Pictures: Most Hopeful Energy Developments of 2011

2. Improvements in Oil Spill Readiness

Photograph courtesy X Prize Foundation

When 4.9 million barrels of oil (206 million gallons/780 million liters) spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010, skimmers were able to retrieve only 3 percent of the total amount. A year later, Team Elastec, an Illinois-based veteran company in the oil spill cleanup business, used giant grooved discs to skim oil amounting to more than three times the industry standard, capturing the $1 million top prize in the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE.

As the 350 competitors in the challenge were putting the finishing touches on their entries, two energy-industry consortia announced that they had readied subsea containment systems, or "capping stacks," to be stored in Houston, about 50 miles from the Gulf, for deployment in a spill emergency. While the systems, developed by The Marine Well Containment Company and the Helix Well Containment Group, promise a better response than the equipment used during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, some environmentalists aren't convinced the systems, which can take as much as 15 days to control a spill, afford enough protection.

Related Stories:

"While BP Eyes Return to the Gulf, Safeguards Debated"

"Illinois Team Wins Oil Spill Cleanup X CHALLENGE"

—Barbara Mulligan

Published December 28, 2011

3. A Boom in Building Efficiency

Photograph by David Gray, Reuters

Both the public and private sectors continued to invest in building efficiency in 2011. The United States government, for example, committed billions of dollars to energy efficiency upgrades for both federal buildings and commercial buildings. Businesses, too, demonstrated awareness that decreasing energy waste is important to the bottom line. KPMG, for example, won an Energy Star award this year for the combined heat and power system it designed for its New Jersey data center; the Empire State Building continued the top-to-bottom, award-winning retrofit that saves it $4.4 million a year, according the to the landmark's owner.

In China, where nearly 30 percent of the country's energy is absorbed by the building sector, cities in the north (such as the "Ice City" of Harbin, above) have made great strides in retrofitting buildings as part of efforts to meet national targets for energy-intensity reduction. As businesses and governments around the world make similar efforts to shrink energy losses, the demand for necessary equipment and services is expected to boom. Pike Research predicts that the market for building efficiency will grow by more than 50 percent over the next six years.

Related Stories:

"In China's Icy North, Outfitting Buildings to Save Energy"

"KPMG Captures Heat for Data Center Cooling"

"Pictures: In Search of Green Air-Conditioning"

"National Snow and Ice Data Center Gets a Cool Makeover"

"Green Design Spree Aims to Trim U.S. Government's Energy Bill"

"Pictures: Seven Supergreen Government Buildings"

—Barbara Mulligan

Published December 28, 2011

4. Green Public Spaces

Illustration courtesy HH-Vision and Albert Speer & Partner

Several public spaces that might not typically spring to mind as "green" have made large strides toward energy efficiency, including stadiums, ski resorts, and city plazas. In New York, where the relatively new Times Square pedestrian plaza has cut both pollution and injuries from traffic, 26 additional similar areas are being designed or built.

The new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, debuted at Super Bowl XLV in February, featuring a huge retractable roof, monumental arches, and a canted glass exterior wall. The $13 million project also includes a restored flood-prone creek outside the stadium, complete with native grasses, trees and trails, designed in part to help create an atmosphere where fans are less tied to their cars. Other energy-saving efforts in sports stadiums around the world include wind turbines, efficient lighting, recycling, and water management systems.

Ski resorts, too, stepped up efforts to power their winter playgrounds more sustainably. New England's Berkshire East resort, for example, became the world's first 100 percent wind-powered ski resort in January.

Related Stories:

"Photos: Twelve Car-Free City Zones"

"Photos: Eight Ski Resorts That Give Green Energy a Lift"

"Photos: Kickoff Time for Green Stadiums"

—Barbara Mulligan

Published December 28, 2011

5. Chernobyl: Some Wildlife Recovering

Photograph by Gerd Ludwig, National Geographic

Twenty-five years on, the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl has created an unusual wildlife sanctuary and a fascinating, ongoing natural experiment in the ways nuclear radiation can affect an ecosystem. After the number four reactor exploded, entire communities were abandoned and hundreds of thousands of people relocated. Now, within a 1,100-square-mile (2,850-square-kilometer) area of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia that remains cleared of most people and agriculture, wildlife has moved in.

Studies show that many fish are thriving, even in Chernobyl's cooling pond. Wolf populations appear to be growing, and mice and other small rodents are thriving. Przewalski's horses, extinct in the wild, have even been introduced with success. But some scientists warn that serious radiation-related problems remain, though not always obvious to the casual glance. For example, studies show that bird biodiversity is only half that in non-contaminated areas and that populations were reduced by more than half. They also reveal higher rates of physical abnormalities, including smaller brains.

—Brian Handwerk

Published December 28, 2011

6. Lower Solar Prices

Photograph courtesy SolarCity

While some saw ominous signs for the solar industry in tumbling prices, declining subsidies, the high-profile failure of Solyndra, and financial woes of other major solar companies, others saw opportunities for innovation and competition that would ultimately benefit consumers.

Solar's share of electricity generation worldwide, while still relatively small, will increase dramatically over the next 25 years, and major investments in solar projects continue. In June, Google set aside $280 million to fund an effort with Silicon Valley's SolarCity to offer leases and power-purchase agreements that promise customers a lower monthly electricity bill than they would get with electricity from the grid. Other solar companies in the United States continued to find funding even after the expiration of the federal loan guarantee program that funded Solyndra. The first phase of what is expected to be the largest residential solar photovoltaic project in U.S. history, set to power 120,000 military housing units, is now under way at Pearl Harbor.

Related Stories:

"Historic Pearl Harbor Looks to New Energy Future"

"Google Creates Fund to Finance Solar Energy"

"Will the United States Seize Solar Opportunity?"

"Solar Industry 'Darwinism' Weeding Out Weaker Companies"

—Barbara Mulligan

Published December 28, 2011

7. Youth Engagement on Energy

Photograph by Harley Soltes, National Geographic

A retro-looking hot rod designed by a team of Louisiana Tech University students achieved 647 miles per gallon (275 kilometers per liter) in the 2011 Shell Eco-marathon Americas student competition for design of high-efficiency vehicles, held in Houston. In the Philadelphia area, college and university students and young professionals designed sustainable green jobs training facilities in the Delaware Valley Green Building Council's annual sustainable design competition.

Throughout the world, students and other young people have been exploring alternative energy ideas and making their voices heard on a variety of energy issues. In August, many joined in a two-week stretch of White House sit-ins led by the activist organization 350.org against the planned Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from the tar sands of Canada to refineries in Texas. In Africa, about 200 young people from Africa, Asia, and Europe traveled in a caravan of buses from Nairobi, Kenya, to Durban, South Africa, to promote action on climate change, including use of renewable energy sources. Their two-week trip ended at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's conference, COP-17. And students from the around the world built and displayed model solar homes at the biannual Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C.

Related Stories:

"Photos: Cool Cars Designed by Students to Sip Fuel"

"Photos: High School 'ShopGirls' Design for the Prize"

"White House Sit-Ins End, but Keystone XL Fight Isn't Over"

"Photo: Drexel Students Take On Solar Car Challenge"

"Photos: Solar Decathlon Students Race to Renew Home Energy"

—Barbara Mulligan

Published December 28, 2011