Renewable energy: a new technology? Take a look at what's new.(Energy online: management information systems)

For readers who have spent a few decades in the energy business it is exciting to see the renewed national interest in the topic. Energy and energy policy were major issues during the recent presidential election, and there are countless indicators that our industry is benefiting from a surge of new interest.

Renewable energy sources have been a focus of much of this new interest as a recent business article reminded me. Though my company has implemented biomass technology for heating and geothermal heat pumps for heating and cooling, I had not examined solar technologies in a while.

The fanciful picture of solar film being unspooled onto a roof from a truck first appeared with the article "Seven New Technologies That Could Change Everything" (Business 2.0 September 2004) really got my attention. Business 2.0 focuses on business and information technology (IT) and does not usually provide energy information, so its look at renewable energy, especially …