Welcoming New Members!

Project GREEN is welcoming students from all grades to join us in our third year as a club! While Project GREEN is proud of our accomplishments the past two years, such as our partnership with the Medway Community Farm, successfully hosting two "Earth Weeks", and now implementing a Battery Bank, we still have goals and dreams each member is so eager to accomplish. As a club we make sure our work ethic is diligent but at the same time a load of fun! Throughout the year we enjoyed bonding nights. We started off with a tie-dye party, then a movie night where we watched Wall-E.  We ended the year with a dreamboard party where we outlined our goals to raise awareness and take action in going green in a collage and not to mention food! Project GREEN members look forward to each meeting to voice their opinions, dreams, and ideas about environmental issues and actions to go green with their friends in a relaxed environment. Project GREEN hopes to have many new members in the upcoming year to share our excitement and passion for saving our environment!!  Head to the website and sign up today!

~Erin Espinosa
   President

Google Makes $280 Million Investment In Fund For Rooftop Solar Panels.

The Los Angeles Times (6/15, Hsu) reports, "In a move that could boost solar energy use in homes, Google Inc. is creating a $280-million fund to help finance rooftop installations." Google "said the deal with SolarCity, a solar panel installation company based in San Mateo, Calif., is the largest green investment it has ever made." The deal stipulates that SolarCity will use the fund created by Google to cover the installation and maintenance of rooftop panels.

        The AP (6/15) adds that Google's "money will allow installer SolarCity to offer solar systems to homeowners for no money up front. In exchange, customers agree to pay a set price for the power produced by the panels. Google earns a return on its investment by charging SolarCity interest to use its money and reaping the benefits of federal and local renewable energy tax credits."

        The Wall Street Journal (6/15, Chernova, Subscription Publication) reports that the deal is a manifestation of Google's desire for strong financial returns on low-risk projects. To date, Google has invested $680 million in renewable energy projects. According to Google's director of green business operations, Rick Needham, the company sees renewables as an investment, and not a burden. Furthermore, Needham says that investing in clean energy makes sense, since the prices of fossil fuels are constantly changing.

        DOE Offers Nearly $2 Billion In Loan Guarantees For Two Solar Projects. Dow Jones Newswires (6/15, Sweet) reports that the Department of Energy announced Tuesday that it has offered almost $2 billion in conditional loan guarantees for solar power projects being developed in California by NextEra Energy Inc. and Abengoa S.A. Abengoa was offered a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to help build its 250-megawatt Mojave solar-thermal power project in San Bernardino County that is expected to be finished and generating electricity by December 2013. The agency also offered NextEra a $681.6 million loan guarantee to build the 250-megawatt Genesis solar-thermal power project on federal land in Riverside, which is expected to be operational by November 2013. Both companies have signed power purchase agreements with PG&E Corp.'s utility.

More Graduation Gowns Made From Recycled Materials.

The Los Angeles Times (6/11, Hsu) reported, "Graduation planners around the country are greening their ceremonies, cutting back on printed materials and balloons filled with non-renewable helium and choosing compostable dinnerware, biodegradable water bottles and campus-grown floral displays." This was the case at Caltech's recent graduation, where according to the Times graduates were wearing over 12,000 recycled bottles' worth of graduation gowns and caps. Oak Hall Cap and Gown, which manufactured the garments used at Caltech's graduation, "introduced the GreenWeaver line of eco-friendly garb in late 2009 and has seen orders nearly triple in the last year." The Times noted, "Oak Hall experimented with fabrics made from bamboo and wood pulp before deciding on the GreenWeaver material, which it said was softer and more breathable than traditional gowns - while looking no different."

UTA Installing 1,500 Low-Flow Showerheads.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram (6/6, Smith) reported the University of Texas at Arlington "is installing 1,500 low-flow showerheads in residence halls and other student housing" that "were provided by the city and are part of ongoing efforts to promote water conservation and sustainable practices." Dustan Compton, the conservation program coordinator for Arlington, said the new showerheads "use 1.5 gallons of water per minute, compared with 2.5 gallons per minute for standard showerheads." UTA officials said the showerhead initiative dovetailed with the school's broader goal of improving sustainability on campus.

End of Year Dream Board Party!

Next Thursday, June 9th, Project GREEN will hold its final meeting of the year and look toward the future.  We're making a dream board (or two), so bring FOOD, bring ART SUPPLIES, bring your CREATIVITY, and bring your DREAMS for Project GREEN as we set goals for the years to come.

