September 18, 2009
ESBJERG, Denmark (Reuters) – Denmark on Thursday inaugurated the world’s biggest offshore wind farm in time to serve as a showcase of its green technological prowess before a global climate conference in Copenhagen in December. The 91-turbine Horns Rev 2 wind farm off the west coast of Jutland in the North Sea will generate enough electricity for 200,000 Danish households.
September 18, 2009
Vermont Public Radio talked with Vermont Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie and Alaska Village Electric Cooperative President Meera Kohler about a trip this week to tour wind projects at Gambell and Unalakleet. REAP Executive Director Chris Rose also toured the sites. In the public radio interview, Kohler notes the high cost of energy in Alaska is one of the driving forces behind wind projects here.
Northern Power Systems wind turbines under assembly in Unalakleet
Consumers in the villages are paying, on average, 62 cents per kilowatt hour – that’s roughly 6 times what Vermonters pay. She says the turbines can cut these costs by at least 20%. “Our villages are very, very small – the average population is about 400 – and they’re completely reliant on diesel for electrical generation. So as a result, if you can imagine when the cost of diesel spiked the cost of electricity went right along with it…so it’s really a huge economic burden to be reliant upon diesel.”
Alaska Dispatch’s Rena Delbridge and the Rutland Herald in Vermont also carried reports on the trip.
September 17, 2009
Portland, Maine-based Ocean Renewable Power Co. today was awarded two Department of Energy grants, totaling more than $1.3 million, to develop tidal power technology. The first DOE grant of $750,000 will help ORPC develop a standard mooring system for the tidal generators the company is building. The mooring system will be tested and deployed in the waters off Eastport, where ORPC is developing a tidal power project. The second grant, for $600,000, is to help the company monitor the effects of tidal generators on marine mammals, particularly whales. That technology will be tested at an ORPC facility in Cook Inlet, Alaska, according to the release.
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September 17, 2009
Starting today, eco-conscious travelers through San Francisco’s International Airport (airport code: SFO) will be able to purchase carbon offsets for their flight right on the way to their gate! The Climate Passport program is making it super simple for even the most busy passengers to reduce the impact of their flights by conveniently placing carbon offset kiosks in the airport after security on both sides of the International Terminal and in Terminal 3. The offsets will go to support tree planting projects in the San Francisco area.
September 16, 2009
NYT columnist Thomas Friedman shines a light on how the U.S. is failing to capitalize on the worldwide market for solar panels.
Applied Materials is one of the most important U.S. companies you’ve probably never heard of. It makes the machines that make the microchips that go inside your computer. The chip business, though, is volatile, so in 2004 Mike Splinter, Applied Materials’s C.E.O., decided to add a new business line to take advantage of the company’s nanotechnology capabilities — making the machines that make solar panels. The other day, Splinter gave me a tour of the company’s Silicon Valley facility, culminating with a visit to its “war room,” where Applied maintains a real-time global interaction with all 14 solar panel factories it’s built around the world in the last two years. I could only laugh because crying would have been too embarrassing. Not a single one is in America.
Let’s see: five are in Germany, four are in China, one is in Spain, one is in India, one is in Italy, one is in Taiwan and one is even in Abu Dhabi. I suggested a new company motto for Applied Materials’s solar business: “Invented here, sold there.
September 15, 2009
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Tuesday giving California the nation’s most aggressive alternative energy standards, requiring utilities to get a third of their power from renewable sources by 2020. Schwarzenegger said the order signed at a solar field in a Sacramento suburb will reduce California’s dependence on fossil fuels and help clean its air while creating a reliable power supply for a state with 38 million people. It also will ensure that California remains a pioneer in clean energy, he said.
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September 15, 2009
The New York Times carried this report on Hawaii’s efforts to green its power supply. Like Alaska, Hawaii is hampered by high energy prices and having multiple electrical grid that serve widely dispersed populations.
HU, Hawaii — Two miles or so from this tiny town in the southernmost corner of the United States, across ranches where cattle herds graze beneath the distant Mauna Loa volcano, the giant turbines of a new wind farm cut through the air. Sixty miles to the northeast, near a spot where golden-red lava streams meet the sea in clouds of steam, a small power plant extracts heat from the volcanic rock beneath it to generate electricity.
These projects are just a slice of the energy experiment unfolding across Hawaii’s six main islands. With the most diverse array of alternative energy potential of any state in the nation, Hawaii has set out to become a living laboratory for the rest of the country, hoping it can slash its dependence on fossil fuels while keeping the lights on.
September 14, 2009
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced a new $450 million program designed to catalyze a nationwide energy upgrade that experts estimate could save $100 million annually in utility bills for households and businesses. The Recovery Act’s “Retrofit Ramp-Up” program will pioneer innovative models for rolling out energy efficiency to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in a variety of communities.
September 14, 2009
Everyone knows energy efficiency is the cheapest source of energy. But the Oregonian today had a story that put into numbers just how much an aggressive energy conservation plan could do for the Pacific Northwest. Some of the figures were stunning. Here’s just a little of what the story had to say.
The payoff would be huge: Conservation in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, the council says, could avoid millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate 85 percent of the expected increase in electricity demand by 2029. That’s the equivalent of 20 new power plants. Better yet, conservation is relatively cheap, despite its upfront costs. By most measures, saving energy is anywhere from 50 to 75 percent cheaper than buying it on the open market or building power plants.
Join Alaska Center for the Environment, the Beartooth Theatrepub & Grill, Delicious Dave Catering, AK Root Sellers, NOLS, and Bioneers Alaska for the first Alaska Local Food Film Festival! The festival will take place October 2nd-8th at the Beartooth Theatrepub in Anchorage, and will feature the Alaska debut of Food Inc, as well as the films The Garden, Eating Alaska, FRESH, and The End of the Line. There will be opportunities to eat fresh Alaskan food and discuss the films, as well as to learn more about how you can get involved with the Alaska local food movement.
The Beartooth Grill will be preparing specials made with local ingredients brought in by AK Root Sellers from the Valley. Ellen Frankenstein, filmmaker and feature of Eating Alaska, will be in town to answer questions after screening her film, and Dave Thorne of Delicious Dave Catering along with Kathy Ciarimboli brings you FRESH the movie with an opportunity for discussion after the film. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions and learn more about how you can get involved with the Alaska local food movement! Additionally, Bioneers Alaska will host a dessert, coffee, and Q&A opportunity on the last night of the Film Fest, Thursday 10/8th – stay tuned for details!
Film Schedule
10/2 – 5:30 – FOOD, INC.
10/3 – 5:30 – THE GARDEN
10/4 – 5:30 – EATING ALASKA with discussion w/filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein after the film
10/5 – 5:30 – FRESH with discussion after the film
10/5 – 8:00 – END OF THE LINE
10/6 – 5:30 – THE GARDEN
10/7 – 5:30 – END OF THE LINE
10/8 – 5:30 – FOOD, INC.
