Transmitting news and infomation about sustainable endeavors in Coastal Virginia and beyond. Updated Weekly.

Renewable Energy:

General | Wind | Solar | Marine/Hydro | Grid/Storage | Bio & More

Follow the links to view a selection of news updates by category. The embedded PDF provides a look at the news collected as of the most recent update. For the latest news and access to the entire collection, visit Carol's Pinterest Collection.

Noteworthy, Policy and Program News:

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The listserve includes people who have gone solar, want to go solar, and people who work on solar installations or solar policy. It is not a place for polemical arguments nor advertising, but a place for practical advice on how to go solar. It's also a way to keep track of local developments around solar, including pending laws, incentives, and changes in policy.

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Virginia Co. Purveys Wines with a Double Dose of Sunshine - Tidewater Current | Winter 2013 - Solar derived fruit of the vine stored in sun run warehouse.

Solar Eclipses Navy Power Costs - Tidewater Current | Winter 2013 - Power purchase agreement allows installation of Navy's largest solar array without upfront costs and offers significant power purchase savings.

Offshore Wind Projects Announced for Virginia and 6 More Coastal Locations - Tidewater Current | Winter 2013 - "US Energy Secretary, announced a six year initiative to support projects that will jump start the US offshore wind industry."

6.19.13 - Dominion Power offers support for solar energy - faquiernow. Program starts today Virginia- To participate in the program which purchases energy you generate at $0.15/kW produced, you can apply online at www.dom.com and search "Solar Purchase Program" THERE IS A $100 APP. FEE

6.13.13 - CO just took a giant step forward. - architecture2030.0rg. "CO Energy Saving Mortgage Program, signed into law .... (says) a homebuyer purchasing a new or renovated ZNE (HERS 0 rating) home is eligible for an $8,000 reduction on financing the total cost of their home mortgage. A new or renovated home that has a HERS rating greater than HERS 0, but less than HERS 50 (50% energy reduction), will also receive a mortgage reduction incentive." Similar bills have also been introduced in NY and NM.

6.12.13 - Richard Caperton: Leveling the Playing Field Between Dirty and Clean Energy - HuffingtonPost. Caperton reports "the U.S. energy playing field is tilted grossly towards fossil fuels and against clean energy. Look no further than MLPs, the advantageous tax structure enjoyed now only by the highly profitable oil and gas industry. Caperton is helping drive an effort to get MLPs open to clean energy. ....It should go without saying that an 80:1 advantage for fossil fuels ... is not a level playing field.."

6.11.13 - North American Windpower: Raising The Discourse: How Wind Industry Can Help Avoid 'Climate Emergency' - nawindpower.com. - National Wildlife Federation supports the wind industry to fight climate change

6.9.13 - Utilities and solar advocates square off over the future - washingtonpost.com. Home solar installations are cutting into utility industry earnings. So the utilities are looking for ways to collect more by changing net metering regulations. They should be embracing solar and getting into the leasing.

6.4.13 - Feed-in Tariff: A Policy Tool Encouraging Deployment Of Renewable Electricity Technologies - cleantechnica.com. Highlights Dominion's new pilot program in Virginia

6.4.13 - Feed-In Tariffs and similar programs - State policies as of May 2013 - US Energy Information Administration

5.31.13 - Oil-town Houston becomes green model - reve. "Thirty-three percent of the city's energy comes from wind farms in West Texas, and the city will increase that percentage to 50 percent by the summer of 2013"

5.31.13 - GERMAN ECONOMIC RECOVERY FASTEST IN ALL OF EUROPE — solarlove. LARGELY BECAUSE OF RENEWABLES - 25% of electricity comes from renewable energy "and it's currently on track to meet its goal of receiving 35% ... by 2020. Extensive ... research and development has resulted in German renewable companies being some of the most successful in the world. "Every third solar panel and every second wind rotor is made in Germany"

5.28.13 - Kansas City to install solar panels on 80 municipal buildings, save taxpayers $40k/year - treehugger.com. Panels will be erected on about "80 municipal buildings, including police and fire department buildings and most of the city's community centers. The solar panels will be leased from Brightenergy.... The city is expecting to save $40,000 over the first year, with savings increasing over time. Good deal for taxpayers, especially since theres no upfront capital cost"

5.23.13 - Utility and solar company create agreement to offer affordable power - cleanenergyauthority.com. Green Mountain Power and NRG Residential Solar Solutions are working together to offer a solar lease program to Rutland, VT residents. The pilot program allows residents to participate in a community solar project without upfront costs. 2 - 150 kW projects are planned"

5.31.13 - New Database at Colorado State University Tracks Energy Legislation in all 50 States - ases.org. "FORT COLLINS – Colorado State University's Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) has launched the Advanced Energy Legislation (AEL) Tracker...Today, state legislatures are considering more than 2,100 bills that could change the way Americans produce, buy and use energy. AEL Tracker identifies all those measures and monitors the progress of many advanced energy bills as they move forward."

5.21.13 - Open PACE Markets Provide Most Benefit to Property Owners - cleantechnica.com. "PACE makes it possible ... to finance certain energy-efficient upgrades through their property taxes and to pay for these improvements slowly over 5 to 20 years... Because the financing mechanism is tied to a property owner's assessments, the interest paid is tax deductible. And the upgrades often lower utility bills so significantly that the there is no net cost to the property owner."

5.17.13 - Net Metering: A Net Positive - cleantechnica.com. Great read on net metering, the benefits, state policies and utility concerns. Particularly noteworthy is republican support for solar. TUSK is an organization formed by Barry Goldwater (AZ) to keep "keep solar strong and "stand up to utility monopolies,"

5.15.13 - Minnesota's Legislature passes compromise solar bill - cleanenergyauthority.com. The community solar gardens provisions require that such systems are no larger than 1 megawatt. In addition, "The community solar garden program must be designed to offset the energy use of not less than five subscribers in each community solar garden program of which no single subscriber has more than a 40 percent interest,"

5.10.13 - New Study: Distributed Solar Energy Provides $34 Million in Benefits to Arizona Ratepayers - seia.org. "This study clearly shows that solar offers concrete net benefits to all APS ratepayers, regardless of whether or not they have installed solar."

5.9.13 - California town of Sebastopol will require solar panels on all new homes - grist.org. "The liberal stronghold of fewer than 8,000 residents this week became California's second city to require that new homes be outfitted with panels to produce solar energy."

5.8.13 - 54% Of Spain's Electricity Generation In April From Renewables - cleantechnica.com. "Spanish hydropower made up 25% of April's overall electricity generation. Meanwhile, wind power was second with 22%. Solar photovoltaic energy provided 3.6%, and solar thermal energy had 1.3%, based on Red Electrica De Espana (REE) data."

5.7.13 - Parity Time: Large-Scale Solar Power Plants Now Cost Effective in Oregon - thinkprogress.com. Says peer reviewed study entitled Vision to Integrate Solar in Oregon (VISOR) by The Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association. Link included.

