SolarWorld AG this year will honor Nobel Peace Prize laureate and micro-finance pioneer Muhammad Yunus by presenting the 2010 SolarWorld Einstein Award to him in September. The professor of economics from Bangladesh and founder of the Grameen Bank will receive the award in recognition of his breakthrough concept of micro-loans for the poor, which have helped millions of people worldwide to escape poverty. The micro-loans have, among other things, made possible installations of more than 400,000 small solar power systems, securing energy supplies for people in rural regions of Bangladesh who live far from the national utility grid.
“Professor Yunus stands for radically new thinking in economics and banking. He has recognized the potential of the poorest of this world who manage to make a decent living on the basis of a small starting credit, a lot of creativity and the sun as the source of energy. This is more than exemplary,” explains Dr. Ing. h. c. Frank Asbeck, chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG.
On the basis of micro-loans granted by banks held by the Grameen family since 1983, Yunus developed the concept of “social business,” which has inspired similar activity worldwide. This type of business does not strive to maximize profits and generate dividends but to solve social and ecological problems. Social business companies make available technologies for clean drinking water, affordable medication or inexpensive, clean energy.
Emma Watson launching eco-fashion
London Evening Standard reports that Harry Potter’s Emma Watson has a new collection of ecologically sound fashion that will debut at Prince Charles’s Garden Party To Make A Difference. The event is a 12-day festival in London during September that aims to give people of all ages a fun day out while at the same time demonstrating the “small steps that can, and are, being taken by all of us, interested in building a more sustainable future.”
The 20-year-old actress is the latest big-name backer for the event and will show the clothes she has helped design for fair trade fashion company People Tree.
A few weeks ago, I flew over the Deepwater Horizon site and saw what looked like the opposite of all the news reports: it looked more like somebody had spilled water into a Gulf filled with oil.
You don’t have to make a personal trip to the Gulf of Mexico to realize the BP disaster has blown the cover off a subject some would prefer to keep quiet: the ongoing damage inflicted by our addiction to oil.
When you see images of blackened beaches, grounded fishermen, and toxic dispersants in the water, you can’t pretend that it only costs $35 to fill your gas tank.
There are hidden costs in every drop of oil, and that’s why I made this PSA for NRDC about the true cost of a gallon of gasoline.
People in the Gulf are paying a steep price right now. Eleven people lost their lives, but the human cost goes far beyond that. The commercial fishing and tourism economies in the Gulf have been gutted, and local families trying to put food on the table don’t know where to turn. They’ve lost their jobs, wages, cultural traditions, beloved beaches, and security. This is the collateral damage of the disaster.
I didn’t grow up in Louisiana, and I can imagine those who did are even more passionate about cleaning up this mess than the rest of us. I grew up in Canada, where we have a similar tragedy being carried out right now: the ancient boreal forest in Northern Alberta is being destroyed to collect dirty tar sands oil. Oil that generates three times the global warming pollution as regular crude. As a result, entire ecosystems and indigenous communities are being devastated.
When you see what’s happening in the Gulf and the boreal, you realize we’re willing to stop at absolutely nothing in order to get our fix. And it seems to me like it’s time we recognize we have a problem. A major, major problem.
What we’re doing is literally the same thing cave men did: we set things on fire to produce energy. There are so many viable alternatives. Wind farms and solar plants, for instance, don’t explode, destroying thousands of miles of marshlands and oceans. That’s something worth focusing on.
I started out feeling angry about the spill, and I think a lot of other people did too. Slowly but surely, I’ve been trying to redirect that anger into something positive. And you start to think, “How can we change this? How can we turn this into an opportunity?”
I see this whole thing as a wakeup call: a chance to shift to cleaner energy and build a greener economy.
It’s easy to vilify Big Oil after a tragedy like this, but there are still hard working people in that industry who need to put a roof over their heads. I firmly believe we can pass clean energy and climate legislation and by doing so, put millions of Americans to work.
But we have to ask for it. We have to petition the government to move this kind of legislation forward. The Senate failed to do it this summer, but we should call on them to do it this fall. If the voices are loud enough, lawmakers will start to listen and (if only in the interests of self preservation) begin to move the country in a new direction.
I think our approach to energy is going to change one way or another. Eventually the Earth will make us change. It would be great if we could get in front of that – and better still, be here to enjoy it.
SunPower Corp. has announced it has signed an agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS) to design and construct a 15-megawatt (AC) solar photovoltaic power system at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona. Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2011, it is expected to be the largest solar power installation at a U.S. government facility. Approximately 550 local jobs will be created during construction.
