By Sarah McBride
October 30, 2010Mercy Vaughn crouches over a young tortoise peeking out from its burrow near a creosote bush in California's Mojave Desert.
The area is home to rare species, including the threatened desert tortoise. But a giant solar plant is under construction in the vast wilderness area.
To help save the animal, the company building the plant, BrightSource Energy, had to agree to a lot of conditions, including reptile relocation.
Vaughn, a biologist from Texas, and her colleague Peter Woodman are leading a team of 50 biologists hired to survey the site over and over before construction begins. They have to keep track of every single tortoise.
"This is one that was walking down the middle of the road when it was spotted by one of the monitors," Woodman says. "Luckily, we've got a radio transmitter on it now."
He's looking at an adult female tortoise; she's about the size of a dinner plate, and the transmitter is glued to her shell. It almost looks like a stray twig. …
The tortoises can't stay where construction crews might harm them, so the biologists are moving them to pens to ride out the desert winter. In the spring, they'll try relocating them to the wild.
BrightSource is spending more than $40 million to protect plants and wildlife. That includes buying acres of land to keep as nature preserves. …
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The tortoise and the solar plant
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Californians defy oil industry to save climate law
BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen, Wednesday 3 November 2010 at 11:30:00
Proposition 23 defeated as voters back climate change laws, despite multimillion-dollar campaign from oil giants
California yesterday retained its position as one of the global leaders in clean technology and climate change policy, after voters rejected a proposition that would have indefinitely suspended the state's flagship climate change bill.
With results from 48 precincts having been reported, "no" votes against Proposition 23 stood at 59 per cent, representing a significant victory for green campaigners including Bill Gates, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Avatar director James Cameron, as well as current state governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Michael Eckhart, president of trade group the American Council on Renewable Energy, told Reuters: "This is reaffirmation that we are a country of some enlightenment. A majority of Californians, even in great stress of unemployment and economic demise, will still accept this responsibility. Rejecting an attempt to destroy the environment is a good thing. "
Prop 23 would have suspended the state's AB 32 law until unemployment fell to 5.5 per cent or less for four straight quarters.
Commentators argued that the move would have effectively scrapped the legislation altogether as the state's current unemployment rate is running at over 10 per cent and has dipped below 5.5 per cent for only two short periods in the last 20 years.
The vote means that California will retain its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, ensuring a third of the state's electricity comes from renewable sources by the same date and launching a regional emissions trading scheme.
The vote represents a major victory for green businesses and environmental groups after Republican politicians and out-of-state oil companies waged a high-profile campaign in favour of Prop 23, spending millions on TV ads in support of the proposition. …
Californians defy oil industry to save climate law
Monday, April 12, 2010
Southern California Edison blankets roofs with solar panels
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
FONTANA, Calif. — The view from a warehouse roof here is consistent. In every direction, there are blocks and blocks of warehouse roofs baking in the Southern California sun. Rather than letting them sit bare, a California utility hopes to blanket roofs like these with solar panels to produce enough electricity to power 162,000 homes.
Southern California Edison has installed solar on two warehouse roofs and is working on another in the Los Angeles region. The utility expects to do 100 to 125 more, totaling about 1.5 square miles of roof space in the next five years.
The program, in which the utility owns the solar, is the largest of its kind in the nation, not surprising since California is the No. 1 solar market. But utilities in other states, including North Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona and New Jersey, have smaller plans to rent roofs for their own mini-solar-power plants, too.
The phenomenon, while in its infancy, presents another way for solar to spread in a bigger way than it has historically done when home and business owners put solar on roofs. The deep-pocketed utilities are planning bigger installations. Yet the systems don't consume green land or require new power-transmission links, as do some massive solar farms planned for deserts in California, Arizona and Nevada. As such, rooftop solar is likely to face fewer environmental hurdles than the farms and can get permits and be built much faster. …
Southern California Edison blankets roofs with solar panels
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Port of Los Angeles to install 1.6 million square feet of rooftop solar panels (10 MW) over next five years
Though it can't claim the prize for the world's largest rooftop solar power array, the announcement by the Port of Los Angeles that it will be installed solar panels over 71,500 square feet of its World Cruise Center roof by the end of the year is decidedly impressive; what's even more impressive are the expansion plans in the works:
Initially $9 million will be spent building the initial phase of the project, which will generate 1 megawatt of electricity. That's impressive, but the next phases are when the real power starts mounting: Within five years and additional 1.16 million square feet of solar panels are planned to be installed, generating 10 megawatts of power. …
Friday, March 6, 2009
California tables recycling law
James Murray, BusinessGreen, Friday 6 March 2009 at 00:15:00
New legislation could introduce extended producer responsibility to Californian firms
Firms in California could soon be legally obliged to devise comprehensive plans to minimise waste and improve the recyclability of their products, under new legislation currently before the State Assembly....
