An important producer of natural gas and oil, the UAE has become known in the last decade for its growing efforts to fight climate change and advance the use of clean energy. So it’s not that surprising to find out that the UAE is going to represented in the upcoming Rio+20 Summit by a delegation of more than 100 members, aiming to both learn and provide its own lessons to the rest of the world.

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On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the imposition of antidumping tariffs of more than 31 percent on solar panels from China. The preliminary ruling, if affirmed by the DOC this fall, is expected to have significant implications on the solar industry, creating presumably both winners and losers. Yet, although it might be too early to evaluate the impact of the new ruling, we have a feeling there’s a good chance no one will benefit from this tariff. Is it possible?

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Clif Bar, the granddaddy of the modern day energy bar, has been sustainably celebrating its 20th birthday this year. The company’s latest accomplishment is this week’s announcement that its headquarters in Emeryville, CA, across the bay from San Francisco, was awarded with LEED Platinum certification.

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The phone booth has lagged far behind its mobile cousin, fast becoming a vandalism prone relic of a bygone time. The Smart Booth aims to change that, offering wifi, touch screen enabled local information, pollution monitoring, security surveillance useful to area police, and more.

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The German government is close to slashing subsidies for solar energy by 20 to 40 percent despite solar’s success in reaching up to 25 gw in capacity.

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This week Kohl’s issued its first annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) report, which discusses the company’s energy efficiency and green building efforts.

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While the debate on the death of green marketing is far from being over, we see signs that green marketing is not only living but also evolving. Interestingly, these vital signs come from the solar industry, where Sunrun, the largest home solar company in the U.S., is running an advertising campaign that can be characterized as the next generation of green marketing. In other words: welcome to green marketing 3.0.

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SolarCity, the California-based installation giant, revealed yesterday it started filing documents with the SEC for its IPO. Could solar be turning a corner after all?

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Last week Anheuser-Busch InBev released its 2011 corporate social responsibility report, which focuses on waste diversion and water stewardship.

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Can McDonald’s and “Best of Green” be in the same sentence? Projects around the world have boosted the company’s efforts on energy efficiency and waste diversion.

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The U.S. solar industry has experienced emotional ups and downs in the last two years that would exhaust even stronger industries. Here are five reasons why the U.S. solar industry shouldn’t feel upset about BrightSource’s canceled IPO:

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Ready to comb through Walmart’s 2012 Global Responsibility Report? The past year has been a bumpy one for its sustainability agenda. Local food, renewables, and waste have been the focus.

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Solar’s tipping point is coming, and it may be as near as 3-5 years.

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Los Angeles’ new feed-in tariff program can create 4500 jobs in LA and generate 150MW of new power. Now why aren’t other cities doing this?

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The solar feed-in tariff was designed to encourage the growth of micro-generation from renewable sources like wind and solar. Solar power quickly emerged as the most popular technology for micro-generation, so much so that it led to frantic efforts by the government to slow down the growth.

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The solar industry hit another rough patch last week as two major solar companies, Solar Trust of America and Q-Cells, filed for bankruptcy.

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From environmental conservation, supplier diversity to community development, Lowe’s 2011 CSR report is full of highlights.

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Bill Gates is dedicating an increasing amount of time and resources in pursuit of clean energy solutions. His goal is to get the world’s emissions to zero within 75 years.

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GE’s interest in solar energy began during the space age and over 50 years later, has an impact on everything from transportation to modern electricity grids.

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“Is the emergence of shale gas a positive or negative development with respect to sustainability?” This was one of the most interesting questions discussed on one of the panels at KPMG’s Global Summit last week in New York. Given the growth of both interest and dispute around shale gas, the question was basically if shale gas is a bridge to a sustainable future or a bridge to nowhere.

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Msheireb Properties is building a 35-hectare project in Doha, Qatar, that will infuse traditional Arabian architecture with modern green building techniques.

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When it comes to details, Dubai is a global leader and the quality of life and business climate both have tremendous benefits. But when it comes to overall design, Dubai could use some CPR.

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Desalination has been the answer to the rapid development of the Arabian Gulf region. But as Leon Kaye explains, the wasteful consumption of water in the UAE and Qatar comes with a price.

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While there have been 100s of solar powered mobile device chargers put out on the market, Charger’s new system has done what’s needed to happen all along: Allow your device to be charged at your convenience, rather then when you happen to be out in the sun. Add competitive and social aspects, along with tangible real world rewards, and this has potential for huge impact.

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Levels of solar radiation vary dramatically between countries, as do the various subsidies available. Where in the world is the best place to live to benefit from solar panels when these two factors are combined, and should there be more funding for solar power in sunnier countries?

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Well, the vultures might be circling, but they might have to wait a while to pick the bones of the CleanTech industry, which by many accounts, is still far from dead. Juliet Ellperin wrote in this month’s Wired, that the CleanTech boom has gone bust, comparing it to both the Internet bubble and the housing bubble. But a number of experts are forecasting significant growth for the renewable sector despite several mitigating factors.

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Bloomberg recently reported that India’s clean tech investments, “reached $10.3bn in 2011, some 52 percent higher than the $6.8bn invested in 2010. This was the highest growth figure of any significant economy in the world. There is plenty of room for further expansion – in 2011, India accounted for 4 percent of global investment in clean energy.” [...]

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Leon Kaye explains that Masdar City does not have it all right, nor should it: at a fundamental level, it is an experiment. And that is why this UAE hub is a leader.

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The EU Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, France, voted on January 18 to update its Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE) legislation to include solar photovoltaic (PV) modules.

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My recent stay in Detroit and current trip to Doha have opened my eyes to how citizens are taking matters into their own hands and building more sustainable economies.

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