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U.S. Unveils Climate Pact, Kyoto Alternative

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration, which is pushing alternatives to the Kyoto treaty on global warming, unveiled a six-nation pact on Wednesday that promotes the use of technology to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The deal between the United States, Japan, Australia, China, India and South Korea will build on existing bilateral agreements on technology sharing. It includes no Kyoto-style caps on emissions. President Bush said in a statement the Asia-Pacific partnership, which will be formally introduced in the Laotion capital Vientiane, would address global warming while promoting economic development. But environmentalists criticized it as an attempt by Washington to create a distraction ahead of U.N. talks in November in Montreal that will focus on how to widen Kyoto to include developing nations after 2012. The approach of looking to technology for solutions to global warming was emphasized by Bush at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland when he called for a “post-Kyoto era.” The United States, which creates the biggest share of greenhouse emissions, and Australia are the only developed nations outside Kyoto. But Japan, China, India and South Korea have ratified Kyoto, which demands cuts in greenhouse emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. “As […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:July 27, 2005

News and Events Michigan Takes Narrow Lead in North American Solar Challenge Illinois Adopts Requirements for Efficiency, Renewable Energy Massachusetts Joins Effort to Build “Green” Affordable Housing Subway Station in Coney Island Features Integrated Solar Roof Wal-Mart “Experimental Store” Uses Efficiency, Solar, and Wind Wind Power Benefits Port in Duluth, Minnesota Site NewsHydrogen Pathways Program at UC Davis News and EventsMichigan Takes Narrow Lead in North American Solar ChallengeThe University of Michigan holds a narrow lead over the University of Minnesota and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as today’s much-anticipated final stage of the North American Solar Challenge gets underway. The 2,500-mile solar car race started on July 17th in Austin, Texas, and will end today in Calgary, Alberta. Eighteen solar cars remain in the race, which is sponsored by DOE, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Natural Resources Canada. According to DOE’s Richard King, the race has highlighted all aspects of solar racing: early in the race, rainy weather challenged teams on several days; on some sunny days, the only thing holding back the leaders was the speed limit; on Sunday, a strong head wind favored the most aerodynamic cars; and on Monday (and Tuesday, for some teams) the […]

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Fuel Cell Energy Contracted for 500kw System for Aluminum Smelter

FuelCell Energy, Inc.(NasdaqNM: FCEL), a leading developer of fuel cell power plants, and its partner Alliance Power Inc., a consultant in citing economical and environmentally friendly distributed generation facilities, announced they have been contracted to provide 500-kilowatts (kW) of green electricity to a secondary aluminum smelter in southern California. Electricity produced by two 250-kW Direct FuelCell (DFC) power plants will be sold to TST, Inc., of Fontana, Calif., as part of a five-year power purchase agreement. Fuel cells provide the firm, 24/7 electricity that is appropriate for base load power requirements, which is critical for many industrial customers. TST, a major American producer, trader and processor of aluminum, faces issues affecting many California industrials: increasing electricity costs cutting into profitability combined with stringent air pollution standards limiting access to on-site generation alternatives. “Industrial customers in southern California are under mounting pressure to reduce emission of gases and particulates,” said Andrew Stein, CEO of TST. “We’re based in an area that has been the focus of a number of emissions initiatives. This project gives us an opportunity to take control of our energy sources with a market-priced source of electricity that actually decreases the amount of air-borne pollution.” The DFC power […]

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Hyundai Heavy Commissions Spire's PV Manufacturing Line

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. of Ulsan, Korea, has commissioned Spire Corporation’s multi-megawatt turnkey photovoltaic (PV) module assembly line and it is now in production there. Using Spire’s advanced PV module manufacturing equipment and process technology, Hyundai Heavy will manufacture state-of-the-art PV modules from solar cells for the growing Korean and Asian solar PV market. Hyundai Heavy Industries is one of the largest corporations in Korea, with a heavy emphasis on fabrication towards energy projects and shipbuilding throughout the globe.

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Prism Solar Secures Investor Financing

Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. (PST) has secured an additional $400,000 equity financing from investors including Counter Point Ventures LLC, a New York venture capital firm as part of the 1st round of a Private Offering. PST has begun a Private Offering in an effort to secure financing to commercialize its patented holographic planar concentrator. The company reports that it is in various stages of negotiation with strategic investors and venture capital firms. PST’s core technology is a patented holographic planar concentrator (HPC) which passively tracks the sun and spectrally selects desirable wavelengths. The company says it can eliminate a significant amount of the most expensive part of the solar module – the photovoltaic (PV) cells. The company is also looking at various manufacturing sites and in talks with numerous economic development agencies to locate their first commercial manufacturing plant. Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. (PST), established in February 2005, is a subsidiary of Direct Global Power, Inc. (DGP). PST is an early stage PV manufacturer involved in manufacturing PV modules that employ its patented advanced holographic concentrator technology. Website: [sorry this link is no longer available]     

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