Solar-Assisted EV Charging Station Unveiled.

Tennessee's Oak Ridger (5/28, Huotari) reported, "A new charging station where up to 25 electric vehicles can recharge their batteries at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will likely be the largest in Tennessee, officials said after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning. The 25-vehicle charging station is solar-assisted, meaning it has roof-mounted solar panels that can pump power into the electric grid when the sun is shining." The solar-assisted electric vehicle charging stations are part of an electric vehicle demonstration project led by the DOE and industry partners. "Wednesday's ceremony included officials from the lab, state of Tennessee, US Department of Energy, and Tennessee Valley Authority, as well as executives from Nissan and ECOtality North America."

Pilot Project To Test New Biofuel Production Method.

The Tri-City (WA) Herald (5/18, Cary) reports that a DOE grant "will pay for a pilot project to test a promising new way to produce biofuel and use Mid-Columbia ag and other waste to do it. The $1.5 million "BioChemCat" pilot project will be conducted at the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory at Washington State University Tri-Cities in cooperation with the Port of Benton, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and startup company Clean-Vantage." The goal of the program is to demonstrate that many types of agricultural waste can be converted into jet fuel, diesel or gasoline with the BioChemCat process. The article explains that "unlike most biofuel manufacturing, the fuel doesn't need to be bone dry, which requires energy at the front-end of the production process and increases cost and production time."

Town Owner Pushes For "Sustainable Wonderland."

The Los Angeles Times (5/4, Hsu) profiles the town of Nipton, California, which when Gerald Freeman stumbled upon it in 1984 had become a virtual ghost town, but after buying the town for $200,000, Freeman thinks he has discovered what to do with the Mojave Desert outpost. "He put up rows of gleaming solar panels, and recently began selling hats emblazoned with the hamlet's new motto: 'Nipton, powered by the sun.' It's part of a major push to make Nipton a sustainable wonderland, a green hospitality center for nature lovers headed into the neighboring Mojave National Preserve." He also has plans for energy-efficient buildings, electric vehicle charging stations and more solar installations. But "Nipton isn't the only US town hopping on the environmental bandwagon," as the Times cites other towns, including Greensburg, Kansas which has adopted a green push since the town was nearly destroyed by a tornado in 2007.

Artificial Leaf Design Stable, Uses Inexpensive Components.

The Wired (3/28, Brown) "Wired Science" blog reports "MIT professor Daniel Nocera claims to have created an artificial leaf made from stable and inexpensive materials that mimics nature's photosynthesis process." The artificial leaf is "no bigger than a typical playing card, which is left floating in a pool of water" and "uses sunlight to split the water into its two core components, oxygen and hydrogen, which are stored in a fuel cell." Wired notes, "Nocera's leaf is stable - operating continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity in preliminary tests - and made of widely available, inexpensive materials." It is also substantially more efficient than a natural leaf at harvesting energy from the sun.

        Popular Science (3/28, Dillow) notes, "The Nocera Lab's artificial leaf, it should be noted, isn't the first working attempt at recreating photosynthesis in artificial materials." However, "previous attempts have led to artificial leaves full of unstable materials that are expensive and lead to short life spans."

300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds

Nation's Capital Leads US Cities, States In Green Building.

USA Today (3/9, Koch) reports, "The nation's capital isn't just the epicenter of the US government, it also leads US cities and states in green building," according to the US Green Building Council. "The Obama administration requires new federal buildings meet higher energy-efficiency standards, and one result is that Washington now has far more green-building space per capita -- 25 square feet -- than any of the 50 states." The article notes that the states with the most LEED-certified buildings are not the same as those with the highest per capita LEED ratings. "Using per capita, vs. the more traditional numbers of projects, or pure square footage, is a reminder to all of us that the people who live and work, learn and play in buildings should be what we care about most," said Scott Horst, LEED's senior vice president.

NOVA: Making Stuff Cleaner

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

List Of Greenest Vehicles Led By Natural Gas Civic, Leaf.

The Los Angeles Times (2/16, Hsu) reports that American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy released its list of the "greenest 2011 model-year vehicles," and it has "a lot of traditional gasoline engines among the top 12 cars," including "the Smart Fortwo, the Ford Fiesta and the Hyundai Elantra." Number one was "the natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX...followed by the new all-electric Nissan Leaf." Also on the list were "the hybrid Toyota Prius and the hybrid electric Chevrolet Volt." EVs suffered from "'upstream' emissions" based on "US power generation" and on "the battery manufacturing and disposal processes."

