Discover Magazine: Mankind Leaves Its Marks On Earth As Seen From Space:

*Work a look for the sattelite imagery alone - Dan*

http://discovermagazine.com/galleries/2015/june/mankind-leaves-its-mark-on-earth

Green News Of The Day

Greenwashing or Progress? Exxon Shareholders Issue Calls for Climate Accountability

Candice Bernd, Truthout: Investors at ExxonMobil's annual shareholders meeting rejected most of the 11 climate- and good-governance-related proposals brought forward this week in Dallas. Climate justice activists are now pointing out the limits of shareholder activism -- and calling for a larger movement to divest from the company.

Read the Article 

For Trump, Global Warming Only Exists When It Affects His Profits

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: Trump is a climate change denier except when climate disruption impacts his bottom line.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

How to Feed the World as the Planet Warms

Read the EcoWatch Article at BuzzFlash

May 27, 2016

News for wind power professionals and advocates SIGN UP ⋅   FORWARD

Industry Update Generation Wind is key to clean energy future, says AWEA's Brown The US has the potential to source 80% of its total electricity from renewables within the next several decades, according to American Wind Energy Association Chairman Chris Brown. To accomplish this goal, Brown argues that wind advocates must build on the industry's current momentum by training a future generation of like-minded individuals dedicated to renewable energy growth and using new technology to drive down costs. "With this new generation of talented young leaders, wind power will cross the bridge to a clean energy future, and we will arrive on the right side of history, where energy is cleaner, cheaper and abundant," he writes. The Huffington Post (5/26)  Opinion: Wind energy has gone mainstream Wind has evolved from a fledgling, grass-roots energy source into a mainstream form of generation strongly rooted in corporate America, writes Daniel Gross. He argues that this shift was especially apparent at the American Wind Energy Association's WINDPOWER 2016 conference in New Orleans, where companies traditionally associated with fossil fuels, such as ExxonMobil, had exhibits marketing products they now produce for the wind industry. Slate (5/27)       MHI Vestas: US offshore wind stands to benefit from European experience The US offshore wind industry has much to gain from Europe's experience developing its 11-gigawatt installed offshore wind capacity, according to MHI Vestas Offshore Wind. "With over 90% of offshore installations happening in Europe, we as an industry have 11 GW of experience to draw upon. The US is in a tremendously advantageous position to capitalize on the lessons learnt from projects in Europe," said Chief Sales Officer Thomas Karst at the American Wind Energy Association's WINDPOWER 2016. Offshore Wind Journal (U.K.) (5/27)

A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). View the Web version.

