Renewable Energy Stocks

ESLR

tmathmeyer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:58:26 GMT

found this stock, ESLR. i put money into it, but then the gas prices plummeted, and so did the stock. don't buy into it, its only gone down. in the past 4 days, its dropped about 2.5% each day. pretty sad if you ask me.

Green Comebacks. Saving the Burning Cuyahoga River

Seti03 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:41:22 GMT

The Cuyahoga River that runs through Cleveland famously burst into flames in 1969 because it was full of industrial pollution. "I think we can look at the Cuyahoga River as one of the iconic events in environmental history," says Henderson. "When you think of a river you think of water. When you think of water, you think of something that puts out fire. When your river becomes a fire hazard, you know something is wrong."

The fire on the Cuyahoga galvanized public opposition to the way factories and cities were dumping waste into our waterways, using them as open sewers without concern for public safety and health risks. "This has been the history of human habitation," says Henderson. "Looking at rivers as a way to dump waste and move commerce."

The event eventually led to an explosion of federal and state action. Groups such as the NRDC formed a year later, in 1970, as did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Then, in 1972, the Clean Water Act came into law, establishing national scientifically-based standards guaranteeing all Americans equal access to clean water. "NRDC took action to change the law, so that not only did we have a federal agency that would be reviewing and figuring out what could be done about this, but we would actually have the focused legal tools to create a better life for the nation," says Henderson. "So we worked to create the clean water act which has transformed the quality of our waterways and improved the quality of our lives."

Climate tipping point defined for US crop yields

Seti03 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:11:56 GMT

While news reports and disaster movies remind us about tipping points for Arctic melt and sea level rise, some things closer to home get less attention. Take food supply: new modelling studies show that there are climate tipping points here too, beyond which crop yields will collapse.

Wolfram Schlenkerat Columbia University, New York, and Michael Roberts at North Carolina State University in Raleigh used a high-resolution dataset of weather patterns from 1950 to 2005 to discover how yields of three key US crops would respond to increasing temperatures.

"The single best predictor of a year's yield is the amount of time temperatures exceed about 29 °C and the extent to which they do so," they say .

"Below this, warmer temperatures are beneficial for yields, but the damaging effects above 29 °C are staggeringly large."

Overall, the results suggest that yields of maize, cotton and soybean drop by roughly 0.6 per cent for each "degree-day" spent above 29 °C.

A degree-day is a measure devised by the team to indicate by how much 29 °C is exceeded and the time spent above that threshold. At present, agricultural regions across the US spend an average of 57 degree-days above 29 °C during the growing season.

That's likely to rise as the world warms. Using a model of future climate change the researchers found that the number of degree-days above 29 °C in a growing season could rise to 413 by the end of the century if we do not cut greenhouse gas emissions. This would cause maize yields to fall by 82 per cent.

Even if we reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 relative to 1991 levels – a target that governments are struggling to agree on – yields could still fall by between 30 and 46 per cent.

"These estimates of yield loss are amongst the best we have," says David Bohan, head of the Ecosystem Dynamics and Biodiversity group at Rothamsted Research, UK.

States of hunger

The US is the world's largest producer and exporter of crops, accounting for around 40 per cent of global maize and soybean production.

"If US yields go down a lot, it could drive up prices of staple food commodities all around the world", say the researchers. "Almost surely the poor would suffer far more that the US would."

David Pimentel at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, argues that curbing biofuel production would tackle starvation and high food prices far quicker than curbing greenhouse gas emissions. "Some 66 per cent of the world population malnourished, yet the US turns 33 per cent of its corn crops into biofuels,"

2009 by Shanta Barley.

No-waste building zone

Ferdenanone — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:17:35 GMT

N a bid 2 combine Veterans Day & environmental stewardship, Evergreen Recycling on Wednesday installed signs outside a hospital that the Department of Veterans Affairs is building in North Las Vegas. Evergreen has partnered with the federal bureau and contractor Clark-hunt Contruction 2 launch a contruction-waste recycling program at the job site.. The hospital, which will share land with a nursing home, is scheduled 2 open n mid-2011...

