I must confess to you readers that I have furniture by IKEA in my home and in fact, drove to Minneapolis/St. Paul for a weekend just to go shopping. Now, this same store officially plugged-in its new solar panels installed in its Twin Cities store in Bloomington, Minnesota. The 128,000 square-foot PV array consists of 1,014 kW system built with …
NPS Turbines Surpass 2M Hours of Operation
The wind is definitely blowing these days and this is one of the reasons that wind energy is a great alternative energy source. Today Northern Power Systems is celebrating a milestone: its NPS 100 permanent magnet direct drive (PM/DD) wind turbine fleet has surpassed two million hours of operation. The company’s 100 kW fleet began operating in 2008 at nearly 98% demonstrating …
Organic Produce Company Harnesses Solar
Food producers and manufacturers continue to harness the sun. Watsonville Coast Produce, based in Watsonville, California, has just gone online with a 739.2 kW solar power system to generate all the electricity needed to power its agricultural distribution facility. The 44,000 square foot warehouse has nearly 450,000 cubic feet of refrigerated space to house its organic produce before being shipped …
Republican Nat’l Convention Fueled with Natural Gas
The upcoming 2012 Republican National Convention being hosted by Tampa, Florida, shuttle buses will be fueled with compressed natural gas (CNG). The buses, coined GOP EZ Shuttles, will be transporting participants to hotels and local attractions. America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) is coordinating with local TECO Peoples Gas and Ultimate CNG to provide the CNG fuel for the shuttles. ANGA says CNG …
California Releases 2012 Bioenergy Action Plan
California has released its 2012 Bioenergy Action Plan with the goal of improving the timeline to market of energy development, job creation and protection of public health and safety. The state defines bioenergy as energy produced from organic waste such as forest, urban and agricultural that would otherwise go into a landfill or be burned. The state is looking at …
Old Yellow House Gets Net Zero with Help of Solar
It may not be effective to be passive person but it is good to be a passive home. East Bay (California) general contractor Anthony Maramonte of Mara Construction has partnered with Jame P. Wright an architect with Net Zero Homes to restore the historic “The Old Yellow House” to be model of energy efficiency. A passive home is an ultra …
NYSE Euronext Supports Wind Energy
The NYSE Euronext is a supporter of wind energy. The exchange purchased renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Green Mountain Energy Company for its 2011 electricity use. The RECs purposed were generated from 100 percent wind energy sources. “We are making commitments across the board to operate sustainably, and our decision to choose 100% wind renewable energy certificates for our electricity …
Smart Forvision Concept Vehicle Unveiled
Daimler, in conjunction with BASF and the American Chemistry Council (ACC), have unveiled a new smart forvision concept vehicle that was designed to save energy and enhance sustainability through vehicle efficiency. One of the energy-efficiency features is a light-transmitting roof with solar cells designed to generate energy and power the vehicle’s climate control system. In addition, the car features an infrared-reflective …
CGE Offers Wind Energy Grants
Schools, governments, public facilities and public school sectors have the opportunity to apply for a wind energy grant that will help institutions reduce their energy bills for five years. Sponsored by Clean Green Energy (CGE), the “Wind for a Better Community Grant” will be awarded to up to 25 institutions for five years. The grant recipients’ buildings will be powered by …
Solar Energy Industry Gets Legislative Win in NY
The solar industry in New York state got a legislative win when Governor Andrew Cuomo approved several bills that give tax exemptions to solar projects in the state. Earlier this month the Governor announced $30 million in funding for 16 PV projects through an NY-Sun sub-program as well as $107 million in funding for customer-sited solar photovoltaic (PV) projects larger …