“Installed on 101 acres of underutilized land, this system will generate the equivalent of 50 percent of the annual energy requirements for Luke Air Force Base,” said Air Force Lt. Col. John Thomas, 56th Civil Engineer Squadron commander at Luke. “Benefits of the project to the American taxpayers include no initial out-of-pocket expenses to the Air Force, significant long-term savings on electricity costs, and the increased energy independence associated with using reliable, emission-free solar power.”
“APS is committed to building a sustainable future, which includes the expansion of our renewable energy portfolio,” said Brad Albert, general manager of Renewable Energy and Resource Acquisition of APS. “This plant will not only bring more clean renewable energy to the grid, but will also create jobs during its construction.”
APS will own the system that SunPower designs, builds and maintains, and sell electricity to Luke Air Force Base under a long-term agreement. The system will use high-efficiency SunPower solar panels, the most efficient solar panels on the market, with the SunPower Tracker(R) system. The Tracker follows the sun’s movement during the day, increasing sunlight capture by up to 25 percent over conventional fixed-tilt systems, while significantly reducing land use requirements.
The system will generate the equivalent energy required for 3,750 Arizona homes, avoiding more than 19,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, according the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
Solar Waste Recycling: Can the industry stay green?
By Erica Gies
In recent years the electronics industry has gained notoriety for creating an endless stream of disposable products that make their way at life’s end to developing countries, where poor people without safety gear cut and burn out valuable materials, spilling contaminants into their water, air and lungs.
Solar modules contain some of the same potentially dangerous materials as electronics, including silicon tetrachloride, cadmium, selenium and sulfur hexafluoride, a potent greenhouse gas. So as solar moves from the fringe to the mainstream, insiders and watchdog groups are beginning to talk about producer responsibility and recycling in an attempt to sidestep the pitfalls of electronic waste and retain the industry’s green credibility.
Solar modules have an expected lifespan of at least 20 years so most have not yet reached the end of their useful lives. But now, before a significant number of dead panels pile up, is the perfect time to implement a responsible program, said Sheila Davis, executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Read on
Colin McCrate, urban farmer
If there’s a vanguard for the back-to-the-future, “Victory Garden” era in horticulture and landscaping, Colin McCrate is leading it. As the recession stretches out, garden-happy Seattleites are switching flowerbeds and shrubs into edible greens, fruits, and vegetables. At McCrate’s Seattle Urban Farm Company, the requests for residential farm landscaping (and chicken coops) keep increasing.
“It’s definitely true,” said McCrate, atop Ballard’s Bastille restaurant (5307 Ballard Ave. N.W.), where he’s installed a prototype rooftop garden. “More and more people are taking advantage of yard space to supplement their food needs. The sale of vegetable seeds has gone through the roof.”
Seattle’s climate, even in a cloud-shrouded summer like the one we are currently experiencing, is perfect for cultivation of greens, herbs, vegetables and fruit, particularly native apples, cherries and plums. Rain and peek-a-boo sun makes for perfect growing conditions. Some local gardeners have always made a sport of growing food products, and Seattle’s P-Patch network has been flourishing since the hippie-intensive 1970s. But now, people are farming for keeps, both residentially and commercially.
“Our customers are constantly surprised at the yield from even a small plot,” McCrate commented.
A few years ago, Bastille’s James Weimann and Demming Maclise purchased a building on the resurgent Ballard Avenue. (If you haven’t been over there recently, make plans. It’s as nice a mix of retail and restaurants in the city). Their goal was to create a restaurant that adhered to the strict demands of French cuisine, namely the use of fresh ingredients. They succeeded in spades, but not before an intensive remodel and some bold thinking. Weimann and Maclise hit on the idea of a rooftop garden. What could be fresher than the harvest from a two-flight walk-up garden?
McCrate, who designed the innovative rooftop beds for Bastille’s produce, estimates that with 800 square feet of garden, the restaurant is currently meeting about 30 to 40 percent of its needs for fresh greens and herbs, including red leaf lettuce, Miner’s lettuce, arugula and peppercress. “They are, however, getting 100 percent of their basil and rosemary needs, which both do very well in Seattle.”
Weimann and Maclise may not see a positive return on their investment for a number of years, but patrons get an immediate, positive return in every bite. And as innovators in the rooftop garden field, they’ve been raking in the media coverage. The garden is “poised to become a Seattle landmark,” said Eat, Drink and Be. Bastille is not the only restaurant or urban enterprise doing a bit of intensive farming. Venerable Canlis has a terraced garden in its North Queen Anne Hill location, and, two years ago, Maggie McKelvy, a manager of HomeStreet Bank’s Ballard branch, led an effort to turn a bed in the bank’s parking lot into a vegetable-producing space.
