A $20 billion joint venture aimed at Indian renewable energy is the latest sign of fresh investment in the sector as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to aggressively boost output. SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and Taiwan's Foxconn Technology recently announced the creation of a joint venture firm called SBG Cleantech to develop alternative energy plants across India. ...
$8 Trillion Alternative Energy Boom Is A Win For Copper - ValueWalk
$8 Trillion Alternative Energy Boom Is A Win For Copper by Frank Holmes Here’s a bit of energizing news: In 2014, for the first time in four decades, the global economy grew along with energy demand without an increase in global carbon emissions. That’s according to energy policy group REN21’s just-released Renewables 2015 Global Status Report, which attributes this stabilization to “increased penetration...
Short Interest Picks Up Again in Alternative Energy, Solar Stocks - 24/7 Wall St.
Short interest among solar and alternative energy stocks mostly increased during the two-week reporting period that ended on June 15. In the solar sector, four of the five companies we watch saw short interest rise, while among the alternative fuel stocks, three of four also had a rise in short interest. Once again, days to cover rose on all nine stocks, and among the solar stocks,...
Gering engineer asks for alternative energy ordinance - Scottsbluff Star Herald
During the Gering City Council meeting Monday night, City Engineer Paul Snarr requested an ordinance for alternative energy and a fee structure to be added to the Public Works committee agenda.
Snarr made the request because he has received several requests for solar panels from the community.
Solar-powered greenhouse showcases alternative energy - Foster's Daily Democrat
MADBURY â€" With some help, Micum Davis has installed a geodesic dome greenhouse, 26-feet in diameter, in his own backyard.
Functioning with the aid of a few small solar panels and some very innovative tactics, the greenhouse was able prevent several of Davis’ herbs and vegetables from dying during the long, cold winter.
“The snow sheds right off of it and the wind cruises around it,†he said during a solar solstice celebration sponsored by Seacoast Area Renewable Energy Initiative (SEAREI) at his home on Saturday.
Although held on the day before the actual solstice, when the sun is at its northernmost point in the sky, SEAREI Program Director Doug Bogen said solar panels actually work best in the winter.
“The colder weather lets the electrons move faster,†he said.
Davis’ dome utilizes solar panels to power an exhaust fan, an undersoil heating system and a water-circulating feature. The greenhouse itself is heated directly from the sun and then self-monitors its interior temperature.
“It’s designed to keep the coldest nighttime temperature 30-degrees warmer than the outside temperature,†said Davis, a SEAREI board member. “It always has a direct line with the sun because it’s round and it operates without any fossil fuels.â€
During the celebratory event, Davis was planning to install a simple solar-powered waterfall in the dome’s 1,200 gallon tank, which helps cool or heat the interior depending on the season.
“I’ve always been interested in doing things efficiently,†he said. “It seems like there’s a lot of waste in a fossil fuel-based economy. It’s a no-brainer to harness the energy of the sun now, when it hits the earth, rather than waiting millions of years.â€
The dome, which Davis refers to as his “hot house,†came as a kit from a Colorado-based company called Growing Spaces and cost $16,000.
“I think it’s only a matter of time,†said Davis’ wife Jennifer Wilhelm of the need to convert to more renewable energy sources. “We can either change our energy sources by choice or be forced to do it.â€
With a convoy of Toyota Priuses lining the driveway, others in attendance were like-minded.
“I want to learn more about how to promote renewable energy,†said recent University of New Hampshire graduate Henry Herndon. “I’m interested in environmental issues.â€
Bogen pointed to the “huge amount of potential†that exists for solar systems. Pointing to the untapped resource of commercial rooftops, he said that alone equals thousands of acres that could be utilized.
“We’re not going to put all of our eggs into one basket,†he said of solar power. “It’s a combination of solar, wind, hydro and other renewables. A lot of the time when the sun isn’t shining, the wind is blowing or vice versa.â€
To learn more about SEAREI, a not-for-profit organization aiming to build sustainable communities through energy efficiency, renewable energy and education, visit www.searei.org.
Gregory University Hosts Renewable, Alternative Energy Conference - The Guardian Nigeria (satire) (press release) (blog)
THE Chancellor/Proprietor of Gregory University Uturu (GUU), Abia State, Dr. Gregory Iyke Ibe, has appealed to all stakeholders to rise to Nigeria’s power and energy shortfalls, in a bid to proffer a lasting solution.
Ibe stated this at the fifth yearly international conference of Renewable and Alternative Energy Society of Nigeria (RAESON) with the theme: “Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development, held at the university.
He said Nigeria should not be far away from the discussions with the rest of the world in the area of finding and adopting alternative and renewable energy sources. He noted that about 174 countries across the world have adopted to use alternative and renewable energy sources and Nigeria should be part of it.
While delivering the keynote address, Director General of National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Umar Bindir called for the development of Nigeria’s diverse renewable energy sources potentials namely; solar, wind, tidal and geothermal, biomass, among others.
He decried that Nigeria’s electrical energy generation capacity remains at very low ebb of 4,000 megawatts despite about $20 billion dollars expended on the power sector in the last 16 years.
Bindir, who was represented by Dr. Ephraim Okejiri, the NOTAP Director of Technology Transfer Registration, suggested that renewable energy development should be pursued with a clear policy framework.
He listed research, funding, ownership concerns, the nature of the initiative’s economic and how to create a long-term manufacturing and service industry and others as issues to be addressed in the policy framework.
