efficient buildings
A US-wide plan to make buildings more energy efficient could create more than 114,000 new jobs, many of them in the currently hard-hit construction industry, a new analysis has found. The study by The Real Estate Roundtable, the US Green Building Council, and the Natural Resources Defense Council looked
electricity distribution
Members of the White House Council on Jobs and Competitiveness recently toured North Carolina State University’s FREEDM Systems Center, a research facility that focuses on smart-grid technology and distributed energy. FREEDM, which stands for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management, was formed in 2008 by a five-year, $18.
electric buses
China’s BYD Company Limited has inked a deal to supply the city of Frankfurt, Germany, with its all-electric, long-range, eBUS. BYD will supply three all-electric buses eBUS-12, two DC charging stations and technical support in the first quarter of 2012. The electric buses will be used as shuttles to
utilities
Singapore PowerGrid (SPGG) aims to reduce service disruptions and the costs associated with power outages by implementing the next generation of geographic information system (GIS) and outage management technology. Working with Esri South Asia and Microsoft platforms, IT solutions provider Telvent will provide SPPG with its Responder Outage Management System.
energy storage
With the Winter Olympic Games coming to the city of Sochi in 2014 and a $15 billion nationwide push to upgrade its energy grid, Russia is also looking at distributed energy storage to ensure secure power supplies. Russia’s Federal Grid Company (FGC) has been working with New York City-based
wind energy
Already a major player in the wind-turbine business, Siemens wants more. It’s just announced plans to invest more than $213 million (€150 million) to expand its wind business over the next two years. Among the projects those funds will support: * Two new research and development centers to be set
smart meters
The city of Hutchinson in Minnesota is looking to get smarter about its electricity and gas distribution systems, and it’s turned to a North Carolina-based advanced metering company to help. With the support of Sensus, the Hutchinson Utility Commission plans to deploy more than 7,000 iCon® electric meters
concentrating solar power
Two concentrating solar power (CSP) projects in California have received a boost of nearly $2 billion courtesy of the US Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE is offering conditional loan guarantees for: * The Mojave Solar Project (MSP) (a $1.2 billion loan guarantee) in San Bernardino County, and * The Genesis
Smart Grid
Don’t knock energy efficiency: done right, it could cut our power demands as much as taking 100,000 homes off the grid every year. That’s what San Francisco-based energy management software firm Opower has set out to do. It says it aims to reduce overall energy consumption in
demand management
Two energy-focused firms — one based in Canada, the other in Kentucky — are teaming up to offer their customers new ways to save on energy costs by taking advantage of smart-grid technologies. Toronto-based ENBALA Power Networks and Fellon-McCord, headquartered in Louisville, will both work with clients in the PJM Independent System
wind energy
Wells Fargo is teaming up with a Chinese wind power company to explore wind-energy development opportunities in the US. Working with Guodian United Power Technology Company Ltd., Wells Fargo will provide financial backing to help the firm build its wind-turbine distribution business and develop new wind farms in the US.
smart meters
The city of Sao Paulo in Brazil is looking at bringing its energy infrastructure into the 21st century by adding smart meters and more to identify problems before they happen. The first-of-its-kind smart-grid research and development project will be spearheaded by three companies: GE, Trilliant and AES Eletropaulo. The project
