Focus on Clean & Healthy Alternative Energy

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 27 December 2014

2014-12-27T04:42:00.003-08:00

Energy produced from waste – experiences from Norway

Dec. 20, 2014 - The system for waste treatment tends to be similar in all part of Norway due to national environmental strategy and legislation demanding the municipalities to recycle and prevent pollution. The amount of waste increases as economy grows. According to data from Statistics Norway total amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) has increased from 1, 3 . 106 tons in 1995 to 2, 0 . 106 tons in 2005. Larger homes, higher house holding standards, frequent reconstruction together with increased spending on furniture and household appliances are examples of how affluence generates waste.
Using the resources from waste will be important in the years to come. The shortage of energy coupled with an enormous increase and turnover of new products makes it reasonable to develop the technology and infrastructure to turn waste to energy. read more>>>

Utilizing Waste Heat For Power

Dec. 2, 2014 - Continuous duty gen-sets provide base-load power generation in diverse applications around the globe. However, high fuel costs and engine maintenance are pain points felt by operators. A low-maintenance path to significant fuel savings and lower emissions is what the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) had in mind when they approached ElectraTherm to integrate the company’s Green Machine waste heat to power (WHP) generator with a 1.1 MW Cummins KTA-50 generator. ElectraTherm specializes in smallscale, distributed power generation from waste heat, utilizing Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) and proprietary technologies to generate power from low temperature heat ranging from 77o to 116°C. The company’s WHP technology converts various sources of heat into power, including internal combustion engines, small geothermal, biomass, concentrated solar and process heat. To date, ElectraTherm said it has deployed 42 units worldwide, with a cumulative 250 000 operating hours and over 97% availability. rtead more>>>

Green Construction Being Continuously Innovated in Florida

December 12, 2014 - Green construction enables builders to use resources more efficiently and create more energy-efficient buildings. This efficiency ideally lasts throughout the lifetime of the building, including its design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition.
Close collaboration between designers, architects,and engineers is required throughout various stages of the product.
Sometimes known as “green building” or “sustainable building,” green construction has been getting an increasingly large amount of attention in the United States. Not only is it about being environmentally responsible and resource-efficient, but a lot of businesses simply prefer green building for financial reasons. read more>>>

Mamaroneck builder creates green dream home

December 12, 2014 - I have owned a construction business in Westchester County for over 35 years with my brother Sean. When my wife Diane and I finally had the opportunity to build our own custom home, we decided very quickly that it was going to be green and it was going to be beautiful.
The house would be under 3,000 square feet with four bedrooms, and an open first-floor plan that would satisfy our desire to entertain both large and small groups of friends and family.
We decided to build our home in a coastal colonial style, framing the outside walls with insulated concrete forms — or ICFs as they are called — styrofoam blocks that stack like Legos, then are filled with concrete. read more>>>

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Major power conference hears of importance of microgrids

11/12/2014 - Consumers who need resilient, reliable, “always-on” power that the utility can’t deliver are driving the growth of microgrids in the US.
In addition, renewable energy and energy storage technologies are becoming essential components of microgrids. These were two of the many issues discussed during Wednesday’s Renewable Energy World Conference, North America session titled Microgrids: Opportunities, Challenges, and Innovative Solutions.
Renewable Energy World’s Jennifer Runyon reported on the conference and a parallel survey of utility executives, which showed that more than 80 per cent of North American utilities expect their energy markets to be made up of a mix of large central generation and distributed generation assets by 2030. read more>>>

Building a Green Economy for the Middle East

12/14/2014 - The 21st century is experiencing many huge global transformations. More than half the world's population now live in cities; at the same time, climate change is causing more and more natural disasters, and those disasters are increasingly affecting urban areas. The world's population is also getting younger, with a huge growth in the youth population. One of the regions most affected by these transformations is the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, Arab countries cover 10 percent of the world's area but receive only 2.1 percent of its average annual precipitation. Per capita renewable water resources has fallen to 743 cubic meters, well below the poverty level of 1,000. Droughts are expected to turn more extreme, and water scarcity is expected to exacerbate both political and economic tensions. read more>>>

Gray's Final Sustainability Report Outlines Ways D.C. Can Become 'Most Livable City' in U.S.

Dec 11, 2014 - When Mayor Vince Gray rolled out an ambitious 20-year sustainability plan in 2012 that highlighted ways the city could become the "cutting edge of environmental stewardship and protection," it seemed like something of a political booster and pipe dream.
But since then, Gray's administration has worked hard to make D.C. one of the greenest and "most livable" cities in the country. And it shows. During his time as mayor, Gray's administration has allocated money to plant more trees in the city, signed legislation to ban polystyrene-made foam containers, increased the size of trash and recycling cans (which then led to a whole fiasco involving removal of old cans, but that's a whole other story), and continued to convert more buildings to be LEED-certified green, making D.C. the national leader in green buildings. Indeed, Gray's scorecard in terms of making D.C. more green and sustainable is pretty high, and the city's energy efficiency continues to grow. read more>>>

Outlook is bright for UK`s solar power potential

Dec. 6, 2014 - Solar energy is sometimes dismissed as a fanciful idea with little to offer so far in such a cloudy country as the UK, but a new report says power from the sun could thrive in Britain in barely five years’ time − without the need for any subsidy.
The report – published on the website of Thema1, a Berlin-based group that works to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon society − says solar energy is leading changes in the power market as hardware costs have fallen relentlessly over the last decade, recalling the boom in the semiconductor industry.
Last month, the German utility E.ON announced that it was hiving off all its conventional fossil fuel generation to focus on renewables and energy services. read more>>>

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Climate Change Performance Index: Global Shift Needs Further Action

Dec. 8, 2014 - Global emissions have reached a new peak, but recent developments indicate a new readiness for action on climate protection. This is the message of the 10th edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI); a ranking of the climate protection performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide published by Germanwatch and CAN Europe at the UN Climate Conference in Lima yesterday.
'We see global trends, indicating promising shifts in some of the most relevant sectors for climate protection', says Jan Burck (Germanwatch), author of the Index. 'The rise of emissions has slowed down, and renewables are rapidly growing due to declining costs and massive investments.' read more>>>

Community Solar Takes Off In New York

December 10, 2014 - For the past two years, the NY-Sun Initiative has been working to reach Gov. Cuomo’s goal of increasing New York State’s solar capacity to 3 gigawatts by 2023. So far, the state has installed or contracted 316 megawatts of solar electricity, more than the entire previous decade. And from now until January 30th, schools, non-profits and governments will be able to upgrade to solar systems for bargain basement prices.
According to NRDC, community purchasing programs along the Solarize model (remember our Solarize Brooklyn campaign*?) which allow localize homeowners and groups to join together to aggregate their purchasing power, much in the same way that a large organization can to get good deals for health insurance for members or employees. read more>>>

Latin America a hotspot for renewable energy development

10 December 2014 - Success stories from seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean prove that the region is positioned to lead the sustainable energy revolution, according to a WWF report presented Tuesday alongside UN climate talks in Lima, Peru.
The report, Green Energy Leaders, provides examples of renewable energy trend-setting in the region including Costa Rica’s target of 100 per cent renewable energy, Uruguay’s leading clean energy investment and Brazil’s massive pipeline of future wind power capacity. Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru are also featured in the report.
“The region has all the renewable natural resources it needs to become a paragon for clean energy projects. It offers both an opportunity and a responsibility for future generations,” said Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF International. read more>>>

Aora’s solar tulips start shining in Ethiopia, without water!

Investments in solar energy innovations are not dead! Remember those weird and wonderful solar energy harvesting tulips planted in Israel and Spain? Seen miles away the sky-high tulips have found a new commercial home – in Ethiopia, the company announced last week in a press statement.
We’ve covered Aora over the years and thought possibly that this CSP, or concentrated solar thermal power innovation didn’t grow. We were wrong.
The Ethiopian Government, looking for resilient off-grid systems, is now piloting Aora’s system for sustainable development.
Aora’s tulips collect solar energy from 50 small mirrors and then focus the energy to heat oil and air, creating pressure to drive turbines in the tulips. The turbines create electricity. The solution runs without steam and water, important for off grid locations where there is no water. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 26 December 2014

2014-12-26T04:40:00.000-08:00

Let's leave behind the age of fossil fuel. Welcome to Year One of the climate revolution

Tiny towns standing up to Big Oil. Gigantic marches taking on the future. Technology that works. We started to save ourselves in 2014, but we must make 2015 worth remembering – before it’s too late
23 December 2014 - It was the most thrilling bureaucratic document I’ve ever seen for just one reason: it was dated the 21st day of the month of Thermidor in the Year Six. Written in sepia ink on heavy paper, it recorded an ordinary land auction in France in what we would call the late summer of 1798. But the extraordinary date signaled that it was created when the French Revolution was still the overarching reality of everyday life and such fundamentals as the distribution of power and the nature of government had been reborn in astonishing ways. The new calendar that renamed 1792 as Year One had, after all, been created to start society all over again.
In that little junk shop on a quiet street in San Francisco, I held a relic from one of the great upheavals of the last millennium. It made me think of a remarkable statement the great feminist fantasy writer Ursula K Le Guin had made only a few weeks earlier. In the course of a speech she gave while accepting a book award, she noted:

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.
That document I held was written only a few years after the French had gotten over the idea that the divine right of kings was an inescapable reality. The revolutionaries had executed their king for his crimes and were then trying out other forms of government. It’s popular to say that the experiment failed, but that’s too narrow an interpretation. France never again regressed to an absolutist monarchy and its experiments inspired other liberatory movements around the world (while terrifying monarchs and aristocrats everywhere). read more>>>

Exergeia Project: do you have any idea shattering energy?

17 December 2014 - The Exergeia Project, powered by signing Impact Economy, aims to push the boundaries of energy we can use. For that support the invention and innovation in all areas of energy related energy efficiency, generation, storage, transmission and distribution. 
The project promoters believe that "it is time to accelerate the cycle of innovation in energy. This can only be achieved if scientific advances reach a high level faster scale. " And set the example of solar energy. "Since the discovery of the photovoltaic effect, by Becquerel in 1839, to manufacture silicon cells first passed over a hundred years." Consistently outstanding advances occurring in the field of materials science, computer technology, engineering ... "But the cycle of innovation is too slow to achieve a model based on 100% renewable throughout our life economy." read more>>>

MESIA announces winners of the 2014 Solar Awards

04 December 2014 - The Middle East Solar Industry Association announced the winners of its annual solar awards at a gala ceremony held at the Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai on Monday night.
The award ceremony, at which 12 winners were honored, was held in conjunction with the 3rd Annual MENA Clean Energy Forum hosted by the Clean Energy Business Council.
In all, more than 200 dignitaries attended the event. The award winners, representing five different countries, were chosen by an independent panel of judges from around the world.
This year's awards were particularly notable due to the large number of women honored. read more>>>

How solar friendly is your state? The Freeing the Grid report finds out

12/16/14 - It’s one thing to make the decision to go solar, but depending on where in the U.S. you live, the ease with which one connects a household rooftop array to the grid—i.e., actually gets it up and running—can vary greatly. Produced by the advocacy groups Vote Solar and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Freeing the Grid ranks each of the 50 states based on two key clean energy programs: net metering and interconnection procedures. Now in its eighth year, the report is showing marked improvements in many states, but some troubling stagnation in others.
So what is net metering and interconnection? Net metering “ensures that renewable energy customers receive full credit on their utility bills for valuable clean power they put back on the grid.” Interconnection refers to the “rules and processes that an energy customer must follow to be able to ‘plug’ their renewable energy system into the electricity grid.” read more>>>

One in five houses in Australia is using solar energy

12/16/14 - An astonishing one out of every five households in Australia is now relying on solar energy, a new report from the Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS) reveals. Just 3 years ago only 5 percent of homes used rooftop solar panels or solar water heating, but today a full 19 percent do. To put that into perspective, by most accounts, fewer than .4 percent of homes in the US rely on solar.
Out of the 19 percent of homes using solar, 14 percent is attributed to roof panelling. “Add in solar hot water heating and we’re up to 19 per cent, so one in five households are now using some form of solar power.” said Karen Connaughton from the ABS. read more>>>

Maldives: PV hybrid system saves 800 litres of diesel a day

16.12.2014 - The German company DHYBRID Power Systems has installed a hybrid power supply for a public project on the Maldives. The project was funded by the World Bank. The solar energy power plant on the island Thinadhoo reduces the amount of diesel fuel consumed by 800 litres per day.
The Maldives archipelago in the Indian Ocean is far from the mainland. This means that its population is dependent on a local power supply. Diesel generators are important for securing the energy supply but they have ecological and economic drawbacks, so the ministry has decided for a hybrid solution. read more>>>

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S.A. network operator to trial micro grids for regional towns

15 December 2014 - The operator of the South Australia electricity network says it is to trial micro-grids with solar and battery storage in regional areas as a potentially cost-effective alternative to building or replacing poles and wires.
SA Power Networks, in its latest submission to the Australian Energy Regulator for spending over the next five years, says “micro-grid” technology has “particular promise” – both as a cheaper alternative to diesel, and as a potential solution to weather related black-outs that frequently plague regional areas.
In its submission, SA Power Networks says it needs to upgrade 31 remote power lines, and it will use a solar and battery storage based micro grid for one one them – at a cost of $2.8 million. read more>>>

Green Building Technology You’ll Never See But Can Experience Now

Dec 14, 2014 - Picture an office that cleans up after itself, improves indoor air quality with nanotech-formulated paint, and responds to sunlight by magically adjusting window tint, all while fighting climate change. Then imagine entering your workspace to find your desk light on and the temperature just as you like it. These innovations are already at work in some modern buildings, in the shape of the networked ecosystem of “intelligent” building equipment and devices.
Beyond the “Wow!” factor and the large-scale benefits to our planet, green and smart building technologies are changing the way we live and work, and creating business opportunities for technology innovators, commercial building owners and tenants.
Buildings designed with sustainability-supporting materials, big-data-crunching automated systems and onsite clean energy are expected to represent 55 percent of all U.S. commercial and institutional construction by 2015, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2013 Dodge Construction Green Outlook. read more>>>

Internship offers insight into efforts to transform energy distribution

December 13, 2014 - Thomas Edison established the first direct current power system in 1882. It distributed electricity to 59 customers on Wall Street in New York City. Today, the electric grid includes more than 6 million miles of transmission and distribution lines designed primarily with centralized controls, supplying more than 143 million residential, commercial and industrial customers.
The expansion of the grid was noted as one of the most remarkable achievements of the 20th century and contributed to the rapid economic and industrial growth of the United States. However, in the late 20th century, the grid began to be connected in popular thought with concerns about increasing electricity prices and climate change. read more>>>

Danbury students unveil The E House for green initiative

December 17, 2014 - A group of high schoolers in Danbury are unveiling a first of its kind project today.
Considered the nations first green construction laboratories for high school students, The E House initiative provides a clean energy and energy efficiency curriculum.
It gives students the opportunity to conduct hands on fieldwork in various labs, preparing them for a green career after graduation. read more>>>

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Ridgewood schools stepping up green initiatives

December 16, 2014 - The Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) this month joined with the municipality in furthering its mission to be Sustainable Jersey certified.
At a board meeting on Dec. 1, trustees voted to participate in Sustainable Jersey for Schools to focus attention on the environment and pursue initiatives toward certification.
The program pushes concepts like reduce, reuse, recycle; adhering to green building standards for construction and renovation; and encourages making eco-friendly purchases for things like paper, equipment and cleaning products. read more>>>

Green Jobs programme officially launched

Dec 18 2014 - Dubai's experts on green economy discuss focus areas and deliberate the foundation of sustainable development through the Green Jobs Programme.
- Panel deliberates on methods of implementing green economic development, cultivating green practices across the business sector and sustaining the future of Dubai
- Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE) steps up efforts to transfer knowledge masses on Green Jobs and talent acquisition programme
Dubai - Dubai's thought leaders, heading the green economy revolution, met over the Emirate's status and outlook at a high level panel discussion, at the Raffles Hotel on 18th December. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 18 December 2014

2014-12-18T04:43:00.006-08:00

First Solar targets residential solar customers

December 10, 2014 - Tempe-based First Solar Inc. is teaming up with Colorado's Clean Energy Collective to develop community solar projects that will allow people to use solar without putting panels on their roofs.
For First Solar, the deal marks its first major foray into the residential solar market.
Community solar projects are large solar plants that allow customers to purchase blocks of the electricity they produce. They take advantage of the cheaper cost of building large plants compared with rooftop-solar arrays. read more>>>

Copenhagen Lighting the Way to Greener, More Efficient Cities

DEC. 8, 2014 - On a busy road in the center of town here, a string of green lights embedded in the bike path — the “Green Wave” — flashes on, helping cyclists avoid red traffic lights.
On a main artery into the city, truck drivers can see on smartphones when the next light will change. And in a nearby suburb, new LED streetlights brighten only as vehicles approach, dimming once they pass.
Aimed at saving money, cutting the use of fossil fuels and easing mobility, the installations are part of a growing wireless network of streetlamps and sensors that officials hope will help this city of roughly 1.2 million meet its ambitious goal of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. read more>>>

Lima climate deal: Every single country now plans to tackle emissions. Sort of.

December 14, 2014 - At this year's UN climate conference in Lima, Peru, representatives from 196 countries agreed to a deal that could eventually commit every nation to slow the growth of its greenhouse-gas emissions.
Over the next six months, each nation will be required to submit a plan for how it will address future emissions. These plans will form the basis of a major new climate agreement to be negotiated in Paris at the end of 2015 and take effect by 2020.
The actual content of each country's plan, however, is entirely voluntary. read more>>>

Senators push for more distributed wind power funding

12/12/14 - A bipartisan group of senators is asking the Energy Department to allocate more funding for small wind energy applications.
The senators, led by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) told the Energy Department to dedicate more of its funds through its renewable energy technology program to distributed wind power, in which turbines are located near power users and not in large farms.
“We believe distributed wind power systems deserve sustained, and increased support,” the senators wrote.
“Distributed wind power systems, spanning a wide variety of applications across communities, businesses, and farms and ranches nationwide, clearly have the potential to contribute many gigawatts of electricity similar to other renewable technologies,” they said. read more>>>

New report says NC could be clean energy leader with bold push from lawmakers

Dec 15, 2014 - Congress is working on renewing tax credits that could fuel progress with offshore wind energy, especially right here in North Carolina.
That's according to a new report from Environment North Carolina. Experts say North Carolina could be a national leader in renewable energy if lawmakers act now and aggressively.
Officials believe our beaches have near unlimited potential for wind energy because of the long coastlines, shallow seabed, and relatively consistent wind flow. read more>>>

Iowa projected to add 1,330 energy jobs in 2015

December 15, 2014 - Iowa could add about 1,300 more advanced energy jobs next year, pushing up employment in wind, solar, renewable fuels and energy efficiency to nearly 24,000, according to a report from the Advanced Energy Economy Institute.
The Washington, D.C., advocacy group said advanced energy this year made up 1.3 percent of Iowa’s total workforce with 22,643 workers at 1,427 companies. It’s expected to climb 6 percent to 23,979 in 2015, according to the report that’s based on an industry survey. read more>>>

White House issues climate change guide for hospitals

December 15, 2014 - Declaring climate change to be a public health hazard, the Obama administration issued suggestions Monday to help hospitals and other health care facilities cope with multiple threats of extreme weather.
Health care industry leaders are visiting the White House on Monday to endorse the new report — "Primary Protection: Enhancing Health Care Resilience for a Changing Climate" — and to pledge to follow the guidelines that are proposed.
The "guide and tool kit" is designed to help health care providers and others assure "the continuity of quality health and human care before, during and after extreme weather events," the report said. read more>>>

US and India to announce joint climate change action during Obama visit

15 December 2014 - America and India will unveil joint efforts to fight climate change when Barack Obama visits New Delhi next month, as the US tries to keep up the momentum of international negotiations.
Obama’s visit – on the back of the United Nations talks in Lima – is seen as a key moment to persuade one of the world’s biggest carbon polluters to step up its efforts to fight climate change.
After China and the US, India is the world’s third largest producer of the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change – although it is responsible for only about 6% of such emissions globally. read more>>>

9 Things Scientists Did This Year To Ensure A Better Climate Future

December 15, 2014 - While in many ways this was the year of “I’m not a scientist” — a refrain used by politicians to eschew responsibility for an issue they’ve decided doesn’t behoove them or their donors — actual scientists were working hard, and mostly behind the scenes, to address an issue they see as preeminent to the future well-being of humankind.
Ninety-seven percent of scientists already agree that global warming is driven by human activity and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. While politicians work to obscure this consensus, scientists are working to better understand the implications of climate change and how to best deal with them through adaptation, mitigation, and innovation. read more>>>

Microgrid project to help electricity reliability in NY's North Country

10 December, 2014 - A wide group of entities including GE, DOE, NREL, National Grid and Clarkson University are partnering in a research project aimed to mprove the reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York.
The works will be focused in the Village of Potsdam, near the Canadian border, an area prone to ice storms that could damage utility lines and other above-ground power infrastructure.
With a $1-2 million grant from DOE, and a contribution of $300,000 from GE, the project intends to develop an Enhanced Microgrid Control System (eMCS) which is designed to be the key element for keeping the town's electricity system working for several days despite an eventual disconnection from the main power station. read more>>>

GIZ allocating $50m for green construction in Egypt

09 Dec 14 - German development company GIZ is allocating $50m of European Union (EU) and German government funds for green construction and sustainable community projects in Egypt. Gunther Wehenpohl, the company’s programme coordinator, said GIZ will work with the Egyptian government in 17 projects, which started in July 2014 in cooperation with NGOs, the private sector, and local authorities.
The first phase will be developing Ain Shams and Ezbet Al-Nasr regions in Cairo, and Warraq and Jazerat Al-Dahab in Giza, and the second phase is developing three regions in Qaliubiya, according to reports. read more>>>

New technique could harvest more of the sun's energy

December 9, 2014 - As solar panels become less expensive and capable of generating more power, solar energy is becoming a more commercially viable alternative source of electricity. However, the photovoltaic cells now used to turn sunlight into electricity can only absorb and use a small fraction of that light, and that means a significant amount of solar energy goes untapped.
A new technology created by researchers from Caltech, and described in a paper published online in the October 30 issue of Science Express, represents a first step toward harnessing that lost energy.
Sunlight is composed of many wavelengths of light. In a traditional solar panel, silicon atoms are struck by sunlight and the atoms' outermost electrons absorb energy from some of these wavelengths of sunlight, causing the electrons to get excited. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 16 December 2014

2014-12-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

Climate change will make more politicians into environmentalists

December 7, 2014 - By the time the 2016 presidential election formally gets underway, pundits are likely to debate the climate change gap in the same breath as they argue over the gender gap.
Voters already have telegraphed elected officials that they need to take global warming seriously, because they do. Or face the consequences at the ballot booth if they don't.
Buried in an avalanche of election exit-poll data are these nuggets: read more>>>

