Global Solar unveils new flexible PV panel

Tucson-based Global Solar Energy Inc. today unveiled a flexible photovoltaic module designed to be applied directly to rooftops of commercial buildings.

Global Solar’s new building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) module, dubbed the PowerFLEX BIPV, is based on the company’s high-efficiency copper indium gallium diselenide thin-film solar material.

How to save energy around the house

U.S. consumers spend a collective $241 billion on home energy use every year

Solar panels get installed on the south facing side of the roof of this home. Fitting one of the panels into place are Joe Bartolomei, left, and Lee Sterling, of Solartistry Incorporated, of Poway.

U.S. consumers spend a collective $241 billion on home energy use every year — keeping the home comfortable, the lights lit, the food cold, the clothes clean and the gadgets charged, according to Evan Mills, who leads the Home Energy Saver ( http://hes.lbl.gov) project at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The fuel burned to provide this energy pumps 1.2 billion tons of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Mills says improvements in efficiency could cut home energy use by more than half, leading to lower energy bills and a smaller carbon footprint. Click ahead to learn how to save energy at home by making the home more energy-efficient.

Plastic Grocery Bag Ban Moves Ahead in California

Paper or plastic? It's a question uttered at supermarkets around the country, but if some California lawmakers have their way, the days of customers having a choice in stores will be gone.

Ron Fong of the California Grocers Association says "What we like about AB 1998 is that it will give a statewide fix to all grocery selling retailers which will give consistencies to both consumers and to businesses."

Assembly Bill 1998 would prohibit retailers from using plastic bags. If customers don't bring their own, they'd be given the option to buy a paper one for five cents.

"The goal in this legislation is that years down the road there will be more and more usage of reusable bags and not a use for paper bags," said Fong.

Highest 'platinum' rank awarded to eco-friendly UA rec addition

The new UA Recreation Center annex incorporates a host of sustainable and environmentally conscious features, including rainwater harvesting, use of natural light and linkage to a power grid that partially uses solar energy.

The University of Arizona shot for silver but was awarded platinum - the highest rating - for the "green" design and construction of its Student Recreation Center addition on East Sixth Street

University planners were assigned last year by UA President Robert Shelton to attain LEED silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for all campus projects. The Rec Center, the first campus building finished since that mandate, earned platinum certification, the highest category of LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Saved Twenty Cents Today By Bringing Reusable Bags To SUPER TARGET

Power strips, thermostats, Web can help drop energy cost

A number of products to help you track and manage your energy consumption.

Here's a sampling:

VAMPIRES AMONG US

Vampire power may sound like a radical movement of "Twilight" fans, but it is far more mundane. The open secret is this: The things you turn off, like televisions, DVD players, cable boxes? They're not really "off." Many devices have to maintain a trickle of electricity (indicated by those little red LEDs that glow) to receive a signal from a remote control or display a digital clock.

This has been more an offense to people's principles than to their finances. Until recently, the only way to ensure that these things were truly power-free was to take direct, manual action, like unplugging the TV from the wall or turning off a power strip's switch.

The less motivated but still guilt-ridden can get the same result by buying a "smart" power strip.

Belkin, the tech-accessory maker, has a smart strip called the Conserve AV that retails for about $30. When you turn off your TV, the strip knows to shut off power to other devices that are plugged into it as well.

San Quentin inmates get advice on 'green' careers

SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON -- People leaving prison face daunting employment prospects, but a new kind of job fair may have boosted some prisoners' chances at a sustainable future.

San Quentin State Prison played host Saturday to about 60 'green' employers, advocate groups and job-training centers, many of them from Alameda County. The idea, organizers said, was to build relationships between employers in need of affordable, enthusiastic labor and those leaving prisons, a group that has been hit particularly hard during the recession.

'We kind of based this on the Van Jones ethic,' said organizer Beth Waitkus, who runs the prison's Insight Garden Program. 'Everybody should have a chance to succeed in the new green economy.' Jones is a former green jobs adviser to President Barack Obama."

Region gets ready to shine as solar leader | recordonline.com

The Hudson Valley is poised to be a hotbed of solar-energy-related businesses. Chris Alsante, of Solartech Renewables stands beside some finished solar panels that his company has made. The company is awaiting UL approval before ramping up to full production.

