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Week of Sept. 21, 2009 |
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A local mill recently became the first Wisconsin food company to buy renewable energy credits to cover 100 percent of its energy needs.
Great River Organic Milling of Fountain City last month bought 62 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy from Canadian company Ecoelectrons. The purchase pays for Great River's power usage to be produced by cleaner, green energy methods, rather than non-renewable sources.
The move made sense for a business heavily focused on sustainability, said president Rick Halverson, and it sets an example for other companies.
"It's all part of one of our focuses, being an organic company," he said. "I thought, 'You know, this is probably something we should be doing.'"
Great River, which sells organic grains, flours and mixes, became a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership with the purchase, joining more than 1,100 businesses throughout the country, according to the EPA Web site. Great River is the first food company in the state to join the program, according to the site.
A kilowatt of power generated by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas typically releases between 0.4 and 0.8 pounds of carbon dioxides and other greenhouse-causing gases into the air, according to Ecoelectrons. By that measure, Great River's purchase will keep more than 12 tons of such gases out of the air.
The move could also boost business, Halverson said. The purchase allowed the company to join the Green-e Marketplace, which permits Great River to display that organization's logo on its products. That might make a difference to the eco-conscious customers to whom Great River tailors, Halverson said.
"From a marketing standpoint, it benefits us," he said. "It's a good move for the company." Source: Winona Daily News, 9/5/09
The following is a summary of recent green power marketing activity, including news and information on competitive green power marketing, utility green pricing programs, renewable energy certificates, green power purchasing, and related market activity. See the U.S. Department of Energy's Green Power Network News for additional information on green power markets and products.
Table of Contents:
Source: U.S. DOE Green Power Network, 9/3/09
Visit U.S. DOE EERE Green Power Network for more information.
Several new biomass power plants are in the works including two in the U.S. and one in British Columbia, Canada, on the Lower Nicola Indian Band reservation in Merritt.
The LNIB will own 50 percent of the project and Biomass Secure Power Inc. will own the other half. LNIB will provide the 25 acres on which the plant will be built and BSP will supply engineering expertise to design, build and operate the plant, along with a pellet mill that will be included in the same facility, according to BSP President and CEO Jim Carroll. He declined to release a cost estimate for the project.
Together, the 12-megawatt plant and pellet mill will consume 300,000 cubic meters of pine beetle-infested trees from the area annually, Carroll said. Read more. Source: Biomass Magazine, 9/4/09
University of Utah institute to run $10.2 million study in Idaho
University of Utah researchers will inject cool water and pressurized water into a "dry" geothermal well during a five-year, $10.2 million study aimed at boosting the productivity of geothermal power plants and making them feasible nationwide.
"Using these techniques to increase pathways in the rock for hot water and steam would increase availability of geothermal energy across the country," says geologist Ray Levey, director of the Energy & Geoscience Institute (EGI), which is part of the university's College of Engineering. Read more. Source: Eurekalert, 9/8/09
Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s New Wind Farm Creates Jobs, Puts GE’s ecomagination Transformers and Wind Turbines to Work, Maximizing Cleaner Power Delivered by Every Rotation of the Turbine Blade.
Homes and businesses receiving wind power from Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s South Dakota wind farm, scheduled to begin operation in 2010, will benefit from smart grid technologies on the farm’s 101 GE wind turbines. Prolec GE’s high efficiency amorphous transformers will reduce losses as electricity moves through the wind farm’s transformers, so that every spin of the turbine blade delivers more energy to consumers. Read more. Source: REVE, 9/7/09
Raser Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RZ), an energy technology company, announced today that it has released a new video on its Web site. The video shows the latest developments in the following areas:
Principal Executive Officer Richard D. Clayton said, "We`ve learned a great deal about the geothermal resource at Thermo, Utah, which will help us build future power plants more efficiently. We`re currently selling 5 MW of clean, green geothermal power to Anaheim, Calif., and we`re ramping up to full capacity." Source: Raser Technologies, Inc, 9/3/09
Intelligent Heat and Power today announced the installation of a 20-ton geothermal heating and cooling system at the Verdant Pastures auditorium on Ladd's Lane in Epping, NH. The auditorium is the new home of the Leddy Center for the Performing Arts. The new geothermal system will be operational before the next Leddy Center performance on October 16th.