Green Plains Renewable Energy

dprice49 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:21:18 GMT

Does anyone have any advice about GPRE? Any experience with buying or selling?

bioenergy systems

BIOENERGYSYSTEM — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:02:43 GMT

Hi,

bioenergy systems stellt Bioenergieanlagen her, die mit einem besonders hohen Gesamtwirkungsgrad Wärme und Strom erzeugen. Anders als herkömmliche Biogasanlagen, die auf einem bakteriellen Gärprozess beruhen, funktionieren bioampere® Kraftwerke auf der Basis eines innovativen thermochemischen Verfahrens.

bioenergy systems baut Anlagen, die mit einer Vielzahl verschiedener Biomasseerzeugnisse betrieben werden können. Sie lassen sich dadurch zum einen rohstoff- und standortunabhängig aufstellen, zum anderen individuell auf ihr spezifisches Einsatzgebiet zuschneiden.

bioenergy systems ist eine börsennotierte Gesellschaft, deren Gründer über viele Jahre Erfahrung auf dem Gebiet der erneuerbaren Energien verfügen. An seinen drei deutschen Standorten betreibt das Unternehmen Forschung und Entwicklung, Anlagenbau und Projektplanung und beteiligt sich in Kooperation mit verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Institutionen an der Technologieentwicklung.

linear tech group (lltc)

aaronjamessanders — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:54:01 GMT

i have a hand full of renwable energy stocks and they have made me a lot of money

ther also great for people to buy the solar panels when lltc went to the market they had over 30,000 sales in the first month i went up 4.00$ and gained about 50 grand ive kept this company with me for 5 months and there still ganning money so if you hear about a new renwable sorce buy as many shares as you can and watch the money come in.

GEOTHERMAL

SHOTCALLER — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:32:31 GMT

The future for geothermal energy

The crucial advantages of geothermal energy we reviewed last week, namely a mature and proven technology with a very high capacity factor (meaning that geothermal can supply utilities with baseload power around the clock) and low levelized cost of energy, make geothermal one of our high growth renewable energy sectors for the next decade. Recent advances in geothermal technology, such as the binary power plant, have made possible the economic production of electricity from geothermal resources lower than 302°F.

The most promising technology developments are the so-called Enhanced (or Engineered) Geothermal Systems (EGS) which generally refer to natural resources which have to be fully engineered and require artificial stimulation. This really means the creation of a man-made geothermal reservoir in hot dry rocks at depths of 13,000 to 16,500 feet by fracturing the rock with explosives or high pressure water injections. The hot water is then pumped back out of the reservoir and fed to the power plant.

There is a lot of new research in progress spurred in large part by funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) and a recent surge of private investment in early stage exploration/research companies. There are many technical challenges with these new technologies, not the least of which are the potential earthquakes they trigger. A case in point was an EGS project in Basel, Switzerland in which the “hydro fracturing” process was directly linked to a 3.4 magnitude quake under the city, causing the immediate termination of the project. Aftershocks lasted for another 9 months.

Still, if the fracturing process can be controlled (and performed safely, away from large urban centers), the hope is that EGS technologies could help extend the production life of existing fields and make geothermal projects feasible in locations previously out of reach and tap an estimated additional 200,000 MW in the U.S. alone. The $350 million earmarked for geothermal research grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is about to provide one more boost for the geothermal electricity generation sector.

How to take advantage of the geothermal opportunity
As the U.S. is expected to continue to lead geothermal development activities, there are a number of exciting ways to participate in this promising market. With the sector heating up, there are many participants jockeying for position, from drillers to oil and gas companies, turbine manufacturers, utilities and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) both pure-play and diversified, and finally pure-play geothermal developers.

At the small, private end of the scale are the hot pure-play geothermal developers, most of them tiny startups, with little or no revenue, but sky-high ambitions for their EGS research projects. There are a couple of dozen just in Australia. Here in the U.S., you can re-live the fever of the Silicon Valley technology boom of the 1990s, with venture capital firms and other private investment funds fighting to get in on the next big thing. There must be dozens of them, most of them offshoots of academic research, but perhaps the most over-hyped of the bunch is AltaRock Energy which has been getting all the headlines, including for raising $26 million in a second round of private investment from companies like Google (GOOG) and legendary venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Late last year they also received an EGS research grant of $6.25 million from the Department of Energy. But last week, they made headlines for all the wrong reasons: they announced their drilling project at the Geysers in California had run into problems and was suspended indefinitely.

