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

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

For current and illustrated news clips, visit Carol's Pinterest Collection. For prior posts, check the Archive or view 2012 illustrated posts listed in the links to the right.

Renewable Energy - Programs, Finance, Policy, Reports:

Promote solar rights in Virginia

Send a message to the Governor that you support solar power purchase agreements, which would allow the growth of clean energy at reduced costs. Through PPAs, system owners can take advantage of incentives that reduce overall project costs and therefore the price of energy.

 

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."

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 - 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"

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%.

3.1.13 - Build It And They'll Come: Georgia Power Kicks Off 210-MW Solar Program - renewableenergyworld.com. This morning "Georgia Power Company began accepting applications for its Advanced Solar Initiative (GPASI), a program that will add 210 megawatts of solar capacity over the next three years."

2.28.13 - Cape Wind: Regulation, Litigation and the Struggle to Develop Offshore Wind Power in the U.S. - renewableenergyworld.com. Great read detailing the12 year struggle to develop the first proposed offshore wind farm in the US. "while the Nantucket wind farm appears to be nearing the end of its own legal and regulatory limbo, it still remains too soon to say with any certainty when — or even if — the project will be built."

2.27.13 - SunPower Solar Systems Save California Schools 5.6 Million (in 2012) - SolarNovus. "Over the next 25 years, SunPower solar power systems are expected to generate 140 million in school district savings," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president."

2.21.13 - Clean Energy Powers Up North Carolina's Economy - cleantechnica.com. "new study, "Economic, Utility Portfolio, and Rate Impact of Clean Energy Development in North Carolina," ... finds that renewable energy is "attracting investment, creating jobs, and lowering utility bills....NCSEA's 2012 Clean Energy Industries Census estimated over 15,200 full-time green jobs existed ... with those companies generating 3.7 billion in annual revenue."

2.19.13 - Renewable energy makes small gains in Virginia's 2013 legislative session- powerforthepeopleva.com. Of all the bills introduced to the General Assembly of Virginia regarding renewable energy, Power Purchase Agreements get a "pilot" - 50 MW allowed only in Dominion's territory - and agricultural net metering will be allowed..

2.19.13 - Wind, Solar, and Biomass Provide All New U.S. Electrical Generating Capacity in January 2013! - ases.org. "no new generating capacity reported for any fossil fuel or nuclear power sources."

2.16.13 - Florida PACE Funding Agency Gets 500 Million Boost - solarlove.org. Despite mortgage issues connected with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Property Assessed Clean Energy "PACE" financing is still available in 8 states including Florida. Where programs are available property owners can finance a renewable energy system through their municipality and repay the loan via property taxes. "the Florida agency funding PACE projects recently received a nice infusion of cash....500 million in funding"

2.15.13 - Destroying a clean-energy law - powerengineering.com. Great commentary on the sad state of clean energy in Virginia - "We need to ...ensure that utilities invest in ... wind and solar power....with the incentive for utilities to participate in the voluntary program axed, we need to make it mandatory, as 29 states have done. Virginia is among the states most vulnerable to climate change...We simply can't afford to let a friend of fossil fuel companies like Cuccinelli move us backward on clean energy."

ACC Clean Energy Challenge - The 100K Challenge is a business plan competition encouraging students from ... the southeastern United States to develop business plans for new clean energy companies, is now accepting entries. Competition is open to graduate and undergraduate students actively enrolled in accredited colleges or universities in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia.

2.14.13 - US Solar Residential Financing Expected To Top 5.7 Billion By 2016 - cleantechnica.com. Much of this growth is expected to arise from third party financing companies. "This growing avenue is helping to make solar energy more accessible to the public, making up more than 50% of new solar residential capacity in states including AZ, CO, CA, MA. Meanwhile, states also seeing bigger market share from third party financing are: NY, NJ, CT, MD, DE, TX, VT, WA and OR."

2.12.13 - Solar Energy Systems Exempt from Personal Property Tax in D.C.! - ases.org. Plan will allow third party installers to participate in benefit and will stimulate solar installations.

2.12.13 - The National Park Service turns to renewables in the San Francisco Harbor - sfexaminer.com. A wind turbine sits atop the Cliff House and will power a gift shop. The rounded blades limit wildlife impact. Alcatraz was also recently fitted with solar panels and 3 ferrres that service the island are hybrid, also running on solar and wind power.

2.7.13 - Delaware Senator Aims to Enact Offshore Wind Energy Investment Tax Credit - triplepundit.com. "Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) intends to reintroduce legislation that would offer a 30 percent investment tax credit (ITC) for a limited number of offshore wind power projects, according to a report from The Hill."

2.6.13 - Report Shows Energy Efficiency and Renewables Are Best Alternatives for Replacing Duke's Coal and Nuclear Plants - ucsusa.org. Link included to UCS report entitled "Ripe for Retirement: The Case for Closing America's Costliest Coal Plants."

2.4.13- Solar For Milwaukee, By Milwaukee - energy.gov. Milwaukee's Power Pack pilot solar project created a local solar market and initiated policies that simplified the installation process. While Milwaukee Shines provides access to low interest solar financing.

1.29.13 - Breakthrough For Hawaiian Solar Power Announced By Clean Energy Groups - earthjustice.org. "HECO will take the initiative to determine how continued growth in rooftop solar may affect the utility circuits, and how the grid needs to be upgraded to enable further expansion. This should ease the way for Hawaiʻi homes and businesses to install more rooftop solar. It also offers a model for other utilities across the country to follow as the levels of renewable energy increase on their grids."

1.29.13 - Why Boulder Has To Buy Out Its Electric Utility For A Clean Energy Future - cleantechnica.com. Great read and video on Boulder's Clean Energy Campaign and the formation of a municipal electric utility.

1.28.13 - Total Capacity of U.S. Department of Defense Renewable Energy Installations Will Quadruple by 2025 - reve. The DoD spends 20 million dollars/year on energy. The Army, Navy and Air Force are on track to each install 1 GW of renewable energy technology by 2025. Power purchase agreements and leases are driving much of the transition without increasing energy costs.

1.25.13 - Group lobbies for alternative energy in Virginia - hamptonroads.com. "HB1946 and SB1269, for example, would require utility companies to fill their renewable energy quota from Virginia sources. At least 40 percent would have to come from wind, solar, geothermal, wave or tidal energy. And SB1023 and HB2334 would make it easier for buyers to finance renewable energy projects. For example, if a homeowner or a church wanted to install a solar panel to generate electricity."

1.24.13 - Gov. McCrory embraces offshore wind energy in North Carolina - reve. The Republican notes: "Development of commercial wind farms off North Carolina's coast could stimulate factory development in the state to provide the necessary equipment and bring jobs in that sector."

1.22.13 - Salt Lake City Buys Solar in Bulk - triplepundit.com. "By buying in bulk, the more than 60 participants who signed up for the Salt Lake City (Wasatch) Rooftop Solar Challenge team's program — one of 22 regional teams participating in the Dept. of Energy's (DOE) Rooftop Solar Challenge –- have saved 40 percent on the total installed price of their PV systems, the DOE announced in the January 16 edition of its SunShot newsletter."

1.22.13 - Renewable and Solar financing - renewableenergyworld.com. "new options are rapidly becoming available. ...Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), a tax structure long available to traditional energy sector. An IRS ruling could soon make solar PV a qualified investment class for REITs. Even without an IRS ruling, Power REIT (NYSE:PW) has found a way to invest in solar farms."

1.21.13 - Solar Costs to Fall as REITs Emerge as Source of Funding - bloomberg.com. "A San Francisco startup may win approval as soon as this month to become the first firm allowed to raise money for solar-power projects as a REIT, the financing vehicle used in $640 billion of U.S. property ventures." The IRS is expected to imminently rule on whether solar farms may be included in real estate investment trusts.

1.21.13 - VA legislators: This is Your Wake Up Call - wearepowershift.org. Richmond, VA - Dozens of students give their legislators a Wake Up call at the state capitol with Flash Mob in support of a state Renewable Portfolio Standard.

1.20.13 - Dominion plans wind, solar facility in Kitty Hawk - outerbanksvoice.com. "Officials from the utility's Alternative Energy Solutions group say the microgrid project should be up and running by December."

1.18.13 - Outer Banks institute goes deep for clean energy - hamptonroads. UNC satellite campus building designed to be sustainable will house research to limit human impact on the environment. "Researchers are studying ways to store compressed air under the sea and to harness power from the jet stream off the coast" while a unique paddle device is being used to create electricity from waves to power to the building.

1.17.13 - $10MM EERE Funding Opportunity for Algae Biofuel Advancements - cleantechnica.com Aiming to build on the current body of knowledge, EERE identified three priority areas of integrated research:Improvements in Algal Biomass Productivity;
Improvements in Preprocessing Technologies; andTechnical Advances that Enable Integration of Algal Biomass Unit Operations."