Related
Exploring Alternative Energy Sources - Leadership Newspapers
With the epileptic power supply in Nigeria, windmills and solar energy might just be the answer to the electricity challenge. At this time of climate change, BUKOLA OGUNSINA writes on the need to consider these climate-friendly alternative energy sources
I imagine if, with the help of solar energy where people do not have to blow out kerosene lanterns, but, switch off solar bulbs at the break of morning if people do not gather fire woods, but use solar stoves. Electricity through solar energy will not only power light bulbs and farm machinery but prevent pollution and deforestation. What a healthy difference it would make for Nigerians embracing energy generated naturally through various forms of renewable energy.
In most developed countries, the countryside is decked with windmills to generate power so it is easier using the latest technology and tractors to farm and go about daily jobs. In contrast, the sun is always mostly at its peak in Africa, and the high winds rage in the northern regions raising dust, leaving many to wonder why Africa has not fully embraced the concept of renewable energy such as solar and wind. Renewable energy can be obtained from natural sources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat. Solar energy comes from the sun at little or no cost.
The growing need to diversify the country’s energy sector has become a matter of urgency as the general electricity which depends largely, if not solely, on hydro power grows worse with mega watts often fluctuating from high to as low as below 75 per cent.
Reports have it that the Energy Commission of Nigeria and the United Nations Development Programme recently held a one-day stakeholders awareness and consultation on the SE4ALL. Late last August, the former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan had inaugurated the SE4ALL, a project established to improve energy efficiency while making sure that global access to modern energy services, doubling up the share of renewable energy in the worldwide energy synthesis was achieved by the year 2030.
A teacher and Green campaigner, Simi Gemade, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that, “Renewable energy is a clean idea for development for various spheres in Nigeria and ought to be taken seriously by the government. Nigerians are used to electricity, and so introducing solar energy would not be an easy task. However, that is not to say that it cannot be achieved. The government needs to educate the public on the positivity of renewable energy, the benefits, even to the environment to make the transition easier.
“For instance, solar energy is said to be expensive, but the government can find a way of subsidising it and making it readily available to the public. Take for instance, inverters People use them despite the fact that they are quite expensive. I think both the affordability and availability matter.â€
The long term benefits of renewable energy are many: It preserves the eco system, lessens greenhouse gas emission, and removes agricultural household wastes that in turn could be used for biofuel production, rural electrification and as fossil fuel substitutes. All these would keep the environment green and healthy, preventing pollution and deforestation. It will in the long run prevent climate change and resultant disasters.
In a report by EnviroNews Nigeria, the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN)’s  director, programmes and administration, Godwin Ojo said, “The time is ripe for the Nigerian government to move beyond mere talks and shift from fossil fuel-based energy sources to renewables such as solar, wind turbines, and mini-hydro projects that are off-grid and in tune with local production, supply and maintenance. These require no gigantic infrastructure.â€
Many people have argued that solar energy is very expensive to maintain and with Nigeria’s bad maintenance culture, people are still far better off with the hydro-generated electricity. Again, not many people know about windmills to make an educated decision about whether or not it is what they need. However, one thing is that solar panels and the rest of its apparatus are not inexpensive. Hence, this begs the question, how ready is Nigeria in embracing the concept of renewable energy?
Solar Energy
In 2014, Nigeria signed a deal for 1 GW (Giga Watts) Solar Power Capacity, with Solius NGPC, Peoples Home Association, and Solar Force Nigeria Limited. These are said to involve utility scale power projects as well as distributed power projects. In Ondo State, for instance, Japan has a master plan for the utilisation of solar energy and rural water supply. It also had a master plan for Imo State from as far back as 2005 for utilisation of solar energy.
The main goal of the ministry of environment is to reduce the projected energy use by 20 per cent and meet 20 per cent of the nation’s electricity needs with first class renewable energy sources by 2020. The combination of energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy resources, should allow Nigeria to meet any future increase in demand without increasing its reliance on non-renewable resources.
A Nigerian engineer and an expert in renewable energy, Chinedum Ukabiala said that, “Solar energy is versatile. There are so many applications and the technology to harness them for various things. People can dry crops with solar energy and people can drive hybrid cars instead of just cars that use petroleum,†he stated.
Solar energy in itself requires little cost, however, the maintenance for the solar panel, the equipment used to harness the energy from the sun is what is essential. As at 2013, a solar panel costs about N45,000.
Understandably, solar energy cannot work at night as it requires energy from the sun, and the process works through chemical configuration as the energy is hitched during the day. To keep it clean, the solar system panel can be washed using a pressure washer. The dust is removed so that the panel will be clean and effective enough to receive solar energy during the day.
The batteries of the solar panels can use this energy at night to generate electricity. “Energy harnessed in the day time can be stored as power in a battery for use at night. The batteries are expensive and have a life span of about five years,†Ukabiala added.
It has been noted that solar panels can last for 20 to 35 years and more. Further research shows that solar panels have not yet been fully designed to power heavy electrical equipment. “Generators would require a large area for the solar panels to absorb the sun,†he said. This is one of the challenges faced by solar electricity. This would mean it’s better for private uses, however, some tests on its performance is on a small scale around the Nigeria. The versatility involved in the use of solar energy is quite attractive in the long run.
Japan’s major Official Development Assistance (ODA), from 1999 to 2012, implemented a project in Jigawa, a master plan for the utilisation of solar. It also has two projects in Katsina to include a solar electricity generation system.
Windmill Energy
As a result of strong winds in the northern part of the country, and the federal government’s plans to look at alternative resources for power to implement a wind map for Nigeria with towns nominated for the placement of wind turbines for power generation, reports have it that Katsina will the first state to patronise windmill energy.
