September 29, 2014 - For the third straight year, jobs in the Massachusetts clean energy industry experienced double-digit growth, increasing by 10.5 percent between July 2013 and 2014, Gov. Deval Patrick announced Monday in Brighton.
A state government-sponsored Clean Energy Industry Report released Monday forecasts additional growth of 13.5 percent over the next year, increasing employment in the burgeoning sector to 100,000 by early 2015.
“Conventional thinking often says that clean energy is an economic drag. That’s false, and we’ve proved it,” Patrick said at the Boston Green Academy, a Horace Mann charter school. He said, “Clean tech is no niche industry in Massachusetts. It’s a $10 billion sector of our economy and it’s growing. That didn’t happen by accident.” read more>>>
Mayor de Blasio announced the project Monday as part of his push to reduce the city’s gas emissions by 80% by 2050. The panels at city schools are expected to generate 6.25 megawatts of energy and cut emissions by 2,800 metric tons a year. Eventually, the mayor wants 300 city-owned buildings to have solar panels.September 29, 2014 - Here comes the sun — generating energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions at two dozen city schools.
The schools will get solar panels in a $28 million project that’s part of a solar-energy push — and even City Hall could end up hooked up for solar, Mayor de Blasio said Monday. read more>>>
September 29, 2014 - Gregory Garrison, a co-founder of Northeast Solar in Hatfield, traces his company back to the renewable energy program at Greenfield Community College.
"We are the poster child for local and state investment growing business," he said.
He and business partner, Ann Bronner. have grown from four employees to 15 in four years. read more>>>
September 23, 2014 - The frenzy of investors divesting from fossil fuels in favor of clean energy has reached a fever pitch at $50 billion in divestitures, according to MarkGlobal Divest/Invest Coalition.
More than 800 investors worldwide are divesting their holdings in fossil fuels. The signatories, including foundations, individuals, faith groups, health care organizations, cities and universities around the world will make their divestiture commitment public today at the United Nations Climate Summit. Signers pledge to divest from fossil fuels over five years, taking a variety of approaches. read more>>>
Sep 22 2014 (IPS) - Acting on climate change will not hurt domestic economic growth, and in fact is more likely to boost growth, most analyses now show.
The latest to confirm the dictum that swift action is eminently affordable is the recent report by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, released on the eve of the Sep. 23 U.N. Climate Summit in New York.
“There is no reason to fear that more ambitious action to reduce carbon emissions will have a high economic cost,”said economist Robert Repetto, an International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) fellow and former professor at Yale University. read more>>>
09/22/14 - The town of Kisielice in Poland is 100 percent powered by renewable energy! In recognition of its achievement, the town has just been awarded a European Commission ManagEnergy Award 2014 in the self-sufficiency category. The achievement is even more remarkable given that Poland as a whole derives around 90 percent of its energy from coal.
Surrounded by expanses of open farming land, Kisielice now has two wind farms with a total of 48 turbines and an 82 MW capacity. A central heating network has also been built with the financial aid of grants and tax revenues. Fed by a biomass boiler with a 6 MW capacity and that runs on straw, it supplies heat to 85 percent of the town’s buildings. In summer, waste heat from the plant supplies hot water to the town. In December 2013, the town also built its first biogas power plant. This produces one MW of heat and one MW of electricity and is fed by locally grown corn silage. read more>>>
22.09.2014 - Scientists at the German Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) achieved an efficiency of 21.7 % with a thin-film solar cell made of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). The last record was set by Swedish researchers, who produced solar cells with an efficiency of 21 %.
“It will probably take some time for this efficiency increase to make its way into module manufacturing,” explains Michael Powalla, ZSW board member and head of the Photovoltaics division, “but 17 to 19 % is very much possible in the next few years.” Currently available CIGS modules have an efficiency of around 15 %. read more>>>
22/09/2014 - With the US Defense Department (DoD) the largest single global consumer of petroleum products and its military operations comprising the largest demand for all forms of energy, the DoD is already working on establishing a network of independent microgrids that integrate distributed renewable generation, electric vehicles, and demand response at its bases. As a result, the growth potential for the military microgrid market is anticipated to see upwards of 54.8 MW total capacity by 2018, according to new analysis from Red Mountain Insights.
Bases located within the US and abroad depend on aging transmission systems susceptible to cyber-terrorism and unreliability while the DoD moves about 50 million gallons of fuel monthly in Afghanistan, much of which is for power generation. read more>>>
22.09.2014 - OffTEC Base GmbH has officially inaugurated its new Maritime Training Centre (MTC) in Enge-Sande. The specialised facility can provide all necessary training for maritime and wind technology personnel.
The building took approximately 10 months to construct. The heart of the facility is a 5.5 m deep pool of water that has a surface area of 345 m². It features a wave machine that can generate waves more than 2 metres high. The training equipment offered by the MTC includes a boat landing, escape chute systems as well as winches, which can be used to simulate missions in diverse environments such as swell, different types of weather conditions and day or night scenarios. read more>>>
September 20, 2014 - Last week was a big week for solar power in North Carolina. On Monday, Duke Energy announced that it plans to invest $500 million in solar power to meet state requirements for more power from renewable sources. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited a Bunn solar farm to announce that the USDA is making $55 million available in grants and loan guarantees to support 22 North Carolina solar and other renewable energy projects.
The surge in solar power investment highlights how quickly solar and other renewable power sources are developing from marginal to central sources for generating electricity. This is good news for controlling climate change, reducing pollution and ultimately lowering the cost of electricity. The USDA program, for instance, will make it possible for farms and small communities to provide their own power and create jobs in the process. read more>>>
19 September 2014 - Almost 90,000 jobs could be created if the Government develops a "coherent vision and strategy" for boosting the green economy, a group of businesses have claimed.
A report from the Irish Corporate Leaders on Climate Change says opportunities exist in wind energy, buildings, electrification, smart grid, green financing and agriculture and called for Government leadership. read more>>>
9/19/2014 - The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded over $8 million in funding for 7 microgrid projects. Will microgrids play an increasing role in the U.S. electricity industry?
Microgrids -- localized grids capable of operating as energy islands using distributed generation, energy storage, and distribution wires, as well as able to connect to the broader utility grid -- can offer participants and society at large significant value. These benefits can include increased reliability against storm damage and infrastructure damage, reduced emissions of carbon and other pollutants, and reduced costs. read more>>>
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