1.15.13 - Cuccinelli and Dominion Move to Repeal Virginia's Clean Electricity Standard - chesapeakeclimate.org. "The Dominion-Cuccinelli proposal is a radical move that clean energy advocates statewide described as out of step with mainstream voters, a claim supported by recent polling. ...Senator A. Donald McEachin and Delegate Alfonso Lopez are introducing common-sense legislation that would strengthen the RPS law by requiring Dominion to invest in wind and solar power in Virginia in order to qualify for these financial incentives, thus fulfilling the intent of the law to spur a clean energy industry in the commonwealth. A September statewide poll of likely voters showed that 63 percent of Virginians back this approach."

1.11.13 - Los Angeles DWP unveils solar power buyback program - latimes.com. "Described as the largest urban rooftop solar program of its kind in the nation, the so-called feed-in-tariff program would pay customers 17 cents per kilowatt hour for energy produced on their own equipment. The DWP has already accepted more than a dozen applicants and will be taking dozens more as it accepts contracts for up to 100 megawatts of solar power through 2016.

1.11.13- Turning Brownfields Into Brightfields With Solar Energy - theenergycollective. "Thousands of contaminated tracts of land labeled brownfields by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may eventually provide the valuable real estate needed for renewable energy projects, and New Jersey is at the forefront of using such sites to bolster its status as a leader in solar energy. The utility PSE&G is installing 4,000 solar panels on a six-acre site in Hackensack, N.J., that was once the home of a gas plant and then gas storage facilities. "

1.9.13 - New York State looks to the sun after a year of severe weather - pv-magazine.com. "comprehensive plan to make the region "the leader in the clean tech economy "—including expansion of the NY-Sun Initiative, a dynamic public-private partnership designed to drive solar industry growth and to make solar installations more affordable for all New Yorkers."

1.9.13 - Hawaii's PUC ponders on-bill financing of solar energy systems - pv-magazine.com. "Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission is considering a system under which customers could finance the hefty up-front purchase and installation expenses of distributed, grid-tied solar generation by paying an extra assessment on their electric bills."

1.8.13 - New Ways to Invest in Solar Like Buffett - Forbes. Crowdfunding, MLPs and REITS are all discussed.

1.8.13 - Aging lighthouse gains new life as beacon for offshore wind industry - science.nbcnews. Virginia - "The Department of Energy has $3.2 million in funding to turn the Chesapeake Light Tower, formerly run by the Coast Guard, into the Reference Facility for Offshore Renewable Energy. It will primarily validate models and instruments the industry uses to assess offshore wind resources."

1.6.13 - Solar Mosaic turns "the Kickstarter of solar" into a way to make money - gigaom.com. Great program: "There are three new solar projects that residents of California and New York can put money in as of Monday morning, including solar panels on the roofs of affordable housing projects in Corte Madera, Calif., Salinas, Calif., and San Bruno, Calif." The program works like a mutual fund with investors earning about 4.5% on money invested.

1.4.13 - Is Your Utility Ready? New Report Says Local Solar Could Power 10% of Country in 10 Years - renewableenergyworld.com. Institute for Local Self-Reliance Report indicates "With the cost of solar falling rapidly and local solar challenging utility prices nationwide..utilities will need to accommodate a grassroots movement toward local, affordable energy

1.2.13 - How Algae Got a Boost from the Fiscal Cliff Deal - kunc.org. "Wind isn't the only alternative energy industry to get a boost from the Fiscal Cliff deal. Also included is a tax credit for algae growers encouraging biofuel production that could one day power cars and boats. According to Biofuels Digest, the new tax credit would work out to about $59 million over 10 years for producers of algae biofuels."

1.2.13 - A Look At the 2013 (VA) General Assembly Session - greateralexandriapatch.com. Delegate Scott Surovell will introduce "legislation to require all renewable energy to be generated in Virginia from new sources and to expand the definition of "solar energy" to include "solar thermal systems....Virginia's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard allows utilities to charge Virginia homes and businesses millions in extra fees for purchasing a certain amount of renewable energy. Virginia utilities are currently collecting over $50 million per year for putting no new renewable energy on the grid or developing Virginia jobs. "

1.1.13 -Wind energy tax credits survive as Congress passes fiscal cliff deal - gigaom.com. "Congress approved a fiscal cliff deal on Tuesday and in it included an extension of the wind energy tax credits for wind projects built in 2013. The wind energy industry is breathing a sigh of relief and says 37,000 jobs will be saved."

12.26.12 - Business is blooming for Norfolk company - hamptonroads.com. story about an Ocean View retailer that powers their all natural mattress company with on-site renewable energy.

12.26.12 - GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES $250 MILLION FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS TO ADD RELIABLE CLEAN POWER TO NEW YORK?S ENERGY HIGHWAY - poststarnews.com. "As New York State looks to upgrade and improve its energy infrastructure, renewable energy will play an even greater role in providing power that is more reliable, efficient and environmentally sustainable," said Governor Cuomo. "Through the RPS, the state is investing in its future. These projects will not only help diversify New York's renewable energy portfolio, but also provide economic development opportunities across the state."The RPS funding will be awarded competitively, with recipients expected to be announced by summer 2013."

12.22.12 - Net-zeroschool pays off - bgdailynews.com. Bowling Green, KY - Solar panels provide more energy than the school uses. "the first "net-zero" school in the nation: Richardsville Elementary School.... is still the only major school building in the United States that is not only net-zero, but that also actually earns money from its electricity generation."

12.21.12 - Utilities Offer NY Businesses On-Bill Financing For Energy-Efficient Upgrades - earthtechling.com. Last year Gov. Cuomo initiated a program for homeowners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements through an "on bill" repayment program that is now being extended to small businesses.

12.18.12 - Virginia's Renewable Energy Policy Under Review - wamu.org. "2007 Electric Utility Re-Regulation Act was designed to spur renewable development in the state, but utilities instead purchased credits from outside that state. An overhaul of the energy bill is expected, with a proposal due next month but "utility and environmental groups aren't entirely on the same page ...Environmental groups want incentives to focus on wind and solar, while Dominion is favoring wind and nuclear"

12.17.12 - Renewable Energy REITs or MLPs Would Unlock Billions for Project Development - renewableenergyworld.com. " REITs and MLPs, function like a bond and are currently used in more mature markets for project development. If they were available to renewable energy projects, said Kauffman, they would unlock loads of money for project development. Two separate bills have already been introduced in Congress seeking to allow renewable energy projects to be financed through REITs and MLPs but neither bill has come up for vote ye"

12.17.12 - A Kickstarter For Solar, With A Twist: Invest In Crowdfunded Solar Projects And Make Some Cash - fastcoexist.com. Through the Mosaic platform "instead of just getting paid back for investing in a solar project, you can now make money. One recently completed project, a 47 kW system at a youth employment training agency in Oakland, is offering an expected 6.38% annual rate of interest over its 60-month term"

12.17.12 - Minnesota's First Community Solar Project Doubles Down On Local - cleantechnica.com. Panels built locally will be used in 40 kW community project. "Participation in the community solar project lowers the payback period for solar, as compared to individual ownership, by 7-12 years."

12.13.12 - Congressional Support for MLPs will benefit renewable industry - nrdcswitchboard.com. nrdcswitchboard.om Bipartisan support for extending financial structures employed by fossil industry to the renewable industry. The MLP Parity Act will "help companies gain access to capital at a lower cost and are more liquid than traditional financing approaches to energy projects, making them highly effective at attracting private investment. MLPs are expected to drive significant amounts of new private sector investment to renewable energy deployment, reduce the cost of renewable electricity, and dramatically broaden the base of eligible investors. For these reasons, NRDC supports the senators' efforts and looks forward to Congressional action."

12.12.12 - Solution to Renewable Energy's Intermittency Problem: More Renewable Energy: Scientific American - University of Delaware simulations indicate that overproducing to create excess capacity could be more economical than building storage technology. A mix of onshore, offshore and solar could provide reliable power save a handful of days over a 4 year period. Car batteries could be used when power is needed.

12.12.12 - Who Needs College? Young Entrepreneuer Bets On Bright Idea For Solar Energy : NPR - Great story about Peter Thiel's 20 under 20 program to drive innovation. Eden Full dropped out of Princeton to participate in the program and is developing a cheap efficient solar tracker, which boosts energy conversion 40%. Using " a dripping water filtration system creates the weight that slowly moves the panel. The simple system gives villagers both more solar power and clean water."

12.12.12 - Military Leaders See Energy Diversity Protecting US National Security - energy.aol.com. Energy Security Leadership Council, a group of military and corporate leaders, releases a "National Strategy for Energy Security.""The panel said in its report that the US needs to increase federal investment in energy research and development "to help catalyze those innovations most likely to improve energy security."