5.1.13 - Non-profits can go solar, save money under new Virginia law - powerforthepeople.com. New Virginia legislation allows third party power purchase agreements (PPAs) for wind and solar projects ranging in size from 50 kW to 1 MW. The large installation requirement pretty much excludes residential projects, but it could be very beneficial to educational and other non-profit institutions, who cannot take advantage of federal tax credits otherwise. Workshops are being planned in NVa and Richmond.

5.1.13 - Solar–Wind Hybrid Power Plants Approximately Twice As Efficient - cleantechnica.com. "the Reiner Lemoine Institut and Solarpraxis AG has found that solar and wind power generation complement each other better than previously thought....twice the amount of electricity was ...generated... shading losses are much lower than expected"

5.1.13 - 5.1.13 - SEIA Applauds Massachusetts' New Solar Goals - seia.org. " Massachusetts has surpassed Governor Deval Patrick's goal of installing 250 megawatts (MW) of solar energy by 2017 and the Administration plans to expand the Massachusetts solar goal to 1.6 gigawatts (GW). The 250 MW benchmark has been met nearly four years ahead of schedule."

4.30.13 - PSEG to spend $446M on N.J. solar-power projects - nj.com. "The utility plans to spend $247 million on 42 megawatts of solar farms atop landfills and brownfields and another 3 megawatts of smaller projects through a program, Public Service said today in a statement. It also will invest as much as $199 million on 97.5 megawatts of new sun-powered systems through a separate program."

4.30.13 - Verizon to spend $100M on solar panels, fuel cells for facilities - gigaom.com. "Verizon to spend $100M on solar panels, fuel cells for facilities"

4.29.13 - April 29 News: Utilities And Large Companies Like North Carolina's Clean Energy Standard - climateprogress.com. Duke has found out how to make money with renewables. ... Big customers including Google and Apple, both of which have large data centers in the state, are supporting a new green energy rate, reports the Charlotte Business Journal. It turns out solar and wind projects offer big advantages to electric utility companies. They can get a premium rate for solar power, whose supply peaks" when most needed.

4.24.13 - Wind Power Draws Facebook To Iowa - earthtechling.com. "In 2012, wind's share of Iowa's electricity generation was a U.S.-leading 24.5 percent." And because of the development of the resource, Facebook has picked a Altoona to build an ultra efficient data center.

4.24.13 - New solar tracker installation helps Berkshire East become worlds first ski area fully powered with on-site renewables - ibtimes.com. "Massachusetts family run ski area, Berkshire East, become the world's first ski area to be powered entirely from on-site renewables. The year-round resort recently developed a 500 kW solar tracker farm that will produce 700,000 kWh annually. The solar farm will supplement a wind turbine - together, the two systems will supply the area's entire annual electric demand."

4.23.13 - Google Wants More Renewable Energy Powering its Expanding NC Data Center - switchboardnrdc.org. "Google has clearly stated that its philosophy is to ensure "additional" renewable power generation – not a reshuffling of current resources. This means Duke Energy will need to find new sources of clean energy to meet its commitment to Google."

.21.13 - Boulder Battles for Control of Xcel Energy's Assets - forbes.com. City is municipalizing the utility and plans to produce its own green energy. "the city says that renewable energy would immediately comprise half of its offerings for the same cost that its citizens now pay Xcel. It also says that greenhouse gases would fall by 50 percent under its plan. "

4.18.13 - EPA Reveals Top 50 U.S. Organizations Using The Most Renewable Energy -nawindpower.com. 1. Intel Corp. 2. Microsoft Corp. 3. Kohl's Department Stores 4. Whole Foods Market 5. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 6. U.S. Department of Energy 7. Staples 8. Starbucks Company-Owned Stores 9. Lockheed Martin Corp. 10. Apple Inc.

4.15.13 - Philadelphia Eagles green: Lincoln Financial Field generating energy with solar panels, turbines - philly.com.

4.15.13 - Favorable Permitting Practices Can Reduce PV Costs 4%-12%- SEIA.org. A recent Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report finds that streamlined city permitting practices can reduce the cost of installed PV systems by $0.27-$0.77 per watt, relative to cities with less favorable permitting standards. Development times can be shorted by an average of 24 days, under favorable permitting standards.

4.15.13 - How to Power the World without Fossil Fuels: Scientific American - Interview with Stafornd's Mark Jacobson who worked on a study of how NY could achieve a WWS (wind water solar) based economy. The plan "would prevent 4,000 mortalities a year in the state due to less air pollution, and a related savings of $33 billion ... more jobs would be created than lost." And the authors claim that "If you get the [power] transmission grid right you don't need a whole lot of storage."

4.12 .13 - Rhode Island Aims To Be A National Clean Energy Leader - earthtechling.com. - Rhode Island's program to reduce carbon emissions pushes progressive renewable energy development. The Renewable energy standards require annual increases in production and their net metering and distributed energy requirements encourage small and large scale production.

4.11.13 - Obama's Fiscal 2014 Budget Would Invest Big In Renewables, Create Permanent PTC - nawindpower.com. "President Barack Obama has submitted to Congress his fiscal year 2014 budget request, which includes increased funding for clean energy initiatives and calls for a permanent and refundable production tax credit (PTC)."

4.4.13 - People want solar. Orlando Utility Commission just started offering subscriptions to a community solar farm. The 400 kW array was sold out in 6 days. You can still sign up for a waiting list.

3.27.13 - Solar Power Will Pay In VA, But Enough? - earthtechling.com. Dominion in initiating a solar power purchase program in the state that according to watch dogs looks to line their own pocket and provides fewer benefits to customers.

3.25.13 - The biggest fight over renewable energy is now in the states - washingtonpost.com. Worthwhile read- 29 states have renewable energy production standards and in at least 22 states, these measures have been attacked often through legislation to repeal or weaken the standards. Its no surprise that conservative and fossil industry advocacy groups have been behind the initiative.

3.21.13 - Welcome To Walmart: Wind Energy Is Key Part Of Retailer's Plans - nawindpower.com. "According to a company spokesperson, Walmart has 180 renewable energy projects in operation or under development, and is continuing to test solar, fuel cells, micro wind, off-site wind projects and, more recently, combining wind energy with battery storage. We are learning and making adjustments on our way toward one day being powered by 100 percent renewable energy, the spokesperson notes."

3.13.13 - Growth of Commercial PACE in California - triplepundit.com. Property Assessed Clean Energy now available in 14 counties and 126 cities. "PACE is a financing program where cities or counties allow property owners to pay the financing cost for upgrading their building with clean technologies through property taxes. Qualified improvements covered by PACE include installation of efficiency lighting retrofits, energy/water saving systems and clean tech onsite generation including solar and fuel cells."

Wind:

Global Offshore Wind Farms Database - Interactive map

6.22.13 - Global Wind Energy Blows Away Old Expectations - theenergycollective.com. "wind energy will surpass the threshold of 300 gigawatts... at some point before the end of the calendar year. Total wind energy capacity reached 280 gigawatts...last year, when a record 44 gigawatts were installed. ...the US has a massive potential to produce emission-free energy from wind turbines. ...by 2030 over 200,000 jobs and $70 billion worth of annual investments could be produced by offshore energy"

6.14.13- Dodgy wind? Why "innovative" turbines are often anything but - gizmag. Great review of the slew of recent seemingly new nontraditional wind devices. Uprise Energy's Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor turbine, pictured, gets the only favorable review of the new concepts (many of which are simply reintroductions of old unproven designs and are not sufficiently tested to prove company claims).

