Wind turbines have a lot of opponents, and lots of regulatory hurdles that they must go through between initial proposal and final approval. One particular difficulty has been from aviation authorities (both civilian and military) whose radar can pick up interference from wind turbines. These objections have led to many wind projects being delayed or shelved indefinitely. But solutions are being developed that may allow wind turbines to coexist with radar.

The moving blades from wind turbines can cause intereference to show up on radar displays.

"At one stage trade association Renewable UK estimated that around 40 large wind farm projects were being delayed because of objections from the aviation sector." Given the wide expanses of open land in the US, the problem has been less of an issue, but as more wind facilities are developed for locations close to population areas, the problem is likely to become more of a concern. In the UK, a software solution is being explored that will enable air traffic controllers to differentiate between aircraft and wind turbines.

Another possible solution is to build turbine blades with material that is not radar reflective. Using composites that either absorb or scatter radar beams would make the turbine blades invisible to radar.

image: CC-BY 2.0 by Ken Hodge

via: EWEA Wind Directions

As sunny as the southeastern U.S. is, solar power development hasn't taken off as quickly as you'd think.  That will change dramatically when a new 400 MW solar farm is built in one of three states:  Florida, Georgia or North Carolina.  The huge project could potentially be the world's largest when it's completed.  The current largest is an 80 MW solar plant in Ontario, Canada, but many large projects are in the planning or construction stages.

The project, being developed by National Solar Power, will consist of 20, 200-acre solar farms each with a capacity of 20 MW.  The panels will be seven feet tall or less and surrounded by vegetation to help them blend into the landscape.  The project will be able to power about 32,000 homes.

The areas that are being considered for the huge solar project are Gadsden, Hardee, Osceola and Suwannee counties in Florida, Sumter and Tatnall counties in Georgia, and Guilford County in North Carolina.  National Solar Power is weighing factors like amount of undeveloped land, economic development and tax incentives, community support and access to a qualified workforce.

The project will create 400 jobs during its five-year construction and about 120 permanent jobs.  The decision of where it will be built should be made by the end of the month.

via Sustainable Business

Image via National Solar

A recent study by the National Resources Defense Council finds that cable and digital recording devices are now "the single largest electricity drain in many American homes." The study found that "In 2010, set-top boxes in the United States consumed approximately 27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual output of nine average (500 MW) coal-fired power plants."

This power consumption translates to roughly $3 billion in annual electricity costs paid by consumers, as well as being responsible for the release of 16 million metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. Furthermore, according to the NRDC report, an average HD set-top cable box and HD-DVR uses more energy (446 kWh/year) than an average 21 cubic foot Energy Star refrigerator (415 kWh/year).

Even worse than the "standby drain" of electricity used by equipment in a supposedly "off" position, many of these television set-top boxes - which include cable and satellite equipment, digital video recorders (DVR), and the like - are on 24 hours a day. Power strips can be useful for turning off these vampire loads, but consumers are reluctant to use those when they want their DVRs to be able to record programs.

NRDC points out that these devices could be designed to be more energy efficient, but that the service companies who provide these to consumers feel little incentive to do so, since it is the end users who pay for that power use.

image: CC-BY 2.0 by Scott Thomson

via: New York Times

The Obama administration will formally propose new fuel efficiency standards in September, but recent meetings with domestic automakers reveal that the administration is gunning for a 56.2 mpg standard for cars and light trucks by 2025.

The new standard would be a huge jump from the current 30.2 mpg standard for cars and 24.1 mpg standard for light trucks.

The White House will hold more meetings with both domestic and foreign automakers and the numbers could change before September.  According to reports, the initial proposal would require automakers to increase fuel efficiency by an average of five percent each year over years 2017 to 2025.