12.10.12 - Virginia's Renewable Energy Policy Under Review - wamu. 2007 Electric Utility Re-Regulation Act was designed to spur renewable development in the state, but utilities instead purchased credits from outside that state. An overhaul of the energy bill is expected, with a proposal due next month but "utility and environmental groups aren't entirely on the same page ...Environmental groups want incentives to focus on wind and solar, while Dominion is favoring wind and nuclear"

12.10.12 - Two Thirds Of The World's Top Corporations Have Set Emissions Reduction Targets Or Renewable Energy Goals - thinkprogress.org. "According to a new analysis from Ceres, WWF, and Calvert Investments, 68 percent of companies in the Global 100 list have set targets to lower global warming pollution or purchase clean energy. In addition, 58 percent of companies in the Fortune 100 list have set similar targets."

12.10.12 -Net Zero Schools in Kentucky: Models for the Future Come from Surprising Places - Forbes- Kentucky, a major coal producer, has a plan to triple renewable energy production.

12/7/12 - On-Bill Repayment Bill Introduced In California - blogs.edf.org. First on bill repayment program for renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement introduced in CA legislature.

12.7.12 - SolarCity Awarded Hire Power Award For US Job Creation - cleantechnica.com. "SolarCity's award win shines a light on the whole solar industry which has driven job creation eight times faster than the overall economy," said SolarCity's VP of Human Resources, Linda Keala. "SolarCity provides consumers with clean, renewable energy that can be more affordable than rising utility bills and this has created domestic solar development jobs that can't be easily outsourced."

12.5.12 - Nearly 50 percent of new electricity generation added in 2012 was renewable - grist.org. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reports "From January through October, 46.2 percent of new electricity-generating capacity added in the U.S. was renewable."

12.4.12 - The Beauty of Floating Solar Panels - sustainablebusiness.com. "Kyocera's 70 MW solar plant, which is under construction, will jut out into Kagoshima Bay " Video link included to Italian floating plant.

12.3.12 - FirstEnergy Solutions & PECO Offering 100% Renewable Electricity - cleantechnica.com. Philadelphia area residents have opportunity to purchase 100% renewable power from their utility.

12.3.12 - Wind energy: Colorado, Pennsylvania newspapers support PTC extension - reve - "A recent study by Navigant Consulting found that extending the Production Tax Credit will allow the industry to grow to 100,000 jobs in just four years, while an expiration would kill 37,000 jobs within a year....PTC extension efforts have received the endorsement of a broad coalition of more than 370 members, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Western Governors' Association. A PTC extension also has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Governors Association, and the bipartisan Governors' Wind Energy Coalition, which includes 23 Republican and Democratic Governors from across the U.S. A PTC extension has been endorsed by a number of newspapers across the country, including the Des Moines Register, the Denver Post, the Daily Oklahoman, the Toledo Blade, the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Chicago Sun-Times, and The New York Times."

 

---

Wind:

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."

Marine Propulsion – Is Wind back on the Horizon? - Tidewater Current | Fall 2012 - 90% of global trade is transported on vessels burning high polluting fuels. Wind is a benign and readily available resource on the high seas that innovative ship designers are looking to harness in new projects. See more snips in Clean - Eco Transport collection.

DISTRIBUTED WIND POLICY COMPARISON TOOL - eformativeoptions.com. "As part of a project funded by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Policy Tool uses a dashboard-interfaced pro forma financial model to calculate the impact rebates, tax credits, feed-in tariffs (FITS) and other incentives and policies have on project economics."

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"

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 - Winds of change are blowing in Charles County - washingtonpost.com. Vertical Axis Wind Turbine installed at Maryland Welcome Center.

3.2.13 - Danish energy gets super-sized: meet the world's largest wind turbine - wired.co.uk. "Siemens has built the B75, a record-breaking 75-metre blade. When three of them are combined with a new 6MW turbine, these fibreglass giants will -- when the wind blows at the right speed -- generate around 65 per cent more energy than Siemens' previous best models."

2.28.13 - Cape Wind: Regulation, Litigation and the Struggle to Develop Offshore Wind Power in the U.S. - renewableenergyworld.com. Great read detailing the12 year struggle to develop the first proposed offshore wind farm in the US. "while the Nantucket wind farm appears to be nearing the end of its own legal and regulatory limbo, it still remains too soon to say with any certainty when — or even if — the project will be built."

2.25.13 - Wind power is a blowing force in Texas - dallasnews.com. "One evening this month, wind generated nearly 28 percent of electricity in the state grid, enough to power more than 4 million homes. That's a record high.... In the last five years, wind generation has more than tripled in Texas, while natural gas grew 5 percent, and coal and nuclear declined....This not only helps the environment, it's driving down electricity prices."

2.21.13 - Wind energy top source for new generation in 2012 - awea.org. "In this historic year of achievement, wind energy for the first time became the number one source of new U.S. electric generating capacity, providing some 42 percent of all new generating capacity" The top states include Texas, California and Kansas and Oklahoma.

2.21.13 - In A Bold Move, Massachusetts Stakes Out Its Role in US Offshore Wind Development - forbes.com. "With the help of the Port of New Bedford, the Commonwealth intends to build a Marine Commerce Terminal – costing as much as 100 million – to support a budding offshore wind industry that will be worth tens of billions of dollars for equipment manufacturers like General Electric, Siemens and American Superconductor, when mature."

2.20.13- Indians powering up with wind turbine at Progressive Field - wkyc.com. A unique wind funneling turbine "turns out enough electricity to light four homes for a year or about 40,000 kilowatt hours per year. ... the Indians teamed up with Cleveland State University and added a turbine to the southeast corner of the ballpark." which draws attention as it lights up at night. See the video.

2.19.13 - Are Direct-Drive Turbines The Future Of Wind Energy? - earthtechling.com. Boulder Wind develops 3 MW direct drive wind turbine and claims a 30% increase in output over comparable direct drive turbines in low wind sites.

2.13.13 - Innovative Six-legged Ship Helps Construct Offshore Wind Farms - designworld.com. The ship can be jacked up above the water to provide stability for workers assemble massive offshore turbines. "The Pacific Orca is the largest wind farm installation ship ever built,...Her capacity is enormous. She can carry and install up to 12, 3.6-MW wind turbines."

2.12.13 - The National Park Service turns to renewables in the San Francisco Harbor - sfexaminer.com. A wind turbine sits atop the Cliff House and will power a gift shop. The rounded blades limit wildlife impact. Alcatraz was also recently fitted with solar panels and 3 ferrres that service the island are hybrid, also running on solar and wind power.

2.11.13 - The Coast Of Maine Will Be Home To The First Floating Wind Farm In America - fastcoexhist.com. A pilot project for 3 floating turbines has received funding. The technology, tested in Norway, works & can take advantage of winds over waters too deep for sea floor mounting. Now the objective is to lower costs. With shore assembly possible, specialized (expensive) vessels are not required for installation. Statoil, the project developer hopes to achieve competitive costs (10-15 cents/kWh) with 10 years.

2.11.13 - Honda installing wind turbines to make cars with wind power at Ohio factory - greenautoblog.com. "Once the turbines begin operating later in 2013, Honda will be the first major automotive manufacturing facility in the United States to obtain a substantial amount of its electricity directly from wind turbines located on its property."

2.11.13 - Milwaukee Reaps Benefits of Wind Energy - energy.gov. Lake Michigan wind turbine "Originally built to save taxpayer dollars by supplying the electricity needs of the Port Administration building, the wind turbine goes well beyond generating the 100,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) needed to power the building. The tower produces between 109,000 and 152,000 kWh of energy annually, and the excess energy is sold to the local utility, We Energies, saving the city and taxpayers even more money."

2.10.13 - Texas Wind Power Transmission Set To Skyrocket As Energy Exec Hints At End Of Nukes - cleantechnica.com. 3,500 miles of new line carrying up to 18,456 megawatts of wind energy from remote areas in West Texas to urban centers will be completed this year and more are expected to be ordered for out of state transmission. According to an Exelon official, "the influx of low cost wind power would lead the company to start shuttering its nuclear plants." Meantime, coal plants are converting to natural gas & biomass.

2.7.13 - Wind Power An Option For Rhode Island Naval Station - earthtechling.com. The Navy wants to provide most of Naval Station Newport's power with wind turbines. Several sites, all on federal land, are being investigated for a 9 MW project.

2.7.13 - Siemens announces plans for new, state-of-the-art wind service training center in U.S. - reve. "Siemens is designing this new 40,000-square-foot center, which will be located close to the global headquarters of Siemens' Energy Service division in Orlando, to be among the most advanced wind training facilities in the world."