"We are thrilled to be able to install such an environmentally friendly heating and cooling system in our beautiful auditorium," said Steve Kaneb. Steve and his wife, Andrea, bought the unique 93 acre property in 2008. The auditorium is the first building they renovated at Verdant Pastures. "While over 200 patrons enjoy the indoor climate of the auditorium, they can also feel good knowing that the heating and cooling is friendly to our global environment. We needed to replace the air conditioning system for the auditorium. A geothermal system makes long-term economic sense and helps roll out part of our vision for Verdant Pastures."
"A geothermal heating and cooling system such as this one is an excellent choice for a commercial or private property," said Jeffrey Brideau, president of Intelligent Heat and Power. "These systems, also known as ground source heat pumps, concentrate the heat from the ground and pump it into the building in the winter to heat it. Conversely, in the summer they concentrate the heat in the building and pump it into the ground to cool the building. They are extremely efficient over a huge range of temperatures, from sub-zero winter mornings to 100 degree summer days. In addition they can save up to 70 percent on your heating and cooling bills while reducing the impact on our environment." Source: Reuters, 9/3/09
A Wisconsin utility has partnered with a paper manufacturer to build the state’s first large-scale biomass plant. We Energies plans to build the 50-MW, $250 million plant next to Domtar Corporation’s Rothschild, Wis., paper mill. Read more. Source: Triple Pundit, 9/3/09
With all the flash and glitz of solar and wind power, geothermal has been largely under the radar, misunderstood and mostly ignored. Maybe investor interest will increase with the recent announcement of $350 million in new investment in geothermal technology under the Recovery Act and the recent over-subscribed ($87 million) initial public offering by Magma Energy Corp. Read more. Source: Seeking Alpha, 9/1/09
As PG&E ramps up renewable power in response to the California RPS requirement that it get 33 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020; it has been exploring ways to add that much renewable power to the grid while smoothing out the ups and downs of wind energy, which often peaks at night.
The utility needs a way to turn sometimes-too-much wind into anytime-always-there electricity. Read more. Source: CleanTechnica, 8/31/09
Learn more about renewable resources.
The Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) has announced that Sterling Planet, a Georgia-based supplier of renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-carbon solutions, has agreed to offset the carbon footprint made by the 2,000 attendees of the upcoming GRC Annual Meeting and GEA Trade Show on Oct. 4-7 by financially supporting projects that reduce greenhouse gases.
Carbon offsets compensate for the direct and indirect impacts of transportation and energy use. According to Sterling Planet’s Sarah Huttu, a total shift to carbon neutral status means knowing your carbon footprint, then taking steps to shrink your environmental impact. “After increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy use, the next move is to offset what remains of your footprint,” said Huttu. “Enter carbon offsets. They come from
projects that deliver direct, verified emissions reductions.”
Now in its 33rd year, the GRC Annual Meeting was created for the leading voices and minds of the geothermal industry from every corner of the globe. The meeting is designed to encourage networking, business and educational opportunities for all attendees. The 2009 annual meeting will feature interesting speakers, various tracks, a networking trade show, a welcome reception, a tour of geothermal facilities, an amateur photo contest, a golf tournament, a silent auction and a banquet.
For more information about the GRC Annual Meeting, call 530-758-2360. Members of the working media who wish to attend may contact John Galbraith of the GRC at 530-758-2360 to register. Source: Sterling Planet, 9/3/09
A paper by Marc N. Conte and Matthew J. Kotchen investigates factors that explain the large variability in the price of voluntary carbon offsets. The authors estimate hedonic price functions using a variety of provider- and project-level characteristics as explanatory variables.
