That shift is already evident in the McAlpine Creek area in southeast Charlotte, N.C., which has been turned into a test bed for solar-powered electricity and smart grid technology thanks to a partnership between Duke Energy and Sunstore Solar.

The McAlpine substation now features an array of 213 solar panels that provide 50 kilowatts of electricity, or enough to power five homes when the panels are operating, Woods said.

The array installed by Sunstore Solar generates an electric current as sunlight hits the surface of the solar panels. Part of that electricity is fed directly back into the electric grid powering the McAlpine homes. The rest of the electricity will be used to charge a 500-kilowatt storage battery when energy is available, but in low demand, Woods said.

The second aspect to the McAlpine Creek project is implementing smart grid technology, which combined with the solar panels and battery, creates a virtual power plant, according to Duke Energy.

Smart grid technology involves using smart meters and digital communications that improve reliability, reduce outage duration and provide customers with usage data and the ability to customize their energy usage, leading to greater efficiency and savings, according to Duke Energy.

“Today’s electric distribution system has changed little over the past 100 years,” said David Mohler, Duke Energy’s chief technology officer. “Smart grid will provide a 21st-century, two-way digital communications link between the company and its customers.”

Mohler added that Duke Energy plans to launch similar installations throughout its system in the future.

While the McAlpine Creek project is of a moderate size and scope, Woods said some areas in Florida and California are beginning to complete large array installations where huge fields of systems are being used to power entire communities and subdivisions.

As the clean energy and sustainability movement gains popularity, Woods envisions more utility companies adopting solar technology and generating solar-powered electricity to sell to their customers.

Large commercial customers, such as universities or corporations, will generate their own clean energy as well, he said.

“I think we’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak,” Woods said. “The price of solar has come down. It’s really beginning to take hold, (and) we’re fixing to see wide-scale adoption of these technologies.”

Via Anna Lee

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“The scientific research efforts of CALCD, combined with those of 45 other new EFRCs, are focused on the development of lower-cost renewable fuels that can be produced in the U.S.,” said Bruce. “The ultimate goal is to develop new environmentally friendly reaction processes that will help to decrease the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels.”

Bruce said that most renewable fuels now must be subsidized by government entities to be cost-competitive with fossil fuels. The materials that will be developed by the catalyst design center will enable renewable fuels to be produced at a lower cost and allow more of the feedstock to be converted into usable fuel and chemical products, which will further reduce the carbon footprint of new production processes.

Bruce will receive $714,000 for five years to use advanced computational methods to provide the molecular insights needed for collaborators on the project to prepare catalyst materials that are optimally suited to convert cellulose and other waste organic materials into renewable liquid fuels and bio-derived chemicals.

“Using state-of-the-art simulation and material-characterization methods, we plan to develop the next generation of catalysts and reaction processes that are needed to efficiently produce the bio-derived fuels of tomorrow,” said Bruce. “We expect to make significant discoveries in the coming years given the exceptional computational facilities at Clemson. The Palmetto high performance computer system and Internet 2 connectivity at Clemson will greatly enhance our abilities to model these reaction systems and interact with the other center investigators.”

The Center for Atomic-Level Catalyst Design, located at Louisiana State University, is a collaborative effort that includes 21 investigators from nine institutions in the United States and Europe. Bruce will serve as its coordinator for all simulation efforts. James Goodwin, a professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Clemson, will serve as a consultant to the project for one year.

Via David Bruce Clemson.edu

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The program, which was implemented in early 2003, collects methane gas at The Palmetto Landfill in Wellford and transports it more than nine miles via pipeline to BMW’s production plant near Greer.

More than 60 percent of the plant’s total energy requirements are met by burning methane gas, and Bobby Hitt, department manager of media and public affairs for BMW Manufacturing Co., said the expansion will help the company more efficiently use the gas siphoned from the landfill.

“We’re all about innovation and improving our sustainability at BMW,” he said. “We’re happy to be able to add on to this program.”

Hitt said the new system will include two gas turbine generators capable of producing 11,000 kilowatts of electricity. The two new turbines will replace four older ones — improving output from 14 percent to nearly 30 percent while using the same amount of methane.