6.4.13 - Feds unveil details on first federal offshore wind auction - fuelfix. "During the July auction, wind developers will have the chance to bid on 164,750 acres about 9 miles south of the Rhode Island coastline — the same area identified for potential wind leasing in a federal notice last December. A Department of Energy report suggests that the area has the potential for some 3,400 megawatts of installed capacity, enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes."

6.4.13 - Wind farm weather buoy gets new locale off O.C. - philly.com. Fisherman's Energy deploys buoy "11 miles east of Ocean City -- in an offshore area leased from the U. S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management....The device is now operating in 65 feet of water and transmitting environmental and meteorological data back to Fishermen's offices to support windfarm design and development"

5.30.13 - First Offshore Wind Turbine In North America! - cleantechnica.com. Launch scheduled for tomorrow. "The University of Maine's 65-foot wind turbine will be used as a test for a full-scale offshore wind project near Monhegan Island. The prototype was built on a 1:8 scale. It was built by the University of Maine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center."

5.28.13 - Gamesa progress update on 5MW offshore turbine | Windpower Monthly - "The turbine has been in development since 2010 and is based on the company's 4.5MW onshore model. Gamesa announced it was planning to install the turbine on Gran Canaria last year, after switching the project from Virginia in the US."

5.24.13 - Wind turbine based on boating technology sets sail - theiet.org. "Tradewind Turbines this week officially launched their Square Rigger vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWTs) which has furling sails instead of the traditional blades found on more common propeller-type horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs)."

5.23.13 - US Offshore Wind Fact Sheet - greentechmedia.com. highlights plans for "thirteen U.S. offshore wind projects in ten states on the Atlantic, Pacific, Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico coasts, representing 5,100-plus megawatts."

5.22.13 - Google X moonshots lab buys flying wind turbine company Makani Power - theverge.com.

5.18.13 - Taiwan Tower's Energy Answer Blowing In The Wind - earthtechling.com. Design plan includes thousands of tiny diamond-shaped turbines incorporated into the facade which will generate all the energy needs for the skyscraper. Wind powered LED lights will illuminate the building at night and change color based on temperature.

5.16.13 - Adding more wind power to the grid in the PJM region— earthtechling.com. "Mid-Atlantic power pool consisting of 13 states and Washington, DC—can lower gas and coal consumption and reduce regional wholesale energy market prices, saving nearly $7 billion per year by the mid-2020s, according to a new study conducted by Synapse Energy Economics on behalf of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG)."

5,14,13 - Largest Federal Wind Farm to Be Built by Siemens Amarillo, TX, May 14, 2013 - electricenergyonline.com. The Pantex wind farm will supply 60% of the energy needed for the National Nuclear Security Administration facility near Amarillo, TX. "Using an Energy Savings Performance Contract, Siemens will provide a turnkey wind farm system that includes a multi-year service, maintenance and warranty agreement. The cost of the project will be funded by the energy savings

5.13.13 - Worlds first wind-wave power turbine coming to Japan - cbsnews.com. "The Savonius Keel & Wind Turbine Darrieus (SKWID) power generation system being developed by Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC) is a floating system that shares a vertical floating axis. On the company's website, MODEC says the concept will generate double or more power from the same sea surface area as a conventional wind turbine."

5.10.13 - Invelox wind turbine claims 600% advantage in energy output - gizmag.com. "Besides power performance and the fact it can operate at wind speeds as low as 1 mph, SheerWind says Invelox costs less than US$750 per kilowatt to install. It is also claimed that operating costs are significantly reduced compared to traditional turbine technology. Due to its reduced size, the system is supposedly safer for birds and other wildlife, concerns that also informed the designers of the Ewicon bladeless turbine."

5.9.13 - Doubling Wind Power Could Save Mid-Atlantic Consumers $6.9 Billion A Year - thinkprogress.org. "A new report from the consulting firm Synapse and Americans for a Clean Energy Grid found that increases in wind power in the PJM Interconnection could save consumers $6.9 billion per year out to 2026, along with 14 percent reductions in CO2."

5.8.13 - UMaine unveils off shore wind turbine | wcsh6.com

5.8.13 - Big Wind-To-Hydrogen Project Afoot In Minnesota - earthtechling.com. "Instead of reforming hydrogen from natural gas by stripping out the hydrogen atoms, a less-than-green process, hydrogen would be produced by electrolysis, in which electricity obtained from wind turbines is used to separate H20....The Minnesota project developers say that by taking advantage of "lower value" nighttime wind energy... they can produce hydrogen at a low enough cost to make their operation viable."

5.5.13 - GE Announces 1 Gigawatt of US Wind Orders following PTC Decision - reve. "This equates to enough cleaner energy to power 330,000 U.S. homes and taking more than a million cars off the road."

5.4.13 - Wind energy to lure back German lobsters decimated by WW2 - reve. "Wind farms could help increase the lobster population to as many as 300,000 lobsters in the area around Heligoland in the long run"

5.1.13 - Wind Energy Innovation: GE Tests High-Efficiency Turbine in the Netherlands - theenergycollective.com. "Combining efficiency and power output at low-wind-speed sites, the2.5-120 captures a 25 percent increase in efficiency and a 15 percent increase in power output compared to GE's current model."

5.1.13 - Gauntlett: Vertical axis wind turbines: back in the game, or more of the same? - sustainablebusinessoregon.com. "The establishment of the Small Wind Certification Council has been a major step forward for a small wind industry that is looking to regain credibility. Only 5 small wind turbines are currently certified by the council, all HAWTs." But interest in VAWTs is re-surging as studies indicate that more watts can be produced in dense urban installations of VAWTs than from HAWTs.

4.30.13 - Floating Wind Turbines In Scotland Get £15 Million - cleantechnica.com. "Floating foundation technologies are currently in the early stages of their development, but once proved on the industrial scale, they will allow for the installation of floating wind turbines in far deeper waters than is currently possible."

4.24.13 - North American Windpower: Stakeholders Weigh In On Maryland Offshore Wind - nawindpower.com. "The law amends the state's 20% by 2020 RPS, classifying offshore wind energy as a Tier 1 renewable resource, creating an offshore renewable energy credit (OREC) system and mandating a carve-out for the state's utilities. If an offshore wind project is proposed, permitted and constructed, utilities will be required to begin procuring up to 2.5% of their portfolio from offshore wind energy as early as 2017."

4.24.13 - Wind Power Draws Facebook To Iowa - earthtechling.com. "In 2012, wind's share of Iowa's electricity generation was a U.S.-leading 24.5 percent." And because of the development of the resource, Facebook has picked a Altoona to build an ultra efficient data center.

