Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 9 December 2013

What Kind of Crazy Anti-Environment Bills Is ALEC Pushing Now?

Dec. 6, 2013 - The American Legislative Exchange Council may be hemorrhaging members and grappling with a funding crisis, but that hasn't hampered its ambitions. In 2013, the conservative outfit, which specializes in generating state-level legislation, launched a multi-front jihad on green energy, with more than 77 ALEC-backed energy bills cropping up in state legislature. Among the most prominent were measures to repeal renewable energy standards and block meaningful disclosure of chemicals used in fracking. Most of these bills failed. But as state lawmakers and corporate representatives gather in Washington this week for the group's three-day policy summit, ALEC is pushing ahead with a new package of energy and environmental bills that will benefit Big Energy and polluters.

On Wednesday, The Guardian reported some details of ALEC's anti-green-energy offensive and its new policy roadmap, which began taking shape at an August gathering of the group's Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force in Chicago. read more>>>

ALEC Boots Mother Jones From Its Annual Conference

Dec. 6, 2013 - Starting Wednesday, hundreds of state lawmakers descended on downtown Washington, DC, for a big three-day confab hosted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative advocacy group that that brings together lawmakers and representatives of major corporations to draft model legislation on issues such as taxes, energy, workers' rights, education, and agriculture. These bills are then introduced in state legislatures around the country—in some cases, lawmakers pass ALEC-inspired bills without changing a word. read more>>>

FERC Order 792 opening door to more grid-tied renewables

December 2, 2013 - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has passed Order 792, Small Generator Interconnection Agreements and Procedures, amending Order 2006, which established terms and conditions for public utilities to provide just and reasonable interconnection service for small generators.

This revision specifically adds energy storage to the category of resources eligible to interconnect to the power grid under the Small Generator Interconnection Procedures (SGIP) and/or Fast Track Process. In addition, it clarifies how to measure the size of a storage device for determining SGIP and Fast Track eligibility.

The Order will open the door for connecting more renewable resources to the power grid. read more>>>

UC Davis setting the standard for a sustainable energy future

December 2, 2013 - In 2011, the University of California, Davis, West Village opened its doors with a goal of becoming the nation's largest ZNE community. Today, it is setting the standard for what a sustainable energy future may look like. As the nation's largest planned zero net energy community looks back on its first year, a formal analysis shows that even in its initial phases, West Village is well on the way to the ultimate goal of operating as a zero net energy (ZNE) community. read more>>>

New Climate Innovation Center in Ethiopia Aims to Create Thousands of Green Jobs

December 3rd, 2013 - Ethiopia is set to reap the rewards of a new initiative to help local businesses develop and deploy climate friendly technologies that will create thousands of new green jobs. The new Climate Innovation Center (CIC) in Ethiopia was announced today through the support of a US$ 5 million grant agreement, signed between the World Bank and Addis Ababa University.

The grant agreement was signed by Mr. Guang Z.Chen, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia and Dr. Admassu Tsegaye, President of Addis Ababa University, in the presence of invited guests, the university community, donors and the media. read more>>>

New Light Shed On Solar Water-Splitting Process

Dec. 2, 2013 — With the help of a new method called "dual-electrode photoelectrochemistry," University of Oregon scientists have provided new insight into how solar water-splitting cells work. An important and overlooked parameter, they report, is the ion-permeability of electrocatalysts used in water-splitting devices.

Their discovery could help replace a trial-and-error approach to paring electrocatalysts with semiconductors with an efficient method for using sunlight to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water to generate renewable energy, says Shannon W. Boettcher, professor of chemistry and head of the Solar Materials and Electrochemistry Laboratory in the UO's Materials Science Institute. read more>>>

Adapting to climate change: the private sector’s role

Nov. 14, 2013 - Adapting to the impacts of climate change—like heat waves, increased floods, and natural disasters—is an enormous challenge. It’s also one that comes with an enormous price tag. Although it’s difficult to calculate the extent of the costs, the World Bank estimates that developing countries need $70 to $100 billion USD per year through 2050 to meet their current and future climate adaptation needs.

The Climate Policy Initiative, however, estimates that in 2011, only $4.4 billion USD in adaptation finance went to developing countries. This leaves a gap of anywhere from $65.6 to $95.6 billion USD per year between what developing countries need and what developed nations are giving. read more>>>

Introduction to some kinds of renewable energy

Nov. 13, 2013 - Clean energy is a kind of energy which does not produce pollutants in the use procedure. It includes nuclear energy and 'renewable energy'. Renewable energy refers to a kind of inexhaustible energy such as hydropower, wind power, solar energy, biomass energy (biogas), water energy, and tidal energy and so on.

Renewable energy doesn’t have the possibility of energy depletion, and that’s why scientists and especially countries short of energy pay attention to it. Traditionally, clean energy refers to a kind of energy that is friendly to the environment, whose features include fewer emissions, environmental protection, and little pollution, etc. read more>>>

Solar pumping system for a village community in Karonga, Malawi case study

Nov. 11, 2013 - The Challenge

Provide an uninterrupted supply of water to a village community.

The Solution

A Grundfos SQFlex solar powered pumping system was installed to provide an uninterrupted supply of water to the community for use in irrigation and as drinking water. A Grundfos SQF 2.5-2 solar powered submersible pump was installed in to the borehole. This compact and light weight pump is extremely easy and simple to install. The pump is suspended down the borehole on blue nylon rope. The borehole is lined with blue pipe work which extends above the ground to avoid contaminants falling into the borehole. read more>>>

Delivering energy efficiency to multifamily customers

December 3, 2013 - The benefits of energy efficiency have been largely out of reach for many of the more than 20 million U.S. families living in apartment or condo buildings that are often underserved by energy-efficiency programs, but according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), utilities can help. A new ACEEE report, offers advice to utilities on how to deliver energy efficiency to their multifamily customers.

"The ACEEE report is an important building block in a larger strategy to reduce energy waste in this underserved market," said Michael Bodaken, executive director of the National Housing Trust. "The opportunity to save energy in multifamily housing is tremendous. Effective energy-efficiency programs are win-win, both helping residents and owners save money while cutting down on pollution." read more>>>