Green Daily

If you've ever spent time in the Lone Star State, it quickly becomes obvious -- sometimes painfully so -- that Texas enjoys an abundance of burning, scorching sunshine. While not everyone views these rays as a resource yet, lobbyists, policymakers and politicians (the three most dreaded groups in the state) are working on an incentive package to make Texas a leader in solar energy.

Thus far, 69 renewable energy bills have been introduce in this Texas legislative session, and 50 of them focus on boosting the state's solar resources. Some representatives have even taken to calling this the "solar session." According to representative Mark Strama:

"There are senators and representatives that are talking about solar that have never mentioned the word probably in their lives. We've actually heard the term 'global warming,' and two years ago that was called 'the G word' - you didn't talk about it."

Considering the state's success with promoting wind energy, it's easy to imagine that much of the momentum will start to spill over into becoming the preeminent force solar energy as well. Austin Energy just gave the green light to the largest solar farm in the nation, so that's a start.

[via Earth2Tech]

Like any other piece of machinery, every so often, a wind turbine will fail and pieces will break off. The problem: the pieces are freakin big ... and that's freakin scary. Earlier this month, a wind turbine mysteriously collapsed in the northern New York community of Altona and the shock waves are still being felt.

A 13 turbine windfarm in neighboring Beekmantown fell prey to safety concerns this week, as it was killed by the city council by a vote of 3-2. Unsurprisingly, the March 17th town hall meeting to discuss the Beekmantown wind farm was dominated by talk about the collapse at Altona -- and council members were among those leading the charge. Says councilman Samuel Dyer: "Excuse my language, but that thing in Altona scared the s-- out of me."

Unfortunately, this is a pretty clear example of how costly mishaps like this one can be for an emerging energy technology. With the collapse in Altona, and the mysterious falling blade in England, there's got to be some concern that turbines could earn the stigma of being unsafe -- a tough thing to get over.

[via CleanTechnica]

Sure, homeowner's associations can be a good vehicle for enforcing neatness and keeping property values up -- in theory anyway. You won't find me paying a group of amateur lawn police a monthly fee to tell me what color solar panels I can put up on my own house. No thanks.

That's what happened to three homeowners in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, when the HOA's illustrious Art Jury (no joke) denied their plans to put up photovoltaic solar panels based on their appearance. The US-made panels cost 30% less than the dark black panels preferred by the HOA, but they have a dreadful blue tint. Oh no! How will they possible match the neighborhood's uniform appearance?

Fighting back against the HOA, residents went to City Hall, to see if any of its occupants had a lick of common sense. Surprisingly enough, they did. Citing California's 1978 Solar Rights Act, the City of Palos Verdes declared a city override of the Art Jury's ruling. Oddly enough, it was the same Solar Rights Act that allowed one neighbor to force another to chop down his 10 year old redwoods because they were blocking his rays.

[via Treehugger]

There are so many good things going on with small-scale wind turbines -- they're a beacon of good intentions, affordable, and now super easy to install -- it's a shame that in practice, micro wind's benefits are infamously dubious. Potential counter-productiveness aside, the Jellyfish Wind Appliance is bar none the coolest and weirdest-looking micro turbine to draw major league attention -- and that's saying something.

2008 may have been the year that solar power started popping up in more places than your calculator.

The Solar Energy Industries Association announced in a report today that solar energy capacity increased by 17 percent last year. Government stimulus programs have helped get that growth rate and this year's stimulus package has a bunch of provisions for getting solar power closer to the main stream.

And the not-so-good news? While the survey said that 2008 was a great year, 2009 may be a different story. The global meltdown hit the industry pretty hard in the first quarter. The financial crisis has dried up a lot of financing for an industry that requires a lot of cash (getting power from photovoltaic panels costs three times as much as wind-generated energy).

So, what's going to boost the solar industry? The solar folks are looking for federal policies that would mandate a percentage of US energy come from renewable power. They also want a "solar carve-out" policy that would ensure a certain percentage of renewable energy come from sun power. Similar requirements have already been implemented in a dozen individual states but the industry is looking for federal policies to really get solar going.

Will the green glow of America's carbon-conscious energy future be tinted with a radioactive overtones? The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently sitting on requests to build 26 new reactors, and they expects to receive applications for seven more by the year's end. With public sentiment for nuclear energy in relatively positive territory, you and a nuclear reactor could soon be neighbors.