4.16.13 - PowerWINDows aims to rethink the wind turbine - gizmag.com. Researchers in Australia have developed the PowerWINDows, a new type of wind turbine that replaces spinning blades with slowly rotating window panels

4.8.13 - Project to Test Promise of Small, Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines - e360.yale.edu. Village of Igiugig will test the turbines which are reported to "create a wake that actually boosts the output of adjacent turbines if positioned strategically. In addition, the smaller turbines can be placed closer together without causing aerodynamic interference, are cheaper to produce, and are less likely to kill birds,"

4.8.13 - Two Maine offshore wind projects move closer to fruition- pressherald.com. In May a scale model floating turbine will be installed off Castine. "The unit is made of advanced composites to fight corrosion and reduce weight. Its hub will stand 50 feet above its floating base, with a rotor thats 32 feet in diameter.....Also this spring, Norwegian energy giant Statoil is entering the next phase of testing for its Hywind Maine project off Boothbay Harbor."

4.3.13 - Project tests viability of offshore floating wind turbines - japantimes.com. Japan - The floating turbine "pillar is anchored to the bottom and its lower hollow core is filled with seawater to keep it upright,...The upper part of the pillar that supports the wind turbine is made of steel while the lower part is made of concrete, allowing for drastically lower costs compared with those made entirely of steel."

4.3.13 - A Brilliant Wind Turbine - ENGINEERING.com - GE's new intelligent prototype can communicate with the grid so energy can be routed efficiently or stored when not needed.

3.29.13 - Invention of the Day: A Bladeless Windmill - atlanticcities.com. Dutch Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter prototype at Delft University uses no moving parts and makes no noise as it transforms wind into energy. Video included.

3.29.13 - Portable wind turbines a versatile alternative - wsu.edu. "Powersails work on the same principles as traditional wind turbines, but the towers are much shorter, from 35 to 55 feet tall, and the ultra lightweight blades are sheathed in fabric, much like a sail. A patent protected airfoil/sail design enables the turbine to start spinning in wind of just 1.4 mph and start generating power at 3 mph.

3.27.13 - Offshore wind energy wins victory in the US - hydrogenfuelnews.com. With federal approval, "Cape Wind has announced that it has reached a major financing milestone. The project has finalized an agreement with the Bank of Tokyo-Mistubishi that will help fund the contraction process of the offshore wind energy system....The project has yet to actually take form, but it has already managed to sell 77% of the energy is it expected to generate to utilities along the East Coast."

3.14.13 - North American Windpower: nawind.com. BOEM Closer To Awarding Virginia Offshore Wind Energy Research Lease

3.14.13 - Wind energy drives more than just turbines - chron.com. Wind energy is the fastest-growing source of electricity production globally, and in the U.S., Texas ranks No. 1 for wind energy capacity. If Texas were a country, it would be sixth in the world....Presently, Texas has 12,000 megawatts installed ...and 12 gigawatts can power 3,600,000 homes"

3.13.13 - Wind Energy Produces At Least 10% Of Electricity In Nine States - nawind.com. "Iowa ranked first in the percentage of electricity that came from wind power, with 24.5%. South Dakota was second, with 23.9% generation from wind energy, followed by North Dakota (14.7%), Minnesota (14.3%), Kansas (11.4%), Colorado (11.3%), Idaho (11.3%), Oklahoma (10.5%) and Oregon (10.0%)."

3.12.13 - 5 companies vie to build wind farms off NC coast - newsobserver.com. "The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates suggest that North Carolina's offshore wind potential is the highest on the East Coast." The 5 companies interested include Virginia Electric and Power Co., part of Dominion Power, EDF Renewable Energy, Green Sail Energy, and Apex Wind Energy.

3.8.13 - Maryland Passes Landmark Offshore Wind Legislation - cleantechnica.com. "AB 226, also known as the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013, will create a "carve-out" within the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS), mandating a certain percentage of total electricity generated in Maryland is met by offshore wind energy beginning in 2017"

Solar:

SEPA: Solar Electric Power Association - Solar Utility Ratings - Ratings listed on a watts per customer basis and MWs produce

6.20.13 - The Artificial Leaf - Focus Forward Film - Producing Hydrogen by mimicing photosynthesis

6.20.13 - SOLAR IMPULSE - AROUND THE WORLD IN A SOLAR AIRPLANE - Solar Impulse arrives in Washington DC - See more here

6.19.13 - Solar Power Rocks | 2013 State Solar Power Rankings - Virginia ranked 33rd in the nation with a D grade, while neighboring states, NC and Maryland, and DC awarded As.

6.18.12 - Solar Powered Phone-Charging Kiosks For NYC - earthtechling.com. Goal Zero, the portable charging company, said a Street Charge system was making its debut today at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn. ...AT, will install several more units "around New York this summer in high foot traffic areas" – Brooklyn Bridge Park, Coney Island, Riverside Park, Rockaways, Summerstage in Central Park, Randall's Island, Governor's Island, Union Square and Hudson River Park."

6.18.13 - PlanetSolar, World's Largest Solar Boat Arrives in New York - cleantechnica.com. Ship is on a scientific expedition monitoring the Gulf Stream, which has major climatic impacts on both the US and Europe.

6.15.13 - Sunnier local forecast for solar energy - newsleader.com. Virginia -State law will allow Not for profits to purchase renewable energy with no upfront costs via third party power purchase agreements. Dominion has also initiated a solar purchase program for all customers and will buy power generated by solar panels for $0.15/kWh. Even with the value added rate, some suggest net metering may be the best consumer option.

6.12.13 - Solar panels at airport get installed - wishtv.com. "Solar panels are the newest crop rising on 75 acres at the end of a runway near the cell phone lot at Indianapolis International Airport. Right now, 28,000 of the panels are in place. When fully grown, there will be 44,000 panels."

6.6.13 - Ikea Charlotte plugs in solar system - charlottebusinessjournal.com. "The 122,000-square-foot photovoltaic array consists of 4,228 solar panels on the roof of the 356,000-square-foot store. The system is expected to produce 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to power about 140 homes, Ikea says in its news release."

6.6.13 - The World's Biggest Coal Company Is Turning To Solar Energy To Lower Its Utility Bill - thinkprogress.com. Coal India installing 2 MW of solar and more coal and oil companies in India are jumping on the solar band wagon.

6.3.13 - The Navy Opens its First Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station! - ases.org. "first solar EV charging station at Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, Tennessee....Its stated goal is "to become the Navy's premiere support installation by striving to maintain excellence in our facilities and services." This EV charging station will produce enough electricity to give Mid-South's fleet of 17 EVs a four-hour charge, with enough left over to sell back to the grid."

6.2.13 - Germany sets new solar power record - reve. "German solar energy plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour – equal to 20 nuclear power plants at full capacity – through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday"

5.31.13 - Solar Success for Virginia Jail - sigorasolar. "On Thursday, May 30th, Sigora and its partners unveiled Virginia's largest roof-mounted solar thermal system at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Duffield. This is a groundbreaking moment for Virginia's jails and for Sigora. Duffield will experience significant savings from the system, and Sigora can now say that it has completed its largest project to date on time and 15% under budget."

