Solectria – A Yaskawa Company, has announced the introduction of its Rapid Shutdown (RSD) Combiner for single-phase inverters. This RSD Combiner option offers a complete solution to NEC 2014, Article 690.12 requiring rooftop installations to de-energize conductors outside of a 10 foot boundary from the array.- “Analysis of Public Policies that Unintentionally Encourage and Subsidize Sprawl,” written for the New Climate Economy by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, finds that urban sprawl costs the American economy more than US$1 trillion annually, according to a new study by the New Climate Economy. These costs include greater spending on infrastructure, public service delivery and transportation. The study finds that Americans living in sprawled communities directly bear an astounding $625 billion in extra costs. In addition, all residents and businesses, regardless of where they are located, bear an extra $400 billion in external costs. Correcting this problem provides an opportunity to increase economic productivity, improve public health and protect the environment.
- Sungevity, Inc. has announced that it has expanded its solar solutions to the commercial market, a new channel for the company, in partnership with Sol Systems. Sungevity will focus on the underserved small business sector consisting of systems that are sized between 50 – 300KW. Sungevity has serviced the residential market since selling its first solar system in 2008 and has a footprint in 12 U.S. states; Washington, D.C.; the Netherlands and Australia.
- Elio Motors has announced it has launched a 506(c) investment option that will allow accredited investors the opportunity to buy into the revolutionary transportation start-up for as little as $15,000. The funds will be used to help the company launch an enclosed three-wheeled vehicle that is expected to sell for $6,800, and get up to 84 MPG. The company’s targeted production date is the first half of 2016.
MIT Climate CoLab Seeks World Changing Ideas
Earth Day is April 22, 2015 but climate change is on many minds year round. This week Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Climate CoLab announced twenty-two contests that seek high-impact ideas on how to tackle climate change. A project of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, the Climate CoLab is attempting to harness the knowledge and expertise of thousands of experts and non-experts across the world to help solve this issue. The Climate CoLab has a rapidly growing community of over 30,000 members from across the world. Anyone is welcome to join the platform to submit their own ideas, or comment on and show support for other proposals on the site.
“As systems like Linux and Wikipedia have shown, people from around the world—connected by the Internet—can work together to solve complex problems in very new ways,” said MIT Sloan Professor Thomas Malone, director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and principal investigator for the Climate CoLab project. “In the Climate CoLab, we’re applying this approach to one of the world’s most difficult problems—climate change.”
The contests cover a broad set of sub-problems that lie at the heart of the climate change challenge including: decarbonizing energy supply, shifting public attitudes and behavior, adapting to climate change, geoengineering, transportation, waste management, reducing consumption, and others.
The popular U.S. Carbon Price contest is returning this year, which seeks innovative policy and political mobilization strategies on how to implement a carbon price in the United States. Serving as Advisors for this contest are Former U.S. Secretary of State, George P. Shultz; former U.S. Representative (R-SC) and current Director of the Energy and Enterprise Initiative, Bob Inglis; and, former U.S. Representative (D-IN) and current President of Resources for the Future, Phil Sharp.Read More
Proposed Oregon Biomass Plant Seeks Energy Buyer
A proposed biomass plant in Oregon is getting closer to getting off the ground, if it can just find a buyer for the energy it produces. This article from The Columbian says the city of La Pine could get a wood-burning power plant.
“It’s just been on hold due to market conditions,” said Rob Broberg, president of Biogreen Sustainable Energy Co. “And we plan on holding out until we are able to market and sell power.”
The company must find an energy buyer to make the planned plant economically viable, said Rick Allen, La Pine city manager.
“They need to find a power company that wants to buy their power,” he said. “That’s really the issue.”
The $75 million, 25-megawatt biomass plant would produce enough electricity to power about 19,000 homes, Broberg said. The plant would burn wood — limbs and other scrap left over after logging, debris from thinning projects and urban waste — to heat water, create steam and turn a turbine.
Biogreen has been trying to build a biomass plant in the forest-surrounded city of La Pine for more than five years.
NY Considers State Biodiesel Heating Oil Mandate
A measure before the New York state legislature would require biodiesel to be mixed into every gallon of heating oil sold in the state. This article from The Legislative Gazette says the bill would set a 2 percent mandate and start no later than July 1, 2016 if it is passed.
Bill A.6070 is sponsored by Assemblyman Steven Englebright, D- Setauket, in the Assembly and has the support of environmental groups, consumer groups, labor unions and farmers.
“Clean air is really a birthright for New Yorkers and this will help underwrite that premise,” Englebright said. “We think it is part of a whole series of measures that we’re going to have to take to clean up our environment in the state.”
Kevin Rooney, CEO of the Oil Heating Institute of Long Island, supports the use of biodiesel because it provides many benefits.
“The use of biofuels blended with ultra-low sulfur heating oil provides unquestioned energy efficiency, it provides environmental benefits, it increases or enhances public health benefits at no cost whatsoever to the end-use consumer, the home owner,” Rooney said.
