However, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) warns that layoffs could be in the future without the continuation of tax credits for the industry.

“Wind energy is one of the few sources of agreement in a divided Washington. But with an expiration of wind’s key federal incentive, the Production Tax Credit (PTC), looming at the end of the year, these good manufacturing jobs are in peril,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode in a statement after word got out that Ritterby would be highlighted in the speech. She noted that “with uncertainty over the PTC, layoffs have already begun and studies have forecast they will increase with each month we near expiration.”

Bipartisan legislation recently introduced by Representatives Dave Reichert (R, WA-08) and Earl Blumenauer (D, OR-03) seeks to grant a four-year extension to the existing Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy. According to AWEA, the legislation recently received the endorsement of a broad, coalition of more than 370 members, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Edison Electric Institute, the Western Governors’ Association, the United Steelworkers and many members of the environmental community. A four-year PTC extension also has the support of the bipartisan Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition comprised of 23 Republican and Democratic Governors from across the U.S.

“The state of Iowa is number one in ethanol, number one in biodiesel, we’re number two in wind energy but that’s number two to Texas and if you look at it per capita, we’re number one in that as well,” Branstad said at the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on Tuesday.

“The renewable fuels industry has been good for Iowa,” he said. “In 2011, the renewable fuels industry supported 82,000 jobs in the Iowa economy and provided $3.7 billion in household income in our state. The industry had over $6 million in revenue.”

Those numbers come from the latest study on the importance of renewable fuels to Iowa by economist John Urbanchuk, technical director of Cardno ENTRIX. (Link to study)

Listen to Branstad’s address to the 6th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit here: Iowa Governor Terry Branstad address

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

“We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough,” the president said. “It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.”

Mentioning natural gas, wind and solar specifically, Obama called for using various types of renewable energy solutions to make the country less dependent on oil alone. “This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy – a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs,” he said.

WindManager provides customers with four modules for effective wind farm operations including:

• -Monitoring – Turbines are connected to a central system, all data is stored and visualized in a map view, trends can be monitored and preconfigured reports summarize performance and energy production against targets

• -Analysis – Wind farm personnel can perform stop analysis, loss analysis and understand all downtime issues as they arise

• -Operations Management – Work scheduling, resourcing, and collaboration across teams can be held daily or weekly

• -Expertise – Access to system API, data management tools, and tools for extracting performance data to MatLab allows further research and analysis to be performed in house.

Scott Mackenzie, asset management director at Natural Power says, “WindManager has been successfully operating in the U.K. and Europe for over a year now, so we are very pleased to be extending these services to the U.S. market. This product helps wind farm owners and operators experience a real time view of their assets, with customers benefiting from a range of additional tools from energy forecasting to independent operational site control.”

Natural Power offers WindManager in conjunction with their existing suite of wind farm management tools including WindCentre™, a 24/7 operations control room which uses Natural Power’s Melogale™ data analysis platform, ForeSite™ for wind farm energy forecasting and SeaPlanner™ for offshore GIS, site and data management.

“We are currently the world’s largest biodiesel consulting group, and most of our consultants and strategic partners are already very involved in the other alternative fuels,” said principal owner Wayne Lee.

Lee notes that the group’s current appraiser, environmental expert, QA experts, and grant writers have backgrounds and experience in these areas, and that the group’s larger strategic partners – Stoel Rives (legal), Christianson & Associates (accounting), IMA of Kansas (insurance), FCStone Merchant Services (feedstock financing), and Executive Leadership Solutions (staffing) – already have very significant presences in these other alternative fuels sectors. “Our goal over the past several years has been to put together a top notch team of the best biodiesel experts in the world”, says Lee. “I am quite satisfied that we have accomplished that goal and now address almost every need in the biodiesel sector.”

“I am a firm believer in biodiesel as the best alternative to diesel fuels and I strongly believe in its future” says Lee. “But, the overall solution to the world’s oil dependency rests with all the alternative fuels working together”. As a result, Lee wants his consulting group to be able to provide the same depth of assistance for all kinds of alternative fuels as they currently provide for biodiesel.

