GOOD STORIES THERE WASN’T TIME TO GET TO THIS WEEK (11-21)

A NewEnergyNews Friday feature.

WIND IN RETAIL

Wal-Mart buys wind energy supply
November 20, 2008 (AP)

“Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says it has invested in a wind energy farm in Texas that will generate enough power to light 15 percent of its Texas operations…The world's largest retailer said Thursday the Duke Energy farm is being built in Notrees, Texas, and is to start production in April. The retailer will purchase electricity directly from Duke's Notrees Windpower Project…The Bentonville, Ark.-based company has 360 stores and other facilities in Texas…Wal-Mart says it will pay traditional rates for the electricity, but doing so will decrease greenhouse gas emissions and will help the company reach its goal of using only renewable energy sources…”


U.S. – CHINA IN SOLAR ENERGY PACT

China, U.S. to collaborate on solar energy technology
Sally Zhang, November 17, 2008 (Xinhua via China View)

“China and the United States have agreed to work together on research into advanced solar energy technologies…The Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is affiliated with the Department of Energy, signed a memorandum of understanding…Under the pact, they'll share research on photovoltaic (PV) power generation technologies…”


ISLAND OF ENERGY FOR THE GREEN AT SEA

Energy island to supply green power when wnd drops
Lewis Smith, November 10, 2008 (UK Times)

“A man-made island housing a hydroelectric plant and generating enough electricity to supply two million Dutch homes is planned for the North Sea by 2020…It would act as back-up to wind farms by ensuring that electricity is still generated when the wind drops and would provide extra peak-time capacity. If successful, similar islands could be be built to supply other countries, especially those such as Britain that will increasingly come to depend on wind energy. The proposed site, called energy island, is expected to be built 15-20 miles (24-32km) off the Dutch coast…Huge dykes would be constructed to hold back the sea and the centre of the island would be dug down to 40 metres (130ft) below sea level. Pipes in dykes would allow sea water to pour in, generating electricity in the same way as some dams…”


NEWEST NEW ENERGY IDEAS FROM THE NETHERLANDS

Energy in abundance!
Thijs Westerbeek Van Eerten, 04 November 2008 (Radio Netherlands)

“The supply of renewable energy will in future be multifaceted…For the only way to ensure that consumers and industry will have a sufficient supply of power in the long run will be to place our bets on as many horses as possible…There are thousands of genial ideas for producing clean energy…The first creative energy idea is by far the strangest: The "sun tree"… has leaves which produce electricity…The second creative energy solution is extremely simple. There is a construction which looks like a windmill in one of the locks of the IJsselmeer Dam…[a] tidal stream turbine which can convert streaming water into electricity…The third clean and clever means of producing electricity is no longer experimental…gas from all kinds of organic waste, from garden refuse to desserts bought in the supermarket…And finally there is geothermal energy…”


PICKENS SPEAKS A PIECE

Our energy future
T. Boone Pickens, November 16, 2008 (Chicago Tribune)

“Three critical issues face the Obama administration in 2009: first, the collapsing U.S. economy; second, our national security; and, finally, our escalating and costly dependence on foreign oil…Addressing our perilous dependence on foreign oil is a sure way to solve the economic and security threats. We cannot be complacent and buy into the notion that collapsing oil and gasoline prices have solved the problem. They have added to it. Though prices have dropped, we continue to import nearly 70 percent of the oil we use. The longer we fail to develop a national will and a national energy plan, the worse our national economic and security threats will become…Washington lobbyists will work hard to protect the interests of their clients—the big oil companies, the big chemical companies and the big car companies—by preserving the status quo…For more than four decades low gas prices, failed leadership and a lack of accountability haven't solved the problem. But with the abundance of domestic natural gas, this is the greatest opportunity we've ever had. It's time to end our addiction to foreign oil.”