Manufacturing

Government, Private Sector Join to Make Neal Hot Springs Geothermal Power Plant a Reality

14 years ago proteus 0 Comments

Pioneers heading west on the Oregon Trail by stagecoach stopped to relax and enjoy the hot waters at Neal Hot Springs 90 miles northwest of Boise, Idaho. In the near future, the area will be the site of Oregon’s first commercial-scale geothermal power plant. A public-private collaboration, Nevada’s US Geothermal Inc., equity investor Enbridge Inc. and the US Dept. of Energy joined together to complete financing of the $130-million Neal Hot Springs project, which is expected to come online in late 2012 with a capacity of 25 megawatts (MW).

Why Trees Got into CleanTech Manufacturing

14 years ago susan 0 Comments

In pretty much the epitome of best practices for a sustainable cleantech manufacturing process, trees literally manufacture wood out of sunlight, H2O and CO2. Like photosynthesis, this is not a process that we humans have yet mastered.

They began this factory-type processing millions of years ago, taking the available raw materials and turning them into a sustainably produced and recyclable new material that we have borrowed to build our ephemeral things with, over the last twenty thousand thousand years or so.

But why?

“Be an Energy Star” Video Challenge (+10 More Cleantech Stories of the Week)

14 years ago Zachary Shahan 0 Comments

Energy Star has a “Be an Energy Star” video challenge going on right now (on YouTube & Facebook), geared at highlighting the many great things people around the country are doing to save energy. Interestingly, I didn’t run across news of this via any of my normal cleantech avenues, but found it on sister site sustainablog. Jeff over on sustainablog chose the video below as his favorite so far (though, there are still a number of videos to come, as the contest runs until September 16). I have to admit it’s pretty cool and cute.

Hydrogen for 200 Million Vehicles: Air Products/Orange County Open Wastewater-Hydrogen Fuel Plant

14 years ago proteus 7 Comments

A new Air Products hydrogen fueling plant at the Orange County Sanitation District wastewater facility in Fountain Valley, California is producing clean, renewable electricity and hydrogen fuel and heat for use on-site and in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The wastewater-biogas-power-and-fuel plant could open up significant opportunities to use similar designs and technology to manage water and process agricultural, food and brewery waste streams.

UTC Hydrogen Fuel Cell Sets Performance Record on Oakland AC Transit Hybrid Electric Bus

14 years ago proteus 4 Comments

A hydrogen fuel cell-powered hybrid electric bus supplied by UTC Power for the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District has set a performance record by operating for over 10,000 hours. The milestone is another step toward reducing the life cycle cost of hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, which produce zero emissions and are more than 50% efficient in terms of converting energy to power.

Silicon Valley: Clean Tech’s New Capital?

14 years ago silviomarcacci 1 Comment

California’s Silicon Valley is known for launching the Internet revolution, but the region has also become the epicenter of America’s clean tech industry. Billions of dollars in venture capital funding to energy-related companies has helped the region weather the economic downturn by growing green jobs 109 percent over the last decade.

energyNOW! correspondent Lee Patrick Sullivan visited Silicon Valley to find out how the region’s shift toward clean energy is empowering tech-savvy workers and entrepreneurs to take charge of America’s energy future.