It is probably just as well that as individual investors we cannot invest in these potential stars of the future, because most of them will not be around in a few years.

Let’s take a look at the publicly traded companies. In Part I, we reviewed companies at the extremes of the investing spectrum: an early stage company that just completed its initial public offering, Magma Energy Corp. (MGMXF.PK) and our preferred pure-play geothermal stock Ormat Technologies, Inc (ORA). We will not discuss these here except for including them in our list of publicly traded geothermal companies in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Publicly traded geothermal companies

Geothermal stock ticker symbol	Geothermal company names
CPN	Calpine Corp.
GTORF.PK	GTO Resources Inc.
MGMXF.PK	Magma Energy Corp.
NGLPF.OB	Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.
ORA	Ormat Technologies Inc.
PGTHF.PK	Polaris Geothermal Inc.
RZ	Raser Technologies Inc.
SRAGF.PK	Sierra Geothermal Power Corp.
HTM	U.S. Geothermal Inc.
WGPWF.PK	Western GeoPower Corp.

The list is ranked alphabetically. There are no large caps on the list. The only mid cap companies are Calpine Corp. and Ormat. We include Calpine because they are often mentioned for the many geothermal power plants they operate. They are a utility, and they have about 725 MW of geothermal electricity generation capacity, but since this represents about 3% of their total capacity we are not particularly interested.

Besides Calpine and Ormat, the rest of the list is made up mostly of smaller pure-play geothermal companies, several of them traded on the over-the-counter market or Pink Sheets, and very illiquid. Even those traded on larger exchanges, such as Raser Technologies, have been hurt by the economic downturn. They are experiencing cash flow issues, are forced into dilutive stock offerings or other desperate measures and most on the list are in trouble. In the current financing environment and new project funding as tight as it is, the established, proven low-risk geothermal developer will win deals more often than not.

Raser just got another round of bad news from the DOE which turned them down for a loan guarantee. GTO Resources, a mostly unknown Canadian geothermal company, which previously had a market cap of about $68 million, just announced the completion of a $179 million equity financing deal.

The only one we can really get excited about here at TheGreenInvestor.com is about to graduate from being an exploration and development stage company to a revenue generating electricity producer. Its multiples are about to change

Xcel wants to charge solar users more for electricity

Montana — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:04:52 GMT

Good ole Xcel energy, what a miserable company, wants to charge solar users more money for their electricity.

Why, Xcel says because they provide an electrical backup service to those with solar and xcel wants to be paid for that service.

What stinking nerve. Yup, I really hate that company. Without question, in all my years they have been the most miserable and incompetent company ever.

peak oil scam Don't be fooled

franklin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:11:09 GMT

I can’t believe how people buy into the scams of others.

Peak oil is something that may happen a hundred years or maybe even two hundred years from now.

But the PTB keep using the peak oil theory ( lie )to drive up the speculation.

Any one with half a brain who watches the oil market can see that peak oil is just a tool that traders use as a scare tactic every time they want to make a few bucks.

You get someone who comes out and they say oil is going to two hundred and every one starts buying because the price is at 45 or 50 and they want to get in at the bottom.

These are mostly the uneducated traders who think he made his money in oil he must know what he is talking about.

Then others see oil start to move up and they jump in on the band wagon, then oil goes up even more and it is all on speculation and nothing else.

I have done extensive research on the oil market and the amount of oil we have discovered since the peak oil theory has proven it was wrong.

America did not peak in the 70’s yet just like Global warming no one wants to discuss the issue.

Since the so called peak we have made some major finds in the off shore drilling and offshore where they won’t let us drill.

And even inland they have made major breakthroughs in getting oil out of caped wells that were though to be empty.

Then other discoveries like oil that flows up through fissures refilling wells to more then they were when they were originally caped.

It cost the Saudi’s $5.00 a barrel to get the oil out of the ground yet they say they need to sell it for $75. per. barrel to keep their economy going .

What other product do consumers buy that they pay a markup of 15 hundred % it is ridiculous .

