The Roscoe, Texas, wind farm (Photo: E.ON Climate & Renewables)

Global energy company E.ON Climate and Renewables today announced the completion of what it says is the world’s largest wind farm near Roscoe, Texas. The new wind complex has an installed capacity of 781.5 megawatts (MW), which can generate enough electricity to power more than 230,000 homes.

The project area spans parts of four West Texas counties and covers almost 100,000 acres — an area several times the size of Manhattan. The wind farm has a total of 627 wind turbines manufactured by Mitsubishi, General Electric and Siemens.

North American CEO of EC&R Steve Trenholm said the wind farm is the result of a billion dollar investment, and involved the coordination of more than 300 landowners and 500 workers. “Today is a great day for our company and the team that made this a reality,” he said in a statement.

EC&R is constructing an offshore wind project near London that it says will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. The company operates wind farms producing more than 2,600 megawatts worldwide, including 1,488 MW in the U.S.

“Texas continues to lead the nation in the development of renewable energy and has more wind generation capacity than any other state and all but four countries,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement. “We are pleased that E. ON Climate & Renewables North America has chosen to open this facility in Roscoe that will further expand our state’s diverse energy portfolio.”

However, Gov. Rick Perry continues to oppose any federal cap and trade legislation.

Yesterday he met with business and industry leaders in Houston to discuss the impact of the proposed legislation in Washington. He emphasized the importance of diversifying the state’s energy portfolio by pursuing innovative energy sources as an alternative to the “burdensome regulations” associated with federal cap and trade rules. And he warned the proposed legislation would increase the cost of living for Texas families and “crush Texas and the nation’s energy producing sectors.”

“Texas has shown you don’t need federal mandates to improve the environment or foster the next generation of energy technology,” Gov. Perry said in a statement. “Rather than emulate Texas’ success, Washington seems determined to cripple our economy by imposing sweeping mandates and draconian regulation. Texans should be wary about a cap-and-trade bill that would not only impose the largest tax hike in the history of the United States, but also inject the federal government further into every Texas home, farm and workplace.”

Perry’s opposition to the Waxman-Markey Bill, also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act, is a sign that even as the state tries to become a leader in alternative energy development, it faces pressure to balance those efforts against the interests of a deeply entrenched legacy energy industry.  Texas supplies 20 percent of the nation’s oil production, one-fourth of the nation’s natural gas production, a quarter of the nation’s refining capacity, and nearly 60 percent of the nation’s chemical manufacturing.

Add it all up and Texas’ fossil fuel-based energy industry employs 200,000 to 300,000 Texans and represents $35 billion in total wages.

Newsweek has launched a ranking of the greenest companies in America and Hewlett-Packard tops the initial list. The Newsweek Green Rankings, based on companies’ environmental footprint, policies and practices, appears in the Sept. 28 issue of the magazine.

The green ranking covers America’s 500 largest publicly traded companies as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees. Companies were ranked based on criteria such as each company’s greenhouse gas emissions, toxic waste emissions and use of other natural resources. Newsweek and its partners also assessed the companies’ management of environmental issues and policies, regulatory compliance and policies concerning climate change. Newsweek said the rankings also factor in the results of a reputational survey of CEOs, corporate social responsibility officers, members of the media, academics and members of key environmental groups.

The top 10 greenest companies in America according to the report are:

1. Hewlett-Packard Company
2. Dell Inc.
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel Corporation
5. IBM
6. State Street Corporation
7. NIKE, Inc.
8. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
9. Applied Materials, Inc.
10. Starbucks Corporation

Newsweek also broke out the list by industry sector, determining the top 10 greenest companies in their respective industries. The top companies from each industry are:

• Banks & Insurance — Wells Fargo & Company
• Basic Materials — Praxair, Inc.
• Financial Services — State Street Corporation
• Food & Beverage — Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
• General Industrials, Construction and Materials — ITT Corporation
• Health Care Equipment and  Services — Baxter International Inc.
• Industrial Goods and Services — Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Industrial Transportation, Aerospace and Defense — United Technologies Corporation
• Media, Travel and Leisure — Starbucks Corporation
• Oil and Gas — Marathon Oil Corporation
• Personal and Household Goods, Autos and Auto Parts — NIKE, Inc.
• Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology — Johnson & Johnson
• Retail — Kohl’s Corporation
• Technology and Telecommunications — Hewlett-Packard Company
• Utilities — PG&E Corporation

Partners on the survey included environmental research experts KLD Research and Analytics, the lead partner on the project, Trucost and CorporateRegister.com.