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
EERE Network News
EERE on Facebook	EERE on LinkedIn	Energy Saver on Facebook	Energy Saver on Twitter
May 25, 2016
News and Events Energy Department Launches Five New Solar Ready Vets Training Locations, Announces $10 Million for National Training Programs New Study Charts Progress on SunShot Initiative Goals, Identifies Solar Opportunities Energy Department Names City of San Francisco First Climate Action Champion for Hydrogen, Fuel Cell Technologies EERE Blog Students Debut Redesigned 2016 Chevrolet Camaros at EcoCAR 3 Competition
News and Events
Energy Department Launches Five New Solar Ready Vets Training Locations, Announces $10 Million for National Training Programs On May 17, the Energy Department announced five additional military bases will join the Solar Ready Vets jobs training program that prepares service members for careers in the solar industry when they leave active duty. The Energy Department also announced plans to award $10 million through its Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP) funding program, which was created to help meet the solar industry’s growing demand for well-qualified, highly skilled installers and other industry-related professionals. These efforts build on the SunShot Initiative’s Solar Instructor Training Network, which has trained 1,100 certified solar instructors and provided hands-on solar workforce training to more than 30,000 students through the nation’s community colleges. Today the solar industry is a leader in hiring military veterans—employing nearly 17,000 veterans to date—with the goal to employ 50,000 veterans by 2020. The SunShot Initiative's Solar Ready Vets program trains our nation’s skilled military service members to succeed in the solar energy industry by teaching them how to size and install solar energy systems, safely connect them to the grid, and comply with local building codes. To help meet President Obama’s goal of training 75,000 solar workers by 2020, the 10 new STEP-funded training projects will advance America’s solar workforce by training technicians for solar careers. One awardee under the STEP program, The Solar Foundation, will serve to support Solar Ready Vets and the five new bases as the national administrator of the training program. Another awardee, the Clean Energy States Alliance of Montpelier, Vermont, will receive $568,000 to provide resources and training for state and local government officials on how to ensure inclusive participation in the solar economy. And Elevate Energy of Chicago, Illinois, will receive $445,027 to educate residential real estate agents, appraisers, and related regulatory officials about solar energy systems through web-based, continuing education classes. See the Energy Department news release for a full list of awardees. New Study Charts Progress on SunShot Initiative Goals, Identifies Solar Opportunities The Energy Department on May 18 released the On the Path to SunShot reports, a series of eight research papers examining the state of the U.S. solar energy industry and progress toward the SunShot Initiative’s goal to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by 2020. The United States has over 10 times more solar capacity installed today compared to when the SunShot Initiative was launched in 2011, and the overall costs of solar have dropped by 65%. The solar industry is currently about 70% of the way toward achieving the Initiative’s 2020 goals. The new reports explore the lessons learned in the first five years of the 10-year Initiative and identify key research, development, and market opportunities that can help to ensure that solar energy technologies are widely affordable and available to power millions more American homes and businesses. The SunShot Initiative was created with the goal to reduce the cost of solar energy technologies by 75% within a decade across the residential, commercial, and utility-scale sectors. A recurring theme in the studies is that sustained innovation across all levels of the industry—from cell efficiency improvements, to faster and cheaper installation methods—will help to achieve the Energy Department’s SunShot goals. The On the Path to SunShot series was developed in collaboration with leading researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. See the Energy Department news release. Energy Department Names City of San Francisco First Climate Action Champion for Hydrogen, Fuel Cell Technologies The Energy Department on May 20 announced the City of San Francisco has been selected as the first Climate Action Champion to pursue hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for local transportation. In addition, Strategic Analysis, Inc., of Arlington, Virginia, will analyze the cost competitiveness for various hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, including those used in hydrogen infrastructure relevant to San Francisco and other projects. The nearly $4.75 million in funding for both efforts will go toward the development of education and outreach programs to increase the deployment of fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure, as well as provide detailed cost analyses for hydrogen fuel cell systems, hydrogen storage, and hydrogen production and delivery technologies. In December of 2014, the White House launched the Climate Action Champions Initiative and announced 16 communities from around the country, including the City of San Francisco, as the first class of Climate Action Champions. These communities were recognized for their strong commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and the fight against climate change. See the Energy Department news release.
EERE Blog
Students Debut Redesigned 2016 Chevrolet Camaros at EcoCAR 3 Competition The third edition of the Energy Department’s EcoCAR competition is underway, as 16 collegiate teams from across North America redesign the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro to reduce its environmental impact while maintaining the performance expected from the iconic American car. Teams participating in EcoCAR 3 have been working on re-engineering their Camaros since receiving them earlier this year, and they are currently putting their work to the test at this year’s competition. The 2016 EcoCAR 3 competition, which runs through May 26, is the first chance the teams have had to bring their vehicles together and show them off to judges and organizers. Teams gathered from May 16-21 for the first stage of the competition in Yuma, Arizona, at the GM Desert Proving Grounds. There, the teams’ cars underwent a series of safety and technical inspections and qualified for on-road vehicle testing. The competition will culminate on May 26 with an awards ceremony honoring the winners of all judged categories and the overall winner of the 2016 competition. For the complete story, see the EERE Blog.
This newsletter is funded by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and is also available on the EERE website. If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact the editor, Ernie Tucker.

The Desperate Plight of Petro-States

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36200-the-desperate-plight-of-petro-states