And yet they have people brainwashed that peak oil is real to drive up the price, then every once in a while they let the price freefall like in the 70’s and now so it makes it unfeasible to seek alternatives there will be many people who will reply saying how can you say peak oil is not real and I could argue with them and show them the proof and then they will change the argument to well the problem is not that oil is peaked but peak production is the real problem.

When in fact there is no problem at all it is all profit driven when they kept saying the oil would hit a hundred, people invested then they said it would go to 150 then the people who were pushing this agenda all started getting out at 147. and oil started to fall and the more it fell the more people got out and that took it down to near $40. per. Barrel that was the freefall,

Now some big oil guy comes out and said oil will go to $200 oil starts going up here we go again.

This game they are playing is only hurting people and there is no reason we should be paying a 15 hundred % markup to help the economy of the riches nation of the world that’s right Saudi Arabia they are building a paradise in there country while the poor in the rest of the world who depend on oil to live are paying.

America was using 20,000,000 barrels a day when the price of oil was $147.per barrel that comes to $ 2,940,000,000 per day this is the drain on the American economy

Learn the truth fight the oil lie.

Algae biofuel stocks

Montana — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:39:38 GMT

It might be time to start looking into some algae biofuel stocks. I read in the paper the other day that the US military is asking some universities to study this and come up with something. The military would love a cheaper way to power the jets which costs a fortune. I would assume the military doesnt take this lightly and might be something to this. It always seems universities do these studies, but there are numerous companies in the field.

Also, I recently read where the Bill Gates foundation dumped their ethanol stocks and bought algae biofuel stocks. I wish I knew what or which companies they invested in.

LET THE SUN SHINE IN

SHOTCALLER — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:59:19 GMT

Investing in solar and alternative energy stocks comes with many risks. We have often referred to many of these companies as being essentially nothing more than very leveraged speculative oil investments because when energy prices are low most forms of alternative energy are not competitive on a cost structure. The drop of $2.62 per barrel to $66.93 in NYMEX WTI Crude is causing havoc in some of the mid-cap and speculative oils stocks. It is also hitting shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA), LDK Solar Co.Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), and Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER). This is also seen directly in the ETFs of Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (NYSE: TAN) and PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: PBW). Speculative stocks like Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) look even worse.

Hemp for ethanol

Montana — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:21:05 GMT

Forget corn, that was a stupid idea and it never should have happened. I hope all the farmers can get their soil back to growing real food again.

Hemp is the way to go for ethanol, it grows everywhere and grows like a weed. But then we have those idiot laws against growing hemp for anything useful, like fuel, paper, material instead of cotton. Yup the cotton lobby is a big one.

The thing is, from what I've read, hemp grown for these purposes dont have the same ingredients to get people high. I dont know if thats true or not. Hemp is sure a useful plant.

Could the Renewable Energy sector be the next bubble to burst???

RushHour — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:37:24 GMT

I know it will take some time, but from what I've seen it has happen to a few sectors when there's enough hype about it. I know Renewable Energy is important, but I've seen 2 sector burst and would hate to see this one go the same way in a few years. What do you guys think?

Here's a few of my picks in the green sector

dainbramaged — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:03:29 GMT

CGYV is one of my speculative green energy companies I'm watching. They will build your company a power plant that makes electricity from the heat your manufacturing processes waste. This can drastically reduce a plants power costs.

My favorite green energy company is from Texas, Sunrise Solar (SSLR). Now would be an excelent time to get into these guys while they are so cheap. They've been below 50 cents for a while now, and I expect them to break $1 shortly after the stimulus money starts to get out

I have been looking at a speculative buy on GETG (green earth tecnologies). They're still a fairly new company selling green car care products. They have just started selling a green (bio-degradable) oil for your car. I believe this comany could take off in the next 2 or 3 years.

Here's a few of the other companies I like to watch in the green sector OTTR, SOLF, BWEN, STP, EVSO, CPST, and JUHL. I noticed the postings here were almost entirely solar so I threw in some wind too. I'm in Oklahoma City, we're at the edge of the wind corridor where they expect to put LOTS MORE wind turbines up in the future, I'm obligated to put the wind in there.

