Someone made the suggestion in the previous installment of this series that I consider changing the title, and I decided to take their advice. I hope this change does not create any unrealistic expectations for future installments of the series. Unfortunately, there are no poo-related stories in today's installment.
Kia is planning to enter the hydrogen vehicle market in a big way:
What targets? Well, Kia hopes to become the world leader in fuel cell vehicles by having 10,000 in consumers' hands by 2015. To reach the goal, the company will kick-off sales to government fleets and research institutions later this year. Beginning in 2012, the company hopes to release its fuel cell vehicles to the general public. R&D-wise, the company has made significant progress on its Borrego FCEV. This hydrogen-powered Borrego can scoot to 60 miles per hour in 12 seconds, reach a top speed of 106 mph, cover 375 miles before refueling and we walked away impressed during our brief stint behind the wheel. We know that Kia has a solid offering and hope that its hydrogen goals can be obtained, but many hurdles still remain ahead.
Here is the Kia vehicle:
This has been a pretty significant couple of weeks for hydrogen vehicles. A couple of weeks ago GM announced a significant hydrogen infrastructure investment in Hawaii. And earlier this week, 2 other hydrogen infrastructure projects were announced: an east coast hydrogen highway stretching from Maine to Miami, and a nationwide hydrogen trucking infrastructure.
Missouri became the latest state to embrace solar energy:
Last Friday, Missouri became the 21st state to open the door to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. The innovative and wildly popular financing scheme, which allows homeowners to pay for solar power systems via municipal loans paid back through property taxes, has been spreading fast through states eager to ride the growing green energy wave.
PACE financing originated in Berkeley, California in 2007 and in less than three years has changed the face of renewable energy and energy efficiency financing. PACE is unique in two ways. One, it eliminates most or all of the up-front costs that hamper solar adoption for middle class homeowners. And two, it ties the loan to the property, not the individual. Subsequently, should the loan-approved homeowners decide to move, they do not have to continue paying for a solar power system they’re not using. Given that property is a reliable asset, risk is reduced for the lender as well, i.e. the municipality creating a bond to fund the program and the banks they often partner with to do so.
Missouri’s road to embracing PACE began in the small town of Ferguson. There, a city planner, Rosalind Williams, decided she wanted to implement a PACE program in her hometown. So, with the help of national solar advocacy group Vote Solar, a campaign was launched to pass enabling legislation in the Missouri state legislature.
As stated in the article, 21 states have some sort of PACE program. Maybe yours is one of them.
Wind projects in Wyoming are moving forward:
Wind developer Pathfinder Renewable Wind Energy has said it has agreed for GE to supply wind turbines for up to 2,100 megawatts of wind projects in the state of Wyoming.
Last week saw Pathfinder allocated up to 2,100 megawatts of transmission capacity for wind developments in Wyoming, as part of the 3,000-megawatt Zephyr Power Transmission project being developed by TransCanada.
Horizon Wind Energy LLC, and BP Wind Energy NA Inc, have also been signed up for transmission access with the TransCanada project. The $3 billion Zephyr project is a 1,000 mile high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line that would move power from Wyoming to markets in the southwest US.
If the project goes ahead, it could see construction starting in 2013, with commercial operations in late 2015 or early 2016. GE offers onshore wind turbines of 1.5Mw or 2.5MW rated capacity. If the larger turbines were used to provide the full 2,100MW of generating output available under the Zephyr transmission project, the Pathfinder wind development work could lead to 840 turbines set up.
Texas continues to lead in wind energy:
Balfour Wind Energy Constructors, a strategic and operational joint venture between Balfour Beatty Construction and Wind Energy Constructors, together with SW1, a joint venture between DeWind Energy Development and Higher Perpetual Energy, today announced construction has commenced at the 20MW Pringle Wind Farm in the Texas Panhandle. The announcement was made during the American Wind Energy Association's annual Windpower Conference and Exposition.
In early 2010, SW1's operational subsidiaries awarded DeWind Co. the $30 million contract, consisting of 10 units of DeWind's D8.2 model turbines.
We all know about Massachusetts' embrace of wind energy, but they have also embraced solar energy:
The roof of National Grid’s distribution center in Northbridge is covered with about 4,700 solar panels, making it the largest solar-generating facility in the state and the first such project to be owned by a utility.
The rooftop array — capable of producing about a megawatt of electricity, or enough to power 200 homes — was built mostly with Massachusetts technology and expertise.
"It’s all good work for all the right reasons,’’ said Michael Monahan, business manager for Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, whose members worked on the project.