The label allows participating companies to communicate the share of wind power and other renewable sources as part of the overall power demand of their operations. The objective behind WindMade™ is to drive demand in wind power, thereby boosting investment and growing the renewable energy market.

“These companies are at the forefront of the global sustainability movement,” said Henrik Kuffner, WindMade’s CEO. “We are delighted to have them on board the unique WindMade™ initiative, and are confident that many others will follow suit in the coming weeks and months.”

According to the WindMade™ requirements, companies using the label must source a minimum of 25 percent of the electricity consumed from wind power. The wind energy share can be procured through a company-owned wind power generation facility, a long-term power purchase agreement for wind power, or the purchase of high quality Renewable Energy Certificates approved by WindMade™. The exact percentage of the wind energy share will be stated on the label. Companies can choose to certify global, regional or facility level operations, a distinction that will be clearly communicated on the label itself.

WindMade™, which was introduced to the world at this past year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, is backed by the UN Global Compact, Vestas Wind Systems, World Wildlife Fund, Global Wind Energy Council, Bloomberg (as the official data provider), and the LEGO Group. PwC is the official verification partner.

A separate label for products is in development and will be released during 2012.

The project consists of five Gamesa G-90 2 MW wind turbine generators with 500 kW of solar panels located on a single axis tracking system. The farm went online on August 30, 2011 and began revenue service on September 16.

“This is a ground breaking, game changing development in the renewable energy industry where two completely separate types of technology and renewable fuel sources are integrated at the very beginning as a combined facility,” said Jeff Ciachurski, CEO of Western Wind Energy. “Integration of multiple renewable fuel sources allows for the maximization of existing transmission infrastructure by having a greater range of time of day availability. Western Wind Energy is excited to be the first owner/operator of this real-time, solution oriented facility.”

White said that policies are very important to help create jobs, lower electricity costs and increase dependence on domestic sources of energy. Several policies to pay attention to include the federal production tax credit, which is set to expire at the end of 2012. He stressed that it is important for Congress to extend the tax credit.

“Leaving it to the last minute will create a lot of uncertainty in the market and make investors a little less comfortable,” said White. “It would really have a negative effect on the boom in the industry that’s going on despite the recession.”

Listen to my interview with Bill White here: How to Accelerate Wind Energy Development

Another key policy is the investment tax credit that was enacted in 2009 as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This gives developers the option to take a 30 percent investment tax credit for a new facility in lieu of the tax credit. To be eligible, construction must begin by the end of 2011.

One of the biggest barriers to developing wind energy, says White is the ability to move the power from where it is most cost effective to produce to where people use a lot of electricity. FERC recently issued a series of orders that takes important steps in the way companies share and plan new transmission projects.

White concluded that the wind industry has been very successful and he believes it will be more successful in the future. “If we’re really able to build the infrastructure under this new FERC order, than we’ll really see this industry take off.”

You can learn more about the wind industry at the upcoming Wind & Transmission Leadership Summit in Blue Sky, Montana September 26-28.

This is an extremely in-depth look at what our energy landscape looks like today. It also reviews where we stand, as a world, with regard to resources and options as well as politics and policies that are driving the future. In addition, it looks at where we are headed.  As I look at our country, I’ve felt for a long-time that we are “energy illiterate” and need to become better students of energy education. While Montgomery agrees to some degree, he feels the problem lies more in lack of curriculum and the inability for people to learn about energy in a nonpartisan setting.

Montgomery writes, “Energy matters are critical to understand because they are fundamental to our way of life and because they are the subject of endless misconception, misrepresentation, and, as already noted, myth.”

Throughout the book, Montgomery takes an approach that many other authors have not and that’s the view that he doesn’t categorize energy as “dirty or clean” or necessarily “evil versus good.”  He explains that fossil fuels help build and transport renewable sources and also reminds us that every type of energy has an impact on the environment. Yes everyone, there is no “renewable” energy source that is developed, produced or transported without a fossil fuel.