The landfill project has saved the automaker about $5 million in energy costs annually. The new turbines are expected to increase those savings by up to $2 million a year while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 92,000 tons per year.

“BMW’s landfill gas program has been a tremendous initiative for the plant,” BMW Manufacturing President Josef Kerscher said in a statement. “Using methane gas to power our plant is one example of our focus on environmentally-friendly production processes.”

The German automaker has undertaken a $750 million expansion to add 1.5 million square feet of production space and 500 jobs as it seeks to ramp up annual vehicle production from 160,000 units to 240,000 units by 2012.

Once the additions go online, BMW’s X3, X5 and X6 models, and their respective variants, will be produced exclusively in Spartanburg for more than 120 markets around the globe.

But Hitt said the expansion of the gas-to-energy program had less to do with increased energy needs and more to do with improving the plant’s ability to collect and use methane.

“It’s a great project for us,” he said. “The new turbines are highly efficient and that’s really what this is all about.”

Methane, which is produced as landfill waste decomposes, is considered to be a very potent greenhouse gas.

Data provided by BMW said the new landfill gas program will reduce CO2 emissions by 92,000 tons per year, up from 65,000 tons previously reported for the four turbines operating 85 percent of the time.

Via GoUpstate.com

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In 2007, the state had 11,255 clean energy jobs and 884 clean energy businesses. It showed a 36.2 percent growth rate during a 10-year period, the Pew Charitable Trusts said in its new report, “The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Business and Investments Across America.”

Nationally, the clean energy economy grew at a 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, the report found. “South Carolina has a small but fast-growing piece of the nation’s clean energy economy,” said Heyward Bannister, Pew’s South Carolina representative.

The report counted jobs in each state that exist because of environmentally friendly businesses and services. It did not include estimates, multipliers or projections.

In South Carolina, those jobs include companies such as Argand Energy Solutions. The 15-worker company designs and installs solar-powered electric and hot-water systems. And the state keeps recruiting new clean energy companies. Earlier this year, Peregrine Energy Corp. of Greenville announced plans for a $135 million biomass energy plant. It is slated to open in 2012 and would employ 30 full-time workers. The plant will burn byproducts from the logging industry to provide 50 megawatts of electricity for Sonoco’s Hartsville plant.

South Carolina’s clean energy economy grew at an average annual rate of 3.56 percent, the report said. The clean energy sector’s growth rate was 16 times faster than the overall job growth rate, the report said.

Among the other findings:

–South Carolina ranked ninth nationally in the fastest-growing percentage of clean-energy jobs.

–South Carolina ranked 24th in the nation in the number of clean-energy jobs.

–It ranked 25th in the number of clean energy businesses.

–The state ranked 28th in the number of clean technology patent registrations.

–Clean-energy jobs made up less than 1 percent of the state’s 2 million jobs.

–South Carolina had not attracted venture capital funding for clean energy jobs.

–South Carolina offers financial incentives to drive the clean-energy economy.

–The state does not participate in regional initiatives such as multistate agreements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

–South Carolina does not require electricity providers to provide a minimum percentage of customer power from renewable resources.

Via Post and Courier

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In “The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America,” Pew developed a data-driven definition of the clean energy economy and conducted the first-ever hard count across all 50 states of the actual jobs, companies and venture capital investments that are supplying the market for environmentally friendly products and services.

Pew’s analysis found that between 1998 and 2007, jobs in South Carolina’s clean energy economy grew at a rate of 36.2%, while the overall number of jobs in South Carolina grew by 2.2%.

“South Carolina’s clean energy economy is growing quickly,” said Heyward Bannister, S.C. representative for the Pew Environment Group. “South Carolina’s program providing low-interest loans for building renewable energy facilities, including those powered by wind and solar, should help the state expand its clean energy economy.”

South Carolina was part of a national trend that saw job growth in the clean energy economy outperforming overall job growth in 38 states and the District of Columbia over the same period. Nationally, while jobs in the clean energy economy grew at a rate of 9.1% between 1998 and 2007, total jobs grew by 3.7%.

