Energy Technology

Fracking moratorium in Boulder County extended to June, residents placated -- for now

With the public speaking out overwhelmingly against hydraulic fracturing in Boulder County, the board of commissioners voted unanimously to temporarily extend the existing moratorium on processing drill permits until June 10, 2013. And while the decision didn't please everyone, many saw it as a step ... More >>

Fracking opponents' horror stories exaggerated, says FrackNation director in town tonight

The hydraulic fracturing process involves pumping chemicals into the ground to free oil and gas reserves trapped in tight shale formations. The debate over fracking's environmental risks isn't all that different; it's become a battle to squeeze a few facts out of stubbornly entrenched forces, amid a ... More >>

The conversion story in Promised Land is sometimes a hard sell

Fracking the North Fork: Protests pour in over BLM lease plan

When Colorado native son Ken Salazar became Barack Obama's Secretary of the Interior four years ago, it was widely expected that he would steer a more "balanced" course through the energy wars across the West, pulling back on the drill-baby-drill mantra of the Bush years. It hasn't worked out that w ... More >>

Abound Solar: Ex-NREL exec defends bankrupt firm, government investments in renewables

In March, when news broke about layoffs at Abound Solar, a Colorado business with government support, the chief financial officer told us he was aware his company could be used as a political football in the presidential race. In June, Abound went bankrupt and has recently been the source of more ne ... More >>

Controversy over fracking continues despite industry's best efforts to bury it

What has the National Renewable Energy Lab done for the public good?

See also: Top fifteen inventions and innovations of the National Renewable Energy Lab

Photos: Top fifteen inventions and innovations of the National Renewable Energy Lab

In this week's feature, "Sun Burn," we go inside the National Renewable Energy Lab -- the federal facility in Golden that has for 35 years been dedicated to innovations in energy efficiency. In print, we take an in-depth look at NREL's important role in solar energy and other industries over the pas ... More >>

Fracking-regulations battle on federal lands heats up

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is on record as saying that hydraulic fracturing methods to extract oil and gas "can be done safely," but he's not overly impressed with varying state rules overseeing the drilling process. He's been pushing in recent months for his department to tighten its req ... More >>

Fracking: Website tries to show oil and drilling are great for Colorado

Oil and drilling do wonderful things for Colorado, and government better stay out of the industry's way. This seems to be an underlying message behind a new web portal launched this week by the Western Energy Alliance, a Colorado-based group that represents hundreds of oil and gas companies in th ... More >>

Fracking: Aurora votes to "lease" water to Anadarko Petroleum

Gaylord Entertainment dumped its plans for a giant hotel/convention center/resort in Aurora, and GE has postponed its big new plant in Aurora -- if not ditched it entirely. But at least Aurora had control over one business deal: It had no problem selling its water to an oil and gas company.

Abound Solar bankruptcy: Does it raise concerns about Colorado's energy industry?

News broke yesterday that Abound Solar, a Colorado-based solar panel maker that has struggled for months -- notably with a major round of layoffs in February -- has officially filed for bankruptcy.

National Renewable Energy Lab is building homes of the future that are smarter than you

In the future, your home and its appliances might talk to you, make decisions for you, and, if the National Renewable Energy Lab is successful, help you save money. And, you know, make Planet Earth a greener place. Get more details and see photos of our domestic future below.

Photos: Diana DeGette's clean-energy tour to Coolerado, RavenBrick

Tucked inside a small room in an industrial building just south of I-70 and west of Holly Street, three leaders from a clean tech company called Coolerado explained to Congresswoman Diana DeGette how they are turning the traditional air conditioning process upside down.

Smart meters can be stupid: Share your story and win $50

The 500-space, three-month parking pilot project that's installed sensors under many of the meters downtown may enable Denver to teach its Smart meters new tricks -- including zeroing out any time left on a meter when a car pulls out. But those sensors weren't smart enough to fix two dumb situations ... More >>

Smart meters in downtown Denver could outwit scofflaws in pilot project

Like colorful spring flowers, red-bagged meters are popping up all over downtown. They're part of a pilot program testing just how smart Denver's Smart meters really are. Are they smart enough to know when you attempt to plug a meter? Are they smart enough to rat you out?

