California’s Renewable Energy Goals Feasible
February 18, 2009 by editor
Filed under Eco News, Technology
California’s goal of getting 33 percent of its electricity from the sun, the wind and other renewable sources by 2020 might be more feasible than previously thought, according to a new government report.
If all the renewable power projects proposed in the state last year were built, California would easily surpass that goal, according to a report issued Wednesday by the California Public Utilities Commission. All told, those projects would generate 24,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for 18 million homes.
That’s on top of the renewable power already flowing in California. According to the report, solar plants and wind farms built in California during 2008 can generate 516 megawatts of electricity, roughly as much as a midsize, fossil-fuel power plant. The previous year, the state only added 113 megawatts of renewable power.
Van Jones and the Green Jobs Revolution (Video)
January 17, 2009 by editor
Filed under Featured, Green Collar
Van Jones, President of Green for All and a Nation contributor, came to DC on Thursday to talk to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming about a Green (and fair) New Deal. Testifying along with Jones were Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer.
Jones spoke of the “new tools…new training…and new technology” that would “begin to put some green rungs on America’s ladder of opportunity.” He took on the “falsehoods and confusion” spread by “vocal opponents and naysayers” who oppose investing in a new green economy and breaking our dependence on fossil fuels.
Jones set the record straight on the notion that green jobs are a fantasy–”Buck Rogers jobs, or science fiction jobs, or George Jetson jobs”–and pointed to the section of the Green Jobs Act (passed in 2007, but not funded–evidence he said of the need to “move aggressively from inspiration to implementation”) that spells out the exact kinds of job-training programs and industries eligible for support, some of which are: energy efficient and retro-fitting construction jobs; renewable power industry; biofuels industry; and manufacturing of sustainable products using environmentally sustainable materials.
Executives Of The Year: SolarCity’s Rive Brothers Are Bright Lights Of Silicon Valley
December 27, 2008 by editor
Filed under Solar News, Solar Programs
Pete Rive, left, and his brother Lyndon have made their company, SolarCity Corp., the No. 1 provider of residential solar power in California. They share the designation of the Business Journal's Executive of the Year for 2008.
FOSTER CITY - Siblings Lyndon and Pete Rive run their company SolarCity Corp. like coaches of a football team.
On offense, Lyndon’s areas of expertise - business development, finance, sales and marketing - are located downstairs at the company’s 28,000-square-foot Foster City headquarters. Upstairs, Pete operates the defense - heavy on the technology, operations, engineering and analytical components.
“Lyndon is more of the extrovert, and I’m more of the introvert,” Pete said.
The brothers, both under 40, have taken their opposite skill sets and split up responsibilities often held by one chief executive.
California Governor Schwarzenegger’s Green Challenge
California Governor Says He’ll Stick To Environmental Plans, Despite Economic Crisis
President-elect Obama is 30 days from office. For a window on his future, turn west for a moment to a chief executive who is already up to his neck in the nation’s troubles.
This month, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warned of financial Armageddon, as California faced a potential $40 billion deficit that threatened jobs, roads, schools and public safety. At the same time, he’s pushing some of the world’s toughest environmental laws to make California a leader on climate change.
Burbank California Airport’s Solar Powered Hangar Unveiled
December 9, 2008 by admin
Filed under Featured, Solar News
Hangar 25 may be the greenest facility in aviation, an industry known for a huge carbon footprint.
Call it the ultimate plug-in recharger.
A team of Southern California developers today is taking the wraps off what may be the world’s greenest aviation facility, one capable of powering a Boeing 757 with solar energy while the aircraft is on the ground for maintenance.
The new 60,000-square-foot structure at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank is believed to be the industry’s only solar-powered airport hangar. Its rooftop photovoltaic panels provide enough juice to operate the building’s lights and to recharge electric-powered ground equipment such as forklifts and tow vehicles. The array can also keep an airplane’s electrical system humming inside the hangar while mechanics perform their chores.
Turning Glare Into Watts
March 6, 2008 by editor
Filed under Solar News, Technology
An Acciona solar thermal power plant, located south of Las Vegas.
BOULDER CITY, Nev. - At first, as he adjusted pumps and checked temperatures, Aaron Boucher looked like any technician in the control room of an electrical plant. Then he rushed to the window and scanned the sky, to check his fuel supply.
Mr. Boucher was battling clouds, timing the operations of his power plant to get the most out of patchy sunshine. It is a skill that may soon be in greater demand, for the world appears to be on the verge of a boom in a little-known but promising type of solar power.
It is not the kind that features shiny panels bolted to the roofs of houses. This type involves covering acres of desert with mirrors that focus intense sunlight on a fluid, heating it enough to make steam. The steam turns a turbine and generates electricity.
The technology is not new, but it is suddenly in high demand. As prices rise for fossil fuels and worries grow about their contribution to global warming, solar thermal plants are being viewed as a renewable power source with huge potential.