The wind energy can be harnessed through turbines. A turbine is defined as a turbo device that has at least one moving portion called a rotor assembly; the assembly is a drum with blades attached. Fluid in motion, it acts on the blades so that they move and convey rotational energy to the rotor.
According to the ECOWAS Observatory For Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Rimi, a small village in Katsina State is having a 10 MW Wind Power Plant built in the area. The project was started by the Katsina State government under its former governor, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. It is receiving support from the Federal Ministry of Power (FMP) and has done so since 2007.
The journey has not been smooth though. The windfarm, which was targeted for completion in 2012 had complications when the unfortunate incident of the kidnapping of the French national who was in charge of the project occurred, along with the subsequent need to engage another French company to complete the work, among other challenges. In spite of it all, the work nears completion.
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Power revealed in a statement early this year that the Wind farm, which would be first of its kind in Nigeria has achieved nearly 98 per cent completion and has 37 turbines presently being test run.
He also indicated that harnessing the wind resource is an integral part of the newly approved national policy on sustainable energy and energy efficiency.
The contract presented for the windmill project was given by FMP to Vergnet S.A a certified French wind turbine manufacturer, while O.T Otis Engineering, Nigerian and the German firm Terrawatt were hired together for consultancy in regards to the project. Reports say that with 55 metres, the average yearly wind speed for Katsina is measured at 6.044 m/s. with this the farm will work to produce electricity through the 37 wind turbines with a rated power of 275kW each.
Reports state that Edo State’s first phase of the Azura-Edo Independent Power Project (IPP) is set to commence construction of a 450-megawatt (MW) open cycle gas turbine power plant. This is situated near Benin City, in Edo state. The first phase of the plant is scheduled to come on stream in 2017. Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan welcomed the construction late last year.
The Ministry of Environment in Nigeria believes that renewable energy projects in most developing countries have demonstrated that this form of energy can, in fact, directly contribute to poverty alleviation by supplying the necessary energy needed for establishing businesses and employment.
Asides this, renewable energy is healthy for the environment in this era of climate change. This is energy that has no carbon dioxide emission and the only problem which may arise from its use is disposal of used up batteries. These batteries however, can be recycled.
The cost of maintaining renewable energy would naturally be on the high side, but the benefits are worth it. Solar energy would go a long way if the installation is not complex and its paraphernalia is cheap and readily accessible to the general public.
How can the government take this important step? Although some studies have said that renewable energy in Africa is on the rise, most Nigerians are yet to see it affordable and in use everywhere.
Sometime ago, the President of the Federal Environment Agency in Germany, Jochen Flasbarth, in an interview with the media said that Nigeria needed additional electricity supply to achieve the 2020 target of becoming one of the top 20 economies. Long after he has spoken, his words continue to reverberate. And with the erratic hydro energy electricity supply in the country, it may be time to harness other sources of power to develop the country and meet the 2020 target.
What Impact Would Alternative Energy Have On Pollution And Water Waste? - KJZZ
ProPublica has published part four of its series on Colorado River water use. This one focuses on the Navajo Generating Station in Page in far northern Arizona.
The plant has troubled the EPA because of the pollution it spews into the air, but it also helps move trillions of gallons of water into Arizona’s biggest cities like Phoenix and Tucson. The coal-fired plant also uses a lot of water.
So what would happen if alternative energy such as solar became more prominent? We asked Martin Pasqualetti, senior sustainability scientist at ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability.
Ward Alternative Energy $1.50 million Fundraising. Paul Nelson Submitted Jun ... - OctaFinance.com
Ward Alternative Energy Financing
Ward Alternative Energy, Inc., Corporation just submitted form D for $1.50 million equity and debt financing. The date of first sale was . Ward Alternative Energy, Inc. is expected to finance itself with $1.50 million in this financing round. The total offering amount was $1.50 million. The financing document was filled on 2015-06-17. The reason for the financing was: unspecified. The fundraising still has about $1.50 million more and is not closed yet. We have to wait more to see if the offering will be fully taken.
Ward Alternative Energy is based in Colorado. The filler’s business is Oil and Gas. The form was filled by Paul Nelson President. The company was incorporated in 2015. The filler’s address is: 5660 E. 58Th, Commerce City, Co, Colorado, 80022. Paul Nelson is the related person in the form and it has address: 5660 E. 58Th, Commerce City, Co, Colorado, 80022. Link to Ward Alternative Energy Filing: 000163300815000004.
Analysis of Ward Alternative Energy Offering
On average, startups in the Oil and Gas sector, sell 13.77% of the total offering amount. Ward Alternative Energy sold 0.00% of the offering. The fundraising is still open. The average financing size for companies in the Oil and Gas industry is $227,000. The offering was 100.00% smaller than the average of $227,000. Of course this should not be interpreted as negative. Businesses get financed for different needs and reasons. The minimum investment for this offering was set at $50000. If you know more about the reasons for the fundraising, please comment below.
What is Form D? What It Is Used For
Form D disclosures could be used to track and understand better your competitors. The information in Form D is usually highly confidential for ventures and startups and they don’t like revealing it. This is because it reveals amount raised or planned to be raised as well as reasons for the financing. This could help competitors. Entrepreneurs usually want to keep their financing a ‘secret’ so they can stay in stealth mode for longer.
Why Fundraising Reporting Is Good For Ward Alternative Energy Also
The Form D signed by Paul Nelson might help Ward Alternative Energy, Inc.’s business. First, it helps potential customers feel more safe to deal with a firm that is well financed. The odds are higher that it will stay in the business. Second, this could attract other investors such as venture-capital firms, funds and angels. Third, positive PR effects could even bring leasing firms and venture lenders.