Our Voice: Keep investing in wind power

December 6, 2014 - Congress should vote to strengthen wind power, which is especially important in the Coachella Valley.
During the lame-duck congressional session last week, it appeared the Wind Production Tax Credit would be revived. The PTC for windmills was established in 1992 as part of the Energy Policy Act, a 2.3-cent-per-kilowatt-hour benefit for the first 10 years of operation. It was strengthened by President Obama’s stimulus initiative in 2009. The PTC was set to expire in 2012, but Congress extended it for another year. read more>>>

Greens chide industry, boast 3M comments defending climate rule

12/05/14 - Green groups submitted roughly 3.7 million comments to the administration in support of its signature climate rule on carbon pollution from power plants this week, according to a memo.
The memo, circulated by the Climate Action Campaign (CAC) communications staff, chides the oil and gas industry, arguing “they have long been in denial” over public support for cutting carbon pollution.
According to the memo from the Washington, D.C.-based coalition of national green groups, they turned in 3 million comments backing the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal.
That adds to the 1.9 million comments the EPA told the Climate Action Campaign the official count has now reached, and it's still counting. read more>>>

New Tool Launched Today Measures Corporate Progress Towards Safer Chemicals

12/8/2014 - Third-Party Benchmark Designed to Help Reduce Public Health & Environmental Risks from Chemical Exposure for Health Care Industry, Retail Stores, Socially Responsible Investors and other Stakeholders
A group of corporate and NGO leaders today released a new tool for assessing leadership in corporate chemicals management. The Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) provides the first-ever common metric of its kind for publicly benchmarking corporate chemicals management and profiling leadership companies.
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said Dr. Mark Rossi, Co-Director of the nonprofit Clean Production Action and Chair and Founder of BizNGO, who released the Chemical Footprint Project today with the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production and Pure Strategies. “The CFP finally establishes a meaningful measurement of overall corporate performance to safer chemicals in products and supply chains. We look forward to engaging business leaders in tracking and disclosing their Chemical Footprints.” read more>>>

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Maine Tabbed As Blueprint For Renewable Energy

December 8th, 2014 - Maine is one of eight states chosen for a study of clean energy.
The decision comes from the Pew Charitable Trust which did research indicating Maine has an abundance of renewable resources.
The trust is also impressed with our state’s long-term commitment to the clean energy industry.
“What we found is Maine really is leading in terms of the amount of biomass and wind power that it’s using, it’s creating economic opportunities,” said Tom Swanson manager, clean energy, The Pew Charitable Trusts. “And the University here is really playing a huge role in helping push these new innovative technologies toward commercialization and helping drive down the cost of these technologies.” read more>>>

Invenergy harvests Californian sun

8/12/14 - Invenergy Clean Power has closed financing and started commercial operation at the 6.3MW Desert Green concentrated solar project in Borrego Springs, California.
The facility is sited in San Diego County, some 90 miles north-east of San Diego. Output is being sold to San Diego Gas & Electric under a long-term power purchase agreement.
Invenergy acquired Desert Green from Soitec Solar Development and the plant features more than 3500 Soitec CPV modules manufactured in San Diego. read more>>>

A green utopia deep in Mississippi? This guy has a game plan

9 Dec 2014 - Jackson, Miss.: Not exactly the eco-capital of the world. The city’s wastewater disposal has the attention of the EPA, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is a big fracking supporter, there’s no glass recycling within city limits … and so on. But longtime organizer Kali Akuno has a vision: He and 100-plus volunteers want to turn the hardscrabble city of roughly 170,000 into a marvel of sustainability and social justice.
Akuno is a co-founder of Cooperation Jackson, a community network that aims to solve the city’s most intractable issues — poverty and unemployment, racial and economic injustice, food access and industrial pollution — through developing a series of cooperatives that radically re-imagine how people live and work. Cooperation Jackson, less than a year old, is one of the pilot communities of the Our Power Campaign, an effort launched by the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA). And its end goal, like CJA’s, is to transition out of fossil fuel dependence by supporting localized economies, low-income communities of color, and the planet all at once. read more>>>

Guest opinion: Clean energy will provide jobs, savings for Montana

December 12, 2014 - Montana is bursting with opportunity in the clean energy sector. A recent report by Synapse Energy Economics for the Montana Environmental Information Center showed we can create thousands of jobs by developing our vast renewable energy resources and helping people make their homes and businesses more energy efficient.
An energy efficiency consulting firm commissioned by NorthWestern Energy found that energy efficiency programs save customers about $20 million each year. In terms of job creation, renewable energy in Montana is responsible for creating over 1,300 construction jobs, nearly 100 permanent jobs, and generating over $6 million in tax revenue and over $1 billion in new investments. Clean energy is not just good for the environment; it’s good for the economy. read more>>>

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New solar projects to power thousands of Larimer homes

December 12, 2014 - Colorado's 300 days of sunshine are helping nourish a new Fort Collins crop that should keep growing.
A handful of solar gardens set to produce enough electricity to power thousands of homes are planned or under construction in Larimer County, thanks to a favorable economic climate, maturation of the solar industry and increased support among municipalities and utilities.
The additional electricity generated by the sun, coupled with what wind and water already deliver, is increasing the region's renewable energy portfolio while decreasing its reliance on fossil fuels, a mandate from an increasing number of cities and residents. read more>>>

A Pacific Coast model for addressing climate change

11 December 2014 - The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru, is wrapping up Friday after 12 days of negotiations on global carbon emissions.
Yet, even as we work through the complexities of an international agreement, it would be a mistake to miss the extensive change that's already taking place here on North America's Pacific Coast. Last year, our four governments — the states of California, Oregon and Washington and the Province of British Columbia — reached a landmark agreement to align climate and energy strategies for 54 million Americans and Canadians. read more>>>

California Heading For 500,000 Clean Energy Jobs

December 12, 2014 - California’s booming clean energy industry currently employs nearly 450,000 people and is tipped to reach the half million mark within a year, according to a first-of-its-kind survey of America’s advanced energy sector.
The current number is more than the film, TV, radio, semiconductors and aerospace industries.
The survey, released by the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, found that 431,000 Californians (2.4 per cent of the state’s workforce) are involved in servicing advanced energy technologies, such as solar and wind power, electric vehicles and energy efficiency.
Advanced energy jobs grew five per cent in the past year – more than double the overall state job growth rate – and based on employer hiring plans is on track to grow 17 per cent in the coming year read more>>>

Poll: Oregonians of all stripes support renewable energy

Dec 11, 2014 - Oregonians strongly support renewable energy, according to a poll commissioned by A Renewable America, a project of the Wind Energy Foundation.
The poll, released Tuesday, found 82 percent of Oregonians support renewable energy and a sizable population sees wind and solar as a key toward energy and economic independence.
The poll was conducted in November by Winston Group, which surveyed 750 registered voters, with an oversample of 285 registered voters in the 2nd Congressional District, Oregon's most conservative. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 2 December 2014

2014-12-02T08:02:00.001-08:00

Editorial: Florida, nation cannot ignore climate change

November 28, 2014 - No one needs to be a scientist to grasp the dire implications that a warming Earth poses to everyday life. That's the message from the latest in a yearlong series of reports from the world's leading science body, which finds that climate change is "clear and growing" and an immediate risk to people and ecosystems. The report should be wakeup call to industrial nations and coastal states such as Florida to start seriously addressing climate change before the impacts pose even greater threats to security, population centers and the food and water supply.
The report released last month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an agency formed by the United Nations that brings 195-member states together with the world's leading scientists, found that manmade emissions of greenhouse gases were the highest in history, that warming is unequivocally happening and that the changes since the 1950s have been the greatest in thousands of years. read more>>>

Florida “Gutting” Energy Efficiency Goals, Terminating Solar Power Rebates

November 30th, 2014 - Florida’s state regulators have approved the previously put forward proposals to completely gut the state’s energy efficiency goals and to end its solar rebate programs by the end of 2015, according to recent reports.
The approval means that the state’s major, investor-owned utility companies have more or less gotten exactly what they wanted — energy efficiency goals will be cut by over 90%, and the state will cease supporting rooftop solar at all.
The decision came, reportedly, after about two hours of debate — with members of the state Public Service Commission voting 3–2 in favor of the proposal that had, ultimately, backing from Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, and Florida Power & Light. read more>>>

The GOP's strategy to block Obama’s regs

11/30/14 - The GOP is preparing to mount a full-scale assault on President Obama’s regulatory agenda, using the party’s strengthened hand in Congress to delay, soften or block contentious administration rules at every turn.
As long as Obama sits atop the executive branch, Republicans’ power to derail scores of rulemaking efforts now under way is limited. But control of both the House and Senate in the next Congress will enable GOP lawmakers to ratchet up their attacks on what they view as overzealous regulation.
“So long as we have this president the federal agencies can go around Congress," said Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) "But we can make it very, very difficult for them." read more>>>

Report: climate change to impact severity and frequency of extreme weather

November 28th, 2014 - Both the severity and frequency of extreme weather events are likely to increase because of climate change, according to a report from the Royal Society. The study argues that action needs to be taken now to reduce future vulnerabilities.
The report – Resilience to extreme weather – highlights the impact extreme weather has had in past decades. Between 1980 and 2004 the economic cost of dealing with extreme weather is estimated to stand at $1.4 trillion (£890bn), with climate change likely to increase extreme weather, from floods to droughts, and the world’s population growing this figures will continue to rise in the future. read more>>>

China at forefront of clean-energy market

Nov. 30 2014 - China has emerged as the leader in the race to dominate the fast-growing, global clean-energy market, an economic strategy that promises to deliver huge dividends as world governments work toward an agreement to rein in greenhouse gases in the battle against climate change.
China is leaving its competitors in its wake as all countries look to gain advantage in the emerging low-carbon economy, according to new analysis by Ottawa consultant Céline Bak.
That commercial success, in turn, is contributing a new openness to a global treaty that would bind China to its commitment to halt the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. read more>>>

Idaho Power to greatly expand its solar resources

November 19, 2014 - Idaho Power is adding a lot of solar to its renewable energy portfolio lately. Idaho regulators okayed two contracts Friday and neighboring Oregon approved three that will generate 60 megawatts of electricity the utility will buy.
Idaho Power has about 500,000 customers in its territory that spans southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. The utility also has asked the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to approve an additional 11 solar developments that could generate 281 megawatts of power and add 460 megawatts of solar by sometime in 2016.
An Idaho Power spokespersib said the utility would have 1,253 megawatts in total new renewable energy added. Renewable sources account for 37 percent of its energy mix, according to an Idaho Statesman article. read more>>>

Financing renewable energy in international markets

25.11.2014 - Just in time for the fourth Renewable Energy Industry Day, the consulting firm Rödl & Partner (link is external) has published a study on financing renewable energy in international markets. The study explains how the underlying conditions in 17 international markets differ due to legal and economic circumstances.
For the study, Rödl & Partner interviewed experts at its various subsidiaries on how they assess market entry opportunities, investment opportunities and framework conditions for renewable energies in their regions. The authors focused primarily on the following areas: political development goals, the degree of liberalisation of the market for renewable energy production, current consumer prices, the legal framework for investment decisions, the existence of funding systems, security of investment, financing conditions for investments, and the political and social acceptance of renewable energies. The study also includes a market assessment by the Unicredit Group. read more>>>

Solar and Wind Energy are Finally Cheaper than Fossil Fuels in the United States

11/24/14 - Solar and wind energy have long struggled to compete with conventional energy sources on two fronts: dispatch and cost. However, new U.S. industry data outlined in the New York Times reveals the cost of these renewable energy sources has fallen dramatically in the last five years, making them competitive with — and sometimes even undercutting — fossil fuel-sourced energy.
The New York Times reports the closing of the gap in costs has particularly accelerated in 2014, according to utility executives. In the Great Plains and Southwest regions, companies are signing power purchase agreements for renewables at rates below that of natural gas. While subsidies are still contributing to reduced prices for renewables, in September, 2014, financial advisory firm Lazard released figures demonstrating that wind and commercial solar PVs could still be competitive with gas and coal without the subsidies. read more>>>

Nanotechnology in the 'green' economy - opportunities and risks

Nov 18, 2014 - There is a general perception that nanotechnologies will have a significant impact on developing 'green' and 'clean' technologies with considerable environmental benefits. The associated concept of green nanotechnology aims to exploit nanotech-enabled innovations in materials science and engineering to generate products and processes that are energy efficient as well as economically and environmentally sustainable. These applications are expected to impact a large range of economic sectors, such as energy production and storage, clean up-technologies, as well as construction and related infrastructure industries.
A recent review article in Environmental Health ("Opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology in the green economy") examines opportunities and practical challenges that nanotechnology applications pose in addressing the guiding principles for a green economy. read more>>>

Italy bets on green economy

11/18/2014 - As much as 10.2% of the Italian economy is related to green economy that has provided €101 billion added value together with 234 thousand new jobs in 2014 alone. This data is reported in GreenItaly 2014, the yearly report on green economy prepared by Unioncamere and Symbola Foundation.
According to the report, over one company out of five has bet on green economy since the beginning of the crisis, with the purpose of creating innovation, research, knowledge, quality and beauty. There are 341,500 Italian companies in the industry and service sectors that, since 2008, have invested in green technologies to reduce the environmental impact, save energy or limit carbon dioxide emissions. This percentage reaches 33% in the manufacturing industry. read more>>>

The green economy works

2014-11-24 - As far as I’m concerned, the prospect of a planet not wrecked by run-away climate chaos is enough of an incentive to have us move from our existing, dirty, fossil fuel driven economy to a greener, low-carbon alternative.
But if you’re not persuaded by such sentimental treehuggery and require cold, hard figures involving rands, cents and job creation statistics, read on.
Last month, a study released by the Imperial College London Business School showed that public policies which encourage innovation in businesses that use clean technologies – think electric cars and wind mills – lead to greater positive impacts on economic growth than the polluting industries they replace, because green tech innovations tend to result in more frequent knowledge ‘spillovers’ in which novel developments benefit not only the originator but many other companies as well. read more>>>

Air quality in Europe - 2014 report

Nov. 19, 2014 - Despite considerable improvements in the past decades, Europe is still far from achieving levels of air quality that do not pose unacceptable risks to humans and the environment. Air pollution is the top environmental risk factor of premature death in Europe; it increases the incidence of a wide range of diseases and has several environmental impacts, damaging vegetation and ecosystems. This constitutes a substantial loss for Europe: for its natural systems, its agriculture, its economy, the productivity of its workforce, and the health of Europeans. The effects of poor air quality have been felt most strongly in two main areas. Firstly, inhabitants in urban areas have experienced significant health problems. Secondly, air pollution has led to impaired vegetation growth in ecosystems and agriculture, as well as to biodiversity loss, for example in grassland ecosystems, due to eutrophication. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 27 November 2014

2014-11-27T02:33:00.003-08:00

UAE serious about green economy, says UN official

November 23, 2014 - The UAE is taking seriously the transition to a greener economy by setting targets to increase the use of renewable energy, said a spokesperson for the United Nations Development Programme.
Helen Clark, a UN undersecretary general and administrator for UNDP, said the UAE had made great progress in this area, including having sustainable plans for Expo2020 and the building of Masdar City.
“We have been associated with the Green Economy Conference in Dubai, the Carbon Centre of Excellence, Carbon Ambassadors, and many other initiatives, and I hope we can keep the strong collaboration going,” she said in an interview with state news agency Wam on Sunday, on the eve of the publication of the UAE State of Energy Report. read more>>>

High school Habitat builders learn about sustainable construction

November 22, 2014 - The students became the teachers at Virginia Tech’s Bishop-Favrao Hall, home to the building construction program.
“I’m just here to facilitate,” Tech wood engineering professor Dan Hindman said.
The event last week brought together juniors and seniors from Hindman’s green building systems class with local high school students from Christiansburg and Giles. The idea was to inspire not only career paths, but also work on a Habitat for Humanity project that will eventually house two needy families. read more>>>

Data centers considering renewable energy to control costs

November 24, 2014 - With energy costs weighing them down, data centers are considering renewable energy as one of the top emerging technologies to address power and cooling costs, according to a Mortenson survey. Of corporate data center executives, data center developers and operators, and information technology providers surveyed at the 2014 Data Center World conference, 84 percent said they needed to consider renewable forms of energy, such as wind and solar, to manage future needs.
Power and cooling considerations are the most important factors determining location, design and construction of data facilities. In fact, survey respondents said what they would most like to change about their facilities is energy efficiency. Nearly half of the participants also believe a better Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating is achievable through improved technologies. read more>>>

Two Years After Sandy, the Conversation Around Energy Resiliency Still Going Strong

November 22, 2014 - Last week, EDF co-hosted a successful first-of-its-kind Resilience Finance Symposium in New Jersey, attended by about 120 participants from a wide spectrum of public and private entities in the state, region, and country.
Held on November 12 with Governor Christie’s Administration and the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture + Design, the all-day Resilience Finance Symposium: Building Resilient and Sustainable Energy Solutions for New Jersey’s Key Infrastructure featured a series of panels on solutions that help keep the lights and heat on during critical times, like microgrids and energy storage, as well as innovative ways of financing resilient energy systems. read more>>>

U.S. Green Building Council, founded by Syracuse's Rick Fedrizzi, receives UN's top environmental award

November 21, 2014 - The United Nations has honored the U.S. Green Building Council, co-founded by Syracuse's Rick Fedrizzi, with its top environmental award.
The UN's Champions of the Earth award is usually given to an individual. However, it was given Wednesday to the Green Building Council for its contribution to sustainable building through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system.
"We see it as a signal that the sustainability of buildings is increasingly being treated as a critical environmental and socio-economic issue, not just in the U.S. but across the world," said Fedrizzi, the council's CEO and founding chair. read more>>>

Microgrids and On-Site Power Offer Relief to an Aging Electricity Grid

November 24, 2014 - Most people remember the Northeast blackout of 2003 that affected some 55 million people in the United States and Ontario, Canada. In that case, a software issue in an alarm system in a control room of FirstEnergy Corp. FE, +0.57% was cited as the source of what could have been a localized blackout that cascaded for hundreds of square miles. There has also been the stark awareness of weakness in the power system through superstorms, such as Hurricane Sandy that bombarded the East Coast last year, signaling that the problem actually runs deeper and points to an aging national electricity grid system that can leave the U.S. susceptible to power outages. Greater recognition of potential outages, whether completely justified or not, of an overworked grid, cyberthreats, brutal weather and even things like squirrels (yes, squirrels) are helping spawn acceptance of new technologies and microgrids that give communities more control of power while reducing stress on the existing grid. As the grid evolves into being less centralized, conglomerates involved in utilities such as General Electric GE, -0.17% will certainly play a role, but a bigger upside may reside in smaller companies with green technologies, including solar plays SolarCity SCTY, -0.67% and First Solar FSLR, +1.14% and Combined Heat and Power firms like Tecogen TGEN, -3.78% in a multiple-win for more consistent power and reduced emissions. read more>>>

UK pledges to help hardest hit by climate change

20 November 2014 - The UK has committed up to £720 million to the Green Climate Fund, joining other major economies to help developing countries adapt to climate change and go low-carbon.
The funds will target developing countries, including the most vulnerable, to help them adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UK contribution is drawn from existing funds earmarked for international climate work under the UK’s commitment for 0.7 percent of gross national income to overseas development assistance. The climate fund now stands at around $9 billion, including $3 billion from the US, $1.5billion from Japan, $1billion from Germany, and $1billion from France. read more>>>

CT community combines ancient Greek and modern hydropower technology

November 21, 2014 - Meriden, Connecticut has taken an interesting approach to shaving its electric bills by generating power from water that normally would spill over a dam. A project is underway to take advantage of technology commonly attributed to Archimedes.
Referred to as screw generator technology, it involves sinking a large screw underground adjacent to the dam. Water that would normally spill over the top of the dam is channeled to the screw which propels it to turn and generate electricity.
The community anticipates that the screw generator-equipped Hanover dam will generate up to 900,000 kilowatts (.9 megawatts) of power and save almost $20,000 every year in electricity costs and associated property taxes over 20 years, according to the Record Journal. The electricity will be sent to the Connecticut Light & Power electric grid and the city will buy it back. read more>>>

More than 2,250 new jobs in British wind industry

21.11.2014 - New figures, revealed in RenewableUK (link is external)’s annual report Wind Energy in the UK (link is external), show that the number of people directly employed in the wind energy industry in the UK – excluded small wind – has increased by more than 6,300 in four years, rising from 9,100 in 2010 to 15,400 in 2014. The report also shows that the number of indirect jobs (for example supplying components) has increased by 8 % since September 2013 to nearly 15,000 jobs. This means that more than 30,400 people owe their livelihoods to wind in the UK, mainly in STEM careers (based on qualifications in science, technology, engineering and maths). More than 2,250 direct and indirect jobs in onshore and offshore wind have been created in just over 12 months.
To coincide with the new report, the Energy Secretary Edward Davey helped RenewableUK to launch a new campaign, Faces of Wind Energy (link is external), at its annual conference in Manchester. read more>>>

Nigeria: 'Green Economy, an Inclusive Means to Sustainable National Development

20 November 2014 - Green economy policies have been identified by experts as the nation's power of transition as it is capable of eradicating poverty as well as sustained economic growth, enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare, creating opportunities for employment and decent work for all, while maintaining the healthy functioning of the earths ecosystems.
The Guest lecturer at the 14th Memorial Lecture in honour of Prof. Anthony Adegbola and National President, Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists, Prof. Peter Okuneye noted that the adoption of the green economy has the potential to take Nigeria out of rising poverty in the face of bourgeoning population, increasing risk of food insecurity and environmental degradation thereby urging governments at all levels to incentivise such policies by providing enabling conditions, setting high standards across all sectors as well as running its own operations in a consistent, green and ethical manner. read more>>>

BMW i3 wins Green Car of the Year award

November 20, 2014 - BMW's i3 on Thursday became the first electric car to be named Green Car of the Year, the top honor among automakers developing eco-friendly cars gathered here at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
It wasn't just the car itself that led to the victory, but BMW's entire strategy around sustainable transportation, says Ron Cogan, publisher of the Green Car Journal, which sponsors the award, in a statement. BMW used innovative technologies, materials and construction methods in the making of the i3, not just the fact that it is electric.
"BMW's i3 is a milestone vehicle in many respects and illustrates the automaker's expansive vision of future motoring," says Cogan in a statement. read more>>>

Sustainable buildings good for today and future generations

November 21 2014 - Awareness of sustainable construction among developers remains low but efforts continue to promote the advantages of green buildings.
Indonesia is witnessing rapid urban development, with residential buildings mushrooming, as residents are eager to live better and more comfortably.
However, the development activities are frequently conducted at the expense of the environment as buildings are known as the source of carbon emissions.
Uncontrolled urban development activities that produce carbon emissions will lead to severe environmental degradation, which will affect future generations. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 25 November 2014

2014-11-25T03:51:00.000-08:00

Congress must not let wind energy jobs blow away

November 20, 2014 - The winds that froze Americans a week after the midterm elections could help solve the problems voters told pollsters most concerned them – jobs and the economy.
Those winds that whipped snow across the country’s midsection could be harnessed to create clean electrical power and family-supporting jobs across the country.
Wind energy provides a powerful success story. In 2012, wind was our nation’s fastest-growing source of new electrical capacity. Wind power is a clean, renewable energy source that produces no greenhouse gases or air pollution and consumes virtually no water. As its share of our nation’s energy mix increases, we’re also protecting our planet. read more>>>

