Mortenson Construction Big into Renewable Energy

Minnesota-based General Contractor, Mortenson Construction, announced recently that they are getting 1/4 of their revenue from renewable projects--primarily wind power and solar power.

To read the full article, click HERE.

Black Silicon May Transform Solar PV Manufacturing Market

The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) announced a major feat in technological advancement.  NREL, in partnership with NJ-based Natcore, have uncovered "Black Silicon" as an efficient alternative for the solar photovoltaic material of choice.

Read the full article HERE.

Siemens' Study Acknowledges San Francisco as US City Leader in Sustainability

International corporation, Siemens, conducted a survey of 27 cities to quantify and stratify green/sustainable cities.  Among the 31 objective factors that the study reviewed, San Francisco has risen among the group as the official municipal green leader.

Metrics reviewed for the study included: CO2/capita, water consumption, recycling/capita, LEED-certified buildings, and other key objective measures.

The full study can be found here.

wireless electric vehicle (ev) charging?

automobile innovators believe that the eventual future of electric vehicles (ev) will be a far cry from extension cords and finding an outlet.  the vision is for wireless inductive charging.  this method seems very plausible for market induction, as it would increase user convenience dramatically.  

i would be curious to learn more of cost of the technology, implementation/construction of the infrastructure, and energy loss as a result of the technology operations.

solar safety for firefighters--innovative workshop launched in denver by IECRM

Denver, CO, March 22, 2011 – Today, the non-profit association, Independent Electrical Contractors-Rocky Mountain (IECRM) launched a very important piece of the training puzzle for the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry:  how to make sure that firefighters stay safe on a fire call with a solar electric system.  IECRM rolled out a Solar PV Safety for Firefighters course at the North Washington Fire District in Thornton this morning.  The course was taught by PV expert, Andrew Truitt of Truitt Renewable Energy Consulting.

Solar PV systems on homes and businesses act like mini-power generating stations and operate via Direct Current (DC), which poses a unique set of challenges over electricity found in standard homes and businesses that have Alternating Current (AC) service from the electric utility.  DC creates potential safety risks to fire fighters that AC typically does not have.  With the dramatic increase of adoption of solar electric systems within the state of Colorado over the past few years and well into the future, emergency responders need to be educated on these unique concerns in order to ensure safety on fire calls.

“The solar overview provided us with a basic understanding on how the systems operate,” said North Washington Fire District Battalion Chief Stuart Sunderland, “and it provided us with the general information and safety concerns presented will definitely make us stop and think the next time we respond to a call to a building with a solar system.”  IECRM will be reaching out to other fire districts in the metro to make them aware of the cautions of PV systems and what their fire fighters should know about handling them.

IECRM is a 170-member strong non-profit association and Colorado’s largest electrical apprentice training school, educating hundreds of electrical and renewable energy professionals each year. For more information, www.IECRM.org.

new green professional (gpro) job training program launched in colorado

Green Job Training for Traditional Electricians

 Denver, CO, February 2, 2011 – Over 180 traditional electrical students were some of the first in the country to receive a new green building training called GPRO. GPRO was developed over the last 3 years at an expense of over $750,000 by the Urban Green Council chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the leading organization committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. GPRO is a visionary job skill training that target those working in the building trades and will elevate the green building skills of the Colorado workers, keeping our workforce competitive in the emerging green marketplace.

 Through a unique partnership between Independent Electrical Contractors-Rocky Mountain (IECRM) and USGBC Colorado Chapter, GPRO was launched through a SESP state grant in January 2011 to all 3rd and 4th year Electrical Apprenticeship students at IECRM. The students that received the training were ecstatic at the opportunity and hungry for more. “The GPRO Fundamentals of Green Building class was great! The course was very informative and really relevant on all of the jobs we work on these days,” said student, Luke Fletemeyer.

“The LEED® green building certification program is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of green buildings. LEED®, however, has largely focused on developers, architects, and engineers—not those that actually construct the buildings. GPRO is designed to educate trades people in the who, what, and why of green building. GPRO empowers the workforce with the skills necessary to compete in today’s changing construction industry,” said Spenser Villwock, IECRM Executive Director. 

GPRO will be available to the public at the upcoming USGBC Colorado annual conference, Rocky Mountain Green, on April 19, 2011 in Denver, as well as through the IECRM Energy Academy later this spring. IECRM is a 170-member strong non-profit association and Colorado’s largest electrical apprentice training school, educating hundreds of electrical and renewable energy professionals each year.

