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PG&E Signs Contracts for 800 Megawatts of Solar Photovoltaic Power NREL Solar Cell Sets World-Record Conversion Efficiency of 40.8% Massachusetts Acts Address Biofuels, Green Jobs, and Greenhouse Gases LEDs Help to Bring Color and Light to the Beijing Olympics Volkswagen Launches Clean Diesel Jetta Sedans and Wagons U.S. Residents Driving Less and Consuming Less Oil PG&E Signs Contracts for 800 Megawatts of Solar Photovoltaic Power California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has signed contracts for two of the most ambitious solar photovoltaic projects in the world: a 550-megawatt (MW) solar farm and a 250-MW "solar ranch," both of which will be located in San Luis Obispo County and will create solar jobs. The Bay Area utility announced the agreements with OptiSolar Inc. and SunPower Corporation last week and expects both of the record-breaking solar power plants to be fully operational by 2013. OptiSolar’s 550-MW Topaz Solar Farm will begin producing power from its thin-film solar panels in 2011, while SunPower’s 250-MW solar ranch will employ the company’s crystalline solar cells to begin producing power in 2010. Both of the facilities will break all current records for solar photovoltaic systems when they are completed, and the agreement led SunPower to […]
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Hawaii’s Conversion of Coal Plant to Biomass Marks a New Trend Cellulosic Ethanol Facilities Marching Ahead GM to Spend $500 Million to Launch the Chevy Cruze, a New Small Car Ford Invests $75 Million to Convert Truck Plant for Small Cars San Francisco Approves a Tough Green Building Standard High Fuel Costs Ground U.S. Travelers on Labor Day Weekend Hawaii‘s Conversion of Coal Plant to Biomass Marks a New Trend A coal-fired power plant in Pepeekeo, Hawaii, that formerly provided electricity to a sugar mill is now being converted into a 24-megawatt (MW) biomass power plant. MMA Renewable Ventures is financing the conversion and will operate the new plant, which will be called the H? Honua Bioenergy Facility. Located about 8 miles north of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, the facility will draw on residual wood from the local timber industry and other biomass wastes to produce enough power for about 18,000 homes, meeting up to 10% of the Big Island’s electricity needs. See the MMA Renewable Ventures press release (PDF 83 KB) and the H? Honua Bioenergy LLC Web site. The conversion from coal to biomass power is a growing trend in the U.S. Back in 2006, […]
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SustainableBusiness.com announced its 2008 Sustainable Business 20 (SB20) List: The World’s Top Sustainable Stocks. The purpose of the SB20, now in its seventh year, is to showcase innovative, model companies that are leading us toward our ultimate goal of reaching a sustainable society. The list is presented in the Progressive Investor newsletter, published by SustainableBusiness.com, which tracks and analyzes sustainable stocks. To choose the 20 companies, SustainableBusiness.com works with a group of judges, who are among the most respected social/green stock analysts in the world. Read about the judges and the selection process. "Our goal is to create a list that showcases public companies that, over the past year, have made substantial progress in either greening their internal operations or growing a business based on an important green technology," says Rona Fried, Ph.D., SustainableBusiness.com CEO and Editor of Progressive Investor. What differentiates the SB20 List from the many others? You’ll find small companies as well as the usual large ones – and from most regions of the world, not just the USA. The selections are made from the deep knowledge and experience of our judges, not numerical formulas. SB20 Criteria Sustainability Criteria: The most exciting companies in terms of how […]
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By Cameron Burns Amory Lovins, Chief Scientist at Rocky Mountain Institute, traveled to Borneo on his vacation to visit a world-class organization working to protect orangutans. What he found was an inspiring story about rainforest rehabilitation and sustainable economic development. Amory Lovins has long been a fan of "higher primates"-species that use their intellect for the benefit of their communities and the environment, even if inadvertently. One of his favorite such creatures is the orangutan (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus;). So, when they had some vacation time in May, Amory and his wife Judy decided to travel to Borneo "to hang out with our orange swinger buddies." The couple visited a number of outposts of the Balikpapan Orangutan Society/Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS), one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to protecting and advocating for the orange and their habitat. Characteristically, while Lovins was on a personal trip, he ended up learning as much as he could about rainforest rehabilitation and the remarkable attributes of the modest sugar palm-both of which tie into Rocky Mountain Institute’s approach and belief that ecosystems are vital, resilient, and reparable. At one of the BOS sites, Lovins explains, "They showed us … a 19- […]
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DOE Pursues Zero-Net Energy Commercial Buildings DOE Initiative Promotes Energy Efficiency in Hospitals Housing Act Aims to Encourage Energy Efficient Mortgages Companies and Utilities to Launch Algae Farm in Hawaii Large-Scale U.S. Solar Power Facilities Becoming Commonplace Texas to Spend $4.93B on Transmission Lines for Wind Power PA Creates a $500M Alternative Energy Fund CA Establishes Statewide Green Building Standards Toyota to Build the Prius Hybrid in Mississippi DOE Pursues Zero-Net Energy Commercial Buildings DOE launched the Zero-Net Energy Commercial Building Initiative (CBI) on Tuesday, with the goals of developing new commercial buildings that produce as much energy as they use and making these buildings marketable by 2025. Such zero-net energy commercial buildings will minimize their energy use through cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies and will meet their remaining energy needs through on-site renewable energy generation. To help with the CBI, DOE has also formed the National Laboratory Collaborative on Building Technologies (NLCBT), which will allow DOE and five of its national laboratories to work closely on the research, validation, and commercialization priorities that are critical to the success of zero-net energy buildings. Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and […]