10 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint This Thanksgiving

11/20/2014 - Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday for many. It's a time to eat, indulge and spend uninterrupted time with family.
It's also a time for reflection. A time to think about what we're thankful for and a time to think about how the choices we make impact our families and the planet.
Although every day provides an opportunity for reflection and change, Thanksgiving stands out as the perfect day to kick off a few new habits that will effect the longevity of our planet. If each of us revamped our consumption and waste habits by slightly adjusting what's already in place, the overall impact could be huge.
Here are a few tips for the Thanksgiving holiday that will reduce our carbon footprint and help keep the planet healthy for generations to come. read more>>>

Obama's Climate Deal in Beijing Makes a Global Agreement in Paris Likelier

November 20, 2014 - When Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping announced a pact on Nov. 11 to control their nations’ pollution, they answered long-standing calls from other countries for leadership in global warming diplomacy. Obama pledged that the U.S. will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to at least 26 percent below its 2005 levels by 2025. China said it expects its emissions to peak by 2030, and it will increase the share of power produced from noncarbon sources such as nuclear and solar to 20 percent. Critics were quick to call their actions insufficient or superficial, but the move signaled each nation’s commitment to steps they’ve already taken on their own—and trust that each will continue to make progress.
Both leaders had more than their own emissions in mind. read more>>>

The Ohio green-energy jobs report that, shamefully, stayed buried until now: editorial

November 20, 2014 - If you believe coincidence explains how the Statehouse works, there's no mystery about the bureaucratic stall given to a $435,000 report on green energy jobs in Ohio. But you also have no sense of smell.
The Columbus Dispatch revealed Sunday that a report commissioned in 2012 by the state's Development Services Agency, finished early in 2013, found Ohio had more than 31,000 "alternative energy economy jobs." That's 25 percent more than the 25,000 jobs that clean-energy proponents cited last spring in a losing fight to keep clean-energy standards on schedule. read more>>>

Wind energy provides more than 2/3 of US capacity in October

November 24, 2014 - According to the latest "Energy Infrastructure Update" report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Office of Energy Projects, wind power provided over two-thirds (68.41%) of new U.S. electrical generating capacity in October 2014. Specifically, five wind farms in Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, and Texas came on line last month, accounting for 574MW of new capacity.
In addition, seven "units" of biomass (102MW) and five units of solar (31MW) came into service accounting for 12.16% and 3.69% of new capacity respectively. The balance came from three units of natural gas (132MW - 15.73%). read more>>>

Podesta: Next president could make or break US climate plans

21 November 2014 - The next US president needs to be an Obama-style climate hawk for the country to have any hope of controlling its carbon emissions.
That’s the warning of John Podesta, one of Obama’s senior advisors and likely manager of Hilary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Podesta, who is widely believed to be the brains behind White House plans to cap greenhouse gas emissions of power plants, made the warning in an interview on Bloomberg TV. read more>>>

Report: Wind power saves $1.2 billion each year

November 22, 2014 - A trade association says that wind power saved electricity customers in Oklahoma and surrounding states more than $1.2 billion last year.
The American Wind Energy Association analyzed hourly data from the Southwest Power Pool in 2013 and calculated when wind turbines were used to generate electricity, The Oklahoman reported. The pool operates the electric grid and plans transmission for 6.2 million households in parts of nine states.
Since wind is free after the turbines are installed, most of the consumer savings came from avoided fuel costs at coal or natural gas plants. But the association says wind power also saved water and reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. read more>>>

Solar and Wind Energy Start to Win on Price vs. Conventional Fuels

NOV. 23, 2014 - For the solar and wind industries in the United States, it has been a long-held dream: to produce energy at a cost equal to conventional sources like coal and natural gas.
That day appears to be dawning.
The cost of providing electricity from wind and solar power plants has plummeted over the last five years, so much so that in some markets renewable generation is now cheaper than coal or natural gas.
Utility executives say the trend has accelerated this year, with several companies signing contracts, known as power purchase agreements, for solar or wind at prices below that of natural gas, especially in the Great Plains and Southwest, where wind and sunlight are abundant. read more>>>

Smart grid technology business booming

November 19, 2014 - The smart grid is becoming big business, driven by the need for a more responsive, automated global power grid. With the past two years seeing rapid technological advancements and shifting priorities among industry players, as well as a clearer picture of the quantifiable benefits of smart grid technology like improved grid reliability and economics, business is booming.
In fact, Navigant Research predicts that worldwide revenue from smart grid technologies is expected to grow from $44.1 billion in 2014 to $70.2 billion in 2023. read more>>>

Energy storage clusters driving CA clean tech sector

November 19, 2014 - Northern California is leveraging its forward-looking policies and innovative clean tech entrepreneurs to drive clean tech innovation and build the state's clean economy, with certain regions carving out specialized niches in the global clean tech sector, according to research from nonpartisan nonprofit Next 10.
For example, the San Francisco Bay region's culture of innovation and entrepreneurship is sparking a revolution in clean transportation and energy storage, with the area leading the nation in electric vehicles and cutting-edge energy storage technologies, according to the group. read more>>>

Renewable Energy Helps Older Adults Live a Better Life

12 November 2014 - I used to think about aging as something that happened to other people, but it would never happen to me, at least not for a long time. But time passes so quickly when you are raising a family and establishing a career, and now I suddenly find myself in my 60s and eligible for social security payments. Where did the time go?
As a bona fide older adult, I have taken a new interest in the challenges facing retired people and whether renewable energy can help us live a better life. One difficulty facing older adults is the high cost of maintaining a household, including utility bills. This is a particular problem in the U.S., where nearly 10 percent of adults age 65 and older live below the poverty level, and many others have incomes not much higher. read more>>>

Smoke and Mirrors

September 2014 - We've all passed them on the highway: towering oil refineries, their smokestacks billowing gray smoke, looking both majestic and ominous against the sky. With his recent series Land Scape, artist and commercial photographer David LaChapelle departs from his trademark portraits of celebrities and models to focus on our national dependence on oil, featuring representations of these mammoth structures in his signature glossy, color-saturated style. "The refineries are these things—these symbols of our use of fossil fuels—that have allowed the population and the planet to grow, but to a point where we are not really sustainable," says LaChapelle.
Land Scape grew out of an earlier series focusing on gas stations. For that project, the artist hand built models of the structures and photographed them in the Maui jungle. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 21 November 2014

2014-11-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Abu Dhabi Energy Company Aims for Solar-Powered Travel

NOV. 18, 2014 - Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, is hosting the first attempt at a round-the-world flight by a solar-powered aircraft, due to start from the emirate in March.
The Solar Impulse experimental flight program is one of a slew of international projects in which Masdar has invested, reinforcing its status as a pioneer in solar energy innovation.
“We wanted to demonstrate the viability of this revolutionary clean technology,” said Ahmad Belhoul, who took over as chief executive of Masdar, a unit of Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi government’s investment arm, in March. “There have been successful internal flights, but the idea is to have global travel that is exclusively powered by solar energy.” read more>>>

Renewable energy could power 29 million US homes by 2030, new analysis finds

19 Nov 2014 - The US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to curb carbon pollution from power plants overestimates the electric power industry’s compliance costs by as much as $9 billion, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council report published today.
Using current data, the report shows, the power sector and its customers could actually save nearly $2 billion in 2020 while meeting the EPA’s carbon reduction targets.
In its first detailed analysis of the agency’s Clean Power Plan, NRDC found that greater reliance on renewable sources of energy and on using energy more efficiently would produce substantial savings to the industry — and to its millions of customers. read more>>>

China to Place Limit on Coal Use in 2020

NOV. 20, 2014 - China plans to set a cap on coal consumption in 2020, an important step for the country in trying to achieve a recently announced goal of having carbon dioxide emissions peak by around 2030.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, released details of an energy strategy late Wednesday that includes capping coal consumption at 4.2 billion tons in 2020 and having coal be no more than 62 percent of the primary energy mix by that year.
Worldwide, coal burning for industrial use is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, which are the biggest catalyst of global climate change. China is the biggest emitter of greenhouses gases in the world, and it uses as much coal each year as the rest of the world combined. read more>>>

Ask Arizona tribes: We need clean power

November 19, 2014 - As the governor of New Mexico for eight years, I understand the challenges facing Native American communities and in particular how climate change disproportionately affects these communities.
As a former U.S. Energy secretary, I also have an intimate understanding of the benefits and opportunities that accrue from policies that help us transition to cleaner sources of energy.
The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its Clean Power Plan this year, the most significant policy to date for addressing carbon pollution from power plants, the primary cause of climate change in the U.S. read more>>>

Amazon Vows to Run on 100 Percent Renewable Energy

11.19.14 - Apple made the pledge. So did Google and Facebook. But Amazon stayed silent.
Over the past few years, Apple, Google, and Facebook pledged to run their online empires on renewable energy, and considering how large these empires have become—how many data centers and machines are now required to keep them going—this was a vital thing. But despite pressure from the likes of Greenpeace, the environmental activism organization, the other big internet name, Amazon, didn’t budge.
That all changed on Wednesday. With a post on its website, Amazon’s cloud computing division—Amazon Web Services—said it has a “long-term commitment to achieve 100 percent renewable energy usage for our global infrastructure footprint.” read more>>>

Report: Sacramento residential solar grew six fold in six years

Nov 19, 2014 - The capital region grew its residential solar capacity by six-fold over six years and eclipsed the rest of California in energy efficiency during the same time period, according to a new report by the nonprofit Next10 and consultancy firm Collaborative Economics.
Per capita energy efficiency for Sacramento-area residential homes improved six percent between 2006 and 2012, from 3.54 megawatt hours per person to 3.34 megawatt hours per person, according to the report's author. read more>>>

Affordable Solar Power Could Be Just One 3M Employee Away

Nov 13, 2014 - Those who happen to know one of the 40,000 3M workers across North America can now power down their own utility bills using 3M’s hefty discount on solar panels.
3M is expanding its revolutionary employee solar program to include friends and family, significantly broadening the number of homeowners across the U.S. and Canada who’ll be able to get solar at a reduced rate and take advantage of clean, renewable energy.
"We are so thrilled to give our friends and families the first opportunity on such a progressive initiative," said Gayle Schueller, 3M's vice president of global sustainability, who announced the program’s expansion before hundreds of attendees at the annual Net Impact sustainability conference this weekend in Minneapolis. "Employee feedback has been robust, and we are eager to share this tremendous benefit with others.” read more>>>

Burundi: Launch of the Green Economy Fund

14 November 2014 - On 30 October 2014, the Economic Community of Central African States established a Fund for a Green Economy in Kinshasa (DRC). The fund is meant to regulate the timber industry and protect biodiversity.
According to Remy Ndayishimiye, Communication Officer in the Ministry of Environment, Water, Land and Urban Planning, talk of a Green Economy Fund started at the Congo Basin partnership meeting in 2012. Banks, NGOs, public and private institutions came together to discuss how to protect Central African forests. "Different countries gathered in COMIFAC (the African Forests' Commission, ed.) realised that there wasn't any commitment towards the creation of a Green Economy fund", says Ndayishimiye. read more>>>

Jordanian authorities transform Amman into a green city

2014-11-14 - Efforts are under way in Jordan to transform the capital Amman into a green city and move the kingdom towards a green economy, officials told Al-Shorfa.
These efforts come as Amman takes on duties as one of the newest members of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a network of the world's megacities committed to addressing climate change.
In October, Amman was named a member of the C40 Cities "in recognition of the measures the capital has adopted for improving the city's environment, infrastructure and public transport", The Jordan Times reported. read more>>>

Fukushima Radioactive Cesium Found Off California Coast

November 11, 2014 - In California waters for the first time, scientists have detected trace amounts of signature radioactive compounds from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami off Japan’s Pacific coast.
The radioactivity came from water samples collected and sent in August to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts for analysis by a group of volunteers on the research vessel Point Sur sailing between Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and Eureka, California.
Collected 100 miles (150 km) due west of Eureka, the water samples were found to contain the specific form of radioactivity released into the ocean by the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi – cesium-134. read more>>>

Much maligned DOE energy loan program turning a profit

November 14, 2014 - When solar panel makers went bankrupt in 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and President Obama were hit with massive criticism because of the agency's approval of $535 million in federal loan guarantees to Silicon Valley startup Solyndra, a solar panel maker with an unusual technology that found itself unable to compete in the market.
A few more bankruptcies followed. When Congress developed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, there was no intention for it to be a profitable program, and $10 billion was specifically dedicated because of the assumption that there would be failures. The program really got underway when Congress authorized considerable funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Despite the money set aside for failures, the criticism was intense and drawn out when some companies defaulted.
But to the surprise of many, the loan program is turning a profit. It was never dismantled or canceled, although it did go into hibernation mode following the bankruptcies. read more>>>

Open House Hosted for 'Green' Maplewood Fire and Police Station

11/14/2014 - The Maplewood Fire and Police Departments are inviting the public to come check out their new environmentally-friendly station during an open house Saturday.
The new station will replace Fire Station 1 on Century Avenue North and includes four apparatus bays, departmental offices, staff support spaces and a new police substation. Construction on the station began in April. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 19 November 2014

2014-11-19T03:37:00.001-08:00

Tiny Batteries Could Revolutionize Green Energy

Nanotechnology could dramatically improve energy storage for electronics, cars, and buildings.
November 17, 2014 - Tiny is big in the quest to build batteries that store more energy for cars, buildings, and personal electronics.
Nanosize batteries that are 80,000 times thinner than a human hair represent a promising new front. They could advance the use of electric vehicles, now limited by short driving ranges, and of renewable energy, which needs storage for times when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine.
The latest breakthrough: a "nanopore" that's the ultimate in miniaturization. It's a hole in a ceramic sheet, no thicker than a grain of salt, that contains all the components a battery needs to produce electric current. One billion of these holes, connected in a honeycomb fashion, could fit on a postage stamp. read more>>>

Largest African Solar Energy Plant Comes Online In South Africa

November 11, 2014 - SolarReserve, a leading global developer of utility-scale solar power projects and advanced solar thermal technology, today announced that the 96 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) Jasper solar power project completed construction and is fully operational, almost two months ahead of schedule. Jasper is located in South Africa's Northern Cape in a solar park that also includes the 75 MW Lesedi solar power project which came online in May, and the proposed 100 MW Redstone concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plant featuring SolarReserve's industry-leading CSP technology with integrated energy storage.
The Jasper Project generated about 1 million man-hours during construction, peaking at over 800 on-site construction jobs. As part of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP), the project will set aside a percentage of total project revenues for Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development for the benefit of the local communities. read more>>>

INFOGRAPHIC: Could the Entire World Really Run on Solar Power?

11/10/14 - It’s pretty safe to say that we all know that we have to find an alternative to fossil fuels as soon as possible, and the most viable answer to the planet’s energy needs is visible to us any time we look upward. The amount of solar energy that hits just 1 square mile of this planet over the course of a year is equal to 4 million barrels of oil, and the energy that hits the Earth in a mere 40 minutes can fuel all of humanity’s energy needs for a year. Isn’t that incredible? Check out the infographic below to learn more about all the ways that solar power is the way to go, and how we can go about making it a reality worldwide. read more>>>

Building Know-How For A Sustainable Future

November 11, 2014 – Southface, a founding member organization of EarthShare Georgia, has been approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to accept veteran education benefits from those who have served in the military, who are currently on active duty, or are dependents of a disabled or deceased veteran for over 90 percent of Southface courses. Qualifying students will receive a 100 percent tuition reimbursement on Southface courses and associated certification exams that prepare students for careers in the green building sector.
The most recent employment numbers show that opportunities are improving across the nation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the September 2014 national unemployment rate of 5.9 percent is the lowest it has been since the beginning of the Great Recession. However, this downward trend is not distributed equally across the states. Georgia has the highest unemployment rate of any state in the nation, tipping the scales at 7.9 percent. read more>>>

Co-ops growing solar in 34 states

November 11, 2014 - Solar development by electric cooperatives has great potential for expansion and is growing rapidly. Member-owned, not-for-profit co-ops currently have online or are planning to develop 240 MW of owned and purchased solar capacity in 34 states.
Co-ops are making significant investments in renewable resource generation, using loans from the Rural Utilities Service and other sources. With solar becoming more cost-competitive, electric co-ops are poised to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in new projects. read more>>>

Solar industry bounces back after recession

November 11, 2014 - Through a combination of a more robust economy, falling production costs, consumer demand and other factors, solar industry growth is accelerating quickly. Residential and commercial solar dropped substantially during the housing bubble of a few years ago but have been roaring back.
While utility-scale solar still accounts for a very small amount of the country's total power generation, it doubled in 2013 and is expected to do so again by the end of 2015, with about two-thirds of that generation coming from California, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And customer-sited photovoltaic capacity (rooftop solar installations) is expected to exceed utility-scale solar between 2013 and 2015. read more>>>

Urban Farming Takes Root in Downtown Los Angeles

11/12/2014 - Amid the rooftops of downtown's Financial District , basil, parsley and vegetables line a raised-bed garden. The 6th floor plot, part of a trend of urban farming in downtown Los Angeles , serves a restaurant at the members-only Jonathan Club .
"This was a dream of mine since I was a kid," said Matthew Allnatt , Jonathan Club's chief operating officer, who on Tuesday showed off the garden to a group from a UCLA conference on sustainable agriculture.
Started in 2010, the garden was expanded last year. The fruits, herbs and vegetables are used by chefs at The Grill, the Jonathan Club's restaurant.
Urban farming isn't new in downtown. Blue Velvet, a now-shuttered City West restaurant, launched a vegetable garden on its roof in 2009. Residents in the Biscuit Lofts, a brick loft building in the Arts District , also launched a community garden in 2009. read more>>>

At World Sustainable Building Conference in Barcelona, a Global Call for Energy-Efficiency

11/09/2014 - In this Mediterranean port city where Antoni Gaudi's surreal architectural masterpieces have forever altered the skyline and raised expectations, an international gathering of sustainable building experts has plotted changes to the world's built landscape that could be as revolutionary and even more transformational.
Meeting in the architectural shadow of Gaudi's inimitable Sagrada Familia church, a parade of presenters and leaders at the World Sustainable Building Conference called for an urgent and widely replicable "green building" response to a looming world housing crisis that has potentially grave impacts on climate change.
"This is like the Kyoto for building, and the building sector for Kyoto ," said Antonio Lucio Gil , the conference's global vision chair, referring to the 1997 conference in Japan that set global greenhouse gas reduction goals. read more>>>

Europe’s Largest Solar Power Plant Under Construction in France

November 10, 2014 - New massive solar power plant is about to make France a serious contender for the ever-so-wanted title of ‘Europe’s greatest’ in renewable energy. Constructed and managed by the French-based firm Neoen, the biggest solar power plant is set to begin full operation in one year from now.
Over the past few years, the renewable energy sector in Europe has blossomed. Various projects are now in full operation and every new one is bigger and better than the previous. Germany plays a big role in this, as there was a moment in time earlier this year when they were making it to the news with record breaking statistics every other day. But while they are picking the fruits of their success, others are quietly catching up. read more>>>

Report: The demand for green homes isn't going anywhere

November 10, 2014 - Consumers often are willing to pay more for homes and products from a builder who is committed to protecting the environment, a Nielsen poll shows. So builders who are hoping to tap the market for green homes—which will double by 2016, McGraw Hill Construction estimates—are well-advised to make that commitment, and to make the case to energy-and environmentally conscious house hunters that they’re buying from a builder who cares about the same things their customers do. read more>>>

Eden Project partners with Good Energy to promote renewables

10 November 2014 - The UK’s Eden Project environmental centre has teamed up with its new power supplier, Good Energy, to help visitors understand how their energy use affects the environment.
The Eden Project now obtains all its electricity from Good Energy which sources its supplies from renewable projects such as the Delabole Wind Farm in Cornwall and other renewable energy projects. The environmental centre is now actively working with Good Energy in order to engage and inspire visitors to reconnect with where the energy they use comes from. The Eden Project is intending to develop a fun learning programme for visitors which could include energy-themed exhibitions and displays, workshops, and short courses. read more>>>

IRENA opens council meeting amid global calls for expanding renewable energy

07 November 2014 - The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) gathered representatives from over 90 countries in Abu Dhabi to review and recommend actions to scale-up renewable energy around the world.
The two-day meeting opened on the heels of the release of the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which recommended the decarbonisation of the world’s energy mix by 2100.
“Any solution to address climate change requires a massive scale-up in renewable energy,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “And as momentum builds around the climate issue, so does the focus on renewable energy – because not only can renewable energy combined with energy efficiency keep the global climate to a two degree temperature rise, it can do so affordably.” read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 18 November 2014

2014-11-18T05:17:00.002-08:00

Why Republicans Keep Telling Everyone They’re Not Scientists

OCT. 30, 2014 - Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican who is fighting a Democratic challenge from former Gov. Charlie Crist, was asked by The Miami Herald if he believes climate change is significantly affecting the weather. “Well, I’m not a scientist,” he said.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is locked in a tight re-election race, was asked this month by The Cincinnati Enquirer if he believes that climate change is a problem. “I’m not a scientist,” he said.
House Speaker John A. Boehner, when asked by reporters if climate change will play a role in the Republican agenda, came up with a now-familiar formulation. “I’m not qualified to debate the science over climate change,” he said. read more>>>

40% Renewable Energy Integration No Trouble For Midwest

November 7th, 2014 - A new study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Commerce in coordination with the Midwest regional independent grid operator Mid-continent Independent System Operator (MISO) has found that the state of Minnesota could obtain 40% or more of its electricity from wind and solar energy without suffering any grid reliability issues.
The report, which builds on real-world situations like the states of Iowa and South Dakota generating more than 25% of their energy from wind during 2013, is another splash of cold water in the faces of those who attempt to dismiss renewable energy as being somehow impractical. read more>>>

How the DOE's Better Buildings Challenge is pushing deep decarbonization

November 10, 2014 - On paper, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge is rather modest. Gently push U.S. industrial and commercial building owners to commit to cutting energy consumption 20 percent or more over 10 years — a very small drop in the global carbon bucket. But the program is turning out to be much more transformative, by driving building owners to reach for deep decarbonization goals rather than just the low-hanging fruit.
Homes, offices, universities and industrial facilities consume a third of all the energy in the world. In the United States alone, these buildings account for over $400 billion a year in energy consumption. Without a doubt, buildings are one of the largest sources of energy demand in the world and a key component of any climate mitigation strategy. read more>>>

Investigator | Thousands of Ohio students in chemical danger zone

November 13, 2014 - On the evening of April 17, 2013, a massive blast at a fertilizer company in West, Texas, killed 15 people and injured hundreds more. The explosion shattered windows seven miles away, and damaged or destroyed nearly 150 buildings, including three unoccupied schools.
Now, a Washington, D.C.-based research group has released a new report that lists chemical facilities in Northeast Ohio that store toxins which, if released in an accidental explosion or leak, could directly impact hundreds of thousands of students throughout the area. read more>>>

States Lead Way On Clean Energy As Congress Flounders, Ritter Says

November 13, 2014 - As gridlock in Washington, D.C., stalls progress on clean energy policy at the federal level, states are “leading the charge toward a new energy economy,” former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. said.
“The American public doesn’t understand how broken the system is,” said Ritter, speaking at the 25th annual SRI Conference earlier this week in Colorado Springs, Colo. Nearly 600 financial professionals attended.
Ritter, who heads the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, said a lack of leadership in Washington is causing governors from both red and blue states to focus on developing clean, affordable energy, while trying to reduce the impact of climate change, create jobs and keep the U.S. on the cutting edge of global competition. read more>>>

Lightning expected to increase by 50 percent with global warming

November 13, 2014 - Today’s climate models predict a 50 percent increase in lightning strikes across the United States during this century as a result of warming temperatures associated with climate change.
Reporting in the Nov. 14 issue of the journal Science, UC Berkeley climate scientist David Romps and his colleagues look at predictions of precipitation and cloud buoyancy in 11 different climate models and conclude that their combined effect will generate more frequent electrical discharges to the ground. read more>>>

Why don't some state officials want you to read this report on 'green’ energy jobs?

