The Department of Interior and the California Department of Natural Resources have released a draft Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). The proposal is a combined state and federal effort – including collaborations between the Bureau of Land Management, the California Energy Commission, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plus input from NRDC, conservation groups, renewable energy companies and other stakeholders. The draft is an unprecedented opportunity to provide a framework for “smart from the start” planning efforts that guide renewable energy development to areas with low environmental and wildlife risk, and conserve the desert’s wildlife, wilderness and treasured landscapes.- Lumos Solar, a Boulder has introduced their SmartPark Solar EV Charging Station, featuring the new GSX Glass-Glass Frameless Module System. The company believes SmartPark will revolutionize how solar and EV charging are integrated. The cantilevered SmartPark structures are pre-engineered, prefabricated and designed to be easily deployable in residential, commercial and institutional settings.
- Sol Systems has announced the successful financing of a 944 kilowatt solar project in partnership with its investor client, Washington Gas Energy Systems (WGES), a subsidiary of WGL. The operational solar energy system is located at Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, Calif., and A-C Electric served as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider.
- Media reports about ISIS control of some Middle East oil fields brings up the question of disruption of global oil supplies and pricing. Shanjun Li, an expert on the economics of energy and an assistant professor at Cornell University’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, says that the potential disruption in production from the ISIS-controlled region will have an insignificant impact on the global oil market. He proposes two scenarios: U.S. consumption reduces proportionally to the world. That is, the consumption has to go down by 16,000 barrels a day – or 0.08 percent of its daily total. The U.S. gasoline price would increase by 1.4 cents to 2.8 cents per gallon, based on the current price of $3.50 per gallon; and scenario two: U.S. consumption reduces by all 80,000 barrels a day – which is 0.4 percent of its daily total. The gasoline price would increase by seven to 14 cents per gallon with scenario one most likely to happen.