 |
|
|||||
| Responsibility for the factual accuracy of each press release rests entirely with the individuals or organizations identified on the release.
|
|
|||||
|
||||||||||
The Center for Resource Solutions announced that Green-e Climate, a new independent certification program for carbon offset products, has certified products offered by retailers 3Degrees, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Community Energy, and Renewable Choice Energy. These products have met or exceeded Green-e Climate's standards for project verification and measurement, consumer transparency, and truth-in-marketing claims, and will be granted the use of the Green-e Climate logo.
Green-e Climate is a consumer-protection program requiring that greenhouse gas emission reductions be verified according to a project-level certification program that ensures the reductions have taken place, are permanent, and come from projects that would not have happened under a "business as usual" scenario. Project-level certification programs that are endorsed by the program include: the Clean Development Mechanism, the Gold Standard, the Voluntary Carbon Standard, and the Green-e Climate Protocol for Renewable Energy. Sellers of certified offsets must provide customers with a product content label that explains where the reductions were sourced from, including the locations and types of projects, such as renewable energy, forestry, and methane capture. Sellers must also undergo a yearly audit to ensure their supply of offsets matches their sales, and comply with Green-e Climate's consumer-disclosure and truth in advertising requirements. Read more. Source: U.S. DOE Green Power Network, 3/5/08.
The Shire of Denmark has made the commitment to switch to natural power in support of Synergy’s Green Energy program.
Council unanimously resolved to support its Climate Change Advisory Committee’s recommendation to convert electricity consumption to green energy in an effort to promote more sustainable energy usage.
“The Shire is working to cut greenhouse gas emissions to reduce impacts of climate change, and one of the ways has been to adopt green energy,” said the committee’s chair Annie Mayo.
The Shire has committed to an additional 25 per cent loading per energy bill for electricity supplied to all of its metered localities from February 2008 under Synergy NaturalPower.
NaturalPower is a program where a percentage loading of an energy bill is added to each energy bill at a cost of 4.4c/unit.
Synergy provides three options for converting to green energy: Synergy NaturalPower, EasyGreen and EarthFriendly.
“Converting your energy bill to utilise green energy is an easy and efficient way of contributing to an increase in the use of renewable resources for energy consumption,” natural resource management officer Yvette Caruso said.
“The Council has taken the initiative and I would hope that people in the Denmark community are inspired to follow suit.”
The switch to NaturalPower is one of the many activities the Shire of Denmark is endeavouring to accomplish in an effort to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
An attempt to start a small wind farm at Ocean Beach was rejected by the community several years ago because it spoilt the coastline views.
The community wanted the wind turbines located inland.
Source: Albany & Great Southern Weekender, 3/6/08.
Visit U.S. DOE EERE Green Power Network for more information.
Unfortunately, there is no way of making sure the wind only blows when we need it, but now a US energy company is to try and tackle the problem of storing energy from wind turbines to meet peak demands through an innovative new battery technology.
Xcel Energy announced last week that it will soon begin testing a one megawatt battery-storage system capable of storing wind energy and transferring it to the grid as required.
The company said that when fully charged the energy storage system could power up to 500 homes for over seven hours, allowing grid operators to better match the variable levels of energy generated by wind farms with demands from end users. Read more. Source: BusinessGreen Staff, BusinessGreen, 3/4/08.
GE Energy has secured its second contract over $1 billion in recent months with Invenergy Wind LLC to provide wind turbines for new projects that will further increase North America's rapidly growing supply of clean, wind-generated electricity.
Under the agreement announced today, GE will supply Invenergy with 750 megawatts of wind turbines, enough power to meet the requirements of more than 200,000 households, for North American projects to be constructed in 2010. In January, GE announced a similar agreement of more than $1 billion to provide wind turbines to Invenergy for U.S. and European projects to be built in 2009. Read more. SOURCE: GE Energy, 3/6/08
“At its current growth rate, global installed wind power capacity will top 100,000 megawatts in March 2008,” writes Jonathan G. Dorn in a recent Earth Policy Institute release, “Global Wind Power Capacity Reaches 100,000 Megawatts.”
“In 2007, wind power capacity increased by a record-breaking 20,000 megawatts, bringing the world total to 94,100 megawatts—enough to satisfy the residential electricity needs of 150 million people.”
In Europe, the 8,660 megawatts of wind power capacity added in 2007 accounted for 40 percent of all new power installations. This marks the first year in history that wind power additions in Europe exceeded the additions of any other power source, including natural gas.
