90% of Americans Concerned About Environment

Soaring energy prices, an increase in global warming, news about the rise in CO2 levels and pollution, and rapid deforestation may explain why 90% of Americans are somewhat and very concerned about the future of the environment. This is the finding from the latest GMIPoll global online survey of 9,000 people in nine countries (by Global Market Insite, Inc.). Americans worry a “great deal” or “fair amount” about a number of environmental issues, including global warming, the loss of natural habitat for wildlife and the loss of tropical rain forests; however, the GMIPoll finds that the most significant concerns are the following: — Pollution of lakes, rivers and reservoirs (85%) — Air pollution (82%) — Using up the country’s natural resources (79%) — Contamination of soil and water by toxic waste (78%) As most of the U.S.’ drinking water comes from lakes and reservoirs, it is not a surprise Americans are worried about pollution in this area. Nearly 56% of respondents are somewhat or very concerned about the possibility of running out of clean, drinkable water in their lifetime. When asked the best ways to decrease dependency on foreign oil, 88% of respondents indicated that buying vehicles that use alternative […]

Read More

Ormat Signs $11.5M Geothermal Power Contract

Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) subsidiary, Ormat Nevada Inc., has signed an $11.5 million contract to supply a 10 MW Ormat Energy Converter (OEC) power unit. Since beginning operations in Nevada with the supply of a 760 kW geothermal plant in Lyon County, Ormat has supplied or installed approximately 800 MW of geothermal and recovered energy power plants in 23 countries, and has grown to own six U.S. geothermal facilities with a total of approximately 300 MW of generating capacity. The existing plant, to which an additional OEC will be added, uses single-flash technology to produce approximately 23 MW net of power to the grid. That plant utilizes only steam, which is separated from the brine and delivered to the plant, while the brine is reinjected into the ground. Ormat’s technology enables recovery of heat from the brine before reinjection and utilizes it to generate 10 MW of additional power in the Ormat Energy Converter (OEC) without additional resource or wells. The OEC power unit will be delivered in the second quarter of 2007 for installation adjacent to the existing plant. Website: http://www.ormat.com     

Read More

Northern Power Wins $3.5M in Contracts

Northern Power, a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: DESC), has been awarded $3.5 million in contracts to help Honeywell install, commission, operate and maintain turnkey combined heat and power (CHP) systems for the United States Postal Service (USPS). The contracts include $2.5 million for a new 1-megawatt (MW) CHP facility at the USPS San Bernardino Processing and Distribution Center in Redlands, CA. This system is expected to produce enough power during normal operation to provide 80% of the facility’s forecasted electrical power demand. Under an additional $1 million agreement, Northern Power’s PowerAdvantage(TM) service program will provide operations and maintenance support to the 1.5-MW CHP system at the USPS Margaret L. Sellers Processing and Distribution Center in San Diego, which Northern Power installed and commissioned in 2005. The CHP system at the San Bernardino facility is part of an ongoing effort by the USPS and Honeywell to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs at more than 250 USPS facilities in Southern California. The projects led by Honeywell are designed to save the USPS $4.1 million in annual cost savings and reduce annual consumption by almost 30 million kilowatt hours (kWh) – enough energy to power almost 4,000 homes […]

Read More

Sunny Days Ahead for SunPower

URL: http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/07/sunpower-0407markets17.html?partner=yahootix Website: http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/07/sunpower-0407markets17.html?partner=yahootix     

Read More