Many are eagerly anticipating the introduction of the Nissan Leaf later this year. But Nissan is bringing more than a car to the market:
Nissan shocked everybody a bit earlier this week when they announced they had developed a DC fast charging station that had the capability of getting a Nissan LEAF’s 24 kWh battery pack from zero to 80% full in under a half hour. It wasn’t so much the fast charging capability — also known as Level 3 charging — that shocked. We’ve all known Level 3 charging was coming. No, it was the price of their charging station.
At about $17,000, it represented an astounding departure from the $60,000 to $150,000 prices that have been quoted for the better part of a year and a half for a fast charging station. I had a chance to ask Mark Perry, Nissan’s director of product planning and strategy for North America, about just how Nissan had pulled it off and what kinds of plans Nissan has for bringing their Level 3 charging station to the U.S.
More solar energy to California, this time to the San Jose airport:
Canadian Solar said Thursday that it has completed a roof-mount photovoltaic solar electric system at the new rental car center and public parking garage at Mineta San Jose International Airport in California.
The environmental impact of the system on the 3,350-space, seven-story garage is the equivalent of removing 235 passenger vehicles from the road or the amount of carbon that 6,422 trees would sequester annually.
The installation is part of the $1.3 billion initiative to modernize and replace the airport's terminal facilities. The system will start up next month when the airport begins full operations at its new Terminal B and rental car center.
North Carolina has taken a small step into solar energy:
Solar power developer SunPower, Inc., has completed a one-megawatt (DC) solar power facility for North Carolina power company Duke Energy.
The facility was installed on a 10-acre site near the Shelby-Cleveland County Regional Airport, in the city of Shelby, North Carolina
With a 940-kilowatt alternating current output, the new plant will generate enough power to supply the equivalent of 140 homes.
Oh boy. Poor James Inhofe:
Gov. Brad Henry signed legislation Thursday designed to expand the use of clean energy in Oklahoma, though the measure stops short of setting a mandate for utility companies.
Instead, the Oklahoma Energy Security Act sets a goal by calling for 15 percent of electricity to be generated from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal by 2015.
The plan allows electricity generators to utilize energy efficiency in order to meet the goal and establishes a natural gas energy standard to maximize development of Oklahoma's natural gas resources.
Again, Texas adds wind energy:
Amarillo's newest business partner in wind energy, Alstom, had a cermonial groundbreaking at its new facility at Lakeside and NE 24th Thursday.
The company, which produces about 20 percent of the world's electrical energy, is set to begin production of the Nacelle's, used on wind trubines.
The company plans to start with 275 new employees to join the more than 80,000 people they employ worldwide.
Bipartisan bills in the House & Senate? And they help the environment? The hell you say!:
Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced S.3442, which has been referred to the Committee on Finance. Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Judy Biggert (IL), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) introduced H.R.5442, the "Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010," which has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform; Science and Technology; Ways and Means; and Transportation and Infrastructure.
The bills would create "deployment communities" across the country, where targeted incentive programs for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure systems would help demonstrate rapid market penetration and determine what best practices would be helpful for nationwide deployment of electric vehicles.
The overarching goal of the Senate bill is to electrify half of US cars and trucks by 2030.
Highlights of the House bill include:
The Secretary of Energy will competitively award $800 million to 5 different deployment communities around the country, with the objective of deploying 700,000 electric vehicles in those communities within six years.
At least $2,000 in additional consumer incentives for the first 100,000 consumers purchasing electric vehicles in these communities would be provided.
All Americans would continue to be eligible for the electric vehicle tax credit, which reduces the prices of an electric vehicle by up to $7500, and additionally, tax credits of the costs of purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging equipment for individuals (up to $2000) or businesses (up to $50,000 for multiple equipment purchases) would be extended.
Additional research, development, deployment and manufacturing incentives are provided for technologies that enable the widespread deployment of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.
Finally, a broad-based renewable energy project is headed to Arizona:
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has agreed to purchase the output of 10 new solar power systems, a landfill gas generation project and a new wind farm that together would generate nearly 160 megawatts (MW), enough renewable energy to power more than 30,000 Tucson homes.
The projects include:
Three solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays built with fixed, stationary panels, including systems capable of generating 35 MW, 25 MW and 5 MW.
Four PV arrays that track the sun's arc across the sky along a single axis, including one rated at 12 MW, another at 4 MW and two sized at 5 MW apiece.
Three concentrating solar power systems that focus sunlight on PV material to improve energy output. One of these systems would be capable of generating 12 MW, while two others would produce up to 2 MW each.
Also, TEP will purchase energy from a new biogas generator that would be built at Pima County's Tangerine Landfill. The project would produce up to 2.2 MW from methane gas, a renewable fuel generated naturally through the decomposition process; and they have agreed to purchase the output of a 50-MW wind farm that would be developed near TEP's existing high-efficiency natural gas Luna Energy Generating Station in Deming, N.M.
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