Solar Power Has Ripple Effect On Job Creation

Posted on April 17, 2012 by quest

Four of the founding manufacturers of the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) purchased more than a combined $400 million in goods and services from other manufacturers and employers in 46 states in 2011, according to a CASM survey. This flow of business highlights just one dimension of solar manufacturing’s multiplier effect in supporting jobs and spurring activity across the U.S. economy, according to CASM. The coalition of about 190 U.S. employers of more than 16,000 American workers contends the nation cannot afford to lose its own industry, particularly in light of advanced manufacturing’s power to generate high-paying and stable jobs and beneficial ripple effects, including research and innovation. Instead, CASM seeks trade-law enforcement to restore legal international competition and domestic manufacturing growth.

CASM is backing an anti-subsidy and anti-dumping trade case against the Chinese industry. In March, the U.S. government issued a preliminary ruling that at least 10 categories of Chinese government programs illegally subsidize Chinese producers of solar cells and panels. China’s export drive has caused a dozen U.S. solar manufacturers to shut down, declare bankruptcy or lay off employees in all U.S. regions since 2010, CASM alleges, even though the National Renewable Energy Laboratory concluded Chinese producers face a cost disadvantage in producing and delivering solar into the U.S. market.

The survey tally excludes many economic inputs, such as interest and tax payments as well as payroll for employees, ranging from Ph.D. researchers to production workers. CASM leader SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for more than 35 years, employs more than 1,100 workers in Oregon and California. Average annual compensation for permanent, full-time SolarWorld employees exceeds the national average of $45,230 provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, the survey did not account for downstream support that employees of the four solar manufacturers and their vendors paid out to still other businesses – for day-care firms, supermarkets, and car and TV dealers – in their own lives, not to mention the personal interest and taxes they paid and the property they purchased.

One Day On Earth To Screen Worldwide On Earth Day

Posted on April 13, 2012 by quest

A new feature-length documentary film — the first to include footage filmed in every country on earth captured all on the same day, and created with the help of the United Nations and an international community of filmmakers –is to debut on Earth Day, April 22, 2012 at screenings in more than 160 countries worldwide.

Four years in the making, “One Day on Earth” is a video time capsule of one day – 10 October 2010. More than 19,000 filmmakers, both professional and novice, contributed 3,000 hours of footage. The project, headed by Founder/Director Kyle Ruddick and Co-founder/Executive Producer Brandon Litman, donated video cameras to more than 95 UN country offices, which resulted in unusually intimate access to remote places including Papua New Guinea and South Sudan.

Featuring music by Paul Simon, Fela Kuti, Sigur Ros, and others, the film captures a dazzling array of human experiences, from the birth of a newborn in Mongolia to a clock collector in Rio De Janeiro’s favelas. The film fluidly shows how crises confronting the world – from water shortage to poverty – connects us all, and offers rarely seen images from life in North Korea, Iran, and Kosovo.

ODOE has utilized Tugg, a web-platform that enables individuals to choose the films that play in their local theaters. The film has been financed by sources including significant support from the Ford Foundation‘s JustFilms initiative.

Fela Kuti

One Day On Earth Video

FREE PUBLIC SCREENINGS On April 22, the film will screen for free in more than 160 countries.

Dickson Despommier on Vertical Farming

Solar Pioneer To Keynote Solar Exchange At Rutgers

Posted on April 11, 2012 by quest

In partnership with Rutgers University , the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS) and the Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association (MSEIA), Solar Exchange East provides an opportunity for dialogue among innovators and thought-leaders in the solar industry, including engineering management, OEMs, end users, developers, solution providers, academia, researchers, associations and financial institutions. After three years, thousands of participants and events at Arizona State University, North Carolina State University and the University of California Los Angeles, the Siemens-hosted Solar Exchange takes its unique industry forum and networking event to Rutgers University on May 16, for a day of discovery and dialogue on the latest emerging topics, innovations and trends within the solar industry