Ken Braun: Tomorrow's alternative energy may be a big solution you haven't ... - MLive.com
The phrase 'alternative energy' is often deployed as a euphemism for options that don't seem to provide enough power to be worth the trouble. Yet almost all the big energy sources we use were once the alternative to what was being used before. There are many energy options in the works today that promise to power much more of our world tomorrow than what we often call 'alternatives.' These potentially huge solutions rarely receive the same attention.
Defenders of wind and solar subsidies often point to nuclear energy as an example of an alternative that needed taxpayer help to succeed. True, but unlike each of those nuclear power was a big solution that scaled up quickly. Today a nation as large and rich as France can obtain most of its electricity from nuclear.
Germany recently began a shutdown of its nuclear program and launched an energy regime based on 'renewables.' Because the wind won't blow and the sun won't shine reliably, the result has been painful prices and other market distortions. The Economist reported two years ago that 38 percent of Germany's non-fossil fuel 'renewable' consumption came from burning wood, the fuel choice for the caveman.
Wind power will always be with us, but its day of dominance was also yesterday. It brought Columbus to this continent, but ocean vessels have long since switched over to coal, then petroleum and even nuclear. The status of wind as a promising 'alternative' after five centuries should set off alarm bells about its limits.
Solar surely is cutting-edge technology, but even wind power output dwarfs solar. And like wind, there is a reliability issue: We still need power when the sun doesn't shine. Burning wood still produces more American power - and more reliable power - than solar panels.
By contrast, hydraulic fracturing was a sketchy 'alternative' just over a decade ago, but has since transformed the world's petroleum and natural gas markets. Real alternative energy is in these big scale possibilities.
Here are others:
One is methane hydrates: Natural gas trapped in water crystals at the bottom of the ocean, the remains of ancient sea life. The Japanese are leading the way in developing it, according to a recent cover story in The Atlantic. If (when?) it becomes commercially viable, the estimated size of the fuel reserves range from 100 times to three million times current U.S. yearly energy usage. Today's fracking gas boom would be a cap gun blast by comparison.
Another option is nuclear reactors that use thorium for fuel. First developed by the United States, thorium reactors are far safer than the already safe reactors we have, and the fuel is both plentiful and difficult to weaponize. For these reasons it has always had game-breaking, low-cost potential, but that's also why we haven't developed it further. According to the Economist the United States government abandoned its thorium research because we couldn't make reliable bombs out of the stuff, and now the Chinese have deployed more than 400 scientists to pick up where we left off.
The New York Times reports Bill Gates has a company working on a reactor that runs on nuclear waste, and the Skunk Works at Lockheed-Martin claims to be on the way to creating commercially viable nuclear fusion power.
While critics could portray each of these options as far-fetched, success for any one of them would dwarf the wildest realistic promises of our so-called 'renewables.' And the bottom line is that a real alternative energy breakthrough will provide a large and viable alternative to our current sources, giving us more power at better prices.
Ken Braun was a legislative aide for a Republican lawmaker in the Michigan House and worked for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He has assisted in a start-up effort to encourage employers to provide economic education to employees, and is currently the director of policy for InformationStation.org. His employer is not responsible for what he says here, on Facebook, or Twitter ... or in Spartan Stadium on game days.
India's diesel-guzzling railways are testing coaches with solar panels - Quartz
Solar energy has a surprising new supporter in India: The country’s massive state-owned railways.
India has one of the largest (pdf) railway networks in the world, running some 12,000 trains that carry over 23 million passengers every day. That’s almost as much as the entire population of Australia.
But moving such huge numbers of peopleâ€"aside from transporting 3 million tonnes of freight dailyâ€"requires a massive amount of energy. In 2012, for instance, the Indian Railways consumed nearly 3 million kilolitres of diesel oil and about 14 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.
All that fuel costs a pretty pennyâ€" Rs30,000 crore ($4.7 billion) to be exactâ€"that has, over time, begun hurting the balance sheet of the Indian Railways.
India’s railway minister, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, now wants the railways to control their ballooning fuel bill, even as the number of passengers and amount of freight increase. His plan: Incorporating more alternative energy sources to power trains.
By 2020, the Indian Railways is focusing on making renewable energy constitute at least 10% of its total energy consumption. And the first order of business in this ambitious plan is solar-powered lighting via panels mounted on the roofs of trains.
Indian Railways is currently testing this on a non-AC coach on the Rewari-Sitapur passenger train. The cost of installing the panels on each coach, according to the Economic Times, is about Rs3.9 lakh ($6,084), and these are expected to result in savings of Rs1.24 lakh ($1,934) per year.
Railway coach-maker Integral Coach Factory and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, will test out the solar-panelled coach in a variety of conditions in the coming weeks, according to The Hindu newspaper. Alongside the solar-powered coach, Indian Railways is also planning to build solar power plants in 200 train stations, as well as at some of its office buildings.
This solar energy push echoes prime minister Narendra Modi’s larger plan to encourage alternative energy as India remains among the top producers of carbon emissions, after China and the US. India’s solar power potential is about 750 gigawatts (pdf)â€"and the government is encouraging solar companies from around the world to invest $100 billion to reach its solar power capacity target of 100,000 megawatts by 2022. That’s about five times India’s current solar power generation capacity.
Modi has already led some interesting innovations in solar power. In Gujarat, for instance, the government commissioned solar panels over canals to minimise land use and prevent excess evaporation.
But pushing the massive Indian Railways towards going solar could be a much harder journey.
