Cleantech Update

Miasole was founded by veterans of the hard disk industry with founder Dave Pearce who leveraged their expertise in hard disk manufacturing to introduce new manufacturing processes into the thin-film solar industry. In December 2006, the company's CEO announced that 50MW of manufacturing capacity as well as an IPO is imminent but the company failed to deliver on the milestone. In September 2007, semiconductor equipment executive Joseph Laia was brought in as CEO to move the company to volume production. The company has 40 MW of production capacity at its Santa Clara facility, and claims that as of May 2008 it was making modules at 9% to 10% efficiencies on those production tools. NREL has since independently verified two 10% Miasole CIGS modules. At this time, none of the company's founders is with the company any longer. Kannan Ramanathan, who served as chief research officer at Miasolé from 2006 to 2008 has left the company in November 2008. Dave Pearce stepped...

There has been a resurgence of investment interest in the U.S. biofuel industry focused on technologies that use algae to make fuel. The appeal of algae is that it can potentially produce fuel without diverting food crops or large swathes of land. Ethanol derived from corn has been blamed by some for driving up food prices, while large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol would require cultivation of plants such as switchgrass that are grown only in small amounts now. When exposed to light and carbon-dioxide, pools of algae produce lipids that can be refined into oil. The algae consumes the carbon-dioxide during the process, scoring a double hit for protecting the environment. Drawn by that potential, Exxon Mobil Corp. in July announced it was investing $600 million in a partnership with Synthetic Genomics Inc. of La Jolla, Calif., to develop commercially viable biofuels from algae. That followed an announcement by Dow Chemical Co. in June that it was teaming up with Algenol Bi...

Posted by Roger Valdez 09/03/2009 03:00 PM During Washington’s last legislative session, I wrote glowingly about a bill introduced by Representative Hans Dunshee that would have sold $3 billion in bonds for energy efficiency retrofits in public schools across the state. It didn’t pass. But what appealed to me was that this idea is a 3 for 1 deal. A win, win, win. It could reduce climate changing emissions, create much-needed green jobs in local communities (reviving a flagging economy), and save money on energy bills. In fact, it could create enough savings to pay back the bonds. I called it Green Increment Financing. Maybe this kind of far-thinking, money-saving, job-creating, innovative policy will pass next time around. Meanwhile, I have found out that this kind of financing is already happening in the Northwest—albeit on a much smaller scale—hundreds of thousands of dollars versus the hundreds of millions it would take to retrofit all schools. It’s called Energy Service Perfor...

Note the Roles here: Energy User ( Starwood Hotels) Carbon Broker (Sterling Planet) Energy Producer (Constellation NewEnergy) For power for the Republican National Convention. BALTIMORE, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced that its subsidiary, Constellation NewEnergy, is supplying green power to nine Starwood hotel properties in New York City during this week's Republican National Convention. The power agreement covers all the Sheraton and W hotels in Manhattan as well as the St. Regis. Constellation NewEnergy purchased renewable energy credits from Sterling Planet to meet Starwood's anticipated peak demand during the convention, approximately 10,054 megawatt hours. "It's a privilege to be supplying green power to Starwood for this premier event," said Clem Palevich, president, Constellation NewEnergy. "Like Starwood, we're committed to environmental stewardship and proud to be a leader in...

17 August 2009 (San Francisco Chrinicle) On a high ridge in the Mayacamas Mountains, a drill slowly bores into the earth to test a new way to generate electricity. The test, by a Bay Area company called AltaRock Energy, could give the world another source of renewable energy, a valuable weapon in the fight against global warming. It could also trigger earthquakes in a corner of California that already shakes most every day, a prospect that is jangling the nerves of some nearby homeowners. AltaRock has chosen this ridge to try a new form of geothermal power, using the heat of the Earth to produce energy. The surrounding hills -- in an area known as The Geysers, about 70 miles north of San Francisco -- hold more than a dozen older geothermal plants that tap underground pockets of steam to turn turbines and generate electricity. But AltaRock will drill below the steam pockets, burrowing into deep rocks hotter than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The company, based in Sausalito, will fracture ...

American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to establish a combined efficiency and renewable electricity standard that requires utilities to supply an increasing percentage of their demand from a combination of energy efficiency savings and renewable energy (6% in 2012, 9.5% in 2014, 13% in 2016, 16.5% in 2018, and 20% in 2021-2039). Provides for:  (1) issuing, trading, banking, retiring, and verifying renewable electricity credits; and  (2) prescribing standards to define and measure electricity savings from energy efficiency and energy conservation measures. Amends the Clean Air Act (CAA) to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) set forth a national strategy to address barriers to the commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture and sequestration; (2) establish an approach to certify and permit geologic sequestration; and (3) promulgate regulations to mi...

I got an interesting comment on one of my posts about distributed power generation and storage. Charles Toca representing Prudent Energy VRB Energy Storage System ( VRB - ESS ) says they have an energy storage system base on the the vanadium-based redox regenerative fuel cell that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. This is from their website: -Editor How It Works The VRB Energy Storage System ( VRB - ESS ) is an electrical energy storage system based on the patented vanadium-based redox regenerative fuel cell that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. Energy is stored chemically in different ionic forms of vanadium in a dilute sulphuric acid electrolyte. The electrolyte is pumped from separate plastic storage tanks into flow cells across a proton exchange membrane ( PEM ) where one form of electrolyte is electrochemically oxidized and the other is electrochemically reduced. This creates a current that is collected by electrodes and made available to...

Here is a video of their process in Action from their website Originoil is only obne of several companies researching algea as biofuel.

OGE ( An Oklahoma Power Utility) has a very useful Energy use calculator for commercial buildings . A clean tech Engineer I know uses it for a very quick load demand estimation at the begining of an energy audit. -Editor.

The number of smart electricity meters with two-way communications is poised to mushroom in the next two years, according to a study. Research company Park Associates this week released figures for smart-meter installations in the U.S., saying that there are 8 million units installed, or about 6 percent of all meters. (Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET) As utilities upgrade equipment as part of smart-grid trials, the number of smart meters is forecast to grow to 13.6 million installed next year and to over 33 million in 2011. Having a method to broker regular communications between a utility and a customer will set the foundation for a widening array of home-energy management tools, said Bill Ablondi , Park Associates' director of home systems. Home energy management systems can be relatively simple displays or Web-based programs that show how much electricity a home is using. More high-end systems can be built around home-area networks where consumers can program smart appliances and...

Governor Bobby Jindal recently announced that he signed Louisiana House Bill 110, legislation that increases personal and corporate income tax credits for use of alternative fuel for motor vehicles, including the use of compressed natural gas (CNG.) The legislation, authored by Louisiana State Representative Jane Smith (R-Bossier City) and led by Louisiana Senator Nick Gautreaux (D-Abbeville) in the Senate, will increase economic development and investment in Louisiana by encouraging companies to use a fuel source that is clean, abundant, affordable and American. "Now with proper incentives in place, Louisiana retailers can offer CNG as an alternative fuel to consumers who take advantage of the ability to convert their car or truck or purchase a new vehicle," said Smith. The new legislation includes provisions to: Increase the existing personal or corporate income tax credit from 20% to 50% for purchase of qualified clean burning motor vehicle fuel property, including equipme...

Plans for the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday, and he's looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines. Pickens has already ordered the turbines, which can stand 400 feet tall — taller than most 30-story buildings. "When I start receiving those turbines, I've got to ... like I said, my garage won't hold them," the legendary Texas oilman said. "They've got to go someplace." Pickens' company Mesa Power ordered the turbines from General Electric Co. — a $2 billion investment — a little more than a year ago. Pickens said he has leases on about 200,000 acres in Texas that were planned for the project, and he might place some of the turbines there, but he's also looking for smaller wind projects to participate in. He said he's looking at potential sites in the Midwest and Canada. In Texas, the problem lies in getting power from the proposed site in the Panhandl...

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP – Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger today toured The Bridge Business Center in Bristol Township, Bucks County, where $1 million in federal recovery funds are being used to install a modern energy system in a former Rohm & Haas laboratory. Secretary Hanger witnessed a milestone in the project’s development, as seven micro-turbines were lifted by crane and placed on the roof of a building at 360 George Patterson Blvd., where renovations are underway in the 50,000-square-foot, multi-tenant facility. “This is how recovery funds are making a real difference in people’s lives,” said Hanger. “In a community that has suffered from an economic downturn, we see this developer making not only a $4.5 million investment in adaptive reuse of a building on a designated brownfield site, but also in providing a clean, affordable and reliable source of energy for its tenants.” In March, Governor Edward G. Rendell announced the $1 million Penns...

Anyone know anything about Sola Ventura ? Not much on their website, but they seem to have a unique distributed cleantech business model. Sola Ventura LLC brings technology and investment opportunity together to solve clients energy needs. Onsite Green Energy Production can reduce your energy usage, lock in a lower rate for an extended period of years, and cost you nothing for installation and maintenance of any solar, wind, geothermal, and fuel cells required. Please Comment if you know more...

HELMSFORD, N.Y. -- Coca Cola Enterprises signed a 10-year contract with UTC Power that will bring two fuel cells to its southern New York bottling plant. The UTC Power fuel cells will produce heat and energy that can satisfy nearly a third of demand at Coca Cola’s bottling plant in Elmsford, N.Y. The project received $2 million in funds from the state’s Energy Research and Development Authority . South Windsor, Conn.-based UTC Power will retain ownership of the fuel cells, in addition to operating and maintaining them. The company began offering the 10-year energy services agreement a few years ago, according to company spokeswoman Peg Hashem.“It’s helpful for those who don’t want to spend the capital upfront,” she said. Fuel cells produce electricity, heat and water by combining hydrogen and oxygen in an electrochemical process. The PureCell 400 fuel cells to be deployed at Coca Cola’s bottling plant are more than twice as energy efficient as traditional power sources and can ea...

(June 5, 2009) Campbell, CA - Real Goods Solar (NASDAQ: RSOL) announced today it has signed a contract to design and install solar electric systems totaling 3.65 megawatts for the Fremont Union High School District in Sunnyvale, Cupertino and west San Jose, California. The new solar systems will be constructed as carports at all five high schools in the District and are expected to save District taxpayers over $12 million in the total cost of electricity over the next 25 years. The five systems will contribute enough electricity to cover about 45% of the power usage of each school. This solar program, exceeding $30 million, is believed to be the largest direct purchase by a secondary school system in North America, financed by a portion of a $198M school bond approved by the District’s voters in June 2008. The District researched many alternative energy options before choosing Real Goods Solar for these installations across school campuses. The system monitoring that Real Goods Solar ...

Charlottesville to be First City in Dominion Virginia Power's 'Smart Grid' Network Innovative program opens doors to wide range of energy conservation options Press Release June 18, 2009 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Charlottesville has been selected as the first city in Virginia and one of the first in the nation to benefit from "smart grid" technology that will make the delivery of electricity more efficient and less costly while improving customer service. Smart grid capabilities also will promote energy conservation and environmental responsibility. Dominion Virginia Power executives joined Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, University of Virginia President John Casteen, state and local officials, and private industry partners today to unveil SmartGrid Charlottesville. The $20 million program begins with the installation of about 46,500 "smart meters" in the city of Charlottesville and Albermarle County. More than half of the meters have been installed, with completi...

This is from the Ca[pstone Website -Editor Stimulus Package Signed by President Obama On February 17, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1) into law. The package contains a number of measures designed to promote clean energy and energy efficiency, many of which could be beneficial to deployment of Capstone’s products and the continued development of our technology. For example, the Stimulus provides: Grants in lieu of the 10 percent investment tax credit (ITC) on microturbines and combined heat and power (CHP); $3.2 billion in block grants to states and local governments to spend on energy efficiency and $3,1 billion to fund state energy programs; $16.8 billion in funding for DOE to fund Research and Development of clean energy and efficiency technologies, among other programs; Bonus depreciation of capital equipment; $11 billion to fund clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades at federal buildings. The following summary contains more details on t...

The Administration is trying to publicize funding for Geothermal and Solar Recovery Act Funding projects: So far, it is putting the funds in the hands of government , not business, and these institutions are inceted to make the programs last as long as possible, not to be profitbale. When I Read these Funding Opportunities , it seems to me that 16 of the 18 opportunities are for research and development or demonstrations of technology we already know works. Yes, we will learn new things Yes, contractors who put up the demonstrations will earn money for the one project; maybe they will even get more contracts. Yes Solar manufacturing plants, even thinfilm plants will be built It is a hit near the target, but sorry sir, no cigar. Geothermal A Geothermal mapping program is a good idea, but lets generate some economy NOW by granting energy companies money to build plants in the places we already know they will work, like they Texas Gulf Coast, Northern California. Make them pay the money...