5.31.13 - Solar-Powered Kettle Chips Will Help Test Renewable Energy Batteries In Salem - opb.org. Oregon - "Kettle Brand has enough solar panels on the roof of its Salem plant to make 250,000 bags of Kettle Chips. But they only work when the sun is out....A new smart grid project ... aiming to fill the gaps in solar power at the Kettle Chips plant with renewable energy stored in a room full of lithium ion batteries. ...which can store up to 5 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 3,500 homes .

5.28.13 - Solar powered wheelchair wins - energyharvestingjournal.com. "A student team at the University of Virginias School of Engineering and Applied Science won first place in the 2012 World Cerebral Palsy Day Change My World in One Minute competition for its design of a solar-powered wheelchair with retractable panels. The winners were announced April 27 at United Cerebral Palsys International Conference in San Diego, with U.Va.s first-place entry receiving $20,000 from a total prize pool of $25,000."

5.28.13 - VETERANS GET HOOKED ON SOLAR - solarlove.org. "PACE provider FIGTREE Energy Financing is teaming up with Empower America – a national non-profit that hires U.S. service veterans to construct domestic solar energy projects...FIGTREE is the first company in California to successfully raise private capital for commercial PACE projects via a multi-jurisdictional bond issue. "

5.23.13 - Solar for Parking: Spot the Solar Canopy - ases.org. "The Cincinatti Zoo recently installed solar shades to cover 1,000 parking spaces, creating the largest publically accessible solar array in the country. About 1.3 million visitors will see the 1.56 MW system annually and the panels provide 20% of the zoo's electricity each year."

5.22.13 - Company to Install Solar Panels on Low Income Housing in Harrisonburg - whsv.com. "Secure Futures, a company in Staunton, has signed a 20 year solar services agreement with the Harrisonburg Housing Authority."

5.17.13 - Seeing security in solar from bases to battlefields US military now has 130 MWs of PV, more on the way -- cleanenergyauthority.com. "The world's largest energy user, the U.S. Department of Defense said last year that it would install 3 gigawatts of solar by 2025, with each branch of the military installing 1 gigawatt."

5.17.13 - Solar Power Windows Fast Approaching Commercial Production - cleantechnica.com. New Energy Technologies spray on fabrication process time significantly reduced while energy conversion doubled.

5.16.13 - CTRL+P: Printing Australia's largest solar cells - phys.org. "Using semiconducting inks, the researchers print the cells straight onto paper-thin flexible plastic or steel. With the ability to print at speeds of up to ten metres per minute, this means they can produce one cell every two seconds. As the researchers continue to scale up their equipment, the possibilities will become even greater."

5.12.13 - Adding an electric car cut the payback point of our solar panel investment in half - gigaom.com. Pennsylvania resident calculates that a solar investment significantly powering a home for a family of 4 and the family car will be paid back in just 6 years.

5.6.13 - There Are More Solar Workers Than Coal Miners in the U.S. - beast.com. "Coal accounts for a vastly larger chunk of electricity production than solar. But industry reports suggest there are more solar employees than coal miners in the U.S."

5.3.13 - A Road Built Out Of Solar Panels, To Charge Our Cars (And Everything Else) - fastcoexist.com. Prototype parking lot planned in Idaho. "Funded with a $750,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration, the 5,700-watt installation is set to be completed in April, and will be a key step in proving viability."

5.2.13 - DOMINION VIRGINIA POWER SELECTS OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY FOR FIRST ROOFTOP SOLAR POWER INSTALLATION « News @ ODU - "The 132-kilowatt solar project should generate enough power during daylight hours to supply the energy needs of approximately 35 homes. The project is expected to be completed late this summer. Energy information from the installation will be available at a lobby kiosk inside the Student Recreation Center and in Kaufman Hall, ODU's engineering school."

5.2.13 - How Graphene and Friends Could Harness the Sun's Energy Hitting Walls - sciencedaily.com. "breakthrough, published in Science, could lead to electric energy that runs entire buildings generated by sunlight absorbed by its exposed walls; the energy can be used at will to change the transparency and reflectivity of fixtures and windows depending on environmental conditions, such as temperature and brightness."

4.29.13 - Solar Powers Cross Country Tours - tidewatercurrent.com. As the Solar Impulse team preps for their solar powered cross country flight, another team from Yorktown, VA today embarked on a land based journey. To raise money for wounded warriors, the Coast Guard team is driving a solar powered golf cart across the country.

4.26.13 - Solar Plane Makes Last Test Flight Before 'Across America' Trip - abcnews.go.com.

4.25.13 - City Wants Floating Solar Power Plant To Fight Water Pollution - wisconsinpublicradio. Wisonsin town wants to install a 5 MW floating solar plant to clean up wastewater.

4.24.13 - A Solar Dish That Makes Electricity And Fresh Water - popsci.com. The Swiss High Concentration PV/Thermal system uses salt water to cool the chips that are superheated. The water evaporates and is condensed into fresh water.

4.22.13 - IBM solar collector will concentrate the power of 2,000 suns, keep its cool - engadget.com. Using water to cool the chips, cheaper materials are used, making the technology an "affordable replacement for coal power" and water heated in the process can be used for drinking or converted into air conditioning. If the dish were floated or if wastewater, rainwater or gray water could be used and treated in the process, then there's real potential here.

4.18.13 - New Solar-Cell Coating Could Enable a Major Boost in Efficiency - sciencedailly.com. MIT researchers demonstrate exceeding the known conversion efficiency of PV is possible using an organic compound called pentacene in an organic solar cell.

4.17.13 - Walmart Solar Goal: Let A Thousand Rooftops Bloom - earthtechling.com. "Walmart is a well-established solar juggernaut – with more onsite solar than any other U.S. corporation (and it's even dabbled in wind). There will be much more PV, with the number of rooftop installations expected to rise from around 200 today to at least 1,000 by 2020."

4.15.13 - Sunnier Skies for Virginia Solar - baconsrebellion.com. "Over the past two years, Dominion, the state's largest investor-owned utility, also has blocked several solar projects financed with power purchase agreements, or PPAs...In January, however, renewable energy advocates were pleasantly surprised when Dominion reversed course and put its considerable weight behind legislation that allows for limited use of PPAs in the state" - 50 MW total

4.11 13- New Federal Report Shows Solar Achieved History in March -seia.org. "For the first time, solar energy accounted for all new utility electricity generation capacity added to the U.S. grid last month, according to FERC's March 2013 "Energy Infrastructure Update." More than 44 megawatts (MW) of solar electric capacity was brought online from seven projects in California, Nevada, New Jersey, Hawaii, Arizona, and North Carolina. All other energy sources combined added no new generation"

4.6.13 - US Army Blows Away The Renewable Energy Competition - cleantechnica.com. 20 MW solar project at Fort Bliss. "Fort Bliss is on a mission to use no more energy than it can generate on site or through local partnerships, serving as a best practices model for other Defense facilities.To that end, Fort Bliss is also engaged in projects for wind power and geothermal, water and energy conservation, recycling, fuel efficient vehicles and a goal of planting 20,000 trees"

4.4.13 - Solar on Affordable Housing - solarnovus.com. New Harmony "69-apartment complex in Davis, California (US) being built by Mutual Housing that will offer affordable living for working people with limited incomes."

