R. Dixon Thayer, who has run a variety of companies, will take over for Frank Greco as CEO of Southwest Windpower. The tranisition occurs Dec. 8.

Southwest is one of the leaders in the small, but maybe finally growing, market for small wind turbines. Southwest specializes in turbines that can generate approximately one to three kilowatts, but are small enough to put on residences or small industrial buildings. The company claims that the turbines can provide 40 percent to 90 percent of a home's power, depending on electricity use, the number of turbines, and the quality of the prevailing winds (see Small Wind Spreading Its Wings).

General Electric joined a group of investors and put...

A-Power Wind Generation Systems and the U.S. Renewable Energy Group have said that they will build a wind turbine factory in the U.S. that will produce 1,100 megawatts worth of wind turbines a year and employ approximately 1,000 American workers.

One-thousand jobs is great, but the real interesting part is who the companies are. China's A-Power and U.S. Renewable are part of a joint venture that wants to build a 600-megawatt wind farm in Texas that is something of a Chinese creation. Shenyang Power Group, the U.S. Renewable Energy Group and Cielo Wind Power. Shenyang will own 49 percent of the project. It will employ turbines from A-Power Generation. Jinxiang Lu is CEO of both SPG and...

The U.K. today approved 10 sites for the possible construction of nuclear plants that could be deployed before the end of 2025, according to Power Engineering among others. The country also outllined an improved strategy for deployment. Nothing is set in stone and the approval does not take into account environmental factors, etc. It is just a starting poing.

Like the U.S., the U.K. gets around 20 percent of its electric power from nuclear but hasn't constructed new nuclear plants in ages. Instead, much of the activity in recent years has focused on wind and biomass.

It will be interesting to see how the Scotland reacts. Earlier this year, the government, which will likely seek a vote...

A consortium of Chinese and U.S. companies want to build a 600-megawatt wind farm in Texas that they say will create jobs in the U.S.

Well, some.

The project, which will cost an estimated $1.5 billion, will create 2,800 jobs, backers told the Wall Street Journal. Fifteen percent – or around 240 – will be in the U.S. The rest will be in China. The wind farm is being developed by a joint venture formed by Shenyang Power Group, the U.S. Renewable Energy Group and Cielo Wind Power. Shenyang will own 49 percent of the project. It will employ turbines from A-Power Generation. Jinxiang Lu is CEO of both SPG and A-Power. Commercial banks in China will provide financing.

The backers will also...

Pelamis Wave Power looks like it is taking in a bit of water.

Phil Metcalf has resigned as the CEO of the company by mutual agreement, according to Max Carcas, the business development director. Carcas, however, denied rumors that the company has or is contemplating layoffs. Pelamis has about 70 employees.

Right now, the company is concentrating on getting its next-generation device out the door and into the waters off of Scotland's Orkney Islands. The 170-meter long devices headed for the European Marine Energy Centre will be owned and tested by E.on. Carcas also reported that EDF and some Portuguese industrialists are interested in reviving a wave power experiment that was kicked...

The $787 Billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will pump millions into startups and established companies toiling in alternative energy and efficiency. And while most recipients are from the U.S. a significant portion will go to joint ventures partly owned or controlled by foreign corporations or to U.S. subsidiaries.

First, let me explain: I am not jingoistic. I have never owned an American car and there's a good chance I never will. All of my grandparents came from overseas. I've been told that "my kind" are taking away jobs from decent Americans by drunken, unemployed morons, and would actually favor legislation that would revoke citizenship of anyone that – after their...

The scramble for patents in green technology continues to grow and, again, fuel cells are proving to be quite popular.

Law360 took a look at a survey from Albany's Heslin Rothenberg that found that 274 patents were granted in the U.S. in the second quarter, up from 261 in the same period in 2008. 928 clean energy patents were issued in the U.S. in 2008 and a larger number are expected this year. 156 of the patents were for fuel cells in the second quarter of 2009 and 43 related to wind. Only 36 related to solar.

Last year, officials from the European Patent Office released the results of their own survey. Fuel cells accounted for 50 percent of the applications from 1998 to 2007. Wind...