Machine Converts Plastic To Fuel, Designed For Home Use.

The msnbc (2/15, Roach) "Cosmic Log" blog reports on a machine designed by Japanese inventor Akinori Ito "that can turn plastic waste into fuel." The machine "heats up the plastic, traps the vapors in a system of pipes and water chambers that cool the vapors and condense them back into crude oil," and "can convert a kilogram of plastic waste into a liter of oil using a kilowatt-hour of energy," although Ito hopes that "the price will fall as demand and production rise." The article notes, "Ito's machine isn't the first to convert waste plastic into fuel, but is gaining kudos for its size: It's built for home use."

Stimulus Funds Used To Turn Federal Buildings Green.

The Chicago Tribune (2/1, Kamin) reports that $4.5 billion of President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package is being used to make federal buildings more energy efficient. Some of this money is going to fund a modern retrofit of Cleveland's 32-story Celebrezze Federal Building. "Bringing a building up to 21st-century energy standards...can amount to something more than architectural drudgery. It might even transform a humdrum federal building into a civic icon," according to the Tribune. The article concludes, "All these efforts promise to confer enduring benefits: better energy efficiency, work environments and architecture."

Large Solar Plant Begins Operating At Colorado State University.

The AP (2/1) reports, "Colorado State University says a 5.3-megawatt solar plant on its Foothills Campus in Fort Collins has started producing electricity." The plant is owned and operated by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, "and CSU is buying power produced by it at a fixed rate for 20 years. Xcel Energy is buying renewable energy credits from the plant, which CSU says helped offset construction costs." The university says "the project is one of the largest at a US university."\

from First Bell newsletter

US-Chinese Energy Deals Announced.

Reuters (1/19, Stephenson) reports that Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in the US for a four-day visit, has also brought business deals and purchasing commitments, according to announcements from a Chinese business delegation and the US government. The Department of Energy said that Alcoa Inc. and China Power Investment Corp. will collaborate on aluminum and clean-energy projects that could lead to as much as $7.5 billion in investments, while Duke Energy Corp., AES China, a subsidiary of Virginia-based AES Corp, and Florida's UPC Management also entered into clean- or renewable-energy projects with Chinese companies. The DOE also said that American Electric Power Co. signed an agreement with State Grid Corp. of China to collaborate on energy-storage, smart-meter and other technologies. And battery maker Ener1 created a joint venture with Wanxiang Group to make batteries for electric vehicles for sale in China, according to the DOE.

        The AP (1/19) also covers the deals announced Tuesday, including a deal "to research and build new cleaner-energy infrastructure in China as part of a government summit in Washington." Babcock & Wilcox Co. "said it entered a research consortium with Duke, General Electric and West Virginia University to develop new 'clean coal,' equipment," as part of the US-China Clean Energy Research Center. The consortium will also include Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and National Energy Technology Laboratory.

        The Wall Street Journal (1/19, A9, Davis, Tracy) also reports the announcement of these deals, which also included a joint venture between GE Energy and China's Shenhua Group Corp. to sell clean-coal technology.

        Bloomberg News (1/19, Layne) adds that GE Energy was also expected "to sign a five-year agreement...with China's Huadian Corp. that should result in the sale of 50 aero-derivative turbine generator sets." The article explains that "the generator sets, which produce electricity from a variety of fuels, re-use waste gas, heat and steam that would ordinarily escape, thus conserving raw materials. GE is targeting waste-heat as an alternative for cleaner burning fuel in China, the world's biggest user of coal."

Green Jobs Flourish In California.

The Los Angeles Times (1/19, Hsu, 681K) reports that a new study released Tuesday found that jobs "at clean-tech or alternative-energy companies have flourished in California." Nonprofit research group Next 10 found that the green sector added 5,000 new jobs in 2008. Additionally, green jobs rose 3% from 2008 to 2009 - "three times the growth of overall employment around the state," according to the study. F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10, remarked, "There's very few business sectors that can employ people across every region, especially in a state as big as California," and "Green is providing a very solid foundation for future growth." The Times also notes that a growth in clean transportation employment has contributed to the overall rise in green jobs "as newcomers such as hybrid-electric-vehicle maker Fisker Automotive moved in and employers drew from the region's strong existing auto heritage."

(from FirstBell newsletter)