Germany is still the frontrunner in total installed wind power capacity, with 22,200 megawatts, but in 2007 it lagged the United States, Spain, China and India in terms of new capacity added. Growth in Germany is slowing because of a saturation of suitable onshore sites and a decrease in the feed-in tariff for wind power. Read more. Source: Earth Policy Institute, 3/6/08.
CertainTeed Corporation, a leading North American manufacturer of interior and exterior building products, announced today it has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with SRS Energy, of Philadelphia, Penn., to advance the development of photovoltaic roofing products.
Through this partnership, both companies will collaborate on the development of a polymeric-based photovoltaic roof tile that generates energy without compromising the look of the home.
While most existing solar roofing systems rely on large and unattractive panels, this technology will seamlessly and inconspicuously embed solar technology into the roof tile.
"Energy efficiency is a key issue for homeowners, and our assessments show that people are especially interested in harnessing free energy using their roofs," says John Donaldson, president of CertainTeed Roofing. "They have not, however, been quick to adopt photovoltaic roofs because of the cumbersome look of today's solar panels. With integrated photovoltaic tiles, homeowners will soon have the option of installing an aesthetically appealing roof that solves this problem. It's a terrific breakthrough for our industry."
CertainTeed brings to the partnership a longstanding reputation for the development and marketing of innovative roofing products, while SRS Energy brings cutting-edge knowledge and expertise of photovoltaic science.
"Never before has a leading roofing manufacturer partnered with a photovoltaic technology expert to bring photovoltaic roofing to a broad audience," says Marty Low, chief executive officer of SRS Energy.
"We are thrilled to be on the leading edge of developing attractive roofing products that help save homeowners money and reduce energy consumption," continues Donaldson. "This partnership will revolutionize the way homeowners look at roofing from being simply a form of shelter to being an environmentally-friendly resource that powers a home." Source: Mass Media Distribution LLC, 3/5/08.
Learn more about renewable resources.
IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter tracks a range of market-oriented news, services and outreach tools valuable to the renewable energy community. From webinars to white papers to workkshops and interviews with renewable energy newsmakers, you'll find the latest news about IREC members and other renewable energy stakeholders in this newsletter which is distributed semi-monthly to email subscribers and published on IREC's website. Source: Jane Pulaski, Editor, 3/5/08.
Wind Powering America has posted a link to a new PDF publication, Wind Energy and Air Emission Reduction Benefits: A Primer. This NREL subcontract report was written by D. Jacobson of D.J. Consulting LLC and C. High of Resource Systems Group Inc. Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory - National Wind Technology Center, 3/6/08.
It's time again for members of the American Public Power Association to nominate themselves and other public power systems for the 2008 Wind Power Pioneer Award.
This year is the sixth year of this prestigious award. The 2007 award winner was Sacramento Municipal Utility District, recognized for 15 years of leadership in wind power. Other past winners include Hull, Mass.; Austin Energy; Waverly, Iowa; and Fort Collins, Colo.
Winner of the 2008 award will be recognized at the 2008 APPA Annual Conference in New Orleans, La. Download and complete the nomination forms, and submit your nominations to Randy Manion by close of business April 30, 2008. Source: Wind Powering America, 3/6/08.
Learn more about educational resources.
The Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality are issuing a series of Climate Change Legislation Design White Papers, according to their Web site.
The papers are the next step in the legislative process toward a mandatory, economy-wide climate change program. They propose a comprehensive national approach to climate change, with all levels of government taking active roles.
The papers will help raise the issues of necessary steps and appropriate roles for the different levels of government.
Source: GEA Weekly Update, 3/3/08.
Learn more about legislative activities.
The state Public Service Commission says wind power is growing rapidly in North Dakota.
The PSC says wind projects—on-line, under construction or proposed—account for nearly 1400 megawatts of electric generation. And the Commission says there's more to come
"I think it goes to show some of our worst wind resources are better than most of the wind resources in the rest of the country," said Commissioner Tony Clark. "You look at the southeastern states, and one of the reasons they've been opposed to a national renewable standard is they don't have anything anywhere that approaches what we have here."
Commissioners also credit the federal credit on wind power, as well as state incentives.
"The investment tax credit (on wind power ownership) has value to companies like Otter Tail and Basin, who pay income tax," said Commissioner Kevin Cramer. "You're seeing that incentive pay off in investment. That's good for the companies, the ratepayers and the state of North Dakota."