Morgantown Solar Co-Op Seeks Affordable Alternative Energy Source - WBOY-TV
Fundraiser For Literacy Volunteers at Bob Evans in Bridgeport
Fundraiser For Literacy Volunteers at Bob Evans in Bridgeport
The Literacy Volunteers of Harrison County is hosting a fundraiser at Bob Evans on Johnson Avenue on June 12. The group tutors adults and children. The fundraiser will be from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.Â
The Literacy Volunteers of Harrison County is hosting a fundraiser at Bob Evans on Johnson Avenue on June 12. The group tutors adults and children. The fundraiser will be from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.Â
FSU Day Camp Registration is Still Open
FSU Day Camp Registration is Still Open
The Falcon Center Day Camp is in full swing at Fairmont State University.Â
The Falcon Center Day Camp is in full swing at Fairmont State University.Â
Executive Director Named for Davis Health System Foundation
Executive Director Named for Davis Health System Foundation
Bell said exciting things at Davis Medical Center and in West Virginia led him to come here.Â
Bell said exciting things at Davis Medical Center and in West Virginia led him to come here.Â
WVU Alumnus Set for Grueling Ride for Ryan Diviney
WVU Alumnus Set for Grueling Ride for Ryan Diviney
About five years ago, Ryan Diviney was ambushed by a group of fellow WVU students.The attack changed his life, placing him in a state of minimal consciousness. It changed his family's livelihood, leading his father Ken to devote most of his energy to caring for him.Tuesday, another Mountaineer will carry Diviney's story across the nation when he competes in Race Across America to raise money for the Diviney family.
About five years ago, Ryan Diviney was ambushed by a group of fellow WVU students.The attack changed his life, placing him in a state of minimal consciousness. It changed his family's livelihood, leading his father Ken to devote most of his energy to caring for him.Tuesday, another Mountaineer will carry Diviney's story across the nation when he competes in Race Across America to raise money for the Diviney family.
Repair Work Planned for Upshur County Bridge
Repair Work Planned for Upshur County Bridge
Repairs include work on the ends of the bridge. Repair costs will total approximately $12,000.
Repairs include work on the ends of the bridge. Repair costs will total approximately $12,000.
Is Short Interest in Alternative Energy, Solar Stocks Seeking a New Bottom? - 24/7 Wall St.
Short interest among solar and alternative energy stocks mostly increased during the two-week reporting period that ended on May 29. In the solar sector, two of the five companies we watch saw short interest rise, while among the alternative fuel stocks, three of four also had a rise in short interest.
One thing that all nine of these stocks had in common during the two-week period is that days to cover rose. That may be expected when short interest rises, but mostly it was true even for the stocks where short interest fell. This could indicate a lack of enthusiasm for the alt energy and solar stocks in general.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) saw short interest increase by about 4% to 5.58 million shares, which represents 7.6% of the company’s float. Days to cover rose to 2.9. In the two-week short interest period through May 29, shares fell more than 12%. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.18 to $73.78, and it closed at $49.17 on Tuesday, down 1.4% for the day.
SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) showed a drop of nearly 21% in short interest to 65.68 million shares. About 24.2% of the company’s float is now short and days to cover rose to seven. In the latest two-week short interest reporting period, the share price rose about 4.4%. The stock closed at $29.35 Wednesday, down 2.2% for the day, in a 52-week range of $13.09 to $31.34.
ALSO READ: The 6 Most Shorted NYSE Stocks
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) short interest rose by 0.6% to 6.83 million shares, or 12.7% of the company’s float. In the short interest period, shares slipped more than 5%. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.75 to $42.07, and it closed at $30.01 on Wednesday, down about 2% for the day. Days to cover rose to 5.7.
SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) saw a short interest fall by 1.6% to 20.9 million shares, or 35.6% of the company’s total float. Days to cover rose to nine. In the two-week short interest period, shares fell by about 4.2%. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.91 to $79.40, and shares closed at $54.90 Wednesday, down nearly 3% for the day.
Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) saw a rise of 4.9% in short interest in the two-week period. Some 8.5% of the total float, 3.59 million shares, were short, and days to cover remained at one. The company’s shares dropped nearly 16% in that time. They closed Wednesday at $31.23, down about 3% for the day, in a 52-week range of $18.68 to $41.12.
FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) had a rise of 4.6% in short interest during the period. About 14.7% of the company’s float, 36.12 million shares, was short and days to cover rose to 13. In the two-week period, the shares lost about 2.4%. The stock closed at $1.15 on Tuesday, down nearly 5% for the day, in a 52-week range of $1.05 to $2.84. When FuelCell Energy reported Monday that fiscal second-quarter sales were down 25%, the share price dropped 5%.
Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) saw short interest fall by 4% to 31.11 million shares. Days to cover rose to 12, and about 18.1% of the company’s shares were short. In the final weeks of May, the stock’s share price rose by around 2%. The stock’s 52-week range is $2.32 to $6.47, and shares closed Tuesday at $2.69, down about 1.8% for the day.
ALSO READ: The 6 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) saw a drop of 0.1% in short interest to 16.8 million shares. About 23.8% of the company’s float was short and days to cover rose to 10. Shares fell nearly 12% in the period to May 29. The stock closed at $7.59 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $3.99 to $11.79. The share price slipped by about 0.5% on the day.
Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) saw short interest drop by 4.6% in the two-week period to 4.82 million shares, about 21.3% of the company’s float. Days to cover rose to five. The stock price fell 11% in the two weeks to May 29. The stock closed at $10.77 on Tuesday, up about 0.1% on the day, in a 52-week range of $7.51 to $23.97.
