MORE NEWS, 4-9 (A NEW ENERGY GOLD RUSH; BUILDING SUN IN COLORADO; CURRENT ENERGY COMES ON)

A NEW ENERGY GOLD RUSH
Balancing Renewable Energy Projects & Public Lands Stewardship
Robert Redford, April 6, 2009 (Huffington Post)

"America is on the verge of a renewable energy gold rush. Hundreds of applications for wind and solar projects have been filed on public lands. I think this is long overdue. We need sustainable energy to help us reduce global warming pollution, and we need it fast. But if we don't handle this boom carefully, unspoiled wildlands will get trammeled in its wake. Right now, we have an opportunity to start the clean energy era off right.

"It begins with agreeing which sensitive areas should remain undeveloped. Wind and solar power are pollution free, but they are not impact free. They leave an industrial footprint on the land, and some pristine places would be forever altered by their presence."

click for interactive map

"…NRDC got together with Google Earth and started mapping out public lands where renewable development is not appropriate. Some of the spots colored in on the map are obvious--national parks, wilderness areas, and national monuments where energy development is already prohibited by law or federal policy…[There are] also illustrates places where development should be avoided, even if it isn't illegal…[including] state parks…proposed wilderness areas…

"…[E]ven when you set these areas aside, there is plenty of land to develop solar and wind projects. The state of California recently did a similar mapping process and found that when it removed all the environmentally sensitive lands, California still has renewable potential of about 500,000 MW--that's greater than the state's peak demand."

Partners in stewardship. (click to enlarge)

"…The lands best suited to wind farms and solar plants are those that have already been disturbed. Up and down the Rockies, there are hundreds of oil and gas fields that are now defunct. In my home state of California, there are thousands of acres of old farms that went bust…there are private lands that have been carved up for subdivisions that never got built…These already distressed lands may not satisfy all renewable developers. But hopefully, with so much public land available, they will make reasonable compromises…

"I see two persuasive reasons why the environmental community and the renewable sector can work in unison. The first is credibility…The second is urgency. Our nation needs to begin the transition away from dirty fossil fuels now in order to stave off the worst impacts of global warming. Controversies and lawsuits over siting will only delay the process…Americans recognize the need for clean energy…[W]e have the chance to get the balance between generating sustainable power and caring for our lands right from beginning."


BUILDING SUN IN COLORADO
SunPower to build new Colorado solar power plant
Sandy Shore, April 7, 2009 (AP via Forbes)

"SunPower Corp… will build a 17-megawatt solar plant in southern Colorado and sell the power generated to Xcel Energy Inc.

"It is the latest in a handful of agreements announced by solar energy manufacturers and utilities as more states adopt standards requiring a percentage of electricity to be produced from renewable resources.

"The plant will be built on a parcel near a SunEdison 8.2-megawatt plant in the Alamosa area about 160 miles south of Denver near the Colorado-New Mexico border…"

The Alamosa 8.2-megawatt SunEdison plant nearby. The SunPower-Xcel installation will be twice as big. (click to enlarge)

"…SunPower plans to hire about 200 workers for the construction phase…[T]he plant will be the second-largest high-efficiency solar PV power plant in North America when completed in 2010.

"Xcel put a bid out for solar power last year to help meet a Colorado mandate requiring it to produce 20 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.

"Xcel currently produces about 10 percent from solar, wind and other renewable resources…"


CURRENT ENERGY COMES ON
Drawing power from the Mississippi
Tom Fowler, April 6, 2009 (Houston Chronicle)

"…Hydro Green Energy placed [its first water-powered electric turbine on the Mississippi River ] just downstream from a hydropower plant operated by the city of Hastings, Minn., where it has been cranking out about 100 kilowatts, enough to power about 60 homes.

"The turbine, which is suspended under a barge anchored downstream from the dam’s spillway, is the first project of its kind licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission…That approval is important because it lets the turbine tie into the local electric grid and paves the way for future projects…"

The river installation. (click to enlarge)

"Six percent of the nation’s electricity came from hydropower in 2008…Most comes from dams also used for flood control…Hydrokinetic power, such as the Minnesota project, is different in that it taps into existing currents, including tidal currents and wave power, rather than water running through dams.

"One other hydrokinetic project is installed in the U.S. — Verdant Power’s pair of turbines mounted on the floor of the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn…Those units provide some power to a nearby store and a large parking garage, but they don’t have a FERC license allowing them to tie in to the grid."

Drawing of current energy turbines on the East River bed. (click to enlarge)

"…[H]ydrokinetic projects are included in a draft federal bill that requires states to have a certain percentage of their power come from renewable sources…A 2007 study by the Electric Power Research Institute found that the U.S. could develop at least 13,000 megawatts of river- and ocean-based kinetic hydropower projects by 2025…

"In 2008 venture capital firms invested $49.5 million in wave-energy companies and another $28 million in current and tidal companies…Of that $28 million, $24 million was invested in companies based in Great Britain, where there has long been interest in such projects…Hydro Green closed on $2.6 million in funding last year…"