Newsweek said it used an expert panel to appraise the Newsweek Green Ranking methodology and review the preliminary and final list. The panelists included Dan Esty, prof. of environmental law and policy, Yale University; Marjorie Kelly, senior associate at Tellus Institute and co-founder and former editor of Business Ethics Magazine;
Wood Turner, executive director of Climate Counts; David Vidal, global Corporate citizenship research director at The Conference Board; and John Steelman of The Climate Center, National Resource Defense Council.

St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR, the national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. St. Anthony’s is the first hospital in Florida and one of only 86 hospitals in the nation to achieve this recognition. Buildings that receive the EPA’s ENERGY STAR designation reduce greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficient specifications set by the government.

Commercial buildings that earn the EPA’s ENERGY STAR use an average of 40 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. St. Anthony’s Hospital improved its energy performance by managing energy strategically across the entire organization and by making cost-effective improvements to the building. The EPA’s national energy performance rating system provides a 1-100 scale that helps organizations assess how efficiently their buildings use energy relative to similar buildings nationwide. St. Anthony’s earned the EPA’s ranking of 87 out of 100 — placing it among the top 25 percent of energy efficient facilities in the country.

Since 2005, the hospital has conserved electricity by 1.5 million kilowatts, decreased natural gas use by 36 percent, and reduced water consumption by 4.7 million gallons. Ongoing maintenance focuses on efficient operation, including monitoring the performance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. By conserving and managing energy strategically, and making cost-effective improvements to the building, the hospital saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual energy costs and reduces the emission of greenhouse gases.

New Detroit Edison program will enable customers to cut the cost of installing solar energy

Detroit Edison has introduced a new program that will make installing a solar energy system 50 percent more affordable for homes and businesses. Called SolarCurrents, the pilot program is intended to encourage Detroit Edison customers to purchase and install a solar energy system, and at the same time help the utility meet renewable energy targets contained in comprehensive energy legislation approved last year.

Solar energy systems generate electricity through the use of photovoltaic (PV) technology, which turns the sun’s light energy into electricity. After passing through a component called an inverter, the direct current electricity generated by the solar panels is converted to alternating current – the type of electricity accessed through standard electric outlets.

A solar energy system for a typical 2,000 square foot home or business can cost about $18,000 to install. Under SolarCurrents, customers will receive a one-time payment when their system is installed. They then will receive monthly credits on their electric bill for the next 20 years for providing Detroit Edison with renewable energy credits associated with the system.

Detroit Edison also plans to introduce a second-phase of the SolarCurrents programs in which the company will place large-scale solar energy panels it owns on customer rooftops or property. In return, Detroit Edison will pay long term leasing or rental fees to the property owners. Further details on the next phase of the SolarCurrents program are expected in the coming months.

Boston opens world’s first international green technology trade center

The International Green Technology Trade Center, the world’s first permanent trade show for Green Tech, today announced its launch at the TradeCenter128 green building complex located on Route 128, Boston’s Technology Highway, minutes from the region’s leading research universities.

The IGTTC is a permanent business marketplace designed to generate sales and brand recognition for 250+ cutting-edge green technology companies from around the world. For Green Tech companies seeking to join a beehive of economic activity, the IGTTC leverages economies of scale to attract trade buyers, manufacturers and investors to this dynamic networking environment.

Nearly all the world’s electric utilities now believe that climate change is threatening power outages, higher costs and changes in usage as demand grows to power the world’s expanding cities, according to a new report from Acclimatise.

Over ninety percent of the global electric utilities that report climate change activity to the Carbon Disclosure Project say they are at risk from changes in climate and water availability, which are already adding stress to the sector. However, fewer than a third say they are undertaking any financial or quantified evaluation to the impact of climate change on their business.

The report, sponsored by IBM, suggests the energy industry is rapidly approaching a critical stage of development. As demand is growing from new requirements such as electric vehicles, increased cooling during warmer summer months and rapid urbanization, the report suggests that utilities will need to attract new financial investment to grow existing capabilities and develop emerging technologies in a low-carbon way.

The report, titled “Global Electric Utilities – The Adaptation Challenge,” is based on 219 responses to the Carbon Disclosure Project’s annual request for investor information from the industry, analyzed using the Acclimatisation Index(TM). Methodology.

