There’s more green on this golf course than the “greens.” The Meadow Club in Fairfax, California has just completed a solar power system installation that consists of 2.057 square feet of Sharp solar panels. The project was a venture between Novato and SolarCraft, a solar energy contractor, and the operational solar system is located on the Club’s maintenance building. It …
UC Davis Strives for Zero Net Energy Campus
University of California, Davis is striving to become a zero net energy campus. The first development will be the UC Davis West Village. The development will combine advanced energy efficient design features that include a 4 megawatt (MW) SunPower solar power system. The solar system, comprised of both rooftop and solar canopies installed in parking areas, will generate the equivalent …
FAO Studies Pros & Cons of Bioenergy
FAO has released a new report that contains methodology designed to aid policymakers assess the pros and cons of investing in the bioenergy industry. The “Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Analytical Framework” was written to help governments evaluate the potential of bioenergy as well as assess its possible food security impacts. The framework was developed over a three-year time frame …
50% of India’s Fuel Needs Could Be Met By Biofuels
One million jobs could be created in India over the next decade through the transformation of agricultural waste into biofuel. Should this occur, biofuels could meet 59 percent of the demand for liquid transportation fuels by 2020. This according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance study, “Next-generation Ethanol: What’s in it for India,” commissioned by Novozymes. Already, the Indian government …
Book Review – Energy Myths & Realities
This week I decided to bone up on some energy 101 so I read “Energy Myths & Realities” by Vaclav Smil, an energy scientist. He discusses eight myths and attempts to set the record straight by disseminating the true facts around the issues. He believes several of the myths have been mired in the past while others are perpetuated by …
Don’t Mess with the RFS
The U.S. biofuels industry sent a message to Congress today asking them not to mess with the RFS. Specifically, the industry encouraged lawmakers “to stand firm in the face of calls to waive or repeal the groundbreaking biofuels provisions included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), including the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).” Several biofuel organizations came …
New E85 Station Opens in Redwood City, CA
A new E85 station has opened in Redwood City, California, the hometown of Propel Fuels. As gas prices remain high, more and more California motorists are moving to renewable fuels to fill their tanks. This is just one of many E85 stations that Propel plans on opening in the Bay area (San Francisco). In an event to officially open the …
App Use Strong On Smartphones
According to our latest ZimmPoll you’re using lots of apps on your smartphones. Well, at least some of you are. Over a third of our respondents said they have more than forty apps on their smartphone. That was followed though by another third who said they only have zero to ten apps. Seventeen percent said they have 20 to 30 …
ICM Files for Corn Oil Separation Patent
ICM has announced the company has filed for a non-provisional patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with the U.S. as receiving office. The patent will cover ICM’s newest development to its Advanced Oil System, a corn oil extraction technology. Also filed was a petition to …
Algae Waste Water, Ag Runoff Projects Underway in Europe
OriginOil, Inc. and its French partner Ennesys have confirmed they are working with various institutions to develop two separate large-scale algae projects. Global 500 Multinational Bouygues Construction has engaged Ennesys to study the integration of waste water algae production in two building projects in the Greater Paris region both at the scale of a million square feet (80,000 m2 and …