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The Philippines: $300 Million Solar Wafer Plant to Be Inaugurated

The Philippines will become the regional manufacturing hub for photovoltaic cells in Asia when a $300-million solar wafer manufacturing plant is inaugurated Thursday. The plant is located in the Laguna Technopark in Bian, Laguna. The $300-million facility, the first of its kind in Asia, brings the Philippines at par with other countries because this plant will produce the worlds highest-performance silicon solar cells, Energy Secretary Vincent Perez Jr. said, noting that it is expected to supply 6 percent of the worlds total available market for photovoltaic industry. 8 million wafers will produced annually (25 megawatts of solar-powered electricity at 3.1 watts per wafer). Production is expected to increase to 48 million wafers by 2007 (150 megawatts) of solar electricity. The plant will produce high-efficiency solar cells, the raw materials for solar panels and modules. Perez said, The high cost of imported materials is one of the major barriers in the development of solar-based technologies. We are optimistic that the operations of this wafer manufacturing plant will help bring down the costs of solar energy in the country that will eventually redound to a more affordable solar energy. The facility is a project of the US Department of Energy's Energy Policy […]

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Arctic Purity Despoiled, Europe Urged to Take Action

Melting permafrost, high levels of toxic chemicals, fragmentation of wildife habitat – the Arctic environment is under stress, and unless decisionmakers in industralized European countries address these issues, the region is due for some drastic changes, a new study reveals. In a joint report, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said Monday that the northern polar region faces a range of threats from unsustainable development, pollution and climate change. The European Union bears much of the responsibility for these threats and must take action quickly, the report warns. "Today it is industrialized countries, including the EU nations, that are the main users and the main sources of pollution affecting the region," said EEA chief Jacqueline McGlade. "The EU in particular has the potential to take a leading role in catalyzing the response on Arctic nations." The report was compiled by experts at the UNEP GRID Arendal center in Norway. It shows that once abundant fish species are being overharvested, and unique plant and animal species are under threat or disappearing due to climate change. Pollutants, some known to be cancerous, are present in key Arctic species, "causing great concern for human health," the report says. The […]

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Millenium Cell CEO Resigns

Millennium Cell Inc. (NASDAQ: MCEL), a technology development company with a proprietary process to store, generate and deliver pure hydrogen, announced today that CEO Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D. will resign effective March 19. Dr. Tang resigned to pursue other interests. David Ramm will serve as CEO and President until a permanent successor is selected. Ramm is a principal of DKR Development, a renewable energy consulting and project development firm, and is a director of Millennium Cell. He was managing director of Enron Renewable Energy, and then President of Enron Wind Corp. Previous to that he was CEO of International Fuel Cells Corporation, a unit of United Technologies Corporation. Dr. Tang said, "It has been an honor and privilege to have built and grown Millennium Cell for the past four years and see it through its initial public offering, two follow on financings and its early technology and commercialization challenges. I am particularly proud of the Hydrogen on Demand(TM) process that has been developed by Millennium Cell and being applied to standby power, military portable, consumer electronic and transportation applications." Founded in 1998, Millennium Cell is based in Eatontown, N.J. and has developed a multi-faceted patent portfolio, which Millennium Cell is […]

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Calpers Approves Major Clean Technology Investment Program

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) announced today they are launching a major new investment program focused on environmental technology. CalPERS will invest up to $200 million in this sector over the next few years. The CalPERS Environmental Technology Program will make equity investments in companies that provide solutions that are more efficient and less polluting than existing technologies such as recycling; minimizing the use of natural resources; and reducing emissions, refuse, and contamination to air, water, and land. Said Sean Harrigan, CalPERS Board President. "Environmental technology promises attractive long-term investment returns while doing something positive on a global scale." CalPERS Board signed off on the program after its investment staff had extensive contacts with up to 200 industry experts of public and private entities, private equity firms, government agencies, think tanks and universities. The new venture will be implemented under guidelines and policies of the Alternative Management Investment (AIM) Program, which has committed more than $19 billion to private equity investments. The AIM Program will implement the Environmental Technology Program cautiously, given current limited investment opportunities for the still-evolving market, the lack of cost competition, inexperience in some sectors, the need for consumer education and permits, and legal […]

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