Green in the News
Keep up to date with the latest in green technology, products, and policy, gathered from worldwide news sources.
Arizona Solar Plant to Power 70,000 Homes: Day AND Night
Oct. 14, 2013
Arizona Public Energy, the state's largest public utility, has activated a new solar power plant capable of powering 70,000 homes. One of the largest solar plants in the world, the new Solana plant, located near Phoenix, can produce electricity day and night.
Designed by Abengoa Solar, a Spanish company, the Solana plant uses 3,200 mirrors that focus the sun's into a custom-designed oil. The oil boils water which then turns turbines to create energy.
The heated oil can also be used to heat tanks of salt, which absorbs the heat. At night, or during peak demand times, this hot salt can then boil the water to create electricity. This innovative design solves the age-old problem of solar only being able to create power when the sun is shining. The 'salt batteries' can store enough heat to create about six hours of energy anytime of the day or night.
Read more about this exciting new solar plant from NPR HERE.
Summary of Climate Change Report Due Friday
Oct. 10, 2013
A new report scheduled to be released Friday by the United Nations will present an update on scientists' findings on climate change.
The report, the first since 2007, is expected to identify human activity as the dominant cause of rising global temperatures. Activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and large-scale deforestation are releasing increasing amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
A draft leaked in August shows that the group of scientists are 95% confident that human activity is responsible for changing the climate. Impacts of the climate change are already responsible for a rise in extreme weather events such as fires, droughts, and heat waves around the world.
The panel responsible for the report is comprised of over 850 leading scientists from 85 countries.
The report will be available for public viewing starting Friday at http://www.climatechange2013.org./
Wind Turbine Manufacturers Are On a Hiring Spree
LN Windpower, a major manufacturer of wind turbine blades for utilities worldwide, has doubled its number of employees over the last year to 700, up from 350 a year ago.
Even better, the company plans to hire up to 1,200 more employees in the next year to keep up with the demand for new wind turbines. Most of the new employees will be based at LN Windpower's manufacturing facilities in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Little Rock, Arkansas.
The company gave credit for the hiring explosion to the Renewable Electricity ProductionTax Credit.
Click HERE to view the company's official press release.
Solar Power Becoming the Dominant Renewable Energy in the U.S.
Solar power installations large and small are expected to move past wind power this year and become the quickest-growing source of renewable energy in the U.S.
Large-scale solar power plants are expected to add 36.7 gigawatts of power this year, which is up 20% over last years' levels.
The amount of energy from wind turbine farms is expected to grow by 35.5 gigawatts. This new capacity is a 25% reduction from last years' growth.
The reasons for the rapid increase in solar capacity is attrbuted to the steep decline in solar panel costs and supportive governmental policies known as "production tax credits."
Click HERE for more information from Bloomberg.