Marked out with blue painter's tape on the floor of the assembly room at Solartech Renewables in Kingston is a series of rectangles, laid end to end. The shapes are the outlines of the production line the company will add if it wins a major contract for which it has bid.

Here, in these taped-off boxes, is the potential for the solar industry in New York state.

Will it grow, or will it stagnate and choke off under competition from Germany, which heavily subsidizes solar installations, and China, which has the advantages of cheap labor and lax"

Solar power: Brighter long-term investment outlook

With utilities adopting standards to increase the amount of solargenerated electricity in coming years, the US could bolster its presence in the global solar-power market. The quickening growth pace could present attractive opportunities for investors, according to some professionals. 

At the end of 2009, the US ranked fourth in total solar capacity, with 2.09 gigawatts installed, behind Germany with 9.79Gw, Spain with 4.01Gw, and Japan with 2.68Gw, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. With the US installed capacity growing at a faster pace than that of the international market, the country may be on track to become a more dominant market by 2014, according to Larry Sherwood, an analyst at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

Community taps wind to shore up school funds

UNION CITY, Ind. (AP) - A wind energy project that started as a high school science lesson could bring in $3 million for an eastern Indiana school district and city over the next 25 years.

Two 1-megawatt turbines were installed this summer in Union City, making it the first Indiana community with commercial-sized turbines owned by the local government and school system.

The turbines were born of an idea from Randolph County high school science teacher John Zakelj, who proposed putting a small wind turbine outside the classroom to help teach students about science and math."

Go Green ...... Recycle

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Lennar thinks PowerSmart when building homes

Leading homebuilder Lennar has launched a new line of energy-efficient PowerSmart homes in New Jersey, as part of its national 'Green' homes initiative.

The new environmentally friendly homes combine the latest in green building techniques and construction, which can save owners up to 67 percent on their heating and cooling energy use (compared to 2001 IECC Code).

Lennar states that its PowerSmart homes will be held to the highest of standards, as all plans will be reviewed and rated by an independent third party through the Environments for Living program to evaluate energy efficiency.

Certified Lennar PowerSmart homes will feature rain-gauge irrigation, fresh air ventilation systems, high-efficiency SEER HVAC system with programmable thermostats, special framing techniques and other environmentally friendly features."

Green construction transforming trades

David Silburn is on the ground floor of the trend toward green construction among home builders and what he's doing on campus at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary has significant implications for trade workers across Canada.


He's designing, fabricating and constructing 'net zero' houses -- homes that produce as much energy as they consume -- by working with Avalon Master Builder, a company that plans to provide new net zero houses to its customers at no extra cost by 2015.


'There are certainly new skills being required by the trades,' says Silburn, who's overseeing the initiative on campus as a research associate in SAIT's Green Building Technologies Applied Research program."

Microsoft and the environment

Company is working to create greener data centers and office workstations.

A shot of the cafeteria building at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters. The company encourages employees to carpool or use public transit to reach its headquarters and other offices. (Photo: Courtesy of Microsoft)

Microsoft and the environment form a partnership that pivots largely on helping the software giant’s customers work efficiently while wasting less energy.

 

That approach translates into creating products for greener data centers and office workstations; refurbishing personal computers so they don’t end up in a landfill; and sharing management and workplace strategies with customers on reducing energy consumption. The company's internal practices are also increasingly environmentally-friendly.

 

Microsoft was a pioneer in the personal computing market; these days, millions of people around the world can’t imagine life without their computers or similar handheld devices.

 

But computers and the server farms that power the Internet are among the biggest consumers of power. As the world’s largest software company, Microsoft has made it a priority to help the IT world power down just a little bit.

 

The Ten Essential Renewable Energy News Stories This Week

1. White House Report: U.S. Primed to Achieve Major Breakthroughs in Renewable Energy - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has released a report which shows the country is on-track for three major innovation breakthroughs in the renewable energy and cleantech industries.

2. Blame Coal for Eleven Day China Traffic Jam - According to the Christian Science Monitor, the root cause for China's two week long traffic jam might be the trade of illegal coal mined in Northern China.

3. The UK Wind Farm and the Mystery of the Seal 'Corkscrew' Deaths - At least 50 dead seals have washed up on Britain's east coast over the past year and half, all of them with a brutal corkscrew-shaped mutilation running from their head to tail. Reports indicate the deaths may have been caused by construction of an offshore wind farm.