McCrate believes efforts like these are just the first steps of a widespread movement to reclaim food. It’s hard to argue with him. Just two years ago, separate incidents with contaminated lettuce and cilantro generated a great amount of fear about the safety of our industrial-strength food chain, and the quality of produce like greens, fruits and vegetables that should be served as fresh as possible.
“Producing your own food allows for a measure of security,” said McCrate. “Anyone can plant a vegetable bed or a fruit tree. It takes no more water or soil than a flower bed, looks almost as beautiful in the yard, and produces a tangible and edible benefits.
SANYO SOLAR MUSEUM
Sanyo’s 1,033-foot- wide solar-powered museum in central Japan is composed of thousands of factory-recalled solar cells recycled from the company’s junk piles – a rare fusion of budgetary restraint, ecological awareness, and aesthetic design.
Trend setting California is again leading the nation; this time in the development of solar power. But California isn’t alone and it’s not just power companies and automobile manufactures finding religion in going green. Many of the incentive plans being put forward by companies are a result of federal stimulus dollars packaged with state and local programs. These prgrams are making going solar a viable alternative for homeowners. Modeled after German FITs (Feed in Tariffs) which even though Germany isn’t known for sunny weather, it has become a global leader in the use of and manufacturing of solar panels. PG & E recently joined forces with solar finance company SunRun to provide money for PG & E customers to go solar. This comes at an interesting time as PG & E has been dealing with some controversy about its’ Smart Meters and the loss of Proposition 16, a largely PG & E sponsored bill designed to limit consumer choice for energy.
The energy business has indeed been turned on its head. People are realizing there are options and they are not just “consumers” to be prayed upon. There really is a choice. See The Solar Bill of Rights Video. One niche within alternative energy is the world of the OTG’s as I like to call them. OTG? Sounds like a gang with whom you don’t want to mess with uh?Anyway it stands for Off the Grid. Here are some of their stories:
Green living: Off the grid families pioneer sustainable energy lifestyles
Once on the fringe, about 750,000 off the grid American households pioneer green living by tapping sustainable energy from the wind, sun, and earth.
By Kari Lydersen, / Contributor
posted August 7, 2010 at 2:34 pm EDT – Asheville, N.C. —
Living “off the grid” can conjure fantasies of Swiss Family Robinson-style ingenuity in paradise. Or, for those with less love of roughing it, it can simply remind them of the hardscrabble self-reliance throughout much of the developing world, where millions cook over fires, bathe in streams, and consider the glow of a bare light bulb a luxury.
In the United States, off-the-grid living – without relying on government entities or utility companies to provide electricity, heat, gas, and water – often is associated with gritting it out on the survivalist fringe.
But an increasing range of Americans are leading a snug, even smug, lifestyle totally or mostly unhitched from public utilities. Using nature – the sun, wind, water, and the earth itself – they cheaply warm and cool their homes and power everything from a blender to a giant flat-screen TV to a raging hot tub. And with the constant concern about global warming and messy dependence on fossil fuels, it’s natural that growing numbers of Americans – “the foot soldiers” of energy independence, as one expert calls them – would begin taking steps to untether themselves from the grid.
For Wayah Hall, going off the grid in a cabin 26 miles from downtown Asheville, N.C., was a way to live in harmony with nature and avoid reliance on electricity that comes from the region’s coal-burning power plant that pumps smog into the famous Blue Ridge Mountains haze.
Mr. Hall, an outdoor-skills instructor, and his wife, Alicia Bliss Hall, a natural healer, live in a kind of off-the-grid neighborhood with another young couple: Jason Brake, a professional muralist, and his wife, Diana Styffeler, a mountain bike excursion leader. Their two cabins, nestled in temperate rain forest, are powered with electricity that comes exclusively from solar panels mounted on a wagon that they wheel around the property to catch the best rays. Their water comes from a swiftly flowing stream; wood-burning stoves heat the cabins and even an outdoor hot tub; and indoor, waterless composting toilets built decoratively out of tree stumps mean they don’t need a sewer system. They’re installing a hydropower system in the stream that will add to the solar power.
Their existence appears quite rustic – and the “sustainable” lifestyle depends a whole lot on them to sustain it with such work as wood chopping and wagon pulling. But they say they have all the creature comforts they need, and – if February’s record snowstorm is any gauge – some their neighbors need, too. When public power outages left on-the-grid neighbors in dark and chilly homes, a dozen of them congregated in the Halls’ self-sufficient glow: a lighted cabin, where they cozied up to the wood stove, recharged their cellphones, and even enjoyed a soak in the hot tub.”We didn’t even realize the power had gone out until our friends started coming over looking for refuge,” says Ms. Hall. Read on
Anders Swahn stays busy running a solar energy startup. In his spare time he plans his new home, a clean-technology marvel said to be carbon neutral with solar panels, geothermal heating and gray-water recycling. It would be built to last for 200 years and measure up to Marin County’s green building standards.