Report on ‘green’ energy jobs was put on ice during debate
November 16, 2014 - A state agency paid almost $435,000 for a survey to tally clean-energy jobs in Ohio but never released the results.
The Ohio Development Services Agency says the study went unused because it was based on dubious methods and came to flawed conclusions.
Others, including experts in survey methods, disagree with this assessment and are perplexed by the criticism. read more>>>

Future Solent Conference hears how green technology scheme could create hundreds of jobs in Hampshire and save millions in electricity

11 November 2014 - HUNDREDS of new jobs could be created in Hampshire and millions saved in electricity bills if a scheme to encourage green technology wins local authority backing.
The jobs promise came as business leaders from across the region converged for the Future Solent 2014 Conference yesterday.
The all day event held at a venue at Portsmouth's historic dockyard was held to discuss the future direction of the local economy and the benefits of a lower carbon economy - especially in reducing our electricity bills. read more>>>

Study says California solar boom makes the state a national leader, prepares new generation of workers

November 10, 2014 - Strong statewide and federal clean-energy policies have positioned California as the nation’s solar energy leader in terms of generating new, well-paying construction and permanent jobs while working to curb climate change, according to a new report by UC Berkeley.
The Donald Vial Center on Employment in the Green Economy at Berkeley found that California’s use of electricity from renewable sources increased from 11 percent in 2008 to nearly 20 percent in 2013. The center’s report, “Environmental and Economic Benefits of Building Solar in California,” released today (Monday, Nov. 10), notes that more than 15,000 new jobs have been created over the last five years by California’s solar-farm construction boom, with workers building solar arrays earning on average $78,000 a year plus health and other benefits. read more>>>

CPS Energy putting San Antonio on the forefront of smart cities

November 10, 2014 - The largest municipally owned electric and natural gas utility in the United States, CPS Energy, is working with the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, a nonprofit educational affiliate of Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), to make San Antonio a "Smart City" through new technologies and services connected by the city's power grid.
A Smart City results from a convergence of advanced energy and advanced digital technology where city services are optimized by instant communication and coordinated response, according to a definition by AEE.
"The Smart City movement is about connecting households with information and services that put them in control of their energy use and giving businesses tools to make them more productive," said Graham Richard, CEO of Advanced Energy Economy and the AEE Institute. read more>>>

U.S. isn’t among world’s greenest countries

November 10, 2014 - Q: I recently heard that Sweden is the greenest country in the world. Is this true and, if so, by what standards? And where does the U.S. rank?
— RAUL SWAIN, NEW YORK CITY
A: It’s true that Sweden came out on top in the recently released ranking of 60 countries according to sustainability by consulting firm Dual Citizen Inc. in its fourth annual Global Green Economy Index. Norway, Costa Rica, Germany and Denmark rounded out the top five.
The rankings take into account a wide range of economic indicators and data sets regarding leadership on climate change, encouragement of efficiency, investing in green technology and sustainability, and management of ecosystems and natural capital. read more>>>

Green jobs grow as GFC recedes

November 8, 2014 - With the GFC becoming a distant memory and the job market gradually improving, concerns about the environment will come more to the fore and there will be a renewed focus on "green jobs", but what exactly are green jobs, and are they growing in number?
Green jobs fall under five categories; jobs producing energy from renewable resources such as wind and solar power; products and services that improve energy efficiency; jobs producing energy-efficient equipment, building and vehicles; jobs in pollution reduction, or its removal and recycling, and jobs in natural-resource conservation, environmental compliance, education and training. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 10 November 2014

2014-11-10T05:40:00.001-08:00

Tiny rural co-op touted as solar leader

November 5, 2014 - One of the smallest utilities in the United States is being recognized as a solar leader. Kalona, Iowa's 650-member Farmers Electric Cooperative has become a model for simple, hands-on business programs that have made 20 percent of its members solar owners, according to the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), which has published a case study on the co-op.
From feed-in tariffs to community solar gardens, Farmers is expanding in response to demand.
"The technology is coming. You're either going to embrace it, or a third party is going to come in and serve that load and you're going to lose that load," said Farmers' General Manager Warren McKenna, who SEPA named Utility CEO of the Year in 2014. read more>>>

Spain’s Stunning Solar Power Towers

Nov. 7 2014 - Two slim towers rise from the fields 20 miles west of Seville, each bathed in the rays of an otherworldly glow. Though they look like portals to another dimension, they serve a much more practical purpose: They are the "power towers" of Solucar, the largest solar energy complex in Europe.
The towers, named PS10 and PS20, began operating in 2007 and 2009. Each is surrounded by a field of angled mirrors known as heliostats, which reflect solar radiation onto a receiver located at the top of each tower. This reflected sunlight illuminates dust and water vapor in the air, resulting in the brilliant glowing rays.
The heliostats—624 for the PS10 and 1,255 for the PS20—move during the day in order to reflect the most sunlight possible. When the rays of light reach the receiver, their heat produces steam, which is used to power a turbine. The turbine drives a generator, thereby producing electricity. read more>>>

Combining 'Tinkertoy' materials with solar cells for increased photovoltaic efficiency

November 3, 2014 - Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have received a $1.2 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative to develop a technique that they believe will significantly improve the efficiencies of photovoltaic materials and help make solar electricity cost-competitive with other sources of energy.
The work builds on Sandia's recent successes with metal-organic framework (MOF) materials by combining them with dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC).
"A lot of people are working with DSSCs, but we think our expertise with MOFs gives us a tool that others don't have," said Sandia's Erik Spoerke, a materials scientist with a long history of solar cell exploration at the labs. read more>>>

Institutions Adding Bigger Microgrids

Nov. 4, 2014 - Universities and hospitals are installing larger and more self sustaining electric generation facilities to lower their utility costs, increase their renewable portfolios and provide greater independence from the power grid.
Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico in September celebrated the installation of a 1.5 megawatt solar project in partnership with Positive Energy Solar, which owns the facility and will sell the college power at a fixed rate, with an expected savings of $200,000 per year.
“We made a commitment many years ago to lower our carbon footprint,” said college president Randy Grissom. The project will provide an average of 44 percent of the power used by the college. read more>>>

Your own energy 'island'? Microgrid could standardize small, self-sustaining electric grids

November 5, 2014 - When Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Yan Xu talks about "islanding," or isolating, from the grid, she's discussing a fundamental benefit of microgrids -- small systems powered by renewables and energy storage devices. The benefit is that microgrids can disconnect from larger utility grids and continue to provide power locally.
"If the microgrid is always connected to the main grid, what's the point?" Xu said. "If something goes wrong with the main grid, like a dramatic drop in voltage, for example, you may want to disconnect."
Microgrids are designed to not only continue power to local units such as neighborhoods, hospitals or industrial parks but also improve energy efficiency and reduce cost when connected to the main grid. read more>>>

High Schoolers Built a Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle for Just $1,500

11/03/14 - In early 2013, engineering students at Rhode Island’s Tiverton High School were given an ambitious project by their teacher: build a fully-functional electric vehicle with virtually nothing by way of a budget. What they came up with is pretty extraordinary: first they created The Endurance, a $1000 single-person PiEV, followed by The Apotheosis, a $1500 solar-powered EV that achieves a phenomenal 1552 MPGe.
Instructor Edwin Fernandes worked with two high school seniors—Zach and Ryan—to build the Endurance. The trio followed designs from a “nice fellow” in Florida to construct a chassis from PVC piping, which was donated to the project by a local plumber. An additional donation of $565 from a friend of the school allowed them to purchase bicycle wheels and a brushless DC motor that was originally designed for use in e-bikes. read more>>>

SolarWorld is increasing its production capacity in the US

03.11.2014 - SolarWorld AG from Bonn has announced that it is increasing the capacity of the production site for photovoltaic modules and cells in Hillsboro, Oregon. This will bring SolarWorld AG's future capacity up to a total of 1,300 MW.
The photovoltaic market is booming in the USA. Demand increased significantly this year and the industry is expecting a further increase next year. For this reason, the corporation intends to increase its module production by 150 MW to an annual capacity of 530 MW. read more>>>

Users don't understand the energy aspect of computers

November 3, 2014 - Computers consume significant amounts of energy even when they are not in use, and computer users don't even realize it, meaning lost opportunities to save energy, according to the results of two studies commissioned by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and conducted by the California Plug Load Research Center.
Ultimately, the study results were compared to each other, revealing that users don't fully understand how their computers' power management works and that computers are not going into sleep mode or being automatically turned off as often as users think. read more>>>

[Infographic] Green Alternatives to Conventional Building Materials

3 November 2014 - Green buildings can reduce energy use by between 30 and 50 percent while only costing between three and five percent more thean conventional buildings to construct.
With this in mind, construction training expert Able Skills has produced an infographic outlining some of the best green solutions construction companies can find.
Areas of construction covered include insulation, flooring and structural with respective green suggestions including wool, bamboo and even straw bales.
Take a look at the infographic below to find out more: read more>>>

A Tale of Two Green Homes

11/2/2014 - If you spend enough time in the environmental movement, you'll undoubtedly get wrapped up in the philosophical discussions of what is the most “green.” Paper, or plastic? Off-grid, or grid-tied? Such debates are naturally going to arise in a movement whose goal is to improve the way people live on this planet, because the act of living affects our natural world many varied ways. Sometimes, improvement in one aspect of environmental impact has unintended consequences in another.
Green building is not without its own debates of this ilk. Should a new insulation product capable of drastically dropping energy consumption be used, even if it is manufactured with chemicals whose toxicity is not well studied? Should I stay in my existing energy hog of a home here in town, or build a new green home in a location that requires me to drive many miles each day to work and the nearest grocery store? Any project that successfully transforms from dream to reality is going to have to accept some compromises between competing environmental concerns. I work with customers every day who must contemplate these trade-offs, and have observed that green home projects are often guided by one of two very different general philsophies, each with their separate focus on what it means to be a truly green residence. read more>>>

Earth Talk: Sweden leads world in sustainability

November 2, 2014 - I recently heard that Sweden is the greenest country in the world. Is this true and, if so, by what standards? And where does the U.S. rank?
—Raul Swain, New York City
It’s true that Sweden came out on top in the recently released ranking of 60 countries according to sustainability by consulting firm Dual Citizen Inc. in its fourth annual Global Green Economy Index . Norway, Costa Rica, Germany and Denmark rounded out the top five. The rankings take into account a wide range of economic indicators and datasets regarding leadership on climate change, encouragement of efficiency sectors, market facilitation and investing in green technology and sustainability and management of ecosystems and natural capital. read more>>>

Building Sustainable Cities

Nov 1, 2014 - “Time is running out. If we don’t really change we will be in real trouble in the next 10 years.” That was the stark warning from Dr Arab Hobdallah from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the Emirates Green Building Council’s (EmiratesGBC) Congress on 20-21 October.
Sustainable Cities for the Future was the theme for this year’s congress, which saw stakeholders, delegates and government representatives discuss best practice and look at how existing successful green programmes can be adopted in the UAE and beyond.
“Cities and buildings are where we live, work and play, and we need to ensure that we build cities that not only stimulate economic activity, but also for our social well-being, and protecting the environment and the scarce resources that we have,” said EmiratesGBC chairman, Saeed Al Abbar.
The vision is clear, but what is the method? read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 31 October 2014

2014-10-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

Renewables & Energy Efficiency Responsible For 70% Of Carbon Emission Drop Since 2007

October 29th, 2014 - Renewable energy development and implemented energy efficiency measures are responsible for 70% of the the drop in US carbon dioxide emissions seen since 2007 (when a slow decline began), according to a new report from Greenpeace.
The findings stand in contrast to some of the arguments put out there by detractors of renewable energy — some of who have argued that the drop in carbon emissions was the result of the natural gas tracking boom. The numbers say otherwise, of course.
The numbers come from Greenpeace energy analyst Lauri Myllyvirta who published them recently on the Greenpeace Energydesk website. read more>>>

Europe’s Ambitious Climate Goal

OCT. 28, 2014 - The European Union continues to lead by example on the issue of climate change. Last week, the union’s 28 members agreed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent, compared with 1990 levels, by 2030.
This is, of course, just a number. Goals are easy to set but harder to meet, and many details of how Europe gets from here to there remain undecided. But the plan is an important step forward as well as a clear signal to other big emitters of greenhouse gases to set ambitious goals of their own in the months leading up to the next United Nations summit meeting on climate change scheduled for December 2015 in Paris.
Europe has already made impressive progress. read more>>>

Minnesota regains a top-tier ranking for policies promoting energy efficiency

10/28/14 - Minnesota has returned to a top-10 ranking among the states for its investments that promote energy efficiency, according to new national rankings by the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy.
The rankings are worth attention because ACEEE is a respected analyst as well as advocate on the subject of efficient energy use, consistently making the case that the wisest use of each energy dollar is not to spend it at all — and that every dollar invested in averting energy consumption can be worth several dollars invested in increased energy production, no matter how clean and green the source.
Or, as the organization puts it in the introduction to its 2014 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard: read more>>>

Generating Power From Tidal Lagoons

OCT. 28, 2014 - Harvesting energy from the tides is hard to do, and the development of a new generation of sea-based power arrays lags far behind more widely used renewable technologies like wind and solar.
But the company pushing a new project on the coast of Wales thinks its twist — a 21st-century update of traditional dam-based hydropower — will be much easier to bring to fruition. If it wins government permission to go forward, Tidal Lagoon Power Limited says the approach, known as tidal lagoon generation, could provide as much as 10 percent of Britain’s power from six of its projects within a decade. read more>>>

While You Were Getting Worked Up Over Oil Prices, This Just Happened to Solar

Oct 29, 2014 - Every time fossil fuels get cheaper, people lose interest in solar deployment. That may be about to change.
After years of struggling against cheap natural gas prices and variable subsidies, solar electricity is on track to be as cheap or cheaper than average electricity-bill prices in 47 U.S. states -- in 2016, according to a Deutsche Bank report published this week. That’s assuming the U.S. maintains its 30 percent tax credit on system costs, which is set to expire that same year.
Even if the tax credit drops to 10 percent, solar will soon reach price parity with conventional electricity in well over half the nation: 36 states. read more>>>

DOE pushing new efficiency rules for furnaces

10/29/14 - Furnaces could be the latest household appliance facing new energy conservation standards.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to propose new efficiency rules for residential non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces in the coming weeks.
DOE is waiting for the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to finish reviewing the energy conservation standards before it proposes the new rules for these furnaces. read more>>>

EU renewable heating sector remains confident

24 October 2014 - The European Council’s new target for renewables falls short of the needs of Europeans say AEBIOM, EGEC, and ESTIF.
The European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) and European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) have expressed disappointment in the new renewable energy goals agreed by the European Council yet they remain confident in the continuity of renewable energy development.
The EC’s target of 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs) incorporates a 27 percent goal for renewables, but the three industry groups believe that this is far too low a target for the needs of most Europeans. The target is also only binding at EU level and only includes an indicative 27 percent for energy efficiency. read more>>>

HyperSolar achieves breakthrough in hydrogen separation process

21 October 2014 - Hydrogen technology company HyperSolar has developed a novel system architecture to efficiently separate and produce pure hydrogen from sunlight and water.
The company has achieved a significant technological milestone in its pursuit of clean hydrogen fuel production by eliminating an expensive hydrogen-oxygen separation process. This in turn will dramatically reduce the overall system cost of producing hydrogen from sunlight.
Self-contained sunlight driven water-splitting technology, known more generally as “artificial photosynthesis”, typically produces hydrogen and oxygen gas bubbles in the same reactor. This mixture is potentially explosive and the two gases must therefore be quickly separated from each other. However, current gas separation technology, which uses selective membranes, is very expensive and the membranes themselves also need to be regularly replaced. read more>>>

Cork launches electric car initiative in aim to become European Green Capital

23/10/2014 - The increasing popularity of electric cars is set to have a major effect on transportation in Ireland, according to the Evening Echo.
Cork wants to be at the forefront of the adoption of electric cars in Ireland, helping the region become greener while also creating new jobs.
To do this, companies and bodies have come together to encourage more people to adopt electric vehicles and to make it easier for them to charge them at home, work or in public places.
Called Drive4Zero, the initiative was launched in Cork today. read more>>>

Two years after Hurricane Sandy, recognition of Princeton's microgrid still surges

October 23, 2014 - In the nearly two years since Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey, darkening swaths of the nation's most densely populated state for days, Princeton University has emerged as a national example of how to keep power running for residents, emergency workers and crucial facilities when the next disaster strikes.
Specifically, attention has fallen on Princeton's "microgrid," an efficient on-campus power generation and delivery network that draws electricity from a gas-turbine generator and solar panel field southeast of campus in West Windsor Township, New Jersey. Capable of producing 15 megawatts (or 15 million watts) of electricity, the University's microgrid enjoys a give-and-take relationship with the main grid available to the general public and maintained by the utility company PSE&G. When campus power use is high or utility power is inexpensive, the microgrid draws from the PSE&G grid, and when campus demand is low, Princeton's microgrid can contribute power to the main grid. read more>>>

Solar Cluster proposes transitioning Brazilian island to 100% renewable energy

22.10.2014 - Members of the German industry association Solar Cluster have submitted a proposal to José Antônio Bertotti, the Minister of Science of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. They are suggesting completely switching the power supply of the archipelago Fernando de Noronha to renewable energies.
Most of the twelve smaller islands as well as 8 km² of the main island are nature reserves, and the Marine National Park Fernando de Noronha, which covers a total area of 112 km², is even a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. There are 3,000 residents living on the island, who currently obtain their energy almost entirely from diesel generators. That is now set to change: the island, which is famous for its status, will soon switch to solar energy. "Sun, beaches and solar energy fit together perfectly," says Carsten Tschamber, the Managing Director of Solar Cluster. "The location is ideal for our project." read more>>>

Industry emissions fall in Scotland

23 October 2014 - The closure of Cockenzie Power Station led to an 8 per cent drop in greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland, new figures have revealed.
According to a new report from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, carbon dioxide emissions from industry fell from 22.9bn kg in 2012 to 21.1bn kg in 2013.
In edition methane emissions dropped from 47.5m kg to 47.3m kg, nitrous oxide fell from 192,447 kg to 173,848kg and sulphur hexafluoride fell from 304 kg to 241 kg.
The main reason for the fall has been attributed to the coal-fired power station at Cockenzie in East Lothian shutting down in March 2013. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 29 October 2014

2014-10-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

Why do people put solar on their roofs? Because other people put solar on their roofs

October 23 2014 - Who chooses to install solar panels on their roof? You might assume that the people who do so are probably fairly rich (an average installation can cost around $35,000, prior to tax credits or other incentives), and most assuredly, politically liberal. They can afford it, and it fits their values to boot.
According to a new study, though, politics and income may not be such important factors after all. Examining the spread of solar photovoltaic residential installations in Connecticut, two researchers at Yale and the University of Connecticut found instead that the single most important factor driving whether a given house installed solar was peer influence -- whether other houses nearby had recently done so. In other words, much like with buying a Prius, it looks like installing solar has a lot to do with how you want people around you to think of you. "People have called it green envy before, where you want to be green so that you can show off your greenness effectively," says Yale's Kenneth Gillingham, a professor at the School of Forestry and one of the study authors. read more>>>

Big utilities pushing into booming home solar market

Oct 22, 2014 - For years, the utilities responsible for providing electricity to the nation have treated residential solar systems as a threat. Now, they want a piece of the action, and they are having to fight for the chance.
If utilities embrace home solar, their deep pockets and access to customers could transform what has been a fast-growing, but niche industry. Solar powers only half a million U.S. homes and businesses, according to solar market research firm GTM Research.
But utility-owned rooftop systems represent a change the solar installation companies who dominate the market don't want, and whether the two sides can compromise may determine if residential solar truly goes mainstream. read more>>>

Canada switches on world's first carbon capture power plant

1 October 2014 - Boundary Dam held up as first commercial-scale CCS plant and proof that coal-burning is compatible with cutting emissions
Canada has switched on the first large-scale coal-fired power plant fitted with a technology that proponents say enables the burning of fossil fuels without tipping the world into a climate catastrophe.
The project, the first commercial-scale plant equipped with carbon capture and storage technology, was held up by the coal industry as a real life example that it is possible to go on burning the dirtiest of fossil fuels while avoiding dangerous global warming. read more>>>

Viewpoints: California leads the way on stopping gas pipeline leaks

10/24/2014 - There are more than 1 million miles of pipe that carry trillions of cubic feet of natural gas to America’s homes, businesses, factories and farms each year. We depend on the reliable delivery of natural gas, but too often in recent years we have had explosions and leaks that harm our communities, degrade the environment and contribute significantly to global warming.
Thirty-seven states have programs to speed up repairs and replacement of problem sections of the gas distribution system. Most recently, California enacted a leak mitigation approach from which the whole country can take a lesson.
Part of the climate change package signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last month is a law to require a significant reduction in pipeline leaks. read more>>>

Steyer turns to celebrities in final election-year push

10/28/14 - Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is turning to actor Woody Harrelson and director Darren Aronofsky in a new ad urging voters to “take the fight against climate change to the ballot box.”
The 30-second ad buy, narrated by Harrelson, and directed by Aronofsky, declares the climate fight is one people “will win,” but voting on Election Day is key.
“They told us the world was flat and insisted it was the center of the universe,” Harrelson states in the ad as images of the earth in black and white flicker on the screen.
“[They] said that cigarettes were harmless.” read more>>>

City council looks for renewable energy opportunities

10.27.2014 - The city of Ishpeming spent more than $200,000 on energy costs last year.
Now the city council is looking for ways to become more energy efficient.
The Ishpeming City Council approved a resolution that might set aside some land for the use of producing renewable energy.
"With that comes factories comes taxes, jobs, all of the good things that happen in a city. It's usually off of industries," said Mike Tall, Mayor.
The resolution is a way to let legislators and the state know their concerns about the need for reliable and affordable energy. It allows them to approach a number of power companies with hopes that they bring different sources of renewable energy to Ishpeming. read more>>>

Chattanooga smart grid a living lab for new energy tech

October 22, 2014 - A new partnership has been formalized with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Chattanooga's EPB, one of the largest publicly-owned electric power distributors in the country. The partnership will establish Chattanooga's smart grid as a living laboratory for testing new energy technologies.
Under the agreement, DOE and ORNL will apply their technical expertise in areas such as data analytics, control systems, cybersecurity and high-performance computer modeling to test new smart grid technologies and processes on the electric grid in Chattanooga. read more>>>

SEPA: Imagine a new solar energy future

October 21, 2014 - In her opening speech at Solar Power International in Las Vegas this week, Julia Hamm asked attendees to Imagine a future in which solar energy and all the industry stakeholders -- from utilities to installers and manufacturers to customers -- were unhampered by existing regulatory and market structures, as well as the challenges and, at times, divisive debates they have created.
Hamm, president and CEO of the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), threw out a challenge and invitation to the thousands of industry leaders to come up with their own ideas and visions of what this new market would look like and how it might work, forcing the audience to think about what it would be like if we could start over in a "hypothetical 51st state," building a fully diversified, integrated energy sector from the ground up. read more>>>

Sweden rated as ‘world’s greenest country’

21 October 2014 - Sweden is the world’s greenest country – but Germany is taking the credit.
Iceland, Austria and Spain are greener than you think they are. Mongolia is not very green at all. Meanwhile, the US, Australia and Japan have received too much credit for too little action.
These are some of the findings from a new report from Dual Citizen, a US-based data consultancy. They have created a Global Green Economy Index, ranking countries on both how green they are perceived to be, and how well they perform in reality. read more>>>

University Microgrid Manages Multiple Generation Assets

October 21, 2014 - Combined heat and power (CHP) technologies are sometimes overlooked as important assets that can be deployed in Smart Grids and microgrids in North America. Also known as cogeneration, it is defined in the Smart Grid Dictionary as the production of electricity and useful thermal energy from a single fuel source, typically located at or near the point of consumption. The thermal energy is typically used for heating, cooling, or applied to specific processes. CHP deserves more consideration in microgrid designs and deployments. Ongoing technology advances in combustion turbines result in much more energy-efficient equipment, and that means that the solutions are more powerful and occupy smaller form factors than in the past. That opens up more possibilities for installations within microgrids that are strategically placed to build infrastructure resiliency. read more>>>

Greenbuild Exhibitors Are Pulling the Plug To Demonstrate Net Zero Energy

October 22nd, 2014 - In the Net Zero Zone at Greenbuild 2014, exhibitors will demonstrate a solar-powered microgrid by disconnecting from the energy utility.
“Two years ago at Greenbuild I predicted that in a few years you’ll come to this conference and the booths will be powered by renewable energy generated at the show,” says Brian Patterson, president of the nonprofit EMerge Alliance. “When I walked away from that conversation, I decided that was my goal.” read more>>>

The Global Green Economy Index Winners And Losers

October 21st, 2014 - The authors of the latest Global Green Economy Index have raised concerns about the “perceptions” of developed countries such as Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, suggesting that “perceptions of their green economic performance dramatically exceed their actual performance on the [Global Green Economy Index].”
First published in 2010 by analytics company Dual Citizen, the GGEI provides an in-depth look at how 60 countries are performing in the global green economy. Countries are measured on four separate scales: leadership and climate change; efficiency sectors; markets and investment; and environment and natural capital. There is also a difference between the perception of a country and its actual performance, as seen below. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 24 October 2014

2014-10-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

Five Years, 2,000 Scientists and How Do You Wake People Up to Climate Change?