For more information, visit www.IECRM.org. U.S. Green Building Council Colorado Chapter (USGBC Colorado) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to advancing and promoting sustainable planning, design, construction and operation of the built environment through education, improving industry guidelines, policy, advocacy, and information and resource sharing. To learn more, visit www.usgbccolorado.org.

diplomatic adventures navigating renewable energy in japan

meeting with iwate-ken governor and senior advisors to discuss renewable energy initiatives in northern japan.

getting further detail from industry development director for iwate-ken.  a number of strong take-aways thus far:

• city of morioka –green initiatives
• iwate prefecture –dedication to advancing green technologies
• kowai closed-loop biomass facility–creating energy from organic matter discards
• city of ninohe –green initiatives and solar installations
• iwate hospital –energy efficiency, green roof, and solar initiative
• kashiwadai hydro-electric power station –in-line small hydro facility generating 13,100kw in the three stations, interesting to note: facility on national park land and strong efforts to keep visual impairment of facilities from public eye
• green power kuzumaki –wind farm in kuzumaki, energy self-sufficient town of 8,000 people by renewables
• kashiwadai kougen –biomass energy production for kougen facilities

closed-loop biomass energy generation (no, don't yawn--this is cool)

a major player in the organic/natural foods industry in japan, koiwai farms, has developed a zero-waste, methane capture energy generation system on their main growing facility in northeastern japan.  the biomass and composting facility is a closed-loop system--taking the organic debris from the agricultural production and integrating it into a fuel source--biomass for biofuel.

the biofuel is created using an active process of methane acceleration and capture.  the methane is then utilized to generate electricity and heat for the farm operations.  the residual bio-products following the methane capture process are nutrient-rich matter that can be further composted and, in a total closed-loop process, be directly applied back into the soil of the farm itself, as rich fertilizer.

the japanese are making some headway on a few model program installations such as this, in the biofuel realm.  very interesting and could be raised to large scale to create larger impact.

photovoltaic performance in heavy japanese snow

well, we toured a city facility with 50kW of solar pv in ninohe, japan on a day with 100% cloud cover and 1" snow accumulation per hour.  needless to say, we experienced the painful example of the intermittence in generation that photovoltaics are subject to.  fortunately, on such days the tendency of wind is in greater likelihood and, therefore, can serve as a secondary generation source.

there are a number of large wind generators in iwate prefecture that provide self-sufficiency for their demand area and surplus consumption.  this surplus is sold back to conventional energy producers via the grid and is mandated by the japanese government to be paid to the renewable energy generator at 2x the going kilowatt hour rate.  in this case, a typical japanese kwh goes for roughly .20cents.  surplus renewable energy (re) generation is purchased by a utility company from the re owner at .40cents per kwh.  not bad, eh?  it incentivizes larger systems beyond self-sufficiency for a homeowner or business to install--helping to leverage a fledgling renewable energy tidal wave to the conventional power generation on the grid.  we'll see what happens...
 

ohayo gozamasu--good to meet you, renewable japan... (retrospective: week 1 of 5)

the professional renewable exchange team from colorado team's first week in japan has been tightly packed with site visits, information exchange, meeting with dignitaries and elected officials, and various meetings.

upon arriving in sendai city, miagi prefecture, japan, our colorado team has been on the move, nonstop.  our gracious and wonderful japanese hosts have set up a tight curriculum for our single focus exchange on renewable and sustainable industries, yet have orchestrated all the logistics to ensure that our travelling team is well-fed, rested, and able to be expedited to each location--so as we can remain focused on the goals of the exchange. domo arigato gozamasu!

our whirlwind exchange is nearing the end of the first intensive week.  during this time we have gained a strong overview of:

• city of morioka --green initiatives
• iwate prefecture --dedication to advancing green technologies
• kowai closed-loop biomass facility--creating energy from organic matter discards
• city of ninohe --green initiatives and solar installations
• iwate hospital --energy efficiency, green roof, and solar initiative
• kashiwadai hydro-electric power station --in-line small hydro facility generating 13,100kW in the three stations, interesting to note: facility on national park land and strong efforts to keep visual impairment of facilities from public eye
• green power kuzumaki --wind farm in kuzumaki
• kashiwadai kougen --biomass energy production for kougen facilities

thus far, take-aways from this experience have illustrated that there are a number of advances in renewable energy that the government and businesses of northeastern japan have taken.  a number of incentive programs for solar photovoltaic (pv) adoption, similar to those we have in the usa, have resulted in stimulating the purchase of systems for government buildings and beta model test applications.  they have an expressed roadblock in achieving economy of scale and targeted packaged programming to drive the residential solar pv market.

