Author: Green Tech

Alpha Grainger Manufacturing facility in Franklin Massachusetts deploys solar array that can generate approximately 500,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year representing savings of $80,000 annually.

Toyota is recognized for its environmental achievements in its manufacturing facilities. …

… “energy improvements at TEMA’s manufacturing facilities include: Reducing total energy use by 19 percent per vehicle produced since FY2000 while expanding and adding new facilities; Reducing water usage by 20 percent per vehicle produced since FY1999 through no- and low-cost improvements; The installation of solar panels at the Huntsville, Alabama engine plant – the first Toyota plant in the U.S. to have one. The new five kilowatt solar panel generates enough energy to light four bays of floor space, or over 16,000 square feet; the equivalent of 80 60-watt light bulbs; At the Georgetown, Kentucky plant, the plastics shop reduced their shut down energy use by 83 percent from the previous year. ” …

Via Toyota: Energy Star Award For Commitment To Environmental Excellence

Tuscon plans festival for this weekend that will promote sustainability awarenss. …

… “On Saturday the festivities will move to Himmel Park in the form of Solar Rock, a totally solar-powered day of music and speakers. Vice mayor Rodney Glassman will introduce the first performers at noon … ” …

Via Arizona Daily Wildcat: Sustainability festival

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Biofuel players are positioning in the marketplace to commercialize fuel from algae. …

… “There are no industrial-scale, algae-to-fuel operations up and running, but that may soon change as several companies jockey for position in this emerging biofuel category. ” …

Via MarketWatch: Fuel from algae

University of Florida’s entry (Project ReFocus) into the European Solar Decathlon in Madrid will host an open house on Friday where the public can tour the home. …

… “The UF team, comprised of more than 125 students from four colleges and eight disciplines, will compete in Madrid this June in 10 categories that include solar power, innovation, sustainability and communication. The team’s entry fuses innovation with the design of the historic Florida Cracker House to further the field of solar energy and inspire solutions for sustainable living that fit market needs. ” …

Via University of Florida: Open house for solar home

• Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid.
• Florida’s Solar Decathlon Team.
• Florida cracker woodframe home architecture.
• Excellent example of a Florida cracker house.

Three utilities (China WindPower, Iberdrola, and Duke Energy) target significant wind power capacity increases this year. …

… “A third of those turbines were installed in China, which doubled its capacity to 25 gigawatts. Wind is gaining support as turbine costs fall and government stimulus money helps pay for the plants. ” …

Via BusinessWeek: Wind Energy Investment

• Duke Energy Wind Power Leadership: “Duke Energy Generation Services, or DEGS, owns and operates 733 megawatts of clean, renewable electric generation at seven wind farms in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming. The company expects to bring an additional 251 megawatts on line in 2010 through the construction of wind farms in Wyoming and Colorado. DEGS plans to bring 200 to 300 megawatts of new wind power on line annually for the foreseeable future. “
• Iberdrola Renewables Wind Power Project: “Dry Lake’s Phase 2 will use up to 31 Suzlon wind turbines and is expected to generate up to 65 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Typically, a wind farm of this size will provide clean, renewable electricity to more than 9,100 typical homes in SRP’s service territory. The estimated environmental benefits of the project will result in the annual offset of more than 176 million pounds of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to removing 15,000 cars from the road. “
• China Wind Power Gets Results: “The Group had 12 wind power plants (total capacity of 566MW) in operation and four plants (total capacity of 349MW) under construction; Plan to invest and construct new wind power projects with total capacity of 700 MW in 2010; “

Cost dynamics present opportunity to shift solar manufacturing to China. Evergreen Solar CEO Rick provides pulse of the industry and a view to the future for solar panel production. …

… “the direct labor costs, overhead costs, as well as support from the Chinese government make it much less expensive to build solar in China than any other place in the world. ” …

Via The Boston Globe: Solar panels Manufacturing

Evergreen Solar global reach: “The project, which was designed and installed by Italian project developer Greenvision, has a total surface area of 100,000 square meters and uses 24,600 Evergreen Solar ES-A series String Ribbon solar panels. It will provide enough electricity to power approximately 2,400 homes and will prevent more than 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the equivalent of planting approximately 75,000 trees. The solar power plant is funded by Enia Solaris, a joint venture of two Italian-based companies, Enia SpA and Ata Group. ”

GE’s research efforts will focus on the development of thin film solar photovoltaic technology. The company will marshall its scientific resources across a number of geographically distributed labs and partners. The technology will emphasize cadmium telluride materials to achieve the optimal cost versus performance. …

… “the vision for thin film solar panels is that they will be lightweight, inexpensive and can one day be wrapped around objects, conform to a roof, or even hung like sails. GE is stepping up the pace of its thin film work in conjunction with PrimeStar Solar Inc., which is an Arvada, Colorado-based startup firm in which GE is a majority investor.

The GE/PrimeStar product is being developed at PrimeStar’s headquarters in Arvada, Colo. A team of PrimeStar technologists with more than 100 years of combined thin film deposition expertise is working closely with GE researchers, who are focused on several key areas in order to achieve best-in-class technology.

