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.