"The Environment & Intellectual Property:" Financial Times Publishes Special Report Explaining the Linkages

As reported by the Financial Times, "Green technologies are often heavily dependent on intellectual property." As a result, those interested in green technologies are well advised to me familiar with the trends involving intellectual property.

An FT special report "The Environment & Intellectual Property" was published June 4, 2010. Among the key stories:

• "Protecting ideas is crucial for eco-technology to succeed"
• "Green issues are still a concern for food buyers"
• "Moral good, financial gain"

Everyone interested in resources issues -- be they green energy, mining, or oil and gas -- should be reading the Financial Times on a daily basis. There is simply no better global coverage to be found anywhere of these issues.

American Utilities' Green Power Sales Surge in 2008

Green power sales by American utilities continued to surge in 2008 despite the economic travails in other sectors of the economy.

Last year, the sale of green power increased by 20% over 2007, according to a new report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).  Most of the green energy produced in the U.S. comes from wind power.  

Ranked by sales of renewable energy, the top utilities are:

• Austin Energy: 82.6 megawatts
• Portland General Electric: 77.9 megawatts
• PacifiCorp: 56.3 megawatts
• Xcel Energy: 41.3 megawatts
• Sacramento Municipal Utility District: 37.1 megawatts

Ranked by green power sales as a percentage of total retail electricity sales:

• Edmond Electric: 6.4% of load
• Austin Electric: 6.0%
• River Falls Municipal Utilities: 5.8%
• City of Palo Alto Utilities: 5.7%
• Portland General Electric: 3.9%