Posted by: Michael Noble in solar, legislation, global warming, fuel efficiency, federal issues, energy security, economy, economic development, Copenhagen, climate bill, clean energy on
Aug 6, 2010
While watching Senate energy negotiations stall, collapse, and enter the critical life support phase, I didn't take the time to flag a good energy bill my legislators introduced July 21. The bill's goal is to keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter - without warming your children's world - by promoting thermal renewable energy.
Last time I saw it, it was nothing but a bare field with a few stubby corn stalks sticking up here and there - remains of the fall crop. But when I drove to the St. John's campus recently, I found that the same barren field on the edge of campus is now covered with thousands of solar panels, gleaming in the sunlight and cranking out 575 megawatt hours of electricity annually (about the equivalent of fully powering 65 homes year round). This farm is the upper Midwest's largest solar photovoltaic farm - by four times!
On Feb 4, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced the Ten Million Solar Roofs and Ten Million Gallons of Solar Hot Water Act, which would create a national rebate program for small solar photo voltaic and hot water heating systems installed in the next ten years.
Posted by: Kate Ellis in solar on
Nov 25, 2009
With Christmas quickly approaching, last weekend my husband and I embarked on the annual pilgrimage to the attic to retrieve our large Tupperware containers filled with festive decorations. As relatively new homeowners, the task of holiday decoration is still fresh and exciting for us, so I opened the boxes with the energy of a four-year-old on Christmas morning, eager to start decorating (I have been informed by more veteran homeowners that this chore loses appeal with each passing year).
As America gets serious about the twin crises of oil dependency and climate change, many analysts believe that wind power--and eventually solar power--will make the largest carbon-free contributions to a new energy supply. But America's aging electrical transmission system is renewable energy's Achilles heel, and unless a broad policy consensus to upgrade our electrical grid is forged soon, the potential of wind and solar power will be vastly diminished.
Yesterday I drove 1.5 hours north to attend the groundbreaking for the Upper Midwest's largest PV solar facility. The facility, on four acres of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, MN, will produce 575 megawatt hours annually and will offset about 20 percent of Saint John's peak energy needs during the summer months and approximately 4 percent of the campus's overall energy needs on an annual basis. The farm will consist of approximately 1,800 solar modules and is 4 times larger than the largest current PV solar farm in Minnesota. The project is a partnership of Mortenson Construction, Westwood Renewables, Saint John's University, the Abbey, and Xcel Energy. Abbot John and the owner of Westwood Renewables, Mario Monesterio, both spoke at the ceremonial groundbreaking and blessing of the solar farm site. Construction is expected to be complete and the farm operational by Thanksgiving.
When I first had a chance to read this story, I thought everyone had to see it. During a time when we are focused on domestic issues we can't forget the fight in Iraq and the redevelopment of that country. Iraq's redevelopment has taken a very interesting angle with the development of solar energy.
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