Former Toronto Mayor Urges Environmental Solutions

Posted on September 4, 2011 by quest

In his first formal appearance as the Polytechnic Institute of New York University Future of Cities Global Fellow, former Toronto Mayor David Miller challenged the incoming students to tackle what he called the world’s foremost challenge: innovating to solve urban problems. His recent convocation keynote speech this to approximately 560 new first-year undergraduates publicly marked the relationship between NYU-Poly and Miller, a global leader in urban environmental sustainability, economic development and social integration. As Toronto mayor from 2003 to 2010, Miller became recognized for innovations that furthered the city’s environmental sustainability, economic development and social integration. Miller is currently counsel, international business and sustainability, to the Toronto law firm Aird & Berlis LLP and president of Urban Green Jobs, Inc.

Noting that recently the scales tipped so that most of the people of the world now live in cities, Miller told the students: “This fundamental change has an important implication for your studies. No longer will it be sufficient to simply study chemical or computer engineering, or any other technical field and become an expert – it will also be essential to understand the public policy context and challenges within which your research is being conducted.” Using real-world examples from his experience, Miller told the students that engineers and technology will play an increasingly important role in solving these urban problems. He also pointed to ways to have fun while creating solutions. He pointed to the example of the NYC BigApps Challenge, which employs open source code and open government information to create apps to make city life better for residents and visitors.

Jon Stewart Surprises NYU Students

“We have faith in your capacity to learn and make the world a better place,” NYU-Poly President Jerry Hultin told students in his welcoming remarks. “Here at NYU-Poly, you will find a 21st century toolbox of education and research…With our faculty I challenge you to combine the traditional engineering disciplines in new ways, and to set a personal goal to make a difference.” Miller’s role as Future of Cities Global Fellow will include other lectures, as well as teaching and assisting NYU-Poly and NYU in developing programs that connect technology and society to solve pressing urban challenges. Among other projects, he plans to co-instruct a studio class in which students work to increase sustainability in local parks. Urban technology is one of NYU-Poly’s highest academic priorities, befitting its mission as a comprehensive school of engineering located in one of the world’s great urban centers.

Santiago Chiles’s LEED Gold Green Building

Biofuel Powering Blue Angels Air Show

Posted on September 3, 2011 by quest

By Andrew Johnson  - The Blue Angels’ F/A-18 Hornet aircraft are using a biofuel blend during their performances at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Air Expo held tomorrow through Sept. 4. The Blue Angels’ Labor Day weekend performance is another demonstration of the Department of the Navy’s commitment to reducing fossil fuel use without compromising capability. All six Hornets will be powered by a 50/50 blend of conventional JP-5 jet fuel and a camelina-based biofuel. Camelina sativa is a member of the mustard plant family. Camelina plants grow from 1 to 3 feet tall, producing pods with many small, oily seeds inside.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the Navy and Marine Corps’ use of alternative energy sources addresses critical vulnerabilities and ultimately serves to improve America’s warfighting capability, while also increasing the nation’s energy efficiency.”Changing the kinds of fuels we use and the way we use them is critical to assuring the Navy and Marine Corps remain the most formidable expeditionary fighting force the world has ever known,” Mabus said. “The Department of the Navy will be taking another visible step toward testing biofuel in our aircraft when all six of the Blue Angels perform using the same 50/50 blend of drop-in biofuel we’ve used in so many of our other aircraft.”

The Labor Day performance is the ultimate demonstration to date of the Department of the Navy‘s commitment to reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, as well as safeguarding the nation’s environment through the incorporation of cleaner, more sustainable and renewable energy sources. This initiative is one of many throughout the Navy and Marine Corps that will enable the Department of the Navy to achieve Mabus’ goals to improve energy security and efficiency afloat and ashore, increase energy independence, and help lead the nation toward a clean energy economy.

BLUE ANGELS

GO TO THE SOLAR WALL

SunShot Shines $145 Million On Solar Technologies

Posted on September 2, 2011 by quest

Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced more than $145 million for projects to help shape the next generation of solar energy technologies and ensure that the United States remains a leader in this global market. Sixty-nine projects in 24 states will accelerate research and development to increase efficiency, lower costs and advance cutting-edge technologies. Funded through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the projects will also improve materials, manufacturing processes and supply chains for a wide range of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and components of solar energy systems. Some of these investments also support efforts that will shorten the overall timeline from prototype to production and streamline building codes, zoning laws, permitting rules, and business processes for installing solar energy systems.

“America is in a world race to produce cost-competitive renewable energy that can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, create manufacturing jobs across the nation, and improve our energy security,” said Secretary Chu. “The projects announced today under DOE’s SunShot Initiative will spur American innovation to help reduce the costs of clean, renewable solar energy and re-establish U.S. global leadership in this fast growing industry.”

The SunShot Initiative seeks to make solar energy systems more cost-competitive, without long-term subsidies, by reducing the cost of these systems about 75 percent by the end of the decade. The achievement of the SunShot Initiative goals will encourage rapid, widespread adoption of solar energy systems across the United States. The six categories of projects announced today are: Extreme Balance of System Hardware Cost Reductions – Nine projects to receive $42 million.Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency – Eighteen projects to receive $35.8 million. Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems: Advanced Concepts – Eight projects to receive $25.9 million.Transformational PV Science and Technology: Next Generation Photovoltaics II – Twenty-three projects to receive $22.2 million. Reducing Market Barriers and Non-Hardware Balance of System Costs – Seven projects to receive $13.6 million. SunShot Incubator – Four projects to receive $5.8 million.