3.27.13 - Newport New, VA - Solar panels installed at Va. Living Museum - dailypress.com. 165 panel rooftop array scheduled for formal unveiling on Earth Day. "According to the Newport News museum, the project is one of the largest non-profit solar installations in Hampton Roads, funded with a $150,000 grant from Dominion Virginia Power's charitable foundation and nearly $15,000 donated by Bay Electric Co., which installed the panels."

3.13.13 - Growth of Commercial PACE in California - triplepundit.com. Property Assessed Clean Energy now available in 14 counties and 126 cities. "PACE is a financing program where cities or counties allow property owners to pay the financing cost for upgrading their building with clean technologies through property taxes. Qualified improvements covered by PACE include installation of efficiency lighting retrofits, energy/water saving systems and clean tech onsite generation including solar and fuel cells."

3.8.13 - Nexus EnergyHomes 1st To Offer Dow Solar Shingles On East Coast - cleantechnica.com. According to a press release, the shingles will be offered to Nexus GeoSoalr home buyers in Maryland and Pennsylvania communities. USA manufactured shingles are classified as roofing products, so homeowners in communities with HOA regulations limiting solar installations should be able to use the panels.

3.7.13 - Los Angeles school gets a giant solar wall - gizmag.com. "new public school for 500 students is characterized by a large south facing façade covered with 650 solar panels, which not only help shield the building from the sun but also capture an estimated 75 percent of the energy needed to power the school."

3.4.13 - Solar Power Required On Every New Home — cleantechnica.com. Pioneering Requirement From Lancaster, California - Republican Mayor of Lancaster announces that all new single family homes must be outfitted with solar panels. He hopes to make Lancaster "the solar energy capital of the world."

3.4.13 - Area Wal-Marts Go Solar | SEIA - Dayton, Ohio. A dozen Walmarts in Dayton have been fitted with solar panels, making Wal-Mart "the State's largest single solar power user." The panels will increase Ohio's total solar power generation by 10%.

12.27.12 - ODU engineers helping to design future of solar power - hamptonroads.com. Energy-producing solar panels will be bolted onto the frame, and the motorized system will tilt the panels to track the sun for maximum efficiency....ODU hopes to be one of as many as 50 sites around the state in a pilot solar-generation program planned by Dominion. Given the OK by state regulators in November, Dominion plans to erect solar arrays capable of generating 30 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 6,000 homes."

12.23.12- Virginia Co. Purveys Wines with a Double Dose of Sunshine - Tidewater Current | Winter 2013 - Solar derived fruit of the vine stored in sun run warehouse.

Marine/Hydro:

6.13.13 - Leading marine renewables company announces partnership with Port of Milford Haven - reve. UK - sea testing for DeltaStream prototype tidal energy generation device in the Pembroke Port to begin this year. The triangularly framed base consisting of three 400 kW turbines will be mounted on the sea floor.

5.31.13 - Scilly Could Be Self Sufficient In Energy If Wave Power Test Successful - scillytoday.com. UK - 40South Energy's devices "sit in up to 50m of water and remain completely submerged, rather than bobbing on the surface. When the water gets rough, such as when there's a storm, the generator actually moves deeper, in effect protecting itself from bad weather...this is important because older systems had to be 'over engineered' to survive poor sea conditions"

5.30.13 - "Carnegie Wave Energy Limited (Perth, Australia) will begin construction on the 1-megawatt (MW) Garden Island Wave Demonstration power station in Western Australia by the end of third-quarter 2013. The power plant will be located 3 kilometres west of Garden Island, Australia, and it is expected to be the most energy-efficient plant in the region." - industrialinfo.com.

5.22.13 - World's largest wave power scheme given go-ahead - thescotsman.com. "Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power has received full consent from the Government Ministers to develop a 40 megawatt wave farm - the world's largest fully-permitted ocean energy site" The Oyster wave devices will be deployed off the coast of Lewis.

5.21.13 - Year of Pelamis wave power testing hailed success - scotsman.com. "ScottishPower Renewables said the broad range of data from real sea testing was invaluable for the on-going development of the technology, allowing focused design and innovation for future enhancements of the Pelamis machine. These enhancements, they say, are vital to ensure that the costs of generating electricity from wave power continue to fall, in order to become cost competitive with other sources of offshore renewable energy."

5.13.13 - Worlds first wind-wave power turbine coming to Japan - cbsnews.com. "The Savonius Keel & Wind Turbine Darrieus (SKWID) power generation system being developed by Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC) is a floating system that shares a vertical floating axis. On the company's website, MODEC says the concept will generate double or more power from the same sea surface area as a conventional wind turbine."

5.1.13 - Doing Wave Energy With No Moving Parts - earthtechling.com. Oscilla Power's device utilizes changes in magnetic fields caused by force which create a current. The process called revesve magnetostriction was tested in Lake Washington near Seattle and will be tested in the ocean this summer off New Hampshire.

5.1.13 - New Website Shares Wave/Tidal Device Info - sawfia.com. "Studies of wave farm demonstration projects in each of the collaborating EU nations are contributing to the findings. The study sites comprise a wide range of device technologies, environmental settings and stakeholder interests."

4.30.13 - Energy Department Releases New Energy 101 Video on Ocean Power | Department of Energy

4.24.13 - Irish Eyes Smile On Wave And Wind Combo - earthtechling.com. Energy Island concept to be tested in demo project. Wind and waves will drive the turbine. "An oscillating water column is a partially submerged, hollow structure, into which water enters and exits, compressing an enclosed column of air that drives the rotation of a turbine both as it is pushed out of the unit and then sucked back in.

4.19.13 - Oceanflow Floats A Different Sort Of Tidal Device - earthtechling.com. "Oceanflow is aiming to have a one-quarter scale version of its device deployed this year in Sanda Sound in southwestern Scotland....The Evopod concept uses three-bladed turbines that look a lot like those used in other tidal power concepts" except this device floats.

4.18.13 - World's largest OTEC power plant planned for China - gizmag.com. Lockheed Martin and Reignwood Group plan to develop a 10 MW prototype OTEC pilot plant off of Southern China

4.12.13 - Living on Earth: Turning On Tidal Power - loe.org. Public Radio Story on Ocean Renewable Power Company's TideGen Pilot Project in Maine.

4.8.13 - UK tidal power sector enjoys surge of interest as ResHydro reveals Scottish plans - 08 Apr 2013 - News from BusinessGreen - ResHydro captures the energy of aerodynamic vibrations created as water passes through a hydrofoil cascade.

4.7.13 - Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project seeks £10m funding - guardian.co.uk. "The first of its kind in the UK, the scheme intends to generate up to 250MW of renewable power by harnessing the tides to drive enormous turbines, enough to meet Swansea's annual domestic electricity needs."

4.3.13 - Spain pumps wave power onto European grid - dw.de. Mutriku on the Bay of Biscay has a breakwater, "which is a hollow cement and stone structure more than four football fields long. Hidden inside, Spanish scientists are busy generating electricity from the powerful waves that roll in off the Bay of Biscay."

