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One of the keys to translating the trade show excitement around electric vehicles into widespread consumer adoption is driving down costs, and one area that continues to be a focus across the industry is reducing the cost of electric motors.

The new solar system on the Esopus Library in New York is expected to generate 31,200 kWh of electricity annually -- approximately 30 percent of the library’s electricity use and a savings of nearly $4,000 in energy costs each year.

Nearly a quarter of the electricity Turkey Hill Dairy uses each year to produce its 26 million gallons of ice cream comes from wind power.

The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy works in partnership with industry to develop, build, operate and validate integrated biorefineries across the country at various scales (pilot, demonstration, and commercial). One such project, led by ClearFuels-Rentech, recently celebrated the completion of a pilot-scale, biorefinery in Commerce City, Colorado.

Plymouth, Massachusetts, has made a number of energy efficiency improvements to reduce energy waste in the coming years, while also exploring opportunities to expand use of renewable energy sources.

Solar and wind power provide the means for America to strengthen its energy security, create jobs in growing markets, and improve the environment. Thanks to breakthroughs in energy storage systems, including the first grid-tied solar and storage facility, that potential is getting closer to reality.

How did the Climate and Energy Project (CEP), a small environmental organization that has received Recovery Act funding, achieve $2.3 million in savings annually for Kansans? Learn more about the Take Charge Challenge, a 9-month competition in which residents across 16 communities competed against each other to save the most energy and money.

North Country School in Lake Placid, New York, recently installed a high-efficiency wood chip boiler using Recovery Act funds from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Using wood sourced from their sustainably managed woodlot and local forests, the school will be able to cut energy costs by $38,970 annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 184 tons per year.

Using all American-made products and panels manufactured at a Milwaukee-based company, the city is now generating 35,000 more kilowatt hours of clean electricity.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses are drivers of job creation and innovation in America. The Energy Department supports many small businesses that are pushing the limits of what was previously thought to be possible. Two of these game-changing companies are Semprius, Inc., and Simbol, Inc.

Benton County, Oregon residents constructed a livestock building powered by 306 roof-top solar modules funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu Sept. 23 announced the Department finalized a $105 million loan guarantee to support the development of one of the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants.