By John DeFore

For everyone puzzled at recent energy-independence speeches that seem to focus as much on building new electric lines as on solar research or wind power, a new report helps make one inconvenient truth clear: Without new infrastructure, switching to non-carbon power could make our electric system far less reliable than it is today.

The report was compiled by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a self-regulatory organization focused in part on ensuring that power transmission stays blackout-free from coast to coast.

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By Harriet Blake

It all comes down to leadership.

Pundits from former Vice President Al Gore to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, agree - the technology to develop clean energy and curb global warming is available. What’s needed are lawmakers with the mettle to put it into action.

“We’re committed to changing not just light bulbs, but laws. And laws will only change with leadership,” said Al Gore, launching the We Campaign earlier this year.

Now, a new report, Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable World Energy Outlook from Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) reaffirms this concept:

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By Tom Kessler

When it comes to energy, everyone knows the U.S. is in hot water. Now the federal government intends to do something about it.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne yesterday announced a plan to make more than 190 million acres of Federal land in 12 western states available for development of geothermal energy resources, an initiative that “could increase electric generation capacity from geothermal resources ten times over.”

The plan would produce 5,540 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from geothermal resources by 2015 — enough to power 5.5 million homes. The plan, known as the Final Geothermal Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, also estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts – enough to power more than 12 million homes.

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By Barbara Kessler

Future energy literally rose above fossil fuel-generated power at a site in Pennsylvania where officials celebrated the opening this week of the Casselman Wind Power Project near Garrett, Pa., southeast of Pittsburgh.

Eight of the 23 turbines sit atop the site of a former coal mine.

“Pennsylvania is rapidly becoming a leader among states that are developing renewable and alternative energy sources and implementing advanced energy efficiency and conservation technologies,” said Governor Edward G. Rendell at the opening ceremony.

Rendell noted that the project will help create jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil and improve the environment.

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An overwhelming 86 percent of Coloradoans want to limit subsidies for oil shale production and hault new coal-fired power plants, according to a newly released poll.

The survey of 600 Colorado adults conducted by Opinion Research Corporation also found support for
federal and state investment in wind and solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, and highly fuel-efficient vehicles. The study was conducted for TheCLEAN.org and the Civil Society Institute, and was released by Western Colorado Congress, a community action alliance focused protecting and enhancing the quality of life in western Colorado.

Key findings of the poll include:

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By Harriet Blake

The residents of Hull, Mass., literally have the wind at their back.

Taking advantage of their location on the far east end of the Boston Harbor, the town is making the most of wind power. As its devoted 11,000 residents will tell you, wind energy makes sense. It’s clean, abundant, inexhaustible and local. Today, with wind turbines on either side of town, Hull receives about 12-13 percent of its electricity from wind.

We recently paid a visit to Hull to see how this seacoast community has achieved wind power, an energy source that could be incorporated throughout the United States with the proper resources, know-how and mentality. Wind is a key ingredient in powering America off foreign oil and achieving an emissions-free energy system; its giant turbines, parts of which are made in the U.S., could become symbols of green success.

“I love them,” says Wendy Love, a 16-year Hull resident who works at Weinberg’s Bakery. “When it’s windy, they are louder, but they don’t bother me. If energy costs go high enough maybe the U.S. will become more green like in Europe.”

Geri Calos, manager at Weinberg’s as well as administrator for the Hull Nantasket Chamber of Commerce, says, “The chamber is really into the green movement and working on strategies for more alternative energy.”

Richard Miller, operations manager of the Hull Municipal Light Plant (HMLP), says the town’s people have been very supportive of wind as an alternative energy source. “There has been no resistance on the part of the residents,” he says.

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By Catherine Colbert

Aging wind turbines - some installed more than 20 years ago - are getting a second wind. Towering gracefully among California wind farms, an estimated 10,000 machines are slated to be replaced by more modern and much larger wind turbines.

Instead of laying these wind soldiers to rest, a Massachusetts company is focused on breathing new life into them through what it has coined “The Ultimate Recycling Project.”

Aeronautica Windpower, as part of its business as a wind turbine and tower manufacturer, harvests the better machines from the field and refurbishes them to give them a second life. The firm likens the modern windmills to aircraft, as they’re stripped down to their frames and rebuilt with newer technologies and reporting capabilities to fly for another 20 years.

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strong> By John DeFore

Business types, evidently, feel they know all they need to know about Tempe, Ariz., firm First Solar, a nine-year old company being called “the Google of solar.” In a year and a half, investors drove its stock price up from $25 to $250. But aside from reports that this year’s sales are projected to hit $1 billion, what exactly do they know?

The company is highly secretive about its innovations, it seems, going so far as to refuse to speak with journalists. Now, an in-depth story in IEEE Spectrum Online attempts to get to the bottom of how, as the journal says, “within five years, this company’s thin-film solar cells could compete with coal.”

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By Barbara Kessler

Some things just make sense, like the Phoenix Suns using the desert sun to help power the US Airways Center where they play.

The basketball team, electricity provider APS and the city of Phoenix announced Thursday that the utility and the team have teamed up to install a 194 kilowatt photo-voltaic system on the fifth level of the US Airways parking garage. The system will cover about 18,000 square feet and produce more than 330,000 kilowatt-hours each year - enough to meet about one-quarter of the parking garage’s power needs.

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By Harriet Blake

Nevada Senator Harry Reid joined forces this week with former President Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Texas oilman-turned-wind-advocate T. Boone Pickens and other notables at the University of Nevada/Las Vegas for the National Clean Energy Summit.

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By John DeFore

Though it was an odd thing to call a “groundbreaking” — the act involved no shovel stuck in soil, but rather the placement of a panel on a metal stand — a ceremony alongside an Oregon highway this month inaugurated what Governor Ted Kulongoski calls “the nation’s first solar highway project.”

Speaking in a promotional video made at the event, Kulongoski was joined by Transportation Commission chair Gail Achterman, who explained that the solar panel being mounted was the first of 594 that will soon cover 8,000 square feet alongside the right-of-way at the interchange of Interstates 5 and 205 south of Portland.

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By Barbara Kessler

With gas prices pressuring wallets everywhere and climate change warming the planet, people are looking to the sun for some salvation. It’s paradoxical yes, but so sensible. The sun’s energy burns brightly on Earth and is capable of powering our homes and potentially our cars, if that power can be efficiently harvested.

For the current transportation crisis, it would be a dream solution: An ever-present source of energy powering vehicles with zero emissions. In 2008, however, science has yet to figure out how to make solar cars move as quickly as we’d like them to; carry heavy loads and not peter out when the sun goes down.

Fortunately for us hopeful drivers, the top engineers in the world are now focusing on these issues — as are many motivated college students and even a handful of high school kids.

We caught up with some of those aspiring younger solar engineers recently at the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, where they competed to see who could field a car that could successfully run 400 laps on the 1.5 mile track at Texas Motor Speedway.

The competition has been engaging students from all over the country in solar technology for 15 years, producing cars that amaze their creators with how well and how far they can ride on the sun’s energy. In even years, the teams run cars on the NASCAR track and in the odd-years, they run a cross country race. This year’s race saw them running faster cars, with better solar arrays and specially crafted frames from the latest available metals. The race left the students and the teachers buzzing about the possibilities. Watch the video report.

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