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Australia Takes Spotlight on Renewables; Wind, Solar Plants

The Australian government’s recent pledge to set binding targets for renewable energy is triggering investments in the nation’s wind and solar power capabilities. Conergy, Germany’s largest solar energy company by sales, announced plans yesterday to build an A$2 billion (US$1.8 billion) wind farm in New South Wales, and Melbourne-based Solar Systems announced investments in a solar manufacturing plant and a large-scale R&D facility. The federal government said in September that 15% of Australia’s energy would come from clean sources by 2020; New South Wales has set a target for renewable sources to generate 10% of the state’s power supply by 2010. The Conenergy development will be Australia’s largest wind project, with as many as 500 turbines generating about 1,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity, according to Epuron Australia, a wholly-owned unit of Conergy. Construction of the first phase of the wind farm will begin in 2009 and will produce between 300-400 MW. Completion of the project is expected to take three to four years. This very large project hinges on strong government legislation on renewable energy targets. Conergy’s goal is to generate 25-30% of sales from the Asia-Pacific region within five years, up from 2-3% currently. The company, which is involved […]

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Destiny USA To Build Largest PV Array in NY, 5th Largest in U.S.

Destiny USA, a mammoth “sustainable” theme park under construction near Syracuse, NY, announced plans to build the largest solar PV installation in New York and the fifth-largest installation in the country. The solar carport, which will cover 20 acres of parking lots, will provide 12% of the electrical supply for the 1.3 million square foot Carousel Center headquarters. It will generate 3.2 megawatts (MW) of solar energy – over 25% of NY’s current solar generating capacity. It will be developed in partnership with solar project developer Hereford Capital Advisors, which specializes in the complex capital structuring, system design and project management components unique to the sector. Hereford is currently developing a 1.7 MW garage-mounted system for Continuum Partners’ Belmar development in Denver Colorado. The Belmar and Destiny USA projects are two of the four locations designated in the Green Bond legislation to be large-scale demonstration projects for renewable energy and green building design. Hereford is also coordinating solar power installations on other large-scale projects at the Colorado Convention Center, Denver International Airport and partnered with Forest City Developers to assist on a series of projects in Colorado and New Mexico.

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Ethanol Sales To Exceed Gasoline In Brazil By 2020

Brazilians will consume more ethanol than gasoline by 2020 when flex-fuel cars will dominate the country’s car fleet, according to the chief executive of state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA ( PBR), or Petrobras “Gasoline consumption in Brazil won’t fall – it will increase. But the consumption of other (fuel) sources will rise even faster,” Sergio Gabrielli said at a transport seminar held Friday. The rapid rise in the sale of flex-fuel cars, which can run on any mixture of gasoline and ethanol, is the main reason behind the expected jump in ethanol sales, Gabrielli said. Ethanol made from sugar cane is cheaper than gasoline across most of Brazil. Flex-fuel cars were introduced by carmakers in Brazil in 2003, but sales have shot up and now represent 85% of new car sales. By 2020, Petrobras expects flex- fuel cars to make up 71.5% of Brazil’s light-vehicle fleet, up from 12.8% in 2006. The fleet of gasoline cars is headed in the opposite direction, and is expected to shrink to 13.4% from 70.8% in the same period. Considering a likely continuation of price advantages for ethanol in the Brazilian market, ethanol will represent 57% of the consumption of flex-fuel cars in […]

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2.8MW Solar Farm Opens in Spain

A 2.8 MW solar park, one of the largest photovoltaic (PV) plants in Spain, has just had its official opening. Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) supplied the solar modules – almost 18,000 solar panels, mounted on a fixed structure and connected to 100 kW inverters. Ra Solar Espana, a leading solar farm developer, was the project manager. About Canadian Solar Inc. Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar Inc. is a vertically integrated manufacturer of solar cell, solar module and custom-designed solar application products. CSI is incorporated in Canada and manufactures in China. Website: [sorry this link is no longer available]     

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Green Chemistry Attracts Fans on Campus

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100900247.html Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100900247.html     

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Airtricity Sells Wind Assets for $1.4B

Airtricity Inc. has agreed to sell its North American wind assets to Germany-based E.ON Group for $1.4 billion. Aritricity, based is Dublin, Ireland, has offices in Chicago, Austin and Toronto and operates wind farms with about 210 megawatts (MW) installed capacity. An additional 880 MW of projects should be operational by the end of 2008. Another 1,000 MW of projects are in the advanced development stage while more than 5,000 megawatts are in an early development stage. The companies expect to close the deal by the end of the year. The move is E.ON’s first major renewable energy acquisition outside of Europe. Airtricity North America is currently active in nine states in the U.S. with greater emphasis in Texas and the Northeast as well as a development pipeline in Canada.

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Darling Moves to NYSE

Darling International, (AMEX:DAR), which recycles byproducts from restaurant cooking oil and from the animal processing industries, anticipates its stock will begin trading on the NY Stock Exchange by the end of October. It will continue to trade under the symbol “DAR.” “Listing on the New York Stock Exchange is another significant milestone for our company,” said Randall Stuewe, Darling International chairman and CEO. “We believe that this move will benefit our stockholders by increasing visibility among investors and analysts.” The Irving, Texas-based company is a food processing byproducts recycling company. It recycles used restaurant cooking oil and byproducts from the beef, pork and poultry processing industries into useable products such as tallow, feed-grade fats, meat and bone meal, and hides. It also provides grease trap collection services and sells equipment to restaurants.

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BlueFire Receives $40M DOE Grant

BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (OTCBB: BFRE), which is developing cellulosic ethanol, has received the first round of funds from a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant of $40 million. “The DOE funding will enable BlueFire Ethanol to build a facility that will convert post-sorted green waste and other cellulosic materials from the landfill into roughly 17 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year,” said BlueFire Ethanol CEO Arnold Klann. “The same process can be replicated at the majority of the Nation’s 1,600 landfill sites, increasing the essential production of biofuels, while simultaneously helping cities cope with increasing volumes of landfill waste.” BlueFire will launch its second U.S. commercial ethanol production facility in California. DOE designated the facility to demonstrate the economic feasibility and environmental superiority of producing cellulosic ethanol from post-sorted green waste and other cellulosic materials. BlueFire will use the funds to continue pre-construction development activities which include design, environmental engineering, permitting and other preliminary activities. Upon completion of phase one, an additional agreement for phase two will be negotiated outlining the facility’s construction, which is expected to last 18-months. BlueFire anticipates the facility will be operational by 2010. All the ethanol produced will be sold under a long-term […]

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