By Reenita Malhotra •
November 17, 2008
As alternative energy continues to be the hot topic in our flailing economy, New York City sets an environmental example by launching Times Square’s first 100 percent eco-powered billboard.
The billboard powered entirely by wind and sun, is the first such sign in New York City. It will be erected by Ricoh Company, Ltd., a Japanese company that strives to be outstanding in all areas of the environment, society, and the economy.
By Elizabeth Redmond •
September 14, 2007
For all you suburban dwellers, alternative energy is finally finding its place in or on your home! Most commonly when we think of wind power, we think of industrial wind farms in the country. Well, wind power is again retreating in size, making it available for the most modest home.
Mariah Power of Reno, Nevada has developed a new efficient and attractive wind harvesting station called the Windspire that has a quite attractive profile
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Renewable energy was in the spotlight during this last week of Congress. The Udall-Platts amendment to the House energy bill calls for a renewable portfolio standard (RPS, sometimes also called a “renewable energy standard”) that would require the nation’s utilities to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. But it failed to get a vote yesterday because of computer problems with the voting system and a dispute over
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Photo credit: NREL
A new study by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) found that U.S. manufacturers dominate the world’s market share of small wind turbine sales. Comparatively, global sales of larger, utility-scale turbines are led by companies like Denmark’s Vestas, Spain’s Gamesa and India’s Suzlon, who are also hungrily eying the U.S. market.
The 2007 Small Wind Turbine Global Market Study reports that about
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According to the American Wind Energy Association, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently told wind power supporters that a House vote on a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was likely to happen the week of July 30.
A renewable portfolio standard – also called a renewable energy standard – is a measure requiring utilities to get a certain amount of their power from renewable sources by a particular time.
Last month in
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Gamesa, a Spanish wind turbine manufacturer, has hammered out its first-ever U.S. union contract with the United Steelworkers (USW). Workers at two Gamesa facilities in Pennsylvania voted to approve their first contract with 80 percent in favor of it. The agreement lays the foundation for a stronger partnership between one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers – and the only one that makes its blades, nacelles, and towers all in the U.S. – and
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Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on H.R. 2337, The Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act. The bill, according to the nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy, promotes alternative energy and efficiency, including a green building program that would require all major new facility construction projects funded in whole or in part through the Department of the Interior, National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, or the Forest
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A seemingly simple alteration a wind turbine blade’s traditional shape could result in huge improvements in efficiency.
WhalePower Corporation out of Toronto, Canada has designed a turbine blade with rounded, teeth-like bumps along the leading edge. The company’s name is a nod to the humpback whale, whose flipper was the inspiration for the design.
The agility of the humpback whale is astonishing, given that they can be over 50 feet long, weigh nearly 80,000
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Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed two major bills supporting renewable energy this week, keeping with his theme of a “New Energy Economy” for the state.
The first was HB 1281, which expands the state’s renewable energy standard by doubling the goal to 20 percent of all resources by 2020 for big utilities. It also includes a goal of 10 percent renewables by 2020 for small utilities and caps the implementation cost for customers of
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By Maria Surma Manka •
February 27, 2007
My post last week on offshore wind drew good discussion points on wind power, as well as folks skeptical of the whole industry. But wind power cannot be brushed aside as a treehugger’s fantasy. From coast to coast, wind power is a reality: Farmers own their own turbines, school districts power their facilities with them, or landowners lease their property to wind developers and collect royalty payments. I know of a hog farmer who
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