Renewable Energy World - GeoThermal

A geothermal developer got a big boost this week when U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a partial guarantee for a $98.5 million loan to the 49.5 megawatt Blue Mountain geothermal project in Humboldt County in northwestern Nevada.

The Idaho-based geothermal power plant developer U.S. Geothermal is partnering with a major North American energy company on a 35-MW project in Oregon.

Yesterday the Rick Scott campaign attacked a group of businessmen and farmers who believe that renewable energy is the path to creating new jobs and growing Florida's economy. His response - more nuclear.

A group of businessmen, farmers and renewable energy advocates who met today to support Alex Sink for Governor, were abruptly met with an attack from the Rick Scott campaign.

What about a recently laid-off woman who now pushes a reel mower yard to yard to make money? Would lawn lady's be a green job created, a general job lost, or would the two cancel one another for a net job gain of zero?

The evolving discussion over renewable energy technologies has a tendency to get a bit technical. Most of us who work in the renewable energy space take for granted that many potential customers, investors and partners haven't spent any time in academia studying photovaltaics or wind turbines. In fact, they may not have a background in general energy metrics. Terms that once belonged to the realm of industry-insider jargon are quickly becoming standard. Thus, anyone who wants to follow the renewable versus traditional energy debate needs to know what we mean when we say "watt." Here, then, is a brief crash course in energy lingo.

In what they are calling a "clear and easy choice" for the future of the renewable energy industry, the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE), announced today their endorsement of State CFO Alex Sink for Governor and encouraged every organization, business and individual involved in the renewable energy industry to do the same.

Many investors find the prospect of selecting individual stocks simply too daunting. For those investors interested in investing in peak oil, but uncomfortable with the risks and moral dilemmas inherent in oil company stocks, there is another option: Powershares Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio (PTRP).

The huge turbines at the Guanting Wind Farm are popular backdrops for photos of newly married couples who find the 60-meter-tall structures a symbol of modernity; an endearing addition to the distant mountains, corn fields and lake a few dozen kilometers outside bustling Beijing.

Turkey plans to connect to the European electrical grid this month using GE's smart grid technology. The Turkish Electricity Transmission Company (TEIAS) will now be able to buy and sell power in the European electricity market, hopefully expanding the reliability and availability of energy, especially renewable energy, throughout all of Europe.

The Peace Corps announced late last month that the U.S. Department of State will provide $1 million to fund the program in support of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA). The money will help Peace Corps efforts that increase rural access to energy, mitigate the effects of climate change, and support the use of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies in Central and South American communities.

Coming on the heels of yesterday's announcement that California is moving closer to setting grid energy storage mandates for utilities in the state, today Pike Research released a new report that says the grid energy storage market could reach as much as $35 billion by 2020.

As policymakers consider energy and environmental goals, renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are one popular tool to encourage the development of renewable power resources. These regulations, also called renewable electricity standards, typically require utilities to source a specified percentage of their power from qualified renewable sources. States adopt RPS programs to incentivize the development of new capacity, reduce their carbon footprints and mitigate volatility in fossil fuel prices. While such regulations do have cost impacts to ratepayers, proponents argue that their benefits exceed their costs.

The Chilean government is getting serious about geothermal. Last week, the country's energy minister said that Chile will support over $200 million in geothermal investments over the next two years.

The Government of the province of Neuquén, Argentina, through its Agency for Investment Promotion and Development (Agencia de Promocion y Desarrollo de Inversiones – ADI-Nqn), has launched a Public Call to Investors interested in developing proposals for the award of an exploration contract to discover and produce endogenous steam in the areas of "MARIA VICTORIA" and "MAITENA" mines in Domuyo, both of which are property of the Agency.

A new government study shows that Americans are using less energy overall and making more use of renewable energy resources.

In the wind-swept desert of northern Nevada, U.S. Geothermal Inc. has set out to rebuild and nearly triple the output of an obsolete 3.6 MW (net) binary power plant, then add a new facility that will increase total production to 35 MW.