Many scientists report that climate change is underway and the direct effects of increasing global temperatures, such as changes in precipitation and rising sea levels, are becoming more evident. Climatic issues have the potential to impact how all major electric utilities operate, underpinning the world’s major cities, transport and water infrastructures, which are essential to the commercial world and the way we live.

As the impacts of climate change become more direct, governments are starting to resort to prescriptive regulation and statutory controls to ensure that electricity companies take appropriate action on climate change adaptation.

Early indications of action by governments are already evident. In the United Kingdom the Climate Change Act 2008 gives the government an adaptation reporting power that requires electricity companies to assess and disclose the impacts climate change might have on their business.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission asks publicly-listed companies, including electric utilities, to disclose climate threats to their bottom lines in annual reporting. Voluntary agreements on climate risk disclosure have also been signed between electric utilities and governments, such as New York City.

Kimberly-Clark, the Dallas-based health and hygiene company, is the largest on-site user of alternative, green power, according to the latest statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that supports the organizational procurement of green power by offering expert advice, technical support, tools and resources. The EPA program works with a wide variety of leading organizations — from Fortune 500 companies to local, state and federal governments, and a growing number of colleges and universities.

The EPA credits these green power purchases for helping to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide. The combined on-site green power consumption of these organizations amounts to more than 736 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 61,000 average American homes each year.

The following Top Partner Rankings highlight the annual green power purchases of leading organizations within the United States and across individual industry sectors. Purchase amounts reflect U.S. operations only and are sourced from U.S.-based green power resources. Organizations can meet EPA purchase requirements using any combination of three different product options: renewable energy certificates, on-site generation, and utility green power products.

Purchase figures are based on annualized partner contract amounts (kilowatt-hours), not calendar year totals:

Using a new technology to listen to its pipes, New Jersey American Water says it can now determine where significant problems could arise in its water system, sometimes before breaks occur. The result is saving millions of gallons of water, the utility reports.

Water running down a street is often one of the first signs an underground water main is leaking and the water has reached the surface. New Jersey American’s new technology uses the Internet to continuously transmit data from permanent acoustic monitors that aid in proactive leak detection. The utility’s technicians, equipped with additional electronic devices, use computer software to processes the digital signals and analyze the sound, and time of travel of the sound generated by a leak to accurately calculate its location.

In February, a system control room operator noticed that the average daily flow of water servicing a section of Bridgewater, N.J., had jumped from about 550,000 gallons per day to more than 840,000 gallons per day. Using the new acoustic leak detection technology, New Jersey technicians found seven water main breaks. Repairs were made and the average daily flow of water was restored to normal.

In May, a more extensive acoustic study of the Bridgewater area found that a series of larger leaks were contributing to what New Jersey American thought was the average output of water needed to serve its customers in the area. Since the leaks were repaired, the impact has been dramatic. In May, the average daily flow of water has been reduced 250,000 gallons per day. Data in June demonstrated an even greater reduction in water flow. The new detection technology will prevent the loss of more than 200 million gallons of water per year.

Finding leaks before they, in some cases, become full-fledged main breaks helps New Jersey American Water continue to provide reliable water service to its customers, shorten infrastructure repair time and avoid the property damage and traffic disruptions that sometimes occur as a result. Additionally, the accuracy of the technology allows work crews to be less invasive while excavating streets to repair the leaks and limit the amount of restoration required.

New Jersey American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water, is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state and serves approximately 2.5 million people.

SustainableBusiness.com has released its 8th annual list of 20 public companies that are leading the way to a sustainable economy. The selections are made in cooperation with a group of judges consisting of leading green stock analysts.

Judges select companies across the range of green business sectors: solar, wind, geothermal, smart grid, water, food, agriculture, green building and transport. SustainableBusiness.com said a third of the companies populating this year’s list are “corporate pioneers” — companies with conventional products and services that are greening their product lines.