2.4.13 - Windfarms break energy record in Spain - guardian.co.uk. "Past three months saw windfarms produce more electricity than any other source for first time, trade body says"

2.4.13 - Offshore wind turbine project revised for right whales - providencejournal.com. Block Island - "Deepwater Wind, in consultation with the environmental group Conservation Law Foundation, has voluntarily opted to avoid any pile driving in April due to data suggesting that the migratory whales tend to inhabit Rhode Island waters at that time of year."

2.1.13 - How Smart Is GE's "Brilliant" New Wind Turbine? - cleantechnica.com. GE's New Wind Turbine to be installed this month in the Netherlands "includes a data-driven system that could help boost its efficiency 25 percent higher than GE's current 2.5 megawatt wind turbine, and it also improves power output by 15 percent."

2.2013 - Look Up! Wind Turbines Flying in the Sky - Discover Magazine. High altitude kite turbine being tested by Makani - "The company claims that four times more land in the U.S. could be suitable for airborne wind turbines than is suitable for the conventional kind. In addition, offshore areas that are too deep for conventional turbines can also host a flying turbine, tethered to a lightweight floating foundation in waters up to 90 meters deep."

1.28.13- Canada's First Off-Shore Wind Farm Set for B.C. - cleantechnica.com. The 110 turbines will power 200,000 homes and meets the Province's energy plan which limits carbon emissions from new energy projects.

1.25.13 - Maine commission approves 120 million dollar floating windmill project - wina.com. Statoil of Norway pilot project will consist of 4 floating wind turbines that are expected to power 7,000 homes.

1.25.13 - Atlantic Wind Connection continues work on offshore energy transmission line - hydrogenfuelnews.com. "The Atlantic Wind Connection aims to establish 12 miles of energy transmission lines off the coast of New Jersey. This will be the first step in a ten-year plan wherein the energy transmission line would extend from Maryland to New Jersey"

1.23.13 - The Quest for the Monster Wind Turbine Blade - technologyreview.com. "Companies are racing to develop ways to make the 100-meter blades needed to make offshore wind compete with fossil fuels."

1.23.13 - Scientists race to develop floating wind farms - dw.de. "Mounted on pontoons which are attached to the ocean floor by long steel cables, floating wind turbines are now the new trend in the renewable energy scene. First prototypes are already being tested" Hexico's design is pictured (Photo: Hexicon). More floating technology is discussed.

1.22.13- Marylanders strongly back offshore wind power - reve. "A new poll released last week finds that an overwhelming majority of Maryland citizens (72 percent) support a $2-per-month fee being added to their electricity bills to support development of offshore wind power."

1.22.13 - Suction bucket' lays new foundation for offshore wind - guardian.co.uk. "Developers hope North Sea engineering solution will bring down costs and provide a secure basis for ambitious offshore plans"

1.18.13 - Wind turbines supercharged with superconductors - newscientist.com. "WIND turbines may soon get a supercharge. Turbines wound with superconducting wire instead of regular copper could turn today's 2 to 3-megawatt generators into 10-megawatt powerhouses, say teams in Europe and the US that are racing to produce the machines."

1.17.13 - Mass Megawatts brings low-cost wind energy system to market - bizjournals.com. "Based on what the company says is a less-complicated, more cost-effective wind-focused technique, the augmented system increases wind velocity directed at the turbine and provides upwards of a 300 percent increase in energy versus conventional wind turbines."

1.16.13 - National Nuclear Security Administration Awards Contract for Largest Federal Wind Farm to Siemens - reve. The farm will generate approximately 45 million kilowatts of electricity annually – greater than 60 percent of Pantex's annual electricity needs....Using an Energy Savings Performance Contract, Siemens will provide a turn-key wind farm system for 20 years that includes a five-year service, maintenance and warranty agreement with operating and maintenance options from years six through ten. Siemens will also provide an annual energy production guarantee. The government payment to them will come directly from the value of guaranteed energy savings generated from the Pantex wind farm."

1.16.13 - Japan to build world's largest offshore wind farm - newscientist.com. "The project is part of Fukushima's plan to become completely energy self-sufficient by 2040, using renewable sources alone. The prefecture is also set to build the country's biggest solar park."

1.15.13 -France to invest €3.5 billion in offshore wind energy - evwind.es. - the projects will create 10,000 industrial jobs. The wind farms are planned for construction near Treport, in northern France, and near the Noirmoutier and Île d'Yeu islands on the Atlantic coast."

1.14.13 - An Offshore Wind Power Line Moves Ahead - nytimes.com. "An audacious plan to lay a multibillion-dollar wind power transmission spine under the seabed from southern Virginia to the New York City area will take a step forward on Tuesday with an announcement of plans for the first leg, a 189-mile segment running from Jersey City to a spot south of Atlantic City."

1.11.13 - Wind turbine contract awarded - delmarvanow.com. Crisfield, MD - " Construction of a 750-kilowatt wind turbine next to Crisfield's sewage treatment could begin as soon as April after City Council members this week awarded a $3.2 million contract for the work." The City expects to save save $150,000 to $200,000 a year.

1.11.13- Maryland Agrees To Fund Offshore Wind Farm Survey - mdcoastaldispatch.com. "OCEAN CITY -- A future offshore wind energy farm off the coast of Ocean City inched a little closer to becoming a reality last week when the state Board of Public Works approved a $3.3 million contract for a private firm to conduct a geophysical survey of the proposed site about 10 miles off the coast."
4 days ago |

1.10.13 - Port of Milwaukee saves on utility bills from wind turbine - jsonline.com. In its first nine months of operation, the port says the project generated more power than was used by the port administration building and resulted in more than $5,000 in revenue for the port."

1.10.13 - Google invests $200 million in Texan wind power | SmartPlanet - 70 turbine farm is near Amarillo

1.8.13 - Aging lighthouse gains new life as beacon for offshore wind industry - science.nbcnews. Virginia - "The Department of Energy has $3.2 million in funding to turn the Chesapeake Light Tower, formerly run by the Coast Guard, into the Reference Facility for Offshore Renewable Energy. It will primarily validate models and instruments the industry uses to assess offshore wind resources."

1.8.13 - Bright future for wind industry fuels wind energy center at JMU - Madison Magazine Fall 2012 - Virginia - JMU participates in a state-wide initiative to promote wind energy. The school organized a tour of a wind farm in Greenbrier County for municipal officials in SW Virginia counties where there is interest in wind development. The School also runs the Wind for Schools program which has helped install turbines at four schools so far and loans wind measuring equipment to state residents.

1.3.13 - North American Windpower: Fishermen's Energy Expects To Begin Construction On Offshore Wind Project This Year - nawindpower.com. Six demonstration turbines are to be installed 3 miles of the Atlantic City coast. Commercial operation is expected by 2014.

1.1.13 -Wind energy tax credits survive as Congress passes fiscal cliff deal - gigaom.com. "Congress approved a fiscal cliff deal on Tuesday and in it included an extension of the wind energy tax credits for wind projects built in 2013. The wind energy industry is breathing a sigh of relief and says 37,000 jobs will be saved."

12.31.12 - North Myrtle Beach at headwind of offshore power efforts - myrtlebeachonline.com. "A group centered in North Myrtle Beach has been researching land-based wind energy since 2009, an effort that has led to an idea of creating a locally-based offshore wind farm cooperative. The plan calls for selling stock in the effort, which would create an investor-owned wind energy cooperative much like those created to provide electricity to rural America in the early 20th century."

12.27.12 - Apple's wind turbine technology uses heat, not rotational energy to generate electricity - appleinsider.com. The on-demand system stores energy as heat which can be used when needed to generate steam to spin a turbine connected to an electric generator. It's unknown if the company plans to develop the technology discovered in a patent filing.

12.24.12 - North American Windpower: Virginia Offshore Wind Project Will Use Alstom Turbines - nawindpower.com. Dominion will install two Haliade 150 turbines approximately 22 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The turbine is based on Alstom's Pure Torque technology and is combined with a permanent magnet direct drive generator and a 150-meter rotor to reduce the cost of offshore wind power by "increasing reliability and availability, improving drivetrain efficiency, boosting energy yield, and reducing operations and maintenance costs," according to Alstom

12.19.12 - Wind Developer Offers Scholarships to High School Seniors - treehugger.com. First Wind of Boston is offering 15 one time scholarships and one renewable scholarship to graduating seniors, Application details included, but applicants must live in a community near one of the company's wind projects.

12.18.12 - South Carolina - Wind turbines start spinning at S.C. Johnson - jsonline.com. "The two Mount Pleasant turbines will "add a bit more wind to Windex...S.C. Johnson is the state's third wind project to be built this year, all led by private companies rather than electric utilities. The others are the two-turbine Cashton Greens wind farm near La Crosse and the six turbines being erected in Verona by software developer Epic Systems Inc."