Alternative-energy plan contains misleading figures - The Nation
An anonymous source at Egat said the Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP 2015), which starts this year and ends in 2036, included exaggerated figures for the actual capacity of power production from renewable energy. These unrealistic data could mislead investors into making unreasonable plans, particularly in the South.
Last year, renewable-energy projects in the South the government is committed to backing financially totalled 717 megawatts. Under the AEDP, power generated in that region by renewable sources will be boosted by 1,748MW to 2,465MW by 2036. Of the total increase, about 1,027MW is expected to be generated by wind, 822MW by biomass and 322MW by hydropower.
After assessing the figures, Egat doubts that wind power can achieve the target. Currently, wind-power capacity amounts to only 12MW in the South.
"The DEDE indicates very high capacity for wind energy, and that could cause problems in the plan after its implementation. People could misunderstand that the South contains capacity for renewable energy as high as 2,465MW, 1,027MW of which will be from wind energy," the source said.
The source said the South's present generating capacity was 3,059MW, and about 500-600MW more could be transmitted from the Central region as needed. In April last year, demand for electricity peaked at 2,468MW.
However, given the 7 per cent annual rise in electricity demand in the South, two solutions may be required. The first is to develop 500- and 230-kilovolt power-supply systems from the Central region to Phuket and Songkhla. The second is to plan construction of coal-fired power plants in Krabi and Songkhla to cope with the future situation.
Under the AEDP 2015 approved by the National Energy Policy Council on May 14, renewable-energy capacity is planned to rise to 19,635MW nationwide, up 12,356MW from 7,279MW in 2014.
Solar power is set to see the biggest boost, to 6,000MW from the current 1,570MW. Biomass is next, with a target to raise its power-generating capacity to 5,570MW from the current 2,199MW.
Hydropower is set to move up to 3,282MW from the current 3,016MW and wind power is targeted at 3,002MW, up from the current 220MW.
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Jordan launches the Middle East's largest solar energy project - Al-Bawaba
Maan has one of the world's highest annual daily averages of solar irradiance. (Shutterstock)
The Shams Maan Solar Photovoltaic Project “is the largest solar energy project not only in Jordan but in the Middle Eastâ€, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said Monday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Speaking at a ceremony in Amman to launch the project, attended by HRH Princess Sumaya and several senior officials, Ensour said the government encourages innovative projects in the governorates in line with Royal directives, and is focusing on alternative energy projects. Â
The premier noted that the project is needed as Jordan has suffered from the repercussions of the Arab Spring, especially with the halt in Egyptian gas supplies, leading to losses estimated at JD3 billion.
He noted that Jordan has been leading the region in drafting the Renewable Energy Law in 2012 as part of the national energy strategy for the years 2015-2020.
The national strategy seeks to diversify energy sources, setting a 10 per cent renewable energy contribution to the total energy mix by 2020.
Ensour also cited the solar power projects established at the planning and transport ministries, as examples of the government’s commitment to renewable energy.
The prime minister highlighted the importance of establishing the project in Maan, 330km south of Amman, which has one of the world’s highest annual daily averages of solar irradiance, Petra reported.Â
Jordan has an estimated 330 days of sunshine per year.
The 52.5 megawatt (MW) project, with investments worth around $170 million, is being built on a 2-million square-metre area, and is expected to cover 1 per cent of the Kingdom’s total annual consumption of energy upon completion.
The energy behind renewable energy at U of L - The Courier-Journal
Shortly after Hank Conn and his wife pledged millions of dollars to start a renewable energy research center at the University of Louisville six years ago, the reaction was swift and unexpected.
Letters of thanks and congratulations filled the Conns' mailbox in suburban Atlanta, but critics who sensed competition for Kentucky's coal industry were brutal, telling the couple to stay home and go back to Georgia.
The head of the state's powerful coal trade group skeptically wondered if the endeavor would fail for Kentucky's lack of wind and sunlight.
In Hank Conn's view, the naysayers misunderstood the vision for creating a launch pad for speeding up technologies to transform energy around the globe.
While many in Louisville and the state wondered who Conn was and whether the effort would fade into the recesses of academia, two companies recently spun from U of L are seen as a first blast of the "big idea" hatched by a guy who grew up a mile or so from campus in Germantown.
"This is really exciting. I couldn't be more proud," Conn said of the startups.
Like the skeptics who questioned whether an alternative energy center could take off in Louisville, Conn's equally direct in saying the state of Kentucky â€" despite legislation in 2006 to create a center and promises to support the effort â€" hasn't delivered a dime.
"No funding whatsoever," Conn said during a lengthy interview last month while in Louisville.
At Ernst Hall, Speed's chemical engineering building on Eastern Parkway, "theme leaders" and graduate research fellows experiment with nano-particles, energy storage and solar technology. The research is led by Mahendra Sunkara, a chemical engineering professor and an advanced materials authority whose new company, Advanced Materials, is one of two companies developed at the center using a catalyst to strip polluting sulfur from diesel fuel.
A second business, Bert Thin Films, is showing promise for replacing silver with far cheaper copper in solar panels. Together, they've won more than $ 2.2 million in state and federal innovation grants.
Conn, 74, a retired business consultant, executive coach and author, left Louisville four decades ago, but he feels indebted to the Speed School and described his wish to give back in the most meaningful way by advancing new science and technology that may someday bear fruit in high-paying jobs.
"Speed School taught me how to think. It also gave me confidence. It was a bear," Conn said, comparing it to a death march where 440 started and 80 graduated five years later. He and 22 other mechanical engineers survived.
Although he'd regularly donated to U of L, he and Rebecca increased the contribution in 2000 by creating an endowment to support PhD candidate scholars. They have donated $100,000 a year from various retirement accounts, but in 2009 they committed $20 million â€" "our entire net worth" then, Conn said.