Oct 22, 2014 - The U.S. and European Union are pushing for a stronger explanation about the dangers of climate change and the consequences of failing to stem fossil-fuel emissions in the UN’s most extensive report on global warming.
The appeals are detailed in a document putting together comments from more than 30 governments about the United Nations report, due to be published next month. The study is the culmination of five years of work by some 2,000 scientists.
“This report is a story of what happens if we don’t act, and what can happen if we do,” U.S. negotiators wrote. “It should be an effective story.” The text, they said, “lacks a threading narrative.” read more>>>

Home Solar Power Discounts Are Worker Perk in New Program

OCT. 22, 2014 - Expanding the notion of corporate benefits beyond discounted health club memberships and low insurance rates, a group of major companies is set to offer employees access to cheaper solar systems for the home.
Under an arrangement announced Wednesday, employees of the companies — Cisco Systems, 3M, Kimberly-Clark and National Geographic — will be able to buy or lease solar systems for their homes at rates substantially lower than the national average, executives said. The program, offered through Geostellar, an online marketer of solar systems, will be available to more than 100,000 employees and will include options for their friends and families in the United States and parts of Canada. read more>>>

South Florida Wants to Be the 51st State Because of Climate Change Worries

Money and politics have divided Florida for decades, but the rising sea level has finally prodded the south into action.
October 23, 2014 - When a region wants to break away from its state or from the U.S.—whether we're talking about Texas, Vermont, or the former Confederate states—it's usually because of government, politics, and money. But for the city of South Miami, which earlier this month passed a resolution to separate southern from northern Florida, the main concern is climate change.
North and South Florida have had their differences for decades, says Walter Harris, vice mayor of South Miami. South Florida is largely urban and leans left, he says, whereas the north—where the capital, Tallahassee, is located—is mostly rural and much more conservative.
These long-standing political divisions are further fueled by an economic imbalance: according to the resolution for independence, 69 percent of Florida's 22 billion dollars of tax revenue comes from the 24 counties in the southern part of the state. read more>>>

Renewable energy crucial to Michigan

October 23, 2014 - The $10 billion a year Michigan businesses and residents pay for electricity makes it clear how central the energy sector is to the health of our economy.
For a strong manufacturing sector, we need an energy strategy that keeps costs down, minimizes the risk of price spikes, promotes economic development and preserves excellent reliability. Making energy efficiency and renewable power the foundation of our energy policy will achieve those goals while also protecting public health and the environment — themselves core components of a thriving economy.
To help Michigan regain its position as a manufacturing leader, state leaders should enact a strategy that: read more>>>

India sets overall wind energy target for 2017

16 October 2014 - India has set a target of achieving an overall wind energy installed capacity of 27.3GW by 2017 and 38.5GW by 2022.
According to estimates by Novonous, this will create a $31.25 billion opportunity for the wind market in India extending at least until 2022.
“The wind energy market in India has been growing for many years” said Ambarish Kumar Verma CEO of Novonous. “The total installed capacity of the Indian Wind Energy market is 21.13 MW and India stands at the 5th Rank in terms of the total installed wind power capacity just behind China, USA, Germany and Spain.” read more>>>

Renewable energy will power the green economy, innovation will drive it

October 18, 2014 - A green economy, according to the United Nations environment programme, is one that “results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities”. While seemingly altruistic, the concept is by no means unrealistic. Its viability is substantially improved by innovations in renewable energy, arguably the lifeblood of a sustainable economy.
Today we are experiencing a new energy transition. The numbers speak for themselves: in the year 2000, the total solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed globally was about 1.5 gigawatts (GW). Less than 15 years later, one commercial organisation has more than six times that capacity installed worldwide. This revolution is centred on the growing realisation that renewables – and solar in particular – are no longer just a subsidy-enabled option, but are cost-competitive with conventional fuels. read more>>>

Zuma urges S/Africa’s development sectors to “go green”

October 18, 2014 - South African President Jacob Zuma has encouraged all sectors in the country’s development efforts to implement measures to fight climate change, APA learnt on Saturday.â€œIf all sectors implement the measures to fight climate change at the same time, together we can build the biggest mitigation buffer against climate change,â€� Zuma said at the official opening of the Environment House at the headquarters of the Ministry of Environmental Affairs in Pretoria.
According to the President, the solution to climate change and global warming problems lay in every development sector managing its affairs effectively. read more>>>

Bases exist for Saudi Arabia to have green future: Expert

October 18, 2014 - Saudi Arabia could consume as much oil as it exports by 2030 and it uses nearly 200bn kWh of electricity every year, according to an expert.
“There are excellent foundations here in Saudi Arabia for sustainability in green building and you can sense the commitment when the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) has initiated a decree that in 5 years all companies have to meet new air, water and noise pollution standards. As a start 90,000 mosque across the Kingdom would be made more eco-energy,” said John Mandyck, chief sustainability officer, UTC Building & Industrial Systems.
He added “therefore, Saudis should make their economy more energy, efficient and how to accelerate green building.” read more>>>

Green economy for sustainable development

2014-10-18 - In recent times, government leaders, politicians, economists, ecologists and common people around the globe are increasingly becoming familiar with the concepts of green economy, green growth, green accounts, green banking and green jobs. Lots of seminars and publicity are taking place in different countries to create awareness on these among the general people and the policymakers.
Developing countries have invested heavily in green technology, causing the south-south renewable trade to grow faster than global trade, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) revealed.
Speaking at the launch of the report, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner referred to a widely-held belief that environmental goods and services could potentially harm the economies of developing states, because they cannot have a competitive edge over goods and services based on industrial technology. read more>>>

China Puts Teeth Into Gas-Mileage Rules, Will 'Punish' Makers Who Don't Comply

October 17, 2014 - Several countries are implementing stricter fuel-efficiency standards, but none appear to be enforcing them as strictly as China.
Perhaps thinking U.S.-style fines were too lenient, the country that is now the world's largest new-car market will "punish" carmakers who don't comply with upcoming gas-mileage rules.
China will restrict production and publicly name the automakers who fail to meet fuel-economy targets for 2015, Reuters reports. read more>>>

Smart Cities are Driving Change Across the Energy Sector, According to Navigant Research

Oct 16, 2014 - A new white paper from Navigant Research examines the critical issues facing cities and utilities as they develop energy policies suited for the 21st century.
Cities are a focal point for some of the most profound economic, environmental, social, and technological issues facing the world today. There is increasing demand to move to cleaner and more efficient energy resources to meet the demands of an urban population that will expand by 2.4 billion people during the next 35 years. Click to tweet: According to a new white paper from Navigant Research, the spread of smart city technologies and policies, developed in response to the rapid growth and change happening in cities around the world, is helping to drive sweeping and fundamental changes in the energy landscape. read more>>>

Google to test flying wind turbines in Hawaii

Oct. 13, 2014 - The tech giant Google is looking to start a pilot project to test a flying wind turbine design that could revolutionise the wind energy sector.
According to reports, the company has selected a site on Hawaii where it hopes to develop and test its latest innovation.
Makani Power, which Google acquired last year and absorbed into its Google X division, is running the project and has designed lightweight kites that can harness energy from high-altitude winds. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 23 October 2014

2014-10-23T05:21:00.001-07:00

New Report: Action Needed Now to Fix Climate Change Preparedness Deficit

Conservation, Insurance Leaders Urge Reinvestment in Natural Defenses
10-20-2014 - Climate impacts are hitting home faster than governments are adapting, but it’s not too late to protect our communities with cost-effective, nature-based approaches for risk reduction, according to a new report from the National Wildlife Federation, Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, LG, and Earth Economics. Natural Defenses from Hurricanes and Floods: Protecting America’s Communities and Ecosystems in an Era of Extreme Weather takes an in-depth look at the growing risks we face from these potentially-catastrophic natural hazards, the policy solutions that can safeguard people, property and wildlife habitats, and local case studies that point the way forward. It calls on America to substantially increase our investments in proactive risk reduction measures at a “Marshall Plan” scale that takes into consideration the growing risks from more intense storms, flooding and sea level rise. read more>>>

California looks to curb methane emissions

October 20, 2014 - Pressure is growing on regulators in California and Washington, D.C., to crack down on methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is accelerating the warming of the planet.
Methane, the main component of natural gas, escapes into the atmosphere through leaks in drilling operations and pipeline delivery. Sometimes the gas is vented or intentionally burned as waste by oil companies, particularly in the Bakken fields of North Dakota.
The Environmental Protection Agency is considering new rules to target methane emissions from oil and gas, which account for a quarter of the methane emissions in the United States, according to the agency. read more>>>

Hacker, Terrorist Threats Spur Bases to Build Power Grids

Military Worries About Facilities Being Linked to Vulnerable Utility Companies
Oct. 21, 2014 - Fear that utility companies remain vulnerable to hackers, terrorists and natural disasters has the Pentagon pushing construction of independent power grids at military bases across the U.S., including one nearing completion here at the Marine Corps combat center.
The base at Twentynine Palms, home to about 22,000 people and spread across 1,100 square miles of the Mojave Desert, still buys power from Southern California Edison. But soon it will be able to operate even if there is a blackout, using a system of small power plants, solar panels, batteries and diesel generators. It already is saving $10 million a year in energy costs.
Dozens of U.S. bases are marching in the same direction as they try to keep up with the growing power demands of a modern military. “A lot of bases want what we’ve got,” said Gary Morrissett, the energy manager at Twentynine Palms. read more

Climate records are breaking so often now, we’ve stopped paying attention

October 21 2014 - On Monday, we learned from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that last September was the hottest of them all, out of 135 Septembers going back to 1880.The same was true for August 2014. And June of 2014. And May of 2014. What that means is that for each of these months, the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature has never been higher, at least since we started recording these temperatures back in the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes.
These kinds of records are becoming so regular that they're starting to seem a lot less impressive. They're shrug-inducing. But to think of them in that way is a mistake. A little context shows just how dramatic the warming of the globe, on a month-by-month basis, has actually been. read more>>>

Top 10 Greenest Countries in the World

October 21, 2014 - How green is your native land? The 4th edition of the Global Green Economy Index, produced by private U.S.-based consultancy Dual Citizen LLC, has just been released, and you can look it up. The index provides an in-depth look at how 60 countries and 70 cities are doing in developing more environmentally friendly economies, in actual performance and in how experts perceive their performance.
“We first published the Global Green Economy Index in 2010 guided by a belief that the environment, climate change and green, low-carbon growth would rapidly become defining issues for national policy makers and the global reputation of countries,” says the report’s introduction. “As we went to press, 2,646 events in nearly 162 countries mobilized pressure on over 100 world leaders gathered in New York at the United Nations to take substantive and binding action on climate change. The link between these issues and the reputation of leaders and nation states is more vivid today than ever before.” read more>>>

Ethiopia Shows Developing World How to Make a Green Economy Prosper

Oct 16 2014 (IPS) - Ethiopia has experienced its fair share of environmental damage and degradation but nowadays it is increasingly setting an example on how to combat climate change while also achieving economic growth.
“It is very well known by the international community that Ethiopia is one of the front-runners of international climate policy, if not the leading African country,” Fritz Jung, the representative of bilateral development cooperation at the Addis Ababa German Embassy, tells IPS.
This Horn of Africa nation has learned more than most that one of the most critical challenges facing developing countries is achieving economic prosperity that is sustainable and counters climate change. read more>>>

World’s First Net-Zero Exhibit Space to be Unveiled at Greenbuild 2014

October 16, 2014 - Hanley Wood, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and EMerge Alliance announced that the world’s first Net Zero Zone will be unveiled at the 2014 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo taking place October 22-24 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
“Driven by the innovative work of EMerge Alliance and its members, the launch of the new Net Zero Zone will make Greenbuild 2014 the first conference and expo to have exhibition space where booths are fully powered by an on-site microgrid including alternate energy generation, storage and distribution,” said Lindsay Roberts, show director, Greenbuild. “This is an important step for the trade show industry and sends a strong message to the entire green building movement that hybrid power in buildings is both possible and practical.”
The Net Zero Zone at Greenbuild will focus on three areas: read more>>>

Sunswift solar-powered car smashes 26-year EV speed record

Oct 16th 2014 - We're not sure which is more impressive: that a team of Australian students set a new distance-speed record for an electric vehicle or the fact that the driver got that little solar-powered bad boy up to 82 miles per hour. Either way, the Sunswift team at University of New South Wales (NSW) has earned the right to crow about their solar-powered EV. It broke a record that stood for 26 years.
The team performed the feat a few months back, but it has now been officially verified by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile governing body. The 700-pound car ran at an average speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) over a 500-kilometer (311-mile) stretch. To put those numbers another way, the Sunswift made a Chicago-to-Detroit-equivalent drive using about 44 cents worth of electricity, and it even had a few miles to spare. G'day, indeed. read more>>>

Panel installation begins on Washington DC universities' 52 MW solar project

16. October 2014 - An innovative solar project involving three universities in Washington, D.C., and a solar plant in North Carolina has begun taking shape after SunEnergy1 announced that it has begun installing JinkoSolar panels at the Duke Energy-owned site.
The 52 MW solar farm in eastern North Carolina, dubbed the Capital Partners Solar Project, is unique in that all solar power generated will be piped to three customers in nearby Washington, D.C., – the higher education establishments of George Washington University, American University and the George Washington University Hospital. read more>>>

Wisconsin Green Building Alliance honors state's greenest projects

Oct. 16, 2014 - Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. tore down a 16-story building to make way for its new office tower, but the company also has worked to rehabilitate some of its older buildings.
Case in point: the seven-story Van Buren Office Building, which the insurance company gutted and modernized. In the process, the architect and construction team on that project made it among the most efficient and environmentally friendly buildings in Wisconsin.
Northwestern Mutual transformed an older space into a modern office building with "remarkable" energy efficiency including LED lighting, daylighting and strong insulation, judges of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance's annual contest found. read more>>>

Energy sector is key to powering prosperity in sub-Saharan Africa, says IEA

14 October 2014 - Increasing access to modern forms of energy is crucial to unlocking faster economic and social development in sub Saharan Africa, according to the International Energy Agency’s Africa Energy Outlook, a Special Report in the 2014 World Energy Outlook series.
More than 620 million people in the region live without electricity, and nearly 730 million people rely on dangerous, inefficient forms of cooking. The use of solid biomass (mainly wood and charcoal) outweighs that of all other fuels combined, and average electricity consumption per capita is not enough to power a single 50-watt light bulb continuously. read more>>>

Triodos Renewables launches crowdfunded share issue

15 October 2014 - Triodos Renewables has launched a major £5 million share offer aimed at raising funds for investment in constructing new UK renewable energy generation assets.
The money raised by the share issue will be used by the company to further grow electricity generation capacity across the country. Triodos Renewables already owns and operates eleven renewable energy projects across the UK totalling 53MW. This includes the recently constructed Avonmouth wind farm near Bristol. A further four projects are being developed by the company, including one at Boardinghouse in Cambridgeshire. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 21 October 2014

2014-10-21T04:53:00.001-07:00

Home weatherization saves costs, study finds

Ohio’s weatherization program is one of the best in the nation, resulting in home savings of more than 20 percent. But, this year the governor and legislature put a freeze on the state’s clean energy and energy efficiency efforts, and a push continues to repeal this successful program.
October 14th, 2014 - Ohio’s Home Weatherization Assistance Program results in home energy cost savings of over 20 percent on average, making it one of the best such programs in the nation. Additional benefits include pollution reduction, energy conservation, and job creation. read more>>>

Why clean energy might be cheaper than you think

14 Oct 2014 - Wind and solar power often get a bad rap for being more expensive than energy produced from fossil fuels. But what happens when you factor in, say, the health costs of people breathing smoggy air? Or the financial impact of climate change’s effect on ecosystems and precious resources like water?
Those are some of the questions the European Commission sought to answer. A new report written for the EC includes those environmental costs and more in calculations of the total costs of producing electricity from various renewable and nonrenewable sources. The result? Wind and water are the best bargains for making megawatts. read more>>>

Waters Of The US Rule Deserves Public Attention

October 14, 2014 - We each learned early in our lives that water is necessary for all living things. We learned a little about clean water in science classes, and many among us learned that our livestock was healthier — indeed, our communities grew stronger — if we had an ample supply of healthy water.
But it is equally true that we occasionally take for granted the ability of nature to filter out the many pollutants we put into the system.
Every once in a while, we get a blunt reminder that clean water doesn’t magically come out of the tap. read more>>>

Study urges action on Lake Erie bacteria blooms

October 15, 2014 - Climate change and invasive mussels may have made Lake Erie a more inviting host for toxic bacteria in recent years, suggesting that ambitious goals are needed for reducing phosphorus runoff that feeds large blooms like the one that forced a temporary tap water shutdown in and near Toledo, Ohio, scientists said Wednesday.
Ever-larger mats of cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, have formed on Erie since the early 2000s. They produce microcystin, a toxin that has killed pets and livestock and causes liver damage in humans. The soupy green glop prompted do-not-drink orders for two days in August that affected about 400,000 residents of northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan. read more>>>

Let EPA seek cleaner water

October 16, 2014 - Given the toxic algae in Lake Erie that shut down Toledo, Ohio’s municipal water system this summer, the drought that has shriveled the West, the disappearance of an acre of Louisiana wetlands per day and a host of other water-related calamities, it’s hard to believe that some politicians and their favored interests think that states are doing a bang-up job of regulating water quality.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers want to firmly define federal jurisdiction over some waterways, responsibility for which was left indistinct by U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006. Waterways in question mostly are small, including some wetlands and streams that only flow seasonally. But most are part of larger water systems. read ore>>>

Peru says country's glaciers shrank 40 pct in 4 decades from climate change

Oct 15, 2014 - Climate change has shrunk Peruvian glaciers by 40 percent in the past four decades and the melt-off has spawned nearly 1,000 new high-altitude lakes since 1980, Peru's government said on Wednesday.
Nearly 90 percent of Peruvian glaciers are smaller than 1-square-kilometer, putting them at greater risk of disappearing in coming years, Peru's water authority said in an update of its glacier inventory from the 1970s.
Peru's 2,679 glaciers, spread over 19 snow-capped mountain ranges, are the source of the vast majority of the country's drinking water. read more>>>

First US public offering of solar bonds: can crowdfunding take clean energy to the next level?