12.14.12 - Wind power embraces the circuit board design, via a startup - gigaom.com. Light--weight circuit board motor weighs 40% less than iron models.

12.12.12 - Solution to Renewable Energy's Intermittency Problem: More Renewable Energy: Scientific American - University of Delaware simulations indicate that overproducing to create excess capacity could be more economical than building storage technology. A mix of onshore, offshore and solar could provide reliable power save a handful of days over a 4 year period. Car batteries could be used when power is needed.

12.12.12 - NC closer to producing offshore wind energy :: WRAL.com - "The U.S. Department of the Interior has designated sites off Cape Fear and the northern Outer Banks for development of offshore wind energy, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Wednesday....North Carolina has the best offshore wind resources on the East Coast according to studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

12.7.12 - New Ducted Wind Generator Design Claims Higher Output, Lower Costs - treehugger.com. "In SheerWind's device wind is channeled to create higher velocities for energy production. " several demo units are being field tested near their facility in Chaska, Minnesota, and are currently collecting data on their operation and efficiency. The company also says that utility-scale demonstration units are planned for this year. "

12.5.12 - Bird Migration Corridors in Connection with Offshore Wind - usgs.gov. Public Lecture Series: Science in Action - Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 7:00 PM - Title: A Bird's Eye View: Offshore Wind Energy By: Alicia Berlin, Ph.D. and Allan O'Connell, Ph.D. - lectures can be followed live via our @USGSLive Twitter account.

12.5.12 - U.S. Offshore Wind Market Becoming 'Real' With European Interest - businessweek.com. The Dept. of Interior announced lease auctions for waters offshore of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia. "Developers including Spain's Iberdrola SA (IBE), Electricite de France SA and Ireland's Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd., have filed official "indications of interest" for the first competitive lease auction for U.S. offshore wind farms, scheduled for next year."

12.3.12 - New Radar System Can Tell Planes and Wind Turbines Apart - treehugger.com. "Traditional radar detects aircraft using a rotating antenna that horizontally sweeps a radar beam at regular seconds-long intervals to pick up any objects, but the new Holographic Radar system uses a stationary array that receives radar signals from all directions continuously."

12.3.12 - GE Experiments With Cloth-Covered Wind Turbine Blades - earthtechling.com. "GE is developing a fabric-covered blade design that could substantially lower the overall cost of building a wind turbine....According to GE, this new blade design could reduce blade costs 25%-40%, making wind energy as economical as fossil fuels without government subsidies. The $5.6M ARPA-E project will span three years. GE's blade architecture will be built to achieve a 20 year life with no regular maintenance to tension fabrics required."

---

Solar:

3.15.13 - World's Largest Solar Power Towers To Rise in California - cleantechnica.com. "a 500 MW utility scale behemoth called the Palen Solar Electric Generating System. ... will be located in a federally designated Solar Energy Zone in Riverside County, on public land administered by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management. It is expected to create 2,000 construction jobs (Keystone who?) when work starts at the end of this year, and it will generate enough clean energy to power 200,000 homes.

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%.

3.2.13 - Its moment in the sun - economist.com. Solar plane to fly across the country in May. The prototype Solar Impulse "has a wingspan ... as big as a jumbo jet's. Yet its fuselage is as slender as a glider's and its single-person cockpit is cramped. The wings are covered in almost 12,000 photovoltaic cells, which can simultaneously run its four electrically driven propellers while charging four packs of lithium-polymer batteries. ...needed because the aircraft has to be able to fly through the night.

3.1.13 - Dominion to Build Solar Power Project in Georgia | REVE - "Dominion's Azalea Solar Power Facility, near Augusta in east-central Georgia, is planned to produce approximately 7.7 megawatts (AC) using photovoltaic technology. ...The project is to begin commercial operation late this year."

2.26.13 - Exciting Ideas In Solar Energy From ARPA-E - Forbes.com. Among 3 promising technologies highlighted, is the Solar Vortex, which uses rising heated air to spin a turbine. Conditions similar to that of dust devil are simulated to create energy. Georgia Tech is developing the technology and will test it in Arizona. Researchers believe it will be cheaper than conventional wind and solar technologies.

2.25.13 - Xcel Energy Connects to Community Solar Garden - energymanagertoday.com. Coulder, CO - "A community solar garden permits residential and business customers to buy solar modules to handle their electric load without having to install the modules on their own property."

2.21.13 - Coloured Solar Glass: Turning Entire Buildings Into Photovoltaics - designbuildsource.comau. "Figures from architects show that 60 per cent of many modern commercial buildings' surface area is glass,"... "We have modelled the effect of the solar glass on a 700 foot skyscraper in Texas and it revealed that we could generate up to 5.3MWh a day. That's enough to power 52,000 iPads. If you combined the solar glass with the installation of LED lighting .... you could power all your lights, as well as DC powered device."

2.21.13 - UPS Invests in Two New Solar Projects at New Jersey Facilities! - ases.org. UPS will be using a direct ownership approach by developing, engineering, purchasing, and operating the solar panel arrays in-house. ,,,.New Jersey is a state with one of the nation's most progressive solar energy policies and is currently second in the U.S. for total installed capacity of solar energy technology"

2.20.13 - Honda partners with SolarCity, home solar for Honda owners - upi.com. Honda Motor Co. announced a partnership with SolarCity to make home solar installation more affordable for Honda and Acura owners, with additional plans for solar-powered EV charging. The program will be available in 14 states, unfortunately not Virginia.

2.19.13 - Nebraska Utility to Test Solar-Powered Center Pivot Irrigation System - triplepundit.com. "Providing electrical power to more than 30,000 center pivot irrigation systems across Nebraska (the largest producer and user of center pivots in the U.S.), the state's largest utility, the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), is launching a project to test the feasibility of using solar photovoltaic (PV) energy to power them, the Journal Star reported last week."

2.18.13 - Sigora Solar reaches the stars - renewablesbiz. Great success story about a solar company in Waynesboro, VA - With several big projects completed and in the works they are looking to expand their territory.

2.15.13 - Envision Plans to Install 2,300 Rotating Solar Tree Car Shelters in South Carolina - greennewsman.com. "California-based company Envision has created the Solar Tree, a rotating structure that shelters cars while generating energy with photovoltaic panels. The Solar Tree can provide shelter for six cars while charging six EV's each day. Later this year, Envision plans to build 2,300 Solar Trees in South Carolina that are projected to be able to generate 35 megawatts of electricity."

2.12.13 - 100% Solar Powered Warehouse - solarnovus.com. The Safety Zone's "128,000+ square-foot distribution facility in Guilford, Connecticut now operates a 300-kW solar energy system that will generate 100% of its electrical needs from the sun, greatly reducing its overall energy costs and dependence on the regional utility company."

2.11.13- Chapel Hill's Strata Solar to build 100-MW farm in Duplin County - bizjournals.com. "Chapel Hill's Strata Solar said on Monday that it is finalizing plans for a 100-megawatt, 250 million project in Duplin County that would be eight times larger than anything now operating in North Carolina."

2.11.13 - Concentrating Solar Power to be reborn in the Mojave - reve. Thorough history of concentrating solar and info on upcoming projects, including facilities in the Mojave Dessert, to meet CA's goal of 33% renewable, and an ambitious plan to use the technology to provide 15-20% of Europe's power in the Sahara.

2.5.13 - 2013 Photovoltaic Projects of Distinction Award Winners Announced at PV America East 2013 - pvamericaexpo.com. 3 projects are highlighted in Emmitsburg, Md, Lancaster, PA and Union County, NJ. The 16.1 MW project in Md was constructed without any upfront cost by the state and all the projects provide power at reduced rates to universities, schools and municipally run facilities. The deals are structured through third party power purchase agreements, which unfortunately are not allowed by Dominion in Virginia.

2.5.13 - Zoning board approves first solar farm | The Daily Dispatch - Henderson, NC - Carolina Solar plans first of potentially several solar projects in the County.

2.4.13 - University of Delaware doctoral candidates hopes to produce significant quantities of solar fuel - udel.edu. The "clean and benign energy harvesting cycle that creates no emission or by products — just hydrogen from sunlight and water."

2.1.13 - Charlotte solar startup plans large NC project, education center- bizjournals.com. "Georg Veit's solar company Geenex has signed a economic development agreement with Halifax County to develop a large solar project and an education facility at the old county airport." He hopes to sell the power produced by the 4 MW project to Dominion North Carolina Power.

1.31.13 - NASA to Launch World's Largest Solar Sail in 2014 - space.com. SunJammer will be launched in 2014 by NASA to power propellantless propulsion for space craft.