That's most of my favorite green companies. I really believe this sector will be one of the biggest gainers in the whole market over the next couple of years. I can always find a green stock going up every day, even when we have those 90% down markets, I can usually find a green stock to make money on that day. This is why it's my favorite sector to trade in, not to mention I feel like I'm doing my part to help us turn the corner on becoming a greener society.

Is it worth it

snowboardingstoney57 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:17:23 GMT

Is going green with renewable energy really worth it? It is expensive to have solor and wind energy, and most of the time it never pays itself off. Is it only worth buying because it is good for our planet? I want to know your thoughs on this. Should i go green with renewable energy or is there a better way to go green without paying so much of my money?

Energy Mutual Fund ideas?

LadyKathy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:29:24 GMT

I'm looking for a balanced fund which has mostly energy (renewable) investmetns. any ideas? I'd be really greatful. thanks.

Suagee: Tribal sovereignty and the green energy revolution

soberwolf — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:55:37 GMT

Energy efficient buildings

By Dean Suagee

Story Published: May 12, 2009

Story Updated: May 8, 2009

A green energy revolution is beginning to happen in America. If President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress are successful in enacting legislation to address the climate crisis, the progress of the green energy revolution will pick up speed (depending, of course, on the details).

In part one, I said we need to have some serious discussion of appropriate roles of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments as sovereign partners in shaping the governmental policies that will make the green energy revolution happen.

In addition to issues relating to the power of tribes to make laws, there is also the matter of federal assistance programs for non-federal governmental entities. Over the last several decades, the federal government has created assistance programs for states and local governments to promote energy efficiency, and tribal governments have often been overlooked. Not always. For example, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 authorized a new Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program for states and tribes, with a two percent set-aside for tribes, and this program has actually been funded in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. That’s $56 million for tribes. There are many other provisions of the Recovery Act that tribes can use for energy efficiency and renewables, but the act also pours a lot of funding into programs for states and local governments for which tribes are not explicitly eligible. For some programs, tribes are eligible, but it will take some work to actually get a share of the funding. I wonder how much of the $5 billion appropriated for the weatherization program is going to reach Indian country.

The pattern of providing federal assistance to state and local governments without working through the implications for Indian country may play out again in climate change-energy policy legislation under consideration in the current session of Congress. In January, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works released a set of “Principles for Global Warming Legislation.” The release prompted a group of dedicated people convened by the National Congress of American Indians to develop a set of “Tribal Principles for Climate Legislation,” endorsed by NCAI and the National Tribal Environmental Council, Native American Rights Fund and National Wildlife Federation.

The tribal principles begin with the proposition that Indian tribes “must be sovereign partners in assessing and addressing the problem of climate change at the national and international level.” The second principle is, “tribes shall be provided equitable access to the same financial and technical resources provided to states and local governments.”

On March 30, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a discussion draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman-Markey discussion draft), a 648-page bill. In this column I offer comments on just two sections, both dealing with energy efficiency in buildings.

More than 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in America are associated with energy consumption in buildings, and given the large unmet need for decent homes in much of Indian country, one might think the federal government would have a strong interest in helping tribal housing programs build energy efficient homes, which would be more affordable for Indian families to heat and cool.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires that most federally subsidized new housing conform to the standards in the 2006 version of the International Energy Conservation Code, but this requirement does not apply to federally-subsidized Indian housing funded pursuant to the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act.

Since the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Department of Energy has provided assistance to states and local governments to ratchet up the energy efficiency standards in building codes, but this assistance program has never been available to tribal governments. Section 201 of the Waxman-Markey discussion draft would update that “national model building code” and put America on a path to making net-zero-energy buildings the standard practice. Section 201 of the discussion draft doesn’t mention tribal governments.

What about retrofitting existing buildings for energy efficiency? Section 202 of the discussion draft would create a program to address this need, the “Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance” program, including an assistance program for states, the State Energy and Environment Development Fund. This would be administered through the State Energy Offices under DOE’s State Energy Program. Section 202 of the discussion draft doesn’t mention tribal governments.

The DOE State Energy Program was created in 1975, at the dawn of the Self-Determination era of federal Indian policy, and it is not surprising that Congress didn’t think about Indian country then. But we are now well into the fourth decade of the Indian Self-Determination era. The Recovery Act appropriated $3.1 billion for the State Energy Program. The discussion draft would expand the mission of the State Energy Program and authorize additional appropriations. If Congress is going to create a program to help states retrofit existing buildings, why not a comparable federal assistance program to retrofit existing buildings in Indian country?