Like George Washington crossing the Delaware the solar industry is at a crossroad. The Solar Bill of Rights is a set of principles designed to establish the power of the individual and stakeholders in the solar field in a world dominated by oil and coal. First introduced at Solar Power International 2009 by Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association, it set out a declaration of rights that seem more relevant now than ever before. The latest news from the BP oil explosion that left 11 dead and gushed over 200,000,000 million gallons of toxic oil in the Gulf is that the well has been sealed. This catastrophe has been describe as the worst enviromental disaster in U S history. Its economic shock wave will continue to reverberate throughout the globe. Yet in its wake America still has no energy bill the reflects global competition in solar and renewable energy, nor the stark deadly corruptive nature of deepwater drilling and oil in general.
In addition to encouraging policies that give individual homeowners the right to participate in the profit produced by solar energy, it also lays out a structure for the solar industry to be given the same incentives provided to big oil and coal. Also introduced at that show was the Solar Manifesto that was being moved forward by Barry Cinnamon of Akeena Solar. Barry Cinnamon has been a strong advocate for stream lining the solar installation process through municipal permit departments. Barry Cinnamon is a pioneer in the solar industry. This year the Solar Power International 2010, the largest solar conference in the US will be held in October 12-14, 2010 at the LA Convention Center.
The opportunities in solar, renwable energy and sustianibilty are all part of an overall social, business and ecological shift: they are not isolated. San Francisco Green Drinks (SFGD) just yesterday invited the Bay Area green community to the second annual Green Generations event, a fundraising event for SF Nature Education, Pie Ranch Youth Advocacy, and Exploring New Horizons Outdoor School, three deserving non-profits that provide environmental education to under-served children. The German city of Freiburg, referred to as the worlds’ greenest city has been an early advocate of this type of outreach.
From solar powered electric cars, cameras, phones, ecotourism, organic living, urban farming, eco-fashion and more; the world as we have known it is indeed changing….you’ve got more power than you realize.
Junly 27 – Designer Oskar Metsavaht, a favorite of celebrities such as Madonna and Sting, has started producing a new line of environmentally-friendly leather from the skins of salmon and tilapia. Ben Gruber reports. (02:15)
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10 Energy Saving Tips for Travelers Courtesy of International Ecotourism Society
With summer vacations in full swing, travelling without the guilt is a plus.
1. Fly Wisely:
Air travel is often the most energy consuming aspect of your travel. Plan your trip so that you minimize air travel, and choose, whenever possible, to stay longer in a destination instead of making many short trips.
2. Travel Light:
Pack only what you need, and don’t bring things that will become waste. By reducing the weight of luggage travelers can significantly cut green house gas emissions.
3. Book Responsibly:
When choosing your hotel, tour operator, or other service providers, select ones that have good sustainability practices. Look for information on the company’s environmental initiatives; strategies, save energy and minimize waste; involvement in sustainable tourism certification program. A good place to start your search is Ecotourism Explorer.
4. Before You Leave:
Turn off lights and unplug household appliances that can be left unplugged while you are away.
5. While You Are There: Turn off all the lights and air conditioner/heater when you leave your room, and unplug unnecessary appliances.
6. Greener Way To Get Around:
Utilize public transportation (bus, train, city car, etc.) and alternative modes of transportation (walking, bicycle, non-motorized vehicles, horse, camel) as much as possible. It’s a more sustainable way to get around, and also a healthier and more enjoyable way to get to know the place you are visiting.
7. Eat Local:
Reduce your ‘food miles’ by choosing local. Visit a local farmer’s market, shop at a locally owned grocery store and choose locally owned restaurants that buy local. Locally produced foods are a tastier and more sustainable option.
8. Save Water:
Use the minimum amount of water needed for a shower/bath, don’t let water run while shaving, brushing or washing, and check if the hotel has a linen reuse program – if so, reuse your towels and bed sheets by placing the card to indicate you don’t wish to have them washed every day, if not, request hospitality staff not to change them every day.
9. Charge Your Trip Sustainably:
Whenever possible, utilize options that do not require batteries. Buy rechargeable batteries for your essential travel items such as cameras, razors, and flash lights.
10. Offset the Unavoidable Footprint:
Contribute to a credible carbon offsetting program to support
New solar energy process discovered by Stanford engineers could revamp production.
Stanford Report, August 2, 2010
New solar energy process found by Stanford engineers could revamp production.A new process that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology, say the Stanford engineers who discovered it and proved that it works. The process, called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE, could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source.