4. Al Gore: Climate Bill Failure Costing U.S. Billions - Former Vice President Al Gore claims in a recent blog post that the failure of the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to curb greenhouse gases (like the American Power Act) is already costing the country billions of dollars.

5. Finland to Set World Standard with Proposed Green Highway - Finland's comprehensive "green highway" proposal will likely set a world standard for efficient,renewable energy travel. Not just an electrified highway, the focus is to turn a 130 km (81 mile) stretch of road into an ecological route.

6. BP Warning Clean-Up Crews That a 200-Foot, 2-Mile Oil Slick is About to Hit Grand Isle - Journalist Mac McClelland has reported that oil clean-up supervisors in the Gulf of Mexico have been informed by British Petroleum that "a 200-foot-by-2-mile swath of oil is going to make landfall on Grand Isle in the next couple of days."

7. EBoom Capital: Solar Sector Contrasts Spectacular Winners and Hapless Losers - The overall market indices and the sector ETFs tell a mildly depressing and boring story of solar companies under-performing the overall equity markets so far this year, but a closer look reveals a dramatic contrast between spectacular winners and hapless losers.

8. Burgeoning Renewable Chemical Industry Set for Record Year of Venture Capital Investment - The production of renewable chemicals does not receive a lot media attention; yet, it is an emerging cleantech industry that could have a record year for venture capital investment in 2010.

9. Let There Be Light: LED, That Is - LED lighting is inching closer towards a takeover of the lighting market. Evidence of this lies in Cree Lighting's new LED kitchen downlight, which features several advantages over other light bulbs.

10. The Solar Incentive Report Card is an Essential Guide for Residential Solar Consumers - Solar Power Rocks, an online solar power resource has released its 2010 Report Card which is the first comprehensive assessment of the status of residential solar energy in the United States.

That's it, consider yourself briefed. Remember one of the best ways to stay informed on the most current news from the renewable energy and cleantech sectors is to follow EnergyBoom on Twitter and Facebook.

California Subsidies Boost First Solar

THE ACTIONS BY OUR legislators at the federal level have done little to spur renewable energy adoption, so we look to the states in order to drive the market. U.S. demand has largely been driven through renewable portfolio standards (RPS) where 29 states now have plans in place, while some have dabbled with their own forms of subsidy programs.

Some states use additional tax incentives while others have used pilot programs to test the adoption of feed-in-tariffs (FiT). California has been the clear leader in adopting solar energy into its portfolio of renewable-energy solutions and is now positioned for further penetration with the new subsidy program. The long-term hope is that the program is successful and that other states will adopt similar mechanisms, which could result in a massive expansion of solar installations in the U.S."

Time to Bag the Bags

We've all seen images of birds and fish, with plastic grocery bags in mouth. Disturbing indeed, and don't think this is propaganda from PETA. Plastic bags are entering our food chain through oceans, rivers and the stomachs of wildlife. The toxins they carry are nearly impossible to eliminate as we don't really know how if ever they break down naturally."

You might ask well how do all these bags get into our water supply, most people throw them away when they unpack their groceries, right? You'd be amazed how these little wonders of mass production have nine lives, so to speak. They go to landfills, where they blow away due to their zero weight, almost like kites on a gentle breeze. Gulls and pigeons carry them for the food scraps inside. You get the idea. For a compelling visual of how this works, view the video "The Plastic Bag" (trust me it's a lot more entertaining than it sounds, very well done).

200,000 homes weatherized under the Recovery Act

U.S. energy use in record drop

Wind power increased significantly in 2009, even as overall energy consumption fell by the largest margin since records have been kept.
Energy use in the United States fell nearly 5% last year, marking the largest annual drop on record, according to an analysis of federal data by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.


Total U.S. energy use fell in 2009 to an estimated 94.6 quadrillion British Thermal Units, down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008. To put that in perspective, the average room air conditioner uses about 10,000 BTUs.


This was the largest year-over-year drop since the government began keeping track in 1949, said A.J. Simon, an energy analyst at LLNL.


'Energy use tends to follow the level of economic activity, and that level declined last year,' he said. 'Simply said, people are doing less stuff. Therefore, they're burning less fuel.'


Despite the drop in overall energy use, Simon said the study also showed a substantial increase in alternative sources of energy, including gains in solar, hydro and wind power."