According to a recent survey, 73% of Americans say that it would be "acceptable to build a new reactor within 100 miles of their home." Of course, build it closer, and support erodes rather quickly. Still, with a pro-nuke Energy Secretary, and a growing realization that renewable energy is going to struggle in today's energy market. "Aspirations for lower-carbon, or zero-carbon electricity, are unattainable without nuclear in the mix," says global generation expert Daniel Kruger. Right now, there are 104 nuclear power plants in the US, which pump out about 20% of the nation's electricity. Obviously, adding another 33 could make huge gains in terms of greenhouse emissions, but are we really ready to confront the disposal of radioactive waste?

If you're in the market for a new car, you've probably noticed that the number of hybrids parked on dealer lots higher than ever -- even as the market for cars in general has collapsed. Much of the reason for this is the intense tongue-lashing the auto industry has received for focusing on SUVs and not the smaller, fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow. The trouble is, now that a glut of hybrids are being pumped into the market, the demand for hybrids seems to be vanishing like a mirage.

This month, Toyota celebrated the sale of its 1,000,000th hybrid -- and while execs were reveling in their hybrid domination, they were also digesting the news that Prius sales were down 33% since last February. Hybrid sales across the board are down almost 2/3rds since last April. "When gas prices came down, the priority of buying a hybrid fell off quite quickly," says Wes Brown of LA-based Iceology. In some places, car buyers are trending back towards SUVs and trucks. Still, the slate for most automakers, especially the ones who took bailout money (ahem, GM and Chrysler), is loaded to the brim with hybrids and fuel-sippers. Has the demand for hybrids really collapsed, or is it just the ailing economy? Is our fuel consciousness truly only engaged when energy prices rise?

[via AutoblogGreen]

Big Oil haters, you're not going to like this news. At a press conference Tuesday, the head of Royal Dutch Shell's gas and power unit announced that they will be making a grand total of zero major investments into renewable energy in the forseable future. According to Shell's Linda Cook,

"We do not expect material amounts of investment in those areas going forward... They continue to struggle to compete with the other investment opportunities we have in our portfolio."

Wow, how quickly things can change. Last year, Big Oil was busy describing their mind-blowing plans for a clean energy future, and this year ... nothing? Well, technically it's not nothing -- Shell plans to pursue some involvement with biofuels, many of which have been called out as 'worse than gasoline.' Sure, I expected some of the enthusiasm over solar and wind to die down as oil prices plummeted $100 per barrel, but I can't say I expected a total 180. Sheesh. To be fair, Shell never did go into full greenwashing mode, but they do own 550MW of wind capacity. Guess it just can't compete with $47/barrel oil.

Have a screwdriver and an electrical outlet? Then you can become a solar panel installation expert. Solar Start-up Veranda Solar has been showing off new photovoltaic designs that are making condo-dwelling DIY solar enthusiasts lick their chops. Aside from looking kinda cool, Veranda's panels are super easy to install and are designed to live in all types of cramped spaces like windowsill, gutters, or balconies. All you've got to do is bolt them on and plug them in.

Oh yeah, did I mention that they're also fairly cheap? Though they're not available just yet, a 70 watt system -- inverter and all -- would cost about $600. That, along with the fact that they're about as easy to install as a small satellite dish makes me think these things are going to be hugely popular. The prototype -- developed in conjunction with Stanford University and SunPower Corp. -- won Veranda a €100,000 prize in the PICNIC Green Challenge, which is helping speed up the marketing process. They're also developing smaller add-on panels that snap on if 70W isn't enough for you.

[via Treehugger]

Outside of a major oil company's heavily greenwashed marketing campaign, you won't hear very many people use the words green and motor oil in the same sentence. Yet, if you walk down the lubricants aisle at your local auto part store, you may soon see both terms on the same bottle. That's because Green Earth Technologies has just become the first bio-oil to get the API seal of approval on their totally biodegradable, fat-based G Oil.

Green Earth Technologies' model is made entirely out of fat from American-bred livestock, and as the company likes to brag: "it takes three barrels of crude oil to make one barrel of motor oil, but it only takes one barrel of animal fat to produce one barrel of G-Oil." Getting the American Petroleum Institute's Service Symbol stamped on a quart of your 5W-30 is pretty much the equivalent of getting the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval on an oven or dishwasher." Basically, it's shorthand for telling people 'hey, this stuff actually works.' Now, the real question: does it?

To be fair, traditional motor oil comes from animal fat -- it's just that the animals have been dead for billions of years. Who wants to be the first to test it out in their engine?