1.30.13 - IKEA Plugs-in South Florida's Largest Solar Energy System to Become State's Largest Non-Utility Solar Owner - greenbuildingelements.com. "This installation represents the 35th completed solar project for IKEA in the U.S., with four more locations underway, making the eventual U.S. solar presence of IKEA nearly 90% of its U.S. locations with a total generation of 38 MW."

1.25.13 - V3Solar's Spin Cell - cleantechnica.com. The newly invented V3Solar cell is in the process of commercialization. According the company: "Using specialized lensing and a rotating, conical shape, the Spin Cell can concentrate the sunlight 30X onto one sun mono PV with no heat degradation. This increases the Power Density while lowering the Total Cost of Ownership and Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), which is estimated to be $.08/kWh for the Spin Cell (see spreadsheet)."

1.23.13 -Volkswagen Chattanooga Powers Up Largest Solar Park In Tennessee - chattanoogan.com. "Volkswagen on Wednesday "powered up" the largest single solar installation at an automotive manufacturing facility in the United States and the biggest solar installation in the state of Tennessee." The facility is also the only LEED Platinum certified auto plant in the world.

1.17.13 - Rising Solar Energy Output Drives German & French Power Prices To Record Lows - cleantechnica.com. "federal government actions and energy policy reform in Germany have created an environment and conditions that have diversified, expanded, and made Germany's economy more dynamic, robust and resilient, driving employment to record-high levels and improving social and environmental conditions....Just yesterday, Bloomberg reported that contracts to deliver electricity for 2014 in Germany and France dropped to record-low levels. The reason? "Rising solar output is expected to cut demand for other electricity sources."

1.16.13 - Solar-Powered Water Treatment Plant Developed - cleantechnica.com. "In Phoenix, Arizona, SunPower Corporation developed a 7.5 megawatt (MW) solar power plant, constructed to help power a water treatment plant....SunPower's solar power plant is expected to save the water treatment facility $4 million over a 20 year period."

1.16.13 - Army's largest solar array dedicated in New Mexico - nbc29.com. At White Sands, Siemens Industry Inc. will be operating the new solar array and selling the electricity to the missile range.Officials said the Army will own the renewable energy credits associated with the solar plant and will use them toward meeting federal renewable energy mandates.Construction of the 4.1 megawatt array took about eight months. Work was completed in December, and officials expect the system to save White Sands more than $930,000 a year."

1.16.13 - RPS Webinar: Solar Valuation in Utility Planning Studies - Wed. Jan 16, 2-3 p.m. - cleanenergystates.org. The Collaborative provides a forum for the exchange of experiences and lessons learned regarding the implementation of state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) policies and the marketing of RECs or renewable energy credits across the U.S.

1.13.13. - Solar ship aims to soar - bbc.com. "Solar panels - spread across the topside of the aircraft - power an electric motor, which then turns a propeller and provides the thrust necessary for taking off, flying and landing. The aircraft is suspended by a giant helium-filled balloon, which generates lift statically (exactly like a blimp.) The buoyancy from the helium also helps counterbalance the weight of the solar panels and batteries."

1.11.13 - Los Angeles DWP unveils solar power buyback program - latimes.com. "Described as the largest urban rooftop solar program of its kind in the nation, the so-called feed-in-tariff program would pay customers 17 cents per kilowatt hour for energy produced on their own equipment. The DWP has already accepted more than a dozen applicants and will be taking dozens more as it accepts contracts for up to 100 megawatts of solar power through 2016.

1.9.13 - Bonnaroo Unveils First Permanent Festival Solar Array | Green Up Music. "In a groundbreaking effort to actively reduce its carbon footprint, Bonnaroo organizers and representatives from Knoxville-based Sustainable Future and Vermont-based Encore Redevelopment announced this week the completion of construction and installation of the country's first permanent solar array for a music festival. "

1.8.13 - Financing complete for largest solar powered US military community - pv-tech.org. "True Green Capital Management and financier CIT Group have announced the closing of a US$35 million contract for the construction of a 12.3MW installation at...the privatised military family housing community at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. "

1.4.13 - Solar energy generation in city parking lots begins - PPA in Lake Havasu, AZ - havasunews.com. "The project, including the solar energy panels and metal beams on the city property, is not owned by the city. It's owned by Lake Havasu City Solar, LLC, which was set up by and financially backed by LG International. The city will be buying energy from Lake Havasu City Solar, LLC at a fixed cost which is under the cost of what the city pays UniSource and the rate will increase no more than two percent each year for 20 years,..."The utility cost savings are an improvement, there are no upfront costs to the taxpayer and local jobs were created," Nexsen said."

12.31.12 - Solar Cooling: The Next Frontier for Distributed Generation? - renewableenergyworld.com. "This past August, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report which found that solar thermal technology could meet one-sixth of the world's heating and cooling demands, saving 800 megatons of carbon dioxide emissions a year by 2050. What's more, solar cooling could help avoid the need for new transmission capacity, saving energy consumers money and making our electric systems more sustainable....Flareum Technologies, for example, recently completed installation of a solar-powered air conditioning system to provide cooling power to the Bangalore offices of Siemens Technologies. This system produces 200 kWh of cooling power while reducing the carbon footprint of the office by 30,000 tons of emissions annually and saving Siemens more than $12,000 annually in cooling costs."

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."

12.26.12 - Solar Grid Parity Comes to Spain - Forbes - "Spain has gotten to the point that utility-scale programs can be envisioned without subsidies. Of course, this is also made possible by the glut of solar panels flooding world markets. At present, solar panel production capacity exceeds supply by a factor of two to one, and prices have fallen by two-thirds over the past two years. Once supply tightens up, the economics may change somewhat. At the same time, efficiencies and technologies will continue to improve and the dynamic for increased solar penetration will likely grow. "

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.

12.22.12 - Net-zeroschool pays off - bgdailynews.com. Bowling Green, KY - Solar panels provide more energy than the school uses. "the first "net-zero" school in the nation: Richardsville Elementary School.... is still the only major school building in the United States that is not only net-zero, but that also actually earns money from its electricity generation."

12.20.12 Plug and Save DIY Solar Power System Makes Residential Green Energy More Accessible Than Ever - inhabitat.com. Plug and play mobile system by Sun Invention can be sited anywhere and includes built in battery storage and inverter.

12.19.12 - SOM has broken ground on the first net-zero school east of the Mississippi on Staten Island.In Detail> P.S. 62 - The Architect's Newspaper - " ROOF-MOUNTED PV PANELS WILL PRODUCE ALL OF THE SCHOOL'S ENERGY OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. ...the project will make use of nearly every arrow in the quiver of sustainability, blending them thoughtfully to create a building that will not only be easy on the environment, but will also be educational."

12.17.12 - A Kickstarter For Solar, With A Twist: Invest In Crowdfunded Solar Projects And Make Some Cash - fastcoexist.com. Through the Mosaic platform "instead of just getting paid back for investing in a solar project, you can now make money. One recently completed project, a 47 kW system at a youth employment training agency in Oakland, is offering an expected 6.38% annual rate of interest over its 60-month term"

12.17.12 - National Coal Mining Museum Fits Solar Panels - Wales coal museum boasts 200 rooftop solar panels - renewableenergyworld.com. "Coal is such an important part of Wales' heritage and yet green energy will play a major part in its future. A solar powered coal-mining museum is a fantastic way to celebrate this national journey," said Peter Walker, Museum Manager of Big Pit. But it's far from just symbolic — the museum will benefit from huge reductions in energy bills and a solid return from the feed-in tariff."

12.16.12 - 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.

12.12.12 - US to Invest $29 Million in Solar Technologies - renewableenergyworld.com. $21 million for plug and play solar technologies and $8 million for better solar forecasting to assist grid operators.

12.7.12 - SolarCity Awarded Hire Power Award For US Job Creation - cleantechnica.com. "SolarCity's award win shines a light on the whole solar industry which has driven job creation eight times faster than the overall economy," said SolarCity's VP of Human Resources, Linda Keala. "SolarCity provides consumers with clean, renewable energy that can be more affordable than rising utility bills and this has created domestic solar development jobs that can't be easily outsourced.""

12.6.12 - Scientists develop solar PV fabric using energy generating thread > Data > Research - Click Green - "For the first time, a silicon-based optical fibre with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that has been shown to be scalable to many meters in length. The research opens the door to the possibility of weaving together solar-cell silicon wires to create flexible, curved, or twisted solar fabrics. The findings by an international team of chemists, physicists, and engineers, led by John Badding, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University, have been published today."

12.5.12 - Sunrun Bringing $0 Upfront Home Solar To Long Island - cleantechnica.com. "Sunrun's efforts to offer solar service to more homeowners was successful with the cooperation of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), which opened doors to such solar service so that more homeowners could access clean power while supporting local jobs."