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AVANCIS solar installers at work
The solar module manufacturer AVANCIS has recorded a new international efficiency record.
Green jobs are a reality, and now is the time to honor the innovative companies that are creating them. With support from the Citi Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, SJF Advisory Services and Green For All have partnered to launch a Green Jobs Award Program, which seeks to identify, recognize, and promote private companies that are leaders in quality green job creation.
The uses for solar energy are becoming more and more apparent as demonstrated by the recent introductions of solar powered mobile phones in Kenya and India. Both countries have large areas where electricity is not available through a grid tied system. Small solar panels and battery systems offer a cleaner energy solution in rural areas where kerosene is often used. Jeff Olshesky and Trevor Knauff are with Beyond Solar, a US based non profit who has worked with South Orissa Voluntary Action (SOVA) and D.light Design, a solar lantern manufacturer based in New Delhi to provide micro loans to the residents of Koraput; district in the eastern Indian state of Orissa a region about 1000 miles northeast of Mumbai. Their worked allowed the villagers to purchase these small systems and literally light up their huts at night. In Nairobi, Kenyan entreprenauer, Murefu Marasa is working to provide affordable small scale solar products to a district of 500,000 people who have no legal access to electricity. From solar powered backpacks to solar powered airplanes; product innovations and developments are happening everyday. There are also many DIY(do it yourselfers) who are installing solar on their own.
Around the globe, solar and other forms of renewable energy are making a positive impact on the environment, climate change and job creation. In Germany for example, in 1998 30,000 people were employed in green related jobs. In 2010 – 300,000 people were employed in green jobs… a growth of ten times.This progress was no accident. Along with many policy changes the German government instituted a number of incentive programs that literally paid homeowners to install solar on their rooftops. America needs to do what the Germans did – create a national renewable energy policy that is sustainable and doesn’t rely on the perpetual use of poisonous oil and coal as our main source of energy.
Today China is the worlds largest manufacturer of solar panels. According to Gary Locke, US Secretary of Commerce, China is investing $9 billion a month into clean energy and efficiency.The US Recovery Act is an $80 billion clean energy investment program designed to double American renewable capacity and create thousands of jobs. The United States is now in fourth position in terms of solar power installed.
Meanwhile if the DeepWater Horizon oil rig explosion and forth coming catastrophic consequences in the Gulf of Mexico hasn’t revealed why we need renewable energy, I’m not sure what will. Maybe pissed off, mutated, fire spitting, Moby Dick sized toxic shrimp rising from the oily deep ravaging the regions coastlines would be persuasive enough. Like Tony Hayward CEO of BP who wanted his life back, It is not without understanding why oil rig workers and politicians want their way of life to continue. They like we, live in an oil based eco system that’s been in place for generations now. But change will come… it always does. Take note,Thomas Edison created an electric car in 1910…that’s right 1910! Are we serious enough now, 100 years later when we recognize that 90% of the oil that America uses is for transportation. We know we’re a nation of oil junkies…question is are we tired of being strung out? Maybe the 3000 or so oil rigs in the Gulf could be transformed as offshore solar, wind, tidal or wave stations. We’re all going to need to participate in this change. We the engineers, scientists, investors, politicians, marketers, artists, thinkers, citizens and inventors have a stake in this.
We choose to do these things
The nations’ call to action is to honestly help create new green opportunities not only for the Gulf fishing industry and oil rig workers, but for all Americans desparately seeking to revitalize their lives in the face of change. When President John F Kennedy spoke of sending a man to the moon he said,” we chose to do these things and the other things, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.” The power of the oil industry is legendary and yet they too must recognize the danger of deep water drilling and realize it isn’t sustainable. Solar alone isn’t the answer: it’s part of a diversity of innovations throughout our society including renewable energy options such as hydro, biomass and other opportunities yet to be explored. Together they and we have the potential to lead this country to a new green renaissance of environmental, business and social prosperity.
TIMELESS
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AVANCIS solar installers at work
The solar module manufacturer AVANCIS has recorded a new international efficiency record.
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FREEDOM TO ROAM
Rick Ridgway
Ecotourism Conference Keynote Speaker Rick Ridgeway to Address Climate Change and Wildlife
Sustainable Tourism Conference Portland, Oregon, USA
September 8-10, 2010
Rick Ridgeway is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, author, photographer and environmentalist. Ridgeway has achieved many adventures in his life including being a member of the first American team to summit K2. His international reputation as one of the world’s foremost mountaineers and adventurers prompted Rolling Stone magazine to call him “the real Indiana Jones.” Ridgeway has also been honored with National Geographic’s “Lifetime Achievement in Adventure” award. Rick Ridgeway, Board Chairman of Freedom to Roam Coalition, and Vice President of Environmental Initiatives and Special Media Projects for Patagonia, Inc.