So what does the future look like? Montgomery notes that in the future we’ll see great, more varied use of electricity. Despite “efforts” at energy efficiency, globally energy use will increase as countries such as China and India come online as well as other developing countries seek to emerge from poverty though tools such as electricity.

Montgomery believes that our current energy sources: natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, and petroleum will continue to play a vital role in our energy future and their use will even grow over the next few decades. He also believes that all other sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, and more will have a role moving forward. However, he does advocate that not all sources will become winners.

He writes, “Today natural gas, uranium, biomass, solar, wind, and geothermal energy all provide power, and millions of diesel, hybrid, and flex-fuel vehicles roam the roads, with all-electric species soon to arrive. Multiplicity has its limit: some technologies will likely cancel out; others may come to be dominant. Yet the grand pattern is clear: no single wonder-source lies in our future, but instead a portfolio of options demanding thoughtful balance. Progress in energy means technological diversity.”

Also unlike other authors, Montgomery does not predict the future or lay out how to get there. He does give us 20 things to contemplate as we diversify our energy future and leaves it up to us to follow a path (or three or four). While this was an educational read, it was not easy and is not for someone who wants a quick overview of the energy landscape of yesterday, today or tomorrow. However, this is a good book for the serious energy student and one that should help to craft our thinking.

OwnEnergy will sell the wind energy to NorthWestern Energy and the two organizations negotiated a long-term rate well below the current rate of $69.21. As a result, OwnEnergy obtained curtailment provisions that are more favorable than ones traditionally found in a Qualifying Facility Agreement.

“Thanks to this agreement, our customers will benefit from the addition of a renewable energy source at a rate more beneficial to ratepayers,” said John Hines, Vice President – Supply for OwnEnergy. “With our other recent wind QF purchases, we are nearing the limit of installed wind capacity that we are allowed to purchase through this tariff.”

The Montana Public Service Commission set a rate for NorthWestern Energy to purchase up to 50MW of wind generation. When the company reaches the cap, the MPSC will reexamine the wind QF tariff and related policies.

The Two Dot Wind project is owned by Dave Healow and Dana Dogetrom and exemplifies community wind projects. The wind farm will not only create renewable electricity, but also provide jobs for members of the community.  It is expected to be completed and in production by the spring of 2012.

Jacob Susman, founder and CEO of OwnEnergy, added, “This is an exciting milestone for OwnEnergy, Two Dot Wind, LLC and the local Montana community. NorthWestern has once again shown true leadership, demonstrating that power generation can be environmentally friendly at the same time as being cost-effective.”

During an event highlighting the signing of the contract in Dublin, Ireland, Zhou Jianxiong, XEMC’s Group Chairman said, “Gaelectric’s pipeline of wind farm projects in key locations, combined with our shared focus on innovation in renewable energy technologies, makes us ideal allies in co-developing Gaelectric’s portfolio of renewable power projects.”

“We are particularly pleased that the sites that we intend to co-develop with Gaelectric are very suited to establishing our Direct Drive Permanent Magnet Generator (PMG) turbine technology as the leading global wind generation technology delivering low service and maintenance costs, competitive pricing, and high availability and annual yield,” he added.

XEMC has 820 of its XE-series turbines installed in China. Its XE-series are the largest turbines in mass production in China.

“Our alliance with XEMC is a significant strategic step for Gaelectric. With the backing of XEMC’s industrial strength and technological capacity, and their track record and commitment to long term relationships, we are confident that Gaelectric’s portfolio of wind farm sites will be realised to the highest commercial and technical standards,” said Gaelectric CEO, Brendan McGrath. “Our visit to China in March of this year confirmed to us XEMC’s commitment to research and development which combines Dutch engineering design and pedigree, with Chinese industrial power. We also share a vision for the significant opportunities from off-shore wind energy generation on which we are already working closely together.”

