A couple from the United States has set a world record for fuel efficiency. John and Helen Taylor crossed 48 states using an average of 64.42 miles per gallon. Over 23 days, they filled up a 12.6 gallon tank only 12 times, with Shell’s nitrogen enriched gasoline. The Taylors said that smarter driving helped them […]

US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has said that America wants to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world when it comes to sustainability. He was speaking as he unveiled President Barack Obama’s $29.5bn (£18.2bn) energy budget. Mr Chu said: “The United States faces a choice today: will we lead in innovation and […]

BP today announced that it plans to resume the payment of quarterly dividends, which were suspended last June following Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The news comes as the oil major also reported a loss of £3.1bn, the first time it has suffered an annual loss since 1992. The bulk of the loss can be […]

Ikea has stopped selling lighting supplies equipped with incandescent light bulbs in the US. The move comes ahead of a 2012 deadline set by the government to comply with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Ikea is the first major retailer in the US to phase out the bulbs, which it started this […]

The US government has approved a $1.3bn (£838m) loan to what will become the world’s largest wind farm. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that a partial loan guarantee has been finalised to finance the Caithness Shepherds Flat project, an 845-megawatt facility in eastern Oregon. “Renewable energy investments like these are creating jobs while helping […]

The US Department of Energy has set up an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee. Members of the ERAC will report directly to the Secretary of Energy Steven Chu with advice on the portfolio of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy . The 19 members selected have experience in a variety of […]

Solar panels are to be fitted to the roof of the White House 25 years after they were taken off on the orders of Ronald Reagan. The Obama administration said this week that a mix of solar thermal and photovoltaic panels will be fitted next spring to generate hot water and renewable electricity. Solar panels […]

After years of controversy, the US has approved its first offshore windfarm, which will be built off off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The $1bn, 130-turbine farm will lie in Nantucket Sound and cover 24 square miles, roughly the size of Manhattan. The tip of the highest blade of each turbine would reach 440 feet above sea […]