Solar Report Unveils Additional $5 Billion In California

Posted on July 25, 2011 by quest

SunRun, a San Francisco based home solar company, today unveiled a new study from the economic consultancy AECOM showing that simpler solar permitting processes could generate over $5 billion in additional growth for California, an increase in nearly 20 percent relative to the status quo.”These findings are tremendous for local governments because they offer a low-cost way to add billions to the economy,” said SunRun Director of Government Affairs Ethan Sprague. “Solar permitting guidelines already exist and it’s just a matter of putting them to use. Governments that streamline their permitting processes sooner will generate a bigger economic impact in the long run, more permanent local jobs, and allow more families to save money by switching to solar.”

In January SunRun issued a report, “The Impact of Local Permitting on the Cost of Solar Power.” That report showed local solar permitting and inspection processes add an average of over $2,500 per home installation. It also helped inform the Department of Energy’s (DOE) recently-announced SunShot Rooftop Solar Challenge to make solar affordable for more Americans. This new report from AECOM is a follow-on analysis that calculates the economic and fiscal benefits of streamlined permitting for the state of California to help further the goals of the SunShot initiative’s pilot program, as well as the related Senate Bill 1108. The AECOM forecast also indicates that failure to adopt more efficient home solar permitting processes could jeopardize the already expected $30 billion economic gain from natural solar market growth in California.

“A critical aspect of these findings is they apply beyond California,” added Sprague. “Any local government can boost the economic impact of solar through streamlined permitting, and there’s a funding opportunity from the DOE to help make it happen.” “Local solar energy creates jobs and helps America move away from dirty and increasingly expensive coal-fired power,” said Bill Corcoran, western regional director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “An essential step to giving more Americans access to the benefits of local solar energy is streamlined permitting. We hope the report’s findings will encourage governments across the country to reform permitting processes and accelerate our nation’s necessary transition to reliable renewable energy.”

Kenyan Eco Entrepreneur Turns Trash Into Treasure

Green Boot Camp Instructs Teachers In New Jersey

Posted on July 24, 2011 by quest

Union County and Honeywell last week hosted the third annual Green Boot Camp, an interactive workshop focused on best practice instruction methods for teaching energy, sustainability and environmental concepts. As part of the five-day event, 40 middle school teachers from across North America gathered to explore the roots of green technology, sustainable living and environmental awareness by using the Union County Vocational-Technical Schools (UCVTS) campus in Scotch Plains, N.J., as a living laboratory.

“Our objective is to equip teachers with the tools to get students excited about science and engineering, and enable them to understand sustainable practices that will positively affect their families, schools and communities,” said Paul Orzeske, president of Honeywell Building Solutions. “By teaming with a renowned institution like UCVTS, we are educating the next generation of green workers and building a foundation for environmental stewardship.”

Green Boot Camp participants covered a comprehensive set of topics ranging from green energy and greenhouse gas emissions to electric vehicles and the smart electrical grid. For example, attendees worked on course materials to clearly articulate the principles of renewable energy by designing a solar house, and constructing a wind turbine and bicycle generator. In addition to the on-site instructors, Honeywell and UCVTS also invited a host of special guest speakers who specialize in environmental and energy-related disciplines, such as rainwater conservation and building energy management.

Picking Up Money Recycling in Port Au Prince

Executives Without Borders (ExecWB), in partnership with CSS International Holdings, Inc. and Haiti Recycling, will officially launch Ramase Lajan, a “cash for recyclables” program

Solar To Power Leading Wind Power Maker

Posted on July 23, 2011 by quest

Portland Mayor Sam Adams has announced solar panels from SolarWorld, the largest U.S. manufacturer of solar technology for more than 35 years, have been selected to power the North American headquarters of Vestas, a leader in providing high-tech wind power systems. “As Portland seeks to become the capital of the global green economy, collaborations among our leading clean energy firms are key,” Mayor Sam Adams said on July 20. “I’m excited to announce this unique partnership. It’s an excellent example of how two companies can come together and make something great happen in Portland.” The move links two of the top U.S. producers of renewable energy systems and underscores the companies’ confidence in the vitality of American manufacturing and the value of sustainability.

The announcement came outside the 102-year-old Meier & Frank Depot building in downtown Portland, future home of Vestas’ continental head office. The building’s redevelopment will feature a 112-kilowatt photovoltaic system, the largest roof-mounted solar array in Portland’s central business district. The system will cap an impressive list of cutting-edge energy and environmental features that are expected to position the historical building on Northwest Everett Street to pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The SolarWorld panels will supply about 12 percent of the building’s electricity needs.

Both SolarWorld and Vestas have their headquarters for the Americas in the Portland area. SolarWorld employs more than 1,000 workers at its main U.S. site in Hillsboro, Ore., and more than 250 in Camarillo, Calif., where it has operated a solar-panel manufacturing site since the late 1970s. Vestas employs about 400 people in Portland and 3,000 nationwide. The company, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Portland next year, has sold more than 11,000 wind turbines in North America. When complete in spring 2012, the building will measure 172,000 square feet, including an addition on the fifth floor featuring an eco-roof terrace and garden and tenant and retail space on the first floor.

