Secretary Salazar, Senator Reid Announce ‘Fast-Track’ Initiatives for Solar Energy Development on Western Lands

Nice. We are getting some traction with using federal lands for concentrated solar power (CSP). If you remember this post, "An Evening with Dr. Kutscher and Concentrated Solar Power," the good doctor from NREL said that if we put CSP plants on just 2% of the San Luis Valley land we could power all of Colorado. CSP has a lot of potential and is the most viable solar renewable energy technology. Good times.

Sears Tower Reaches for Heights of Efficiency With $350 Million Retrofit

Good news and bad news with this story. The good news is that the Sears Tower is going to get a $350 million energy efficient makeover so it can become LEED certified. That is incredible. Lots of groovy efficiency projects in lighting, water savings, and mechanical systems. The bad news is that the Sears Tower will no longer be called the Sears Tower. It will be called Willis Tower. Willis Tower? No way. Never. Nope. What are you talking about Willis?

Instructor Prepping for Wind Energy Technician Program

There's good news for the folks up in northeastern Colorado. They are starting a new wind energy technician program at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. From the looks of it the person starting the program is well qualified and jazzed about wind turbine technology. We definitely need more training for our renewable energy workforce.

Governor's Energy Office Promotes Alternative Energy

The director of the Governor's Energy Office makes some good points in The Pueblo Chieftain about purchasing solar. When he refinanced his home mortgage to subsidize a solar PV array, he ended up paying more a month on his mortgage, but he saved even more on the reduced rates on his utility bill. I hadn't thought about it in this way. There's really no reason not to get solar now (with the exception of massive tress blocking the sun).

Colorado HOAs Warm to Solar Gear, Energy-saving Residents

This is good. In my opinion HOA's wield too much power over the homeowner, even in the name of "protecting property values." And as we can see, the recent Colorado law that was passed takes some bite out of the HOA's power. This will be a boon to local companies that provide renewable energy or energy efficiency technology (like outside window blinds).

White Rooftops May Help Slow Warming

Last year, I had my roof redone in a light tan color and I've noticed a substantial decrease in heat gain (I also had solar shades put up on the west side windows). So although it wasn't a scientific study, I think there is some validity to the "white roof" theory. Would you wear a black t-shirt on a sunny day? Only if you were always cold. So the next time you need to redo your roof, why not invest in lighter color materials? It'll save you some dollars on your cooling bill.

Preventing The Next Blackout

I don't know if I have drank (drunk?) the Amory Lovins kool-aid, but the information that comes out of his brain makes more and more sense to me. Perhaps what he is saying is just common sense after all, and I'm a bit slow on the uptake. Regardless, the man has been studying energy efficiency for decades and we should listen to him when he speaks on the subject. Plus, from what I understand he is a proponent of the free market and believes that government tends to muddy innovation up. So he's the best of both world's, a proponent of free market capitalism and a renewable energy / energy efficiency / sustainable junkie. He can capture the left and the right with his thought. A good place to be in my book.

Anyway, this article in Forbes delves into our atrocious national power grid, cobbled together with duct tape and chewing gum over the decades, and what it will take to make this grid "smart" and efficient. Good read.

Aspen Expands Energy Efficiency Mandate to Commercial Buildings

The City of Aspen is getting pretty progressive with their renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates. I am happy that they are one of the pack leaders. The latest is requiring that not only residences but commercial buildings need to follow the Renewable Energy Mitigation Program (REMP). Commercial buildings will now get charged for excess energy use. This is a positive step forward since there are numerous ways to reduce a building's energy consumption through energy efficient measures and save money at the same time. Good work City of Aspen, Colorado.

Colorado Veterans Academy to Graduate Green Job Trainees

There's a cool program at the Colorado Veterans Green Jobs Academy to help retrain our veterans for the 21st century jobs. They are training them in weatherization and energy efficiency, which will help them become energy auditors. We are going to need as many well-trained auditors as we can get. Energy efficiency is the fastest way to save money and reduce out carbon footprints.

Green Promise Seen in Switch to LED Lighting

Once they perfect light emitting diodes (LEDs) it'll make the compact fluorescent bulb look like an oil burning reading lamp from the 1800s. This is a great article in the Times about the pros and cons with LEDs right now. I know that numerous companies are working hard to perfect the LED for all types of lighting applications. LEDs are really the perfect light. They don't give off any heat and they use very little electricity. The major problem? LEDs are extremely expensive right now and the light that they give off isn't quite right. But this will certainly be a cleaner planet once LEDs are widespread.