“I am grateful for the commitment and the efforts of our shareholders, employees, contractors and the unwavering support of our economic development and training partners who contributed to building this state of the art facility,” said Gregory Adanin, Ventower president & CEO. “Ventower is well positioned to supply towers to our Great Lakes region where we continue to see increased wind project development opportunities. It is and always has been our goal to become an integral part of the industry supply chain and be part of advanced wind energy component manufacturing, education and innovation.”

Production at the facility will begin later this month to meet orders for towers this year and into 2012. The company will provide wind towers for both onshore and offshore applications and is focused on customers throughout the Great Lakes and Atlantic Regions.

“Our commitment to domestic manufacturing, job creation and renewable energy have all been important drivers during our initial efforts here in Michigan. Moving forward, Ventower will embrace the new, green economy while utilizing advanced fabrication techniques and processes at our state of the art facility,” added Board Chairman James Viciana.

The wind turbines are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2012 and when the projects are complete, will provide more than 350 megawatts of power. This will boost Wind Capital’s U.S. wind power footprint to more than half a gigawatt. According to GE, the 1.6-100 wind turbine to be used in the Oklahoma project is one of its most advanced. It features a 100-meter rotor diameter and offers a 47 percent increase in swept area, resulting in an 18 percent increase in annual energy production compared with previous models.

“The turbine is located about 1 mile from the Baltic Sea so the wind resources are quite good,” said Glenn Steed, installation coordinator for Arista Power. Our shrouded WindTamer turbine has received a great deal of attention from the local residents, as it looks so different from any other turbine they have seen. Additionally, a neighbor had recently taken down an open blade turbine because it was making too much noise, so the fact that WindTamer operates virtually silently is a major attribute to this community. We’ve had a number of other residents asking about purchasing turbines and we’ve also had a number of interested parties from other European countries asking about distribution opportunities.”

Mindaugas Mazonas, director of sales of UAB WindTamer Europe, added, “WindTamer Europe is very excited to have this first installation completed. We look forward to using this as a great example of the Arista Power sustainable energy solutions we plan to bring to the rest of our territory. One of our first priorities will be to utilize Arista Power energy generation and storage products and technologies to implement an off-grid, battery-tied package to suit our customers who are challenged with grid availability and reliability.”

The move to renewable energy is spurred by a high electric bill and sends the family to the Alternative Energy Expo. As the family piles into the car, to avert thieves in their absence, they leave on all the lights, including their Christmas lights. Once they get to the expo, several things catch their eye including solar panels and biofuels where boothmates “switchgrass” and “corn ethanol” get in a fight over who is better.

But what really catches Homer’s eye is the promise of the wind turbine, which he installs in his backyard.

Lisa: Dad, you are leading the way in clean energy.

Homer: Yep. I Al Gore’d it pretty good.

Lisa: The Simpsons are off the grid and so far it’s going great.

Until…

Homer: Who turned off the wind?

Lisa: Dad, if we’re really off the grid than we won’t get power when the wind is still.

Homer: Well, I’m not crawling back to Big Electricity. From now on the Simpson’s are living intermittently.

Ok, so while the message wasn’t perfect you know when a technology has captured the minds of the general public when it shows up in pop culture. Now let’s hope that renewable energy does a better job of capturing the minds of our politicians so it can continue to “show up” in our backyards.

When you include large and small hydropower, which is estimated to have added 30 gigawatts of power in 2010, renewable energy accounted for approximately 50 percent of total added power-generating capacity in 2010. Also increasing in capacity last year was the solar water and space heating industry which added approximately 25 gigawatts-thermal (GWth) or about 16 percent.

“The Global Status Report shows that despite the recession, renewables are growing at an enormous rate,” said Director of Climate & Energy Alexander Ochs who contributed to the report. “Still, there are 1.5 billion people who don’t have any access to energy, and 3 billion people relying on traditional biomass sources and coal. If we want to prevent climate change from spinning out of control, we need to scale up our efforts to accelerate renewable energy development and deployment at all levels. Worldwatch will continue to provide guidance as to how this can be done.”