California tables recycling law
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
California’s PG&E announces 500 MW solar initiative
California utility PG&E has been a reluctant investor in renewable energy — until now. The utility announced yesterday a five-year plan to produce 500 MW of solar energy from a collection of midsize projects located in Northern and Central California. That’s enough power for 150,000 homes and 1.3 percent of PG&E’s electrical demands.. The solar panels will be mounted on rooftops and utility poles.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
California sees ‘world’s largest solar deal’
California is ground zero for what Southern California Edison (SCE) and BrightSource Energy say is the “world’s largest solar deal.”
Inked today, the contract between the two companies calls for the development of seven solar plants with a total capacity of 1,300 megawatts — enough to power almost 845,000 homes.
If the agreement wins the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission, the first solar plant — a 100-megawatt facility in Ivanpah, California — could be up and running by 2013.
Under the proposal, BrightSource will install its proprietary Luz Power Tower 550 (LPT 550) solar-thermal energy system at each solar plant. The system uses thousands of small mirrors, or heliostats, to reflect light onto a tower-top boiler that produces steam. The steam then drives a conventional turbine to produce electricity.
All seven solar plants, once they go into operation, would yield an annual carbon emissions reduction of more than 2 million tonnes — as much as is generated by 335,000-plus cars.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
California sues to block Bush's Endangered Species Act rules
SACRAMENTO (AP) ― California is suing the Bush administration to block last-minute endangered species regulations that are intended to reduce input from federal scientists.
Attorney General Jerry Brown announced Tuesday that he had filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The suit was filed late Monday.
Brown says the Bush administration is trying to gut the Endangered Species Act.
The Interior Department issued the revised rules earlier this month. They allow federal agencies to issue permits for mining, logging and similar activities without getting a review from biologists.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
US states sign tropical forest pledge
The states of California, Illinois, and Wisconsin and six states in Brazil and Indonesia agreed today to work together on new programmes for protecting and restoring tropical forests as an essential but so far untapped strategy to combat climate change.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with the governors of Illinois and Wisconsin,and the governors or emissaries of Amazonas, Pará, Mato Grosso and Amapá states in Brazil and Papua and Aceh provinces in Indonesia, represents a big leap forward for the concept of carbon emitters in industrialised societies paying for the service provided by tropical forests in absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
...
“When a tropical forest is destroyed, it hurts everyone, no matter where they live,” said Peter Seligmann, the chairman and CEO of Conservation International (CI). “The memorandum between California and these Brazilian and Indonesian states and provinces containing some of the world’s last remaining intact tropical forests is a welcome and necessary step. California’s leadership in this area will help stabilise the Earth’s climate by providing effective incentives to conserve these threatened tropical ecosystems that are so critical for supporting the livelihoods of forest-dwelling communities and indigenous peoples”.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
California on track to 33% renewables by 2020 and 80% reduction from 1990 carbon levels by 2050
One thing that remains a bit unclear to me is the language "Gov. Schwarzenegger has also called for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050"
Which I read to be very different from "to 80 percent of 1990 levels" and would be, well, A LOT of carbon reduction.
The press release:
GAAS:785:08
For Immediate Release: Contact: Aaron McLear
Monday, November 17, 2008 Lisa Page
916-445-4571
Governor Schwarzenegger Advances State’s Renewable Energy Development
Signs Executive Order to Raise California’s Renewable Energy Goals to 33 Percent by 2020, Clear Red Tape for Renewable Projects
Building on his commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the state’s renewable energy, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed Executive Order S-14-08 (EO) to streamline California’s renewable energy project approval process and increase the state’s Renewable Energy Standard to 33 percent renewable power by 2020.