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14 year old converts VW to electric vehicle
By Patrick McDonough
Argus Observer
Ashton Stark shows off the rear compartment of his grandfather’s 1972 Volkswagen, which he and his father have converted to an electric vehicle. The car is now driven by a single motorized shaft and powered by nine golf cart batteries. The Starks estimate the vehicle can travel up to 45 miles on a single charge which would cost about 10 cents in electricity.
Ontario — After almost a year of building a fully operational electric vehicle, and after all of the study and implementation of electrical and mechanical engineering involved, one important element of the project is still missing for Ashton Stark.
That would be reaching the age where he can drive it.
Stark, who is 14 and will be a sophomore at Ontario High School in the fall, said he will be old enough for a learner’s permit in a few weeks. He said he is excited about getting behind the wheel and showing it to more of his friends.
He conceded that, in the meantime, there still are many points of enjoyment and pride associated with the car.
He said one of the main points of pride is the vehicle’s connection with the past.
“It is my grandpa’s 72 Super Beetle,” he said. “I think he would love it and be incredibly proud of it.” He said the bond with the past did not keep him and his father from designing the vehicle with an eye toward the future. “It is also good for the earth and the community,” he said. Stark pointed out the vehicle does not use oil or gas and is
good for the environment in other ways. The vehicle is driven by a single cylindrical drive shaft connected to the original shaft of the Volkswagens transmission. It is powered by nine separate 8 volt golf cart batteries, with five in the rear and four in the front of the vehicle. “We are running 72 volt through it,” Stark said. “Interstate battery made a deal with us to test their new line of golf cart batteries and collect data on the batteries.” Noel Stark, Ashton’s father, said he has driven the vehicle many times, and he believes it is not only green conscious, it is also inexpensive and practical to operate.
“We have not done a full run on it, but we estimate it can travel somewhere between 45 and 50 miles on a full charge,” Noel Stark said. “You could drive every day to and from work for less than 10 cents a day, and that would be if the batteries were dead when you came home. It would probably be more like two to three cents a day.” Noel Stark said the vehicle has a top speed of 45 miles per hour, and said it runs in complete silence. Noel Stark said the project, which cost around $4,000, is one more drivers should consider. “I think any vehicle can be converted to electricity,” he said. “It is so simple to get one I don’t know why more people don’t own one. It doesn’t have to be a Bug, it can be any light weight vehicle: a Porsche, a Toyota or a Honda. It would be a great neighborhood or commuter vehicle and would save a fortune on gas.” Ashton Stark said he plans to use the vehicle for his senior class project. He said he will collect data through an onboard computer port as to range, efficiency and other elements of performance. He said working on the vehicle with his father has opened the doors of opportunity in other areas, also. He said might consider building electric cars for others. “I think if more people had them, it would help the community a lot,” he said.
Green jobs are a reality, and now is the time to honor the innovative companies that are creating them. With support from the Citi Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, SJF Advisory Services and Green For All have partnered to launch a Green Jobs Award Program, which seeks to identify, recognize, and promote private companies that are leaders in quality green job creation.
Kenyan telecommunications company Safaricom has begun selling solar mobile phones for just under $40. The solar phones are the first in Africa, and will be particularly popular in Kenya’s rural areas where electricity is usually scarce and often unaffordable. The phone is also expected to be a hit in the poorer urban communities where Kenyans pay third-party vendors to charge their phones.
Safaricom’s solar phone release comes at an excellent time. Kenya is currently under strict power rationing, as a result of a severe drought–Kenya relies on hydro power for the majority of its electricity.
Kenyan telecommunications company Safaricom has launched Africa’s first fully solar-powered phone. The mobile phone’s timely release comes as Kenya is suffering from a major power shortfall. The new solar-powered mobile phone went on sale this past week. Kenyans can buy the phone for a little under $40. Jacque Sherry, a 28-year old accountant in Nairobi, bought the phone for her father and is very pleased with the results of the new technology. ”I can tell you it’s just amazing because the old man is so happy,” she said. “He stays upcountry and he used to walk for long distances to look for a place to charge his phone, and then it was expensive. But now with the new solar phone life is good.” The phone will likely be particularly popular in rural Kenya areas, where electricity is often scarce and unaffordable. But even in urban areas, many poor Kenyans who live in the slums could benefit by no longer having to pay third-party vendors to charge their phones. Jacque says that the phone is a big help to her father’s business as a small farmer. ”Initially, one had to use one’s phone and then the phone would go off and then you could not sell one’s vegetables and do your transactions,” she said. “But now with the new solar phone one can talk talk talk and deal with your business. It is much easier now.” The phone’s release in Kenya is especially because electricity costs are rising sharply and the country is under strict power rationing. The shortfall in power is attributed both to increased domestic demand and a shortened power supply due to a prolonged drought. Kenya relies heavily on hydro-electric power. The power shortage has amplified calls from international and local activists that the region take greater advantage of green energy technologies in growing its energy capacity. Besides hydro and solar power, Kenya is thought to have immense and mostly-untapped wind and geothermal power potential.
