Biggest Solar Project In World To Be Approved By Obama Administration For California

The Obama Administration is set to announce approval of a thousand-megawatt solar project on federal land in southern California, the largest in a series of solar projects given the go-ahead in recent weeks.

The Interior Department has approved a permit for what will be the world's biggest solar power plant, on federal land in the desert near Blythe, Calif., 225 miles east of Los Angeles, according to Obama administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.

The $6 billion project is being developed by Solar Millennium, a German solar developer. At peak output, the solar farm could generate enough clean electricity to power more than 300,000 homes, according to project developers.  Source:  huffingtonpost


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Solar Power Coming to the White House

Solar panels and a solar hot water heater will soon be installed at the White House, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday.

Chu announced the conversion at the 2010 GreenGov Symposium in Washington, accompanied by Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the Council of Environmental Quality.



"This project reflects President Obama's strong commitment to U.S. leadership in solar energy and the jobs it will create here at home," Chu said in a written statement released by the Energy Department. "Deploying solar energy technologies across the country will help America lead the global economy for years to come."

By installing the solar panels on the White House, Sutley said the president is underscoring a commitment to "lead, and the promise and importance of renewable energy in the United States."

The solar panel system, which should be installed by next spring, will convert sunlight directly to electricity, while the solar hot water heater will have a solar collector facing the sun to heat water for use in the White House residence. The Energy Department said a competitive procurement process will be used to select the company that will make the installations.

This is not the first time solar energy has been tapped at the White House. Former President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House residence during his term. They were removed during the Reagan administration. Former President George W. Bush also used solar energy to help power a maintenance building on the White House grounds, and to assist in heating the swimming pool there.

The announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of an executive order signed by the president that called on the federal government to lead in the establishment of a clean energy economy.
Courtesy of CNN



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Obama Backs Giant Solar Project

As reported by The Associated Press, in this morning’s weekly radio address President Obama has just announced that almost $2 billion in federal funding for solar energy and green jobs is in the pipeline.  The money will go to construct solar power installations in Arizona, Colorado and Indiana.
One of the firms, Abenoga Solar, says that it is planning to build the largest solar power plant in the world in Arizona.

Mr Obama said the projects would provide more than 5,000 new jobs.

The Arizona plant should power 70,000 homes and cut carbon dioxide emissions.

The money will come from government stimulus funds designed to boost the economy during the recession.

Outlining the "Solana" project at Gila Bend near Phoenix, Abenoga said it would have an area of 1,900 acres, using thermal storage-equipped parabolic trough technology, with 280 MW of power output capacity.

According to the company's website, 1,500 new jobs will be created during the plant's construction with 100 positions for staff to maintain it.

The second company, Abound Solar Manufacturing, will manufacture state-of-the-art thin film solar panels, the first time anywhere that such technology has been used commercially, the BBC's Jane O'Brien reports from Washington.

Plants will be built in Colorado and Indiana, creating 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs, the Associated Press reports.

President Obama had promised during his election campaign for the White House to create manufacturing and construction jobs in the green power industry.

"We're going to to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and industries of the future are taking root right here in America," he said on Saturday.

The renewable energy industry in the US faces tough competition from developers in China.

Mr Obama also acknowledged the loans would not be an instant solution.

Around 125,000 jobs were lost in the last month, the government reported.

Via BBC News

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Steel Workers See Green Jobs

 In a partnership that illustrates the powerful currents at work in today’s environmental movement, the United Steel Workers labor union has joined with the American Wind Energy Association and BlueGreen Alliance, an organization that includes other labor unions, the Sierra Club and the National Resources Defense Council, to produce a blueprint for new green jobs in the wind power industry.


In pushing hard for green jobs, this diverse labor-industry-environmental group puts itself squarely on the side of the U.S. military’s push for alternative energy in the interests of a strong national defense. It also joins a growing number of leading U.S companies calling for national climate legislation and green jobs, in yet another sign that the dominance of fossil fuels is rapidly coming to a close.

The report is titled Winds of Change: A Manufacturing Blueprint for the Wind Industry.
Basically the report details how the wind energy industry has been growing and creating new jobs even without all of the advantages accorded to fossil fuels, such as billion-dollar subsidies and supportive national policies.  More support for alternative energy has been forthcoming from the Obama administration, and the report calls ramping up those efforts through, among other things, a stronger Renewable Electricity Standard of 25%, more tax credits for the renewable energy industry, and strong national climate legislation.  All of these measures would be geared toward creating more jobs in the U.S. wind industry, rather than shipping in components from overseas.

 "Moving to clean energy is just one piece of the puzzle — we need to ensure that America's clean energy economy is built by U.S. workers, and creates good manufacturing jobs," said Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers. "By including common-sense policies like a 25 percent Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), and an extended Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, in comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, we can build a wind energy supply chain in the U.S."    Read Full Story






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G-8 , G-20, How about G-Buzz

Aware of calls for industrialized economies’ to fund developing nations’ climate-related programs, the Group of Eight wealthy nations clarified its funding commitments.




In the Muskoka Accountability Report, released ahead of G-8’s summit held in Muskoka, Canada from Friday to Saturday, the group said it has engaged in three funds addressing international climate goals, such as adaptation.


Adaptation refers to measures by which vulnerable countries, especially economically poorer ones, could prepare for the impact of climate change. Threats include rising seas, stronger rains and intensified droughts.

These funds are for least developed countries’ national adaptation action programs, for the promotion of longterm adaptation measures and for climate resilience in mainstream development planning.

The G-8 said around $180 million and $129 million have been collected for the least developed countries fund and the special climate change fund respectively. The latter reportedly mobilized voluntary contributions worth $110 million for adaptation and $19 million for technology transfer.


For the pilot program for climate resilience, the G-8 said it has pledged $1 billion and chosen as recipients nine countries in the Caribbean, Pacific and African regions.          Source ecoseed


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Solar Day 2010

Given the public outrage over the largest oil spill in U.S. history, public awareness of solar energy has grown through recent speeches by President Obama about solar energy and clean energy.

This year’s annual day of recognition for the growth of clean, solar energy in the U.S. is SolarDay 2010 – Saturday, June 19. The premise of SolarDay is simple: a national day of recognition for solar energy, energy independence and protection of the planet.

 

I have to say, I didn’t know there was a “SolarDay” until recently, but I guess that is partly because it wasn’t founded until 2009.  Nonetheless, it has already grown into a worldwide event.
SolarDay is celebrated on a weekend day before the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year). which as indicated above is this Saturday, June 19th.

Last year, more than 700 media stories were written about SolarDay. I imagine there will be more than that this year.
As you might expect, SolarDay is about promoting solar energy and energy independence. But it goes beyond that in that it promotes clean, green energy in general and sustainable lifestyles as well.

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