DC Commits to Amplified Sustainability

Washington, D.C. can already be considered a national leader in sustainability. The city has tripled its use of renewable energy since 2004, and boasts the nation's 2nd highest percentage of jobs in green goods and services. The attractive mass transit system, multitude of farmers markets, and abundant bike sharing make living green fairly easy in our nation's capital.  But this week, the Mayor of D.C., Vincent Gray made a commitment to amplify that sustainability. He unveiled his 20 year plan to make DC the healthiest, greenest most livable city in the United States. You can read the wholeplan here. But some of the highlights include:

• Cutting citywide energy consumption by 50%
• Increasing the use of renewable energy to 50%
• And cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.

 Ambitious? Yes. Admirable? Definitely.

Italy and Greece look to be solar power players

Despite of, or perhaps because of, Italy's economic troubles- the country is currently trying to push its renewable energy target up to 35% by 2020-  an ambitious jump of almost 10 percentage points.

The public discussion regarding the Renewable Energy Plan, currently occurring at the Ministries of Environment and  Economic Development is being interpreted as a positive sign for advocates of renewable energy. The provision s reportedly in the new plan include an annual subsidy limit of €200 million for solar projects over 6k; unlimited net metering for solar projects under 6kW; and an adjusted (reduced) Feed-in Tariff (FiT) of  €0.17/kWh.

Nearby, Greece is making similar moves, as the Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos recently named solar energy as a national priority. He also hopes to commit $25 billion to make Greece 100% powered by renewable energy.  Papademos recognizes a Greece comparative advantage in solar power- and plans to power its neighbors as well. However, according to EU Commissioner for Energy, Gunther Oettinger, Greece must significantly beef up its grid capabilities- first. Still it's widely accepted that the country could be the key to a trans-European electricity grid.

Read more about Italy and Greece's solar goals and power potential in this article by Steve Leone- Greece, Italy See Solar as Path to Economic Stability.

North Carolina plans for a renewable energy campus

Russell Thomas is planning North Carolina's first solar-powered business campus. The campus, in Asheville, NC, would consist of thousands of square feet of warehouse, office and retails space on a 12.5 acre tract of land. The campus, called Reems Creek Renewable Energy Campus, would generate enough electricity to power the campus and still have left-over power to feed back to the energy grid. 

Ideally businesses that manufacture and install solar systems would make the Reems Creek Campus home, but Thomas is also seeking other entities that value environmental sustainability for his spaces. The campus is still in planning phase, but you can see more about it at their website www.renewabilities.org/  or read  about it in the Asheville's Citizen Times here.

Ethiopia starts making solar panels

The Ethiopian Government recently announced its goal to have 20% of its power capacity derived from solar energy within the next 5 years.  In accordance with that national goal, Spire Corporation,  SKY Energy International, Inc  (Florida based) and Metals and Engineering Corporation- METEC (Ethiopia based) have teamed up to build the first solar energy manufacturing plant in Ethiopia. The facility  will be a turnkey assembly line producing 20 megawatt photovoltaic modules in Addis Abba. 

You can read more about Spire, SKY, METEC and their project here

DC turns the Stanley Cup playoffs green

The ice might be white but this game is green. The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Washington Capitals and the Boston Bruins will be green this year. Constellation Energy, who is sponsoring the Caps playoff bid, is running a program to turn the games "green." In essence the energy company is donating renewable energy certificates to match the amount of electricity used in each game. 

It's a nice effort to offset energy consumption while watching your beloved (insert which team you like best) win! Read more in this press release (released by Constellation Energy).

Solar farming in Minnesota

According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, 8,000 farms have installed solar systems to power up using renewable energy.

Daryl Guentzel, a farmer in Mankato Minnesota, will be installing an 84 panel solar system on his farm. The total cost of the array is $134,000, however, Guentzel was able to secure a federal government grant, and a $45,000 grant from Xcel Energy to help cut the cost down to virtually zero.

Guentzel, is the first farmer in Mankato to adopt the green technology. But since he's looking at projected electricity savings of $3,500- $3,700 a year, he will likely not be the last to capitalize on this opportunity. 

Read the full article by Brian Onjapa in the Mankato Free Press; Farmer warms up to solar energy.

Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race?

The Pew Environment Group and Bloomberg New Energy Finance issued their annual report Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race. The report details the state of clean energy investments globally and identifies where key countries stand at the end of 2011. The report found that clean energy investments continue to increase, that Europe is still the hub of clean energy investment, and that the United States is surpassing China in renewables, and the trend is still heading upwards. 

Jake Schmidt outlines the key points from of the report in the Huffington Post. My favorite point? "Renewable energy is for real, so let's commit to more."