Tag Archives: weather

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Visualizes Smart Grid with Space-Time Insight’s Situational Intelligence Software Correlation and Analysis of Smart Meter, Distribution, Outage, and Environmental Data Leads to Faster, Smarter Decisions Space?Time Insight, the leading provider of next?generation situational intelligence solutions, today announced that the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has implemented Space-Time Insight’s geospatial and visual analytics software. The software facilitates faster and …

There is nothing like a blast of frigid weather – and an energy shortage – to wake up the US consumer to the economic value of energy efficiency. We were caught almost napping this winter, drowsy in the confidence that we are awash in plenty of oil and natural gas. True, the US is in the middle of an energy …

Battery storage is gaining more and more traction in the distributed energy resources community. Last fall, California passed the first statewide energy storage directive in the United States. Issued by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the mandate requires all investor-owned utilities in the state including Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric, to …

Icebreaker’ Foundation adapts well-proven monopile design to address Lake Erie’s soil conditions and harsh winters The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) announced today that it has completed a thorough analysis of four different conceptual offshore wind foundation designs and has selected the “monopile” concept to further develop for the Cleveland-based non-profit’s offshore wind project on Lake Erie. “We picked …

Sometimes we’re spot-on when we predict the future. Other times we blow it horribly. Take smart homes, the forerunner of today’s smart grid. Back in the 1980s, prognosticators thought we’d have millions of smart homes by now and that they would achieve remarkable feats. For example, a United Press International article from 1986 said that a child would be able to stick …

Replacing synthetic fertilizers with organic ones could help reduce climate impacts and improve agricultural systems By Deirdre Lockwood In efforts to mitigate climate change, we’re more likely to think about changing how we power our cars than how we grow our food. But as University of Washington geologist David R. Montgomery likes to remind people, farming has a huge impact …

Responding to a challenge by California Gov. Jerry Brown, more than 500 of the world’s top global change scientists have outlined the main environmental issues – from climate change to pollution and population growth – that policy makers must address immediately to avoid an approaching global tipping point. Gov. Jerry Brown discussing Earth’s tipping point with UC Berkeley professor Tony …

With turbines operating in extreme wind regimes such as the Caribbean and northern Scotland, Northern Power Systems today announced that its fleet of gearless turbines that experience hurricane-speed winds has achieved 1 million run time hours, all without incident. That is equivalent to a cumulative 114 years of continuous, safe, high-performance operation. Proper design and control are essential for a …

Back in time, there were many simple and sustainable things you could do to keep the sweats at bay when the heat was bearing down, but these days we simply flip a switch and indulge in the coolness, and guzzle up huge amounts of energy while we do so. We are forgetting the fact that we survived well enough before …

Shelton Group Study Shows Decline in Energy-Efficient Product Purchases and Home Improvements Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications firm entirely focused in the sustainability and energy efficiency sectors, announced today that its latest Utility Pulse study shows that energy-saving habits have declined in the last three years. The national poll shows decreases in behaviors such as: Replacing incandescent bulbs …

Rep. Garamendi Speaks Out On Need for Clean Energy    Following votes yesterday, Rep. John Garamendi (CA-03) a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, spoke on the House floor on Congress’ obligation to act on clean energy policies. Rep. Garamendi spoke out against the dangers of extreme weather caused by climate change.  The Sacramento region, which includes much of the …

US-Made Silicon Energy Modules Outperform Top Photovoltaic Companies in Severe Environmental Testing Silicon Energy’s double-glass Cascade Series Photovoltaic (PV) Module outperformed standard PV modules for durability under extreme environmental conditions, in an experimental testing process by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Sustainably manufactured in the US, the company’s Cascade Series PV Modules are built to last using the highest …

Environmental, Small Business and Farm Leaders Welcome President Obama’s Vow to Reduce Threat Sixty-five percent of Americans think that climate change is a serious problem and a substantial majority support President’s Obama using his authority to reduce its main cause, dangerous carbon pollution, according to a national poll of 1,218 registered voters conducted immediately after last night’s State of the …

Energy Focused Grant Applications Rodman & Rodman has prepared numerous 1603 applications and, based on our experience with the application process, we have a come up with a top 10 list of helpful tips.  Listed below are some application tips and additional documentation that we recommend you have on hand, even though the initial application does not require you to …

SUPERMARKET DISTRIBUTION CENTER POWERS UP IN QUEENS, NEW YORK WITH NEW ROOFTOP SOLAR ARRAY ~ Matspeth Community Welcomes a Completed Renewable Energy Power Plant Project for the Kam Man Food Corporation, Featuring Latest German-Engineered Panels and Cutting Edge Mounting System ~ The Matspeth Community announces the completion of a solar energy system on top of the distribution center for Kam …

DWEA Members Report Little to No Impact on Wind Turbines along East Coast As most of the Northeast continues to assess the devastation and damage to the area’s infrastructure due to the impact of Sandy, there was one part of the local energy-generating network that suffered little to no damage: wind turbines. As the deadline to extend the wind energy …

‘The challenge of our generation’ – why the Australian government is finally taking climate change seriously Historically Australia has not been particularly proactive when it comes to tackling human-influenced climate change. The country didn’t have a price on carbon pollution or fixed targets for greenhouse gas reduction and the government bowed to increasing pressure from the oil, gas and coal …

When the idea of the electric car was proposed to minimize greenhouse gases and pollution, the two basic platforms were the hybrid platform and a pure electric platform. When it comes to the latter, the main issue is the low range of operation. While the breakthrough in battery technology is unlikely to happen, students, scientists, hobbyists and of course companies …

Hawaiian Energy Systems & Centrosolar America Team Up on Oahu Solar Installation Hawaiian Energy Systems, Inc. and Centrosolar America have announced the completion of a 51kw solar power system at the Makakilo Baptist Church in Kapolei, HI. The rooftop installation will offset 90% of the Church’s electrical energy needs and provide electricity for the Church itself and the adjacent office …

Solar power is one of the most eco-friendly forms of energy available to consumers. Solar technology draws energy from sunlight, which is converted to electricity by exterior-mounted solar panels. One of the disadvantages of solar panels is that a large field of these panels is required to provide the power necessary to fuel a single home, let alone a neighborhood …