If the 56.2 mpg standard were to be finalized, the cost of new cars could increase by $2,100 - $2,600, but consumers would actually save $5,500 - $7,000 in fuel costs over the life of the car and the extra cost of the car would made back within about 2.5 years.

via The Detroit News

A plan that originated in the 1980s to build a system of interstate bike paths has come back to life after lying dormant for 30 years. Only two stretches of bike interstate were established back then:  U.S. Bicycle Route 1 from Virginia to North Carolina (initially planned to run from Florida to Maine) and U.S. Bicycle Route 76 from Virginia to Illinois (initially planned to run from Virginia to Oregon), but new routes may soon cover the whole country.

The Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials has already approved six new routes. Four of these will be in Alaska, one will span Michigan's lower peninsula and one will go from New Hampshire to Maine.  Another 15 have made it past the planning phase.  The ultimate goal is to have a nationwide system of bicycle routes, and 42 states have expressed support for the plan.

If you're curious, the eight states that haven't jumped onboard yet are Alabama, Hawaii, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

AASHTO has created a full map with prioritized routes marked.  It's a sight to behold.

via GOOD

It's the electric car that we all covet.  It's high performing, long-range, gorgeously designed, crazy expensive, and about to be discontinued. It's being reported that in mere months, Tesla will stop production of the Roadster to start focusing all of its attention on the upcoming Model S sedan.

"People in Europe and Japan probably have another six months to place orders for the Roadster.  In the U.S., it's maybe a month or two," said CEO Elon Musk.  So, if you're one of the lucky people destined to drive a Roadster, act now.

While it's sad to see the Roadster go, there are plenty of exciting EVs coming soon from Tesla.

The Model S is slated to launch next year, while a crossover SUV called the Model X should be revealed by the end of this year, but a production date hasn't been set.  Musk has also promised an affordable $30,000 all-electric sedan within the next five years.

via SF Gate

The Department of Energy is providing backing for a $1.4 billion loan for Project Amp, a plan to install 733 megawatts of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on industrial buildings in 28 states and the District of Columbia. This is nearly equal to the entire amount of PV installed in the US in 2010. The project is expected to lead to the creation of one thousand new jobs and is expected to last for four years.

When complete, Project Amp is expected to produce up to one million megawatt hours annually. The power that is produced is not going to be used on site necessarily, but will instead be fed to the grid to add more solar power to the available production.

image: US Navy Photo

Flow batteries are soon going to be implemented for grid-scale power storage in the US. A test instalation in Modesto, California is being built to provide 25 MW of power for up to 3 hours as well as serving as a demonstration of grid-tied flow battery storage. The Modesto area has wind-energy resources which will serve as the energy source which charges the system.

Flow batteries use large tanks of electrolyte chemicals for a large energy storage capacity, but only a small amount of the chemicals are in contact with the reactive electrodes. This allows large capacity at fairly low cost, since much of the hardware is fairly basic chemical storage tanks and pipes. A more complex kind of flow batteries for electric vehicle charging was also recently noted on EcoGeek.

Primus Power, the company which has developed this technology, received a $2 million award from the US Department of Energy's ARPA-E program last year, and has raised another $11 million in private investment. The company's technology is in the development of low-cost and durable electrodes that will allow flow batteries to function for a long time.

via: EERE News

The Texas state legislature has passed a bill that will require television manufacturers who sell TVs in the state to offer free recycling programs to consumers.  Governor Rick Perry signed the bill into law last week.

TVs both old and new, like other electronic waste, can leach heavy metals and other toxic materials into the ground when not disposed of properly, but this new law will make sure manufacturers have a better plan for them at the end of their lifecycle, and possibly even start making them with safer materials.

Advocates of the new recycling requirement at TexasTakeBack.org say "by making the producer responsible for their end of life products, there is a market-based incentive to start designing for reuse, recycling and with safer materials.”

The Consumer Electronics Association also backed the bill.

via Earth911

Virgin will use the so-called LEAP engines, which were designed by CFM International, Snecma and GE, in 30 new airbuses and in 30 existing A320s.  The engine will cut fuel use and carbon emissions by 15 percent, while reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by 50 percent.  For those worried about noise pollution as well, the new engines will reduce noise by 15 decibels -- a significant difference.