What should such a program look like and how much federal funding would be needed? These are questions we should be talking about. While we are talking about them, I think the federal government should be funding the creation of a network of regional assistance programs, designed in consultation with tribal governments, inter-tribal organizations, and tribal colleges, with engagement of all the relevant federal agencies and with input from the State Energy Program offices. I suggest we figure out what will work best by getting some models for assistance programs up and running.

As a practical matter, the cheapest and easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are to make energy efficiency improvements in buildings. Indian country needs its fair share of those improvements.

Dean Suagee is an attorney of counsel to Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP, Washington, D.C., and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. E-mail him at dsuagee@hsdwdc.com.

Clean coal is a myth

soberwolf — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:13:33 GMT

West Virginia Activists Lock Themselves to Coal Mining Trucks By Dave
Cooper - May 26, 2009
On top of West Virginia's Kayford Mountain, eight environmental
activists with the groups Mountain Justice
<http://www.mountain justicesummer. org/> and Climate Ground Zero
<http://climategroun dzero.org/> locked themselves to huge coal mining
trucks over Memorial Day weekend to prevent further destruction of
Kayford Mountain for coal.

Using bicycle locks, chains and cables, the activists placed themselves
underneath the 16-foot high tires of trucks that are used to haul away
the blasted remains of America's oldest mountains. Even the slightest
movement of the trucks would have meant instant death for the activists,
who calmly sat until arrested by police. The action was one of three
non-violent, peaceful protests against mountaintop removal coal mining
that followed the Mountain Justice Summer Camp.

Coal companies, using explosive power ten times greater than the
Oklahoma City bombing, blast 600 to 800 feet off of the top of
biologically diverse, densely forested mountains, dumping the rock and
rubble into the mountain streams that provide drinking water for
millions of people living downstream along the Ohio River, including
Cincinnati, Louisville, and Evansville, IN. The method of mining is more
profitable for the coal companies, who use explosives and heavy
equipment to do the work formerly done by coal miners. Employment has
plummeted in the region due to the mining practice.

Simultaneously, two activists floated a kayak with a banner reading "No
More Sludge" out on a gigantic lake of toxic coal sludge constructed by
Massey Energy <http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Massey_Energy> , of Richmond
Virginia. The Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment, which will eventually
hold over 9 billion gallons of coal waste, has been foolishly built over
top of abandoned underground coal mines. In October 2000, a similar
Massey coal waste impoundment failed suddenly when the bottom of the
lake broke into underground mines, allowing 300 million gallons of coal
sludge to flow into the underground mines, then out the mine openings
into two streams, Coldwater Creek and Wolf Creek in Martin County, KY.
At the time, the EPA called it the "worst environmental disaster in the
southeast United States." Massey, chaired by CEO Don Blankenship
<http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Don_Blankenship> , called the disaster "an
act of God."

"The toxic lake at Brushy Fork dam sits atop a honeycomb of abandoned
underground mines, " said Chuck Nelson, a retired coal miner from
Raleigh County, W.Va. "Massey wants to blast within 100 feet of that
dam." If the dam were to break due to blasting at nearby mountaintop
removal mines, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
projects a minimum death toll of 998 citizens.

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, who supports Mountaintop Removal
mining, has ignored previous efforts by local citizens to bring
attention to the dangers of coal waste impoundments. In one case, Massey
has built a coal waste impoundment directly above Marsh Fork Elementary
School. A March, 2007 protest against Marsh Fork impoundment by Mountain
Justice members in the governor's office resulted in 14 arrests.
Neither the Governor nor West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall have
taken any action to reduce the danger to the Marsh Fork school children.
A third group of protesters walked onto a mine property below the
mountain, and were arrested for misdemeanor trespassing. Activists are
currently jailed, and $18,000 is needed for bail. Contributions can be
made online here <http://www.mountain justicesummer. org/>

This action is the first of many in what promises to be a long, hot
summer in the mountains of Appalachia.

For more information, visit http://www.mountain justice.org
<http://www.mountain justice.org/> .