In 2007, South Carolina’s clean energy economy had nearly 11,300 jobs. The report finds that the emerging industry is creating jobs as diverse as engineers, plumbers, administrative assistants, construction workers, machine setters, marketing consultants and teachers, with annual incomes ranging from $21,000 to $111,000.

Federal and state lawmakers see the sector as helping spur America’s economic recovery and protect the environment. The effort will receive a boost from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocates nearly $85 billion nationwide in direct spending and tax incentives for energy- and transportation-related programs. South Carolina also provides financial incentives for clean energy, such as the Renewable Energy Grants and Loans Program.

“If the true cost of fossil fuel-based energy sources were factored in to the cost of electricity, then the playing field for clean energy would become much more level, and companies like ours could grow exponentially,” said Erik Lensch, president of Argand Energy Solutions, an installer of solar electric, wind energy and solar hot water systems.

Via Charleston Business

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The Energy Saver A/S combines low-rolling-resistance technology with wet braking and all-season performance. The tire’s composition also allows it to stay cooler, which improves fuel efficiency. As a reference point, the low-rolling-resistance tires that are standard on the 2010 Toyota Prius can manage about 5% better fuel economy than optional 17-inch tires that aren’t low-rolling-resistance. Michelin recommends the tires for drivers who travel under 10,000 miles per year.

Michelin will promote the tire through a digital and social media campaign that will begin - where else? - on Facebook. The tire-maker will launch the group Michelin Life Balance, where it will ask users to share unique car stories. Fifty lucky winners will get a $5 Starbucks gift card each day from now until July 4.

Via Tire Business

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“We built the house to demonstrate the use of solar energy to power a house, to charge batteries, anything that electricity is needed to run and introduce these concepts to student,” Building Construction Teacher Don Thompson said.

The students in the building construction class designed the utility shed with a photovaltaic system. It’s powered by the sun passing through these solar panels on the roof. It’s strong enough to run many of the appliances in a 1000 square foot house. The shed is an example of the new wave of building construction.

“And something that every person that’s involved in construction is going to need to know about and the jobs are going be there,” Thompson said.

Student Michael Watson plans to go into carpentry.

“Not only would I be able to build a house now I could also wire it.,” Watson said.

That motivation is exactly why BP-Cooper River funded this project with a 10-thousand dollar grant.

“Some of the students in Don’s class talked about going on to receive engineering degrees. So whether we’re talking about the chemical plant in the Charleston area or a refinery in Indiana or we’re talking about a platform off shore. We need engineering skills and technician skills as well,” Darleen Pope, a spokesperson for BP Cooper River, said.

This building now generates enough electricity to charge a hybrid car.

It was plugged into the house and charged for about a half an hour and has enough juice to run for hundreds of miles.

The system is also designed with a monitor that transmits data to a web site that can be accessed by teachers for use in science engineering classes.

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Speaking in Columbia Monday, alongside Savannah River Nuclear Solutions President and CEO Chuck Munns, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that nuclear power, and plants located within the Savannah River Site, must be a vital part of our collective energy future.

More than 50 percent of our energy comes from nuclear energy, according to Clyburn.

“The fact is we only use about 38 of that - the rest we are supplying,” he said. “If we aren’t careful, we will be subsidizing other states, and we won’t get credit in this portfolio.”

Clyburn said that South Carolina is simply not suited for solar or wind energy production, and renewable energy policy to benefit South Carolina must be nuclear-heavy.

“We produce just enough wind to ruin a good golf shot,” the Whip quipped.

Clyburn recognized the fears associated with nuclear power but believes that the technology has made the energy significantly safer in the last few decades.

Since that time, designs have improved significantly.

“France gets 80 percent of its energy from nuclear power. I don’t think they are smarter people than we are,” he said.

The Democrat also threw his continuing support behind nuclear reprocessing coming to the local area and the much maligned Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility.

“We’ve got to keep the research going on that, keep the reprocessing in place, and I believe the Savannah River Site will be a significant part of that,” he said.

Contact Mike Gellatly at mgellatly@aikenstandard.com.

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It could be simply using a cloth bag for groceries instead of plastic.

Or, it could be attending a meeting of the Pachamama Alliance to learn how to preserve a tropical rainforest. Or volunteering at an organic farm.