The event, which is geared towards professionals currently working in the solar market, will be held on Rutgers’ campus in Piscataway, NJ. Dr. Ramamoorthy Ramesh, director of the SunShot Initiative and Solar Energy Technologies Program for the Department of Energy will be the keynote speaker. Event host, Siemens, has been committed to the solar industry from as early as the 1950s. “NESEA is delighted to partner with Siemens and Rutgers on this event as it dovetails with our mission to connect sustainable energy professionals to each other and to the cutting edge information they need to improve their practice. The timing for this event is perfect, given the growth of solar power in the Northeast,” says Jennifer Marrapese, director of NESEA.The event is free to attend, registration is required. Individuals interested in participating may register at www.usa.siemens.com/solarexchange.

“This event offers a strong and broad agenda that will include presentations on Rutgers’ current campus solar projects and our research and academic programs supporting solar initiatives,” said Michael J. Pazzani, vice president for research and economic development at Rutgers. “This university has a leadership role in technology development and policy issues connected to solar, so we’re pleased to host such an influential meeting.”The event will feature round-table networking sessions, offering attendees the ability to increase their knowledge about products, solutions, services and associates within the solar industry in the Northeast, gather new perspectives and learn new methods. Topics for the event include solar panel manufacturing, energy storage and related technologies, New Jersey SREC programs and policies, smart metering and net monitoring, solar PV projects on university campuses and the bankability of solar projects in the Northeast. The day includes a tour of Rutgers seven-acre Livingston Solar array and an evening reception.

ClimateWorks Foundation Appoints Julie Blunden New CEO

The Roof The Roof The Roof Is All Solar

Posted on April 9, 2012 by quest

U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., recently presented Gloucester Marine Terminal officials with an award letter announcing an $11 million federal tax credit rebate for the recently-completed groundbreaking new rooftop solar power plant project, the largest of its kind in North America. Known as Riverside Renewable Energy, LLC, the $42 million project consists of 27,526 photovoltaic rooftop solar panels covering 1.1 million square foot of rooftop at the Gloucester Marine Terminal, which is owned by the Holt family. It has the capacity to produce 9.0 MW of electricity – enough to power more than 1,500 homes. “The Riverside project is an outstanding example of how we can create jobs that move us towards cleaner, more efficient and cost-saving energy that doesn’t come from overseas,” said Congressman Andrews. “By partnering with the federal government, private industry is able to make strides that are good for job creation and the economy right now, and also for a cleaner, healthier and more energy efficient future here in South Jersey and the country.”

“A lot of things had to happen to make this project come together, and we enjoyed great teamwork from conceptualization through installation and onto completion,” said Leo Holt, President of Gloucester Terminals, LLC. “This project positions Gloucester Terminals for future success in an incredibly competitive field and helps ensure plenty of activity for the Delaware River port community.” The Riverside project sits atop the roof of the Terminal’s refrigerated warehouse near the Walt Whitman Bridge on the Delaware River. Operating on a “24/7″ basis to service food importers, the Terminal is the largest on-dock refrigerated warehouse on the East Coast and a very large user of electricity. Construction on the solar project began in June 2011 and was completed on budget and ahead of schedule last fall.

Riverside will generate the equivalent of up to 80 percent of the Terminal’s power demand. The system is expected to offset more than 8,100 tons of carbon dioxide, approximately the same amount that would be offset by planting 400,000 trees or removing 1,200 cars from the road. In addition to the Holt family, the Riverside project is a partnership involving SunPower, a global solar technology company that designs, manufactures and delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels and systems available today; Rabobank, a leading global bank and financier of renewable energy.

Governor Brown Announces $120 Million Settlement to Fund

Electric Car Charging Stations Across California

Green Icon Van Jones Speaks To Rebuild The Dream

Posted on April 5, 2012 by quest

It is encouraging to see figures like Bay Area green Icon Van Jones lay out such a clear and compelling case for business, environmental and social change. Last week Jones a co founder of Green for All and former White House green jobs advisor took his Rebuild the Dream tour to Los Angeles. The week before he was in Hawaii where the tour started. Yesterday Jones the author of the New York Times Best seller, “The Green Collar Economy” released his new book Rebuild the Dream.

