By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

Restaurants looking to green their operations by generating some of their own electrical power are finding it easier as vendor companies try to fill in the gaps.

Owl Power Company, for instance, has developed a way for restaurants to more conveniently use vegetable oil as fuel. Owl’s Vegawatt is a combined heating and power system that runs on vegetable oil and can be connected to existing heating and power systems to be used as supplemental green energy.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

Camelina sativa, a member of the mustard family, is an oilseed crop that is proving to have a great industrial potential in the near future. Studied throughout the entire process, from planting to plane, Camelina has shown to be one of the more promising alternatives to petroleum jet fuel, according to a study done at Michigan Technological University.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Solano County, Calif., is getting its first bio-fuel station with the opening Thursday at Plaza Oliver Valero in Fairfield. The station will have two renewable biofuels, E85 ethanol and B5 biodiesel, which are considered cleaner burning and less expensive than comparable gasoline and diesel fuels.

Biofuels are fuels made at least partially from renewable biological sources such as corn, soybeans, or vegetable oil. E85 ethanol and B5 biodiesel are both low carbon fuels consistent with California’s new Low Carbon Fuel Standard and both are clean burning fuels that result in lower Greenhouse Gas vehicle exhaust emissions. Many current vehicles are capable of operating on less expensive, cleaner burning E85 ethanol and B5 biodiesel with no modification.

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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.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The friendly skies are getting cleaner thanks to efforts made by Continental Airlines in partnership with Boeing, GE Aviation/CFM International, and Honeywell’s UOP. In early January of this year, Continental Airlines conducted the first biofuel demonstration flight by a commercial carrier in North American. Wednesday, Continental Airlines announced their analysis of this flight in a statement.

The 90-minute test flight, taking off from, and then returning to, Houston, successfully completed many necessary flight operations. Engine 1 operated on 100% jet fuel, while Engine 2 of the Boeing 737-800 operated on a blend of 50% jet fuel and 50% biofuel. The biofuel was made from a combination of algae and jatropha plants, which do not impact food harvests, water resources or contribute to deforestation.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

There’s a new wind whirly-gig on the block. You may not recognize him. Unlike those tall towers with outstretched airplane-style propellers, this new guy has a compact stance, a whole new look. Arms tucked in, he whirs more slowly and congregates with just a few others to power a building at time.

This wind power generator, called a vertical axis wind turbine, can be puzzling. Looking at one, it’s difficult to fathom how it works, though it simply uses a different aerodynamic concept than its propeller cousins, catching up winds that come from different directions bouncing along closer to the ground. The idea has actually been around for at least 2,000 years “but it’s just never been made to work very well,” says Michael Hess, CEO of Mariah Power.

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If you are considering a small vertical axis wind turbine for your home, here’s what you should know:

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From Green Right Now Reports

Mainstream Renewable Power, the global renewable energy company based in Dublin, today announced its first U.S. investment, purchasing a portfolio of wind farm projects in Illinois with the potential to generate 787 megawatts — enough energy to power 200,000 homes — by 2013. All of the wind projects are located within 100 miles of Chicago.

The company said it acquired the assets from local wind farm developers Bruce and Joyce Papiech of FPC Services for an undisclosed price. The portfolio comprises three separate projects at various stages of development and will require an investment of more than $1.69 billion over a four-year period to fully develop.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Leaders of the algae biofuel industry are headed to Capitol Hill today to raise awareness among congressional legislators and push for continued federal support to help the technology reach maturity.

Legislators are working a range of policy issues such as a Renewable Fuel Standard, tax code and Recovery Act funding that will have an enormous impact on emerging technologies, Executives from leading algae biofuel companies such as Aurora Biofuels, LiveFuels, and Solix Biofuels will be talking about production advancements that they believe will make algae biofuel commercially viable.

Algae-based biofuel has captured widespread interest for its ability to deliver significantly higher yields than plant-based technologies, recycle CO2 directly from industrial sources and not compete with agricultural land or water supply.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Amsterdam will install 45 ChargePoint charging stations for electric vehicles as part of a two-year pilot project. ChargePoint is a product of Campbell, Calif.-based Coulomb Technologies.

The City of Amsterdam plans to deploy 200 charging stations before 2012, and the charging stations are expected to fuel 10,000 electric cars by 2015. Energy company Nuon will provide renewable energy for the charging stations and Coulomb’s international partner 365-Energy will manage the ChargePoint Network for subscribers.

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From Green Right Now Reports:

Geothermal and solar energy projects will be getting a financial boost from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

President Obama announced that more than $467 million will be devoted to speeding the development of these technologies, which will support green jobs and provide low-carbon energy for decades.

“We have a choice. We can remain the world’s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of clean energy,” said President Obama in an Energy Department news release. “We can hand over the jobs of the future to our competitors, or we can confront what they have already recognized as the great opportunity of our time: the nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. That’s the nation I want America to be.”

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From Green Right Now Reports

Officials of Will County and Waste Management of Illinois, Inc. today announced a plan to jointly develop a landfill gas-to-energy plant at the Prairie View Recycling and Disposal Facility near Wilmington.

Will County officials said they intend to apply for federal economic stimulus funds earmarked for renewable energy projects to help finance the project. Once the grant process is complete, Will County anticipates putting at least $1 million in stimulus funds toward the project.

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