SolarCity just changed the way clean energy projects will be financed. Will retail investors give solar a boost?
15 October 2014 - The largest solar installer in the US announced Wednesday that it is offering up to $200m in bonds to retail investors, marking the first registered public sale of solar bonds in the country. SolarCity’s landmark move toward crowdfunding could democratize the way solar projects are bankrolled and grow overall investment for clean energy.
Large institutional investors (such as Google, Honda and US Bank, in the case of SolarCity projects) finance the bulk of solar projects today. While individual investors can already put money into solar projects via crowdfunding platforms such as Mosaic, SunFunder and Crowdsun.com, most of these opportunities are only available to accredited investors – wealthy individuals – or are limited to just one or a few states, said Tim Newell, SolarCity’s vice president of financial products. read more>>>

America Can Nearly Quadruple Its Renewable Electricity By 2030

October 19th, 2014 - A recent Union of Concerned Scientists (USC) study found that America can nearly quadruple its renewable electricity in the next 15 years, reaching 23% by 2030. This comes in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal that America set a modest goal of 12% renewable energy by 2030. Rachel Cleetus, Senior Climate Economist of UCS, referred to the EPA’s goal as just a fraction above “business as usual.” The UCS found raising this target, to +23% of the nation’s electricity from non-hydro renewable sources by 2030, would cost the average household only about 18 cents per month. Cleetus described this as a realistic and affordable goal: “Looking at the way renewable energy is ramping up and costs are falling dramatically, there is a real opportunity to go farther.”
Seven states are already exceeding their proposed goals set by EPA for 2030 and another 17 have existing laws that require more renewable electricity than what the EPA requires. read more>>>

Solar Rising in Village Microgrids

10/14/2014 - Solar panels are on the rise for microgrids that bring electricity to small villages in the developing world, spawning work on low-power, direct-current homes, according to presentations at a conference here.
“In India, there’s been a big mindset shift among regulators and utilities in favor of photovoltaics and microgrids,” said Vineeth Vijayaraghavan, director of research and outreach for the non-profit Solarillion Foundation.
“So far, there’s been little research in networking microgrids, but the government is interested” in ways to connect DC rural grids to each other and to the AC urban grid, he said in a talk at the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference. read more>>>

Microgrids Can Serve Multiple Purposes With The Right Policy Frameworks

October 14, 2014 - Remember the old beer commercial with the “tastes great….less filling” debate? Microgrids provoke a multitude of views in the USA. For the Department of Energy, developing advanced microgrids holds the promise of building new electricity resources for customers, the community and the macrogrid. For the Department of Defense, microgrids deliver energy security for military bases and mobile operations. Massachusetts thinks of microgrids as enabling environments for regulatory reform. New York, in the midst of its initiative to redefine utility business models, considers microgrids as good platforms for distributed energy resources (DER). California, on the other hand, sees microgrids as crucial to supporting the integration of renewable generation into the grid.
Larisa Dobriansky, Senior Vice President, Legal, Policy and Regulatory Affairs for General MicroGrids has excellent perspectives on how microgrids can serve in these capacities. read more>>>

Researchers create first energy storing solar cell

15.10.2014 - Researchers at the Ohio State University have developed a device, which captures energy from sunlight and stores it in form of electricity: a combined “solar battery”.
It consists of a mesh solar panel covered with a red dye (a type of dye-sensitised solar cell), which functions as an electrode shuttle, and a lithium-oxygen battery. The top of the solar battery is made of a permeable mesh solar panel made from titanium gauze with titanium dioxide rods, which functions as first electrode for the battery. A thin carbon sheet below this forms the second electrode and a lithium plate at the bottom a third one. Since the technique is based on an earlier battery model by the researchers around Yiying Wu, Professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State, it needs air to work. Therefore the layers are permeable to air. read more>>>

Streamlining solar interconnection processes

October 14, 2014 - With the solar market expected to more than double in the next few years, cutting the time and costs involved in connecting individual residential and commercial photovoltaic (PV) installations to the grid is a growing concern for utilities, regulators and solar installers. Utilities are focused on interconnection -- the actual process of connecting a new installation to the grid – which can take less than two weeks or more than two months, according to research from the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), produced under a Department of Energy SunShot Incubator Award, in partnership with Clean Power Research.
In an online survey completed by 64 utilities in 25 states, the 17 percent of utilities currently providing online processing of interconnection applications said they can complete the approvals twice as fast as those still requiring customers to fill out paperwork. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 15 October 2014

2014-10-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Renewable Energy Share In Sub-Saharan Africa Could Reach 45% By 2040, IEA Reports

October 14th, 2014 - “A better functioning energy sector is vital to ensuring that the citizens of sub-Saharan Africa can fulfil their aspirations. The energy sector is acting as a brake on development, but this can be overcome and the benefits of success are huge.”
So said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven in conjunction with the release of the Africa Energy Outlook report, a part of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2014 World Energy Outlook series of reports.
According to the report, more than 620 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are living without electricity, while nearly 730 million people rely on what the IEA describe as “dangerous” and “inefficient” forms of cooking. The use of solid biomass, in the form of fuels like fuel wood and charcoal, outweighs that of any other fuel, combined. read more>>>

Pentagon Signals Security Risks of Climate Change

OCT. 13, 2014 - The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises.
The report lays out a road map to show how the military will adapt to rising sea levels, more violent storms and widespread droughts. The Defense Department will begin by integrating plans for climate change risks across all of its operations, from war games and strategic military planning situations to a rethinking of the movement of supplies.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, speaking Monday at a meeting of defense ministers in Peru, highlighted the report’s findings and the global security threats of climate change. read more>>>

BlueGreen Alliance calls for strong US methane reduction strategy

10/13/2014 - The BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of 10 national labor unions and 5 environmental organizations, urged the Obama administration to adopt a strong methane reduction strategy with the US oil and gas industry as a major component.
The goal is to advance the administration’s climate action plan and meet its goal of reducing the nation’s global warming pollution 17% by 2020, the group’s executive director, Kim Glas, said in an Oct. 10 letter to US President Barack Obama.
“The oil and gas industry is the nation’s largest industrial source of methane, the main component of natural gas and a potent greenhouse gas,” she maintained. “Reducing methane emissions throughout the industry’s operations needs to be a key part of our nation’s strategy to address climate change.” read more>>>

Insights on climate and energy from the newest Nobel Prize winner

October 13th, 2014 - Today we celebrate the accomplishments of French economist Jean Tirole, winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. His work is particularly relevant for those of us concerned with the leadership of electric utilities, their regulators, and the growing number of us who are trying to respond to the growing impacts of global warming. Below are a few tidbits from his work that relate to each of these issues.
Writing on regulatory capture, Tirole and of his several colleagues have explored the balance between the altruistic regulator, who wants to “do the right thing,” and the self-interested (even corrupt) regulator who has been “captured” by the monopoly that s/he is entrusted to oversee. (See p. 18 of the Economic Sciences Prize Committee’s background paper). read more>>>

Clean Energy Benefits Virginia

Oct. 14, 2014 - Today, Governor McAuliffe is expected to outline his vision for a “New Economy of Virginia” through implementation of the 2014 Virginia Energy Plan. While we don’t support all of the plan’s recommendations, the McAuliffe administration should be applauded for its strong leadership and bold commitment to spurring economic growth through the creation of renewable energy jobs in the wind and solar industries and reducing costly energy waste through smart investments in energy efficiency measures.
What’s more, the clean energy policies in the Virginia Energy Plan can be leveraged to help meet Virginia’s carbon pollution reduction target set in EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan, which will be finalized next June.
Based on existing projections from Virginia’s utilities, we are already 80 percent of the way to meeting Virginia’s carbon pollution target under the Clean Power Plan. read more>>>

Frome’s green revolution is gathering pace

October 14, 2014 - FROME is fast becoming one of the greenest towns in the UK. A whole range of ground-breaking initiatives in recent months have put Frome firmly on the map as a leading environmently friendly town.
And the town’s efforts have been recognised with Frome Town Council picking up a prestigious nomination in this year’s South West Green Energy Awards, following on from the Cheese and Grain winning a Green Apple Award earlier this year. read more>>>

Opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology in the green economy

2014-10-07 - In a world of finite resources and ecosystem capacity, the prevailing model of economic growth, founded on ever-increasing consumption of resources and emission pollutants, cannot be sustained any longer. In this context, the "green economy"concept has offered the opportunity to change the way that society manages the interaction of the environmental and economic domains.
To enable society to build and sustain a green economy, the associated concept of "green nanotechnology"aims to exploit nano-innovations in materials science and engineering to generate products and processes that are energy efficient as well as economically and environmentally sustainable. These applications are expected to impact a large range of economic sectors, such as energy production and storage, clean up-technologies, as well as construction and related infrastructure industries. read more>>>

Energy efficiency targets could boost UK economy by £62bn

October 6th, 2014 - The figures, part of a costs and benefit assessment disclosed after an access to information request and now released by the Guardian, reveal that a curb of energy consumption could increase GDP while helping to tackle climate change.
Significantly, they also reveal that the stronger the targets, the more substantial the benefits. A 40% cut in energy use would increase GDP by £62 billion, while a 30% cut would deliver a boost of just £17.3 billion – more than three times less.
This comes shortly after the release of a report that hailed energy efficiency as “a hidden fuel” that could boost economic growth and sustainable development. read more>>>

RenewableUK welcomes additional government funding for renewables

03 October 2014 - Additional funding for renewable energy project will provide a welcome stimulus to wind, wave and tidal projects in the UK says trade association RenewableUK.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced an extra £300 million for all low-carbon technologies, supported under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism, an increase of £95 million from the initial budget announced in July.
Established technologies, such as onshore wind, will now compete for £65 million in annual support, up from £50 million, while less established technologies, including offshore wind and marine energy will share £235m, up from the initial £155m. read more>>>

Renewable energy will be key to Paris climate talks, IRENA says

19 September 2014 - As France prepares to host the make-or-break Paris Climate Conference in December 2015, and with expectations that the outcome will define global climate efforts in the future, renewable energy is increasingly taking centre stage in the climate discussion.
REthinking Energy, a new report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency(IRENA) this week, underlines that renewables must be part of any solution to avoid catastrophic climate change. IRENA presented the new report at the Senate of France on Tuesday highlighting the economic, social, technological, environmental, and climate dynamics of the global energy transition.
“Renewable energy provides an answer to many of the most pressing socio-economic challenges faced by governments today, including energy access, energy security, health and environmental concerns,” said Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General of IRENA. read more>>>

It paid to go ‘green’ for owners of a Houston energy-efficient house

October 6, 2014 - The Braes Heights home looks like a typical house for a family of four in the well-to-do neighborhood. It has three stories, six-bedrooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen, arching doorways and a sweeping staircase.
But what owner Ker Thomson, a Houston anesthesiologist, and his wife Rachel, a retired ballerina for the Houston Ballet, wanted was more than a typical house when they set out to build roughly three years ago. And now, the house at 3730 Drummond is possibly the first in Houston to earn a LEED Platinum certification, a “Fortified Rated” designation from the Institute for Building and Home Safety and the Zero Energy Ready Home certification from the Department of Energy.
“It represents a fundamentally different way to build a home and was designed for the U.S. Gulf Coast,” Ker Thomson said. ”It still has all the amenities and appearances of an elegant custom home, but we have changed the game behind the sheet rock. The short and long term benefits from this type of construction become obvious, especially when viewed as a complete package, or a system.” read more>>>

Why New Hampshire could be the next state to take on microgrids

October 08, 2014 - New Hampshire soon may be charting a course toward electric grid modernization — and microgrids — if it follows the advice in a 10-year energy strategy issued by the state Office of Energy & Planning.
The advisory agency recently recommended that the Public Utilities Commission investigate grid modernization, in keeping with similar action in Massachusetts and New York. The states are looking at how to make the grid more storm-resilient, economic and efficient with microgrids, distributed energy, smart meters and other approaches that foster local energy.
The report noted that in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, “microgrids have gained national prominence,” with Princeton University’s microgrid serving as a model. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 14 October 2014

2014-10-14T05:01:00.001-07:00

California leads on climate change, says 50-state tool

October 9, 2014 - California has completed the highest number of goals to prepare for climate change, followed by Massachusetts and New York, according to a first-of-its-kind 50-state tracking tool unveiled Thursday.
In the last five years, there's been a burst of state efforts to deal with already occurring climate impacts such as more frequent storms and rising sea levels. They've ranged from elevating wastewater treatment plants to insulating roads, building micro-grids for backup power or buying out homes in flood-prone areas.
California has been a leader, achieving 48 or 14% of its 345 self-described climate goals, says the new online tool developed by the Georgetown Climate Center, a nonpartisan research group based at Georgetown University Law School. It passed, for example, a "cool pavements" bill in 2012 to encourage lighter-colored paving materials that reduce the heat-island effect in urban areas . read more>>>

Report: Florida lags in clean-energy jobs

10/08/2014 - More than 130,000 Floridians work at about 14,000 clean energy businesses across the state. But that’s just 1.5 percent of all jobs in Florida, a small per-capita number when compared to other states studied, according to a Florida clean jobs census released Wednesday by a trio of business organizations.
While 130,000 is a big number, “we believe this is only a drop in the bucket to what this state can be,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), which released “Clean Jobs Florida: Sizing Up Florida’s Clean Energy Jobs Base and its Potential” with the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy and the Florida Chapter of the Energy Services Coalition. “Florida is a state that is not living up to its potential.” read more>>>

Making lots of renewable energy equipment doesn’t boost pollution

Oct 8 2014 - While the use of renewable energy is booming, the boom started from a very low point. We're only now reaching the stage where renewable power is providing a substantial fraction of the energy used in some developed economies. Pushing things further and faster would require a lot of resources as, per unit of electricity produced, renewable power equipment takes more material than fossil fuel plants. Plus, at least initially, a lot of the manufacturing will be powered by fossil fuel plants.
How does all this balance out? An international team of researchers has looked at the material demands and pollution that would result from a push to get the globe to 40 percent renewables by the middle of the century. The analysis finds that despite the increased materials and energy demands, a push like this would result in a dramatic reduction in pollution. And for the most part, the material demands could be met, with the possible exception of copper. read more>>>

Seeing Is Believing: Creating a New Climate Economy in the United States

October 10, 2014 - A presentation and networking opportunity was held on Friday, October 10 in Washington, D.C. for the release of Seeing is Believing: Creating a New Climate Economy in the United States.
Building on the recently-released New Climate Economy report, this analysis provides evidence and real-world examples demonstrating how the United States is already seizing economic returns while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions—and outlines what can be done to further hasten these positive trends.
The New Climate Economy is the flagship report of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, led by former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon, with a group of world-leading economic advisors. read more>>>

Lincoln Center Turns to Solar Power to Provide Some of Its Bright Light

OCT. 9, 2014 - It is no longer a rooftop with open space and great views where music or ballet students could sunbathe, if they managed to sneak up there without setting off an alarm.
It still has the great views and the alarm. But in the last couple of weeks, the roof of the building at Lincoln Center that houses the Juilliard School and the School of American Ballet has had the look of a construction site. Heavy, slablike parts were hauled in. Electricians put in long hours running wires to control boxes.
And more than 900 square feet of what had been empty space was covered by solar panels that will convert sunlight to electrical current. read more>>>

Pacific Gas and Electric focusing on 'Grid of Things'

October 8, 2014 - Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is reporting on three years of smart grid success in its most recent third annual smart grid report, which outlines the utility's use and testing of advanced technology to improve the safety, reliability and resiliency of the power grid while giving customers new options for managing their energy and saving money.
PG&E is working on emerging and future smart grid projects that will benefit customers, including "self-healing" circuits that automatically restore customers in the wake of an outage, and advanced support for customer-owned clean energy installations. read more>>>

Study: Knowledge is power when it comes to water conservation

October 8, 2014 - Despite being often sensationalized and alarmist, water-related news coverage of droughts, chemical spills, and burst pipelines may have a positive impact on water conservation, as demonstrated by the results of a national poll by EnviroMedia. If nothing else, the headlines get people talking.
The poll revealed that 44 percent of U.S. homeowners know where their water comes from -- up 12 percent from 32 percent in 2007. Unfortunately, homeowners' understanding about how the many ways they can get their electricity hasn't evolved at all, staying at 35 percent since 2007.
"That increase is good news to us, because our research for 10 years has shown a strong connection between knowledge of water and energy sources and willingness to conserve them. read more>>>

London's red phone boxes go green

Iconic symbols become charging stations to stay relevant
Oct 07, 2014 - Next time you're on the go and your phone is running out of juice, try a phone box. No, not for calling. To charge your phone.
One of London's famous red telephone boxes has been painted green and transformed into a solar-powered charging station, as part of a design competition.
The so-called "Solarbox" can be found in central London's Tottenham Court Road, and there are plans for more to be opened by early 2015.
The Solarbox has chargers for Samsung, BlackBerry and the iPhones 4, 5 and 6. It can power an estimated 100 devices a day through its roof-mounted solar panel. read more>>>

Cut the red tape to unleash our green future

October 07, 2014 - From Riverside to Silicon Valley to San Diego, clean economy businesses are hiring local workers, growing California’s economy, and reducing our carbon footprint all at once. Often they’re doing it despite cumbersome regulations that were designed for the fossil fuel economy of the twentieth century.
A new study by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate clearly states that transitioning to a clean economy - with all the accompanying climate, security and health benefits - will be cheaper than continuing to invest in the fossil fuel economy. By modernizing regulations and cutting red tape, local, state, and federal governments can stimulate the clean economy at little to no cost.
In California, we’ve started doing just that. read more>>>

Large battery successfully tested at Fraunhofer IFF

08.10.2014 - Fraunhofer IFF has demonstrated the functionality of a mobile 1 MW storage system by temporarily disconnecting a building from the grid in Magdeburg, Germany. The battery will be used to compensate the fluctuations in the supply of energy from renewable sources.
Electricity from wind and sun is becoming less expensive and therefore economically attractive for businesses, especially at peak load. If clouds and a lack of wind coincide, then high-performance energy storage systems can help by feeding previously-stored excess electricity back into the grid. At the Fraunhofer Institute IFF, researchers have now shown in an experiment that this is feasible: A building with approximately 150 employees as well as various offices and laboratories was temporarily fully dependent on the supply of energy from a large battery with a capacity of 1 MW. As the institute reported, research operations continued without interruption during the test phase. read more>>>

Low-carbon energy future is clean, feasible

October 6, 2014 - A future where electricity comes mostly from low-carbon sources is not only feasible in terms of material demand, but will significantly reduce air pollution, a study published in the 6 October Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says.
An international team led by Edgar Hertwich and Thomas Gibon from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted the first-ever global comprehensive life cycle assessment of the long-term, wide-scale implementation of electricity generation from renewable resources.
"This is the first study that has assembled and scaled up the assessment of individual technologies to the whole world and assessed technology implementation to 2050, taking the environmental impacts of production into account," Hertwich said. read more>>>

Little solar communities: Australia's looming micro-grid moment

9 Oct 2014 - Australian society is made up of a strong sense of independence, can-do attitude, and healthy scepticism for authority, which is understandable given its geography and history. Therefore, it’s little wonder that household-owned, rooftop solar is the major force in the Australian solar market.
Australia is also home to massive youth unemployment, which is sapping the potential of a generation of kids. According to the Clean Energy Council, and referenced by The Australia Institute in its recent report on the subject, employment in the solar industry has overtaken coal-fired power, and is expected to increase by 8000 more jobs by 2018 (assuming we still have a RET). That’s more jobs created in the next four years than existed in the entire electricity sector, including renewables, in 2007. All people, and particularly young people hungry to learn new skills, have brighter employment prospects with a healthy solar market. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 9 October 2014

2014-10-09T05:10:00.000-07:00

UCSB professor who helped create blue LEDs shares Nobel Prize

7 October 2014 - A California scientist and two in Japan won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for a breakthrough invention that reduces global warming and brings light to areas of the world that are off the electrical grid.
Shuji Nakamura of UC Santa Barbara shares the prize with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano for devising a blue light-emitting diode, a long-awaited missing link that in the 1990s paved the way for energy-efficient LED lighting.
Thanks to the work of the three scientists, environmentally friendly lighting is becoming ubiquitous in the developed world and is poised to spread to the 1.5 billion people around the globe without access to electricity, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which bestows the Nobel Prizes. read more>>>

Electric vehicle sales charge up 50 per cent in 2014

Industry figures show sales growth of alternatively-fuelled vehicles outpacing diesel and petrol equivalents, although volumes remain small
07 Oct 2014 - Electric cars, hybrids and other alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs) are increasingly grabbing market share from traditional petrol and diesel models, new industry figures reveal.
The latest statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show 9,955 AFVs were registered in September, a 56 per cent rise on the same time last year. read more>>>

Encroaching Tides

Tidal flooding, driven by sea level rise, will dramatically increase in U.S. East and Gulf Coast communities over the next 30 years.
Today scores of coastal communities are seeing more frequent flooding during high tides. As sea level rises higher over the next 15 to 30 years, tidal flooding is expected to occur more often, cause more disruption, and even render some areas unusable — all within the time frame of a typical home mortgage. read more>>>

These 10 countries have pledged $2.3 billion to fight climate change. The U.S. isn’t one of them.

7 Oct 2014 - Poorer countries typically get the rough end of global warming: Not only are they more likely to feel the brunt of its impacts — like rising sea levels or increased extreme weather — they also don’t have enough money to face the problem. This split between the rich and poor has become a major source of frustration in the global fight against climate change. Put simply, some poorer countries say they are being asked to give up the rapid, fossil-fuel-powered development the rest of the world enjoyed while simultaneously being hit with the costs of a problem they didn’t create.
During the U.N. climate summit in New York City recently, some world leaders took the opportunity to pledge support for the Green Climate Fund, an international effort to help poor countries mitigate and adapt to climate change. But many wealthy countries — most notably, the United States — haven’t contributed yet. Here’s a rundown of how the Green Climate Fund works, and where the major gaps in funding still exist. read more>>>

Open Days: Cities at heart of EU efforts to tackle climate change

8 October 2014 - Cities are already playing a significant role in cutting emissions through the hugely successful covenant of mayors initiative. Now, a new movement is taking root across the EU, which addresses the equally important task of climate-proofing our cities. This month, mayors from all over Europe will come to Brussels to pledge their support for the new EU initiative on adaptation.
Recent extreme weather events have shown that adapting to the unfolding impacts of climate change in Europe is just as important as ongoing efforts to slow it down. As major centres of population and critical infrastructure, Europe's cities are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events.
The recent devastating floods in central and south east Europe demonstrate the dramatic economic and social consequences extreme weather can have on our cities and citizens. Effective action needs to be tailored to specific circumstances, which will vary from region to region. read more>>>

ALEC making false claims about NRDC

October 2, 2014 - The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is not happy with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In fact, NRDC is demanding that ALEC immediately cease misrepresenting NRDC's position on renewable energy on the ALEC website -- calling it an "erroneous reference" -- and stop making other false claims.
ALEC, the force behind dozens of bills introduced into state legislatures to block clean energy development and action on climate change, has been in the news a lot lately as internet technology giants like Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Yelp have unceremoniously cut ties with the organization, in no small part, for denying climate change reality. read more>>>

$25M earmarked to improve efficiency, lower cost of solar

October 2, 2014 - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has made available $25 million in funding to advance concentrating solar power (CSP) system technologies' research and development, performance and efficiency, with the ultimate goal of lowering the cost of solar electricity and producing affordable, clean and renewable energy, even at night, by storing the heat generated by the sun.
CSP generates electric power by using mirrors to focus and concentrate the sun's rays on a receiver from which a heat transfer fluid carries the intense thermal energy to a power block to generate electricity. With thermal energy storage, CSP technology can store the sun's heat for use when the sun isn't even shining. read more>>>

How solar energy could be the largest source of electricity by mid-century

Sep. 29, 2014 The sun could be the world’s largest source of electricity by 2050, ahead of fossil fuels, wind, hydro and nuclear, according to a pair of reports issued today by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The two IEA technology roadmaps show how solar photovoltaic (PV) systems could generate up to 16% of the world’s electricity by 2050 while solar thermal electricity (STE) from concentrating solar power (CSP) plants could provide an additional 11%. Combined, these solar technologies could prevent the emission of more than 6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2050 – that is more than all current energy-related CO2 emissions from the United States or almost all of the direct emissions from the transport sector worldwide today.
“The rapid cost decrease of photovoltaic modules and systems in the last few years has opened new perspectives for using solar energy as a major source of electricity in the coming years and decades,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. read more>>>