3.31.13 - The Day - Tidal energy projects slowly taking hold across nation | Verdant Power plans to "install 30 tidal turbines at the site marked by the buoy in the East River this spring....Ocean Renewable Power Co. achieved a major milestone in September when it began delivering power from a turbine in Cobscook Bay, between Eastport and Lubec, Maine, to Bangor Hydro Electric. It was the first time in U.S. history that power from a tidal generator has fed the commercial grid."

3.23.13 - Bombora Wave Device Gets Ecomagination Nod -earthtechling.com. "The Australian company's WEC is designed to mine near-shore waves with an average wave height of a mere 1.4 meters. The company says this is all part of a strategy "to develop a wave-based technology that was economically competitive with onshore wind power generation, currently the lowest cost renewable energy source."

3.11.13 - The Coolest Tidal Energy Proposal Ever - earthtechling.com. The large tidal range found in Swansea Bay has attracted a developer who "has proposed to build a tidal lagoon with an energy-producing capacity of at least 250 megawatts, capable of generating 400 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year – more than enough power for all of Swansea's 200,000-plus residents."

3.7.13 - MODEC Unveils SQWID Offshore Wind-Current Ocean Energy Platform - cleantechnica.com. Aiming to combine two abundant and reliable offshore renewable energy resources, Japan's MODEC has come up with SQWID, "a floating wind and marine tidal power platform that makes use of a Darrieus wind turbine and Savonius current turbine."

3.6.13 - Western Australia Pioneers Use of Wave Power to Reduce Emissions - designbuildsource.com. "Carnegie Wave Energy will use ocean waves to directly power the high pressure desalination pumps ... buoys move with the motion of passing waves, pressurising water that is delivered onshore to drive the hydraulic motor and pumping system for the desalination plants.... "Together, the wave powered power station and desalination plant on Garden Island will produce power and clean, drinkable water for the Navy."

Grid, Storage and Transmission:

6.19.13 - Scientists Create Sodium-Ion Battery from Wood - eponline. "By using a small piece of wood and coating it with tin, scientists have created a small, long-lasting, and eco-friendly energy source.The scientists also suggest that the battery would be best used in large-scale energy storage applications, such as solar energy operations."

6.15.13 - Hydrogen plant starts storing wind energy in Germany - reve. A power-to-gas (P2G) unit installed by E.ON in Falkenhagen in eastern Germany today injected hydrogen into the natural gas system for the first time as part of a function test.... Once operational, it will use surplus renewable-source electricity to produce about 360 cubic meters of hydrogen per hour....electricity that otherwise could not be fed into the grid"

5.16.13 - Small Batteries Could Double Contribution of Renewable Energy - designbuildsource.com.au. Small affordable batteries which allow for "the addition of a mere 15 minutes of battery storage to wind farms could lift their contribution to grid capacity from 20 per cent to between 30 and 40 per cent....GE is already giving this solution a go with the sale of its first new line of "hybrid" wind turbines. " The 15 minutes will provide grid operators with ample time to adjust power generation from conventional power plants.

5.31.13 - Solar-Powered Kettle Chips Will Help Test Renewable Energy Batteries In Salem - opb.org. Oregon - "Kettle Brand has enough solar panels on the roof of its Salem plant to make 250,000 bags of Kettle Chips. But they only work when the sun is out....A new smart grid project ... aiming to fill the gaps in solar power at the Kettle Chips plant with renewable energy stored in a room full of lithium ion batteries. ...which can store up to 5 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 3,500 homes "

5.21.13 - Microgrid Powers Fort Bliss - energymanagertoday.com. "The microgrid consists of onsite backup generation, a 120 kW solar array, a 300 kW energy storage system, utility grid interconnection and Lockheed Martin's Intelligent Microgrid Control System. The energy storage system maintains a steady stream of energy and also stores energy to respond to high periods of energy demand and to produce reliable power."

5.20.13 - Study IDs two compressed air energy storage methods, sites for the Northwest - phys.org. Excess wind energy can be used to compress air and then stored in "natural, porous rock reservoirs that are deep underground"

5.20..13 - Liquefied Air Could Power Cars and Store Energy from Sun and Wind - technologyreview.com. "Highview Power Storage of London, has raised $18 million and built a pilot plant that will use liquid air to store power from the grid. Highview has teamed up with Messer, the large industrial gas company, to help develop the technology"

5.18.13 - Underwater batteries are making a splash for energy storage - gigaom.com. "efforts are underway to harness ... the pressure under the sea. A Norwegian company called Subhydro is making forays into underwater hydroelectrical power plants, and Canadian company Hydrostor is creating an underwater grid storage system."

5.2.13 - Eos Puts Its Zinc-Air Grid Batteries to the Test With ConEd - greentechmedia.com. A grid battery at $160 per kilowatt-hour? Startup Eos Energy Storage lands a utility partner to test it ou

4.30.13 - Wind Power Without Wind - thefutureofthings.com. "A new method developed by researchers at MIT could help alleviate that problem, by storing large amounts of power which can be used, on demand, whenever it's needed....The new method developed at MIT involves the placement of large concrete spheres on the seafloor, just under the wind turbine. The spheres, weighing thousands of tons each, will be used as both anchors to for the floating turbines, as well as a means of storing the energy they produce."

4.29.13 - First Electric Vehicle-to-Grid Technology Sells Power to PJM Power Grid - greenbuildingelements.com. University of Delaware program highlighted. "A key aspect of the technology is that it can aggregate power from multiple electric vehicles to create one larger power resource, rather than individual, smaller ones. ...For grid operators, the technology serves as an innovative new approach to energy storage. It has the potential to balance the power provided by intermittent renewable resources such as wind and solar"

4.29.13- DOE, Stanford Unveil Solar, Wind Battery- energymanagertoday.com. New flow battery developed at Stanford offers "less expensive design that presents a potentially viable solution for large-scale production" .

4.10.13 - Turn Up the Juice: New Flywheel Raises Hopes for Energy Storage Breakthrough - scientificamerican.com. Storing electricity in spinning wheels isn't new, but a new design may make it cheap enough to compete with other technologies

3.28.13 - A new discovery may offer a solution to the daunting limits of wind and solar energy, using hydrogen as a storage mechanism for electricity - climatecentral.com. University of Calgary Chemists "have found an efficient way to turn electricity from wind and solar energy into hydrogen, ... emitting nothing more harmful than water vapor. The chemists are planning to have a utility-scale working model on the market next year, "with a homeowner-size model, the size of a large refrigerator, by 2015."

3.26.13 - The Most Important Man in Energy Storage? Try Archimedes - Forbes - Good review of energy storage technologies being developed, including compressed air, gravity delivered mechanical storage, heat and more.

3.13.13 - Renewable Energy Storage Dilemma Overcome Via Hydrogen Conversion - designbuildsource.com.au. Siemens has improved upon technology that " uses electrolysis to convert the extra power produced by wind and solar facilities, which would otherwise go to waste, into hydrogen gas, which can then be compressed and stored for conversion into electricity at a subsequent stage...or as a zero-emissions fuel in combustion engines."