the biomass operations that we have seen have been modest in scale and have had a closed-loop application.  organic matter coming from the main farming facilities, being composted and digested for methane capture, transfer of methane to alternating current electricity, and reapplication of nutrient-rich soil amendment following the methane capture process.

the in-line hydro-electric facility was very impressive in it's attention to utilizing the kinesis of the river current and balancing the environmental degredation that can result from hydro facilities.  a large majority of the in-line system was masked by facility design to blend in to the natural environment and conduit is largely underground and, therefore, unseen by the national park visitors the facilities are housed within.

our travelling colorado renewable energy team looks forward to continuing our intensive focus in the coming weeks.  

30% of colorado's electricity from renewables by 2020

colorado state legislature passed hb 1001 last friday, which sets the renewable portfolio standard at one of the highest in the nation, 30% of all energy production via renewable technology--and within the next decade.  governor ritter will sign the bill into law later this month, as he noted in today's denver post.  this legislation is expected to call for over 100,000 rooftop solar photovoltaic systems to be installed within the state in the coming years.

an exciting next step in the continued new energy economy within the great state of colorado.

renewable energy potential by u.s. state

national renewable energy laboratories, nrel, released a study recently on the wind capacity for the entire united states.  the study found that 10.5gw of harnessable wind is contained within the union.  texas being the largest state and largest wind producer.

the new rules project expounded the nrel study to factor in solar photovoltaic, hydroelectric, geothermal, and off-shore wind.  the below was devised as part of the new rules undertaking.  very interesting and compelling conclusions from both nrel and nrp.  

hand-wash vs. dishwasher--revealed!

this debate circles around many households-- what saves more water: hand-washing dishes or using the dishwasher? the answer, based on a good deal of scientific anaysis, is resoundingly clear--dishwashers save water, money, and time.

the u.s. epa notes that an average energystar dishwasher saves over 5,000 gallons of water, $40 in utility costs, and up to 230 hours of your time, annually!

a european study gathered participants from 7 different countries illustrated similar results: hand-washing consumed 27 gallons per load, whereas a dishwasher utilized a scant 4 average gallons per load.

the answer to this debate? use a full dishwasher to do your dishes, and snuggle with your loved ones for the 230 hours each year you just earned back.

wearable renewable energy production

charge your cell phone just by walking?!?

now, this is a concept that i've mused on for a good number of years.

i believe it stemmed from my first pair of corduroy pants back in college--the rubbing of the thighs together and thinking that there was not only contact and friction, but also kinetic movement which could create energized polarity--a.k.a. energy production potential.

it seems someone with much more capable electrical engineering skills has beat me to the punch: wearable electrical production.

awesome technology.

japan trip, visiting renewable and sustainable industries

received award from rotary international to spend four weeks in japan. will be meeting with a number of individuals within the renewable industries. sharing information on technologies, programs, and regulatory from the u.s. and vice versa. below are the cities that we will be touring.
View Larger Map after the exchange, i'll be headed down to southern japan, where we used to live. spend some time catching up with old friends and do some scuba diving while down there.

coal-fired power plant timelapse video

brought to you by mid-america power, in council bluffs, iowa--green house gases...\

Coal Power Plant Timelapse from Jeff Grewe on Vimeo.

native american tribe in new mexico to produce and sell solar, wind, and geothermal energy

the jemez pueblo is investing in infrastructure for green energy production.

the $22M project has an anticipated 20-year return on investment and will serve to generate power for self-sufficiency and export to surrounding areas.

the project will produce much needed revenues for the tribe and may be seen as a model for other groups to consider for positive income generation and sustainable power generation.

cap and trade--the basics

good video on basics of "cap and trade."  made by same group who produced "the story of stuff."

clinton in copenhagen

sec of state clinton speaking at copenhagen yesterday. the effort may have swayed the drifting interests of several countries back toward a place of common ground.

do-it-yourself energy efficiency

a quick video, featuring tips from david snell from this year's annual national homebuilder and remodeler show.