How to make a “perfect” solar absorber

Sep. 29, 2014 - The key to creating a material that would be ideal for converting solar energy to heat is tuning the material’s spectrum of absorption just right: It should absorb virtually all wavelengths of light that reach Earth’s surface from the sun — but not much of the rest of the spectrum, since that would increase the energy that is reradiated by the material, and thus lost to the conversion process.
Now researchers at MIT say they have accomplished the development of a material that comes very close to the “ideal” for solar absorption. The material is a two-dimensional metallic dielectric photonic crystal, and has the additional benefits of absorbing sunlight from a wide range of angles and withstanding extremely high temperatures. read more>>>

Cities launch global alliance to lower carbon emissions

Sep. 30, 2014 - More than 2,000 cities have banded together in what the UN calls the largest effort by cities so far to curb their greenhouse gas emissions.
The goal of the Compact of Mayors is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 454 million tonnes a year by 2020 — equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions from 130 coal power plants — through knowledge sharing and transparent and accountable measures.
The compact was launched last week (23 September) at the UN Climate Summit 2014 in New York City, United States. 228 of the cities involved have already disclosed existing strategies and targets. read more>>>

Loving solar energy: first heart-shaped PV plant

02.10.2014 - The solar expert Conergy intends to build a heart-shaped solar plant in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. Construction work on the 2-MW PV plant is scheduled to begin within the next few months and is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2015.
The photovoltaic system is being built on a four acre area on the largest island of New Caledonia, Grand-Terre, and the heart shape of the PV park will be visible from the air. read more>>>

Renewable energies are the most important power source in Germany

02.10.2014 - In total, renewable energies supplied more electricity during the first nine month of 2014 in Germany than individual conventional energy sources. This is the conclusion reached by an analysis of electricity generation and consumption data that was carried out by Agora Energiewende.
Overall, renewable energy sources contributed 27.7% of all electricity consumed in Germany. This means that they overtook power generated from lignite for the first time, which accounted for 26.3% of the electricity consumed. At 9.5%, wind energy contributed the largest proportion of renewable energy; biomass supplied 8.1% and PV 6.8%. For several hours at a time, solar power covered one-third of German electricity consumption, and at times PV power plants generated far more electricity than was needed: On 6 June, 2014, 24.1 GW were fed into the grid around the midday peak (1 PM). This short-term performance peak is the equivalent of around 20 nuclear power plants. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 7 October 2014

2014-10-07T05:18:00.001-07:00

To undertake a massively ambitious energy project, you don’t need the government anymore

Oct. 1 2014 - As recently as a few years ago, companies wanting to undertake extremely risky, ambitious, never-been-done energy projects—a 290 megawatt utility-scale solar plant in the California desert, for example, or an all-electric sports car—had one big option: to get direct support from the government through the controversial Energy Department Loan Program.
But thanks in part to the success of that program, renewable energy and low- and no-carbon ventures have quickly become big business. While many of them still rely on indirect government support, in the form of tax credits for energy producers and purchasers of electric vehicles, the private sector is increasingly the funder of energy-related moonshots. read more>>>

South Florida at forefront of climate planning, top U.S. scientist says

10/01/2014 - A week before a seasonal high tide is expected to soak Miami Beach, the White House’s chief science adviser visited the city Wednesday to praise regional leaders for their work on climate change.
“What’s going on... here is really a model for what we need to see going on around the country,” John Holdren told an audience of about 650 at the Sixth Annual Southeast Florida Climate Leadership Summit at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Holdren, who last month landed on The Daily Show after skirmishing with the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology over polar ice melt, got a decidedly warmer welcome at the gathering that drew a wide audience from government, private industry and nonprofits. read more>>>

DOE: 54-GWs of Untapped Offshore Wind Power

October 6th, 2014 - At least 54-gigawatts (GW) of U.S. offshore wind energy generation capacity could be deployed by 2030, according to a new study funded by the Department of Energy (DOE). The “National Offshore Wind Energy Grid Interconnection Study” (NOWEGIS) focused on helping DOE achieve two goals: reducing the cost of offshore wind energy and shortening the time required to deploy offshore wind generation capacity.
Researchers from ABB, the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), Duke Energy, AWS Truepower and the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering joined to produce NOWEGIS. The research team used NREL’s Regional Energy Deployment System (ReDS) model for electricity generation and transmission to survey suitable offshore wind energy asset locations, calculated timelines for deployment of 54 GWs of clean, renewable electricity generation. read more>>>

Tougher energy efficiency target would boost UK economy by £62bn – study

Environmentalists cite unpublished EU figures in call for a more ambitious goal for reducing energy use by 2030
5 October 2014 - A 40% cut in energy use by 2030 through efficiency measures would increase the UK’s GDP by £62bn and create 40,000 new jobs, according to unpublished EU figures.
Hitting a lower target of 30% would create 13,000 jobs and boost the economy by £17.3bn, says the study by independent consultancy Cambridge Econometrics, obtained by WWF after an access to information request.
The study underlines the impact of engineering the economy to use less energy. read more>>>

REC launches high-performance TwinPeak panels for major worldwide markets

25 September 2014 - European solar manufacturer REC has announced it will begin production of a new high-performance solar panel called the TwinPeak series, introduced this week in Munich.
The new panel, which was launched at REC’s annual partner event in Munich, will be rated up to 275 watt peak (Wp) resulting in a 17 percent panel efficiency. It will be targeted at rooftops in the growing residential, commercial and industrial markets.
The panel is based on an innovative design that provides more power output per square metre. It features 120 half-cut multicrystalline cells, four bus bars, passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) technology and a split junction box. read more>>>

How this New York utility plans to own and operate microgrids

Central Hudson Gas & Electric's microgrid proposal is a bold step towards a more distributed energy future
September 29, 2014 - Utilities have come a long way from the days when distributed generation was only considered a threat to the industry model.
In New York, regulators are considering a plan to reinvent the electric utility and the grid it operates. Under the state's Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative, utilities are being asked to consider how microgrids, distributed generation and increasing amounts of renewables might all fit together. The vision being developed calls for widespread resources and greater coordination, with utilities at the forefront of making that happen — at least initially. read more>>>

Solar cells cheap enough to quickly cover their cost: Could double as semi-transparent blinds for windows

September 24, 2014 - One of the most common complaints about solar power is solar panels are still too expensive to be worth the investment. Many researchers have responded by making solar cells, the tile-like components of solar panels that absorb and transfer energy, more efficient and longer lasting. But even the longest living solar cells that most effectively convert sunlight to energy will not become common if they are prohibitively expensive. Therefore, Professor Yabing Qi, the head of the Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, has a different idea: make solar cells using a type of semiconductor called perovskite materials, which are, in Qi's words, "dirt cheap."
If solar cells are cheap enough, Qi reasons that people will want to use them for the immediate payback in energy savings. Now Professor Qi and members of his research unit have developed a new method for making perovskite solar cells worthy of attention, and The Royal Society of Chemistry published their findings September 5, 2014 in their journal, Energy & Environmental Science. read more>>>

China to promote green materials in affordable housing

2014-09-28 - China will stress the use of environment-friendly materials in building affordable housing in major cities starting this year in an effort to promote greener homes.
Yang Rong, an official with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that under the national plan, more than 70 percent of affordable housing will be constructed under the green standards by 2020.
China has been plagued by high energy cost of its constructions, which consume around a third of the country's total energy use.
The country released the first green home standards in as early as 2006, which require the houses be both water and energy-saving, friendly to the environment and with less land use. read more>>>

A first for renewable energy in the CA desert

September 29, 2014 - The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the California Department of Natural Resources have released what is being called a first-of-its-kind plan for conservation and renewable energy development in the California desert.
The draft of the long-awaited Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) is "an unprecedented opportunity to provide a framework for "smart from the start" planning efforts that guide renewable energy development to areas with low environmental and wildlife risk, and conserve the desert's wildlife, wilderness and treasures landscapes," according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) who has been engaged in the draft process for more than four years. read more>>>

Research collaboration addresses green building technology

September 29, 2014 - Lux Research has entered into a collaboration that will address the lack of information available about green building technology and how it can reduce the world's electricity consumption.
As buildings are responsible for 70 percent of global electricity consumption, Lux Research will partner with Dr. Richard Freeman, co-director of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities (HCGBC) in developing a database of green building innovations. Freeman also holds the Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University and directs the National Bureau of Economic Research/Sloan Science Engineering Workforce Projects. read more>>>

Microgrid Enabling Technologies Are Expected to Exceed $26 Billion in Annual Revenue by 2023, According to Navigant Research

Advanced energy storage on track to become a key emerging technology for the microgrid market, report concludes
September 29, 2014 - A new report from Navigant Research analyzes the global market for significant microgrid enabling technologies, including diesel generators, natural gas generators, fuel cells, solar photovoltaic (PV), distributed wind, advanced energy storage, and others.
Dramatic change is occurring in the microgrid market, as a greater emphasis is being placed on the economic value that these systems bring to the overall power grid. At the same time, new business models, designed to support full commercial deployment of microgrid systems, are being investigated and implemented. Click to tweet: According to a new report from Navigant Research, worldwide vendor revenue from microgrid enabling technologies (METs) is expected to grow from $5.5 billion annually in 2014 to $26.3 billion in 2023.
“Microgrids are emerging as a global phenomenon,” says Peter Asmus, principal research analyst with Navigant Research. “These systems offer compelling features, including the ability to isolate themselves from the utility distribution system during power outages, as well as a high capacity to integrate diverse distributed energy resources, such as wind, solar PV, and conventional generation from diesel generators.” read more>>>

Creating an Integrated Grid: Regulators, Legislators Can Help

September 28, 2014 - Integrating more distributed power generation and energy storage can help make a grid more flexible, resilient, sustainable and environmentally friendly. But in the U.S., there's a catch -- so far, utilities here are effectively barred from owning generation and storage assets at the distribution level.
Legislators and regulators, at the federal and state level, have an opportunity to craft policy solutions that would make these advanced strategies more feasible -- thus empowering utilities to support broader long-term goals.
In several states, one form of distributed generation -- rooftop solar -- is growing fast, thanks largely to state incentives. This capacity is primarily installed by third-party providers and is not controlled in any way by utilities. Many utilities are struggling to adapt their distribution networks to accommodate this uncontrolled influx of variable power. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 3 October 2014

2014-10-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

Nebraska Wind and Solar Conference Boosts Interest in Clean Energy

The 2014 Nebraska Wind and Solar Conference will highlight new and continuing opportunities for the wind and solar industries in the state. John Hansen is the President of the Nebraska Farmers Union and says the conference is designed as a resource for anyone interested in clean energy.
Now in its seventh year, Hansen says the conferences have already contributed to the growth of wind and solar energy in Nebraska. read more>>>

South Florida leaders discuss climate change plans

October 1, 2014 - South Florida community leaders are meeting in Miami Beach to discuss regional plans for adapting to climate change.
Federal climate policy initiatives will be discussed Wednesday at the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summit. On Thursday, officials will discuss investment risks and business strategies for adapting to climate change.
A compact reached by the Florida Keys and Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in 2010 calls for revamped planning policies, more public transportation options, stopping seawater from flowing into freshwater supplies and managing the region's unique ecosystems. read more>>>

Clean-Energy Spending at $175 Billion on Chinese Rise

Oct 2, 2014 - About $175 billion was spent globally on renewable energy projects during the first three quarters, up 16 percent from the same period last year, with Chinese solar investment at a record, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report.
Spending in the third quarter gained 12 percent to $55 billion from $48.9 billion a year earlier, the London-based research company said today in statement. Almost $20 billion of that was in China, where solar investing soared to $12.2 billion from $7.5 billion.
The world’s largest solar market may add 14 gigawatts of capacity this year, almost a third of the global total, as more large-scale projects are built, BNEF said. read more>>>

State energy plan emphasizes renewable sources, efficiency

October 1, 2014 - The state’s new energy plan calls for greater development of renewable energy sources and reducing energy consumption, though it would come at a higher cost to consumers and businesses.
The 2014 Virginia Energy Plan, released Wednesday, “will lead our efforts to grow, strengthen and diversify Virginia’s economy,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in a letter laying out his priorities and what he hopes to accomplish over the next four years.
McAuliffe’s goal is a state economy that will be “stronger ... and fueled by cleaner and more abundant Virginia energy.” read more>>>

Florida Can Save Money Under the Clean Power Plan

October 2nd, 2014 - Earlier this summer, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its draft Clean Power Plan (CPP) standards for cutting carbon pollution from existing, coal-fired power plants in Florida and other states around the country. This plan was greeted with strong support from Floridians, 78% of whom said there should be limits on how much carbon pollution power plants are allowed to emit, 77% of whom said they supported the new EPA rules, and 69% of whom said they wanted an emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficiency — not fossil fuels.
Yet despite the overwhelmingly public support for the CPP, we’ve recently been hearing arguments from Florida utility JEA and others that this plan will supposedly result in higher electricity costs for customers. This is simply not the case. Instead, as St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman puts it, JEA and its coal-fired allies are simply “working overtime to distort the facts, scare the public and undermine” the EPA’s proposed rule. read more>>>

Wisconsin can lead again on clean energy: column

October 1, 2014 - Recently, we learned that Wisconsin hit a clean energy milestone two years ahead of target. Today, more than 10 percent of our electricity comes from sustainable sources like wind and bioenergy.
While that sounds like great news — and, by itself, it is great news — a look at the bigger picture shows Wisconsin actually is falling behind, and it's time for our state leaders to act.
Back in 2005, when Wisconsin enacted the Renewable Portfolio Standard with bipartisan and business support, the state was considered a national leader in clean energy. Utilities had a 2015 deadline to begin including at least 10 percent clean power in their energy mix. Public Service Commission data unveiled recently showed we got there in 2013 instead. read more>>>

Bonn to Istanbul to New York: World Mayors Unite to Save Climate

September 23, 2014 - To combat climate change, a global Compact of Mayors from cities across the world was launched today at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit today at UN Headquarters.
Cities are currently responsible for about 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and can play a critical role in reducing these emissions and strengthening resilience.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, now UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, announced that the Compact of Mayors’ key partners are the world’s three preeminent global city networks: C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and the United Cities and Local Governments, with support from the UN’s lead agency on urban issues, UN-Habitat. read more>>>

EU Funds Sustainable Energy: First in Africa, Next, the World

September 22, 2014 (ENS) – European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will tomorrow co-sign joint declarations in New York to reinforce energy cooperation with five African countries: Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Togo and Rwanda.
These agreements will aim to increase access to sustainable energy sources, even in rural areas where the needs are the greatest.
In order to achieve this also on a global scale, the EU plans to allocate more than 3.3 billion euro worth of grants in the 2014-2020 financial period to support sustainable energy projects all over the world. read more>>>

Climate Summit prompts $175bn boost for green transport in Africa

26/09/2014 - The annoucement follow’s this week’s UN Climate Summit in New York City, which was attended by 125 heads of state.
The transport sector accounts for over 90% of primary oil demand and is responsible for 23% of energy-related CO2 emissions. Africa has comparably low CO2 emissions from transport: 215kg of CO2/per capita in 2008, which is 25 times lower than the world average. However this figure is expected to increase with the rise in Africa’s total oil demand. read more>>>

Solar, shaded carport under construction at BCC

September 26, 2014 - One of Bristol Community College's large parking lots is currently a construction site.
A long, shiny steel roof has been erected at one end, one of eight similar structures planned to cover all five lots by the end of the year. When complete, it will be Massachusetts' largest solar carport, expected to generate 40 percent of campus energy needs, BCC officials said.
"Our goal is to reduce greenhouse gases and get as much of our energy from renewable sources as possible and this is a big step," said Steve Kenyon, vice president of business and finance. read more>>>

Renewable energy reshaping utilities

September 26, 2014 - Solar energy, particularly distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation, drives more full-time utility employment than any other renewable generating resource, according to research conducted by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and ScottMadden Inc., which looked at how renewable energy is reshaping utilities' organizational structures across 14 utilities.
As increasing levels of solar, wind, geothermal and biomass are integrated onto the grid, utility hiring is impacted. In fact, the 14 utilities surveyed averaged 41 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees per 100 MW of PV interconnections vs. 12 FTEs per 100 MW of total renewable capacity. read more>>>

Clean Energy Fund plan commits $5B to NY renewables

September 26, 2014 - The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has proposed a plan for promoting clean energy development after the current authorization of the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS) and Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) programs end in 2015. The Clean Energy Fund is just one component of the strategy to bridge the transition from the current portfolio of clean energy programs to the new Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) market and required regulatory framework.
Coupled with an increased role for the state's utilities investing in both energy efficiency and large-scale renewable energy, NYSERDA's Clean Energy Fund proposal features a 10-year, $5 billion commitment to funding and supporting clean energy development, which are critical to bringing clean energy businesses and jobs to New York. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 1 October 2014

2014-10-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Patrick touts continued clean energy sector job growth

September 29, 2014 - For the third straight year, jobs in the Massachusetts clean energy industry experienced double-digit growth, increasing by 10.5 percent between July 2013 and 2014, Gov. Deval Patrick announced Monday in Brighton.
A state government-sponsored Clean Energy Industry Report released Monday forecasts additional growth of 13.5 percent over the next year, increasing employment in the burgeoning sector to 100,000 by early 2015.
“Conventional thinking often says that clean energy is an economic drag. That’s false, and we’ve proved it,” Patrick said at the Boston Green Academy, a Horace Mann charter school. He said, “Clean tech is no niche industry in Massachusetts. It’s a $10 billion sector of our economy and it’s growing. That didn’t happen by accident.” read more>>>

24 NYC schools getting solar panels in $28M project — and City Hall could be next

Mayor de Blasio announced the project Monday as part of his push to reduce the city’s gas emissions by 80% by 2050. The panels at city schools are expected to generate 6.25 megawatts of energy and cut emissions by 2,800 metric tons a year. Eventually, the mayor wants 300 city-owned buildings to have solar panels.
September 29, 2014 - Here comes the sun — generating energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions at two dozen city schools.
The schools will get solar panels in a $28 million project that’s part of a solar-energy push — and even City Hall could end up hooked up for solar, Mayor de Blasio said Monday. read more>>>

Clean energy jobs: Northeast Solar in Hatfield says business is growing, and solar offers an answer to high electricity prices

September 29, 2014 - Gregory Garrison, a co-founder of Northeast Solar in Hatfield, traces his company back to the renewable energy program at Greenfield Community College.
"We are the poster child for local and state investment growing business," he said.
He and business partner, Ann Bronner. have grown from four employees to 15 in four years. read more>>>

The frenzy to divest fossil fuels

September 23, 2014 - The frenzy of investors divesting from fossil fuels in favor of clean energy has reached a fever pitch at $50 billion in divestitures, according to MarkGlobal Divest/Invest Coalition.
More than 800 investors worldwide are divesting their holdings in fossil fuels. The signatories, including foundations, individuals, faith groups, health care organizations, cities and universities around the world will make their divestiture commitment public today at the United Nations Climate Summit. Signers pledge to divest from fossil fuels over five years, taking a variety of approaches. read more>>>

Green Economy Isn’t Rocket Science – And It’s Not Even Costly

Sep 22 2014 (IPS) - Acting on climate change will not hurt domestic economic growth, and in fact is more likely to boost growth, most analyses now show.
The latest to confirm the dictum that swift action is eminently affordable is the recent report by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, released on the eve of the Sep. 23 U.N. Climate Summit in New York.
“There is no reason to fear that more ambitious action to reduce carbon emissions will have a high economic cost,”said economist Robert Repetto, an International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) fellow and former professor at Yale University. read more>>>

This Polish Town is 100% Powered by Renewable Energy!

09/22/14 - The town of Kisielice in Poland is 100 percent powered by renewable energy! In recognition of its achievement, the town has just been awarded a European Commission ManagEnergy Award 2014 in the self-sufficiency category. The achievement is even more remarkable given that Poland as a whole derives around 90 percent of its energy from coal.
Surrounded by expanses of open farming land, Kisielice now has two wind farms with a total of 48 turbines and an 82 MW capacity. A central heating network has also been built with the financial aid of grants and tax revenues. Fed by a biomass boiler with a 6 MW capacity and that runs on straw, it supplies heat to 85 percent of the town’s buildings. In summer, waste heat from the plant supplies hot water to the town. In December 2013, the town also built its first biogas power plant. This produces one MW of heat and one MW of electricity and is fed by locally grown corn silage. read more>>>

New efficiency record in thin-film solar cells

22.09.2014 - Scientists at the German Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) achieved an efficiency of 21.7 % with a thin-film solar cell made of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). The last record was set by Swedish researchers, who produced solar cells with an efficiency of 21 %.
“It will probably take some time for this efficiency increase to make its way into module manufacturing,” explains Michael Powalla, ZSW board member and head of the Photovoltaics division, “but 17 to 19 % is very much possible in the next few years.” Currently available CIGS modules have an efficiency of around 15 %. read more>>>

Military microgrid market potential

22/09/2014 - With the US Defense Department (DoD) the largest single global consumer of petroleum products and its military operations comprising the largest demand for all forms of energy, the DoD is already working on establishing a network of independent microgrids that integrate distributed renewable generation, electric vehicles, and demand response at its bases. As a result, the growth potential for the military microgrid market is anticipated to see upwards of 54.8 MW total capacity by 2018, according to new analysis from Red Mountain Insights.
Bases located within the US and abroad depend on aging transmission systems susceptible to cyber-terrorism and unreliability while the DoD moves about 50 million gallons of fuel monthly in Afghanistan, much of which is for power generation. read more>>>

Maritime wind energy training centre has been inaugurated

22.09.2014 - OffTEC Base GmbH has officially inaugurated its new Maritime Training Centre (MTC) in Enge-Sande. The specialised facility can provide all necessary training for maritime and wind technology personnel.
The building took approximately 10 months to construct. The heart of the facility is a 5.5 m deep pool of water that has a surface area of 345 m². It features a wave machine that can generate waves more than 2 metres high. The training equipment offered by the MTC includes a boat landing, escape chute systems as well as winches, which can be used to simulate missions in diverse environments such as swell, different types of weather conditions and day or night scenarios. read more>>>

NC’s rise in solar power must accelerate

September 20, 2014 - Last week was a big week for solar power in North Carolina. On Monday, Duke Energy announced that it plans to invest $500 million in solar power to meet state requirements for more power from renewable sources. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited a Bunn solar farm to announce that the USDA is making $55 million available in grants and loan guarantees to support 22 North Carolina solar and other renewable energy projects.
The surge in solar power investment highlights how quickly solar and other renewable power sources are developing from marginal to central sources for generating electricity. This is good news for controlling climate change, reducing pollution and ultimately lowering the cost of electricity. The USDA program, for instance, will make it possible for farms and small communities to provide their own power and create jobs in the process. read more>>>

clear strategy on green economy has potential to deliver 90,000 new jobs

19 September 2014 - Almost 90,000 jobs could be created if the Government develops a "coherent vision and strategy" for boosting the green economy, a group of businesses have claimed.
A report from the Irish Corporate Leaders on Climate Change says opportunities exist in wind energy, buildings, electrification, smart grid, green financing and agriculture and called for Government leadership. read more>>>

Federal grants support microgrids

9/19/2014 - The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded over $8 million in funding for 7 microgrid projects. Will microgrids play an increasing role in the U.S. electricity industry?
Microgrids -- localized grids capable of operating as energy islands using distributed generation, energy storage, and distribution wires, as well as able to connect to the broader utility grid -- can offer participants and society at large significant value. These benefits can include increased reliability against storm damage and infrastructure damage, reduced emissions of carbon and other pollutants, and reduced costs. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 24 September 2014