Community Colleges Get In on Green Studies

BEYOND “green-collar” jobs, like retrofitting a home to conserve energy or helping build a wind farm, an energy-conscious economy will need a new generation of environmentally smart managers, and that’s where community colleges are stepping up with new courses and degree programs."

The federal government is pouring $500 million into training for green jobs, and the sector devoted to energy efficiency is estimated to grow as much as fourfold in the next decade, to some 1.3 million people, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Its March 2010 report was financed by the Energy Department.

State Regulators Back TEP Plans for 10 New Renewable Power Projects

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug 25, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has expressed its support for Tucson Electric Power's plan to purchase the output of 10 new renewable power projects that together will generate nearly 150 megawatts (MW), enough energy to power more than 30,000 Tucson homes.

The ACC concluded that TEP's agreements to purchase energy from eight new Tucson-area solar power systems, a landfill gas generation project and a New Mexico wind farm are 'an appropriate component' of its efforts to comply with state renewable energy goals."

How to Get Prompt Payback From an Aging Icon That Guzzles Energy

NEW YORK -- Most Manhattan office buildings are designed for paper pushers, but there is a new factory running at the end of a long dim corridor on the fifth floor of the Empire State Building. Here machines are whirring, a furnace is roaring, and dozens of blue-collar workers are bustling about.

They are setting up to dismantle the building's 6,514 double-hung window frames, to reuse the glass and make them anew. It is part of one of the nation's most ambitious and symbolic energy-efficiency programs: a $20 million effort to cut the skyscraper's overall energy use by 38 percent.
Along the way, its planners hope to reduce the 79-year-old building's carbon footprint and shrink its $11 million annual utility bill. But the most ambitious part of their scheme calls for the suite of upgrades to pay for itself in just three years.

California to Launch Next-Generation Feed-in Tariff for Solar

CPUC Pilot Program Opens New Market Opportunity for Mid-Sized PV Development

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yesterday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a proposed decision to launch a new renewable incentive program designed to drive mid-sized renewable energy development. This next-generation feed-in tariff program will require investor-owned California utilities to purchase electricity from renewable energy systems between 1 and 20 MW in size. Advocates at the Vote Solar Initiative and the Interstate Renewable Energy Counsel (IREC) applauded the CPUC for its innovative approach to helping California meet its renewable goals and build a strong new energy economy.

“California has robust policies for developing large, utility-scale solar power plants and for putting smaller systems on homes and businesses, but there is a clear gap in the middle. Yesterday’s CPUC proposal is designed to unlock that missing piece, providing an additional opportunity for solar market and job growth and for quickly bringing massive new amounts of clean energy to the state,” said Adam Browning, Executive Director of Vote Solar. “Although there are a few mechanics of the program still in need of clarification, this proposal largely draws on proven best practices for mid-sized renewable procurement. We look forward to working with the CPUC to finalize those details and get the program up and running.”

News Update: AT&T and SunEdison to Add More Solar Power in California

Calif. poised to be 1st in nation to ban plastic bags

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- At Green Frog Market on Columbus Street, clerks ask customers if they prefer paper or plastic bags for their groceries.

'I'd say most people prefer plastic, but we do have a certain percentage that prefer or bring their own reusable bags,' said Chris Nielsen, grocery team leader at Green Frog


The issue over banning plastic bags has gone as high as the state legislature in Sacramento, where the Assembly has already approved a bill banning plastic bags.


Plastics bags are not biodegradable, meaning they stay for a long time in landfills and oceans. Proponents of the ban hope to"

Shrinking Packages Help Dell Cut Material Use by Nearly 9M Pounds | Design | GreenBiz.com

OAKLAND, CA — Dell has reduced its packaging by 8.7 million pounds in the past year, neared its goal to add more recycled content and is well over halfway to making the majority of its packaging recyclable in most places.

'Particularly on my team, the packaging engineering team, the team really starting to see itself more as environmental champions as these programs really start to take off,' said Oliver Campbell, worldwide senior manager for packaging at Dell (DELL)."

Kyocera's Edible 'Green Curtains' Take a Bite Out of Energy Use | Business | GreenBiz.com

KYOTO, Japan — Kyocera Group has planted edible 'green curtains' stretching thousands of feet across facilities in Japan, Thailand and Brazil in a bid to keep its buildings cool and greenhouse gas emissions low.


The IT equipment and industrial ceramics manufacturer installed the viney plants to block direct sunlight from the windows of 20 manufacturing and office buildings to help prevent increases in surface temperature of the structures."

