According to a new report, “American Wind Farms: Breaking Down the Benefits from Planning to Production,” released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), on average a 250 megawatt wind farm will create 1,079 jobs throughout the sector including manufacturing, construction engineering and management. Yet, NRDC says the benefits don’t end there. A second study, “At Wind Speed: How the U.S. …
Schools in Japan Complete Solar Projects
Sometimes good things really do come out of something bad. The Great East Japan Earthquake devastated schools, businesses, homes and lives. But this week, the Japan Reconstruction Fund held a ceremony at Shinchi Elementary School to commemorate the completion of several solar facilities in four public elementary and junior high schools in the town of Shinchi in Soma-gun, Fukushima Prefecture. The solar …
Wind Power & Biodiversity
In June, over 40 individuals from various European public and private entities came together in Lisbon to discuss how impacts on biodiversity by wind energy projects could be decreased. The result is a series of presentations regarding, “Wind Power and Biodiversity: Tools to Measure, Avoid and Compensate Impacts.” The workshop, organized by EDP, Bio3 and the Fundacion Global Nature, demonstrated …
Renewable Energy Part of Obama Acceptance
Renewable energy was part of President Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday night as the Democratic nominee for 2012. “We have doubled our use of renewable energy, and thousands of Americans have jobs today building wind turbines and long-lasting batteries,” Obama said to applause. “In the last year alone, we cut oil imports by 1 million barrels a day, more than any …
China Dominates Renewable Energy Market
According to the most recent Global Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices Report (CAI), China will continue to dominate the global renewable energy market. The country has quadrupled its solar capacity target to 50GW by 2020. At the top of the All Renewable Index (ARI), China will have to overcome some challenges including oversupply of wind turbines and solar panels as …
Wind Energy – There’s an App for That
There is an app for pretty much anything you can dream up and now there is an iPad app for wind and solar energy. Developed by Capstone Turbine Corporation, “Capstone World 2.0,” is an application where a person can determine energy cost savings and carbon dioxide emission reduction numbers of city buildings if he switched to microturbines, solar power or …
Offshore Wind Project Hub Installation Scheduled
The Blyth Offshore Wind Demonstration Site has sailed some rough waters but now appears to be back on course with smooth sailing ahead. SeaRoc, who was recently awarded a contract for the project, has announced it will charter MPI Adventure to aid in the installation of Narec’s Offshore Anemometry Hub (NOAH). MPI Adventure is a dedicated vessel to transport, lift …
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 …
Romney Energy Plan Includes Renewables
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is rolling out his energy plan with the goal to “achieve North American energy independence by 2020 and establish America as an energy superpower in the 21st century.” With a strong emphasis on opening up and developing more domestic sources for petroleum, the Romney plan does include a small mention of renewable sources and one line …
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 …