Weekly Cleantech News Roundup

July 6, 201113 years ago Zachary Shahan 0 Comments

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

Our weekly roundup of cleantech stories from around the web. To start you off, here’s a good one from The Onion (on a friend’s site): Big Coal Takes a Big Swing at Big Wind.

Solar

Construction of largest rooftop solar installation has begun in Gloucester City The sun beamed down on the Gloucester Marine Terminal Tuesday as officials unveiled the already-in-motion plans to build what they called the largest rooftop solar installation in North America….
Loan Guarantees for Three California PV Solar Plants Expected to Create 1,400 Jobs Building on the momentum of our SunShot Initiate, Secretary Chu announced nearly $4.5 billion in conditional loan guarantees to three California photovoltaic solar power plants [June 30]. These projects are expected to create 1,400 jobs in California and hundreds along the PV module supply chain across the country….
GT Solar gets $82 million orders; shares hit life-high Solar and LED equipment maker GT Solar International Inc said it received orders worth $81.7 million for polysilicon production equipment from two new Asian customers, sending its shares to their lifetime high….
Plastic solar cells in 5-10 years, new step forward Plastic solar cells may be commercially available in five to 10 years, said a British scientist whose group announced on Monday a new understanding of how to produce the cheaper alternative to silicon solar panels….
Solar developers scrapping thermal for photovoltaic Developers of solar thermal power plants are scrapping plans to use steam technology in favor of ever-cheaper solar panels that are easier tofinance and could help assuage concerns about the systems’ environmental impact….
Search for world’s largest PV solar project site narrows down National Solar Power announces seven potential sites for giant 400MW solar PV project….
NREL’s PV Incubator: Where Solar Photovoltaic Records Go to be Broken “Records are made to be broken.” It’s become a common refrain in sports after a cherished milestone has been surpassed. The idea need not be confined to home runs, 3-point shots or race times. It applies just as well to scientific and technical accomplishments — as solar start-ups Alta Devices and Solar Junction can attest.

Wind

Wind Farm Topology Study Allow Designers to Reduce Turbine Wake Effect Wind energy plants have become a common sight both on land and at sea – not least in Denmark, where wind turbines supply a quarter of the power. But how does it actually affect wind turbines, if you arrange them closely together, and overall, how do you get the most benefits in terms of financial outcome from a wind farm? TOPFARM, a large-scale EU project led by Risø DTU, has been looking into these matters during the last 3 years. The result: a simulation platform that can optimize the total economic benefits….
Two Texas Wind Energy Leaders Win 2011 Public Power Award With their successful and creative use of wind power, Texas’ CPS Energy and Denton Municipal Electric beat out 15 other nominees to win the 2011 Public Power Award last week….
Wind Farm Proposed for Healy Alaska After years of study, debate and anticipation, Golden Valley Electric Association is officially in the wind power business….
Compressed Air Being Promoted for Wind Energy Storage As we’ve said many times in the past, wind power is great, but to use it to its fullest potential, we need to figure out how to cheaply store the energy that it produces at times when we don’t need it (meaning mostly at night). Various schemes have been been proposed to do this, including using batteries from hybrid and electric cars – either at the end of the car’s life or with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) connections – and pumping water uphill or holding it in huge reservoirs behind hydropower dams. But we don’t yet have that many EVs, and some places don’t have much hydro, which is why compressed air storage seems interesting right now….
NextEra Energy To Build New Colorado Wind Farm Xcel Energy Inc. said [June 27] it has signed a contract with NextEra Energy Resources LLC to build a 200-megawatt wind farm near Limon in eastern Colorado….
Iberdrola Buys Siemens Turbines for Irish Sea Wind Farm Siemens Energy has secured another order for an offshore wind power project in the U.K. The company will supply 108 wind turbines for the 389 MW West of Duddon Sands project in the Irish Sea. The customer is a consortium consisting of Danish DONG Energy and Scottish Power Renewables, which is part of the Iberdrola group….
Vestas Announces Two Global Renewable Energy StudiesVestas / TNS Gallup Findings: 90 percent of consumers worldwide want more renewable energy. 65 percent prefer to purchase brands produced using wind energy. 53 percent in China and 7 percent in U.S. view climate change as greatest challenge; Vestas / Bloomberg New Energy Finance: Renewable energy leaders per sector are Plum Creek Timber, News Corporation, Kohl’s, CLP Holdings, Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank, Vestas, and Adobe Systems. Whole Foods Market is Global Wind Energy Champion….
Statoil trims onshore wind portfolio as it sails out to sea Statoil sells majority of Norweigan onshore portfolio as Gamesa confirms Glasgow offshore R&D site….
Puget Sound Energy Builds 3 Turbines in 1.5 Minutes on YouTube Here’s a good Friday video: Puget Sound Energy (PSE) shot a time-lapse video of the construction of three wind turbines built in 48 hours….