Safaricom officials have claimed that the phone is the first solar-powered phone to hit the market anywhere in the world, but the mobile-phone company Samsung began selling a cheap solar-powered model in India this June. The phone does appear to be the first of its kind to be available commercially in Africa. Some in the mobile phone industry have suggested accessory solar-powered phone chargers are the best avenue to address the phone charging issue in developing regions of the world. Such chargers have been produceable for a while but have been limited in their reach by a lack of uniformity. The solar-powered phone launched by Safaricom is produced by the Chinese ZTE Corporation.
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EMPIRE STATE BUILDING GREENS UP
On this day, July 28 in 1945 a B-25 Mitchell bomber, piloted in thick fog by Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith, Jr., accidentally crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building, between the 79th and 80th floors, where the offices of the National Catholic Welfare Council were located. One engine shot through the side opposite the impact and fell on a nearby building; the other plummeted down an elevator shaft. The resulting fire was extinguished in 40 minutes. Fourteen people were killed in the incident. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, which still stands as the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall recorded. Despite the damage and loss of life, the building was open for business on many floors on the following Monday.
New York City, skyscrapers and everything….When New York greens up it’s big. Just announced a new multi media show in the Empire State Building that showcases a $20 million energy retrofit project. Nothing like New York City and the Empire State Building…just ask Kong.
The Empire State Building today unveiled a $2 million interactive, multi-media sustainability exhibit at the second floor visitor’s center, which showcases a $20 million energy retrofit project that was announced in April 2009 with President Bill Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. By communicating the compelling story of the building’s award-winning retrofit program under way, the installation aims to educate the millions of people who visit the building every year on the positive global impact of both energy efficient building and sustainable living practices. Upon completion of the program, the Empire State Building will reduce total energy usage by more than 38 percent, energy costs by $4.4 million annually, and carbon emissions by 105,000 metric tons over the next 15 years.
To bring the Empire State Building energy retrofit program to life, Seattle-based design firm Hornall Anderson was selected to create a tangible and engaging sustainability exhibit. This thought-provoking installation translates the technical retrofit story into an easy-to-understand, compelling consumer experience that introduces the topic of energy efficiency in the context of the Empire State Building, New York City, and the planet. The vibrant exhibit combines physical artifacts with impressive technology and seamlessly integrates digital and sculptural elements to create interactive museum-quality displays that educate and entertain visitors on their way to the renowned Observatories.
As visitors enter the exhibit, a transformational cube introduces the topic of sustainability. The cube illustrates and explains the harmful environmental impact of energy inefficient commercial buildings as well as the scope, vision and benefits of the sustainable global template in place at the Empire State Building. As visitors move through the exhibit they are educated on each of the eight major retrofit initiatives being implemented at the Empire State Building and exposed to statistics highlighting the positive dramatic environmental effects of the process. For example, one display demonstrates how energy consumption can be reduced by improving the massive systems that heat, cool and ventilate buildings. By communicating how many people making small changes in their everyday lives cause an impactful global change, visitors are educated on how to be energy efficient through opportunities in their life.
The Empire State Building sustainability exhibit is open seven days a week at the second floor visitor’s center during visiting hours from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. For more information on the Empire State Building’s sustainability initiative and the building retrofit, visit www.esbsustainability.com.
About the Empire State Building
Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building is the “World’s Most Famous Office Building.” With new investments in infrastructure, public areas and amenities, the Empire State Building has attracted first-rate tenants in a diverse array of industries from around the world. The skyscraper’s robust broadcasting technology supports all major television and FM radio stations in the New York metropolitan market. The Empire State Building was named America’s favorite building in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects. The Empire State Building Observatory is one of the world’s most beloved attractions and is the region’s #1 tourist destination. For more information on the Empire State Building, please visit www.esbnyc.com.
Make note of Kenyan energy entrepreneur Murefu Basara on the market opportunity for small scale solar systems. Benjamin Roman reporting for Recharge News reports that Barasa has a vision to bring solar-powered electricity to a broad area of Nairobi that’s right next to the grid where 500,000 people live but have no electricity.