12.4.12 - The Beauty of Floating Solar Panels - sustainablebusiness.com. "Kyocera's 70 MW solar plant, which is under construction, will jut out into Kagoshima Bay " Video link included to Italian floating plant.

12.4.12 - THE SPEEDWELL CONSERVATION CAROUSEL - nationalzoo.si.edu. National Zoo Solar Powered Carousel Opens in Washington.

12.1.12 - Solar Power Saves Delaware Town Taxpayer Dollars « earthtechling.com. - "Already in the first six months of operation, the solar array has saved the town about $6,100 in energy costs compared to the building's prior year of utility costs — a savings that is more than the array's projected annual savings."

 

---

Marine/Hydro:

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."

3.4.13 - Alstom marine energy turbine produces power - hydroworld.com. Orkney, Scotland - 1 MW "tidal turbine has successfully begun producing power at Scotland's European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) test site, the company has announced."

3.1.13- £25m boost for UK wave and tidal energy - greenwisebusiness.com. MeyGen and Marine Current Turbines (MCT), received £10 million each ... to advance the commercialisation of their devices in array formations off the coast of Scotland and Wales. Pelamis Wave Power won £1.4 million from the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) for a project testing the cost-effectiveness of large-scale wave energy converters in UK waters. ... Orkney's European Marine Energy Centre was awarded £4 million by the Scottish Government"

2.27.13 - Go ahead for Wales' first commercial tidal energy farm - walesonline.co.uk. "The go-ahead has been given for the first commercial tidal energy farm in Wales, which will generate energy for 10,000 homes. ...It will consist of five 2MW tidal stream turbines – which will be secured to the seabed to harness energy from tidal flows – in an area between the Skerries group of rocks and islands and Carmel Head around one kilometer off the coast of Anglesey."

2.12.13 - Ocean Renewable gets Fast Company nod - pressherald.com. PORTLAND, Maine — "Portland's Ocean Renewable Power Co. got a nod from Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative energy companies for its tidal energy project....Ocean Renewable developed the nation's first commercial, grid-tied tidal turbine in Cobscook Bay."

2.8.13 - Remote Alaska Town Looks To Wave Energy - earthtechling.com. Boston's Resolute Marine Energy received a federal permit to study a plan to place 7 of its SurgeWEC wave energy devices near a remote village in Alaska. Testing of the device was just completed in the Outer Banks of NC.

2.4.13 - Washington State Tidal Power Project Nears Green Light - earthtechling.com. Project planned off Whidbey Island - "The 2 350-ton turbines could be installed in 2014 if they receive final approval."and would power some 20 homes. Another company has a project planned near Vancouver Island.

2.4.13 - Tidal Energy - Scotland - earthtechling.com. Alstom has installed a 1 MW device off Orkney at the same location where a 500 kW prototype was tested. The new device will undergo testing in different environments.

1.31.13 - WAVEROLLER WELL POSITIONED TO PILOT CHILEAN WAVE ENERGY PRODUCTION - aw-energy.com. A Memorandum of Understanding of cooperation in the energy sector between Chile and Finland facilitates a plan to develop a wave power plant in Chile.

1.30.13 - The Biggest Source of Renewable Energy You Never Heard Of - triplepundit.com. "hydrokinetics, which is the production of energy from the flow of moving water. The term applies to both ocean tidal power systems as well as river flow systems, both without the benefit of dams.... this source of clean energy could very possibly produce as much as 23 GW by 2025 and 100 GW by the year 2050, and this just barely scratches the surface of its technically achievable potential."

1.24.13 - At-a-Glance - DOE: Wave and tidal energy "early but promising" - smartgridnews.com. Highlights Ocean Power Technology's plans to test a wave device off the Oregon Coast in the Spring and Verdant Powers in stream technology that has been tested in Manhattan's East River.

1.23.13 - First Utility-Scale Wave Energy Testing Center to be Built in Oregon - renewableenergyworld.com. "The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, or NNMREC, which is based at Oregon State University, has chosen Newport, Ore., as the future site of the first utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the United States – the Pacific Marine Energy Center."

1.22.13 - Verdant testing its tidal energy device in New York's East River - energy.gov. 4 ocean energy technologies with planned deployments are explored

1.13.13 - Tidal power has 'huge potential' - bbc.co.uk. "The SeaGen project in Northern Ireland is the largest grid connected tidal turbine in the world."

1.10.13 - Wave energy to start flowing off Hayle this year - thisiscornwall.co.uk. Cork-based Ocean Energy Ltd has been awarded the first license to test a full scale device at the Cornwall Wave Hub. The device is expected to be deployed later this year and will transmit energy to the grid.

1.7.13 - Salt Power: Norway Project Gives Osmotic Energy a Shake - nationalgeographic.com. Salinity gradient power is being tested in Norway. The energy created when salt and freshwater meet is being harnessed on a very modest scale, but the potential is tremendous as the technology can be utilized wherever freshwater meets the sea.

1.5.13 - Wave Hub Ready To Take On Its First Energy Device - earthtechling.com. "The first wave energy device for Wave Hub, the big grid-connected test site being developed off the north coast of Cornwall in South West England, has been cleared for takeoff. The U.K.'s Marine Management Organization said this week it approved OceanEnergy's application to deploy and test its OEB35 device for up to three years."

12.27.12 -100-Megawatt Power Plant via Variations in Ocean Temperature - greentechmedia.com. "Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion - "Makai Ocean Engineering is working with Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) on a kilowatt-sized demonstration project on Hawaii's Oahu Island and on the design of a 10-megawatt project. A 100-megawatt floating OTEC platform, Grandelli said, would resemble a moored, deep water oil platform and be "more narrow and deep, like a barge." Such a power plant would require a number of tugboat-sized engines, each pumping 750 metric tons of ocean water per second."

12.18.12 - West of Ireland wave energy project gets 19.8m in EU funding - siliconrepublic.com. "The European Commission has today awarded 19.8m in funding to the WestWave wave energy project off the west coast of Ireland. The project, which is being led by ESB, will involve the installation of six wave energy converters, with the aim of generating up to 5MW of clean electricity by 2015."

12.18.12 - Tidal energy projects share £30m in European funding - bbc.co.uk. Scotland planning 2 tidal turbine arrays. Taxes on polluting industries will fund the projects.

12.13.12 FM welcomes Scotrenewables investment - -scotland.gov.uk. Foreign investment worth £7.6 million in addition to a £1.24 million WATERS2 grant from the Scottish Government "will fund the design, construction, installation and testing of the next generation commercial-scale Scotrenewables tidal turbine, known as the SR2000."

11.26.12 - Spain Hopes For Economic Boost With Wave-Powered Electricity Plant - keranews.org. Fishing village in Spain uses oscillating water columns installed with within a breakwater to generate electricity. When the wave break, air is forced into a chamber and spins turbines.

---

Grid, Storage and Transmission:

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."

2.19.13 - LightSail Gets 5.5M from Total, Thiel, Khosla, Gates for Compressed Air Energy Storage - greentechmedia.com. "the LightSail system captures and stores both the mechanical energy and the thermal energy used in compressing air. ...Water can hold 3,300 times as much heat as the same volume of air, and as such, it is able to capture the heat generated by the process more effectively. Both potential energy in the form of pressurized air and the heated (and therefore higher-energy) water can be stored."

2.10.13 - Texas Wind Power Transmission Set To Skyrocket As Energy Exec Hints At End Of Nukes - cleantechnica.com. 3,500 miles of new line carrying up to 18,456 megawatts of wind energy from remote areas in West Texas to urban centers will be completed this year and more are expected to be ordered for out of state transmission. According to an Exelon official, "the influx of low cost wind power would lead the company to start shuttering its nuclear plants." Meantime, coal plants are converting to natural gas & biomass.

1.29.13 - Wind energy storage facility is the largest of its kind in the country - hydrogenfuelnews.com. "The storage technology that is being used in the new facility was developed by Xtreme Power, an energy technology company based in Texas. .... The system is comprised of several thousand of the company's PowerCell batteries, all of which are responsible for the storage and distribution of electrical power."

1.23.13 - Chattanooga utility couldn't be happier with its smart grid - smartgridnews.com. Funded with $111.6 million in federal stimulus funds, smart grid credited with saving $50-60 million per year in prevented power outages and lost productivity.

1.17.13 - Artificial Donut-Shaped Island Will Store Belgian Offshore Wind Power - spectrum.ieee.org. "This would play a big role in Belgium's transition away from nuclear power. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, the country was one of several countries—others included Switzerland, Mexico, and most notably, Germany—to disavow the use of nuclear energy. In 2011, nuclear accounted for more than half of Belgium's electricity generation." Excess energy provided by wind would be used to pump water out of a reservoir created in a sand island, when wind production is low or demand high, water would be allowed to flow into the reservoir to spin turbines an create energy.