Energy Efficiency

Breakthroughs Report Highlights Energy Department’s Efforts to Bring Energy Efficient Options to Your Doorstep [July 1] when you’re walking through a home improvement store, you may notice something has changed. As you gaze down those towering aisles, it’s clear you have choices for upgrading anything in your home, but more recently many of those options are energy efficient, reasonably priced and can provide benefits such as increasing the comfort and decreasing the health risks of your home or office. By saving energy, you can save money….
Secretary Chu Announces First Better Buildings Challenge Partners In February, President Obama outlined his plan to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 20 percent in the next decade through the Better Buildings Initiative. As part of the initiative, the President started a “Better Buildings Challenge” to encourage private companies, universities, local governments and others to lead in building efficiency….
Virginia Manufacturer Keeps Jobs Local By Embracing Energy Efficiency Volvo Trucks’ New River Valley (NRV) plant, located in Dublin, Virginia, is the company’s largest truck manufacturing facility in the world—and the plant’s senior management aims to keep it that way. By embracing energy efficiency as a critical part of its business strategy, the company is realizing huge energy savings as it continues to expand and create local jobs….
Obama unveils $120m energy efficiency scheme US government to fund development of new processes and materials, while separate programme hands out $11.3m for geothermal projects

Transportation

Green Buses Get $101M Federal Boost Fewer buses belching black smoke out their tailpipes seems like a winning idea to us and the federal government seems to agree. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that transit companies across the United States will be able to compete for $101.4M in federal funding for innovative ideas that create green jobs, promote clean fuel, and lessen the country’s dependence on oil….
Airlines Claim to Support Climate Action While Opposing the Only Effective Policy to Cut Carbon Pollution Airlines have undertaken a massive public relations campaign to green their image. But when it comes down to actually addressing the carbon pollution to mitigate climate change, the industry has staunchly opposed any action….
Better Place showcases first Europe station Better Place held a demonstration at the first of 20 Better Place battery-switching stations planned for Denmark over the next year, the company announced today….
A Fuel-Electric Hybrid Air Car Shall Fly Trek Aerospace is one of those laid back Silicon Valley companies people have likely seen an invention of in action, but didn’t know it was developed by them. Trek is known in aerospace circles mostly for its shrouded propeller (“ducted fan”) technology, having developed and flown in 2001 the SoloTrek XFV, a single person VTOL aircraft. Springing now from that beginning are aircraft designer Michael Moshier, and test-pilot Robert Bulaga in the development of the world’s first, fuel-electric hybrid air car….
China shows off latest high-speed train With its fully reclining airline-style business class seats, a strict no-smoking policy and designed top speed of 350 km (220 miles) per hour, the new Beijing-Shanghai express embodies China’s race to the future….
EcoRide Bus Offers 600 Percent Improvement Over Diesel The EcoRide BE-35 is a lightweight, composite body transit bus with battery-electric drive that offers a 600 percent fuel efficiency as compared to a typical diesel bus. A test fleet is currently in operation near Pomona, California, and other tests are being planned for San Antonio TX and Tallahassee FL later this year as the company seeks federal validation in order to begin large scale production….
Double-Decker 248 MPH Train Concept Could Connect Melbourne and Sydney The Australian Federal Government is about to release the results of a big study in the feasibility of building a national high-speed rail network. Design firm Hassell (can’t they make a better website than that?) has taken up this opportunity to unveil a concept design for a very slick double-decker high-speed train that could link Melbourne and Sydney and do the trip in less than three hours. Keep reading for more photos and a video….

