MORE NEWS, 7-20 (RE-USED LAND FOR SOLAR SITE; CHINA, U.S. PARTNER FOR NEW ENERGY RESEARCH; FED MONEY TO WIND MAKERS)

RE-USED LAND FOR SOLAR SITE
Closed landfill may become solar energy site
Jessica A. York, July 18, 2009 (Vallejo Times-Herald)

"…The Napa-Vallejo Waste Management Authority is in talks with a Vallejo energy company to install a $25 million to $35 million solar array atop a closed landfill outside American Canyon.

"The estimated 6.7 megawatts produced on the closed landfill could provide enough energy to power 3,200 homes, reduce carbon emissions by about 7,500 cars' worth and equal the planting of about 12,000 acres of trees, according to a project write-up by applicant Larry Asera."

This former brownfield now generates solar energy in Brockton, Mass. (click to enlarge

"The landfill once served Vallejo, American Canyon, the city of Napa and Napa County. Vallejo City Councilman Tom Bartee, chairman of the waste management authority, said he asked Asera to pitch a possible public-private solar energy plan for the site…Asera, who served on the Vallejo City Council in the 1970s and runs energy and environmental technology company Asera Group, Inc., would be in charge of securing funding for the project…

"The proposed solar station is ideal for a sealed landfill site because little else can rest on top of such land, Bartee said. The power generated could be used to power methane gas monitors…The savings could offset costs of an Authority trash transfer station's needs, Bartee said…Methane gas emissions are already being used to power two turbines on the landfill site…"

Vallejo already operates this solar project off a local parkway. (click to enlarge)

"Operations ceased at the American Canyon Sanitary Landfill in 1995 and it was officially closed in 2006. The proposed energy park is expected to reduce Authority carbon generation, produce "clean energy," and create so-called green-collar jobs and new revenue…

"Officials are expecting grant applications for federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the California Solar Initiative's Performance-Based Incentive program to fund initial investment and early operating costs. Funding also likely will come from private investors and U.S. Department of Energy-guaranteed loans…"


CHINA, U.S. PARTNER FOR NEW ENERGY RESEARCH
US, China announce clean energy research center
Joe Macdonald (w/ Henry Sanderson, Tini Tran and Bonnie Cao), July 15, 2009 (AP via Yahoo News)

"The United States and China, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, announced plans for a joint clean energy research center…The research center is an effort at compromise between the two governments, which disagree on whether China should join richer nations in adopting binding emissions-reduction targets to stave off environmental devastation from climate change.

"With initial financing of $15 million and headquarters in both countries, the center will focus on coal and clean buildings and vehicles, said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. It highlights potential U.S.-Chinese cooperation in an industry that Washington says could create thousands of jobs…"

The collaboration between DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has been fruitful for both sides of the Pacific. (click to enlarge)

"Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke were in Beijing to lobby China to promote private-sector development of solar, wind, biofuels and other clean energy…Locke appealed to China to avoid trade barriers to clean technology. Some companies say Beijing is trying to build up its industry by shielding companies from competition, shutting foreign competitors out of wind power and other projects…

"China is promoting solar, wind and hydroelectric power to reduce reliance on imported oil and gas, which its communist leaders see as a strategic weakness. But Beijing has rejected binding emissions commitments, saying it is the responsibility of rich countries to cut their own output."

China's hugely successful Top 1000 program grew out of the collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley. (click to enlarge)

"Locke acknowledged such sentiments but said the environment does not care where the gases came from…Locke and Chu, both descendants of Chinese immigrants, were meeting with Chinese ministers in charge of trade, technology, health and other areas…

"Beijing opposes proposed U.S. legislation that would impose tariffs on countries that do nothing to cut emissions…Beijing sees protectionist motives behind the bill and warned that it might trigger retaliation by developing countries…Trade ties between the United States, the world's biggest economy, and No. 3 China are regarded as a key element of a recovery from the deepest global economic slump since the 1930s…[C]omplaints about import and investment barriers are a chronic irritant in U.S.-Chinese trade relations…"


FED MONEY TO WIND MAKERS
Government Invests in Wind Energy
Dan Shapley, July 16, 2009 (SF Chronicle)

"The Department of Energy is starting a new partnership with the nation's six largest wind turbine manufacturers, in an effort to promote research, development and building of new wind farms. The ultimate goal is to provide 20% of the nation's energy from wind by 2030, a goal the DOE says is within reach.

"The companies partnering with the government are GE Energy, Siemens Power Generation, Vestas Wind Systems, Clipper Turbine Works, Suzlon Energy, and Gamesa Corporation."

More money = more financing = more manufacturing facilities = more jobs = more local revenues = economic recovery. (click to enlarge)

"The goal embodies a strategy more often associated with Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who often talk about enacting new wind energy investments to scale up the industry, creating new jobs and reducing the demand for fossil fuel energy in the process. This policy comes courtesy of the Bush Administration, though.

"The partnership includes improving wind turbine technology, figuring out where to put turbines so they don't slaughter birds and bats, and developing job training programs. Wind is the second-fastest growing source of energy, next to natural gas..."