Clean coal is a myth

Free Parking for Greens

ssharp800 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:50:48 GMT

CINCINNATI- At least eight people in Cincinnati will be thrilled with a new program that the city kicks off June 1, when officials unveil plans to provide free parking to drivers of all-electric vehicles. Part of the city's Green Cincinnati Initiative, the program will allow all-electric vehicles that display a city-issued sticker to park for free in four downtown garages or lots and on the street at parking meters. Through an informal survey of known owners, city officials have identified only eight all-electric vehicles in operation locally, though there might be a handful more. But while today's step might be a small one, the city councilman who pushed for the program says it conveys an important message. "It's all about the symbolism at this point," said Councilman David Crowley. "This is a concrete step of some economic value to people willing to invest in all-electric vehicles or who drive them. It puts us in a leadership role." Despite their environmental and cost advantages, electric vehicles comprise less than 1 percent of the cars and trucks in the United States, according to industry estimates. The battery-run cars cost only about two cents per mile to operate, but generally can travel only about 40 miles before needing to be charged. Under the Cincinnati program, to be launched at a lunch-hour event on Fountain Square, all-electric vehicles will be able to park free at the Fountain Square South Garage, Garfield Garage, the Seventh Street Garage (third level only) and the Fifth and Race Parking Lot. Parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, with no overnight parking privileges. Metered street parking throughout the city will be limited to the maximum time permitted by the meter, in order to encourage vehicle turnover for customers of local businesses. The parking decals will be issued for free by the city's Office of Environmental Quality. "If a city is committed to being a green city, this is something it should do," Crowley said. "It's a small but important step forward."

Hatchet Ridge wind project moving forward despite delays

soberwolf — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:15:14 GMT

Hatchet Ridge wind project moving forward despite delays
By Dylan Darling (Contact)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Financial turbulence has delayed construction of a massive wind-power project in eastern Shasta County.

Work on the 103-megawatt Hatchet Ridge Wind Project will begin this summer, George Hardie, senior developer for Babcock and Brown International, said Tuesday.

Hardie had said the plan was to start building this spring on the ridge overlooking Burney after the Shasta County Board of Supervisors denied appeals to the controversial turbines last fall.

But Australia-based Babcock and Brown filed for bankruptcy since county approval and is in the midst of reorganizing. That reorganization will include the selling of the North American development branch, which Hardie said is the company that will operate Hatchet Ridge.

“It will be a new name and new capital,” he said.

Hardie said workers should erect the 43 turbines - which will spin on more than 20-story towers - early next year after installing roads and electrical equipment on the ground.

Critics have said the financial unsuitability of Babcock and Brown should make the county leery of doing business with the company. But Hardie said the economic troubles of the parent company, including a recent lawsuit brought by turbine maker Mitsubishi, won’t impact the new business.

Such changes also don’t affect the permits issued by the county, said Bill Walker, senior Shasta County planner.

“Whether the project gets built or not is up to the applicants,” Walker said.

Babcock and Brown still has some environmental studies yet to complete before it can start building under its use permit, Walker said.

The company isn’t the only one looking to turn north state wind into power. Walker said Padoma Wind Power of La Jolla is applying for permits to install two temporary 200-foot meteorological towers on Sierra Pacific Industries land south of Hatchet Ridge.

The company is testing the winds for power-producing potential and has no plans to build yet, said David Knox, Padoma spokesman.

“All we are doing is looking to determine what the wind resource is in the area,” he said.

Those opposed to the Hatchet Ridge Wind Project have said it will be a blight on the Burney skyline and a killer of bald eagles and other birds.

In late February, a group of about 100 people wearing red, to represent the blood of mangled eagles, gathered to protest the project in front of the Shasta County Administration Center. Many of those at the protest were members of American Indian tribes and said Hatchet Ridge should be considered a sacred place.

While there was talk of possibly filing a lawsuit to stop the turbines at the protest, there had been no litigation as of Tuesday, said Radley Davis, co-chair for the Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites.

He said he feels the Babcock and Brown hasn’t adequately addressed the cultural and environmental impacts of the turbines, although the company has passed through the county process.

“There seems to be some obstacles yet that the company needs to address,” Davis said.