Politics

MEPs reject tougher European emissions cuts European Parliament votes 347-258 against raising 2020 emission reduction targets to 30 per cent….
Scotland boosts renewables ambition to 30 per cent by 2020 AMEC and EDF Energy resubmit application for 151MW Stornoway wind farm as government ups green energy targets again….
As California delays its carbon pollution trading program for a year, China speeds up its embrace of cap-and-trade First, the bad news: Facing continued litigation, California officials will delay enforcement of the state’s complex carbon trading program until 2013, state Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols announced Wednesday. The delay in the cap-and-trade program, which was slated to take effect in January, is proposed, she said, because of the “need for all necessary elements to be in place and fully functional.” Nichols testified that delay would not affect the state ability to return emissions of “planet-warming gases to 1990 levels by 2020.” It’s worth noting that the cap-and-trade program accounts for only “a fifth of the planned cuts under the state’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act.”…
Denmark to say ‘Goodbye’ to Fossil Fuels by 2050 (Video) For any forward-looking society, the cost of relying on oil, gas, and coal looms larger than ever before. The impact fossil fuels have on the environment, climate, and public health is well past irrefutable–and the public knows it. Meanwhile, renewable energy grows increasingly affordable; which, along with improving technology, makes it downright feasible in a great many situations. So why is it still impossible to imagine a modern society decoupling entirely from fossil fuels?…
Nearly 50% of Prince Charles’ Energy Comes From Renewables – Emissions Dropped 22% Last Year In amongst reports about Prince Charles‘ finances on BBC News are some really impressive stats on how well one of the world’s most high-profile environmental advocates walks the talk. Hint: Renewable energy usage is key….

Other CleanTech Stories

Clean-tech incubator gets down and dirty An everyday office building doesn’t quite work when you need to hammer out a prototype of a solar-powered chiller or an inflatable wind turbine. So a group of entrepreneurs here have created a hands-on workshop to bring their clean-energy ideas to life. Greentown Labs held its official opening last week, bringing fellow entrepreneurs, city officials including Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and investors looking to plug into the active clean-energy technology scene….
Green Energy Breakthroughs Could Boost U.S. Economy, Google Report Says Breakthroughs in green energy technology, coupled with supportive government policies, could add $155 billion to the U.S. economy annually and create more than 1.1 million jobs by 2030, according to an analysis by Google.org, the internet search giant’s philanthropic arm. Using an analytic set of models to calculate the potential benefits of various policies, Google’s energy team found that aggressive innovations in clean power, grid storage, natural gas technologies, and electric vehicle production could reduce U.S. oil consumption by more than 1.1 billion gallons each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent….
A reality check on nuclear fusion at MIT Nuclear fusion suffers from an image of being too good to be true. But researchers here say they are already doing nuclear fusion on a small scale and it’s just a matter of time–decades, realistically–before it becomes practical….
Soccer Balls Light Up Latin America According to State Farm, 31 million people in Latin America today live without electricity. The insurance provider has joined forces with Uncharted Play to address this issue by harnessing an abundant renewable energy resource in Latin America: soccer….
Tidal Power: Green Tech Chatter When renewable energy is being considered, the two forms that spring to many peoples’ minds are solar and wind power, but there is another form worth considering: tidal power. Tidal power converts the energy of the oceans’ tides into electricity. Though it hasn’t been widely used due to high cost and relatively low availability, recent advances in technology and design are allowing this form of power to be cheaper and easier to obtain….
Government launches £20m marine energy fund Greg Barker to unveil scheme to bring wave and tidal prototypes through to commercial stage….
Global consumers crave green energy in survey: Vestas Consumers around the world overwhelmingly support the rollout of renewable energy, but many have mistaken views about “green” products, according to a survey conducted by TNS Gallup for Vestas Wind Systems….
Fight Brewing Over Off-Grid Energy Storage, Says Lux Battery, flywheel, ultracapacitor and fuel cell developers need to act now if they wish to tap the $4B market for off-grid applications, says Lux Research. Struggling to get their feet in the door of transportation and grid-tied markets, emerging electrical storage developers have begun eying off-grid opportunities as a way to attain scale and lower costs. But the off-grid market represents a rapidly closing window of opportunity for emerging storage – only developers who take immediate and intelligent action will capture a meaningful share of the market, according to a new report by Lux Research….
Wealthy Families Back $1.4 Billion Cleantech Fund Eleven families plan to pump a whopping $1.4 billion into a first-of-its-kind Cleantech Syndicate that will invest clean energy over the next five years. Private wealth managers McNally Capital and Black Coral Capital co-founded the syndicate last year. The participating families are collectively worth more than $30 billion….
Nuclear Giant Alstom Dives into Wave Energy: Is the Marine Energy Industry Ready to Hoist Anchor? Alstom, a French global engineering firm very active in nuclear, has been expanding into the renewables space through both internal projects and acquisitions. This week the company said it was purchasing a 40% stake in the Scottish wave developer AWS Ocean Energy, bringing some industrial strength to a sector in dire need of capital and technical help….

Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video

CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.