U.S. Green Building Council certifies 1 billion square feet
The U.S. Green Building Council, as it kicks off its annual Greenbuild conference this week, is announcing a major milestone: its certified commercial buildings now exceed 1 billion square feet. Another 6 billion or so square feet of projects are registered around the world under the private group's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program, one of the most comprehensive and best-known green building standards. "This traction demonstrates the transformation of the way we design, build and operate buildings," said Rick Fedrizzi, the group's president and CEO, in a statement. "Not only does green building contribute to saving energy, water and money, it also creates green jobs that will grow and energize our economy." LEED's rapid growth continued, albeit at a slower pace, during the recent U.S. economic downtown, according to the group's data. Since it was introduced in 2000, more than 36,000 commercial projects and 38,000 single-family homes have participated and of those, 7,194 commercial projects and 8,611 homes are complete and have met the criteria. LEED requires reductions in energy and water use as well as recyclable, locally sourced and non-toxic building materials.
$450M Solar-powered Neighborhood Is Coming To Boston
After a decade of wrangling, developer John Rosenthal will break ground today with his ambitious plan to build a solar-powered neighborhood near Fenway Park, filling several acres of parking lots with apartments, offices, stores, and a revamped transit station. The five-building complex, known as Fenway Center, will be unlike anything now standing in Boston, with solar panels to generate much of its electricity. The development will fill a large void between Brookline Avenue and Beacon Street, along and over the Massachusetts Turnpike, and result in the construction of new roads that will improve travel around the neighborhood. “This is going to turn ugly, underutilized parking lots into a world-class neighborhood,’’ Rosenthal said. He won city approval for the project in 2009 and has since been working to get state permits and secure financing in the down economy. While private funding for the $450 million project is not locked down, the groundbreaking kicks off the public transportation improvements that will help clear the way for the development.
GE To Buy 25,000 Electric Cars
GE said on Thursday that it will buy 25,000 electric vehicles for its fleet through 2015 in the "largest-ever" purchase of electric cars. GE will begin with a purchase of 12,000 Chevy Volts from General Motors Co. The purchases will begin in 2011, said GE. GE says that because of its size and technology the company is uniquely positioned to bring the electric vehicles into the mainstream. GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said the purchase will help to "move electric vehicles from anticipation to action." "Wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles will also drive clean energy innovation, strengthen energy security and deliver economic value," he said. GM Chief Executive Daniel Akerson described the deal with GE as "a marriage made in heaven" for both corporations." "We're interested in [GE's] watt station, their charging stations," said Akerson. "It dovetails well with this electric vehicle [the Volt] and electric vehicle development across the automobile industry." GE has a current fleet of 30,000 vehicles which are used by GE employees to conduct their business. The conglomerate said it "will add other [electric] vehicles as manufacturers bring them to market." The Chevrolet Volt is expected to roll off production lines later this month.
Eco-fatigue? Green No Longer Red Hot Says One Media Study?
Green marketing, a movement so hot that not even a deep recession could kill it, is starting to show signs of consumer revolt. At the very least, it's a signal that green alone isn't enough of a marketing proposition; at most, it could signal consumers simply aren't buying the benefits of environmentally positioned products and brands. In recent months, sales have begun to slow in categories such as green cleaners and grow in not-so-sustainable ones like bottled water as shoppers decide they may not be worth the tradeoff. And a September study showed big swings in the number of consumers who believe environmentally friendly alternatives are too expensive, don't work as well as other products and aren't actually better for the environment — all of which seem to add up to what Timothy Kenyon, director of the GfK Roper Green Gauge study calls "green fatigue."
Increasing the Efficiency of Utility-Scale Solar Plants with Secure Wireless Technology
Solar plants can exist over a large geographical area and operators must be able to easily and quickly determine the ‘health,' status and performance of individual assets and the system as a whole.
Studies on Lignin Substitute for Diesel Fuels
Lignin as a substitute for diesel fuel is derivative waste from agricultural and forestry production, which does not need any dedicated cultivation and is regenerated at a rate of 50 billion tons per year on the Earth. Therefore, lignin does not have resource supplies constraint or cost concern. Taken into account cellulose pulp as a byproduct in lignin production, the actual cost of lignin is almost zero.
Sonelis Technologies: Custom Shape Solar Panels
As the market for solar powered devices matures, more and more consumers will demand aesthetics to play a bigger role in the overall design of the product. Adding a black rectangular solar panel on top of a device might not be good enough anymore.
Full Green Ahead In The Ontario Job Market
The Ontario Government's decision to promote clean renewable energy is now proving to be a catalyst for creating thousands of new green collar jobs in the province.
New feed in Tariff scheme approved in Italy
About 1,5 GW of power settled, an annual national grow rate of 100% and more than 800 MW installed in the last year: the Italian PV is one of the most interesting market of renewable energies in the world.
Non-Metallic Enclosures
Stahlin provides state-of-the-art electrical enclosures made from non-metal material for outdoor and indoor industrial use. All types of electrical junction boxes enclosures are manufactured with the highest attention to detail.