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DOE to Invest in Grid Integration Systems for Solar Energy New York Expands Renewable Net Metering and Green Roof Incentives U.S. Leads the World in Wind Power Production, says AWEA Geothermal Lease Sale in Nevada Yields Record Bids EPA Declines Texas Request to Reduce Renewable Fuel Requirements Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicles Take to the Road in National Tour DOE to Invest in Grid Integration Systems for Solar Energy DOE announced on Tuesday that it plans to invest up to $24 million over a number of years to develop products that connect solar power systems with the electrical grid in an interactive way. DOE has selected 12 industry teams that will receive $2.9 million in current fiscal year funding to develop conceptual designs and market analyses for such Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) projects. The projects will focus on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and will involve such efforts as developing systems that can communicate with an interactive utility grid and advanced power meters to respond to power price changes over the course of a day, systems that can work with energy storage devices and "smart" appliances to respond to utility price signals, and systems that can interact with building energy management systems. […]
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With the release of the 2008 Sustainable Business 20 List (SB20), two firms stand at the threshold of joining the "Core List" of companies, knighted for their continual leadership on the path towards a sustainable society. Green building company Interface, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFSIA) and renewable energy company Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) have been named to the SB20 List in each of the last three years. If they are nominated a fourth time in 2009 they will join an elite list of companies with SB20 Core status, admired internationally not only for their ongoing sustainability initiatives, but also for their strong management and balance sheets. The list of Core companies, who have made the SB20 list at least four times, includes: Canon (NYSE: CAJ) Electrolux (ELUXA.ST) Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) Herman Miller (Nasdaq: MLHR) Novozymes (NZYM.CO) Precious Woods (PRWN.SWX) STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM) Vestas Wind Systems (VWS.CO) Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFMI) Before Green Was Golden The "Green" movement has taken off over the last two years. Whether it’s primarily a marketing trend with an expiration date or a permanent shift in corporate sensibility has yet to be seen. But one thing is for certain: the list of contenders […]
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DOE and Volvo Extend Fuel-Efficient Truck Partnership for 3 Years DOE to Guarantee $10 Billion in Loans for Efficiency, Renewables New "Freedom Prizes" to Reward Innovative Energy Deployments American Le Mans Race Cars to Compete to be the Greenest Florida Energy Bill to Boost Efficiency and Renewable Energy California Proposes a Path to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions EIA: World Energy Use to Grow 50% by 2030 DOE and Volvo Extend Fuel-Efficient Truck Partnership for 3 Years DOE and the Volvo Group announced on Monday that they will work together for an additional 3 years to develop fuel-efficient trucks. DOE and Volvo, the parent company of Mack Trucks, Inc., originally signed an agreement in June 2007 with the goal of demonstrating heavy-duty engine systems with at least 10% higher fuel efficiency than conventional diesel engines. The new agreement between DOE and Volvo focuses on testing and analyzing the effects of various biofuels on diesel engine performance, developing hybrid vehicle technology for heavy-duty engines, and creating an engine and advanced transmission system that are designed to operate within a narrow range, making them ideally suited for use in a hybrid vehicle. Under the new agreement, DOE will invest $9 million over the […]
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The fact is the U.S. simply can’t drill its way to lower prices at the pump. Other options, from greater energy efficiencies to the development of alternative fuels, are essential to reducing dependency on petroleum fuels and lowering fuel costs. Since the 1990s, drilling on federal lands has steadily increased as a result of federal government policies that encourage development. The number of drilling permits has exploded in recent years, rising from 3,802 five years ago to 7,561 in 2007. Between 1999-2007, the number of drilling permits issued in public lands increased by over 361%, yet gasoline prices have also risen dramatically, contradicting the argument that more drilling means lower gasoline prices. There is simply no correlation between the two. Even if increased domestic drilling could reduce gas prices, there’s no justification to open additional federal lands because oil and gas companies can’t keep pace with the number of drilling permits the federal government is handing out. Over the past four years, the Bureau of Land Management has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land – 18,954 wells were actually drilled. That means companies have stockpiled nearly 10,000 extra permits. The Feds have made 47.5 million acres of on-shore […]
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by Jenifer Joy Madden Cafeteria stations feature fresh-made wraps and salads, hormone-free burgers and mounds of fruit arrayed on bamboo mats. Food is served on compostable sugar cane plates and beverages in cornstarch cups. Receptacles invite easy waste separation. Welcome to the Longworth House Office Building Café in Washington, D.C. The food service makeover is a tip-off to how fast things are changing in one branch of the U.S. legislature. Just over a year ago-March 1, 2007-newly elected Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued her edict: the House of Representatives must become carbon neutral by the end of this year and cut its carbon footprint in half within a decade. The Speaker’s first order of business was to lure Dan Beard out of semi-retirement to act as Greening Czar. Beard previously held top jobs in the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation, the House Appropriations and Natural Resources Committee and the National Audubon Society. On arrival, Beard confronted the status quo. In 2006, the House was responsible for 91,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equal to the output of 17,200 cars. Heating and air conditioning came from an ancient carbon-belching coal-fueled plant, the third largest source of air pollution in the District of […]
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