Interviewed recently on Democracy Now by Amy Goodman and by CNN‘s Soledad O’Brien Jones said, “I’m probably the only person in American life who was a grassroots outsider, who became a White House insider — I was there for six months — and then I became a grassroots outsider again,” Jones says. “What I saw when I was there, and after, is this massive misunderstanding between the insiders in that building, the insiders in D.C., and the outsiders that help to elect those folks, and huge missed opportunities for positive change.”

Van Jones reminds me of a current day Ceasar Chevez, Martin Luther King and Saul Alinsky all rolled up into one. In his new book he says, “The destruction of America’s middle class is meeting with angry opposition in the streets. The protest wave began in February 2011. It was powered by public fury over union-busting legislation proposed by Tea Party governors in Wisconsin and Ohio. In the summer of 2011, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in every U.S. congressional district to rally against devastating budget cuts under the slogans “Jobs Not Cuts” and “Save the American Dream. Then, on September 17, a few hundred activists calling themselves Occupy Wall Street pitched their tents in Manhattan’s financial district. Their daring tactic captured the imagination of millions in America. The boldness of their action ignited a passion for change in hundreds of other cities in the United States and around the world. The tiny spark that was struck in the Wisconsin winter became a national and even global prairie fire by the end of the year.” Van Jones will speak at the San Francisco Common Wealth Club on April 19, 2012.

Electric Vehicles Zipping Around Chicago

President Obama Signs the JOBS Act

Amy Smart Honors Claremont As A “Green City”

Posted on April 3, 2012 by quest

Actress Amy Smart, a leader in young Hollywood environmental circles, presented the award to Mayor Sam Pedroza and members of the City Council at a recent State of the City luncheon. “Claremont, we salute you as a city that both talks and walks a green, sustainable lifestyle! You are an invaluable role model for other cities,” Ms. Smart said in her congratulatory remarks. Joining her in the presentation were representatives from California Green Communities’ founding partners — the Environmental Media Association (EMA), Southern California Edison (SCE) and Green Seal. “Claremont is showcasing what a city can do to improve its residents’ quality of life,” Ms. Smart said. “California Green Communities fosters and recognizes innovative ways for participating cities to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption, while building vibrant, sustainable communities. The economic and health benefits for each city are enormous. Claremont is a leader among southern California cities who are modeling sustainable practices for others.”

“Our City takes its commitment to sustainability seriously,” remarked Mayor Pedroza. “It is a priority for the City Council and it is a consideration in every project and program we provide. Achieving the Silver level status validates the tremendous work this community has done.”To reach the Silver level, Claremont committed considerable resources to a broad variety of sustainability-related projects and programs. Efforts included: making energy efficiency and water conservation improvements to city facilities, converting its fleet to cleaner fuels, encouraging bicycling and walking through education and new construction, and encouraging water wise landscaping and local gardening efforts.

To participate in the California Green Communities program, cities develop unique action plans to identify environmentally sound practices and projects they will adopt and implement involving energy efficiency, waste reduction, water conservation, renewable and alternative fuels, efficient transportation and so forth. At various completion points, they reach Silver, Gold and Platinum status in the program. City action plans can be viewed at www.CaGreenCom.org. One of the City’s more innovative programs is a homeowner assistance program designed to encourage home energy retrofits. Nicknamed CHERP (Claremont Home Energy Retrofit Project), the program helps homeowners upgrade older homes with energy-saving measures such as insulation, HVAC optimization, lighting upgrades and even solar panels. In conjunction with the program, the City is retrofitting many of its own facilities and recently installed solar panels at its City Yard. In addition to Claremont, the cities of Monrovia, Riverside and Santa Clarita have reached California Green Community Silver status. Other cities participating in the program – Culver City, Los Angeles, Redlands, San Gabriel, Santa Monica, Simi Valley and Ventura – are making progress in the program as well. More cities in Southern California are expected to join the program in 2012.