Fwd: Opinion: Wind education is important, must be fact-based

Opinion: Wind education is important, must be fact-based | NREL: Floating offshore projects could yield $40B for Calif. | Berkshire Hathaway signs 1.75 GW O&M deal with UpWind  |  Web Version ADVERTISEMENT May 23, 2016   News for wind power professionals and advocates SIGN UP ⋅   FORWARD Industry Update Opinion: Wind education is important, must be fact-based It is important for the public to learn about wind development, but wind education must be based on fact, not fiction, writes NextEra Energy Resources Project Director of Development Jeremy Ferrell. More than 60 peer-reviewed studies have examined the relationship between wind development and human health without finding any adverse effects. In addition, he writes, it's been proved that wind farms can be very beneficial for the communities they're built near. St. Joseph News-Press (Mo.) (5/21)       NREL: Floating offshore projects could yield $40B for Calif. Floating offshore wind farms could pump up to $40 billion into California's economy if the industry were to deploy 16 gigawatts by 2050, according to a study released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The study, commissioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said that such a timeline would result in 6,500 new jobs by 2030, and 28,000 new positions by 2045. In a second 10-GW-by-2050 scenario, NREL said that the industry could add $16.2 billion to the state's economy. ReNews.biz (U.K.) (5/18)       Berkshire Hathaway signs 1.75 GW O&M deal with UpWind Berkshire Hathaway Energy has contracted Vestas' UpWind Solutions to provide operations and maintenance services for its 1.75-gigawatt portfolio of General Electric turbines in Iowa, Wyoming and Oregon. "This is a great achievement and validates the market strength we see in UpWind Solutions," said Chris Brown, Vestas' president of sales and service operations in the US and Canada. "This partnership confirms they are the trusted fleetwide enabler of production for multi-brand customers," he added. ReNews.biz (U.K.) (5/20)       Editorial: Mass. needs offshore wind, hydro to meet 2020 goals (Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images) Massachusetts must embrace both offshore wind development and hydro sources if it wants to curb its carbon emissions 25% by 2020, writes the editorial board of The Boston Globe. Rather than pitting offshore wind and hydro against each other, lawmakers should advance legislation that opens the door for both, argues the board. "The fact of the matter is that right now only hydro can meet the state's goals on the state's timeline. But the state will need wind, too, so farsighted legislation would provide for both," it writes. The Boston Globe (tiered subscription model) (5/22)         Project Focus GE secures hub logistics services from Blue Water for R.I. project Blue Water USA has agreed to provide General Electric with hub logistics services in Rhode Island's Port of Providence as the latter works to develop the Block Island offshore wind farm. Blue Water said that it would supply heavy lifting and turbine storage services for the 30-megawatt project. The project is expected to begin operations this year. ReNews.biz (U.K.) (5/23)       Vietnam, GE to add 1 GW of installed wind capacity by 2025 General Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop 1 gigawatt of installed wind capacity by 2025. According to the deal, GE will help the ministry identify possible opportunities for wind development. The company will then partner with local companies on project development. SeeNews Renewables (5/23)       UK offshore consortium secures $1.9B for proposed project Masdar, Statoil and Statkraft have secured $1.9 billion in financing for the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of England in the North Sea. The project will have a total capacity of 402 megawatts. "Closing such a significant phase of the project's development so swiftly illustrates the energy industry's confidence in the long-term potential of offshore wind, and the increasing sophistication of financing models available to the sector," said Dudgeon Offshore Wind Chairman Halfdan Brustad. CleanTechnica (5/19)       Economy, Energy & Trends Analysis: Big cities can make or break efforts to curb emissions Major cities in the US must lead the fight against climate change because they have the greatest need and potential to make a difference, according to this analysis. A study recently published in the journal Science discusses various measures to help cities overhaul the way the source electricity, including the use of small turbines and solar panels. Study co-author Daniel Kammen said that several major cities around the world are already using urban turbines. The Washington Post (tiered subscription model) (5/20)       Policy Watch 87% of N.C. voters support renewable energy, says advocacy group Eighty-seven percent of 800 North Carolina voters polled by Conservatives for Clean Energy said they support renewables, like wind and solar, while 88% said they support new energy efficiency financing. Paul Shumaker, a Republican political strategist, said the poll "shows there continues to be strong support for renewable energy in North Carolina, and that's driven by the economic benefits and technology, the fact that technology is making our lives better and in a lot of ways making it cheaper." The Charlotte Observer (N.C.) (5/20)       AWEA News Countdown to #GenerationWind After months of planning and anticipation, WINDPOWER 2016 starts today. And using #GenerationWind on Twitter and other social media is one of the best ways you can join the conversation. Whether you're at the conference, or admiring from far away, you can stay plugged into everything that's going on or even add your voice to what #GenerationWind means to you. Read more.      Reports show wind poised for record growth and major carbon-cutting role Several new reports find wind energy is poised for record growth over the next several years, as utilities lock in historically low wind prices for their customers while also making a large down payment on required cuts to carbon pollution. EIA and the Bipartisan Policy Center predict that the US will roughly double its use of wind energy over the next five years, consistent with modeling released by NREL earlier this year and last year's Energy Department Wind Vision scenario of wind providing 10% of US electricity by 2020. Read more.      Learn more about AWEA: AWEA Home | AWEA and Wind News | Events | Take Action CAREERS IN WIND powered by Project Manager CLEAN LINE ENERGY - Houston, Texas Condition Monitoring Analyst BACHMANN ELECTRONIC - Charlestown, Massachusetts View More Listings | Post a Job One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself. Shannon Alder, writer      These stories were selected and summarized by independent editors at SmartBrief Inc., not by AWEA's staff, and do not represent AWEA positions. They reflect the variety of daily coverage of American wind power. Sign Up SmartBrief offers 200+ newsletters Advertise Learn more about the SmartBrief audience Subscriber Tools: Search Contact Us: Advertising  -  Megan Kessler P: 202.517.6295 Editor  -  Bryan McBournie Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 © 1999-2016 SmartBrief, Inc.® Privacy policy |  Legal Information