“I am proposing we set the most aggressive target in the nation for renewable energy—33 percent by the year 2020—that’s a third of our energy from sources like solar, wind and geothermal,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “But we won’t meet that goal doing business as usual, where environmental regulations are holding up environmental progress in some cases. This executive order will clear the red tape for renewable projects and streamline the permitting and siting of new plants and transmission lines. With this investment in renewable energy projects, California has a bright energy future ahead that will help us fight climate change while driving our state’s green economy.”
The Governor made today’s announcement at the site of OptiSolar’s new plant in Sacramento, which will begin manufacturing solar panels in early 2009. When fully built out, the one-million-square-foot plant will be the largest photovoltaic solar panel manufacturing plant in North America, providing 1,000 green jobs and producing approximately 2,000 solar panels per day.
To solidify his promise to increase the amount of electricity California receives from renewable resources, the Governor will expand the state’s current RPS requirements to 33 percent by 2020. The Governor also will propose legislative language that will codify the new higher standards and require all utilities, public and private, to meet the 33 percent target and spread implementation costs across all ratepayers with safeguards for low-income customers. It will allow for the expansion of eligibility for California’s RPS program to renewable energy generation from other western states and reform the renewable energy market structure to spur new development while providing consumer safeguards.
The EO will advance California’s transition into a clean energy economy and directs state agencies to create comprehensive plans to prioritize regional renewable projects based on an area’s renewable resource potential and the level of protection for plant and animal habitat. To implement and track the progress of the EO, the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalizing a Renewable Energy Action Team (REAT).
To streamline the application process for renewable energy development, the CEC and DFG will create a “one-stop” permitting process with the goal of reducing the application time for specific projects in half. This will be achieved through the creation of a special joint streamlining unit that will concurrently review permit applications filed at the state level.
To jump start Natural Communities Conservation Plans (NCCPs) under the EO, the REAT will initiate the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan in the priority Mojave and Colorado Desert regions and identify other preferred areas that will benefit from a streamlined permitting and environmental review process. This will dramatically reduce the time and uncertainty normally associated with building new renewable projects.
In addition to the EO announced today, the CEC, DFG, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a coordinated approach with our federal partners in the expedited permitting process. This coordinated approach will significantly reduce the time and expense for developing renewable energy on federally-owned California land, including the priority Mojave and Colorado Desert regions.
Gov. Schwarzenegger has led California in establishing laws and policies aimed at helping to promote renewable energy and fight global warming, including:
In September 2008, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed AB 1451 by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), AB 2466 by Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and AB 2267 by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) to build on California’s commitment to increase renewable energy use. AB 1451 will build on the state’s solar power usage by continuing a property tax exclusion for projects that utilize solar panel energy and expanding the exclusion to builder-installed solar energy systems in new homes. AB 2267 builds on the state’s green economy by requiring the CPUC to grant incentives to eligible California-technology manufacturers. This bill also requires the Energy Commission to give priority to California-based companies when granting awards and will not only create jobs for hardworking Californians but will attract more clean-tech and green-tech companies to the state. AB 2466 will increase energy efficiency and help protect the environment by authorizing local governments to receive a utility bill credit for surplus renewable electricity generated at one site against the electricity consumption at other sites.
In 2006, the Governor announced his Million Solar Roofs Plan to provide 3,000 megawatts of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gases by three million tons, equivalent to taking one million cars off the road. Now known as the California Solar Initiative, the $3.3 billion incentive plan for homeowners and building owners who install solar electric systems will lead to one million solar roofs in California by 2017.
Announced as a component of the California Solar Initiative in 2007, the New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) aims to create a self-sustaining market for solar homes and gain builder commitment to install solar energy systems. A new home that qualifies for the NSHP is at least 15 percent more efficient than the current building standards.
In September 2006, the Governor signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, California's landmark bill that established a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases. The law will reduce carbon emissions in California to 1990 levels by the year 2020. Gov. Schwarzenegger has also called for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.
California's push to fight global warming and increase renewable energy will also boost our economy. According to an economic study by the University of California at Berkeley and Next 10, California's policies will create as many as 403,000 jobs in the next 12 years and household incomes will increase by $48 billion.
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