Oyster Capital Group’s Upper East Side Townhouse Development Receives LEED Gold Certification – The First of Its Kind in Manhattan |

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oyster Capital Group (OCG), a Manhattan based luxury single family townhouse developer, has received official notification from the US Green Building Council that their first property development, located at 243 East 82nd Street in Manhattan, has received LEED Gold environmental certification. This level of certification is the first of its kind in Manhattan under the USGBC’s LEED for Homes program and the “Gold” distinction is the highest level that any townhouse has ever achieved in Manhattan. The approximately 5,000 sf luxury townhouse has been listed for sale with Michael Pellegrino of Sotheby’s International Realty (www.sothebyshomes.com/nyc/sales/0016978). Features and amenities include twelve rooms, five bedrooms, five bathrooms, custom ceiling heights, a finished basement, personal elevator, wide planked white oak flooring, radiant floor heating, six-zoned central air conditioning, two indoor fireplaces and one outdoor fireplace, fifteen closets, a built-in outdoor BBQ, marble countertops, a custom wine cellar, and two separate laundry rooms."

BYOBag (and Mug!)

Don't Feed the Bag Monster - Seattle, Washington

Going Green, Without Being Preachy About It

With a white Kangol cap tipped on his shaved head just so on a recent swampy morning, Sean Meenan led a group of girls, ages 11 to 14, around the cobalt blue, lime green and Sunkist orange outdoor patio of Habana Outpost, the ecologically conscious restaurant he owns in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

He showed off the solar panels, a rainwater-collection system that feeds the toilets, a recycling and composting station, wheat-board wall paneling and corn-based plastic cups. There was even a blender powered by a bicycle."

Sun Chips Goes Green With Compostable Chip Package

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Self-cleaning solar panels could find use in the dusty environs of Arizona, the Middle East or Mars

The best places to collect solar energy are also some of the dustiest on Earth and beyond, a quandary that leads to inefficiencies in how well the cells are able to convert strong sunlight into renewable electricity. The solution, according to new research, is to coat solar cells with material that enables them to chase away dirt particles on their own with the help of dust-repelling electrical charges.

A dust layer of 4 grams per square meter can decrease solar power conversion by 40 percent, says Malay Mazumder, a research professor in Boston University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. To put this in perspective, dust deposition in Arizona is about 17 grams per square meter per month, and the situation is worse in many other solar-friendly sites, including the Middle East, Australia and India. Mazumder, who led the study, presented the results Sunday at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS)

Green Column - Australia Steps Up Renewable Energy Efforts

SYDNEY — Australia has plans to build the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere by 2013, part of its scramble to fight climate change and harness its abundance of clean energy sources — wind, solar, waves, geothermal energy and bioenergy.

Renewable energy now supplies just 6 percent of power in Australia because the country has historically lacked the political and commercial will to pursue big renewable energy projects. And the very sources of Australia’s clean energy — its vast outback and nearly 60,000 kilometers, or 37,000 miles, of coast — are major obstacles to linking new, remote power sources into the grid.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” said Matthew Warren, head of the Clean Energy Council, which represents more than 350 companies in renewable energy and energy efficiency fields."

Jack Goes Green With A New Reusable Bag

U of A Goes Green with Solar Panels on the Visitors Center

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West can lead the new energy economy

The West, with its wealth of wind, solar, geothermal and other clean, renewable energy resources, is poised to lead the nation toward a new energy future. But achieving that vision will require continued collaboration and a balanced approach that offers tremendous new economic and environmental benefits.

Recently, Sen. Harry Reid, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a pilot solar project on federal land in Nevada. This is a great example of a good project in a good place. The federal agencies, state and local governments, utilities and other involved stakeholders agreed to build the project on a so-called “brownfield,” a place that has already been disturbed. In this instance, the site had been used for nuclear testing; the Department of Energy now plans to develop and test innovative solar energy projects there.

Garbage Moguls,' New Jersey's newest reality TV export, is a bunch of trash

National Geographic Channel's "Garbage Moguls" isn't your typical New Jersey-based reality series.

Instead of peddling trashy behavior like "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" or even trashier outfits like Snooki and her gang, "Garbage Moguls" star and TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky deals with actual, literal garbage.
"There's a certain kind of irony there," Szaky tells The News. "Our show wasn't picked up because it's based in New Jersey, but it's an awesome coincidence that just as Jersey is getting big in the world of reality TV, our show is trying to make a run for it."

