Ford wants to implement cooling/heating mechanisms for the batteries they will include in their future Focus Electric. The engineers at Ford designed a thermally conductive liquid that circulates throughout the battery.

September 11, 2010
11:00 am	to	3:00 pm

Join us for the last Family Day of 2010! Come fishing at Solar One!

The program, which includes these renewable fuel filling stations, is called the Low Carbon Fuel Infrastructure Investment Initiative, and is being supported by a $10.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission and the US Department of Energy.

According to the company, the station aims to make it easier for scientists to compare the performance of electrode components in fuel cells, which produce energy from fuels like alcohols, hydrogen and hydrocarbons.

Patrons of a new San Diego California gym called Greenasium have the chance to drop calories while producing energy to run the gym. The new gym opened this week and sports 3 specialized spinning bikes that are equipped to produce energy that is plugged into the nearest outlet.

Dangerous bacteria can often hide in the water you drink, but they're not harmful until they reach a certain number to become active inside your body. Regular water purifying technologies consume a lot of power, but a team of Stanford researchers have developed a new low-cost, high-speed filter that works differently than other purifiers.

Dangerous bacteria can often hide in the water you drink, but they're not harmful until they reach a certain number to become active inside your body. Regular water purifying technologies consume a lot of power, but a team of Stanford researchers have developed a new low-cost, high-speed filter that works differently than other purifiers.

 BERLIN and VALENCIA, Spain, September 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Photovoltaic system installations in the first half of 2010, estimated at 3 GWp, continue to consolidate Germany's position as the world's largest photovoltaic (PV) market and an attractive investment location for PV companies. In 2009, Germany accounted for approximately one of every two newly installed modules worldwide, with total installations at 3.8 GWp for the year. Germany Trade & Invest will have representatives at this year's European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference & Exhibition in Valencia, Spain, from September 6-9 to introduce opportunities for PV companies in Germany.

Amendments to the photovoltaic feed-in tariffs of Germany's Renewable Energies Act (EEG) were passed in early July, with a further adjustment to take effect October 1. The changes mark a further shift towards the rooftop segment by abandoning field installations on cropland and increasing the attractiveness of the own consumption bonus for small and medium-scale rooftop installations. This bonus is paid to rooftop installation owners of systems smaller than 500 kWp who intend to use the energy they generate.

Feed-in tariff rates were reduced by 13 percent for rooftop installations and eliminated for cropland field installations from July 1. At the same time, conversion areas saw a reduction of 8 percent and all other areas were decreased by 12 percent. Beginning October 1, these rates will be reduced by a further 3 percent. Still, the new tariffs remain highly attractive, with rates ranging from 25.02 - 34.05 EURc/kWh for installations connected before October 1 and 24.26 - 33.03 EURc/kWh for those connected during the remainder of the year.

The law, established ten years ago, requires power companies to buy renewable energy from system owners at the corresponding feed-in tariff rate for 20 years, guaranteeing an attractive payback time and high returns.

Increased Demand by Private Users

The two-tiered changes to the EEG are a reaction to the increased price competitiveness of photovoltaic systems, including the recent price drop for solar panels and components. These developments have created a number of new market opportunities for PV companies. Increased demand in the rooftop segment corresponds with installations by private users who overwhelmingly prefer high-quality systems. Changes are also leading to growing demand for energy storage systems and smart grid applications to fully profit from the own consumption bonus. By 2013 energy from PV sources is expected to be competitive with conventional energy sources in the electricity market for private consumers.

Manufacturers in Germany not only have easy access to a large and growing market, they also benefit from a competitive advantage through a local brand presence and reputation for high quality products. Germany boasts a well established industrial infrastructure, large equipment supplier base, and qualified and experienced workforce. The country's PV industry also features the highest density of R&D institutes in the industry.

Germany Trade & Invest will have representatives at this year's 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference & Exhibition in Feria Valencia - Level 2 - Hall 2 - Booth A17 to meet with companies interested in the world's photovoltaic leader.

Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With a goal of helping Arizona move toward a cleaner energy future, Arizona Public Service Co. has issued a request for proposal that seeks solar electric systems for five high-profile government and non-profit organizations. Each location, which requires its own individual proposal, will be fitted with a 10- to 30-kilowatt photovoltaic system.

While five locations have been identified, details of the submitted proposals will ultimately determine how many of the sites are selected to receive solar panels. If chosen, the non-profit entities and government-owned facilities will receive all the energy produced by their site’s solar system. APS will receive the renewable energy credits, which will go toward helping the company meet the requirements of the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Renewable Energy Standard.

Funding for the installations is expected from two sources. A majority will come from the Energy Office of the Arizona Department of Commerce’s Distributed Energy Leadership (Utilities) Program, which is funded with federal stimulus dollars (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). The second funding source, pending ACC approval, is the APS Renewable Energy Incentive Program.

As part of the development process, installers must meet all reporting requirements of the Arizona Department of Commerce and all requirements related to the accounting and disbursement of federal funds pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

RFP submissions are due by noon (AZ time), Monday, September 27, 2010. Additional information, including the locations for the projects, is available online at aps.com/rfp.

APS, Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electricity utility, serves more than 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state’s 15 counties. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the largest principal of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW).

The world is warming and there appears to be no warming end in sight. Scientists across the globe have been studying the occurrence of global warming and the consequential impacts of such warming for years. Such research has giving us a plethora of information in order to make changes to slow warming. However, despite some efforts, most scientists agree that warming has yet to even begin to slow.

Therefore, many expect immense species extinction to occur in the coming decades due to global warming. This has led many scientists to compare the potential extinction to come to past known extinctions on a global scale. John Alroy, who is a researcher for the Department of Biological Sciences a Macquarie University, is one of these scientists.

Alroy studied the past Permian-Triassic Extinction Event which occurred 250 million years ago. His complete findings were then published in the journal Science. In order to do his research, Alroy used fossil data from the Paleobiology Database. Alroy studied mainly marine fossils, namely corals and brachiopods.

Alroy concluded that regardless of the prolific and diverse nature of a particular species, there is no way to predict whether the species will survive. Corals survived the mass extinction 250 million years ago, despite massive losses. Coral eventually recovered to previous levels. However, brachiopods, which were as prolific and diverse as coral, did not fare as well. While they are still in existence today, they are limited and not diverse.

Alroy points to the corals of today not potentially recovering like their counterparts 250 million years ago. Alroy suspects due to today’s corals sensitivities to changes, they may no longer be the main reef builders years from today. This niche would most likely be taken up by sponges and clams, that is if their numbers are able to fill such a niche.

The fact that such an extinction has never before been seen by humans, Alroy points to the potential outcomes as nearly impossible to determine with any certainty. However, he did allude to the fact that we would be witnessing an extinction of our own doing.

Alroy stated: “We’re 100 percent responsible for it. There is no precedent at all for what we’re doing. All well-understood extinctions in the deep fossil record are tied to environmental changes that were not triggered by the behavior of individual species, such as the asteroid impact 65 million years ago that wiped out the terrestrial dinosaurs.”

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