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Energy News- DOE Awards Nearly $1.4 Billion in Loan Guarantees to BrightSource Energy February 24, 2010DOE has awarded a conditional loan guarantee for nearly $1.4 billion to BrightSource Energy for three utility-scale concentrated solar power plants in southeastern California. Pending regulatory approval, the Ivanpah Solar Complex will generate about 400 megawatts of energy. […]
- Environmental Assessment Issued for 750-Megawatt Solar Two Project February 24, 2010A project to deploy 42,000 solar dishes in the Southern California desert has passed a key hurdle with the issuance of a draft environmental impact statement. Stirling Energy Systems and Tessera Solar recently deployed a much smaller system, featuring 60 solar dishes, in Arizona. […]
- Report: Copenhagen Accord Pledges Fall Short of Climate Goals February 24, 2010If the world is going to avoid catastrophic levels of climate change, world leaders will need to commit to more aggressive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions than currently pledged under the Copenhagen Accord, according to a new study by the United Nations Environment Programme. […]
- DOE Awards Nearly $1.4 Billion in Loan Guarantees to BrightSource Energy February 24, 2010
- Renewable Energy
- Light Inspires Energy Efficient Building DesignThe use of daylighting drives the size of the NREL's new super energy efficient Research Support Facility as well as the features of its windows. […]
- Making Wind Turbines Builds Career InterestGood-paying jobs in renewable energy are important to the nation's future and don't all require a college degree, high school students learn. […]
- Balancing Renewables and Natural ResourcesNREL biologists test revegetation and wildlife protection strategies at new solar power array at the National Wind Technology Center. […]
- Light Inspires Energy Efficient Building Design
- Energy And The Environment
- EPA Administrator Jackson to Address the National Press Club / Jackson to discuss EPA’s accomplishments and proposals for 2010 March 1, 2010WASHINGTON – On Monday, March 8, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will speak at the National Press Club […]
- One Year Later, EPA-Funded Recovery Act Projects Yielding Cleaner Air, Water and Land Across New York State; EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Visits Renewable Energy Installations in Syracuse February 17, 2010(New York, N.Y.) One year ago today, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and over the last year, projects funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have yielded cleaner air, water and land, and new jobs across the country […]
- As Anniversary of Recovery Act Nears, EPA-Funded Projects Yielding Cleaner Air, Water and Land Across New York State; EPA Regional Administrator, DEC Commissioner Visit Cleanup Project in Albany February 12, 2010(New York, N.Y.) As the one-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act nears, projects funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are yielding cleaner air, water and land, and new green jobs across the country […]
- EPA Administrator Jackson to Address the National Press Club / Jackson to discuss EPA’s accomplishments and proposals for 2010 March 1, 2010
- Energy Research
- Probing life???s extremes in Yellowstone March 2, 2010Idaho National Laboratory biologist Frank Roberto squats on a gravelly patch of ground in Yellowstone National Park. […]
- Studying cesium to seize soil cleanup March 2, 2010Scientists at DOE's Lawrence Livermore Lab have developed soil clean-up methods at Bikini Atoll and other islands to the east where nuclear tests were conducted in the early 1950s. […]
- PPPL scientists awarded 111 million hours of supercomputing time March 2, 2010Four research projects involving six scientists at DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have been awarded a total of 111 million processor hours on supercomputers at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). […]
- Probing life???s extremes in Yellowstone March 2, 2010
- Agriculture
- Nursery is New Tool in Fight against Ug99 Wheat Stem RustRead the magazine story to find out more. ARS and international cooperators have established the Winter Wheat Stem Rust Resistance Nursery in Ankara, Turkey, to propagate and distribute winter wheat varieties that have been identified as resistant to Ug99. Click the image for more information about it. New genetic resources for cereal crops Fighting a wor […]
- Inventing New Oat and Barley BreadsRead the magazine story to find out more. All-oat or all-barley breads that ARS scientists are developing may offer a different array of vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, protein, and other healthful components than that in whole-wheat breads. Click the image for more information about it. Studies provide insight into key oat chemical Blueberry skins eyed as […]
- Water Quality Model Passes Another TestARS researchers tested the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model on the Warner Creek watershed near Frederick, MD, and found it could accurately predict pollutant levels over the long term in the small watershed, which is a mix of farm, forest and urban lands. Photo courtesy of Aisha Sexton, ARS. Satellites help keep Chesapeake Bay clean Models help […]
- Nursery is New Tool in Fight against Ug99 Wheat Stem Rust
- Food, Drugs And Health
