May 2009
Monthly Archive
Sun + salt = solar energy
Posted by admin on 31 May 2009 | Tagged as: Solar
SolarReserve, a company based in Santa Monica, California, plans to build a solar power plant using molten salt by 2013.
The plant could begin operating by early 2013. It would use an array of 15,000 heliostats, or large tilting mirrors about 25 feet wide, to direct sunlight to a solar collector atop a 600-foot-tall tower — somewhat like a lighthouse in reverse.
The mirrors would heat up molten salt flowing through the receiver to more than 1,000 degrees, hot enough to turn water into powerful steam in a device called a heat exchanger. The steam, like that coming out of a nozzle of a boiling tea kettle, would drive a turbine to create electricity.
Construction begins on NASA solar plant
Posted by admin on 30 May 2009 | Tagged as: Solar
Florida Power and Light (FPL) has broken ground on a photovoltaic solar power plant at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
When complete by mid-2010, the Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center is expected to generate 10 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 1,100 homes, according to Juno Beach-based FPL.
Biomass plant to provide 100% of village’s power needs
Posted by admin on 29 May 2009 | Tagged as: Biomass
England’s Ahs Energy will build a biomass plant that will meet all the energy needs of Northiam, a village in Sussex..
Mainly recovered wood would fuel the plant giving it a thermal capacity of 16MW and generating around 4.5MW of electricity. The plant would be able to power 6,000 homes equating to 16 per cent of the household power requirements in the district. Northiam has a population of around 2,000 residents.
Wind battery to be tested in Montana
Posted by admin on 28 May 2009 | Tagged as: Wind
A vanadium battery that stores wind energy will be tested in Cascade County, Montana.
The test is designed to determine how well the battery stores and releases the wind power energy.
County Commissioner Peggy Beltrone said, “We are hopeful that this test will prove that this technology can be used to make our wind resource even more valuable.”
The battery will be installed in the Autumn and could help address concerns about wind turbines providing power when there is no wind.
Solar could meet 25% of world’s power needs by 2050
Posted by admin on 27 May 2009 | Tagged as: Solar
A recent study suggests that concentrating solar power could provide 7% of the world’s energy needs by 2030, and up to 25% by 2050.
That assumes a giant surge in investments to 21 billion euros a year by 2015 and 174 billion a year by 2050, creating hundrds of thousands of jobs. Under that scenario, solar plants would have installed capacity of 1,500 gigawatts by 2050.
Citi has more than 100 LEED branches
Posted by admin on 26 May 2009 | Tagged as: LEED
Financial giant Citi has 114 LEED-certified branches around the country.
Citi branches feature many eco-friendly features including low flow plumbing, recycled materials for furniture and flooring, and a keen attention to indoor air quality.
The company’s LEED certified buildings go beyond the United States. Recently, a Citi data center in Frankfurt, Germany was awarded LEED Platinum certification.
Watermelons may be a source of ethanol
Posted by admin on 25 May 2009 | Tagged as: Ethanol
Twenty percent of the nation’s watermelon crop is left to rot in fields. Agricultural Research Services scientists are studying ways to convert simple sugar in watermelon juice into ethanol.
On average, a 20-pound watermelon will yield about 1.4 pounds of sugar from the flesh and rind, from which about seven-tenths of a pound of ethanol can be derived. To extract all the possible sugars, Fish is seeking to degrade the rind with chemical and enzyme treatments. He’s also evaluating different combination of temperatures, yeasts, antifoaming agents and pH levels to optimize the system.
California college gets both shade and solar power
Posted by admin on 24 May 2009 | Tagged as: Solar
California’s Butte College has installed solar panels that provide shade for parked cars as well as energy for the campus.
The panels will create enough energy for seven buildings on campus and four greenhouses.
The completion of the panels brings Butte College to 45 percent in terms of use of solar for energy.
Jobless turn to green-collar job training
Posted by admin on 23 May 2009 | Tagged as: Jobs & Careers
As the unemployment rate rises across the country, enrollment in green job training in community colleges is on the increase.
In Michigan, which has the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 12 percent, Lansing Community College has seen enrollment in its alternative energy degree program grow from 42 students in 2005 to 252 students in 2008. This fall, the college will begin offering certificates for solar, geothermal, wind turbine and energy efficiency technicians.
Most new students are middle-aged men who recently lost jobs in the auto industry, which makes them eligible for a state program that provides $10,000 to unemployed workers for training.
Trash compactors go solar
Posted by admin on 22 May 2009 | Tagged as: Solar
Massachusetts’ BigBelly Solar leases its 32-gallon solar-powered trash compactors to cities, universities, and large parks.
A lot of development work went into designing the solar power system into a compactor, which also is branded BigBelly, Kennelly said (see technical specs). On top of each bin is a 30-watt silicon solar panel that is protected by a polycarbonate shield. The company buys the solar panels from suppliers such as BP Solar and Kyocera, he said. The solar power charges a 12-volt battery so that the trash bin can work at night as well.
The wireless feature is optional. If included, information about how full each bin is goes to a server managed by BigBelly. Philadelphia’s bins do go wireless.
