| Google continues to invest in companies and research with the goal of producing renewable energy cheaper than coal, according to its "green energy czar." Google has touted its environmental consciousness, with CEO Eric Schmidt even pushing a national energy plan designed to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2030. Google is aiming to produce renewable energy cheaper than coal, both through its own research and by investing in outside companies, with the goal of having such a system operational within a few years. "In, you know, three years, we could have multiple megawatts of plants out there," Bill Weihl, green energy czar for Google, said in an interview with Reuters. "We’ll see whether we or us in combination with other people are prepared to fund much, much bigger facilities, or if we want to get a few more years’ experience before we really start to scale it up." Google has invested in advanced geothermal, wind and solar thermal; the latter involves concentrating solar energy via mirrors in order to power steam-turbines. Read the Full Article Here:http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Green-IT/Google-Aims-to-Produce-Cheap-Renewable-Energy-200218/ |
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Report: ‘Green’ job growth surges in U.S., Minnesota
Building and installing wind generators and solar panels, replacing inefficient windows and lighting and insulating homes are among the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune
Building and installing wind generators and solar panels, replacing inefficient windows and lighting and insulating homes are among the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
The nonprofit group on Wednesday released the results from a national study that shows U.S. “clean-energy jobs’’ grew 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, much faster than the overall national job growth of 3.7 percent.
The study found that in 2007 there were 770,000 jobs at more than 68,200 businesses across the U.S. under the definition of clean energy. That compares to about 1.27 million people working in fossil fuel-related businesses such as coal mining and oil refining.
In Minnesota, the study found that clean-energy jobs grew 11.9 percent between 1998 and 2007, six times faster than the state’s overall job growth of 1.9 percent.
The report said green-energy job growth certainly slowed with the overall economy in 2008, for which employment statistics aren’t yet available, but probably kept its lead over other sectors.
Read The Full Article Here:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/122558/
Monday, June 1, 2009
A solar plant that's worth its salt
By Peter Pae
May 29, 2009
Just past Barstow on Interstate 15, Las Vegas-bound travelers can eye a tower resembling a lighthouse rising out of the desert encircled by more than 1,800 mirrors the size of billboards.
The complex is often mistaken for a science fiction movie set, but it is actually a power plant that once used molten salt, water and the sun's heat to produce electricity.
Now a storied rocket maker in Canoga Park and a renewable energy company in Santa Monica are hoping to take what they learned at the long-closed desert facility to build a much larger plant that could power 100,000 homes -- all from a mix of sun, salt and rocket science once believed too futuristic to succeed.
The Santa Monica-based energy firm SolarReserve has licensed the technology, developed by engineers at Rocketdyne.
"Molten salt is the secret sauce," said SolarReserve President Terry Murphy.
The Santa Monica-based energy firm SolarReserve has licensed the technology, developed by engineers at Rocketdyne.
"Molten salt is the secret sauce," said SolarReserve President Terry Murphy.
It is one of at least 80 large solar projects on the drawing board in California, but the molten salt technology is considered one of the more unusual and -- to some energy analysts -- one of the more promising in the latest rush to build clean electricity generation.
Read the full article here:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rocketdyne-solar29-2009may29,0,2533099.story
Read the full article here:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rocketdyne-solar29-2009may29,0,2533099.story
Solar energy comes to tribal clinic
A new solar energy system is providing about half of the electricity needed to power the Pyramid Lake Tribal Health Clinic in Nixon.
The 30-kilowatt photovoltaic array was made possible by a combination of donated labor and materials, and a program created by the Nevada State Legislature to encourage Nevadans to use renewable energy.
A dedication ceremony took place Friday.
Labor and materials were donated by the nonprofit Black Rock Solar, and costs for the solar panels were offset by a $138,000 rebate from the SolarGenerations program, which is managed statewide by NV Energy.
The panels were installed on the ground in a fenced area next to the clinic and are expected to generate approximately 60,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, or roughly half the clinic’s annual electricity consumption. This will reduce the clinic’s annual electric bill by approximately $7,200 or $180,000 over the expected 25-year life of the panels, said John Hargrove, project manager for SolarGenerations.
Since the start of the program six years ago, over 2 megawatts of solar energy have been installed statewide, and over $8 million in financial incentives has been paid out.
The 30-kilowatt photovoltaic array was made possible by a combination of donated labor and materials, and a program created by the Nevada State Legislature to encourage Nevadans to use renewable energy.
A dedication ceremony took place Friday.
Labor and materials were donated by the nonprofit Black Rock Solar, and costs for the solar panels were offset by a $138,000 rebate from the SolarGenerations program, which is managed statewide by NV Energy.
The panels were installed on the ground in a fenced area next to the clinic and are expected to generate approximately 60,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, or roughly half the clinic’s annual electricity consumption. This will reduce the clinic’s annual electric bill by approximately $7,200 or $180,000 over the expected 25-year life of the panels, said John Hargrove, project manager for SolarGenerations.
Since the start of the program six years ago, over 2 megawatts of solar energy have been installed statewide, and over $8 million in financial incentives has been paid out.
Read The Full Article Here:
http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20090530/NEWS/905309974/1055&ParentProfile=1045
Bellingham company making strides with solar energy
- THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Innovation is a quick way of getting an economy back on its feet, and a Bellingham company seems to be doing its part in Arizona.
A couple of weeks ago Alpha Technologies president Drew Zogby gave a presentation at a Technology Alliance Group of Northwest Washington monthly meeting. He focused his talk on Alpha Energy, which has been busy installing solar power projects in Arizona. Several of the company's projects include parking structures, as the company has been able to show how those structures can become a profit center for cities and businesses that build them.
Zogby showed pictures of some the parking structures, and it immediately became clear how his company's equipment would be helpful for the owner over the long term. In one project, the equipment was installed on the top of the structure, which is a good use of space because no one would even consider parking a car on the roof most of the year, baking in the Arizona sun.
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/602/story/928834.html
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