New OIL MARKET AND SUPPLY STUDY FROM UC DAVIS
At the current pace of research and development, global oil will run out 90 years before replacement technologies are ready, says a new University of California, Davis, study based on stock market expectations. The forecast was published online Monday (Nov. 8) in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. It is based on the theory that long-term investors are good predictors of whether and when new energy technologies will become commonplace. "Our results suggest it will take a long time before renewable replacement fuels can be self-sustaining, at least from a market perspective," said study author Debbie Niemeier, a UC Davis professor of civil and environmental engineering. Niemeier and co-author Nataliya Malyshkina, a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher, set out to create a new tool that would help policymakers set realistic targets for environmental sustainability and evaluate the progress made toward those goals. Two key elements of the new theory are market capitalizations (based on stock share prices) and dividends of publicly owned oil companies and alternative-energy companies. Other analysts have previously used similar equations to predict events in finance, politics and sports. "Sophisticated investors tend to put considerable effort into collecting, processing and understanding information relevant to the future cash flows paid by securities," said Malyshkina. "As a result, market forecasts of future events, representing consensus predictions of a large number of investors, tend to be relatively accurate." Niemeier said the new study's findings are a warning that current renewable-fuel targets are not ambitious enough to prevent harm to society, economic development and natural ecosystems. "We need stronger policy impetus to push the development of these alternative replacement technologies along," she said.
2010 Geothermal Energy Expo Wrapped with Record Attendance
More than 2,500 attendees from 42 different states and 13 different countries came together in Sacramento for the 34th annual Geothermal Energy Expo, the largest gathering of geothermal energy leaders in the world. The sold out Expo Hall featured 162 exhibitors coming from 34 different states and 10 different countries. Leading companies including Halliburton, Ormat, Stoel Rives LLP, Shaw, Calpine, Geothermal Resource Group, Mitsubishi Power Systems, Enel Green Power, Gradient Resource, Power Engineers, Ruen Drilling Incorporated and Ram Power Corp were in attendance. “The strong growth of the geothermal industry is clearly reflected in this expo, which continues to bring more and more people to see the promise that clean and renewable geothermal power presents.” said GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell. “It’s not just here at home. The U.S. is the leader in geothermal power, and other countries look to America for its expertise. That’s why we had representatives from across the globe at this year’s expo.” High Expectations Will Greet 2011 Expo in San Diego
L.A. to reduce solar-panel rebates in 2011
Los Angeles residents who are considering installing solar panels have an incentive to act quickly: On Tuesday, the city's Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved changes to the Solar Incentive Program that will reduce rebates starting Jan. 1. The Department of Water and Power's present rebate is $3.24 for every watt installed. A 4-kilowatt system, for example, would receive a $12,960 rebate. In 2011, that rate will decline to $2.20. That same 4-kilowatt system will see its rebate drop to $8,800 come Jan. 1. Further reductions -- to $1.50 per watt and, ultimately, to 60 cents -- will roll out as time passes and the utility meets goals for home-generated electricity. The DWP has been deluged with applications for residential solar rebates since 2009, when the U.S. Emergency Economic Stabilization Act kicked in, replacing a $2,000 federal tax credit cap with a dollar amount equal to 30% of the installation cost. The average residential solar system costs between $35,000 and $40,000. L.A. homes generate 22 megawatts each year, far less than 1% of the 25,000 gigawatt-hours used in the city annually. Source: LA Times
Panasonic Invests $30M In Tesla Motors
Panasonic has invested $30 million in Tesla Motors , building upon a multi-year collaboration of the two companies to accelerate the market expansion of the electric vehicle, the companies said. The investment was made through the purchase of Tesla common stock in a private placement at a price of $21.15 per share. Panasonic is a major battery cell manufacturer and a supplier to the global automotive industry. Tesla currently uses Panasonic battery cells in its advanced battery packs and has collaborated with Panasonic on the development of next-generation battery cells designed specifically for electric vehicles. While Tesla's current battery strategy incorporates proprietary packaging using cells from multiple battery suppliers, Tesla has selected Panasonic as its preferred lithium-ion battery cell supplier for its battery packs, the CE manufacturer said.
Going Solar On Your Shingle Roof? Think Again...
The lifetime cost issue of solar -- and one that many people never consider -- is that rooftop PV systems may have to be removed and reinstalled if the roof needs replacement or repairs, which is almost a certainty with asphalt/shingle roofs. While PV systems typically lose a small portion of their potential output (less than 1 percent each year), the systems can operate for decades longer than the typical residential or commercial roof (10-12 years in Georgia). In other words, roofs are likely to be replaced at least once during the typical life of a PV system. According to a report from GRIST.ORG , reinstalling a residential rooftop PV system could cost $6,250 or 25 percent of the installed cost of the system. In our investigation, we found that moving residential PV systems to accommodate a roof replacement could cost as much as 25 percent of the initial system cost (and over 35 percent of the net cost after the application of the 30 percent federal tax credit). Moving systems on a commercial roof was less expensive, on the order of 15 percent of initial installed cost (around 25 percent of the system cost after the tax credit). Source text.
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