California Indian Manpower Consortium Announces Green Jobs Initiative

soberwolf — Sun, 17 May 2009 16:14:05 GMT

Initiative aims to bring green jobs to California's tribal lands

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 12 -- The California Indian Manpower Consortium (CIMC) - a non-profit corporation dedicated to the purpose of working for the social welfare, educational and economic advancement of California Native Americans - today announced an initiative to bring green jobs to California's tribal communities.

Under the new initiative, CIMC will be looking to develop relationships with government entities, non-profit organizations, and public and private companies who are looking to develop environmentally friendly programs and/or technologies.

Under the program, CIMC will be helping empower local tribal communities to take leadership roles in restoring the land, air and water of not only their tribal lands, but for the greater community as a whole."Native American tribes across California are willing and eager to participate in our country's emerging green economy," said Lorenda Sanchez, Executive Director of CIMC. "It is only fitting that the communities who first inhabited our country are being returned to the role of its steward to help preserve it for future generations."

According to new government data, renewable energy and energy efficiency programs will create millions of new jobs in the United States over the next decade. Specifically, the data cites that we could have 37 million jobs in our national economy in energy efficiency and renewable energy by 2030 - or approximately one out of every five jobs in the American economy."

Fundamental changes are coming in the American energy economy, and we need to have a serious discussion of how tribes, as governments, fit into making these changes happen," said Sanchez. "We are ready to draw from our traditional place as stewards of the earth and transfer these principles into solutions to our world's environmental problems.”

great stock

Rockhunter3 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:59:51 GMT

This is a great stock but i will not let me buy it

Solar Power from Space

dem — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:59:29 GMT

Just found an interesting article about a company wanting to launch satellites and beam the energy collected back to Earth.

Here's a link to the article: Dailybreeze.com

and the article:

State, South Bay should push for space-based solar power.

A Manhattan Beach company is at the center of an effort to take the field of renewable energy to new heights: solar power from space.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the utility serving Northern and Central California, last week asked the state Public Utilities Commission to approve its proposal to buy 200 megawatts of clean power from Solaren Corp. The South Bay company, which was formed by a team of satellite engineers and space scientists, plans to put a solar power station in geosynchronous orbit. According to information posted on a PG&E Weblog, Solaren Chief Executive Officer Gary Spirnak said his company now consists of about 10 engineers and scientists, but will grow to 100 over the next year.

PG&E's request to purchase 200 megawatts would translate into enough electricity to power about 200,000 homes annually. But that would only occur if Solaren is successful in putting a functioning satellite into orbit. The company's goal is to start generating energy by 2016.

"Space Solar Power (SSP) uses satellites in geosynchronous orbit to collect solar energy, which is then transmitted to the ground for conversion into electricity," PG&E's application says. "More specifically, SSP satellites use solar cells to convert the sun's energy to electricity in space."

There are huge advantages to collecting solar power in space rather than on the Earth's surface. Solar collectors in space are eight to 10 times more efficient than Earth-based solar arrays, and are not limited by atmospheric conditions such as cloud cover. And they are much less subject to nighttime disruptions that occur here on the surface. Using a satellite, the solar energy is efficiently converted to radio waves and beamed to a collection station on the ground. In the PG&E proposal, the energy receiver would be built in Fresno County, where it would be converted to electricity and sent into the power grid.

We're glad that companies are thinking outside the biosphere in the search for alternative energy - and that scientific know-how in the South Bay will be playing an important role in making this happen. We're convinced that this is no pie-in-the-sky idea, too. A Defense Department study concludes that, "A single kilometer-wide band of geosynchronous Earth orbit experiences enough solar flux in one year to nearly equal the amount of energy contained within all known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today."

Orbital solar power stations should be part of the solution to give the United States true energy independence. We hope the state's utilities, entrepreneurs and the scientists and engineers who have driven the South Bay's aerospace industry will make this imaginative idea a reality in the decade ahead.

FSLR

SHOTCALLER — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:55:34 GMT

First Solar has announced it's take over of OptiSolar, a solar project pipeline. The $440 million price tag will be covered by stock only. The plan is to complete these projects for sale to utilities and other energy entities. FSLR up 3% in the after-market.