Phones go solar…Empire State Building goes greenQuestPoint

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.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

MUREFU BARASA

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.

QuestPoint n The Mix interview here

Read the story here

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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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