The Ways and Means Committee is currently considering the bill.
Hawaii Trans Director Commits to 20% Biodiesel
Hawaii’s head of its state transportation department is committing his agency to using a 20 percent blend of biodiesel, B20. This article from Big Island Now says State Transportation Director Ford Fuchigami made the remarks as he, Governor David Ige and Lieutenant Governor Shan Tsutsui toured Pacific Biodiesel’s refinery this week during Biodiesel Day.
“We are committed to convert all of our diesel fuel equipment and vehicles to B20. This fuel is a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. We support initiatives to buy local and promote the use of clean energy fuels,” Fuchigami said.
During the visit, Gov. Ige emphasized the state’s serious commitment to food security and energy sustainability. He commended Pacific Biodiesel for being a global pioneer in the field of biofuels and for company president Robert King’s vision to position Hawai’i to become an energy independent and self-sustainable state.
The City & County of Honolulu have been using B20 for more than a decade.
Solar Impulse 2 Takes to the Skies
Solar Impulse 2 has set off on a 35,000-kilometer journey around the world, powered only by solar energy. Schindler, a leading global elevator and escalator provider, is one of the project’s four main partners and welcomed the aircraft as it stops over at the Mandalay International Airport in Mandalay, Myanmar.
The Solar Impulse 2 is a single-seater aircraft made of carbon fiber, with a 72 meter wingspan – larger than that of the Boeing 747 – weighting just 2,300 kg. The 17,248 solar 
cells built into the wing supply four electric motors (17.5 CV each) with renewable energy. During the day, the solar cells recharge lithium batteries, weighing 633 kg, that allow the aircraft to fly at night and therefore to have virtually unlimited autonomy.
The aircraft took off from Abu Dhabi on March 9, 2015 and will stop at 12 locations. The route includes stops in Muscat, Oman; Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; Mandalay, Myanmar; and Chongqing and Nanjing, China. After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, Solar Impulse 2 will fly across the USA stopping in three locations —Phoenix, a location in the Midwest and New York City at JFK. After crossing the Atlantic, the final legs include a stop-over in Southern Europe or North Africa before arriving back in Abu Dhabi. With the plane traveling at a maximum speed of 90 to 140 km/h, depending on the flying altitude, the journey will take five months to complete, including 25 days of flight time.
Schindler, which has been operating in Myanmar since 1999, is proud to participate in the project. “This is a historic moment and we are delighted to be part of a team that shares 
the same pioneering spirit and passion for engineering excellence, with the common objective to move people safely while using less energy,” said Jujudhan Jena, Chief Executive of Jardine Schindler Group.
Solar Impulse’s founders have welcome Schindler’s participation as an important illustration of how forward-looking companies are approaching sustainable development and seeing the industrial potential of using clean technology and renewable energy.
“Our partnership with Solar Impulse exemplifies our longstanding dedication to invest in clean technologies for sustainable mobility,” added Jena. “Just like those of the Solar Impulse team, the intensive efforts made by our R&D teams over the years have given birth to ground-breaking solutions that have redefined industry standards.”
Survey: Electric Grid 70% Renewable by 2050
According to a new survey from DNV GL, there is a global consensus that a renewables based electricity system can be achieved. More than 1,600 energy sector participants representing more than 70 countries participated in a study addressing three key 
questions on how to move forward the integration of renewables into the global electricity grids of the future. Eight out of 10 respondents believe that the electricity system can be 70 percent renewable by 2050 while nearly half of the respondents believe this can be achieved in the next 15 years. The culmination of the study was published in the report, “Beyond Integration: Three dynamics reshaping renewables and the grid“.
Key questions asked included posing a scenario in which renewables account for 70 percent of power sector generation. How likely did they feel this was to come about? What time frame might they assign to such a scenario? To whom would the scenario pose challenges? To whom might it offer opportunities?
The analysis sheds light on three dynamics reshaping renewables and the grid for the energy transition: convergence of metrics, rebalancing of rules and expansion of horizons.
David Walker, CEO DNV GL-Energy, said of the report, “DNV GL’s analysis of these findings concludes that the solution for a high renewables future demands a dramatic change in the industry’s approach to the integration of new technology. We need to adopt more collaborative approaches and go beyond old metrics, beyond old rules and beyond old silos. A shift away from a paradigm in which renewables are considered a nuisance to be accommodated to one in which the true potential of renewables in balancing and securing grids is unlocked. The debate needs to move ‘beyond integration’. DNV GL is taking the broader view and opening that discussion.”
Report findings are organised around three dynamics, which DNV GL sees reshaping not just electricity, but the entire energy sector:
- Convergence – New economic metrics must converge the needs of policymakers and system operators. The survey indicates that policymakers and system operators place diverging demands on renewable developers. Qualitative data stress that securing political will depends on affordability, while in a high renewables future developers must also engage with the increasing system operation challenges.
