EPA Special: Buildings Report

Source: Building Operating Management Magazine
As energy becomes an increasingly critical issue, some leading companies are already preparing for the future. A special report produced by EPAs ENERGY STAR and the Global Business Network titled Energy Strategy for the Road Ahead analyzes the best practices of companies addressing challenges that the corporate world will likely face. (more)

Pacific Power Management secures $250 million funding from major Wall Street firm

Source: Company
Pacific Power Management, a full service commercial solar provider, announced the close of a $250 million funding agreement with a major Wall Street firm. Currently PPM has over 9.7 megawatts of PPA�s in process and is developing additional projects that total over 25 megawatts in the commercial marketplace. (more)

Reliable Controls wins an Honorable Mention at the 2008 AHR Innovation Awards

Reliable Controls is pleased to announce that the MACH-Stat BACnet controller has been awarded a 2008 AHR Expo Innovation Award Honorable Mention in the Building Automation Category. A panel of seven judges, appointed for their knowledge and experience in the HVAC&R industry, found the MACH-Stat worthy of this pinnacle of recognition. (more)

Capstone Announces First Megawatt Microturbine Solution

Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.microturbine.com) (NASDAQ:CPST - News), a leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems announced the C1000, the world's first megawatt microturbine solution. (more)

New York City Plans 132 Efficiency Projects for Greenhouse Gas Cuts

Source: EERE News
New York City has identified 132 energy efficiency projects at municipal facilities that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34,000 tons annually. The city's short-term action plan, is the first step toward a goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions caused by municipal buildings and operations by 30% by 2017, which will require an emissions cut of 1.1 million tons. The plan includes 108 interior lighting upgrades, a quarter of which will also include other efficiency measures, as well as 8 heating system upgrades, 3 street and highway lighting projects, and a variety of other projects and pilot studies. One of the more visible projects involves replacing the 100-watt mercury vapor lamps on the Brooklyn Bridge with 24-watt LED (light-emitting diode) lamps. (more)

Shell and HR Biopetroleum to Grow Algae for Biofuels

Royal Dutch Shell plc announced that it will work with HR Biopetroleum to build a pilot facility for growing algae as a source of biofuels. The facility will cultivate algae in seawater ponds, then harvest the algae and extract oil from them for conversion into fuels such as biodiesel. Construction of the facility will begin immediately on a parcel of land leased from the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), which is located on the shore of the Hawaiian island of Kona. The NELHA site is ideal for the project because it pipes in a constant supply of clean, fresh ocean water. NELHA was originally built to support a DOE project for ocean thermal energy conversion, and it continues to employ the project's seawater supply pipes to support a variety of research projects and commercial enterprises, including facilities that currently grow and harvest algae for pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements. Shell and HR Biopetroleum have formed a joint venture company, called Cellana, to develop the biofuels project. (more)

Shell and HR Biopetroleum to Grow Algae for Biofuels

Source: Company
Royal Dutch Shell plc announced that it will work with HR Biopetroleum to build a pilot facility for growing algae as a source of biofuels. The facility will cultivate algae in seawater ponds, then harvest the algae and extract oil from them for conversion into fuels such as biodiesel. Construction of the facility will begin immediately on a parcel of land leased from the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), which is located on the shore of the Hawaiian island of Kona. The NELHA site is ideal for the project because it pipes in a constant supply of clean, fresh ocean water. NELHA was originally built to support a DOE project for ocean thermal energy conversion, and it continues to employ the project's seawater supply pipes to support a variety of research projects and commercial enterprises, including facilities that currently grow and harvest algae for pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements. Shell and HR Biopetroleum have formed a joint venture company, called Cellana, to develop the biofuels project. (more)

POWER-ONE & MAGNETEK Form Strategic Alliance to Market Commercial & Residental Alternative Energy

Source: Company
Power-One, Inc. and Magnetek, Inc.jointly announced an agreement to promote and distribute commercial and residential solar as well as small wind alternative energy inverters. This alliance will allow both companies to drive new growth opportunities and provide superior service and application support to alternative energy customers. By combining Power-One�s state-of-the-art product development and manufacturing capabilities with Magnetek's well established distribution channels and proven applications and customer support expertise, the alliance will accelerate the availability of highly efficient power inverters to the industry. (more)

FuelCell Energy Sells 4.8 Megawatts of Ultra-Clean Power Plants to S. Korea's Leading Power Producer

Source: Company
FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqGM:FCEL - News), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency, ultra-clean power plants for commercial, industrial and utility customers, announced the sale of 4.8 megawatts (MW) of its Direct FuelCell(r) (DFC(r)) to its alliance partner in South Korea, POSCO Power, a unit of one of the world's largest industrial companies, POSCO (NYSE:PKX - News). Under the order, POSCO Power is purchasing two DFC3000 power plants. These two units will be sold to two independent power purchasers (IPPs), and are slated for delivery and installation in 2009. This order brings POSCO Power's total orders to 12.6 MW since March 2007. (more)

Acumentrics' Fuel Cells to Run on Ammonia as Fuel

Source: Company
Acumentrics Corporation's Canadian subsidiary, Acumentrics Canada Ltd., is partnering with Natural Resources Canada�s CANMET Energy Technology Centre to investigate the use of ammonia as a fuel for Acumentrics solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The fuel cell will convert ammonia to hydrogen and nitrogen internally and release only water vapor and nitrogen. (more)

CapX 2020 Utilities Plan for New Transmission Lines to Ensure Reliable, Low-Cost Electricity