It was the largest gift to the institution before the late Owsley Brown Frazier's $24 million eclipsed it. Though the couple first discussed remaining anonymous, U of L officials asked them to allow make their gift â€" and their wishes for the center â€" a more public proposition.
Conn told U of L President James Ramsey and former Speed Dean Mickey Wilhelm that whether or not his name was attached to the center, he wanted a hand in what would unfold there.
In the last five years, that's meant meeting with researchers, questioning their work and their goals for the projects. The university's core mission of teaching and research is laudable, Conn said, but when a scientist discovers a rare idea to "leapfrog" existing technology, they need to commercialize it.
The marketplace is starving for innovations to replace energy powered by fossil fuels, and much of the development is at a "rudimentary stage."
The center after its launch was old school, too, he said. "When we first started it was just a bunch of scientists writing research papers…and moving on. I thought, 'We're not going to run this this way.' "
Undeniably, it's taken time, Ramsey said.
"Kentucky has always been an energy-based state because of coal. U of L has never had the talent or expertise in fossil fuels that the University of Kentucky has had. What Hank's gift did is to allow us to develop talent and an expertise beyond what we had," he said.
Thad Druffel, a professor whose co-owner of startup Bert Thin Films which is working to replace silver with copper in solar cells, said Conn's technical expertise and understand of business is an unusual combination.
His "hard questions" about the basis for Druffel's new company have been invaluable. "He's going to try to find the holes. That's been very helpful for me. He's always asking, 'What value do we bring and how to we leverage that?"
"More than money, he's giving us the gift of his time and the gift of his knowledge," Druffel said. "We're fortunate he's still around."
Modest beginnings
Henry P. "Hank" grew up on Reasor Avenue near Manual Stadium. His father was an accountant at Brown and Williamson. His mother, a country girl from Tennessee, listened to opera, read avidly and pushed her second son â€" her "miracle child" due to difficulties becoming pregnant â€" to make a mark on the world.
Conn, an all-state football player at Male High, was scouting the St. Xavier team one night when he and a friend offered their school's cheerleading captain, Becky Logsdon, a ride home with her girlfriend.
Rebecca climbed out of Conn's father's two-toned '57 Chevy at her friend's house, declining a ride home to the Beechmont neighborhood with two guys she'd just met. "I didn't know them," Rebecca Conn recalled, so she called her father Ray to pick her up.
"She was adorable," Conn said of his future wife, and double dates blossomed into a romance with the class of 1959's salutatorian. The pair married two years later while Conn was working his way through Speed. Their daughter Leigh Ann arrived 18 month later.
Seeking global responsibility
Conn hired on a process engineer at Ford Motor where he'd worked as a co-op student. Promotions followed as he went to night school at U of L for an MBA in 1969 and a mechanical engineering master's three years later.
"He was a ball of energy," recalled Rosemarie Tyler, who worked with Conn in the early '70s at Ford and credits him with saving her job during a mass layoff.
When a mentor predicted Conn would spend 20 years climbing Ford's ranks, Conn jumped at a chance to leave. "I wanted global responsibility," he said.
Stints followed at tractor and equipment maker Allis-Chalmers in Milwaukee, Siemens-Allis in Atlanta, TRW Inc. in Cleveland; and global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. He co-authored two books on management and workplace culture.
In early 1984, Conn and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton formed a consulting business, Tarkenton Conn and Co. Tarkenton and Conn split after taking a company public, and neither cared to talk at length about their experiences.
"You part ways. You part ways amicably," Von Hatley, a friend who worked at Kearney with Conn, said of the pair as business partners.
Hatley watched Conn coach executives and lead them through strategic plans. His down-to-earth style established trust from skeptical, often egotistical executives. "He's got a level of sincerity you don't find a lot," said Hatley, managing director of Jones Walker Consulting in Baton Rouge.
And big-picture lenses. "He sees where organizations should be decades out."
Today, in retirement, the Conns are tied to their adopted hometown and happily live 3 miles from their son and his family. They travel often to Louisville for Hank Conn to attend quarterly meetings of the Speed's Board of Industrial Advisors, a group of engineers and business people which advises the dean and faculty.
Conn's role now includes helping the U of L Foundation raise money and recruit donors to the Conn Legacy Society, an organization named for the Conns that recognizes people leave portions of their estate.
Some people love music and designate it for the music school, or for medical research, he said. "I tell them (potential donors) to give to what they're passionate about. This is my passion."
Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 502-582-4082. Follow her on Twitter @gesinfk.
Hank and Rebecca Conn's Gifts
•$1.5 million to endow a director's chair at Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, which paid $84,574 in 2013-14.
•$315,000 to endow Rebecca L. and Henry P. Conn Graduate Fellowships â€" $19,698 paid in stipends for four graduate fellowships, matched with $39,800 in state's Bucks for Brains program in 2014.
•$33,542 for one Conn Center environmental stewardship fellowship in 2014.
•$20 million â€" the estimated value of annual gifts plus the couple's estates upon their deaths. Last year, they provided $172,000 under their annual commitment to fund the Conn Center.
•$50,000 as a direct gift to fund the Leigh Ann Conn Prize, named in memory of the Conns' late daughter Leigh Ann who died in 2011. It recognizes achievements in advancing renewable energy. First biennial award last year went to Swiss chemist Michael Graetzel who discovered a new way to make solar cells.
•$20,000 for each winner of a shark-tank type competition now being formulated to boost students who come up with great ideas for a new businesses.
Source: University of Louisville Foundation records and Hank Conn.
