The 156 MW Comanche Solar project located in Pueblo, Colorado has broken ground. When completed, SunEdison, project owner, said it will be the largest solar power plant east of the Rocky Mountains and the largest in Colorado. The farm will product more than 300 gigawatt-hours of energy per year. “The Comanche Solar project demonstrates SunEdison’s ability to deliver renewable energy …
Vivent Solar & Google Team on Project Sunroof
Vivent Solar is teaming up with Google on “Project Sunroof,” a new online tool created by Google that provides homeowners with custom solar information for their home. It works through high-resolution aerial mapping (Google Earth technology) to help calculate a roof’s solar energy potential. “Vivint Solar teaming up with Google is giving homeowners across the country immediate insight, information and …
Geothermal May be Africa’s Energy Solution
Representatives from 12 African countries gathered in Nairobi recently to discuss the feasibility of establishing the Africa Geothermal Centre of Excellence (AGCE). The center would work to improve the continent’s institutional and infrastructural capacities including bringing and training geothermal scientists an engineers. Around 600 million people in Africa lack access to grid electricity, with the number expected to rise to …
Santorum, Sanders Miss Energy Boat, Chafee Pro Hydro
There are a lot of candidates vying to be the next president of the United States floating around the Iowa State Fair, but for being in Iowa, many are missing the boat on two very important issues to the state – energy and agriculture. This weekend, presidential candidates Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator of Pennsylvania (Republican); Lincoln Chafee, former Governor …
Republicans Carson, Pataki on the Soapbox
Republican presidential hopefuls Dr. Ben Carson and former New York Governor George Pataki took the Des Moines Register Soapbox during the Iowa State Fair this weekend with a common message of reducing America’s debt. Dr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, focused much of his remarks on personal stories yet engaged the crowd with lessons learned. For example, he said, “The person …
Jeb Bush Kicks off Fair Speech on Energy
Republican Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and presidential hopeful, kicked off his time on the Presidential Soapbox promoting his support of renewable energy and agriculture. Florida has a huge agriculture community and is home to one of the first advanced cellulosic facilities, Ineos Bio located in Vera Beach, that began production in May of 2013. The plant uses wood, …
Dems Webb & O’Malley Take the Soapbox
Democratic hopeful presidential candidates Jim Webb and Martin O’Malley both appeared on the Des Moines Register’s Presidential Soapbox yesterday afternoon speaking to hundreds of Iowans attending the Iowa State Fair. They have some fundamental issues in common, including both the need for better education and to bring the American dream, aka the economy, back to Americans. While Webb’s plans to …
Tigo Powers Solar-Battery, Off-Grid Home
Tigo Energy along with PV installer Renewable Energy Services (RES) has developed one of the largest residential solar microgrid installations in the world located on the Bakkan Hale property in Hawaii. Earl Bakken, inventor of the first battery-powered pacemaker and founder of Medtronic, is behind the solar-battery project that will be equipped with 176kW ground mounted PV moduels powered by …
Officials Highlight Need for Stable Energy Policy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released new data showing the cost of wind energy has declined by nearly two-thirds over the last six years according to the report 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report. DOE Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz noted, however, that to keep the momentum going there must be stable energy policy. “With declining costs and continued technological …
Battleground States Support Clean Energy
According to new poll results in eight battleground states, there is widespread support for the Clean Power Plan. This week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released final rules. Overall, 58 percent support the plan while 40 percent oppose it after hearing arguments for and against the plan. States polled included Virginia, Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Colorado, Nevada, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. …