Clark says while Florida-based FPL Energy has been a major player in North Dakota wind power, he's glad to see local companies getting involved. Source:
Dave Thompson, NDPR, 3/4/08.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Tuesday announced that Montana will soon be home to the first North American manufacturing facility for a German wind turbine company.
Schweitzer, who held a scale model of a 2.5-megawatt Fuhrländer AG wind turbine while making the announcement, said the new manufacturing plant will bring at least 150 jobs to the Butte area. The plant will build the turbines, which have 150-footlong blades.
Great Falls was one of four other Montana cities considered for the plant. Schweitzer made the announcement in his office, alongside Joachim Fuhrländer, CEO of Fuhrländer AG.
“Why Montana?" Read more. Source: John S. Adams & Erin Madison, Tribune Staff Writers, 3/5/08.
New Jersey's largest power supplier is competing with Bluewater Wind and a group of commercial fishing companies for the right to build a wind farm off the coast of the Garden State.
PSEG announced this week that its renewable generation division, and a partner company, Winergy Power Holdings, has bid to build a 96-turbine wind farm off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties. The company said it would be 16 miles offshore.
Bluewater, which has been fighting to build a wind farm...Read more. Source: Aaron Nathans, The News Journal Posted Wednesday, 3/5/08.
Facilities providing power from wind would get faster and easier approval under a bill introduced today by State Rep. Phil Montgomery (R-Green Bay) and State Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) with the backing of two key state environmental groups: Clean Wisconsin and Renew Wisconsin.
“Wind has arrived as an inexpensive, clean and renewable energy source,” said Ryan Schryver, Clean Energy Advocate of Clean Wisconsin, the state’s largest environmental advocacy group. “Clean Wisconsin has been proud to help two forward-thinking leaders craft a bill that will help wind power spread across the state.”
Michael Vickerman, Executive Director at Renew Wisconsin, said, “Small wind farm proposals currently are forced to wade through a quagmire of overly restrictive local ordinances during the zoning and permitting stages of the projects. Many of these local ordinances were designed by small groups of wind opponents to specifically prevent the construction of turbines in the area. This bill puts smaller wind developments on a fair track for consideration and approval. Renew Wisconsin supports this smart proposal without reservation.” Renew Wisconsin is a statewide group focused on promoting renewable energy.
Under current law large wind power projects receive consideration and approval from the state Public Service Commission. However, smaller projects under 100 megawatts are forced go through a thorny local process that can differ widely from community to community. This has resulted in a patchwork of overly restrictive ordinances that have prevented several wind developments from being built. With so many projects on hold because of these ordinances, Wisconsin may not be able to meet our renewable energy goals set forth by Wisconsin's Clean Energy Law.
Senator Plale and Representative Montgomery’s Sensible Wind Siting Policy (AB 899 / SB 544) will create uniform state standards to guide local units of government in permitting wind projects and will establish a process for wind opponents or developers to appeal decisions to the Public Service Commission.
As global warming concerns reach a boiling point, advocates from Clean Wisconsin and Renew Wisconsin say the bill will have a beneficial impact not only on the climate and environment but on the taxpayers too. Governor Doyle’s Global Warming Task Force included recommendations to create uniform wind siting standards as a part of their recently released Interim Report.
The legislation has brought together an unusual group of supporters. “The collection of diverse interest groups rallying together to back this legislation speaks volumes about the support for renewable energy in Wisconsin and the real need to reform our current system for approving wind developments,” said Schryver. “The end result of this bill will be clean, safe and affordable renewable energy for more Wisconsin residents,” said Vickerman.
With bipartisan support already lined up, advocates from Clean Wisconsin and Renew Wisconsin are hoping for a fast track from bill to law. The bill will be debated at an Assembly hearing today on Tuesday, March 4, with a Senate hearing on Wednesday, March 5, with consideration shortly afterward by the full legislature.
Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy organization, protects Wisconsin’s clean water and air and advocates for clean energy by being an effective voice in the state legislature and by holding elected officials and corporations accountable. Phone: 608-251-7020, Fax: 608-251-1655. Source: wisbusiness.com, 3/4/08.
Minnesota's Dodge County is being approached by multiple developers to increase the current 42.45 megawatts (MW) of operating wind power generation to about 1,000 MW. The 42.45 MW of wind generation in Dodge County comes from the McNeilus windfarm, which is controlled by G. McNeilus Wind LLC (Dodge Center, Minnesota).
For details, view the entire article by subscribing to Industrial Info's Premium Industry News, or browse other breaking industrial news stories. Source: Industrial Info Resources, 3/6/08.
