MORE NEWS, 8-4 (HOUSE CMTE FUNDS $200 MIL WIND STUDY ACT; GEOTHERMAL GREENHOUSE; ARMY TO BUILD GIANT SOLAR POWER PLANTS)

HOUSE CMTE FUNDS $200 MIL WIND STUDY ACT
Panel OKs $200M for wind energy
Trish Choate, August 2, 2009 (San Angelo Standard-Times)

"An initiative to drive the booming West Texas wind industry moved forward in Congress recently when a committee approved a bill to spend $200 million annually on wind-energy research.

"The House Science and Technology Committee passed the Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2009 to establish a research and development program to cut construction, generation and maintenance costs."

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"…West Texas [Representative Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock)] supported the bill and added an amendment that could bring a demonstration wind farm to the Lone Star state…[West Texas has become home to several wind farms]…

"…[Professor] Andrew Swift [director of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock] testified in mid-July on Capitol Hill about the importance of studying how the wind flows through wind farms…Neugebauer’s amendment also specifies the program fund research to study the wake effect between upwind and downwind turbines — something emphasized by Swift…[and] requires a wind demonstration program to be in varied locations to capture different wind regimes…"

Now to be thoroughly studied. (click to enlarge)

"The committee approved the bill [July 29]. Authored by Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., the legislation would provide $200 million per year for wind-energy related research through 2014…

"If the bill gains final approval from Congress, it will foster technological advances that could help the Department of Energy reach its goal of 20 percent of the nation’s electricity coming from wind energy by 2030…The Department of Energy estimated that reaching the 20 percent goal would create 180,000 wind-industry jobs…"


GEOTHERMAL GREENHOUSE
Geothermal Greenhouse Planned In Pagosa Springs
August 3, 2009 (AP via CBS4 Denver)

"A land trust is coordinating a project in [Colorado] to grow vegetables in geodesic domes using water from hot springs to heat the earth.

"The geothermal garden project by the Southwest Land Alliance would break ground in the fall if federal funding is available."

"To heat the gardens, the project would tap into the town's geothermal heating system that also is used to heat buildings and de-ice sidewalks.

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"…[C]osts of about four or five geothermal] greenhouses, plus space for packaging and warehousing, are more than $500,000, with about $300,000 contained in the federal 2010 appropriations bill."


ARMY TO BUILD GIANT SOLAR POWER PLANTS
Army Offers 14,000 Acres for Solar; Clark Energy Group and Acciona Solar Power plan to build 500 megawatts of solar power projects at Fort Irwin in California and sell electricity to utilities.
July 31, 2009 (Greentech Media)

"Over the next 13 years, arrays of solar power generating equipment is set to rise from the vast U.S. Army base of Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert of California.

"It's an ambitious undertaking by the Army, which has selected Clark Energy Group and Acciona Solar Power to develop at least 500 megawatts of solar power projects. Five sites totaling 14,000 acres are available for the project…"

The Army will try out solar photovoltaic technology...(click to enlarge)

"The Army considers it a pilot project to meet its energy policy, which calls for conservation and the promotion of alternative energy generation…[the Army] intends to make some of its vast land holdings available for all types of renewable energy generation…The Fort Irwin solar project would cost roughly $2 billion, and the Army hopes to see the 500 megawatts completed by 2022…

"The project is still in the early stages of planning…Clark Energy and Acciona will be charting out an attack plan for securing the necessary permits, equipment and crews to start construction, which is expected to start in 2011…Acciona is known for building a 64-megawatt solar thermal project called Nevada Solar One in Boulder City, Nevada in 2007."

...and solar thermal technologies. (click to enlarge)

"The plan is to provide some of the power from the projects to Fort Irwin and sell the rest to private-sector buyers…Likely takers include the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as well as Southern California Edison…

"The two developers plan to install both photovoltaic and solar thermal power plants at Fort Irwin, where the Army carries out combat training, and at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. The solar project would have to be done without interfering with the fort's operations…The Army will lease land to Clark Energy and Acciona for the project and receive in-kind services in return…The project could expand by another 500 megawatts…"