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.

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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.

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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.

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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.