The driver for growth continues to be renewable energy policies. By the beginning of 2011, there were at least 119 countries that had some policy target or renewable energy policy at the national level. In 2005, this number was only 55. The report details that more than half of these countries represent the developing world and at least 95 countries have policy specifically to grow renewable power generation. In the United States, for example, 30 states (plus Washington, D.C.) have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).

While feed-in tariffs are somewhat taboo in the United States, they remain the most common mechanism worldwide to encourage adoption of renewable energy sources. Also somewhat lacking in the U.S. private investments in the industry on a global scale reached $211 billion last year, up from $160 billion invested in 2009. Money invested in renewable energy companies, utility-scale generation, and biofuel projects increased to $143 billion, with developing countries surpassing developed economies for the first time, according to the Global Status Report’s recently released companion report, “UNEP’s Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011.” Not surprisingly, China attracted $48.5 billion, or more than a third of the global total.

In addition to the report, REN21 also launched its Renewables Interactive Map, a tool for gathering and sharing the renewable energy developments.

The C-level summit will focus on seeking solutions to energy policy and wind development and will bring together leaders from the wind, energy storage and transmission industries as well as people from state and federal governments, finance and investment firms, academia, associations, environmental groups, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

“This conference is well positioned to bring together the leaders in industry and government that are working to solve our greatest challenges to establishing a renewable energy standard for the U.S. and to address the continued risk to our economy and environment,” said Randy Stratton, Conference Co-Chairman. “We can solve these challenges with the private sector working with the government to fund research and development in wind, energy storage, transmission technology and electric vehicles. We must move forward now before we fall further behind the rest of the world.”

Several break-out sessions will occur during the three-day summit and focus on a key segments of the market. Sessions include: community wind development, transmission solutions, state and federal policies and incentives, opening electricity markets in the West, siting issues, large wind technology, public lands and transmission infrastructure, wildlife concerns, national and regional energy programs, eminent domain, smart grid advancements, finance/investment and risk/liability issues.

Tom Kaiserski, Director of Energy Promotions for the State of Montana added, “This summit is designed to bring together the players with the vision and resources capable of building a 21st century clean and renewable power and transmission system that will result in thousands of new jobs, billions of investment, millions in new tax revenues that will help secure our energy future.”

Click here to learn more about the conference and for online registration.

So just how big are these blades? I walked from tip to tip and it took me 39 seconds walking at a normal pace. Here is a video of my journey. BTW – the song is called “Wind Energy Song” and was written by Monty Harper. Here are some of the lyrics:

This is the sun shining down on Earth.

This is the warmth of the
sun shining down on Earth.

This is the air rising up through the
warmth of the
sun shining down on Earth.

This is the wind blowing in beneath the
air rising up through the
warmth of the
sun shining down on Earth.

This is the rotor spinning in the
wind blowing in beneath the
air rising up through the
warmth of the
sun shining down on Earth.

I also took photos as I was driving (don’t try this in the car!) and I have pictures of a wind farm off of 1-80 Iowa. Did you know that Iowa is the second leading state for wind power generation behind Texas? The state is also the leader in renewable energy – 20 percent of Iowa’s power comes from renewable resources. Take that California! I also took pictures of a wind farm in off of 1-74 in Illinois. Click here to see my Summer 2011 photo album.

“The Rollins Wind project is clean energy, made in Maine for the people of Maine. It will deliver clean, renewable energy to Maine homes and businesses at a cost competitive with fossil fuel plants, but without the emissions of many other forms of energy,” said First Wind CEO, Paul Gaynor. “This is a significant addition to our growing portfolio of wind projects in Maine that now have the capacity to generate 185 MW of clean energy. We’d like to thank all of our partners, the members of the surrounding community and our supporters for helping to make this project a reality.”

First Wind says this project was a significant source of revenue and new jobs in the area with more than $30 million spent directly with 97 Maine-based businesses. The Rollins Wind Project will also generate additional activity through its ongoing operations.