Vestas Makes Colorado a Clean-Energy Hub

It is companies like Vestas that will help make Colorado the renewable energy capital of the world. We already have phenomenal renewable energy research centers like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Plus there are other research centers and testing facilities being built. This means that there will be a gigantic renewable energy knowledge base all centered in Colorado. And last but not least the Colorado economy will be bolstered with jobs. I'm getting really excited for the future here.

How Obama Made His Energy Platform 'Pop'

Interesting look into how Obama educated himself on energy and climate policy and then sold it to the American public as job creation and energy security. I don't know if you've noticed but President Obama is an adept politician with the ability to bring opposing sides to the table to hash out their differences. I think we are going to see Washington begin to work for the people again under his watch. Here's hoping that more renewable energy and energy efficiency standards get introduced and that we reduce our carbon footprint dramatically in the coming years.

Lack of Funds Could Curtail Vail Valley Solar Projects

That headline from the Vail Daily doesn't really focus on the positive aspect of this story. The $1.1 million solar incentive fund set up by Holy Cross Energy for the Vail Valley is almost gone for 2009. Sure that could be seen as a bad thing, but let's look at the glass half full. The fund paid out $2 a watt, so there is roughly 546,000 watts of electricity being produced by pure, clean renewable energy. Looks like they will have to bump that fund to a cool $2 mil next year. Good job Vail peeps. 

Purina Plant Outside of Denver Has a Solar PV Array

Kudos to the Purina pet-food plant on I-70 and York for putting in a 100 kilowatt solar PV array. Even though it only satisfies 1% (gulp) of their electricity it's a good start with clean, renewable energy. As part of their plans they also put in an efficient boiler and lighting. Good work.

Anschutz Corp. Plans Wyoming Wind Farm

Wow. A $4-6 billion wind farm project just south of Rawlins, Wyoming. They are planning to put 1,000 wind turbines and then pump the electricity to the desert southwest? Maybe they are thinking that they can sell the electricity to Las Vegas. Anschutz founded Qwest in 1996 his claim to fame was to use railroad right of ways (some of which he owned) and lay fiber for a telecom backbone. Genius at the time. Since he probably still owns those right of ways, perhaps he is thinking that he can lay transmission lines (hopefully underground) all the way to Vegas?

Return on Sustainability: How Business Can Increase Profitability and Address Climate Change in an Uncertain Economy

New book out by Kevin Wilhelm called, "Return on Sustainability: How Business Can Increase Profitability & Address Climate Change in an Uncertain Economy." The first link is to a mini book review by Sustainable Industries magazinbe and the second is a link to the book at Amazon.com.

Amsterdam Plans Sustainable Energy Company

Interesting concept - a city sets up their own sustainable energy utility. Amsterdam is pretty progressive with their CO2 emission reduction anyway (40% by 2025) so this makes sense. The city government is going to work with building owners in the city to see if they can use their rooftops for solar modules or wind turbines. Cool.

Intel vs. Dell: Friends in the Field, Competitors on Sustainability?

Interesting post on sustainability fever! I really like the way this is progressing - two very large companies, Intel and Dell competing against each other to see who can be more sustainable throughout their companies. It's really quite refreshing and hopefully other companies (public and private) will begin to take sustainability seriously.

ASES: Call your Congressional Rep about Waxman-Markey Energy Bill

The other day I posted the "10 Reasons to Support the Waxmen-Markey Energy Bill." This list was created by the Center for American Progress and was in support of the current bill cruising through Congress. Well, the American Solar Energy Society (of which I am a member) states that this bill needs to be strengthened. Read ASES's opinion here.

Global Renewable Energy Recruitment Channel Survey and Global Renewable Energy Recruitment Awards

Two things regarding www.RenewableEnergyJobs.com. One is a global survey that, "will explore current and future trends in job seeker behavior and analyze the effectiveness and popularity of various recruitment channels used across the renewable energy industry and around the world." The second is a group of renewable energy recruitment awards based on these survey results. So please check it out and complete the survey to see how we can help better the recruitment process for renewable energy jobs!