Eicke Weber Envisions Worldwide Solar Power Network

Lufthansa Schedules Sustainable Biofuel Flights

Posted on July 21, 2011 by quest

Last week, Lufthansa launched a six-month biofuel trial on regular scheduled flights. Christoph Franz, Chairman and CEO of the Lufthansa Group, said: “Lufthansa is the first airline worldwide to use biofuel in scheduled daily flight operations. We are thus continuing to steadily implement our proven and successful strategy for sustainability.” A Lufthansa Airbus A321 with the registration D-AIDG will fly the Hamburg-Frankfurt-Hamburg route four times daily. One of its engines will run on a 50/50 mix of regular fuel and biosynthetic kerosene. The biofuel for jet engines has been approved by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). During the six months test run period, the use of biofuel will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1,500 tonnes.

As air transport is the only mode of transport that will remain dependent upon liquid fuels for the foreseeable future, the aviation industry and the research community must develop and test alternatives. “Fossil raw materials are finite,” Franz cautioned. He added that next to reducing CO2 emissions the main aim of this long-term operational trial, was to examine the effects of biofuel on the maintenance and lifespan of aircraft engines. The biosynthetic kerosene used by Lufthansa is derived from pure biomass and consists of jatropha, camelina and animal fats. The fuel used by Lufthansa is produced by Neste Oil, a Finnish oil company. Neste has extensive experience in the production of biofuels and has been a successful partner of Lufthansa for many years. Suppliers must provide proof of the sustainability of their processes and meet the criteria stipulated by the European Parliament and the Council in the Renewable Energy Directive. Lufthansa guarantees that the production of its biofuel is not in direct competition with food production and that no rainforests are destroyed.

The use of biosynthetic kerosene is one element of the four-pillar climate protection strategy pursued by Lufthansa with a view to reducing overall CO2 emissions in the air transport sector. By combining a range of different measures – for example, ongoing fleet modernization, technology improvements to aircraft and engines, operational measures such as engine washing or the use of lighter materials and an improved infrastructure – Lufthansa aims to achieve the ambitious environmental goals set out in its strategy. The implementation of new technologies has seen Lufthansa improve its fuel efficiency by over 30 per cent since 1991. Source: Valere Tjolle , Sustainable Tourism Report

PRESIDIO GRADUATE SCHOOL ANNOUNCES NEW PRESIDENT

Charlize Theron & Ryan Reynolds Going Green Hollywood Style

Posted on July 18, 2011 by quest

If you can believe the latest word out of Hollywood, Green Lantern star Ryan Reynolds and Academy Award winner, film producer and former fashion model Charlize Theron have been dating for months. Both have some pretty strong ” green” activist street creds. Theron also is a supporter of animal rights and active member of PETA. She appeared in a PETA ad for their anti-fur campaign.

In July 2009 it was announced that Theron’s Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) would form a coalition with LAFC Soccer Club to give soccer fields to rural areas in South Africa. LAFC Chelsea, one of the United States’s most successful and prominent youth soccer clubs, made a three-year commitment to help build a community-wide soccer program for the schools in the Umkhanyakude District. This help includes uniforms, cleats, balls and equipment, along with professional training for local coaches, referees and administrators. “Our goal is to help truly create a safer, healthier and better life for young people in South Africa, especially those living in remote areas, and to ensure that the resources we bring are self sustaining. The three year commitment is so incredible and key to being sure that the program will be around for many years to come”, says Charlize Theron.

Canadian born actor Ryan Reynolds known for his roles in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Waiting…, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal and X-Men Origins: Wolverine wrote in the Huffington Post after the BP oil rig explosion; “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.”

VISIT THE GREEN NEWS WALL

Solar Affordable In San Francisco With Solar@Work

Posted on July 18, 2011 by quest

The City of San Francisco launched Solar@Work, a new program that offers solar energy systems to businesses in the Bay Area through an innovative group purchase model. The new program makes it possible, for the first time, for small- and mid-sized businesses and commercial property owners to pay less for solar power than they pay for electricity from the grid without local rebates. This can allow some business owners to save hundreds of thousands of dollars over the lifetimes of these solar power systems. As the first major commercial group purchase of solar power in the United States, Solar@Work will bring together interested participants to buy more than 2 Megawatts (MW) of solar power over the next 6 months.

The Solar@Work model was developed by the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment (SF Environment), in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Optony. SF Environment found that the main barriers keeping San Francisco businesses and commercial property owners from purchasing solar energy were upfront costs and lack of access to affordable financing. With American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities program and support from U.S. DOE’s SunShot Initiative, SF Environment proposed the Solar@Work “aggregation” approach, which combines multiple participants into one solar purchasing group, along with a standardized solar equipment lease. To help make this a reality, the program’s stakeholder group, led by the World Resources Institute (WRI), negotiated with solar vendors who could address the unique needs of businesses and property owners in San Francisco, and selected winning vendor, SolarCity.

SolarCity, a national solar integrator with more than 15,000 projects completed or underway, is headquartered in the Bay Area, and is an approved installer with the San Francisco GoSolarSF program. SolarCity expects to hire more than 400 new workers in the second half of 2011, including 100 in the Bay Area. “We believe Solar@Work will provide the most affordable solar options available to small and medium-sized businesses in San Francisco,” said Erik Fogelberg, SolarCity’s director of commercial projects. “SolarCity is honored to have been selected for this important project.” “The city has the ambitious goal of meeting its electricity needs with 100 percent renewable energy, so we need to do everything we can to make sure our local and regional building owners have the ability to install renewables with minimal up-front investments,” said Melanie Nutter, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment.” “Programs like Solar@Work will boost our economic competitiveness, create American jobs, and help reach the President’s goal of doubling our clean energy in the next 25 years,” said Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.