“The State of Maine is fortunate to have a company like First Wind and its partners in the Rollins Project bringing such a significant investment into the Lincoln Region,” said Rep. Stacey Fitts, House Chair of the Legislature’s Energy Utilities and Technology Committee, who spoke at the event. “This project is a significant step in the effort to move Maine away from our dependence on fossil fuels. This is not easy, and we should congratulate everyone involved in this project for their efforts.”

In particular, the report found that the Midwest has great potential to produce electricity from renewable resources including wind, biomass and solar. Iowa is already the leading state for wind and biofuels and other Midwestern states like Minnesota are following close behind. The UCS report says that renewable energy has the ability to cut home and business energy bills, drive billions of dollars in new business investment and create thousands of jobs. All of this can happen, says the report, while reducing the use of energy created by coal.

“Adopting stronger clean energy standards can help transform the region’s economy,” said Steven Frenkel, director of UCS’s Midwest office. “Generating more renewable energy will put people back to work manufacturing the components needed to power the clean energy economy, such as wind turbines and solar panels. At the same time, reducing energy use can help keep Midwest businesses competitive by cutting their energy costs.”

The study analyzes the possible impact of a clean energy strategy that would help the economy. The duo approach includes policy combined with the adoption of energy efficient technologies. More specifically, the “proposed” policy would require 30 percent of each state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 coupled with the goal of a 2 percent reduction in annual power consumption by 2015 with an additional 2 percent reduction each following year. The study also found that while individual state policies can have an impact, the greatest achievement would happen if all states acted together.

Claudio Martinez, UCS energy analyst and report author added, “Few places in the world have the combination of a great renewable energy potential, a strong manufacturing base and the skilled workforce needed to realize that potential. And the Midwest is one of those places.”

“Our green power purchase just makes sense – it fulfills our business philosophy and falls in line with our community efforts to be more environmentally sustainable,” said Yards Owner and Founder Tom Kehoe. The company hopes other Philadelphia businesses will follow suit and also switch to clean power.

For companies who participate in the WGES program, there is no installation of new equipment or wiring needed. Instead, CleanSteps (SM) WindPower customers receive one monthly bill from the local electric utility with WGES charges reflected as a separate line item. In addition, the local utility company continues to deliver electricity (aka wind energy) read meters and respond to any issues such as power outages.

Harry Warren, president of WGES added, “WGES is very excited to be able to help Yards Brewing Co. meet its environmental goal of reducing its carbon footprint. Yards Brewing Co.’s purchase of 100% WGES CleanSteps (SM) WindPower is equivalent to burning approximately 52,000 fewer gallons of gasoline or taking 91 cars off the road for one year.”

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, from supporting biofuels and wind power, to bringing broadband internet to our rural communities,” Vilsack says in her campaign YouTube video. Her website, ChristieVilsackForIowa.com, features a rural wind farm in the mast head. “We have more wind turbines in this district than anyplace in the country outside of Texas,” Vilsack says under Christie’s Plan on the website. “Why can’t some of their 8,000 component parts be made right here in Northwest and North Central Iowa?”

Vilsack officially announced her bid to represent Iowa’s newly formed 4th district yesterday with her husband Tom, current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa governor, at her side.

The first loan of $50.7 million was awarded to the Parques Eólicos del Caribe (PECASA) project, located in the southern province of Mote Cristi. The $127 million wind farm is under development by Gamesa, Grupo Delta Intur, Aquiles Mateo, and Miguel Ángel Muñiz. The project will consist of 25 Gamesa G90 turbines with a capacity of 2 megawatts each.

The second loan of $27.6 million was awarded to Grupo Eólico Dominicano, a company controlled by the Spanish group Inveravante. This $68.9 million project, located in Baní, part of the Peravia province, will be comprised of 17 Vestas V90 turbines, with a capacity of 1.8 megawatts each.

To support both projects, 138-kilovolt transmission lines will be constructed to connect the wind farms to the national grid. In addition, access roads will be built along with several new substations and control stations.

Duke purchased the project from CPV Renewable Energy who will maintain ownership of the first phase – Cimarron I. Kansas City Power & Light will purchase all generated power as well as the associated renewable energy credits for 28 years.