According to the report, providers located in Europe sell offsets at prices that are approximately 30 percent higher than providers located in either North America or Australasia. Contrary to what one might expect, offset prices are
generally higher, by roughly 20 percent, when projects are located in developing or least-developed nations. But this result does not hold for forestry-based projects. Evidence shows that forestry-based offsets sell at lower prices, and the result is particularly strong when projects are located in developing or least-developed nations.
Offsets that are certified under the Clean Development Mechanism or the Gold Standard, and therefore qualify for emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol, sell at a premium of more than 30 percent; however, third-party certification from the Voluntary Carbon Standard, one of the largest certifiers, is associated with a price discount.
Variables that have no effect on offset prices are the number of projects that a provider manages and a provider's status as for-profit or not-for-profit. Download the full report. Source: Center for the Study of Energy Markets, 9/8/09
Energy analysis at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) encompasses a broad range of energy analysis in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), NREL programs and initiatives, and the energy analysis community. See the latest news on energy analysis activities at NREL. Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 9/4/09
Hands build. Hands heal. Simply stated, an environmental hand print is the good one does for the world. This contrasts with the well-known environmental footprint that signifies the damage one does. The best one can get with a footprint is no impact at all. The potential of a hand print is unlimited. Read more. Source: Ode Magazine, 9/4/09
A day after the federal government awarded $500 million to renewable-energy projects, the American Wind Energy Association is pointing to a study that concludes that the investments will lead to "green collar jobs" as intended.
The U.S. Treasury and Energy departments on Tuesday said that 12 renewable-energy projects, 10 of them in wind, were awarded cash grants, a move meant to bring financiers back to the U.S. wind industry and create manufacturing and construction jobs. Read more. Source: Cnet News, 9/2/09
In this issue:
Read more. Source: Interstate Renewable Energy Council, 8/31/09
The Tribal Energy and Environmental Information Clearinghouse (TEEIC) provides information about the environmental effects of energy development on tribal lands. The site includes information about energy resource development and associated environmental impacts and mitigation measures; guidance for conducting site-specific environmental assessments and developing monitoring programs; information about applicable federal laws and regulations; and federal and tribal points of contact. Source: U.S. DOE Tribal Energy Program, 8/31/09
The passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has significantly increased public awareness and interest in the benefits of clean energy. Organizations across the entire energy value chain are now facing a myriad of challenges brought about by the new carbon economics. Navigant Consulting has developed our new Clean Energy Knowledge Center to provide you with one-stop access to our insights on Clean Energy. Our center includes thought leadership on topics such as Wind, Smart Grid, Climate Change and Solar in the form of audio podcasts, published articles and recent conference presentations. Source: Navigant, 8/26/09
Learn more about educational resources.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Next Era Energy Resources (formerly FPL Energy) have signed an agreement to develop another wind farm. The project will be located in Day County near Groton, S.D. East River Electric Power Cooperative, Madison, S.D., will provide the transmission interconnection for the project.
This is the fifth agreement between Basin Electric and NextEra Energy with NextEra Energy building, owning and operating a large wind project and Basin Electric purchasing the electricity. The other four wind projects are located near Wilton (two phases) and Edgeley, N.D., and Highmore, S.D. Read more. Source: Basin Electric Power Cooperative, 9/9/09
Continuing to grow its wind business, Duke Energy announced plans this week to build and operate a 200-MW wind energy project near Casper, Wyo.
The Top of the World wind farm, expected to reach commercial operation by the end of 2010, will be the company’s ninth U.S. wind farm and its fourth in Wyoming. Duke Energy will construct the Top of the World project on approximately 17,000 acres of private and public land it holds under long-term lease in Converse County. Read more. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly, 9/5/09
Nebraskans could play a major role in reaching the goal of having 20 percent of the United States' electricity supply come from wind power by 2030.
