A Harvard-led research project suggests the potential of wind energy could be considerably higher than previous estimates by both wind industry groups and government agencies. In this extract, PES looks at the report, garnered from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. Using data from thousands of meteorological stations, the Harvard team estimated the world wind power potential to be 40 times greater than total current power consumption. A previous study cited in the paper put that multiple at about seven times.

Tres Amigas proposes a huge power hub near Clovis, NM, covering more than 20 square miles. The project could, backers say, transform a region that is a sparse frontier for transmission lines into a robust intersection allowing transfers of power across the country. The project would link the Eastern Interconnection, which stretches from Halifax to the Dakotas and New Orleans; the Western Interconnection, which runs from British Columbia to a slice of Baja California, and extends east toward the Rockies; and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, a transmission grid covering most of that state. Only eight small connections now link the grids, with a total power-moving capacity of 2,000 megawatts. The first phase of the project would more than double the size of the linkage, to 5,000 megawatts, and it might eventually be expanded to 30,000 megawatts.

At a time when most energy investments have been curtailed by a weak economy, U.S. utility solar photovoltaic (PV) activity has spiked over the last 18 months, says analyst Emerging Energy Research (EER). With only 77 MW of utility-driven solar PV projects currently operating, U.S. utilities have announced a pipeline of more than 4.8 GW of large, utility-scale solar PV projects. This explosion of activity highlights the solar PV sector’s changing landscape and the key role utilities are expected to play going forward, according to EER.

The U.S. remains the most attractive country overall for renewable energy, but China has moved ahead of Germany to take second place in the rankings released by Ernst & Young. The quarterly Renewable energy country attractiveness indices provide scores for national renewable energy markets, infrastructures and their suitability for individual technologies. The U.S. scores in top spot in the 'All Renewables' index. Germany drops to third place; other countries in the top 10 for renewable energy include India, Spain, Italy, UK, France, Canada and Portugal.

Hydropower consumption in the U.S. increased 4% for the first eight months of 2009 when compared with the same period in 2008, according to a report issued by the Energy Information Administration. Americans consumed more than 188 million MWh of hydropower through August, up from about 181 million MWh last year. Americans consumed more than 188 million MWh of hydropower through August, up from about 181 million MWh last year, according to Electric Power Monthly.

Green jobs in California are growing at a faster pace than jobs overall in the state, but they still account for only a tiny fraction of the economy, a study said. The number of such jobs grew 2.4% annually between 1995 and 2008 compared with 1% overall job growth statewide, said the study sponsored by environmental and budget public policy group Next 10. California, with the most aggressive climate change regulation in the nation, had 159,000 green jobs out of an economy with more than 18 million jobs at the start of 2008, the report said.

A report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) finds that AB 32 policies will only increase the percent of small business revenue spent on energy by only 0.3 percentage points -- from 1.4 to 1.7 % -- in 2020. In a case study, which examines a real world small business, the report finds AB 32 will cost diners 3 cents extra per $20 meal in 2020. The researchers projected the likely changes in electricity, natural gas, and gasoline prices due to the major AB 32 policies: cap and trade, a 33% renewable energy standard, increased energy efficiency measures, and a low-carbon fuel standard.

U.S. Geothermal Inc. announced that a 26.5% increase in the average power price is now in effect at its operating San Emidio power plant located northeast of Reno, Nevada. The current 3.6-megawatt (MW) capacity power plant is selling approximately 2.5 MW of electricity to NV Energy's subsidiary Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPP) under an existing contract that expires after 2017. U.S. Geothermal is planning the initial San Emidio project as a 35 MW plant developed in two stages. SPP adjusts the rate paid to the project for energy and capacity on an annual basis and the most recent adjustment for the period through September 2010 resulted in the increase in price.

Secretary Chu announced today that the Department of Energy is launching Open Energy Information (www.openEI.org) -- a new open-source web platform that will make DOE resources and open energy data available to the public. The data and tools housed on the free and editable wiki-platform will be used by government officials, the private sector, project developers and others to help deploy clean energy technologies across the country and around the world. The site currently houses more than 60 clean energy resources and data sets, including maps of worldwide solar and wind potential, information on climate zones, and best practices.

Senators John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., released their framework for comprehensive climate change and energy independence legislation. The senators are proposing a near-term pollution-reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 emissions levels. The senators also pointed out the need for investment in the development and deployment of clean energy technologies. The framework notes that significant transition assistance will be provided to companies and consumers without using taxpayer dollars or driving up national debt.

The international agreements being negotiated in Copenhagen "will propel all of us forward in the clean energy economy," the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said to delegates to the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen. The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) estimates the wind potential in the Atlantic Ocean to be 1 TW, and wind turbines are already capturing winds in the midwest interior. There is "huge solar potential" in the southwest, including near Los Angeles and Las Vegas, while geothermal opportunities exist across the country and opportunities to increase hydropower production include adding generation units to existing facilities and through pumped storage.

South San Francisco-based Solazyme Inc. won $21.8 million from the Department of Energy toward the company's first integrated biorefinery in rural Pennsylvania , marking "a major step toward commercial scale production" of that kind of fuel, the firm said. The refinery will go up on the site of Cherokee Pharmaceuticals' existing commercial biomanufacturing facility. The project also will receive private funding. Solazyme produces a biofuel that is refined from algal oil and serves as an alternative to fossil fuels.

General Electric received a $1.4 billion contract from independent power producer Caithness Energy to supply wind turbines and services for an 845-MW wind energy project to be located in Oregon. The wind farm, called Shepherds Flat, has received the majority of the necessary government permits to operate and is ready to be built. A total of 338 turbines will be installed in 2011 and 2012. Under three 20-year power purchase agreements, the Shepherds Flat wind farm will supply renewable energy to Southern California Edison.