World Solar Challenge 2011 Gets Veolia Sponsorship

Posted on September 26, 2011 by quest

Veolia Environmental Services announced today that it has joined as the naming rights sponsor of the 2011 World Solar Challenge. The Veolia World Solar Challenge, held in October 2011, requires entrants to build a vehicle that runs on solar power, and can be driven from Darwin to Adelaide. Doug Dean, Managing Director of Veolia Environmental Services Australia described the partnership as a natural fit with Veolia’s proactive approach to developing viable and sustainable environmental solutions. “As a global leader in the provision of environmental services, Veolia is committed to supporting innovation which improves our environment, whilst also promoting renewable and alternative energy sources. We are therefore very proud to partner with the World Solar Challenge in 2011.”

Commenting on the partnership, CEO of the South Australian Motor Sports Board, Mark Warren said reaching the landmark agreement, with such a significant corporation was a turning point in the history of the event, which has struggled for recognition and support from the Australian corporate world. “With the backing of one of Australia’s leaders in environmental services, we have a much greater chance of taking solar cars and their sustainable technology out of the future fantasy realm and into the garages of everyday Australians,” Mr. Warren said.

The announcement further solidifies Veolia’s position as supporting innovation within Australia through the development of technologies which utilize alternative energy sources. The Darwin-to-Adelaide, 3,021-kilometer 2011 World Solar Challenge is also being by supported by Panasonic. They are is providing the latest Lithium Ion battery technologies for use with solar-powered vehicles engineered by undergraduate teams from the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University in the seven day drive through the Australian Outback.

Solar Powered Farming Takes Root With Cali Growers

Age Of Enlightenment Foolishness Green and Greed

Posted on September 25, 2011 by quest

By Richard Andrews: These aren’t exactly the words of Charles Dickens author of A Tale of Two Cities, the exact quote is ” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”

I think these words fairly sum up the social and economic condition of our time. Technology and innovation have made available tools to free us from war, famine and pollution. And yet our political and economic decision making is in dire need of renewal. To anyone who has been paying a little attention our elected representatives appear to be caught up in the caught up; as China and other nations lead in manufacturing and create more job opportunities then we. To simplify; the American two party political system acts like a dysfunctional, enabling and abusive married couple that are staying together for the “sake of the children.” However, in this scenario we the citizens (children) are the ones who suffer.

Ta’Kaiya Blaney – Tar Sands Activist – Sliammon First Nation

Solyntra, for example the Hayward based solar manufacturer came on the scene offering the promise of clean renewable technology. But even with government loans and private capital behind it the firm just closed its doors. Why? Competition? Mismanagement? Under capitalized? Politics? Or all of the above? Some in Congress are now calling for cuts in previous government commitments to growing the clean green energy sector. And as it turns out some of those officials happen Read the complete article:

Ursula Sladek: Housewife who powered a green revolution

Solar Solutions In Effect Where The Buffalo Roam

Posted on September 24, 2011 by quest

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar visited the Silver State North Solar Project, a renewable energy project under construction on U.S. public lands in southern Nevada. With an estimated completion date in December, First Solar Inc.’s 50-megawatt facility would be the first large-scale solar project on public lands to contribute power to the grid. “Our nation’s clean energy future is happening right now,” said Secretary Salazar, who approved the project for construction on public lands last October. “We are harnessing a vast, renewable energy source here in our own backyard with American know-how, equipment and workers. This is a model of industry and government working together to strengthen local economies by generating good jobs and reliable power as we strive to become energy independent.” The Silver State North Solar Project is one of several projects Interior has approved as part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to encourage a rapid and responsible move to large-scale production of renewable energy on public lands.

During the visit, Salazar met with First Solar officials, as well as representatives from NV Energy, which has contracted to purchase the project’s energy output. Salazar toured the construction site where approximately 200 workers are currently on the job installing photovoltaic panels. First Solar is estimated to create 300 full-time jobs over the course of construction. Located in the Ivanpah Valley, 40 miles south of Las Vegas, Silver State North was the first utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar project approved on U.S. public lands in Nevada. The 50-megawatt plant is being built on 618 acres near the town of Primm. When operational, the facility will generate enough energy to power 9,000-15,000 local homes.

In the past 18 months, Interior has approved 20 major renewable energy projects, including 13 commercial-scale solar energy facilities that combined will create about 8,600 construction and operational jobs and produce nearly 5,000 megawatts of energy, enough to power approximately 1.5 million American homes.First Solar has several other solar projects under development in Nevada and expects to invest more than $300 million into the state’s economy through wages, development costs, material purchases and taxes. A leading manufacturer of photovoltaic solar modules, the company is creating more than 6,500 jobs nationwide, including through its R&D and manufacturing facility in Ohio and another factory under construction in Arizona.