That was one of the messages from American Wind Energy Association officials speaking to about 100 people at a recent conference in Broken Bow, which is one of the communities Nebraska Public Power District has identified as a possible site for a privately developed wind farm. Read more. Source: Kearney Hub, 9/5/09
A major project that would dot Champaign County’s landscape with wind turbines is moving slowly forward, with public hearings on the proposed sites scheduled for late October.
The Buckeye Wind Project is undergoing a review process by the Ohio Power Siting Board. It would include building more than 70 wind turbines across six townships in Champaign County. The project is proposed by Buckeye Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Everpower Renewables, a New York-based developer of utility grade wind projects. Read more. Source: Springfield News Sun, 9/1/09
A state committee is recommending that power companies spend about $3 billion on transmission lines to connect renewable energy sites in rural Nevada to existing lines.
A state committee is recommending that power companies spend about $3 billion on transmission lines to connect renewable energy sites in rural Nevada to existing lines.
The Nevada Renewable Energy Transmission Access Advisory Committee proposed companies use tax-exempt state bonds to pay for constructing lines to transmit a potential 7,500 megawatts of renewable energy.
In a report delivered to Gov. Jim Gibbons, committee members said they have identified energy zones in Nevada that could produce more than 5,000 megawatts of solar, 1,000 megawatts of wind and 1,500 megawatts of geothermal power.
Most of the renewable energy is in central Nevada and some is a considerable distance from existing transmission lines. Source: KOLO-TV, 9/5/09
Housed in a metal building on small-town street, Effective Solar Products looks much like the machine and oilfield shops that surround it.
Until you see the wind turbine outside the stockroom door.
But that’s business as usual for Aaron Angelette, owner of Effective Solar, a distributor and installer of solar and wind systems for Terrebonne, Lafourche and New Orleans.
“It was unique,” said Angelette, 43, originally trained as an electrician. “The technology itself pretty much amazes me.” Read more. Source: Lafourche Parish Daily Comet, 9/6/09
Japanese oil refiner Showa Shell Sekiyu KK said it will invest $1.1 billion to build a new thin-film solar cell plant, as it chases First Solar in a growing market.
Showa Shell's 100 billion yen plant—its third solar cell facility—will boost its annual production capacity twelve-fold to 980 megawatts when it comes onstream in the second half of 2011. Read more. Source: Reuters, 9/7/09
Thin-film solar maker says a new manufacturing site will help cut 350 million tons of C02
US solar specialist Solyndra has begun construction of a second fabrication plant, which it claims could result in 3,000 temporary jobs and 1,000 or more long-term positions in the new plant.
The thin-film solar panel maker said in a statement this week that the new site will be located near its existing manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, and is designed to produce around 500MW a year. Read more. Source: BusinessGreen.com, 9/7/09
You can make the case that the Oregonians who spent their August recess shouting at their congressional representatives about health care should have been hollering for help on a different issue: energy and climate change.
In fact, more than any other state, Oregon's future economy rides on whether the U.S. Senate finishes with health care this fall and turns then to take up the energy and climate bill. As U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said the other day, what Texas is to fossil fuels, Oregon can be to wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. But first, Congress has to pass a bill that launches this country into an energy revolution. Read more. Source: OregonLive.com, 9/7/09
The morning heat hits triple digits as a whiptail lizard darts below a creosote bush near Route 66. Gazing across the desert valley, power company executives, environmentalists and federal land managers stand beneath a cloudless sky and argue over the landscape.
PG&E project manager Alice Harron says she is "comfortable" with the solar power plant her utility wants to build on government land here along 4 miles of the Mother Road that connected Chicago and Los Angeles long before the interstate system Read more. Source: USA Today, 9/8/09
Winds that whip miles off Maine's coast eventually could help create new jobs, draw investment and propel the Pine Tree State to the head of the wind-power industry, officials say.
Working with the University of Maine, the state is taking its first steps in a long-term plan to make Maine a hub of offshore energy generation by developing test sites for wind turbines that could be stationed in deepwater locations.
In coming weeks, the Department of Conservation will hold a series of meetings in coastal towns near seven areas being considered for the turbines, including a site off Boon Island in York County. Read more. Source: SeacoastOnline.com, 9/8/09
Hearings will allow the public and fishermen to comment on the seven sites chosen by the state.