2014-09-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

L.A., Houston, Philadelphia mayors vow more action on climate change

22 September 2014 - Mayors of three of the nation’s largest cities are pledging to take more action against climate change by implementing new projects to curb greenhouse gas emissions and persuading other leaders to do the same.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will announce the new initiative Monday in New York in advance of a United Nations climate summit being held this week.
Under the plan, the mayors will commit to set or renew aggressive targets for their cities’ greenhouse gas reductions, develop new standards to track and report pollution sources at least once a year, and draft or update climate action plans with specific strategies to control global warming and adapt to its effects. read more>>>

Advanced buoys offer real-world offshore wind data

September 16, 2014 - Offshore wind is a new frontier in U.S. renewable energy and, despite its tremendous potential to product power, limited information has been available -- until now.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy has purchased two 20,000-pound buoys complete with the latest in meteorological and oceanographic equipment to enable more accurate predictions of the power-producing potential of winds that blow off U.S. shores, according to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) who is operating and managing the buoys. The buoys are expected to improve offshore turbine performance in the near term and reduce barriers to private investment in large-scale offshore wind energy development in the long term. read more>>>

Nationally Renowned Green Builders Collaborate with University of Missouri Energy Efficiency Research Consortium to Build High Performance Home

September 15, 2014 - Following the success of the first Proud Green Home located near Atlanta, Georgia, a new high performance home, The Proud Green Home of St. Louis, is under construction to deliver sustainable benefits to its owners and to educate and inspire building professionals and consumers about the benefits of building and living green.
ProudGreenHome.com has partnered with Hibbs Homes, Verdatek Solutions, Curtiss W. Byrne Architect, and the High Performance Buildings Research Center, part of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Research Consortium at the University of Missouri-Columbia, to build the five-bedroom, 3,700 square-foot, Prairie-style home. Designed by architect Curtiss W. Byrne, the home in Wildwood, Missouri is expected to meet a number of prominent green building standards, including: read more>>>

Construction begins of world’s largest floating solar power plant

12 September 2014 - Construction of the world’s largest floating solar power plant will begin this month in Kato City, Japan.
Kyocera TCL Solar LLC will develop and operate the utility-scale floating solar power plants which will utilise Ciel et Terre’s Hydrelio floating solar platforms in two installations totalling 2.9MW. The plants will be located at Nishihira Pond and Higashihira Pond in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The 1.7MW plant at Nishihira Pond will be the world’s largest solar power generating system installed on water.
Kyocera and Century Tokyo Leasing jointly established Kyocera TCL Solar LLC in August 2012 with the express aim of constructing and operating multiple utility-scale solar power plants in Japan with the aid of the country’s Feed-in Tariff system. So far, the company has constructed 28 solar power plants, of which 11 are now in operation. read more>>>

aleo solar unveils new high-power module

10 September 2014 - aleo solar has presented a new high-power module which the company says generates yields of around ten percent higher than those produced by conventional PV modules.
Since being acquired by the Taiwanese solar company Sunrise Global Energy in the spring of this year, aleo has reopened its production plant in Prenzlau under German-Taiwanese management and has now released its monocrystalline 300 watt high-power module.
“We have improved our module and cell technology even more and brought together our best components to create the new aleo high-power PV module. read more>>>

New rotor control system for higher wind turbine yield

17.09.2014 - The Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and wind turbine manufacturer XEMC-Darwind have developed a new control system for wind turbines, which makes it possible to build larger wind turbines that produce up to 13 % more energy.
The new system is based on individual pitch control and allows the three rotor blades to be controlled and adjusted individually. For this, a computer programme constantly monitors the wind load and adjusts blade positions accordingly. Tests performed according to IEC standard showed that this reduced the load on the wind turbine blades by at least 20 %. read more>>>

German Village Produces 500% of its Energy from Renewable Sources

09/16/14 - Wildpoldsried, a Bavarian village of about 2,600 residents, is leading the way in Germany’s extraordinary renewable energy transformation. Over the past 17 years, the village has invested in a holistic range of renewable energy projects that include 4,983 kWp of photovoltaics, five biogas facilities, 11 wind turbines and a hydropower system. As a result, the village has gone beyond energy independence – and it now produces 500% more energy than it needs and profits from sales of the surplus power back to the grid.
Renewable energy projects in Germany have gained enormous traction in recent years, propelled by government subsidies that are designed to lower costs, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and move the nation entirely away from nuclear power; this transformation is known as the Energiewende. As a result, Germans will soon be getting 30 percent of their power from renewable sources—that’s twice as much as U.S. households receive. read more>>>

Promoting Green Economy For Sustainable Development

Sep 16, 2014 - In June 2012, over 140 heads of state and government representatives from around the world converged at the Brazilian city of Rio to deliberate on how to protect the environment and make the earth better.
At the various meetings, the participants agreed on the need to protect and preserve the environment for the future and canvassed a number of ideas on how to achieve this, one of which is the transition to a green economy. This was reflected on various sections of the outcome of the deliberations.
Noted on numbers 39 and 40 of the outcome of the Rio deliberations was the summary: read more>>>

ABB Solution to Enable Kodiak Island to Integrate More Renewable Energy and Stabilize Power Supply

September 15, 2014 - ABB, the leading power and automation group, will install its PowerStore, an integrated commercial flywheel technology to integrate with a battery system on Kodiak Island in Alaska to enable the integration of more renewable energy from an expanded wind farm to its microgrid and also to address stability challenges that will arise from a crane upgrade being undertaken to enhance its port operations.
The project is being undertaken on behalf of Kodiak Electric Association (KEA), an electric cooperative owned by residents of the Island. read more>>>

Global shift to renewable power urgently needed, IRENA says

08 September 2014 - Speeding up the adoption of renewable energy technologies is the most feasible route to reduce carbon emissions and avoid catastrophic climate change, says a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
This first edition of REthinking Energy–which draws on worldwide research and analysis by the intergovernmental agency and reviews progress in the world’s transition to a sustainable energy future–focuses on the global power sector and how technological advances, economic growth and climate change are transforming it. read more>>>

"We don't need no stinkin' grid" will be the mantra of the developing world, professor says

Sep 11, 2014 - A Clemson University professor told a group of experts during a recent meeting in Bangladesh that solar panels will soon revolutionize energy production the same way computer chips brought about the information revolution.
In an interview preceding the meeting he said solar energy will lower air pollution and greenhouse gases, while stimulating struggling economies and empowering impoverished people around the globe.
About 1.5 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity and another 1 billion have intermittent access. Providing basic education, healthcare and life skills all depend on electricity, Singh said. He is calling for new monetary policies and business models to hasten the spread of solar power. read more>>>

Consumers to invest $625B in renewable energy resources

September 17, 2014 - Electric utilities are facing disruptive new technology trends that are altering their traditional relationship with residential customers, according to Navigant Research, and it's called distributed energy resources (DER), which are now more affordable and have stimulated growing interest and adoption by residential customers who see an opportunity for greater control of their energy consumption.
Innovations in renewable distributed power generation, along with attractive new financing mechanisms, are providing residential customers with new options to manage their energy use and generate their own power. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 23 September 2014

2014-09-23T04:14:00.001-07:00

Taking a Call for Climate Change to the Streets

SEPT. 21, 2014 - Legions of demonstrators frustrated by international inaction on global warming descended on New York City on Sunday, marching through the heart of Manhattan with a message of alarm for world leaders set to gather this week at the United Nations for a summit meeting on climate change.
Coursing through Midtown, from Columbus Circle to Times Square and the Far West Side, the People’s Climate March was a spectacle even for a city known for doing things big, and it was joined, in solidarity, by demonstrations on Sunday across the globe, from Paris to Papua New Guinea.
“I’m here because I really feel that every major social movement in this country has come when people get together,” said Carol Sutton of Norwalk, Conn., the president of a teachers’ union. “It begins in the streets.” read more>>>

Combating climate change can be economically beneficial

September 22, 2014 - A major international report published last week could be a game changer in the fierce political debate about climate change in the United States.
The synthesis of "The New Climate Economy Report" was launched at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York on Sept. 16 and officially submitted to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Its key finding was that at least 50 percent of the reductions in greenhouse gases required to avoid dangerous climate change could be achieved through measures that have other additional economic benefits.
The report, which was produced by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, revealed that the 15 countries with the highest annual emissions of greenhouse gases lose the equivalent of 4.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) each year due to premature deaths caused by air pollution. read more>>>

Thanks to Solar, This Steel City Is Turning Into a Clean Energy Powerhouse

September 21, 2014 - At the turn of the 20th century, the city of Lackawanna, in Western New York, was home to one of the largest steel companies in the world. The Lackawanna Steel Company, later purchased by the Bethlehem Steel Company, gave the small city its name. For decades the plant pumped pollution into the environment, expelling benzene emissions into the air and contaminating the water.
But if this 150-year-old town was once recognizable for the smokestacks that billowed above the factory, it’s changing that image.
The plot of land where the Lackawanna Steel plant once stood is now home to one of the largest wind energy farms in the world. It’s also the future site of Lackawanna’s Steel Sun project, a solar farm that hopes to accommodate 13,000 solar panels. read more>>>

USDA invests in 8 renewable energy projects in SD

September 21, 2014 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide funds to eight projects in rural South Dakota that focus in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The agency says the funding includes loan guarantees and grants for solar energy projects to create jobs and advance the use of renewable fuels.
The projects are located in Brown, Clark, Codington, Deuel, Kingsbury and Marshall counties.
Nationwide, the department is investing $68 million in more than 500 similar projects. read more>>>

Rockefellers to switch investments to 'clean energy'

22 September 2014 - The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is joining a coalition of philanthropists pledging to rid themselves of more than $50 bn (£31 bn) in fossil fuel assets.
The announcement will be made on Monday, a day before the UN climate change summit opens on Tuesday.
Some 650 individuals and 180 institutions have joined the coalition.
It is part of a growing global initiative called Global Divest-Invest, which began on university campuses several years ago, the New York Times reports. read more>>>

Energy challenge nets local businesses 11 percent savings

September 15, 2014 - The Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD), with the help of non-profit PECI and support of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), recently wrapped up a behavior-based energy-efficiency project with encouraging results. The energy-saving pilot, designed and implemented by PECI, showed how local businesses can build detailed awareness of their energy use and make substantive changes to save.
With the average U.S. commercial building wasting 30 percent of the energy paid for by its owners, the potential to reduce energy waste is attractive to utilities, building professionals, members of the energy industry and business owners alike. Driving the cause is an increase in energy management and information systems (EMIS), which synthesize and display a building's energy use data, allowing occupants to leverage the information to make positive improvements in how they manage their energy use. read more>>>

South Africa's strong case for green retrofitting

15 September 2014 - Despite South Africa being the fastest growing green building market in the world, most buildings in the office sector do not comply with environmental sustainability standards. But there is a strong case for green retrofitting.
While South Africa is only playing catch-up to its developed and developing counters, United States-based McGraw-Hill Construction in its World Green Building Trends survey notes that 58% of South African firms surveyed reported future green commercial retrofits by 2015.
Furthermore the survey, which tracks 62 countries pegs the country's take up of green building to grow three-fold, from a measured 16% in 2012 to 52% by 2015. read more>>>

Netherlands embassy workshop to focus on green buildings

September 14, 2014 - Focusing on the use of cutting edge technology in green buildings and the educational system, the LEX group will orgainse a one-day workshop at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) here on September 29.
This workshop is a part of a bilateral business event, entitled 'Building for Better Learning', to be organisd by the Embassy of the Netherlands and in association with the OCCI.
"LEX wants to use cutting edge knowledge about green building and educational systems to provide Omani youth with the best," said Barbara Joziasse, the Dutch ambassador to the Sultanate, who is looking forward to the finalisation of the new PDO School, where these modern standards have been introduced by the LEX Group. read more>>>

Green technology to lead to new jobs at British manufacturing company

15 September 2014 - Naylor Industries Plc has received funding for a green energy project that will boost its sales and employment.
The Barnsley-based manufacturing company that specializes in building and constructing products such as clay pipes, plastic ducting and drainage, and concrete products, intends to invest a large sum of money into its Cawthorne factory to upgrade it with green technology that will include smart utility metering, energy efficient lighting, and a plastic reprocessing plant.
The £2.5 million project will help to lower energy consumption in the factory. read more>>>

Amazing Passive Home in Freezing Wisconsin Uses Less Energy Than a Hair Dryer to Stay Warm!

09/14/14 - Last year Wisconsin experienced one of its roughest winters in years, but Sonya Newenhouse and her family scarcely felt the affects in their German-certified passive house. While snow covered the ground and fierce winds whipped around the trees, this 970-square-foot home stayed warm using less energy than it requires to run a hair dryer! Despite exterior temperatures that hovered at 30 degrees below zero, interior temperatures averaged between 68 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit - an extraordinary feat made possible by air-tight insulation, triple-paned windows and doors, and strategic passive design. Approximately 80 to 90 percent more efficient than the standard home, NewenHouses are exceptionally well-designed, and by the end of next year, they will most likely be available in three different sizes - all below 1,000 square feet. Inhabitat spent the night in Viroqua, where we enjoyed a nice warm shower despite a gray cloudy day and homemade scones filled with fresh raspberries from the organic garden. Hit the jump for more information about the many facets of this home's superior performance, and flip through our gallery of images for a virtual tour. read more>>>

Mini solar becoming big business

September 12, 2014 - The market for solar photovoltaic (PV) consumer products has expanded significantly in recent years driven by an ecosystem of companies, competitive products, and innovative financing mechanisms that have emerged in an opportunity to reduce poverty in the developing world and increasing profits in the developed world, according to Navigant Research.
In the developing world, according to the report, pico solar systems are providing new alternatives for people who previously had no choice but to pay high prices for low-quality and polluting fuel-based lighting, such as kerosene lamps, giving communities access to compact, clean, and affordable off-grid lighting and other electric devices.
Miniature solar photovoltaic systems, including pico solar and solar home systems, are moving rapidly from specialized niches for enthusiasts and early adopters into the mainstream, and are particularly well-suited for applications in the developing world, where they provide lighting, cell phone charging, and power for small direct current (DC) appliances in areas where the power grid is unreliable or nonexistent, Navigant contends. read more>>>

Central America increasing solar capacity

September 12, 2014 - Central America is attracting global attention from photovoltaic (PV) developers, as it prepares to install 1.5 GW of PV capacity from 2012 through 2018, according to IHS Technology.
In 2014, IHS predicts that total PV capacity for the six countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama will reach 22 MW -- up from 6 MW in 2013 -- and 243 MW in 2015. However, it is from 2016 to 2018 when IHS says the solar market will make its greatest strides in the region, with aggregate PV capacity accounting for 81 percent of the six-year projected total.
El Salvador recently awarded 94 MW of PV in a tender that originally targeted a much smaller level amounting to 60 MW of PV together with an additional 40 MW of wind as part of the original mix, according to IHS. Via tenders like these, regulators in El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama are looking to blend in affordable renewable power in the electricity mix. read more>>>

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 20 September 2014

2014-09-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

UN chief will join massive People’s Climate March to seek solutions to global warming

Organizers expect more than 100,000 people will parade through Midtown streets for the protest on Sunday. In a surprise move, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested he’d join the protestors. The march precedes a UN climate change summit of 120 world leaders on Tuesday.
September 16, 2014 - Nearly two years after Hurricane Sandy’s devastation made the age of extreme weather impossible for New Yorkers to ignore, our city is about to host the largest mass protest around global warming in history.
Organizers predict more than 100,000 people will parade down Midtown streets Sunday for the People’s Climate March. It’s scheduled just before United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convenes a climate change summit of 120 world leaders Tuesday as part of the UN General Assembly meeting. read more>>>

The Big 340: Trickle Of Renewable Energy Investors Turns Into Flood

September 18th, 2014 - Back in January we introduced you to the Ceres “Clean Trillion” renewable energy investor campaign, but you ain’t heard nothing yet. That Niagra-scale roar coming out of midtown Manhattan this morning is the sound of 340 renewable energy investors pulling their collective weight together in a press conference to fight for renewable energy. These are no small potatoes, either. These are global institutional investors with a pile of assets to the tune of $24 trillion.
What these renewable energy investors are looking for is a playing field tilted in favor of sustainability, which according to their manifest boils down to no more subsidies for fossil fuels as well as the introduction of global carbon pricing. That’s familiar turf, so what’s really new here is the massive financial interests that have rallied to the renewable energy cause. read more>>>

Obama pushes energy efficiency, rural solar power

09/18/14 - The Obama administration unveiled a slew of actions Thursday aimed at improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of solar power in homes and businesses, including $68 million in spending.
The White House said the actions would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 300 million metric tons by 2030, the equivalent of 60 million cars’ emissions in a year. They will also save $10 billion in energy costs.
The actions, together with commitments from states, communities, companies and others, are part of President Obama’s second-term push to reduce carbon emissions in an effort to mitigate climate change. read more>>>

Renewable Energy in California Deserts: New Plan to Guide Smart and Sustainable Development

September 17, 2014 - A draft of the long-awaited Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) will be released any day now. The DRECP is intended to provide a landscape-level assessment of the most appropriate and inappropriate places to build large-scale renewable energy projects in the California portions of the Mojave and Colorado deserts to minimize impacts on wildlife habitats and desert ecosystems. By identifying the most suitable locations for renewable energy projects, the DRECP will bring more efficiency and certainty to the project permitting process and help us meet our clean energy goals.
Unprecedented collaboration read more>>>

New Hydrogen Production Method Could Help Store Renewable Energy

09/17/2014 - Scientists at Scotland's University of Glasgow say they've found a new way to produce hydrogen from clean, renewable energy sources.
In a paper published in September in the journal Science, the researchers explain how they've created a system that can produce hydrogen 30 times quicker than ever before, and using power from green energy like wind and solar.
Hydrogen is a clean fuel, producing only water when consumed. It has minimal environmental impacts if used in fuel cells or combusted to produce electricity, and companies are already making hydrogen-powered cars that don't produce harmful emissions. read more>>>

The coming era of unlimited — and free — clean energy

September 19 2014 - In the 1980s, leading consultants were skeptical about cellular phones. McKinsey & Company noted that the handsets were heavy, batteries didn’t last long, coverage was patchy, and the cost per minute was exorbitant. It predicted that in 20 years the total market size would be about 900,000 units, and advised AT&T to pull out. McKinsey was wrong, of course. There were more than 100 million cellular phones in use 2000; there are billions now. Costs have fallen so far that even the poor — all over world — can afford a cellular phone.
The experts are saying the same about solar energy now. They note that after decades of development, solar power hardly supplies 1 percent of the world’s energy needs. They say that solar is inefficient, too expensive to install, and unreliable, and will fail without government subsidies. They too are wrong. Solar will be as ubiquitous as cellular phones are. read more>>>

When it comes to renewable energy, China is trumping the U.S.

Sept. 18, 2014 - This month’s report on renewable energy markets from the International Energy Agency indicates that by 2020, China will account for almost 40 percent of the growth in renewable energy capacity. The United States, meanwhile, lags behind, obsessed with its natural gas boom and riveted by remaining oil reserves on its federally protected lands.
As a result, the U.S. is missing an incredible economic opportunity. Last year alone, new renewable power capacity expanded at its fastest pace yet, and global electricity generation from renewables was roughly on par with that from natural gas. In energy terms, that means annual global renewable power generation rose by 5 percent to over 5,000 terawatt hours – more than enough to power the entire United States.
China has seen the writing on the wall and is heavily investing in its renewable energy sector, especially since renewable electricity now accounts for more than 20 percent of global generation. Chinese companies control the largest share of the $100 billion solar photovoltaic industry. And who can blame them? China is responding to international demand while tackling untenable pollution levels at home. read more>>>

30,000+ Solar Water Heaters Installed in eThekwini (Durban), South Africa

2014-08-28 - South Africa’s National Solar Water Heating Strategy and Implementation Plan will guide the installation of 1 million solar water heaters across South Africa to help meet goals related to clean energy, energy access and energy security. As part of this effort, the implementation program for the Municipality of eThekwini (Greater Durban) – a program which has made considerable use of RETScreen – has seen the installation of more than 30,000 solar water heaters thus far.
A comprehensive study of renewable energy options for the city was prepared by the firm Marbek Resource Consultants in 2007. read more>>>

RETScreen Enables Brazilian Clean Energy Market

2014-07-29 - With over 7,000 users in Brazil, the RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software has helped advance the country’s position as a global clean energy leader. RETScreen is recognized and promoted by organizations such as Electrobras, Latin America’s largest power utility, as well as the Brazilian National Department of Solar Heating (DASOL). SENAI (Brazil’s Industrial Apprenticeship Service which reaches over 2 million students annually) uses RETScreen extensively in its educational programs, and numerous other Brazilian universities use RETScreen for teaching and research. Enhancing the advantages that RETScreen provides to accelerate Brazilian clean energy is the fact that the software and some of the associated training material is available in the Portuguese language.
RETScreen’s industrial facility applications have proven especially valuable to GrupoSAGE, a Brazilian energy consulting company. read more>>>

ABB to enable integration of renewables in Alaskan island microgrid

2014 September 13 - ABB, the leading power and automation group, will install its PowerStore, an integrated commercial flywheel technology to integrate with a battery system on Kodiak Island in Alaska to enable the integration of more renewable energy from an expanded wind farm to its microgrid and also to address stability challenges that will arise from a crane upgrade being undertaken to enhance its port operations.The project is being undertaken on behalf of Kodiak Electric Association (KEA), an electric cooperative owned by residents of the Island, the company said in its press release.
Kodiak Island, off Alaska’s south coast, is the second largest island in the United States. Its population of 15,000 people live in just seven communities, the largest in the port town of Kodiak. KEA operates a microgrid that generates virtually all of its 28 megawatts (MW) of electricity capacity from hydropower and wind. read more>>>

The Clean Energy Economy: 2.7 Million Green Jobs, 40% Fewer Emissions

Hey everybody – here’s a great idea: Let’s cut American greenhouse gas emissions 40% and energy demand 30%, then create 2.7 million jobs while lowering the national unemployment rate 1.5%
Oh, and by the way, this will only cost 1.2% of the current United States gross domestic product. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Now it gets better – these are green jobs, and renewable energy is the key to unlocking it all.
Welcome to the brave new world that’s “truly within reach” according to “Green Growth: A U.S. Program for Controlling Climate Change and Expanding Job Opportunities,” an upcoming report from the University of Massachusetts and Center for American Progress. read more>>>

Lend Lease and Green Energy Corp. Join Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster

September 12, 2014 - Two companies focused on sustainable energy development and deployment have joined the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster (RTCC), the initiative of business, government, academic and nonprofit leaders working to accelerate the region’s cleantech economy. Lend Lease, one of the world’s largest property, infrastructure and construction management firms, has joined the RTCC as a professional services member. Microgrid software provider Green Energy Corp. has joined as an entrepreneur member.
“Lend Lease deploys innovative technologies created by regional companies within its construction management practices and throughout its housing and commercial developments worldwide, and it develops clean technologies of its own. read more>>>