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SunEdison Wins Contract for Largest PV Plant

Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) announced its selection of an affiliate of SunEdison, LLC, North America’s leading solar energy service provider, to build, own and operate an 8-megawatt central solar power plant in south central Colorado. The power plant will house two solar technologies, concentrating photovoltaic and advanced flat-plate solar panel units. Both the flat-plate solar panel segment of the plant and the concentrating solar segment will be the largest of their type in the United States. Approximately 1.2 megawatts will come from concentrating photovoltaic units. The remaining approximately 6.8 megawatts of generation will be advanced flat-plate solar panel units. The plant is expected to be on line by the end of 2007. Public Service Company of Colorado will purchase the power and the Renewable Energy Credits associated with the plant. Website: http://www.sunedison.com     

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Quantum to Form Electric Vehicle Venture

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: QTWW), announced it plans to manufacture electric cars in a joint venture with Miljo Innovasjon AS, based in Norway. QTWW currently makes hydrogen fuel tanks and electronic control systems for alternative fuel vehicles. Miljo Innovasjon currently produces electric cars for sale in Norway. The joint venture would construct an electric vehicle manufacturing plant and a factory to build battery packs. The cars would be sold in Norway, Europe and China.

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Price Signal for Carbon Control Essential

A report issued yesterday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concludes that relying exclusively on research and development (R&D) funding is not the most effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. CBO found that combining R&D subsidies with a gradually increasing price on emissions is a more cost-effective approach. Sen. Jeffords, ranking member of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee: “This report confirms that technology approaches and research and development solutions cannot solve the climate change problem by themselves. Perhaps more importantly, to those that advocate such approaches alone, this report by the Congressional Budget Office confirms that using a cap or a tax is far more cost effective approach than an R&D approach alone. If the Bush Administration is serious about combating climate change at the lowest possible cost, it should heed the advice of the Congressional Budget Office, abandon its technology-only approach and seek legislation imposing some type of mandatory price signal for carbon, along with R&D incentives. That would put initiatives like the Asia Pacific Partnership and the Climate Change Technology program in proper perspective–helpful but nowhere near enough.” Sen. Bingaman, ranking member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee: “Our current policy of exclusive […]

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Plug-Ins Require Better Batteries, Cleaner Power Plants

Plug-in hybrid vehicles could contribute greatly to reducing automobile oil consumption and emissions, but reaching those goals requires major progress in key areas. According to a report released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the environmental and economic appeal of plug-in hybrid vehicles will depend heavily upon cleaner power sources and further battery advances. The report, Plug-In Hybrids: An Environmental and Economic Outlook, examines the benefits of plug-ins relative to today’s hybrids. It finds that greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with a plug-in powered by today’s electric grid would be about 15% on average across the nation, ranging from 32% using California electricity to zero using Upper Midwest electricity. Plug-ins’ oil savings could be quite large. Battery size and cost rise steeply with the amount of fuel savings, however, suggesting that plug-ins with modest electric-only range will appear first. According to report co-author James Kliesch, the “electric-then-gasoline” depiction of plug-in operation is not realistic and has contributed to overstatements of the fuel savings potential of plug-ins in the popular media. “Achieving adequate battery lifetimes and minimizing battery costs will require a vehicle control logic that turns on the internal combustion engine when extra power is needed, even […]

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ACCIONA to Build World's Largest Photovoltaic Plant in Portugal

Spain’s Acciona will build and operate the largest photovoltaic solar plant in the world, a 62 MW plant in southern Portugal. The plant will have six times the capacity as the next largest plant. With a Euro 200 million investment, construction of the plant will occur in two stages. The first 40-45 MW will be built by 2008 and the remaining by 2010. The plant will produce 91 million kWh per year, making Acciona the world’s leading owner of photovoltaic assets. Acciona will construct a photovoltaic panel manufacturing plant there with 24MW of production capacity. The company will contribute Euro 3,500,000 to a municipal fund to develop the infrastructure required.

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Ethanol Rush Running Out of Gas

URL: http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/21/markets/ipo/ethanol/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote Website: http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/21/markets/ipo/ethanol/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote     

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