The state has identified seven offshore areas that it believes could be suitable places for testing wind power technology.
Under a state law adopted in June, state officials must select at least one site, and as many as five, before Dec. 15.
One site will be designated as a wind energy research center operated by the University of Maine. Private companies would be sought to develop projects on any other sites. Read more. Source: Portland Press Herald, 9/2/09
Portland General Electric Corp. has filed its 2020 integrated resource plan (IRP) with the state's Public Utilities Commission. The plan anticipates that the demand for electricity will increase by an average of 2.3 percent each year, or 20 percent by 2020. The draft plan targets 120 MW of new renewable resources to meet Oregon's renewable energy standard requirements on schedule as well as installing a new 500 kilovolt transmission line. The plan includes provisions for energy efficiency, two new natural gas plants, and a retrofit of the Boardman coal plant. (Source: East Oregonian, Sept. 7, 2009)
Contact: Steve Corson, Portland General Electric, 503-464-8444, Re: Comments on the IRP. Source: EP Overviews, 9/8/09
A Missouri facility that converts crops into alternative energy is getting a big boost from the federal government, and that boost could help farmers double their money for their crops.
The Show Me Energy Co-op in Johnson County, Missouri, produces biomass materials that are turned into little pellets of alternative energy that could replace coal.
"It allows the farmer more net income per acre and will reduce our dependence on fossil fuel," said Steve Fick of Show Me Energy. His facility is the first in the nation to qualify for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which means that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will match what the co-op pays a farmer for his biomass materials.
The Show Me Energy Co-op currently has about 400 members, which will likely quickly grow. The first goverment check for the program went out on August 31st.
KCP&L is a customer of the program. The utility company is buying the pellets to see if they can be used to generate electricity. Source: Fox 4 Kansas City, 9/4/09
Learn more about marketing and research.
AWEA welcomed the U.S. Treasury and Energy Departments’ announcement of nearly $500 million in grants in lieu of production tax credits (PTC) that were issued for 10 wind projects. The grants are the first round of awards from an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program to address economic conditions affecting the renewables industries.
The grants are designed to temporarily replace the PTC, which has been wind power’s primary incentive and which helped make wind among the top two energy sources for new installed electric capacity. The recession and the freeze in the credit markets that began late last year rendered the PTC much less useful as an investment incentive. Read more. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly, 9/4/09
The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been awarded more than $6.8 million over three years to advance the production of renewable power from the natural movement of oceans and rivers. Read more. Source: Tidal Today, 9/8/09
Solyndra Inc. has started construction of a second solar panel manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. The project is being financed by a $535,000,000 US loan from the DOE under the Recovery Act and Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, along with $198,000,000 US from an equity financing round led by Argonaut Private Equity. The facility is expected to produce 500 MW of solar panels/year, and will introduce into large-scale commercial operation a new and highly innovative process for manufacturing the company's cylindrical solar PV panels. (Source: U.S. DOE Sept. 4, 2009/AZO Build, Sept. 7, 2009)
Contact: Kelly Truman, VP, Marketing, Sales and Business Development, Solyndra Inc., 510-440-2400. Source: EP Overview, 9/8/09
US Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that up to $21 million will be made available for the selection of five projects that will develop supply systems to handle and deliver high tonnage biomass feedstocks for cellulosic biofuels production
Auburn University of Auburn, Alabama (up to $4.9 million) will work with leading producers of forest biomass for energy in Alabama to design and demonstrate a high productivity system to harvest, process, and transport woody biomass from southern pine plantations. Specific project objectives are to develop design improvements in tree-length harvesting machines for energy plantations, configure and assemble a high-productivity, lowest-cost harvesting and transportation system for biomass, and demonstrate at full industrial scale and document performance of the harvesting, storage, pre-processing, and transportation system. Read more. Source: Examiner.com, 9/7/09
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This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
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