Exelon Generates Peak Power from Landfill Gas
Exelon generates peak power from a number of plants that run on landfill gas. One plant in PA burns methane from landfill gas.
Peak power is used as demand exceeds some base level … and are used to quickly match demand. Peak plants can be the most expensive to operate and the most polluting.
Their plant in Fairless Hills, Pa (outside of Philadelphia) is the “second largest landfill gas power plant in the United States. “ It gets landfill gas (methane) from the nearby Grows landfill. As long as the landfill grows (likely) there should be a renewable source of methane energy.
The plant receive “ … the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.” in 1997.
The plant 2 units have a capacity of 60 MW.
Via: Exelon LINK
Exelon is repurposing a brownfield site in the Chicago area into a solar farm. The 41 acre site have 32,292 solar panels and generates 14,000 mWatt-hrs yearly.
Some Home Depot stores in Texas and the western US will carry Southwest Windpower’s Skystream 3.7 home sized wind turbines. This makes wind power – 100 % renewable energy – readily available to consumers. 
hout turbine blades.
ergy from the wind as it flows around commercial and residential buildings. …”
bs / sq-ft with external (to the panels) wiring. GE is looking to develop systems in then range of 1 lb / sq-ft. with connected wiring. These could unfold at the installation site and be ready to install – without the need for heavy racking systems.
Peninsula Packaging uses recycled materials and green energy. I recently saw some apples packed in one of their clamshells that noted the plastic was 70 % recycled and made with 50% solar energy.
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Airbus along with major European Airlines and producers are crating an initive called the ‘
MIT scientists have found a novel way to use virus' to improve the efficiency of PV cells. The virus' " ... perform detailed assembly work at the microscopic level ... based on findings that carbon nanotubes ... can enhance the efficiency of ... solar cell's surface."
Street sgns and utility power poles are almost everywhere. A project at The University of Nebraska is looking into ways to use wind power and solar panels on signs to power roadway lights and traffic signals. Any excess power will go into the local energy grid.
feature batteries for storage. " ... Each unit consists of a wind turbine generator and one or more PV panels mounted on the top of the pole for electric power generation." 
Ecotricity is a green UK energy supplier. 
illion pounds of carbon dioxide over a 25 year period. ...energy created ... equals more than 111 million miles not driven by a medium sized car ... 11 million trees would need to be planted to equal the same level of carbon dioxide reduction."
in a parking lot with the Sustainable Waste Solutions and knew there would be a blog post there. SWS is a local company with a Souderton, Pa address that turns waste to energy (W2E).
h electricity from waste to power tens of thousands of homes per day ..."
n uses no fossil fuels for heating. Instead they uses biomass from farming leftovers. 80,000 homes heated by biomass and not fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas! And this is an area of the world where it gets VERY COLD !
There is a lot of wind energy off the northeast seaboard ... but no good way to move it to consumers. Google is looking to change that with a new transmission line called the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC).
Home Power Magazine is full of ideas on renewable energy for home owners and professionals.
Supply and demand are always achieved on the grid. One issue for renewable energy is how to store the power which may be generated during low demand for use during high demand rather than have it go to waste.
Solar power for consumers has lots going for it ... renewable energy, clean power, being green ... and one near term stumbling block --- cost. Most systems are EXPENSIVE for the initial capiital outlay.
In June of 2009 Dell announced that they source over 1/4 of their global energy needs from renewable sources. 
Kudzu is a very aggressive fast growing vine that is invasive ... if it could be turned into a source of ethanol ... it might kill 2 birds with 1 stone. And it does not compete with food crops as a route to ethanol.
The US Army is getting greener. They are beginning " ... development of a 500-megawatt solar power plant at Fort Irwin, Calif."
Data Centers are moving to rural areas where land and labor are less expensive. There are often farms and lots of cows ... and therefore lots of cow manure.
Springside School - Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia has the largest solar installation in the city of Philadelphia. You can see the solar progress with the monitoring station ... the system has the capacity of 92.4 k
W DC. 
Ecotech Institute offers a "green education" ... the first of its kind in the U.S. Ecotech is based in Aurora Colorado.
Google has made its first DIRECT investment in a production scale wind farm ... 
India has lots of gas and diesel powered rickshaws ... these emit significant quantities of pollution ... there is work to outfit rickshaws with batteries and an electric motor. These cost close to 3 x the cost of a traditional rickshaw but the government may offer loans to help offset the cost differential. 
The UTS Tower in Sydney, Australia is may get a proposed upgrade - a solar skin. This PV "wrap" would turn the tower into a very green and energy efficient structure.
Scientists from CalTech have developed technology that might lead efficient solar cells from silicon nanowires. This could lead to all sorts of configurations for solar cells including fabrics.
Scientist have long suspected they could modify an existing microbe to produce biofuel from plant products. They may now be one step closer with a strain of e. coli.
"Samsung and Korea Electric Power Corp. will invest $6.6 billion into wind and solar projects in Ontario ... will build and maintain power plants as well as erect four new factories in North America for making the equipment for the power plants ... plants will employ 1,440 and building and maintaining the power plant will keep 16,000 busy ..."
Norway's Statkraft is looking at osmosis as a possible energy source. Currently the output is minimal but it may be the way of the future.
hing that we are very proud of."
In addition to being know for its green efforts (solar panels and highly efficient servers) Google is possibly entering ther power business by applying for a license to buy and sell wholesale power.
Green Fuels Ltd makes it possible to produce your own biodiesel ... with one of their FuelPod products ... 
Samsung is well know for developing greener cell phones -- including the Reclaim ...
The Dow Chemical company is active in the green energy space with several innovative products. They recently announced their entry into the solar cell market with the " ... POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle, ... panels in the form of solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. ... expected to be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and ... more widely available in 2011, ..."
of people ... committed to addressing climate change."
tant as solar and wind start to power the grid.
Old WW II Ammunition bunkers in Nebraaka may have a 2nd life as secure data centers. Their location and construction make them ideal facilities for secure data centers ... and goethermal cooling allows them to be less energy intensive compared to the normal data center.
" Prairie Bunkers LLC said this week that it has completed a test well for a geothermal cooling system at its 760-acre Prairie Bunkers Data Center Park near Hastings, Nebraska. ... paves the way for the company to offer geothermal cooling for its innovative project."
"... hopes to convert dozens of World War II ammunition bunkers into data centers, hoping to capitalize on interest in ultra-secure data storage ... plans for geothermal power will help tenants achieve Platinum status ... (LEED) ... for energy-efficient builfings."
The small German town of Dardesheim (fewer than 1,000) and neighbors in Halberstadt in what was East Germany "... want to become 100% renewable using solar, wind, and biomass." 
Animal manure is a natural by-product of raising animals ... and needs to be disposed of properly. Improperly disposed of it can pollute water and make a smelly mess. 
Most of the bio fuel processes are require significant amounts of petroleum energy (i.e. to grow the basic crop like corn) or to power the process. Algenol is totally different ... it does not compete in a food vs/ biofuel stock like corn.