There was no jury, no bailiff, no hand on the Bible. But the process that led to an offshore wind power contract appeared to be on trial at Legislative Hall on Wednesday.
A Washington-based attorney spent more than two hours grilling representatives of the Public Service Commission and its staff on the path that led to an offshore wind contract.
Four state agencies, including the PSC, ordered the creation of a 25-year contract for Delmarva Power to buy offshore wind power from Bluewater Wind. The agencies were responding to a legislative directive to seek new sources of in-state generation in the wake of a 59 percent increase in the price of electricity.
But before the agencies could order Delmarva to sign the contract, lawmakers halted the process in December, saying they wanted more time to consider it. Read more. Source: Aaron Nathans, The News Journal, 3/6/08.
Power plant builder and operator MMA Renewable Ventures, on Wednesday said it will build a solar electric system in Arizona to power a thin-film solar plant for manufacturer Global Solar.
MMA will finance a 750-kilowatt facility, which will power Global Solar's Tucson, Ariz., manufacturing plant. Global Solar agreed to buy electricity from MMA for 25 years.
"It's sort of like a marketing tool," Global Solar Chief Executive Mike Gering said in an interview. "If you came to our plant, you are going to drive right by 750 kilowatts of our product that is furnishing energy to us."
Financial terms were not disclosed for the project.
The project will mark the first commercial-scale deployment of Global Solar's thin-film solar cells made with copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS).
Read more. Source: Reuters, 3/6/08.
Learn more about marketing and research.
Western Area Power Administration, DOE's Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are looking for public power providers in Western's 15-state territory to participate in a series of cost-shared wind energy integration studies. The Consumer-owned Utility Wind Grid Integration Cost-share Program will look at the potential impact to the consumer-owned utility’s transmission or distribution system, balancing operations and cost of service.
The partnership will release its request for proposals March 28, 2008. Utilities that wish to be added to the bidders' list should contact Neil Wikstrom at 303-384-6960. Participants in the December 6 webinar on the program are already on the bidders' list. The deadline for proposals is April 28, 2008.
The University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy to develop rapid solar-thermal chemical reactor systems for the conversion of biomass material like switchgrass and algae to synthesis gas.
The three-year award was made to a team led by Professor Alan Weimer of CU-Boulder's chemical and biological engineering department. The team will use concentrated sunlight to heat biomass like grass, sorghum, corn stalks and leaves, wood waste and algae to more than 2,000 degrees F for just fractions of a second. The process will produce an intermediate "syngas"—a mixture of carbon oxides and hydrogen—that can be easily converted into hydrogen or liquid fuels, he said.
Weimer also is executive director of the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, or C2B2, a joint center of CU-Boulder, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and industry. Headquartered at CU-Boulder, C2B2—which has a goal to increase the production and use of energy from renewable resources—was founded in March 2007 by the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a consortium involving all four institutions.
CU-Boulder will subcontract out to NREL in Golden to provide a high-flux solar furnace for the research and to CSU to study switchgrass growth and supply quantities of the tall prairie grass to CU-Boulder for conversion. The CSU collaboration will be led by CSU horticulture Professor Yaling Qian, while the NREL collaboration will be led by Carl Bingham at NREL's High Flux Solar Furnace. Read more.
For more information on C2B2, contact the following institutional directors: Will Medlin, CU-Boulder, 303-492-2418; Ken Reardon, CSU, 970-491-6505; John Dorgan, CSM, 303-273-3539; and Al Darzins, NREL, 303-384-7757. Source: Regents of the University of Colorado, 3/5/08.
Over the next three years, 21 biomass research, development and demonstration projects will receive $18.4 million dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and Energy Secretary Sam Bodman announced the funding of projects aimed at making biomass more efficient and cost-effective at the Washington International Renewable Conference 2008.
"These grants help fund the innovative research needed to develop technologies and systems that lead to the production of bio-based products and biofuels," Schafer says. "Funding new technologies will help make biofuels competitive with fossil fuels in the commercial market, putting America on the path of reducing its dependence on foreign oil."
Recipients of these grants have to raise matching funds for the projects. Research and development projects must be matched at 20 percent while demonstration projects are required to be matched at 50 percent.
"Continued investments in biomass are critical to furthering the President's goal of making available clean, abundant and domestically produced biofuels for widespread use," Bodman says. "Increasing supplies of renewable energy and using more energy efficient technologies must continue to play an indispensable role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting the rapidly growing demand for energy."
Read more. Source: Compiled by staff, 3/5/08.
Learn more about funding solicitations.
This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
|
