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 The nation's first ever biorefinery designed to convert switchgrass into ethanol has recently been christened in Tennessee. The demonstration facily is 74,000-square-foot and experts predict that the plant should produce 250,000 gallons of ethanol. In addition to switchgrass, the plant uses matter from agricultural residue (such as corn cobs) and bioenergy crops.
The plant is expected to open for commercial purposes in 2012. Tennessee has allocated $70 million on the project of turning switchgrass into ethanol, or "grassoline" as they call it. The impetus for the project comes from the Federal government as Congress has mandated an increase in the use of ethanol. Local growers, up to about 40 in the region, are receiving subsidies to grow switchgrass for use as ethanol and at present about 2,600 acres of the crop are being grown in the area. Source |
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A New Mexico Indian tribe, the Jemez Pueblo, is looking to build the first utiltiy-scale electric plant powered by solar energy on tribal lands. Other tribes, notably the Navajo in Arizona and New Mexico, have used solar power in the past but not on this scale.  Navajo Solar Panels Additionally, the Campo Kumeyaay Nation near San Diego, California have built a large, 50-megawatt wind farm, but have not ventured into solar. This project, set to be housed on a 30-acre site with about 14,850 soalar panels, would really be the first of its kind. More information here . |
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 Nissan North America, Inc., today announced that Nissan and the City of San Francisco, on behalf of the Bay Area EV Corridor program, are working to advance zero-emission mobility by promoting the development of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the nine-county region. The cities of Oakland and San Jose, county governments in the Bay Area and other public and private stakeholders are participants in the regional EV Corridor program. |
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First Solar, Inc., a Tempe, AZ manufacturer of solar modules, has recently announced a huge 500 MW contract with Southern California Edison (SCE). The plan is for First Solar to engineer, procure and construct two solar facilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in southern California. The company will use its thin-film photovoltaic solar modules for the project and it is expected to provide energy for about 170,000 homes in the area. This latest solar project is expected to help meet California's ambitious goal of delivering 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Construction is expected to begin in 2012 for the Desert Sunlight 250MW project near Desert Center and in 2013 for the 300 MW Stateline project in northeastern San Bernardino County. More details from the First Solar Press Release. Image courtesy of First Solar |
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 GM has recently announced its soon to be released Chevy Volt is capable of 230 MPG. The number is derived by combining the first 40 miles in electric mode, powered by the battery alone. Thereafter, the car will continue to run off the battery but it will be charged with a fuel-powered engine-generator--granting an extended range of 300 more miles. Critics of this recent announcement claim that GM is simply using hyperbolic figures for marketing purposes with fuzzy math and unrealistic driving conditions. In fact, the "230" figure appears to be a marketing tool as an ad campaign will have the number "2" and "3" followed by the round electrical outlet. The fact is that the fuel economy standards for electric and serial (or series) hybrid vehicles has not truly been ironed out. The standard methodology for determinining mpg doesn't quite fit electric vehicles and is easily manipulated. For more info see: http://green.autoblog.com/2009/08/11/gm-ceo-henderson-announces-the-volt-will-get-230-mpg-in-the/ http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE57F1OX20090816?sp=true http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081101090.html http://www.chevroletvoltage.com/ |
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