Congressman Jerry McNerney On Sea Change Radio

Enchanting New Mexico Develops Mega Solar Energy

Posted on September 23, 2011 by quest

Wells Fargo announced project financing for the deployment of a 53.5 megawatt multi-site solar project for Sun Edison LLC, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials. A site ceremony was held yesterday in Carlsbad, New Mexico with the city’s mayor and officials from SunEdison, Xcel Energy, and Wells Fargo to announce the activation of the first three of five solar power plants that make up the 53.5 MW project. “Wells Fargo is committed to helping cleantech businesses and will continue to expand our support of projects and companies, such as SunEdison, that are leaders in building a clean energy economy,” said Puon Penn, head of Wells Fargo’s National Cleantech group. With the remaining two plants expected to begin operation before the end of 2011, the total 53.5MW solar project is expected to be among the largest photovoltaic solar power projects in the U.S. As the construction lender, Wells Fargo provided more than $200 million to finance the installation phase of the projects.

New Mexico

Building upon its ongoing support of the renewable energy industry, Wells Fargo began providing construction financing for the project earlier this year, and the new SunEdison projects collectively mark Wells Fargo’s largest renewable energy construction loan to date. Wells Fargo has also committed to provide permanent equity financing for all five projects upon completion. The company has already invested approximately $2.2 billion in renewable energy projects since 2006, including funding for 35 wind projects and over 220 solar projects in 26 states.

Electricity from the solar farms is sold to Southwestern Public Service Co., a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, Inc., supporting the utility’s compliance with New Mexico’s renewable portfolio standard. Once all sites are active, the solar farms are expected to produce more than 1.9 million megawatt-hours of electricity over the next 20 years, generating enough to power over 8,000 average U.S. homes per year while the environmental attributes associated with the solar farms are expected to offset more than 2.9 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over 20 years. “We are proud to make investments in our energy future through these groundbreaking solar projects,” said Barry Neal, head of Wells Fargo’s Environmental Finance Group.

SunPower Donates Solar Training To Greenpeace Africa

The Man With The Golden Sun…A New Solar Bond

Posted on September 21, 2011 by quest

By Ken Paulman: As we mentioned back in June, Environment Minnesota is hosting a video contest to promote its solar power campaign (full disclosure – the contest is funded by RE-AMP, which also funds Midwest Energy News). The group recently announced the finalists, and it appears there’s a ringer in the bunch. This entry, title “The Man with the Golden Sun,” baffled the contest organizers, as it clearly cost much more to produce than the $1,500 first prize. So they contacted the producers.

The video, it turns out, was produced by a team of more than 50 people, led by Steve and Lisa Fait. Lisa Fait works for a solar company in San Francisco, while her husband, Steve (a native Minnesotan), spent ten years working for a variety of film studios, including Industrial Light and Magic (yes, THAT Industrial Light and Magic). Steve currently works at Splice, a Minneapolis production company.

The Man With The Golden Sun

The Faits are living on different coasts (here in Minnesota, we consider the Mississippi River to be one of the coasts) until Lisa can find the right job opportunity to rejoin her husband. Meanwhile, the solar film contest provided them with an opportunity to combine both their passions. Lisa explains:

Pandas and Biofuel

NASA Night Rover Challenge Seeks Solar Solutions

Posted on September 21, 2011 by quest

NASA has selected The Cleantech Open of Redwood, Calif., to manage the agency’s Night Rover Challenge that will culminate in a competition in fall 2012. The event is a new Centennial Challenges prize competition seeking revolutionary energy storage technologies for future space robotic rover missions. NASA is offering a prize purse of $1.5 million to challenge winners.The Night Rover Challenge is to demonstrate solar energy collection and storage systems suitable for rovers to operate through several cycles of daylight and darkness. During daylight, systems can collect photons or thermal energy from the sun. During darkness, the stored energy would be used to move the rover toward a destination and to continue its exploration work.

Mars Needs Moms

“The Cleantech Open runs the world’s largest clean technology business competition and is a proven leader in developing clean technology startup entrepreneurs,” said Larry Cooper, program executive for NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The team has significant experience in tech entrepreneurship and innovation, and access to expertise in aerospace, making them a great choice to manage the Night Rover challenge. We look forward to the competition and bringing together innovative teams with creative problem-solving ideas.” The objective of the competition is to encourage innovations in energy storage technology and system designs for space operations. In particular, NASA seeks solutions to meet the demands imposed by the daylight and darkness cycle on the moon. Energy innovations stemming from this challenge may be beneficial to broader terrestrial applications, including vehicles and renewable energy generation systems.

The Cleantech Open team is partnering with YouNoodle Inc., a San Francisco-based startup to manage the competition. The Cleantech Open and YouNoodle will begin preparations for the challenge, publishing rules and registering competitors for the competition. NASA’s Centennial Challenges seek unconventional solutions to problems of interest to the agency and the nation. NASA provides the prize purse, but the competitions are managed by non-profit organizations that cover the cost of operations through commercial or private sponsorships. Competitors have included private companies, student groups and independent inventors working outside the traditional aerospace industry. Unlike contracts or grants, prizes are awarded only after solutions are demonstrated successfully.