Beyond Irene: The Future Of Hurricanes

High Desert Cali City To Go Net Zero Using Solar Power

Posted on September 1, 2011 by quest

The City of Lancaster, California has taken a historic step towards becoming one of the first “Net Zero Cities” in the world. The Lancaster City Council unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Beautiful Earth Group for the development of a partnership to establish Lancaster as a Net Zero City. Net Zero Cities produce as much energy from sustainable sources, such as solar energy, as they consume. This dramatically reduces their carbon emissions. New technologies such as energy storage, supply and demand management and the “smart grid” are used to save energy and money — all good news for consumers as prices for oil and energy continue to rise.

Lancaster, known as the “Alternative Energy Capital of the World,” is well situated to benefit from the rapid increase in solar energy investment throughout the area. Applications for more than 4,000 megawatts of generation by photovoltaic (PV) electricity plants have been received in California’s High Desert / Antelope Valley region. This provides Lancaster with a wide range of options to reduce its carbon output by using clean energy coupled with energy saving techniques in the future.

Sour Away

Lancaster‘s goal of becoming a Net Zero City will encourage global investment in the city and will fulfill Beautiful Earth’s mission to supply municipalities and businesses with clean, green energy. “This important agreement will bring new jobs, energy security and a much healthier future to all of us in the Antelope Valley,” said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris. “The Net Zero City project with Beautiful Earth Group has the potential to increase the quality of living and create thousands of new jobs focused on power conservation, systems to support the smart grid, clean energy generation, and downstream activities related to companies attracted to Lancaster for its ability to supply clean energy for their manufacturing, industrial and commercial processes.”

Pandas microbes making biofuels

Alternative Solutions To PV Solar Energy Generation

Posted on September 1, 2011 by quest

Bay Area solar manufacturer Solyndra on Wednesday announced it is was shutting its doors and laying off all its 1,100 workers. Solyndra had been visited by Vice President Joe Bidden, Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Barrack Obama. The Daily Caller reported, “Solyndra also spent $550,000 lobbying Congress in 2010. Between 2008 and 2011, the company spent more than $1 million lobbying for bills including the “American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009″ and the “Solar Manufacturing Jobs Creation Act.”Despite Solyndra’s recent bankruptcy announcement, the Department of Energy and the White House insist the investment was not in vain. “The project that we supported succeeded,” a spokesman for the Department of Energy told The New York Times. “The facility was producing the product it said it would produce, and consumers were buying the product,” he said. “The company struggled because the market has changed dramatically.” “While we are disappointed by this particular outcome, we continue to believe the clean-energy jobs race is one that America can, must and will win,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said today in an emailed statement.

NPR reports, The Department of Energy notes that the federal loan guarantee “was pursued by both the Bush and Obama administrations.” And, DOE spokesman Dan Leistikow wrote Wednesday, “we have always recognized that not every one of the innovative companies supported by our loans and loan guarantees would succeed, but we can’t stop investing in game-changing technologies that are key to America’s leadership in the global economy. These projects, which include more than 40 other companies, are on pace to create more than 60,000 jobs.”

Solar remains the fastest growing industry in the US and opportunities for alternative energy are fluid; including developments in spray on solar and some recent advancements in Graphene and Carbon Nanotube technology.

Daryl Hannah Arrested at White House

Keystone Pipeline Not in Our National Interest

by Peter Lehner

SunPods Solar Arrays Using Digital Automation

Posted on August 31, 2011 by quest

Clean technology company SunPods Inc. is using software from Autodesk, Inc. to design and manufacture modular solar array units that help make solar power more accessible and affordable “Digital Prototyping makes it easier for young clean tech companies with limited resources to develop products that can have a profound impact on the world around us” Unlike conventional customized ground-mounted solar arrays that require extensive onsite assembly and construction, SunPods (which stands for “Sun Power on Demand”) are configured and built in a factory before being delivered to virtually any site — a process that reduces installation time by up to 85 percent.

The combination of Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD software has helped SunPods to design and model its arrays without the need for physical prototypes or on-site testing. During the product development process, the company was able to test and evaluate 23 different digital prototypes. Additionally, Autodesk Showcase software enabled SunPods to more effectively demonstrate the innovative concept to customers by creating realistic animations placing the ideas in context. “At SunPods, we want to provide sun power on demand,” said Michael Gumm, managing partner and cofounder of SunPods. “At every stage, Autodesk software has helped us turn that vision into a reality and speed up our progression from ‘good idea’ to great product.” Modular Array Design Reduces Installation Time Up to 85 Percent, Increases Affordability of Solar Energy

As a member of the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program — which provides software to emerging clean tech companies in North America, Europe and Japan — SunPods gained access to a variety of Digital Prototyping tools to speed the development of its modular power unit. Autodesk reseller, KETIV Technologies, helped provide training and support to enable SunPods to more quickly implement Digital Prototyping into the design process. Each of the pre-manufactured, self-contained units is capable of generating up to 3.82 kilowatts of power — enough for a small residence. Thanks to its modular design, multiple units can be connected to one another to scale energy needs to power larger projects. The marketplace has embraced the company’s innovative ideas: SunPods have now been deployed for commercial, residential, educational and agricultural projects across the United States. A cluster of three SunPods generates 750 kilowatts per month for a private home in Hollister, Calif., for example, while a cluster of 25 SunPods generates 10,000 kilowatts per month for a high school in Presidio, Texas. “Digital Prototyping makes it easier for young clean tech companies with limited resources to develop products that can have a profound impact on the world around us,” said Robert “Buzz” Kross, senior vice president, Manufacturing Industry Group at Autodesk. “The work SunPods is doing is incredibly important and we’re glad Autodesk software can help play a role in making the transition to solar energy more financially accessible to more people.”