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Recycled Water Seen as Opportunity

In California, the San Diego City Council recently approved a study to evaluate recycled water opportunities, launching a Master Plan Update. The objectives, developed with local environmental groups, include evaluation of all aspects of water reuse as well as information concerning potential impacts of the wastewater stream on water quality and public health. San Diego’s municipal golf course, Torrey Pines, takes about 400,000 gallons of reclaimed water daily for landscaping purposes. The San Diego campus of the University of California uses around 300,000 gallons of reclaimed wastewater a day to satisfy 40% of its irrigation needs. Meanwhile, the city of Corona, CA. began pipeline construction on its recycled water system expected to be completed in mid-2005. The system will include reservoirs, two pump stations, and about 30 miles of underground pipeline to carry recycled water from the wastewater treatment plant to irrigation connections. Recycled water will be used to irrigate landscaping at schools, parks, churches, freeway medians and homeowners’ associations-governed landscaped areas reports Water Reuse News.In Atlanta, Georgia, 24 wastewater treatment facilities generate reclaimed water to irrigate golf courses. The latest system to come online is in Denver, Colorado, where 30 million gallons of water a day will be pumped […]

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Utility Green Pricing – Palo Alto Achieves 10% Enrollment Goal

Less than 18 months after unveiling its 'PaloAltoGreen' renewable energy program, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) announced that it has reached its goal of enrolling 10% of its customers in the program, making it the second utility green pricing program to achieve a double-digit customer participation rate. Currently, about 2,780 residential and business customers participate in the program through which customers can purchase green energy from wind and solar energy resources at an extra cost of 1.5/kWh above standard rates. CPAU also recently announced that Roche, a Swiss-based healthcare group that employs about 1,000 people within the city, has committed to purchase 1.8 million kWh of renewable energy annually through the 'PaloAltoGreen' program, or enough to meet 5% of the power required for its Palo Alto facilities.

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Evergreen Solar Unveils Thin Wafer Breakthrough for Its String Ribbon Technology

Thin Ribbon Technology Will Cut Silicon Requirements to 33% of Industry Norm Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR), a solar panel manufacturer, announced it has achieved a major advance in its String Ribbon(TM) manufacturing process, giving it the potential to produce silicon wafers thinner than 150 microns. "Evergreen Solar's mission since its inception has been to produce high-quality solar products at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods," said Richard M. Feldt, President and CEO. "With the latest enhancement to our Gemini II double ribbon growth process, we have demonstrated in pilot operations that we can manufacture wafers using one third of the silicon required by conventional methods – significantly reducing the overall cost of producing solar panels. The ability to produce the thinnest wafers in the solar industry affords our Company with a decided competitive advantage that no other company has demonstrated. This breakthrough demonstrates the robustness of our String Ribbon manufacturing process." "By changing the growing conditions in our Gemini II furnaces, we can produce wafers that are half the thickness of our current standard," said Dr. Brown F. Williams, Vice President, Research and Development. "This achievement directly cuts the use of silicon in half for us and […]

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