Post reports.
The European Union has sent information requests to several commodity-trading firms as part of its investigation into potential energy-price manipulation, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser said a European Union investigation into possible price fixing has not found anything that could damage the company, The Wall Street Journal reports.
ExxonMobil Corp. said it would refocus its research on algae-derived biofuels after it invested $100 million over the last four years with few solid results, Bloomberg reports.
The U.S. Geological Survey said water levels in aquifers declined from 2000 to 2008 at a rate nearly three times greater than any point in the last century, Reuters reports.
