Beacon Power Corporation has finalized a $43 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy for an innovative flywheel energy storage project in Stephentown, NY. The 20 megawatt Flywheel Plant is the latest step by New York State toward improve its electric grid management, and is the first of its kind in the world.
Five million dollars has been approved by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to support the development of an electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The money will fund 5,000 new charging stations – 2,000 of which will be public chargers. In addition 50 fast-charging stations will be installed. The public chargers will be located at or near employer parking lots and the 50 fast chargers will be near highways, presumably so travelers can recharge quickly, and resume their trips.
Continue reading ‘5,000 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations for Bay Area’
Google threw its considerable weight behind California’s landmark climate change law this week, when it hosted an event where it argued an upcoming measure to kill the law would derail past and future gains made in cleantech job growth. Google hosted the event with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, featuring California Air Resources Board chairwoman Mary Nichols, venture capitalist guru Vinod Khosla, Google Green Energy Czar Bill Weihl, and PG&E senior vice president Tom Bottorff, who discussed the negative implications from Proposition 23, which would derail the state’s climate law, also known as AB 32.
Continue reading ‘Google Comes Out Swinging for California Climate Law’
When the final whistle blows, demand for electricity usually soars, causing a headache for energy companies. Researchers at the University of Leeds and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have now found a way to manage these short-lived draws on the electricity grid that could half the fuel needed.
Continue reading ‘Energy Storage System Deals with Sudden Draws on the Grid’
An installation of 52,000 solar panels at Luke Air Force Base will generate 15 megawatts of electricity. This number is about half of what the base consumes. Air Force Lt. Col. John Thomas said, “The base will receive stable energy costs and increased energy independence associated with using reliable, emission-free solar power.” SunPower is the company responsible for providing the panels. The San Jose based company is one of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the United States. They also make a tracking technology which allows solar panels to follow the arc of the sun in the sky in order to maximize energy production.
The state of Iowa has been steadily increasing its wind power capacity over the last several years. A press release from this year says that up to 20 percent of Iowa’s electricity is produced by wind. The document is from the Iowa Policy Project. The organization’s director, David Osterberg said of the trend, “In the last two years, Iowa added 2,500 megawatts of wind turbine capacity, and now has wind capacity nearly six times the size of Iowa’s lone nuclear plant.” Electricity prices in Iowa are also below the national average even though they have been investing in renewable technology, says the press release. About five percent of Iowa’s electricity was generated by wind power in 2006.
Continue reading ‘Iowa’s Electricity Generated by Wind Power’
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have developed a new tool for deciphering the genetics of a native prairie grass being widely studied for its potential as a biofuel. The genetic map of switchgrass, published by Christian Tobias, a molecular biologist at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., and his colleagues, is expected to speed up the search for genes that will make the perennial plant a more viable source of bioenergy.
Are you in the market for a new home? If you are, you are not alone. Millions of new homes are built every year. The National Association of Home Builders estimates, 1.8 million homes are constructed each year. How will all of the materials needed to build and sustain these new homes accommodate our dwindling and limited natural resources?
Continue reading ‘Energy Efficient Homes – Stars of the Future’
Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa say that the Leeward side of Hawaiian Islands may be ideal for future ocean-based renewable energy plants that would use seawater from the oceans’ depths to drive massive heat engines and produce steady amounts of renewable energy.
Continue reading ‘Generating Energy from Ocean Waters off Hawaii’
BP officials said they still might try to tap the Deepwater Horizon site, despite the fact that it was responsible for dumping over 4 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico before being sealed with cement last week. “There’s lots of oil and gas here,” Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told reporters on Friday. “We’ll have to think about what to do with that at some point.”
Continue reading ‘BP Still Wants Oil Sealed Under Ruptured Gulf Well’
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