News aggregator
Khosla's EcoMotors to Get $18 Million for Advanced Engine Technology
Microsoft Will Control Your Home’s Power Savings Through WiFi-enabled Meter and Their Hohm Service
Hybrid Organic Solar Cells Now More Efficient
Posted in: Industry, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power
Xtreme Power Gets $29.5 Million for Utility-Scale Energy Storage
Hair Care Company Tops Them All with Biggest Wind Power Installation
In a daring display of green chutzpah, a hair care products company called Zotos International, Inc. has seemingly come out of nowhere to grab the title of biggest wind energy generator of any U.S. manufacturer. The company has just won approval install a $7 million, 3.3 megawatt wind power project for its facility in Geneva, New York. The American Wind Energy Association has said that the project is the largest of its kind in the U.S.
The project went through with significant help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which chipped in about 30% of the cost of the project. Also helping to win approval from Geneva officials was the company's commitment to donate the equivalent of 5% of the wind power back to the city. It's all part of Zotos's plan to achieve 100% renewable energy at the facility by 2011.
(more…)Hair Care Company Tops Them All with Biggest Wind Power Installation
In a daring display of green chutzpah, a hair care products company called Zotos International, Inc. has seemingly come out of nowhere to grab the title of biggest wind energy generator of any U.S. manufacturer. The company has just won approval install a $7 million, 3.3 megawatt wind power project for its facility in Geneva, New York. The American Wind Energy Association has said that the project is the largest of its kind in the U.S.
The project went through with significant help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which chipped in about 30% of the cost of the project. Also helping to win approval from Geneva officials was the company's commitment to donate the equivalent of 5% of the wind power back to the city. It's all part of Zotos's plan to achieve 100% renewable energy at the facility by 2011.
(more…)One Good Thing About the Spill Bill
It gets mom and pop out of the oil drilling business, and that is a good thing.
While undeveloped countries might have kids slaving over the kitchen fire melting electronics to mine them for lead – in a supposedly developed nation like this, competence should be a sine qua non in the drilling business, for all of our sakes. It is amazing that just about anyone is allowed to drill – even if they have absolutely no way to clean up a mess like just happened in the Gulf.
While it is no climate – clean energy bill as hoped, the spill bill is not bad for a straight environmental pollution prevention bill that cracks down on the lax oil and gas drilling practices that led to the catastrophic spill in the Gulf, and ongoing drilling disasters on land. (more…)
One Good Thing About the Spill Bill
It gets mom and pop out of the oil drilling business, and that is a good thing.
While undeveloped countries might have kids slaving over the kitchen fire melting electronics to mine them for lead – in a supposedly developed nation like this, competence should be a sine qua non in the drilling business, for all of our sakes. It is amazing that just about anyone is allowed to drill – even if they have absolutely no way to clean up a mess like just happened in the Gulf.
While it is no climate – clean energy bill as hoped, the spill bill is not bad for a straight environmental pollution prevention bill that cracks down on the lax oil and gas drilling practices that led to the catastrophic spill in the Gulf, and ongoing drilling disasters on land. (more…)
Can a Renewable Energy Standard Come Back from the Dead?
I just wrote about the struggles of getting a Republican to support anything regarding clean energy in my post on PACE's chances of getting into the upcoming energy bill. So, I won't write at length about that again.
But there's still a struggle going on for another biggie that some of us are hoping a near-miracle will save (and this one has at least one Republican behind it) — a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES). Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called it dead immediately after calling a “comprehensive” climate change and clean energy bill dead, nearly half of Senate Democrats are putting the pressure on Reid to bring it back.
What are the chances?
Can a Renewable Energy Standard Come Back from the Dead?
I just wrote about the struggles of getting a Republican to support anything regarding clean energy in my post on PACE's chances of getting into the upcoming energy bill. So, I won't write at length about that again.
But there's still a struggle going on for another biggie that some of us are hoping a near-miracle will save (and this one has at least one Republican behind it) — a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES). Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called it dead immediately after calling a “comprehensive” climate change and clean energy bill dead, nearly half of Senate Democrats are putting the pressure on Reid to bring it back.
What are the chances?
Could PACE Get Help from the Energy Bill?
It is really quite sad what Republicans have done to the Senate and what they are doing to the country and the world as a result. Even conservatives Dick Schmalensee, who served on President George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Jonathan Kay are calling out their colleagues and friends for their backwards thinking and counter-productive actions (perhaps even better than any non-conservative could).
If one courageous Republican in the Senate wanted to, though, he/she could make a big difference and help turn things around for the highly popular PACE program now. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that he is willing to add PACE-restoring legislation to a scaled-back energy bill IF he can find a Republican cosponsor to sign onto it.
Why would anyone oppose PACE? Why wouldn't a Republican step up and be the PACE hero?
Could PACE Get Help from the Energy Bill?
It is really quite sad what Republicans have done to the Senate and what they are doing to the country and the world as a result. Even conservatives Dick Schmalensee, who served on President George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Jonathan Kay are calling out their colleagues and friends for their backwards thinking and counter-productive actions (perhaps even better than any non-conservative could).
If one courageous Republican in the Senate wanted to, though, he/she could make a big difference and help turn things around for the highly popular PACE program now. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that he is willing to add PACE-restoring legislation to a scaled-back energy bill IF he can find a Republican cosponsor to sign onto it.
Why would anyone oppose PACE? Why wouldn't a Republican step up and be the PACE hero?
Plasco raises another $110 million to fund “commercial delivery” of energy-from-waste system
Ottawa-based Plasco Energy Group says its energy-from-waste technology is now proven and it's time to move to commercial delivery. To help in that effort, it announced today a $110 million private equity placement led largely by Ares Management LLC of Los Angeles. Since 2005 Plasco had already managed to raise $135 million in equity, so this latest haul bring the total to $245 million — not bad in today's markets. Another $25 million in government grants rounds out the total to $270 million.
Plasco chairman and CEO Rod Bryden called the latest investment in the company “a remarkable expression of confidence.” The company is targeting its efforts at North America, Europe and China. It has two pilot facilities already — a 100-tonne-per-day plant in Ottawa and a much smaller plant in Spain — but a 300 tonne-per-day facility is in the works in Red Deer, Alberta, and is expected to be completed in 2012. One can only assume that the Ottawa facility has worked out its kinks, otherwise I can't see any responsible investor throwing down $100 million to pursue commercial projects.
This is good news for Plasco and another shot of confidence in the emerging market for new energy-from-waste technologies. Montreal-based Enerkem is another Canadian company riding this wave with its ethanol-from-waste systems, having recently raised nearly $54 million from Waste Management and a number of venture capital firms. Don Roberts, vice-chair of CIBC World Market's clean technology and green energy team, recently told me that energy-from-waste was one of three main areas to watch over the coming years, along with energy efficiency and water. He may be right.
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