Here is the 2009 SB20 list:
(Company Name — Ticker — Sector — Country)

1. First Solar — Nasdaq: FSLR — Solar — USA
2. Vestas — VWS.CO; VWDRY.PK — Wind — Denmark
3. Gamesa — GAM.MC; GCTAF.PK — Wind — Spain
4. Ormat — NYSE: ORA — Geothermal — USA/Israel
5. WaterFurnace — WFI.TO; WFIFF.PK — Geothermal — USA
6. Telvent Git, SA. — Nasdaq: TLVT — Smart Grid — Spain
7. Novozymes — NZYM.CO; NVZMY.PK — Industrial/Ethanol — Denmark
8. Westport Innovations — Nasdaq: WPRT; WPT.TO — Transport — Canada
9. Pure Technologies — PUR.V — Water — Canada
10. Chipotle Mexican Grill — NYSE: CMG — Corporate Pioneer/Food — USA
11. Naturex SA — NRX.PA — Food — France
12. United Natural — Nasdaq: UNFI — Food — USA
13. Plant Health Care — PHC.L; PLHCF.PK — Agriculture — UK
14. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank — BEN.ASX — Corporate Pioneer/Finance — Australia
15. Novo Nordisk — NYSE: NVO — Corporate Pioneer/Pharmaceuticals — Denmark
16. Google — Nasdaq: GOOG –Corporate Pioneer/Technology — USA
17. IBM — NYSE: IBM — Corporate Pioneer/Technology — USA
18. Herman Miller — Nasdaq: MLHR — Corporate Pioneer/Green Building — USA
19. Philips — NYSE: PHG — Corporate Pioneer/Green Building — Netherlands
20. Timberland — NYSE: TBL — Corporate Pioneer/Apparel — USA

From Green Right Now Reports

The California Public Utilities Commission yesterday approved a plan by Southern California Edison to build the largest U.S. installation of advanced solar panels on otherwise unused large commercial rooftops across Southern California.

The installation will occur over the next five years and will result in 250 megawatts of solar generating capacity. The utility also will conduct competitive solicitations offering long-term power contracts to independent solar power providers who will install an additional 250 megawatts, bringing to 500 megawatts the total generating capacity of the project — the largest photovoltaic program ever undertaken.

SCE will employ about 150 sites to make up this program. The first, a 600,000-square-foot Fontana, Calif. distribution warehouse roof, currently holds 33,700 advanced thin-film solar panels with a generating capacity of 2.4 megawatts of direct current power. That site is the largest single rooftop solar photovoltaic array in the nation.

The utility has begun construction of a second installation atop a 458,000-square-foot industrial building in Chino, Calif. First Solar of Tempe, Ariz. was the winning bidder to supply panels for these first two installations.

SCE said it has identified numerous benefits to customers, the region and the state from the massive solar project:

• It will provide a new generation source to areas where customer demand is rising.
• The solar modules can be connected directly and quickly to the nearest neighborhood circuit while major new renewable energy transmission lines are being built.
• The output of solar panels generally matches peak customer demand — lower in the morning and evening, higher in the afternoon.
• The project will allow SCE grid engineers to study the electrical effects of a high penetration of photovoltaic on distribution circuits. The information gained will be shared with the industry.

SCE said it anticipates its solar power project will create as many as 800 new green jobs in Southern California in the solar industry. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of SCE’s project partners, is supporting the project through the expansion of its solar installation apprentice training program.

Puget Sound Energy announced it has distributed more than 10 million free and discounted compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to its more than 1 million electric customers in Western Washington since the residential lighting program launched in 2002.

The utility said there is now an average of 10 energy-saving bulbs in use for every customer in the utility’s 9-county electric service area. PSE has distributed the bulbs to electric customers through local retailers, events and special promotions.

“Our customers understand that even a decision as small as the light bulbs they choose can make a big difference,” Cal Shirley, vice president of Energy Efficiency Services for PSE, said in a statement. “CFL bulbs will help PSE customers save a collective $430 million in energy costs over the lifetime of these 10 million bulbs, and lower their carbon emissions by the equivalent of 38,000 gallons of gasoline.”

CFL bulbs are 75 percent more efficient than traditional, incandescent types and last up to 10 times longer. For example, a 13-watt CFL bulb can replace a 60-watt incandescent bulb without compromising light quality. Consumers who install CFL bulbs in high-use areas, such as porch lights, can save as much as $60 each year simply by changing five light bulbs, PSE said.

Though safe to use in the home, CFL bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, so used CFL bulbs should be recycled. PSE offers free recycling of CFL bulbs at 14 office locations. Used, unbroken CFL bulbs can be placed in the labeled bins in the office lobbies. Free CFL bulb recycling is also available at Bartell Drugs stores, Home Depot, IKEA, and county and municipal household hazardous waste locations.

You can see a complete list of CFL bulb recycling locations and retailers offering PSE discounts and incentives online or call a PSE energy advisor at 1-800-562-1482.