[via AutoblogGreen]

Imagine a world where nobody steals used cooking oil, because there's no grease trap. Instead, every fast food place in town reuses their grease to heat and power their restaurant with a VegaWatt cogeneration system. About the size of a washer/dryer combo, the VegaWatt disposes of used fry oil by running it through a 4-stage cleaning process and burning it in an EPA Tier 4 diesel generator to supplement 10-25% of a restaurant's power, and it's fully automated.

The VegaWatt has the capacity to guzzle the grease of restaurants equipped with 3-5 fryers -- and if you've got more than 5 fryers ... wow, you really must like deep fried food. Unlike putting up a wind turbine, solar panels, etc. the VegaWatt not only provides you with clean power, but it also saves you money in other areas. The VegaWatt's coling system pumps water throught the contraption and then back out to your water heater, lightening the load on your water heater. Even better, you don't have to pay a service to come pump your grease trap. In a lot of ways, it's similar to that trash gobbling dumpster.

[via Inhabitat]

What's the ethanol industry to do when both consumers and the scientific community fail to recognize the benefits of corn-based fuel? Like most other industries of scale, the only thing left appears to be to lobby the government to push the product. After a glut of studies have indicated that ethanol might be worse for the environment than gas, the struggling ethanol industry has convinced Ag secretaries from 11 states to send a letter that appeals directly to President Obama.

Current ethanol regulation caps gas-ethanol blends at 10%. Unless of course you're going with E85 (85% ethanol), and most cars aren't built to withstand its corrosive effects. The coalition of Ag secretaries are hoping that the government will boost corn sales by allowing a 15% or even 20% ethanol blend. In the letter to the President, the ethanol enthusiasts contend that ethanol reduces GHG, a claim that has been hotly disputed recently. Another primary justification for expanding ethanol, which garnered 66% of federal renewable energy subsidies in 2007, is that it would help fund research into more efficient means of ethanol production, like cellulosic ethanol.

[via AutoblogGreen]

Read the letter after the break.

Coal haters, it appears that your protests have been heard loud and clear. Because of the negative backlash from the public, clashes with green protesters, and -- perhaps most important -- the threat of profit-killing restrictions imposed at the federal level, a steadily growing list of coal power projects are being shelved or tossed out completely. America's growing lust for electricity appears to be colliding head on with widespread concerns about air quality, mountaintop removal, and climate change.

As of now, coal is far and away the largest source of energy in the US -- but the question marks plaguing its future are slowly taking the shine off of investments in the coal power industry. According to Wayne Leonard, CEO of Entegy: "when you look at the risks around the coal plant at this time, it's very hard to justify." The feeling appears to be mutual, as energy companies consider the Obama administration's promises to mandate CO2 restrictions. Since November, no less than nine coal power projects have either been delayed or challenged, even as the demand for electricity grows. If this does spell the end for coal, the next two readily available candidates to fill the gap are natural gas and nuclear.

[via Earth2Tech]

Proud home of all things supersized, Texas will soon be the home to the largest solar PV farm in the US -- one of the largest in the world. Last week, Austin's tree hugging city council unanimously approved plans to build the solar system, which will cover about 320 acres already owned by the city's utility company Austin Energy. The 30MW plant will provide enough energy to power about 5,000 area homes, and could be up and running by 2010.

Austin Energy has committed to producing 30% of its power through renewable resources by the year 2020, but as of yet, a whopping 99% of it comes from wind farms. In order to strike some sense of balance, Austin was able to hammer out a deal with Gemini Solar, who will own and operate the farm, with Austin Energy paying a flat $10M annually. Amidst major budget upheaval due to the recession, Austin officials have decided to continue on the path towards the 30% goal, hedging their bets that the a piece of the stimulus package might come their way. Mayor Will Wynn also noted that the solar project would put Austin in a better position should Obama's carbon-trading scheme be appoved.

[via Earth2Tech]

Here at Green Daily, we've run across quite a few inventions recently designed to two-wheeling power to the next level, the bike generator, the Green Wheel, etc. -- but the Wind Helmet may just take the prize for originality. This sleek concept, conceived by Malaysian designer Wai Hoong Leng, helps turn your passive safety gear into a renewable energy generator.

By channeling the wind current through the top of the helmet and across a small turbine, the Wind Helmet can generate enough power to recharge you mobile devices as you cruise. While the design may be best suited for those on a scooter -- since it looks a little on the bulky side -- it's definitely stylish enough to have cross over appeal for cyclists; especially if they're cruising on a power-assisted ebike. I'm hoping that Leng has done the safety research necessary to determine whether this hefty helmet won't break our necks at high speeds. That would be thoughtful.

[via AutoblogGreen]