A citizen of Kenya, Murefu Barasa holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree from Kenyatta University, Nairobi. Prior to his arrival at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Murefu worked with a consultancy company offering services in the promotion of renewable energy access in east and southern Africa. During his four years at the organization he had the privilege of working in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Kenya on different projects. Some of these involved working with the ministry of energy to isolate practical renewable energy policy options through participatory methods (Kenya and Uganda), reducing deforestation through the promotion of sustainable charcoal production and marketing models (Tanzania), researching on the drivers of productive uses and uptake of solar Photo Voltaic systems (Kenya) and identifying linkages in the development of renewable energy technologies and poverty alleviation (Southern Africa).
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JEFF OLSHESKY – BEYOND SOLAR
Listen to the work Beyond Solar has done in India below.
Largest Rooftop Solar Project in Northwest Now Online for Portland General Electric Customers
Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) has completed installation of the largest rooftop solar project in the Pacific Northwest — a 673,000-square-foot, 2.4-megawatt project atop the roofs of seven ProLogis distribution warehouses in Portland, Gresham, and Clackamas.
Working with local contractors, PGE and ProLogis began construction of the $14 million solar project in March 2010 and brought the project online in early July 2010. This is the second rooftop solar project with ProLogis, a distribution facilities company, bringing PGE’s total solar build-out with ProLogis to 3.5 megawatts of solar energy.
“Solar is clearly growing in Oregon and our customers are helping drive that,” said Carol Dillin, PGE’s vice president of customers and economic development. “We have seen unprecedented growth of residential and business solar projects in our area over the past two years which, coupled with the growth in solar manufacturing, helps develop more clean, renewable resources for the region and stimulate Oregon’s green economy.”
With the new 2.4-megawatt project, PGE will have more than 14.3 megawatts of solar capacity in its resource mix, including the 104-kilowatt solar highway demonstration project with the Oregon Department of Transportation and more than 10.7 megawatts of customer-owned solar energy projects PGE supports through its net metering program. PGE also expects another 17.5 megawatts of customer-owned solar energy projects to come online through the state’s recently adopted five-year solar energy incentive pilot program, the Solar Payment Option program.
In 2009, PGE ranked among the top 10 utilities in the western regionfor solar installations, according to the national Solar Energy Power Association.
PGE partnered with U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, ProLogis, and several Oregon companies on the project. Northwest Solar Solutions, a division of locally-owned Snyder Roofing and the installer for this project, estimates 60,000 hours of family-wage electrical and roofing work in Oregon were created by this project.
The renewable energy generated from the solar project is now included in PGE’s energy resource mix and helps the utility meet the state’s renewable energy standard of providing 25 percent renewable energy by the year 2025. PGE expects it will be at nearly 9 percent renewable energy in 2010.
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Dems press Reid to put renewable power standard in energy bill
By Ben Geman – 07/26/10 02:50 PM ET
Nearly half the Senate’s Democrats are pressuring Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to include a national renewable electricity mandate in the slimmed-down energy bill expected on the floor this week.
But they face an uphill battle — Reid argued over the weekend that a renewables mandate won’t fly in the Senate.
In aletter Friday, 27 Democrats make the case for a renewable electricity standard (RES), which would require many utilities to supply escalating amounts of power from sources like wind and solar energy in coming years.
“A strong RES will give certainty to clean energy companies that are looking to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. to manufacture wind turbines, solar panels and other renewable energy components,” argues the letter spearheaded by Sens. Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Mark Udall (Colo.) and Tom Udall (N.M.).
The other signatures come from a mix of liberal and centrist renewable energy backers, such as Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Tim Johnson (S.D.) and John Kerry (Mass.) The letter argues that an RES would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Environmental groups and renewable power companies are scrambling to keep an RES in the mix following last week’s decision by Senate leaders to abandon a sweeping climate change and energy bill. Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is among the advocates, andtold reporters on a conference call Monday that an RES has political legs.
But Reid said Saturday that he doesn’t see a filibuster-proof vote for an RES, which has long been a pillar of Democratic energy plans. “I don’t think I have 60 votes to get that done,” Reid said at the progressive Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas. Renewable power mandates face resistance from many Republicans — and southeastern lawmakers from both parties — who fear their states lack enough renewable resources and would be forced to make payments for credits or noncompliance penalties.
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SolarWorld AG this year will honor Nobel Peace Prize laureate and micro-finance pioneer Muhammad Yunus by presenting the 2010 SolarWorld Einstein Award to him in September. The professor of economics from Bangladesh and founder of the Grameen Bank will receive the award in recognition of his breakthrough concept of micro-loans for the poor, which have helped millions of people worldwide to escape poverty. The micro-loans have, among other things, made possible installations of more than 400,000 small solar power systems, securing energy supplies for people in rural regions of Bangladesh who live far from the national utility grid.
Emma Watson launching eco-fashion
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