- Rebalancing – New rules are needed to rebalance the opportunities and challenges for developers and system operators. Developers, independent power producers and original equipment manufacturers are relishing the opportunities brought about by the shift to a high renewables system, while system operators and utilities identify themselves as being challenged by the transition.
- Expansion – New entrepreneurial solutions will expand the electricity business into a true ‘internet of energy’. Current high interest in energy storage, which 66 percent of respondents select as a top 3 lever for a high renewables future, is an example of the increasingly blurry lines between power, transport and heat. Meanwhile, respondents’ emphasis on smart grids underscores the role for IT in helping to manage the variability of renewables. The electricity sector is becoming more interconnected with the wider energy system, and also with newer sectors such as IT.
BioEnergy Bytes
- Aria Energy has announced the beginning of commercial operations and renewable energy production at Sarasota County’s Central County Solid Waste Disposal Complex located in Nokomis, Florida. The project is a 4.8 MW landfill gas-to-energy facility that produces renewable energy by capturing and processing the methane gas generated at the landfill through organic decomposition. Aria Energy designed, built, owns and operates the facility, and sells the electricity to JEA under a power purchase agreement.
- Solar Power, Inc. has announced its partnership with Aqua Clean Energy (ACE) for the co-development of floating PV projects in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. Under the terms of the agreement, ACE and SPI will co-develop an identified pipeline of floating PV projects in the licensed territories with an estimated combined size of over 50 MW by establishing a joint venture holding company, Aqua Clean Energy Fund, LLC.
- Sunrun has announced that Bob Komin has joined the company as chief financial officer (CFO). Komin is responsible for the overall finance, accounting, and structured finance activity of the company. He assumed his new role March 9 replacing Anne Brennan, and will work closely with her to transition activities over the next few weeks.
- OneRoof Energy, Inc., wholly owned subsidiary of OneRoof Energy Group, Inc., has announced that it has closed the financing agreement with Spindrift Equities, LLC, one of OneRoof Energy’s existing investors. As announced on March 13, 2015, the US$2.0 million represents a portion of the US$15.0 million of capital previously announced on November 24, 2014 from Black Coral Capital, LLC and other investors in the form of secured convertible promissory notes.
Biofuel Advocates Invite Candidates to Learn RFS
It won’t be long until presidential candidates invade Iowa once again (and some already have). So, Iowa-based America’s Renewable Future (ARF) has publically invited Sen. Ted Cruz and all potential 2016 presidential candidates to tour Iowa renewable fuel facilities across the state to learn more about the success of the industry.
“The goal of our organization is to educate candidates on the economic importance of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and its many advantages, not only locally, but nationally,” said former Lt. Gov. and ARF co-chair, Patty Judge, “the RFS sustains 73,000 jobs in Iowa and over 800,000 nationally. Iowa farmers epitomize hard work and are a beacon of rural America’s success and we hope that Sen. Cruz will stand with them.”
Following Sen. Ted Cruz’s opposition to the standard at the March 7 Iowa Ag Summit, the organization is especially interested in drawing the Texas senator to an ethanol plant tour on his upcoming trips in April. “Sen. Cruz’s remarks show that there is a chance to have important dialogue on this issue,” said ARF co-chair and Nevada, IA cattleman, Bill Couser, “I had a chance to personally invite Sen. Cruz at the Ag Summit in addition to the two formal invitations ARF has sent to his campaign and I hope that he will not miss this chance to see just what this policy means for real Iowans and their families.”
“This comes down to supporting independence from foreign oil while supporting American jobs or giving in to foreign interests and Big Oil,” added Couser, “We hope that Sen. Cruz we will make time to hear from folks who have seen the success in this industry and ask questions about his concerns.”
Pearson Fuels to Celebrate First Frisco E85 Station
Pearson Fuels will celebrate the opening of San Francisco’s first E85 station. The company says there will be a ribbon-cutting today at All Stars Fuel located at 2831 Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco, where the high-blend of ethanol will sell today for just 85 cents a gallon.
Pearson Fuels General Manager, Mike Lewis states, “It is crazy that a city as large and progressive as San Francisco, has never had an E85 dispenser! E85 burns much cleaner than gasoline and add to that the fact that it is renewable, domestically produced and currently selling at substantial discounts to gasoline. We expect this new station to do very well. Our preliminary projections show that it might be one of the highest volume dispensers we supply. We estimate that there are at least 50,000 E85 compatible vehicles driving in San Francisco every week and we are happy those vehicles now have an alternative to gasoline available.
Station owner Ali Yaldiz said, “We are very glad to be working with Pearson Fuels on this project. We contacted them and they were right on it. They handled all the permitting and signage, they made sure we did it the right way and we look forward to working with them for many years. It is just refreshing to work with a group that does what they say they are going to do. We are happy and proud to be the first station in all of San Francisco to offer this progressive fuel and we hope the public embraces it is much as we do. To get things started off right, we decided to offer it way under cost for most of the day to show the public we appreciate them and we mean business!”
The project was partially funded by the California Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program.