Lighting Science Group and the United States Navy have relit the streetscapes, parking lots and the residence quarters with state-of-the-art LED fixtures at two separate sites at the Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) California–Port Hueneme and Point Mugu–shaving close to $60,000 per year off the base’s energy bill. A total of 1,178 existing roadway, area, and parking lot lighting fixtures were replaced with ultra-efficient, long-life LED luminaires built in the USA by Lighting Science Group.
“For one of the largest lighting retrofits in Naval history, we chose Lighting Science Group products based on performance, thermal management, quality components, cost and aesthetics,” said Tom Santoianni, Energy Manager for Naval Base Ventura County. “These lighting solutions deliver the best light distribution, excellent color, optimum performance, and are ultra-efficient in meeting our energy, environmental and design needs.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today the selections of six projects that aim to find ways of converting captured carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial sources into useful products such as fuel, plastics, cement, and fertilizers. Funded with $106 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -matched with $156 million in private cost-share -today’s selections demonstrate the potential opportunity to use CO2 as an inexpensive raw material that can help reduce carbon dioxide emissions while producing useful by-products that Americans can use.
“These innovative projects convert carbon pollution from a climate threat to an economic resource,” said Secretary Chu. “This is part of our broad commitment to unleash the American innovation machine and build the thriving, clean energy economy of the future.”
As part of a broad effort to achieve breakthrough innovations in energy production, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman today announced an award of up to $122 million over five years to a multidisciplinary team of top scientists to establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed at developing revolutionary methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight.
The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), to be led by the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), will bring together leading researchers in an ambitious effort aimed at simulating nature’s photosynthetic apparatus for practical energy production. The goal of the Hub is to develop an integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system and move this system from the bench-top discovery phase to a scale where it can be commercialized.
The Green Scissors campaign, a diverse coalition of taxpayer, environmental and consumer groups, today released Green Scissors 2010, a report highlighting government programs and subsidies that are wasteful to taxpayers, harmful to the environment and bad for consumers. Green Scissors 2010 targets four major areas for budget cuts: energy, agriculture and biofuels, infrastructure, and public lands. It notes several recent, substantial victories ending subsidies in the face of special interests’ undue influence in Washington.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $5.6 million for emerging technologies projects as part of a summer-long roll out of $120 million in clean diesel grants. The awards will provide opportunities to advance cutting-edge technologies in the marketplace, and support both environmental innovation and green jobs to reduce diesel emissions. Diesel pollution is linked to thousands of premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks and millions of lost work days.
“EPA is promoting innovations that will not only create jobs, but also keep dangerous pollution out of the air we breathe,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We’re playing to America’s strengths of ingenuity and invention to improve the future of our economy, our health and our environment.”
Last week, we posted a story that the majority of small business owners in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania support the clean energy climate legislation that will be taken up in the United States Senate over the next three weeks, according to a major Public Policy Polling survey. Two more states, Maine and New Hampshire, can now be added to the list of areas that see their future relying on a clear energy policy.
Greatest Risks Seen in 14 States: AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, ID, KS, MS, MT, NE, NV, NM, OK and TX; How Big a Threat to Food Supply? At-Risk Counties Are Home to Over $100 Billion in Crops.
Over 1,100 U.S. counties– more than one-third of all counties in the lower 48 states — now face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as the result of global warming and more than 400 of these counties will be at extremely high risk for water shortages, based on estimates from a new report by Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
The Pew Environment Group today called on Congress and the administration to take decisive actions to prevent disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill from occurring again and to ensure the restoration of the Gulf.
“Despite continued efforts to cap the oil spill in the Gulf, this catastrophe is far from over,” said Marilyn Heiman, director of Pew Environment Group’s offshore energy reform efforts. “Residents of the Gulf endured the hardship of the devastating spill for too long. Now, all Americans are looking to Congress to show leadership by passing legislation this summer that offers much needed reforms on where, when, and how to drill offshore. Congress must act now to plug the leaks in the law.”
The Anaheim Center for New Energy Technologies (AC-NET) held its second Clean Tech Business Plan Competition during the TechConnectWorld 2010 Conference at the Anaheim Convention Center. The conference is billed as North America’s largest clean technology conference. Five teams presented their business plans in front of a large audience and to a panel of distinguished judges from the electric, water, and venture capital industries.
Ener-G-Rotors from Schenectady, N.Y. took first place and the $25,000 grand prize.
“We are grateful to the City of Anaheim and AC-NET for giving us this honor and providing a great opportunity for us to connect with West Coast investors, customers, and Anaheim Public Utilities,” said Michael Newell, CEO of Ener-G-Rotors, a maker of electric generators that produces power from low temperature waste heat.
Lighting Science Group and the United States Navy have relit the streetscapes, parking lots and the residence quarters with state-of-the-art LED fixtures at two separate sites at the Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) California–Port Hueneme and Point Mugu–shaving close to $60,000 per year off the base’s energy bill. A total of 1,178 existing roadway, area, and parking lot lighting fixtures were replaced with ultra-efficient, long-life LED luminaires built in the USA by Lighting Science Group.
100% Algae-Based Fuel Delivered to US Navy
Green Building Council Pressured to Include Certified Forestry Products
New Institute on Marine Ecosystems and Climate
Concordia’s New Center for Environmental Stewardship
Majority of NC, PA, SC and VA Small Business Owners Support Climate/Clean Energy Bill
Green Jobs Proposals Sought in Oklahoma
New Commercial Highlights Electrification’s Potential to Change the Future
Green Jobs for Detroit Teens
High School Students To Make Presentation at the 2010 Sustainable Energy Conference
