Thursday, May 8, 2014

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 8 May 2014

Military advances energy independence with microgrids
April 30, 2014 - When you think about it, the military's interest in microgrid technology makes sense: With its need for facilities to stay powered all day every day, getting off the grid is critical.

"Microgrids provide the military with energy security and reliability 24-7 and 365 days a year. They need power if the entire world disappears around them," says John Carroll, business development director for Intelligent Power and Energy Research Corp., a New York-based company that manufactures microgrid controls and is a contractor for installations on four bases. read more>>>

SA network operator: Rural communities could quit the grid
30 April 2014 - The head of South Australia’s major power distributor says that rural communities – including major towns – could soon look after their own generation needs.

And, said Rob Stobbe, the CEO of SA Power Networks, it could be inevitable that all forms of centralised generation and transmission will be made redundant over time.

Stobbe made his comments at the Energy Networks Association conference in Melbourne, where the industry is wrestling with the technology, cultural, and economic challenges of the biggest change in electricity markets in more than a century – and their $75 billion of assets. read more>>>

Duke Energy ranked among biggest solar producers
April 28, 2014 - Duke Energy ranked among the nation's top 10 utilities for new solar power capacity in 2013, the Solar Electric Power Association said Monday.

Duke Energy Progress, which serves the eastern Carolinas and Asheville, ranked fifth-highest with 137 megawatts of solar energy. Duke Energy Carolinas, which serves Charlotte and the western Carolinas, came in 10th with 58 megawatts.

Utility installations led a surge of solar energy in 2013, the association said. read more>>>

Proposed 80-megawatt solar farm would be NC’s biggest
April 29, 2014 - A proposed 80-megawatt solar farm in Cumberland County would be North Carolina’s biggest to date if the $144 million project is approved by the N.C. Utilities Commission.

The Hope Mills solar farm was proposed this week by Innovative Solar Systems, a 3-year-old company in Fletcher that is developing more than 600 megawatts of solar farms to connect with Duke Energy’s power grid. The 450-acre project will be located on a site owned by Barker Gallberry Farms under a long-term lease for 20 years, with two 5-year extension options. read more>>>

NY revolutionizing solar market
April 29, 2014 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has committed another $1 billion to NY-Sun in order to significantly expand deployment of solar capacity throughout the state and transform New York's solar industry into a sustainable, subsidy-free sector through long-term funding certainty that will boost existing businesses and attract new investments.

"This $1 billion investment underscores New York's commitment to growing the clean energy economy," Governor Cuomo said in a statement. "By providing long-term funding certainty, the state is attracting private sector investment, creating new economic opportunities and supporting sustainable development. Initiatives such as NY-Sun can work to provide innovative solutions, create a more resilient and flexible power grid, lower the state's carbon footprint and promote a cleaner and healthier environment." read more>>>

U.S. Army/TEP renewable energy partnership
April 29, 2014 - A Tucson Electric Power (TEP) solar array, expected to have an 18 MW capacity, is making it possible for the U.S. Army at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona to achieve its renewable energy and energy security objectives and providing a fourth of the base's energy needs.

Larger than any existing solar array on any U.S. Department of Defense base in the world, Fort Huachuca will also be the largest single solar resource owned by TEP. The system will be connected to an existing substation through a single interconnection on TEP's side of the meter. Any excess energy the system generates will flow back into the grid for use by other TEP customers. read more>>>

Retrofitting a Home With Straw Bale Construction, Part 1
4/24/2014 - I live in a home that now has very thick, slightly undulating walls, and deep window wells where my wife grows beautiful plants. It is incredibly energy-efficient: It’s warm in winter and cool in the summer, and my gas and electric bills are a fraction of what they used to be.

My house has a new electrical grid, but even though I’m not an electrician, I could do much of the work myself. And if you look at it today from the outside, you’d never guess that 15 years ago, it used to be just another old, falling-apart, high-energy-use house which looked like all the others on my block.

That’s because I live in a house that I retrofitted with straw bales. read more>>>

Real-Time Green Building Data Resource
04/24/2014 - Explore real-time green building data through the newly launched data visualization resource from the USGBC. Data is available for each state in the U.S. as well as Washington, D.C.

The enhanced state market briefs — highlighting LEED projects, LEED-credentialed professionals, and USGBC membership in each state — provide green building advocates and the general public a look into LEED’s impact within any U.S. state.

Each market brief acts as state-level barometer of economic activity taking place in an industry that could be worth up to $248 billion, according to McGraw-Hill. read more>>>

Barnes & Noble

$5M energy prize to help 'unstick' nationwide problem
April 25, 2014 - Georgetown University is sponsoring a nationwide competition to reduce America's energy use, especially household and municipal electricity and natural gas consumption. The prize: $5 million.

According to organizers, the Georgetown University Energy Prize will serve as a catalyst to set the nation on a path toward long-term, positive change by leveraging a zero-emissions fuel source in the form of energy efficiency.

"The cheapest way to reduce emissions is energy efficiency, and by partnering with communities, businesses and state and local governments we can drive greater energy efficiency further and faster," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel B. Poneman at an event announcing the challenge. read more>>>

GE and Aramco pursue renewable energy solutions for water desalination
22 April 2014 - GE ecomagination and Aramco Entrepreneurship have launched an open global technology challenge to accelerate the development of renewable energy solutions for seawater desalination

The US$200,000 challenge will be awarded to four winners, each receiving a prize of US$50,000 with further investment towards commercialization of the most promising ideas. Current desalination operations are typically very energy intensive with consumption levels reaching up to 70 percent of the desalination costs. Global production of desalinated water uses around 75.2 terawatt hours of electricity per year, enough to power nearly 7 million homes. The goal of the global technology challenge is therefore to identify novel ways to lower these energy consumption costs around the world, either through technology advances or process improvements or both. read more>>>


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