"Garbage Moguls" follows Szaky, 28, and his young employees at the eco-friendly company TerraCycle Inc., based in Trenton. TerraCycle "upcycles" waste to create usable products and sells them to major companies like Wal-Mart and Target. Some of their most popular items include a pencil case made from Capri Sun juice pouches and tote bags made from plastic bags.

Home Makeovers: $120 Million for Energy-Efficient Upgrades

The U.S. Department of Energy says it has picked about 120 organizations nationwide to receive roughly $120 million to help low-income families cut energy use and save money.

80-acre solar farm in Wyandot County offers glimpse at Ohio's energy future | cleveland.com

UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio -- A part of Ohio's energy future is emerging in a tiny farming town about 100 miles southwest of Cleveland.

There, a subsidiary of a large New Jersey utility has constructed a 'solar farm' on more than 80 acres of county-owned land that grew soybeans until last year. Since April, the glass and silicon farm has 'harvested' the sun.

The PSEG Wyandot Solar Farm consists of 159,200 solar panels -- nearly every one of them made by First Solar of Perrysburg. Together they generate up to 12 million watts, or 12 megawatts, when the sun is shinning."

Chile's Enel To Operate Geothermal Power Plant In 2014 - Exec - WSJ.com

SANTIAGO (Dow Jones)--Chilean power utility Enel Chile is taking steps to open a 40-megawatt geothermal electricity plant in 2014, the company's president, Oscar Valenzuela, said Thursday. Chile, along with Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines, is on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where volcanic activity has produced rich geothermal resources. Enel Chile, a unit of Italian power utility Enel SpA (ENEL.MI), is developing the so-called Apacheta geothermal project in northern Chile, which still requires environmental approval. The Apacheta project's progress will likely lead to the opening of a 40-megawatt geothermal electricity plant in four years, Valenzuela said at an energy conference. The plant would generate 300,000 megawatt hours of electric energy each year, he added."

Delusions Abound on Energy Savings, Study Says - Green Blog - NYTimes.com

When it comes to saving energy, many Americans seem to get it — and at the same time they don’t get it at all.

That’s the takeaway from a new study by researchers from Columbia University, Ohio State University and Carnegie Mellon University who found that people are far more likely to focus on switching off lights or unplugging appliances than on buying new bulbs or more efficient refrigerators. But people’s perceptions of the relative savings of various actions are significantly at variance with reality"

Wind turbine company to plant 600 jobs in Michoud

In what Gov. Bobby Jindal called 'a great win for the New Orleans area' and Mayor Mitch Landrieu termed an 'incredibly exciting announcement,' officials announced Tuesday that a British wind turbine company will begin manufacturing turbine blades and components in part of the rapidly emptying Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans.

Theo Botha, co-founder of Blade Dynamics, announces plans for the company to take up residence at the Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans.

Blade Dynamics Ltd., a 3-year-old company based on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England, designs and manufactures advanced blades designed to increase the efficiency and performance of very high power wind turbines."

A (Load) Balancing Act: The Challenge Of Clean Power : NPR

Solar and wind power are booming in California, but there are times when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. So California utilities are looking to smooth out those bumps by doing something rarely done on the grid today: storing electricity."

The California Independent System Operator is the traffic cop of the state's electrical grid. Its job is to forecast how much electricity the state needs — every four seconds — and to make sure it's supplied. Inside an unmarked building outside of Sacramento, dozens of people are glued to computer screens, and on one wall, there's a display plotting a big red line showing how much electricity California is using right now, in real time.

How Many Cities Have a Ban on Plastic Bags? - Planet Green

It's probably more than you think. We all know how terrible plastic bags are for the environment—they choke wildlife, they don't break down in landfills (or in oceans), they add to our demand for oil, and they aren't easy to recycle, which is the biggest reason why 90 percent of plastic bags in the U.S. are not recycled. Yet an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year—380 billion of those in the U.S.—and governments have been slow-moving at best to do anything about them."

Ideas sprout at ‘green’ schools

For many students heading back to school this year, green is the new black.

From the clothes and appliances they buy to the way they conserve energy and recycle waste, green students are infusing their lives with an environmental perspective.