- FDA Announces Meeting Information and Voting Membership of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory CommitteeThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced membership and meeting information for the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC). The Committee, required through the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act), will provide advice, information, and recommendations to FDA on a wide range of tobacco-related i […]
- International Collaboration: FDA and European Medicines Agency Agree to Accept a Single Orphan Drug Designation Annual ReportIn recognition of World Rare Disease Day, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) today announced a more streamlined process to help regulators better identify and share information throughout the development process of orphan drug and biologic products, which are developed specifically to treat rare medical conditions. […]
- FDA Update on the Investigation into the Salmonella Montevideo Outbreak - February 26, 2010The Food and Drug Administration, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, continues to work closely with the Rhode Island Department of Health and other states in the investigation of an outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo infections associated with certain Italian […]
- FDA Approves Therapy to Treat Gaucher DiseaseThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved velaglucerase alfa for injection (VPRIV) to treat children and adults with a form of the rare genetic disorder Gaucher disease. […]
- U.S. Attorney News Release: Medical Device Manufacturer Guidant Charged in Failure to Report Defibrillator SafetyU.S. Attorney News release: Medical Device Manufacturer Guidant Charged in Failure to Report Defibrillator Safety Problems to FDA […]
- FDA Announces Meeting Information and Voting Membership of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee
750-Megawatt Solar Two Project
The California Energy Commission (CEC) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released on February 12 a joint staff assessment and draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Solar Two Project, a 750 megawatt (MW) project to be located in Imperial County, about 100 miles east of San Diego. Stirling Energy Systems (SES) and Tessera Solar propose to build 42,000 dish/Stirling systems, called SunCatchers, on 10 square miles of land in the desert. Dish/Stirling systems employ a sophisticated tracking system to point a dish-shaped array of mirrors at the sun, concentrating the sun’s heat on a Stirling heat engine, which converts the heat into electricity. SES and Tessera Solar have some commercial experience, as they launched the 1.5-megawatt Maricopa Solar power plant in Peoria, Arizona, in late January. The facility features 60 SunCatchers. SunCatcher technology was developed in the United States through a public-private partnership with DOE. See the press release from Tessera Solar (PDF 303 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
For the proposed Solar Two facility, the draft EIS found no significant environmental impacts, other than a significant and unavoidable visual impact. However, SES will have to undertake special measures to protect the desert species, including the flat-tailed horned lizard, which has been proposed for listing as a threatened species. The CEC is accepting comments on the EIS until May 13, while the BLM will accept comments until 90 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice in the Federal Register. The BLM published its notice on February 22. See the CEC press release, pages ES-15 through ES-18 (PDF pages 21-24) of the draft EIS (PDF 7 MB), and the BLM notice in the Federal Register (PDF 49 KB).
SunCatchers are a form of concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, which generally involves concentrating the sun’s heat with some form of mirror, and then converting that heat into electricity. While dish/Stirling systems have been slow to take hold, parabolic trough systems, which use trough-shaped mirrors, have been operating in California since the 1980s, and many more are planned for the state. For example, NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of the FPL Group, signed a contract in October 2009 to sell 250 MW of solar thermal power from its proposed Genesis Solar Energy Project in Riverside County to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The proposed Genesis site, featuring more than 500,000 parabolic troughs, is one of 14 solar projects identified by the BLM for fast-track consideration to receive permits by the end of 2010. The company intends to break ground in late 2010, with operations beginning about 30 months later. See the press releases from the FPL Group and the BLM.
NextEra Energy Resources has also applied to the California Energy Commission (CEC) for permits to build its proposed 250-MW Beacon Solar Project, another parabolic trough facility, to be located in eastern Kern County. In November 2009, the CEC started its year-long review of three other proposed parabolic trough plants: the 484-MW Palen project near Palen Dry Lake in Riverside County; the 968-MW Blythe project near Blythe in Riverside County; and the 250 MW Ridgecrest project in the high northern Mojave Desert in northeastern Kern County. When such projects involve the use of federal lands, the CEC works closely with the BLM on their permit reviews. See the CEC press release and the CEC’s full list of proposed power projects.
Sixty SunCatcher Solar Dish / Stirling Systems