“Duke Energy Renewables is pleased to acquire this high-quality wind power project from CPV Renewable Energy and looks forward to helping Kansas City Power & Light deliver zero-emission electricity to its customers,” said Duke Energy Renewables Senior Vice President Tony Dorazio.

In the past month, Duke Energy has announced plans to add three wind farms to its portfolio. Once the projects are complete, the company’s wind-generated capacity will be nearly 1,300 megawatts or enough to power approximately 400,000 homes.

Sean Finnerty, senior vice president with CPV Renewable Energy Company added, “CPV Renewable Energy Company has teamed up with Duke Energy Renewables to ensure Cimarron II meets the needs of Kansas City Power & Light’s customers. The project will bring significant benefits locally and to the citizens of Kansas.”

During the first three months of 2011, energy produced from renewable energy sources (biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, hydro, wind) generated 2.245 quadrillion Btus of energy equating to 11.73 percent of U.S. energy production. During this same time period, renewable energy production surpassed nuclear energy power by 5.65 percent. In total, energy produced from renewables is 77.15 percent of that from domestic crude oil production.

When looking at all energy sectors, production of renewable energy has increased by a little over 15 percent when compared to first quarter of 2010, and by more than 25 percent when compared to the first quarter of 2009. Of this total, biomass/biofuels accounted for approximately 48 percent of this total followed by hydropower at 35.41 percent, wind at 12.87 percent, geothermal at 2.45 percent and lastly solar at 1.16 percent.

Despite a seemingly low number for solar power, when compared to first quarter last year, solar power has increased by 104.8 percent while wind power increased by 40.3 percent. Hydropower and geothermal energy also increased by 28.7 percent and 5.8 percent respectively. While nuclear energy has seen a slight increase in power generation, for the most part it has remained steady.

“Notwithstanding the recent nuclear accident in Japan, among many others, and the rapid growth in energy and electricity from renewable sources, congressional Republicans continue to press for more nuclear energy funding while seeking deep cuts in renewable energy investments,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “One has to wonder ‘what are these people thinking?’”

“Careful siting of renewable energy development may play a key role in minimizing impacts to wildlife,” said David Evers, Ph.D., BRI’s executive director and chief scientist. “However, this requires detailed knowledge of where animals breed, winter, and migrate.”

For the past two and a half years, the BRI team has studied migration and movement patterns of birds and bats over the Gulf of Maine and along the Atlantic coast. They discovered that migratory owls will fly hundreds of miles out over the Atlantic on their way south to South America and the Caribbean. BRI believes this could be important in understanding how these owls, and other birds, could be affected by offshore wind turbines.

“Wind developers and wildlife managers in both the U.S. and Europe have called for the collection of preconstruction monitoring data to minimize the potential impacts of facilities on wildlife,” says Kate Williams, director of BRI’s wildlife and renewable energy program. “This can be a hot-button issue, but BRI’s main goal is to provide sound scientific data to decision makers and the public to inform debate on siting and other issues. We don’t have a pro- or anti-wind agenda.”

One of BRI’s goals is to make the information available to policy makers as well as the general public. They will be hosting a two-day workshop about the ecological effects of offshore wind power on November 8-9, 2011 at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

Ditlev Engel, President and CEO of Vestas said, “Consumers around the world see climate change as the greatest single challenge, and 90 percent of consumers want more renewable energy. This shows a real global desire to reduce carbon emissions. It gives corporate decision makers something to think about and act upon.”

The Global Consumer Wind Study 2011 is the largest undertaken of its kind with 31,000 respondents participating in 26 countries. The goal of the survey was to learn more about consumer demand for products made with renewable energy. Consumers were asked how energy decisions made by companies affect their purchasing decisions. In addition, consumers were asked about their perceptions of climate change. The annual study was commission by Vestas and conducted by TNS Gallup.

“The Global Consumer Wind Study provides insight into the role of renewable energy, in particular wind, in relation to the products and services consumers buy,” added Engel.” This in turn should drive the adoption of renewable energy sources by the corporations that sell these products and services.”