Fracking the North Fork Valley: Opponents exult as BLM defers drilling

Yesterday the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced that it would remove 22 proposed oil and gas parcels in the scenic North Fork Valley from a summer lease sale, opting instead to "conduct additional analysis...based on public input." And the public that's been deluging the BLM with input -- obj ... More >>

Cory Gardner talks energy prices, takes lobbyist cash

This past Saturday, Colorado Representative Cory Gardner, a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, was tapped to offer the Weekly Republican Address on skyrocketing energy costs. But at the same time, a CBS report showed that he's been expending lots of gas on another topic.

Are you smarter than a Cherry Creek High school student?

Why do photovoltaic cells have p-type and n-type layers? * What causes stars to twinkle?* If you know the answers to these questions, you might qualify for the winning team of the Colorado Science Bowl. You might even be smarter than a Cherry Creek High school student!

What the Frack?!: Grassroots group pushes for fracking moratorium in Arapahoe County

The first time Sonia Skakich-Scrima learned about fracking, she was reading the Denver Business Journal almost a year ago to date. What she read alarmed her, but what she Googled afterward tripled that. "I tried to understand why we didn't care about the environment or the aftermath," she says. "I ... More >>

Fracking is booming, but a friendlier name couldn't hurt. Drill, baby, drill!

The word of the year? Our money (and yours) is on "fracking," the shortened term for "hydraulic fracturing," a practice that shook neighborhoods (in some cases literally) around the country this year, and has fueled the oil and gas boom in northeastern Colorado. But if energy execs really want to dr ... More >>

Encana blasts EPA report linking fracking to Wyoming water pollution

Encana WY drill rig. ​In a telephone conference with journalists this morning, officials of the Canadian energy giant Encana sharply disputed an EPA draft report that linked the company's gas drilling operations in Wyoming to contamination of residents' drinking water, calling the report badly ... More >>

Fracking the North Fork: Paonia residents rally against drilling assault

​Thanks to the increasing push for more oil and gas drilling, communities once considered out of the fray are being drawn into the controversies over hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" -- even folks in the stunning North Fork Valley, an area better known for its organic farms, ranches operate ... More >>

Fracking lovefest blooms from John Hickenlooper's gas play

​Yesterday, amid an unusually genial gathering of environmental and energy leaders, Governor John Hickenlooper unveiled new state rules requiring detailed disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") methods of drilling for oil and gas -- a major step toward transpa ... More >>

Fracking: Polluted water in Wyoming could spell trouble in Colorado

Colorado oil pads.​The release of an EPA report detailing suspected groundwater contamination from gas drilling operations in Wyoming comes just as Colorado is weighing tougher restrictions and wider disclosures about the hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" process -- and may serve as Exhibit A ... More >>

Fracking: Congress needs to drill into the issue, says Diana DeGette

Diana DeGette.​As reported in this space on Friday, a new study from Common Cause tracks how oil and gas interests spent $747 million on lobbying and campaign donations since 2001 to win congressional support for "fracking," hydraulic fracturing drilling methods that involve using toxic chemic ... More >>

Fracking: Gas industry pours $747 million into lobbying and Congress

Colorado well pads. ​As the oil and gas industry has turned increasingly to hydraulic fracturing to extract reserves, fears about groundwater contamination from the toxic chemicals used in "fracking" have intensified. And that's prompted a $747 million spending spree by major industry players ... More >>

Fracking contamination "inconceivable," says John Hickenlooper -- but EPA disagrees

​Governor John Hickenlooper has walked a taut tightrope on energy issues since taking office, pushing for more natural gas drilling in a state already leading the region in drilling starts, while at the same time nudging the industry toward greater disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic ... More >>

Fracking Aurora is a natural gas: Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario

​ On Thursday, June 23, 2011, the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission will explain how hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations on the former Lowry Bombing Range comply with Arapahoe County's 2007 Sustainable Growth Objectives. It will be an easy sell...