Source: Company
The CapX 2020 utilities an alliance of electric cooperatives, municipals and investor-owned utilities took the first step in the regulatory process for three new 345-kilovolt transmission lines. A preliminary filing for one of the three lines, which lays out plans for notifying local governments, landowners and residents, was made today with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. (more)

Great River Energy Signs Wind Power Purchase Agreement for Elm Creek Wind Farm

Source: Company
Great River Energy is pleased to announce that it has signed a power purchase agreement with PPM Energy (PPM), a unit of IBERDROLA RENOVABLES, to purchase wind power from the Elm Creek Wind Farm. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2008 on the 99-megawatt Elm Creek Wind Farm near Trimont in southern Minnesota. (more)

Solar Energy to Power Pumping Station for Geothermal Plant

Source: Company
Northern California Power Agency (NCPA), located in Roseville, CA and SPG Solar, located in San Rafael, CA announced that they will join forces to build one of the largest solar arrays on the West Coast, near the City of Clearlake. The 1 megawatt single-axis solar tracking system will provide renewable energy to an existing pump station that supplies the NCPA Geysers Geothermal Energy Plant near Middletown, CA. The array will be used to collect solar power to pump wastewater into the geysers, which is in turn used to generate renewable geothermal power. The photovoltaic array will start generating clean renewable power beginning in September 2008. (more)

Puget Sound Energy to Buy 125-Megawatt Power Plant in Sumas

Source: Company
Puget Sound Energy announced the utility has signed an agreement to purchase a 125-megawatt power plant in Sumas, Wash., to help the company meet its customers steadily growing electricity demands. (more)

Basa Resources, Inc. Signs Renewal Contract with SUEZ Energy Resources

Source: Company
SUEZ Energy Resources NA, the U.S. retail energy business of SUEZ Energy North America, announced that Basa Resources, Inc., one of Texas Top 20 oil producers, has chosen to renew its contract with SUEZ Energy Resources. SUEZ Energy will continue to provide the company electricity through 2014. SUEZ Energy's original contract with Basa will expire in mid 2009. (more)

Compressed Air Savings at ArcelorMittal

Source: Compressed Air Best Practices Magazine
ArcelorMittal is the worlds largest steel company. The company operates facilities in 16 countries. ArcelorMittal�s Engineering and Utilities Division has a goal to reduce energy costs at facilities worldwide by $192 million over the next 3 years. Managers like Jim Taylor, Lawrence Fabina, Bill Berquist and Eugene Arnold work together to identify energy-savings opportunities in the Engineering and Utilities Division. The primary objective of this management team is to reduce electrical and natural gas consumption. ArcelorMittal Weirton's Division Manager Jim Taylor says, compressed air has been identified as one of the top opportunities to reduce electrical consumption across the corporation and we have implemented cost saving actions at ArcelorMittal Weirton. (more)

WESTON Completes Largest Modular Green Roof Contract to Date in North America

Source: Company
Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON), exclusive licensee of the GreenGrid� modular green roof system, recently completed delivery of the largest modular green roof to date in the United States. (more)

New Energy Bill Saves Three Times as Much as 2005 Act

Source: ACEEE
The energy and consumer cost savings from the energy bill to be voted on today by the House of Representatives would triple the savings from Congress' 2005 energy bill, and would save more than five times as much as the Energy Policy Act of 1992, according to a preliminary analysis released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The House bill would reduce 2030 U.S. energy use by almost 8% and U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 10%, relative to the current Department of Energy forecast. ACEEE estimates that this legislation would save consumers more than $450 billion dollars through 2030.* The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the next few days. (more)

Johnson Controls, Inc. Sets Aggressive Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Goal

Source: Company
Johnson Controls, Inc., the global, multi-industrial leader in creating smart environments, has pledged to reduce its total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity per dollar of revenue by 30 percent from 2002 to 2012. The company has committed to the reduction goal as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Climate Leaders program, which Johnson Controls joined in 2003 (more)

New York City Mayor Bloomberg Announces New Rule for Microturbine Deployment

Source: Company
Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.microturbine.com) (NASDAQ:CPST - News), a leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced that New York City has implemented the country's first standard for the use and installation of microturbine technology. (more)

Cimetrics Inc. Chosen as Energy Advisor to the State of Massachusetts

Source:Company
Cimetrics Inc. announced that the company has been selected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to provide energy advisory services in facilities statewide. Cimetrics is among those firms qualified to reduce building operating costs through the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), also providing the service to municipal governments, state agencies, authorities and non-profits throughout Massachusetts. (more)

GridPoint Selected by World Economic Forum as Technology Pioneer 2008

Source: Company
GridPoint, Inc., a leading clean tech company whose smart grid platform aligns the interests of electric utilities, consumers and the environment, announced that it has been selected by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer 2008. The 39 visionary companies selected as Technology Pioneers 2008 were nominated by the world's leading technology experts, including venture capitalists, technology companies, academics and media. (more)

Dominion Seeks Proposals for Renewable Energy Projects

Source: Company
Dominion is seeking proposals for renewable energy projects as part of the company's commitment to meet ambitious renewable electricity sales goals established by Virginia and North Carolina. (more)

PPL to Develop Renewable Energy Generating Facility at Pennsylvania Landfill

Source: Company
PPL Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL - News), will develop and install a 6.4- megawatt methane-to-electricity power generation system at the Community Refuse Service Landfill in Shippensburg, Pa., the company announced. (more)

GE Energy Solar Technology to Help Light Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Source: Company
GE Energy has supplied 363 roof-mounted solar panels at the top of 45 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City that will help generate electricity for the first solar powered Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. The Christmas tree is decorated with 30,000 new energy-efficient LED lights, on five miles of wire, which will help illuminate Rockefeller Center with a cleaner source of holiday power. (more)