ComEd has selected the City of Elgin to be part of its Advanced Metering Infrastructure pilot, which the utility says is largest test of smart grid technologies in the Midwest. Subject to Illinois Commerce Commission approval, the city will receive 10,000 “smart meters” as part of ComEd’s one-year pilot.

Elgin is among 10 municipalities participating in ComEd’s Community Energy Challenge, a program designed to generate creative, locally-driven approaches to help communities meet their environmental sustainability objectives.

In addition to Elgin, other communities involved in the test include Aurora, Carol Stream, Evanston, Highland Park, Hoffman Estates, Oak Park, Orland Park, Schaumburg and Wilmette. Every municipality in the program will be allocated incentive funding to increase electric energy efficiency in homes, businesses and public buildings in the participating communities.

Smart meters are computerized display units that provide consumers with up-to-the-minute information about their energy consumption and costs.

“Smart meters are a building block of a Smart Grid system. By providing much better information about electricity, they will enable residents to make decisions about energy usage to improve energy efficiency, cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy bills,” Val R. Jensen, vice president of Marketing and Environmental Programs at ComEd, said in a statement. “Elgin is in the vanguard of Smart Grid technology implementation in northern Illinois. We will work closely with the town to analyze their findings to help create a model for communities across the country to follow for future Smart Grid implementation projects.”

ComEd filed a petition June 1 with the Illinois Commerce Commission recommending which communities should participate in the pilot. If approved, approximately 141,000 smart meters will be deployed in the City of Chicago, 11 suburban communities and in Elgin in the first-ever pilot to comprehensively assess how customers will interact with this new technology.

Based on the strength of the municipal energy plans, ComEd, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), also announced a decision to increase from $2 million to $3.65 million an energy efficiency reserve that will be allocated over the next year for the 10 participating CEC municipalities. The funds will enable the communities to implement projects that deliver cost-effective and verifiable energy efficiency savings in both the private and public sector.

After the community projects are implemented in the next year, the communities will be evaluated on how well the plans were implemented. Based on energy reduction per capita, one community will receive $100,000. All 10 communities are eligible to win the cash prize.

Detroit Edison is the latest power company to ramp up wind-generation as a major part of its production capacity. The utility is soliciting proposals from potential partners interested in jointly developing wind energy projects with the company.

Detroit Edison wants to build Michigan-based wind energy farms capable of producing at least 75 megawatts of power by 2011. The energy produced from those projects would help Detroit Edison achieve Michigan’s new Renewable Portfolio Standard for the state’s electric utilities to provide 10 percent of their retail electric sales from renewable resources by 2015.

To meet the state’s renewable portfolio standard, Detroit Edison said it expects to add about 1,200 megawatts of renewable power. The company plans to contract with third-party producers for at least half of that capacity, and plans to own renewable energy projects to meet the remainder.

DTE Energy expects the majority of its renewable energy to come from wind resources. The company has acquired easements on more than 60,000 acres of land in Huron County in Michigan’s Thumb region for development of large-scale wind farms.

Companies intersted in partnering with Detroit Edison can view the application details at www.poweradvocate.com. The utility wants responses by noon on June 5, 2009.

Public support for wind energy is strong and crosses party lines, according to a poll being released today by the American Wind Energy Association at the opening of WINDPOWER 2009, an industry conference being held this week in Chicago.

The poll shows that 75 percent of American voters support a Renewable Energy Standard (RES) that would require utilities to generate at least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025.

The support was bipartisan with 86 percent of Democrats favoring the RES, 62 percent of Republicans favoring it, and 71 percent of Independents.

The support spanned the country with supporters overwhelmingly favoring  such a standard in the Northeast, Midwest and West (with 75 to 84 percent support), and 71 percent supporting the proposal in the South.

“The American people support a RES because it will create jobs and reduce carbon emissions,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “Our job now is to make sure that Members of Congress follow their constituents.”

Renewable energy comes mainly from wind, solar and geothermal power, with other technologies, using ocean waves, also emerging.

The AWEA conference in the Windy City is expected to attract more than 18,000 people with more than 1,200 companies exhibiting. A full dais of officals will address the conference, including Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; Governors Chet Culver of Iowa, Jim Doyle of WIsconsin, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Pat Quinn of Illinois and Ted Strickland of Ohio.

The poll was conducted by Garin Hart Yang Research Group, which surveyed 801 people April 29-May 1.