1.7.13 - North American Windpower: German Project To Test New Methods Of Storing Excess Wind Power - "The new system, which is currently being built at the Coal Innovation Centre in Niederaussem, Germany, comes with a proton exchange membrane (PEM) and enables electric power to be converted into hydrogen. The electrolysis system is located in a standard container and, after commissioning, is due to be tested from January to October of this year."

12.27.12 - Energy Efficiency Saves New England $260 Million In Transmission Costs - cleantechnica.com. "State and private programs designed to reduce consumer energy demand have recently cut the need for $260 million in planned transmission system upgrades across the six states within the ISO-New England (ISO-NE) region. "

12.21.12 - Concentrated solar power with thermal energy storage can help utilities - reve. "The storage capacity of concentrating solar power (CSP) can add significant value to a utility company's optimal mix of energy sources, a new report by the U.S. NREL suggests."

12.19.12 - More than 700 Energy Storage Projects are Announced or Operating around the World, According to Pike Research Tracker - greenbuildingelements.com. "Traditional pumped storage still leads the market in terms of megawatts installed (with 10,359 MW from 2007 to 2012"

11.29.12 - Electric Vehicles Enlisted For Military Base Grid Security - earthtechling.com. Fort Carson to integrate electric vehicles into the microgrid. Used for power storage when parked, they can provide energy to the grid when needed.

 

---

Biomass & More

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.

2.20.13 - NASA's basement nuclear reactor - gizmag. NASA Langley scientist working on developing a new kind of atomic energy that would sequester carbon. The Low Energy Nuclear Reactor creates energy using a lattice sponge of nickel atoms instead of radioactive elements to hold and split atoms.

2.20.13 - Rising Trend: Poop Powers Ski Resorts and Water Treatment Center in Europe - renewableenergyworld.com. Waste water treatment plants use sludge to power plants.

2.18.13 - Team develops sustainable process for wastewater algae to biocrude - fis.com. University of Kansas research team demonstrates a new algae to biocrude conversion process using liquefaction which also creates a valuable byproduct: biochar.

2.8.13 - Epiphany onE Puck charges your phone with the power of a drink - gizmag.com. It "uses a Stirling engine powered solely by heat disparities to generate the electricity to keep your phone up and running....The device has two sides; a blue side for cold drinks and a red side for hot drinks. ... a hot drink is the optimal way to charge a device. It comes with a USB port that can charge any device that draws 1000 mA or less. This means it can charge iPhones, Androids, iPods and other USB-based devices.

2.6.13 - Fueling the Next Generation of Vehicle Technology - energy.gov. "tri-generation facility that uses biogas from Orange County Sanitation District's wastewater treatment plant to produce hydrogen, heat and power....The electricity and heat produced are used to power and warm the facility...The tri-gen facility also produces up to 100 kg of hydrogen per day for a nearby hydrogen fueling station -- enough to fuel 25-50 vehicles"

2.4.13 - Bio- Energy - Beer Will Help Power Alaska Brewery - abcnews.go.com. "The Juneau-based beer maker has installed a unique boiler system in order to cut its fuel costs. It purchased a 1.8 million furnace that burns the company's spent grain — the waste accumulated from the brewing process — into steam which powers the majority of the brewery's operations."

1.23.13 - Super Bowl organizers purchase carbon offsets - cleantechnica.com. One offset project, Green Meadows, produces energy from cow waste.

1.12.13 - More Exercise Cycles, Treadmills Feed The Grid - earthtechling.com. "SportsArt Fitness, a company that makes exercise machines specifically designed to pipe human-generated power to the grid, says the appropriately named "Green Room" at Tennessee Tech University is the latest gym to go this route with its gear."

1.11.13 - Florida Innovates with Its Eucalyptus and Citrus for Biomass Production - renewableenergyworld.com. EcoGen plans to produce energy at 3 plants from Eucalyptus trees and a company out of Delray Beach is piloting a citrus waste to ethanol plant.

1.10.13 - U.S. Researchers Working to Commercialise Micro-Algae Biofuel - shipandbunker.com. "The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Marine Science says it is taking part in an international study on the possibility of turning micro-algae into fuel....A report by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) in June found that algae-based biofuels could reduce emissions by 25 percent, but the RAND Corporation has said biofuels are likely to be unable to compete with petroleum products because of their high cost."

1.8.13 - In The Future, Your Clothes Will Be A Power Plant - fastcoexist.com. Your body is always generating heat, even when you are asleep. And heat, regardless of the source, excites electrons. The flow of electrons, in turn, generates electricity. The tricky part is harnessing enough electricity to power a small device. Wiant says TEGwear will do just that, as long as the chip is either touching your skin or separated from it by only a thin layer of clothing.

1.6.13 - Pavegen kinetic energy tiles seek crowd-funding for school installations - gizmag.com. "In a nutshell Pavegen is a system which converts the kinetic energy of people's footsteps into electricity. It manages this by utilizing tiles built into the floor which, when stepped on, harvest the energy created before storing it in lithium polymer batteries. This can then be used to power localized applications such as street lighting, shop signs, or alarms."

12.25.12 - Shrub Willow Biofuel Heats Up New York Fracking Wars - cleantechnica.com. "Despite the risks, many property owners find it difficult to resist the financial benefits of leasing or selling land over to fracking operations, especially in economically distressed areas (as dramatized in the forthcoming Matt Damon/Gus Van Sant movie Promised Land). The introduction of new income sources like shrub willow could help provide land owners with a more sustainable alternative."

12.21.12 - USVI utilizing grass to create renewable energy - fierceenergy.com. Virgin Islands plans to harvest fast growing non GE and noninvasive Giant King Grass for a 6 MW anaerobic power plant.

12.18.12 - Lucid Energy strikes deal with Portland to install in-pipe power system | Sustainable Business Oregon - "the LucidPipe Power System will be installed in a section of large-diameter, gravity-fed water pipeline that's being installed as part of a system upgrade at Southeast Powell Boulevard and 147th Street in Portland. The system is expected to generate an average of 1,000 megawatt hours of energy per year from the water flowing through the pipe, enough electricity to power some 150 homes."

12.17.12 - Tornado Power: Green Energy of the Future? - smithsonian.com. "Atmospheric Vortex Engine, introduces warm, humid air into a circular station where it assumes the form of a rising vortex. In other words, he creates a controlled tornado. The difference between the heated air and the atmosphere above it supports the vortex and drives turbines. Simply shutting out the source of warm air turns off the tornado."

12.14.12 - Company eyes hemp as feedstock for biofuel, power generation - biomassmagazine.com. "Although federal rules currently prohibit the growth of hemp in the U.S., Patriot Bioenergy Corp. sees value in industrial hemp for biomass blending with bituminous coal for power generation as well as a possible cellulosic feedstock for biofuels."

12.11.12- Waste Wattage: Cities Aim to Flush Heat Energy Out of Sewers - nationalgeographic.com. Vancouver touts first big waste heat water recovery system in N. America. "In a sewage heat recovery system, a heat pump is used to capture the warmth of wastewater and transfer it to the clean water stream that is entering homes and businesses. It all operates as a closed-loop system, meaning that the dirty water never touches the clean water. But the warmth of the sewage water helps heat the water that is then used in showers, washing machines, dishwashers, or even in radiators to help heat buildings."

12.9.12 - New Urban Algae System Generates Energy While Cleaning Wastewater in Paris - inhabitat.com. Flat paneled algae harvesters have been placed on a buildings exterior in a pilot project to grow algae from building wastewater and then harvest the algae to power the building.

12.7.12 - Powering Up with Centralized Biodigesters for Dairy Farms - renewableenergyworld.com. The California Energy Commission is looking turn cow manure into energy. "It is technically feasible to produce about 150 megawatts of generation (enough to power about 70,000 homes) from manure through the use of biodigesters, according to a study from the California Biomass Collaborative. The California Air Resources Board further estimates that the potential for methane capture from dairies amounts to about 3.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide."

12.5.12 - German Pellets sets up new plant in Texas - renewwablesinternational.net. "The plant in Woodville will have a capacity of 578,000 metric tons of pellets each year, making it one of the largest in the world. The German firm says that the forests in the southeastern United States produce timber three times faster than German forests, which is quite an achievement considering that Germany already produces the most timber of any country in the EU."

11.30.12 - Powered By Garden Waste: Groundbreaking Renewable Energy Technology - designbuildsource.com.au. Western Australia - 35,000 tonnes a year of organic waste (garden, food, dairy, poultry etc.) will be converted to biofuel.

 

 

 

Check the Archive for Previous Posts

All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer.

Top of Page