The Corporate Renewable Energy Index, with 176 respondents, was based on data from CREX, commissioned by Vestas and conducted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The companies using the most renewable energy are News Corp., Plum Creek Timber, Kohl’s Corporation, and Whole Foods Market, who uses 100 percent wind energy and has been named Global Wind Energy Champion.

The premise of the book is that the world is running out of oil while at the same time depleting itself of its natural resources. These two issues can combine to cause destruction and complete collapse of a society. The book begins by highlighting some of the societies that have disappeared due to lack of resources whether it be water or trees or others. One of the most famous case studies he uses is that of Easter Island, now owned by Chile, and the irony that although the people knew their future was in jeopardy due to diminished resources, they used them all anyway. Will this be society today?

Hallett is not a fan of biofuels as a solution to our problems. He also believes renewable energy, such as wind or solar, will only become mainstream when it is the only option. He also doesn’t think we will be laughing 30, 40, 50 years from now about how peak oil and climate change were myths.

In terms of the future energy sources, Hallett believes it will be one in which nuclear and hydrogen play major roles. He says that we need a multitude of effective solutions to the problem of transportation. “…Trains, planes, and automobiles all run on liquid fuels, which are refined directly from oil, and it is extremely difficult to develop versatile transportation systems that use alternative systems. If our new energy model is based on the generation of electricity, the problem remains of putting this into vehicles. Electric vehicles will play a role, but I believe that the only viable, long-term solution to this problem is hydrogen.”

He continues, “Hydrogen has as distinct disadvantage that it cannot be simply pumped out of the ground or sucked out of the atmosphere. There is no source of free hydrogen, so first, it has to be made. Hydrogen, then, is not a source of energy at all but merely a carrier of energy. Consequently, the future of energy generation does not rest with hydrogen, but the future of energy delivery might.”

Hallett takes us much beyond oil and forgone society and takes an in-depth look at other issues including agriculture, water, aquaculture and how all of these things intersect. You can’t effect one without effecting the other and often times the consequences are unintended, but happen all the same. While at times his views seem dire and without hope, at the end of the book he lays out a new foundation for the world to move forward. One that is not overpopulated, based on dirty fossil fuels, or over uses natural resources. His world is one where people once again learn how to interact and sustainably live with the land rather than live on the land.

One field of study at the EcoTech Institute is its Solar Energy Technology Program designed to educate students about all things solar energy technology. The program has updated facilities, modern labs and small class sizes – all things the school considers ideal for learning. Since opening, more than 300 students have attended the Aurora, Colorado, based school.

The solar curriculum prepares students for various jobs after graduation including construction, installation and repair of solar energy systems as well as working with architect or engineers as they design and install solar projects. For more information about the open house or to learn more about Ecotech Institute programs, click here.

Wind energy industry leaders gathered in New York today on Global Wind Day to unveil the proposed WindMade™ standard for public comment and to promote it worldwide. This event was co-sponsored by the new WindMade™ organization, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, and the Wind Energy Foundation, of Washington, D.C.

“I believe that WindMade has the potential to develop into a truly global movement, with consumers around the world demanding transparency on the companies and products they choose,” said WindMade CEO Henrik Kuffner. “WindMade can make a real difference in driving consumer demand for sustainable products, and I am excited to be given the opportunity to spearhead this groundbreaking initiative.”

The proposed standard requires participating companies to source a minimum of 25 per cent of their electricity demand from wind power and it was developed by a committee made up of representatives from founding organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), LEGO, Climate Friendly, Gold Standard, and Vestas Wind Systems. “We believe that the label will build a bridge between consumers and companies committed to clean energy,” said Steve Sawyer, Chairman of the WindMade™ Board and Secretary General of GWEC.

Organizers say that WindMade™ will be “dedicated to increasing corporate investments in wind power by informing consumers about companies’ use of wind energy, and increasing demand for products that embrace this clean and renewable energy source.”