But even students with the greenest of intentions need guidance, and many got it from King County’s Green Schools program. Out of Issaquah’s 25 schools, 10 have participated in the program: Cascade Ridge, Challenger, Clark, Discovery, Endeavour and Newcastle elementary schools, Beaver Lake, Maywood and Pine Lake middle schools and Liberty High School."

SAP Americas Headquarters Achieves Certification as Pennsylvania's Largest 'LEED Platinum' Building

SAP Newtown Square Building Receives High Points for Energy Efficiency, Water Management and Innovative Design

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Executing on its commitment to sustainability, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that the expansion of its North American headquarters on the Newtown Square campus in Pennsylvania has achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the highest rating given by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Designed by FXFOWLE Architects and opened in May 2009, the 200,000-square-foot building is currently the largest LEED Platinum-certified facility in the State of Pennsylvania."

A New Company Offers Earth-Friendly Products to Compliment Your House, Home, School and Office

With ‘green’ being the latest trend, the greenwash winds are blowing and consumers are left to wonder if the products they are buying stand behind their environmental claims or not. A new company, Ecologic Earth, claims to take these wonders out of eco-conscious consumers’ minds and leave them worry-free when doing their ‘green’ shopping.


More and more people are making a choice to go green in an effort to reduce the damage done to the Earth. There’s a variety of actions that can be taken to help stop the destruction of our planet and Ecologic Earth can help.

Ecologic Earth, LLC is a new company that was founded on the need for eco-friendly products. The company examines thousands of products to find the best ecologically friendly products for home and business use. The company’s core belief is that we don’t have to harm the Earth through daily living."

Quick Chek Introduces First LEED-certified Store

BAYONNE, N.J. -- With a heat-reflecting roof, local building materials and LED lighting, Bayonne's newest Quick Chek convenience store is the company's first LEED-certified store -- and a test case as to whether the 122-unit chain will seek the eco-friendly certification in the future, The Jersey Journal reported.

The store at 20-38 East 53rd St. is scheduled to open at 5 a.m. today, and is the third Quick Chek in the city. The new location includes a gas station, in addition to its extensive food offerings.

Although Quick Chek already uses eco-friendly practices such as high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, and solar panels at its headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J., this marks the first store in which the company decided to go for the LEED certification, a federal program that stamps buildings as environmentally friendly, according to the newspaper report."

Garden Center Magazine : Current Issues Green roofs take root

Garden centers are a natural place to find green roof technology at work, according to Dr. Robert Berghage, of the Center for Green Roof Research at Penn State University, State College, Pa. Not only because garden center owners have an innate knowledge of plants, but also because there’s already product on hand. This new “green” frontier shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for garden centers. Horticulture businesses are presumably good at growing plants, understand their needs and have a good grasp of which growing media works best in containers. “A typical green roof is really just a big, shallow outdoor container with a rock garden in it,” Berghage said. “That being said, the green roof is unique in a number of ways that may pose interesting challenges.” First, the media is different. “We use an inorganic, aggregate-based media in a green roof rather than the organic potting soil most nursery growers are used to,” Berghage said. “This is because the roof will be in place for many years and an organic potting soil will decompose over that period.”"

ASU West installing 17,000 solar panels on campus

10,000 panels to provide energy, shade cars

Students and instructors who pull into the south parking lots of Arizona State University's West campus will find relief from the heat under a project designed to eliminate the university's carbon footprint.

Looming over the parking spaces are massive shade structures made up of hundreds of photovoltaic solar panels. Tilted to the south to catch rays the entire sun-drenched day, the panels are part of a wider solar project that could feed at least half of the campus' energy needs."

Campus groups promote recycling, reducing | Kansan.com

The Center for Sustainability is using Hawk Week to get an early start on promoting eco-friendly habits throughout campus, which includes a sustainability pledge.

“It’s asking students to commit to some specific behaviors and then also along with that we’ll also provide incentives for them to do that,” Jeff Severin, director of the center, said. “It really focuses on reducing waste.”

The pledge kicked off at Unionfest Sunday when the center handed out steel water bottles and will continue tonight at the ice cream social at the Adams Alumni Center with free, reusable shopping bags. The center will wrap up its efforts to promote the R’s — reduce, reuse, recycle — Thursday, when it will pass out cloth napkins at the back-to-school barbecue at Mrs. E’s and more steel water bottles during Rock the Rec."