GE’s research team in Niskayuna, N.Y., is working on all facets of CdTe module development, including material growth, device development and robust process development. Their technical expertise cuts across diverse fields such as surface chemistry, laser processing and plasma physics. ” …

Via GE: Cracking the thin film solar code

GE’s research has global reach: “In China, where most of the world’s CdTe raw materials are found, researchers at GE’s China Technology Center in Shanghai are focused on CdTe materials and the impact they have on device performance. Improving material quality and developing advanced materials characterization techniques are key topics being addressed by the Shanghai team. ”

GE Global Research Thin Film Solar Efforts: “Our modeling efforts for cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film photovoltaics (PV) are comprehensive. It includes electronic structure theory, microstructure evolution and continuum theories for transport. ”

Michigan State University receives NSF grant to develop teaching competence in biofuels and spread the education to the elementary school level. …

… “The grant will fund eight graduate fellowships per year focusing on biofuel sustainability. The MSU Graduate School is providing funding for another fellowship, for a total of nine per year. The project is part of the NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education program and also will support science activities for the K-12 students and teachers. ” …

Via Michigan State University: NSF grant to develop better scientists

projects at USC, as the University catalogs its portfolio of research funding from the 2009 federal stimulus bill. …

… “P. Daniel Dapkus, USC Viterbi School of Engineering: Energy Frontier Research Center for Emerging Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Solid State Lighting, $12.5 million from the Department of Energy: To explore new phenomena in organic materials, in thin-layer semiconductor nanostructures, and in hybrid structures in order to improve the efficiency of solar cells and light sources. ” …

Via USC: Impact of the Stimulus Bill

Rutgers professors are awarded by the American Physical Society for their research efforts, which could contribute to furthering the efficiency of solar energy conversion. ..

… “The prize recognizes Cheong’s work in understanding a class of materials called multiferroics, materials which exhibit both magnetic properties and electrical properties that resemble magnetism. The materials have potential to add new capabilities to semiconductor electronics, boost solar cell efficiency and increase the data storage capacity of hard disk drives.” …

Via Rutgers Univ: Rutgers Professors Recognition for Outstanding Research

Harvard students develop soccket soccer ball that charges during play and can power devices at home, especially useful in emerging economies and off-grid situations. …

… “The magic soccer ball created by Harvard students Jessica Lin, Jessica Matthews, Julia Silverman, and Hemali Thakkar is beautiful in its simplicity. ” …

Via TakePart: Young Women Changing the World

Bowdoin College is implementing renewable energy projects across its campus. …

… “The project, designed for the roof of Thorne, includes 24 glazed flat plate solar collectors, which will make up a 960-square-foot solar thermal array, and the piping to solar storage tanks. ” …

Via Bowdoin: Solar Hot Water Project for Thorne Hall

European Environment Agency hosted workshop on pharmaceuticals in the environment at Copenhagen meeting in January 2009 and the participating experts collaborated to develop a position on sustainability for the EU pharma industry. …

… “Green pharmacy is the design of pharmaceutical products and processes that eliminate or reduce the use and generation of hazardous substances. Following these principles, pharmaceuticals can be generated with reduced impact on the environment during production or after use. The introduction of such processes and pharmaceuticals is currently not a high priority for the pharmaceutical industry but future generations of pharmaceuticals will probably leave fewer residues in the environment. Because producers, doctors, pharmacists and patients still know little about the environmental effects, fate and behaviour of pharmaceuticals, communication on these matters is crucial. The environmental issues can be introduced in already existing information schemes to increase awareness that, in addition to the desired health effects, certain pharmaceuticals may have significant environmental impacts. ” …

Via European Union: Pharmaceuticals in the environment (PDF)

The University of Minnesota Morris campus offers new biomass gasification technology curriculum this May through a collaborative partnership of public, private, and academic organizations. …

… “An intensive three-week course and other opportunities will be offered in May 2010 on the Morris campus. ” …

Via University of Minnesota Morris: May 2010 biomass gasification course

UMM Continuing Education, Regional Programs: “Continuing Education, Regional Programs and Summer Session at the University of Minnesota, Morris … ”

Changes in student lifestyle will lead to lower energy use. …

… “But short of developing a revolutionary technology that will power the whole world, students have to do their part to help the planet by cutting back on energy waste. And that means lifestyle changes. ” …

Via The Tech, MIT: Turn off your lights

Microsoft takes the pulse of the utility industry, showing that information-enabling (smart) the grid, electrical distribution, and consumption (metering) will transform the business model. …

… “The survey shows that utilities professionals and executives perceive distribution management and smart metering solutions as the most important technologies for successful smart grid implementations. Integration of renewable energy sources into the smart grid and consumer energy management solutions follow closely. However, 63 percent of the respondents in the Americas think the information technologies available today are not sufficient to address future challenges, while only 45 percent and 42 percent of respondents in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific respectively believe they are insufficient. ” …

Via Microsoft: Smart Grid Revolution

Microsoft’s view of Smart Energy (pdf).