Those and other ideas were on display Wednesday at the Clemson University Earth Day Green Fair at the Outdoor Theater on campus. A total of about a dozen groups, green businesses and student clubs and departments set up booths to let passing students know about ways to work to help the environment.

Kate Leigh, 29, of Marquette, Mich., a doctoral student in the Clemson wildlife and fisheries biology program, was representing the Natural Resources Graduate Student Association.

The group “fits real well with the Earth Day philosophy,” she said.

Residents in the Upstate should be aware of the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in the sediment of Hartwell Lake and the need for “how to responsibly develop land” and keep from destroying wildlife habitats and other ecological resources, she said.

Students for Environmental Awareness club members Kelly Russo, 19, of Tampa, Fla., and Tricia Black, 19, of Memphis, Tenn., said they were there to promote environmental awareness, seek club members and sell some T-shirts to raise money for the Clemson group. The club, they said, promotes environmental issues around campus.

From behind a display of insects, department of entomology, soils and plant sciences interim department Chairwoman Pat Zungoli let students and staff members know that while agriculture is a key part of the department, “it is much broader than that.”

“We cover a lot of environmental issues that are not really at the forefront,” Zungoli said.

Students from the department work on a wide range of jobs that are important in the agricultural and environmental world.

“Agriculture has changed a great deal,” Zungoli said. “Modern agriculture is not the agriculture of 100 years ago.”

Clemson Area Transit offered a bike giveaway to promote bike and ride as a way to get to classes. Holly Brown, a CAT employee, said the agency had information to explain “how it is environmentally friendly to ride the bus.”

Nancy Carnes, a Clemson forestry school graduate who became a St. Clare nun, said she was informing people about the Pachamama Alliance’s effort to preserve tropical rainforests and let people know about environmental problems and opportunities available.

Biosystems Engineering Student Club members Kara Kopf, 22, of Columbia, and Keelin Cassidy, who also is a Clemson employee and recruiter for the club, said they were there to explain the department’s work and the role it plays in environmental work. Graduates are involved in biofuel research, watershed monitoring, and more, they said.

“It’s a very growing field. There are a lot of opportunities,” Kopf said.

They demonstrated an experiment that can take microbes in water and create electricity. The idea already is in use in a wastewater plant, they said.

Kyle McClean came from Columbia to set up a booth for Empower America, a nonpartisan group trying to get climate change legislation passed in Congress. He also was trying to recruit volunteers to help spread the word, he said.

The group supports green jobs, more fuel-efficient vehicles and reducing carbon emissions, said McCLean, a field coordinator for the group.

Via Independent Mail

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Cherokee Technology Center students are working to secure an Energy Star rating by building an energy efficient house. This international standard involves using energy efficient consumer products and smaller residential heating and cooling units to reduce energy consumption.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian nonprofit organization that works to make home ownership a reality for local residents. The houses are sold at no profit and no interest to selected homeowners, who make low monthly house payments and must spend 300 volunteer hours to help build their new home.

Carpentry teacher Johnny Breitenbach estimates the future Habitat for Humanity homeowner could save as much as $50 a month on their utility bills in the energy efficient home being built by students.

“This is the first time our students have ever attempted to build an energy efficient house,” Breitenbach said. “This is a much tighter building plan where we have to do very specific things, like air sealing around windows to reduce the amount of outdoor air that goes into the home.”

The Cherokee Technology Center building trade classes have helped volunteers build houses for Habitat for Humanity since 2003.

“We are always looking for new things we can teach students to help prepare them to be successful in the construction industry,” Breitenbach said. “We wanted our students to learn how to build a more energy efficient house. This is a great education opportunity for our students.”

The house is expected to be ready for its energy rating inspection by the end of the month, Breitenbach said. The inspection will look at the home’s duct work, heating

and cooling systems, and overall

construction practices to determine

whether it meets the Environmental Protection Agency’s requirements for an Energy Star rating.

Devices carrying the Energy Star logo, such as houses, save energy consumption of between 20 and 30 percent.

“Our students are learning a valuable skill they will need for working in the construction business,” Breitenbach said. “There is going to be a great demand to build houses that are more energy efficient and environmentally friendly in the future.”

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