Going Green, Gradually

Tami Chappell for The New York Times

The SpringHill Suites Atlanta Airport Gateway offers energy-efficient lighting throughout the hotel.

Hotels eager to satisfy the growing desire of business travelers for eco-friendly lodging are finding that their environmental ambitions have run headlong into the harsh realities of the recession.

When the economy was thriving, developers were promoting environmental flourishes like roof gardens, floors of reclaimed wood, and solar panels. When the Orchard Garden Hotel opened in San Francisco in 2006, it featured furniture made from sustainably grown wood.

But now, with reduced operating budgets, hotel owners are putting off the kind of sweeping projects that were common during the bull market and instead focusing on smaller environmental initiatives that don’t cost as much and may even save money at the same time
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A renter's guide to eco-friendly living - You don't have to own your home to help protect the environment

Leslie Gant, 27, has furnished her rented Westwood condo with salvaged furniture, finds her wardrobe at thrift shops and clothing swaps, flushes her toilet sparingly and cleans with old rags.(Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times / August 15, 2010)

So you're a renter and you want to green your space, but your landlord won't splurge on solar panels.

Don't fret. There are plenty of low-cost ways for apartment dwellers to be eco-friendly.

You can be a green tenant by unplugging appliances or using chemical-free products. It's as easy as fixing leaky faucets or installing window treatments to conserve heat in the winter and to keep your place cool in summer without cranking up the air conditioning.

Pinal County builders offering new residents more ways to go green

Local homebuilders are utilizing solar power and other green technologies to lower energy costs and keep homes cooler. Communities in San Tan Valley and Florence have utilized high-efficiency solar power systems and state-of-the-art homebuilding materials to give potential buyers a green option.

Mike Fraley, spokesperson for Shea Homes, said the environmentally sound technology in place at their Encanterra community in San Tan Valley is part of a serious effort to join the green movement. “We’re not just labeling it green,” Fraley said, “We have done things to really enhance the performance of the homes from a design perspective.”

The Encanterra homes are powered through a three-kilowatt solar power generation system with panels that are seamlessly integrated onto the roof. “Driving by, you’re not going to really notice that we have solar roof systems because it fits the architecture,” he said. The solar power comes standard with Shea’s Ultra-Green package homes, which are priced between the mid-$100,000s up to $350,000."

Utilities to push energy-savings programs to meet '20 goal

Would you volunteer to have your air conditioner shut off on one of the hottest days of the year?

Would you upgrade your air conditioner if you got a hefty rebate?

How about an energy audit of your home or business?

Those are some of the things Arizona electric customers will see pitched their way as Tucson Electric Power Co. and other state-regulated utilities try to meet tough new energy-efficiency standards approved recently by the Arizona Corporation Commission.

The commission in late July mandated that state-regulated utilities including TEP achieve energy savings totaling 22 percent by 2020 - among the highest such goals in the nation.

The standards, which are lower for electric cooperatives, will forestall the need to build new power plants, minimize rate increases and help protect the environment, Corporation Commission Chairman Kris Mayes said.

'The 'negawatt' ' - electricity you don't have to generate because of energy-efficiency gains - 'is the cheapest form of electricity,' Mayes said"

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Alternative Energy: Will U.S. Lead or Follow?

Oil Spill Turns American Minds to Renewable Power Sources As Inventors, Investors Wait for Gov't to Get Serioust

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   (AP)

• INTERACTIVEEnergy Ed.
  A look at our sources of energy and how we use them to live and work.
• INTERACTIVEAlternative Energy
  Learn about the types of renewable energy that are used in the U.S. and the regions of the country considered to be most suitable for each kind.

(CBS)  Imagine a future in which abundant energy could be ours, simply by harnessing the wind, or capturing sunlight, or tapping into the heat of the Earth itself. Seth Doane explores America's alternative energy hopes and challenges: 

In the wake of the Gulf oil disaster, calls for cleaner, greener energy, are growing louder.

"Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America's innovation to seize control of our own destiny," President Obama said in June.

If that rallying cry sounds strangely familiar, it should.

In January of 2006, Mr. Obama's predecessor George W. Bush said America "must move beyond a petroleum-based economy to make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past."

In June 2000, then-President Bill Clinton stressed the need to, "maximize conservation and maximize the development of alternative sources of energy."

Going back even further, Richard Nixon declared in January of 1967 that the U.S. would "break the back of the energy crisis" by the end of the decade.

Read more at CBS NEWS