Renewable Energy

• 49.9-MW Hudson Ranch I Geothermal Plant Unveiled in California

  (Fri, 18 May 2012 20:04:08 GMT)

  EnergySource hosted the unveiling of its 49.9 Hudson Ranch I geothermal plant, now renamed John L. Featherstone Plant ? a geothermal innovator in the Salton Sea area, today in Imperial Valley, California. Commissioned on March 9th, it is the first geothermal plant to go online in the Salton Sea area in 20 years. Recognizing the area's huge potential capacity of reportedly up to two gigawatts, EnergySource expects to start drilling for its 49.9 Hudson Ranch II project this summer and hopes to start construction in 2013.

• Will Chinese Solar Module Tariffs Restore Balance to the Industry?

  (Fri, 18 May 2012 19:55:22 GMT)

  In the quest to "level the playing field," the 31 percent anti-dumping tariff announced Thursday was a good start, said SolarWorld President Gordon Brinser, but even more is needed to bring the industry back into balance.

• Apple to Power 3 Data Centers with 100 Percent Renewable Energy

  (Fri, 18 May 2012 16:47:22 GMT)

  Greenpeace advocates gathered outside of Apple's Cupertino headquarters early this week dressed as iPhones and iPods, declaring their outrage about the company's lack of clean energy use. They projected social media messages from supporters on the side of the building:

• Energy Efficiency: What Are the Laggards Thinking?

  (Fri, 18 May 2012 14:12:46 GMT)

  Why do some states avoid creating policies that encourage consumers and businesses to save energy? What’s the psychology of the laggards? A new report by the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy sheds some insight as it examines the states that consistently fall behind in the organization’s annual energy efficien

• NLP Solar Sales Training Live Webinar May 30th & 31st

  (Fri, 18 May 2012 14:01:00 GMT)

  

 Energy News...

• PV Fleet Management

  (Thu, 17 May 2012 07:59:28 -0700)

  PV by nature is an intermittent energy source that can be affected greatly (even over the course of seconds) by weather influences such as passing clouds. While this variability may not be a concern for the individual PV system owner, it is for utilities or system operators that may have tens of thousands of grid-connected PV systems within their service territories.

• Going Green in Indian Country: Two Sides of the Buffalo Nickel

  (Fri, 11 May 2012 10:25:20 -0700)

  Hopefully both sides of the coin – cultural property protection in the face of any callous non-Indian energy development, and streamlined tribal energy development for sake of tribal self-determination – can be realized by the revised S. 1684. The protection of Indian Country, both in the long and short term, quite literally depends on it.

• Solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)

  (Fri, 11 May 2012 10:25:01 -0700)

  PPAs are best for organizations that own their own buildings or homes. Or plan to occupy their space for an extended period of time. Also, a property owner who has a large open property or rooftop space (such as a warehouse or distribution center) may also enter into a PPA in connection with a rooftop or property lease as a means to generate not only renewable energy, but also revenue from energy sales to the local utility.

• Solar Project Insurance

  (Fri, 11 May 2012 10:23:49 -0700)

  The inability of some solar project developers to secure the right coverage coupled with concerns about the long-term viability of equipment manufacturers has created fear and uncertainty in the marketplace, preventing some investors from financing projects.

• Case Study: William G. Mennen Sports Arena

  (Fri, 11 May 2012 10:22:46 -0700)

  Tioga helped facilitate a first-of-its kind financing program (“the Morris Model”) in which taxable bonds were issued to finance the solar program

Australian Research

 Energy Technology 

• Why Tariffs on Chinese Photovoltaics Are Bad for the Planet

  (Sun, 20 May 2012 09:00:08 EST)

  This week, the U.S. government slapped tariffs (pdf) of more than 31 percent on the price of solar cells made by Chinese companies that cooperated with a recent probe. Those companies that stayed mum face even higher tariffs--as much as 250 percent.

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  (Thu, 10 May 2012 20:01:00 EST)

  The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA–E) works on a three-year cycle: Funded projects have three years to prove worthy--or not. Program directors who help fund projects such as Plants Engineered to Replace Petroleum ( PETRO ) or Batteries for Electrical Energy Storage in Transportation ( BEEST ) have three years to steer the research. And, after three years at the helm as the founding director of ARPA–E, mechanical engineer Arun Majumdar has announced that he will be stepping down in June.

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• Is Supersymmetry Dead?

  (Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:00:00 EST)

  For decades now physicists have contemplated the idea of an entire shadow world of elementary particles, called supersymmetry. It would elegantly solve mysteries that the current Standard Model of particle physics leaves unexplained, such as what cosmic dark matter is. Now some are starting to wonder. The most powerful collider in history, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), has yet to see any new phenomena that would betray an unseen level of reality. Although the search has only just begun, it has made some theorists ask what physics might be like if supersymmetry is not true after all.

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• Cheap Fracked Gas Could Help Americans Keep on Truckin'

  (Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:01:00 EST)

  A different kind of truck stop is coming soon to Atlanta. Greg Roche, vice president for infrastructure at Clean Energy Fuels , is presently scouting locations to build one of the California-based company's natural gas fueling stations for long-haul trucks by the end of this year. With fracking techniques freeing more and more natural gas in the U.S., the alternative fuel is suddenly much cheaper than those made from petroleum.

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