Fracking primer: State seeks to address uproar over drilling process

​Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" -- pumping massive amounts of water mixed with toxic chemicals into tight formations to extract oil and gas -- remains a sore subject among environmentalists, neighbors of drilling rigs and some lawmakers, even as energy industry boosters insist it's safe. ... More >>

Renewable energy standards in CO: Lawsuit claims bias against nonrenewable electricity

​Are there still people out there who oppose green energy initiatives? Hell yes there are. The American Tradition Institute, a think tank that espouses "free-market principles of stewardship" pertaining to environmental issues, has filed a complaint against the State of Colorado, arguing that ... More >>

Jared Polis and Diana DeGette try to tighten regulations on fracking -- again

"Gasland"​Representatives Diane DeGette and Jared Polis are taking another run at tightening federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing, a natural gas drilling technique also known as fracking. Introduced this week by the Colorado twosome and fellow Democratic rep Maurice Hinchey from New Yor ... More >>

Japanese radiation worries in U.S.: Health dept. tries to calm fears as media stokes them

​This morning, Peter Boyles spent part of his KHOW morning show wondering if we should be taking potassium iodide to protect ourselves against radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. And at this writing, the main story on the CBS4 home page asks, "Could Japan's Radi ... More >>

Pueblo nuclear power plant proposal hearings against backdrop of Japanese explosions

​Timing is everything. With gas prices going up, up, up due to the chaos in North Africa last month, suddenly a nuclear power plant started looking good to Pueblo County, where the commissioners are considering a proposal to make that county one of the spots in the country vying for a new nuke ... More >>

Gas-drilling oversight bill killed by the House: What's the fracking point?

Gas well pads.​A bill that sought to increase the reporting process for water-quality complaints related to oil and gas drilling in Colorado died quietly at the statehouse yesterday, with Republican lawmakers insisting that the industry's use of hydraulic fracturing fluids, or "fracking," pose ... More >>

Black out: Lamar gets steamed over a troubled coal plant -- right in the middle of town

Home Improvements

Ken Salazar taps "recovery czar" Chris Henderson to fix MMS

The New RepublicDrill, baby, drill: Just what does additional offshore drilling add to the mix?​In the wake of the worst American offshore oil disaster in decades, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is scrambling on several fronts to address the perception that his administration has been m ... More >>

Colorado tribes looking to ramp up renewable energy, too

A photo of Ignacio, Colorado, home base of the Southern Ute tribe.​In recent days, the New Mexico-based Jemez Pueblo tribe has gotten plenty of ink for its plan to build "the first utility-scale solar plant on tribal land." Turns out two Colorado tribes -- the Southern Utes and Ute Mountain Ut ... More >>

SMA Solar to convert Denver into Sunny Island

Sunny Island isn't much of a vacation spot.​You know the decision of a business to relocate is a big deal when the state's governor offers to serve as a de facto publicist, as Bill Ritter did yesterday during the announcement that the German firm SMA Solar Technology AG will be opening a plant ... More >>

Larkburger now using 100 percent all-natural wind power

Larkburgers, fries and shake made with renewable energy​ Larkburger is making a name for itself with such menu items as hand-cut fries seasoned with parmesan and truffle oil -- but Larkburger president Adam Baker hopes that with the switch to wind power for 100 percent of its energy use, the c ... More >>

A sunny day for Secretary Solarczar, but a slog ahead?

​Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was back in Colorado today, August 4, touring a Longmont solar panel company as a way of pushing the Obama administration's vision of a clean energy economy. But that vision, which involves collecting abundant solar power from a procession of solar farms ... More >>

For Colorado's largest power co-op, going green will mean taking down the King of Coal

Memories of Colorado’s atomic age

Partly Sunny

CU students have twice won the Solar Decathlon. Can they make it a three-peat?

Rich Tower, Poor Tower

Pole Position

Ruby Hill-area residents want to protect their views from eleven-story utility poles, but Xcel thinks it has the juice.

Auraria Campus Goes Green

Students get solar-powered.

Sun Day

Letters to the Editor

From the week of November 3, 2005