2.21.13. - Abandoned Canadian Open-Pit Mine Could Be Turned Into 400 MW Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plant- greennewsman.com. "Using the power of gravity and a reversible turbine, Toronto's Northland power wants to convert an old open-pit iron ore mine in Marmora, Ontario, into a waterfall five times the height of Niagara Falls. ...the new waterfall could generate 400 MW of power and allow customers to take advantage of peak-time power prices when demand is high and local wind turbines typically are less active."

Biomass & More

6.18.13 - Whiskey is for Making Biofuels? - EnvironmentalLeader.com. "Scottish startup Celtic Renewables says it can turn waste from the country's £4 billion ($6 billion) whiskey-making industry into millions of gallons of renewable fuel, creating a £60 million ($90 million) biofuels industry"

6.15.13 - Vodafone Debuts Energy Harvesting Clothes at UK Festival - theenergycollective.com. The company is trying out its "power pocket" a wearable devices that generates energy from body heat and movement at the Isle of Wight Music Festival. The thermoelectric material technology was developed at the University of Southampton.

6.10.13 - Cool Planet Nears Commercial Production of Carbon Negative Biofuel - cleantechnica.com. The California company plans to commercialize small modular transportable biorefineries to produce bio gas from miscanthus near production sources for less than "$1.50 per gallon without government subsidy, along with a biochar coproduct that will increase crop yields while capturing carbon from the atmosphere."

6.7.13 - SolePower Shoe Insole Charges Your Phone While You Walk - mashable.com. "This special shoe sole fits in your shoe and a charging wire snakes through your laces. The charging wire plugs into a battery, which is fastened around your ankle or clipped to your shoe. As you walk, the energy from your steps are turned into electrical power that's stored in the battery. The battery can then be plugged into portable electronic devices like cell phones, radios and GPS units"

5.29.13 - Bike til it hertz: College kids spin out campus electricity - grist.com. A bike room at Middlebury College "is equipped with 11 Star Trac Pro spinner bikes, each fitted with alternators built by a Connecticut company called The Green Revolution. The alternators are connected to an inverter box that... shoots it back into the wall...a rider generates between 100 and 250 watts. ...To power a well-insulated, solar-powered home, it would still take a pack of 70."

5.21.13 - PediPower device brings kinetic energy to heel - gizmag.com. "a Rice engineering student team calling themselves the "Agitation Squad" decided to create a shoe-mounted generator....The PediPower prototype devices feature an...attached to a gearbox so that with every step, the gears turn slightly to drive a motor mounted on the side of the shoe. This generates electricity that is sent through wires via a voltage regulator to a belt-mounted battery pack."

5.15.13 - Dairy Finds Way to Let Cows Power Trucks - nytimes.com. For years, the farm has used livestock waste to create enough natural gas to power 10 barns, a cheese factory, a cafe, a gift shop and a maze of child-friendly exhibits ...The farm is now turning the extra manure into fuel for its delivery trucks, powering 42 tractor-trailers that make daily runs to raw milk processing plants in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee."

5.15.13 - A powerful use for spoiled food - latimes.com. Kroger Co.'s anaerobic digester in Compton takes unsold food from Ralph's and Food 4 Less and converts it into 13 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.

5.14.13 - "Fatbergs" In London Sewers To Be Transformed Into Electricity - cleantechnica.com. Oil and fat clogging sewers has to be removed manually by some 40 permanently employed workers. Now the material will be removed and burned for energy. "Supposedly, there's no smoke and no smell from the burning of the fatbergs.'"

4.24.13 - Portland Light Rail Captures Energy From Brakes - EnergyManagerToday.com. " the electric motor that propels an electric or hybrid vehicle also does most of the braking. When the brakes are applied... the system signals the electric motor to run in reverse mode, creating resistance to slow the vehicle. An electric motor running backwards also acts as an electric energy generator or dynamo that converts the kinetic energy of motion into electrical energy that can be stored for reuse, improving efficiency."

4.23.13 - Create Your Own Electricity With Your Feet, With This Simple Bike-Powered Charger - fastcoexist.com. $105 Atom weighs less than a banana and attaches to your rear tire. It can charge electronic devices or a battery as you bike. To fully charge the battery it does take two hours of cycling at 15 mph.

4.20,.13 - East Greenwich man to start bioenergy farm - NJ.com. Biomass Alternative Power will harvest Duckweed a nuisance plant, to generate energy for 10,000 homes.

4.7.13 - London's cooking waste to fuel power station - guardian.co.uk. "The energy generated from the grease, oil and fat that clogs the capital's sewers will also be channelled to help run a major sewage works and a desalination plant, as well as supplying the National Grid, under plans announced by Thames Water and utility company 2OC."

4.7.13 - Under Pressure: Piezoelectric Energy To Be Generated By Paris Marathoners - thinkprogresss.com. "The flexible tiles made from recycled truck tires will span a portion of the Champs Elysees for about 25 meters (82 feet) of the 42.2-kilometer course, according to Pavegen Systems Ltd., the U.K. maker of the tiles. Each footstep generates as much as 8 watts of kinetic energy, which is fed back to batteries that can charge display screens and electronic signs along the route, the company said."

4.5.13 - Hydrogen From Plants Touted As Game Changer - earthtechling.com. "Virginia Tech researcher team says a new enzyme combination will allow hydrogen to be produced from plant matter in a way that "releases almost no greenhouse gasses, and does not require costly or heavy metals."

3.27.13 - Dairy Finds Way to Let Cows Power Trucks - NYTimes.com. For years, the farm has used livestock waste to create enough natural gas to power 10 barns, a cheese factory, a cafe, a gift shop and a maze of child-friendly exhibits ...The farm is now turning the extra manure into fuel for its delivery trucks, powering 42 tractor-trailers that make daily runs to raw milk processing plants in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee."

3.26.13 - Creating Energy from Noise Pollution - designbuildsource.com.au. "the 2013 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, dubbed Soundscraper, looked into ways to convert the ambient noise in urban centres into a renewable energy form....electro-active lashes covering a Soundscraper's light metallic frame. Armed with Parametric Frequency Increased Generators (sound sensors) on the lashes, the vibrations would then be converted to kinetic energy through an energy harvester."

3.8.13 - Cheesy Bioenergy Project Sounds Whey Cool - earthtechling.com. Dairy waste in Wisconsin to generate 3.2 MW of energy plus heat and fertilizer.

3.7.13 - Our Pipes Are Full Of Power That We're Wasting - fastcoexist.com. Pressurized liquid in many industrial processes like oil refining can be recovered. Energy Recovery has been doing it for doing years in desalination plants.

2.27.13 - Delhi Students To Generate Power From Wind Produced By Metro Rail - cleantechica.com. Delhi University "students working on the project have determined that the best locations to harness wind energy on the metro network are the entry points of tunnels and the point where the train moves from an underground line to an elevated line." The students are being allowed to locate a small turbine at one of these locations. They expect it will generate 4.8 kW a day.

 

 

 

 

 

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