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High school students to present alternative energy project at national competition - NewsOK.com
Three Jenks High School students have qualified for the U.S. Army’s eCybermission nationals for the third year.
Becca Mackey, Riya Kaul and Hayden Hilst â€" all just out of ninth grade at Jenks â€" are headed to Baltimore later this month to present a project on an alternative energy source that they’ve been working on since November.
“It’s a system that we designed to put in a revolving door so that when somebody walks through it, the kinetic energy that that produces is then harnessed to be put back into the grid or to power an emergency light system or what have you,†15-year-old Mackey said of their project.
Read the rest of this story at TulsaWorld.com.
Military energy report downplays oil in favor of renewable energy - ZME Science
In its “Energy Security and Sustainability Strategy†(ES2 Strategy) report, the US army outlines the steps it should take to increase resilience and adapt to an ever changing world. Energy makes the go world round, and for an army it’s literally a matter of life and death. Not surprisingly, the authors note given the current climate of affairs the “army will prioritize solutions that reduce multiple resources. The Army can use energy more efficiently by purchasing energy efficient products, modernizing buildings and utility systems, purchasing energy efficient vehicles, and using more renewable/alternative energy sources.â€Â Basically, being dependent on a finite resource (oil) is a security vulnerability, which isn’t something new. Military strategists have been aware of this for a long time â€" maybe the most during WWII when many lives were claimed in battles over oil rigs in North Africa and the Middle East, and oil refineries were being bombed on the clock. What’s changed today is the feasibility of renewable energy sources. Drawing the line, in those situations were oil is a liability (and we can only expect these to become ever numerous in the future), it’ll be scrapped in favor of renewable energy systems, both for generating and storing energy. The authors of the ES2 look to the future; a future where the US army integrates all its systems in a mutually reinforcing and holistic approach. They write: “Our people are our strength… Our education and training will incorporate evolving knowledge, doctrine, and policy to guide Soldiers, Civilians, and Leaders to incorporate sustainability into planning and decision making. Organizational resilience and sustainability concepts will be integrated into Soldier and Civilian education programs at every level, from basic training to senior service colleges, as well as programs that focus on the holistic health and well-being of our people.†The focus seems to be on managing critical resources and water. To achieve this, one part of the strategy is to diversify resources and disconnect them from another so a blow to one link doesn’t crumble the whole chain.  Portable power (besides diesel generators; think micro-grid systems) seems like a huge concern in the Army’s energy mix. Previously, the Army announced it intends on powering all its military bases with net zero emissions. It is also experimenting with hydrogen powered tanks or solar-powered tents. Then, there’s the sensitive matter of budget. Luckily (for them), the US heavily funnels money to the military, but the budget isn’t an endless pot of gold. Last year, the Department of Defense (DoD) spent $4 billion on energy expenses. In 2014, the Army reported its investing $7 billion to fulfill its congressionally mandated energy goal of generating one gigawatt, 25 percent of its energy requirements, from renewable sources by 2025 while improving installation energy security and sustainability. Image: US Army Now, don’t get this wrong way. The Army is and will continue to be heavily dependent on oil, but the report’s emphasis on efficiency makes it clear than it wants to reduce oil usage and vulnerabilities to a minimum. Essentially, it looks like a sort of divestment away from oil. When the US Army or one of the world’s largest banks (HSBC) advises caution when depending on oil for military operations and financial investments, respectively, you know petrol is heading in one direction only: down. Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. Image: Huff Post Meanwhile, it’s business as usual at Exxon â€" one of the world’s largest oil company. Amid historically low oil prices, the company netted  $32.4 billion last year in net earnings. During a meeting last week, ExxonMobil and Chevron rejected a number of shareholder proposals that would address climate change, be it by setting goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or investing in renewable energy. Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson didn’t even mention the word climate change (is he also banned by Gov. Rick Scott?) during his speech and, moreover, ridiculed the thought of investing in renewables.  â€We choose not to lose money on purpose,†Tillerson said, to loud applause. Tillerson was quite critical of the global warming situation: the models aren’t good enough to predict global warming’s effects; the world isn’t going to be able to meet emissions targets; technology will enable us to engineer our way out of whatever crisis may or may not occur as a result of climate change. Note that he somewhat recognizes climate change is real, despite never mentioning “climate change†in a sentence. Very clever. So, if there will be great turmoil because of emissions (with Exxon as a huge contributor), what’s Tillerson back-up plan? “Mankind has this enormous capacity to deal with adversity,†Tillerson said, acknowledging, “I know that is an unsatisfactory answer to a lot of people.â€Trust the force
Leave it to the goons
 Hilarious! He certainly hasn’t read Climate Shock by Wagnet and Weizman. Here’s an excerpt from my review:“Humanity’s greatest challenges have always been solved by our prodigious son: technology. In the 1800s, the manure crisis threatened urban sanitation with a disaster. The Times of London estimated in 1894 that the situation was so dire that in 50 years every street in the city would be buried 9ft deep in horse droppings. The solution was the advent of the internal combustion engine, which eventually brought automobiles to replace horse buggies. Today, it’s not 9ft of manure that’s a threat, but 9ft of water. In the face of a much dire crisis, should we also this time wait for technology to save us?â€The only solution if climate change finds us on our knees is geoengineering, and trust me no one in their right minds would use it unless it’s absolute necessary. It’s that bad.But, all signs seems to point to an energy paradigm shift away from oil. How long until oil stops being economically feasible? Nevermind climate change, it’s all about the dolla’ dolla’ bills. Tillerson might laugh now, but inside he knows his company is in for a beating in the coming two decades.
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