EPA says 12 environmental sites could be wind farms

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Excerpt: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are evaluating the feasibility of developing renewable energy production on Superfund, brownfields, and former landfill or mining sites. Superfund sites are the most co …

Renewable Energy Executives Call On Congress To Pass Strong RES

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Excerpt: Today, top executives in the renewable energy sector gathered to applaud 2009’s strong renewable energy development but emphasized the need for Congress to swiftly enact key policies to continue accelerated growth across the entire sector in order to add jobs and boost economic growth in 2010. …

Dept. Of Energy Gives $20.5M To Community Projects

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Excerpt: Steven Chu, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary, announced that five projects will receive a combined US $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support deployment of community-based renewable energy projects which include biomass, wind and solar installations. The …

Gas and oil execs see more employment in 2010

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Excerpt: Half of U.S. oil and gas senior executives expect to increase employment this year and two-thirds believe the recession that burdened 2009 will end in 2010, according to the eighth annual Survey of Upstream U.S. Energy Companies, from Grant Thornton LLP, Houston, Texas, issued Feb 1, 2010. Reed Wood …

Alternative Energy Expo set for Maryland in May

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Excerpt: The first annual Solar and Wind Expo (thesolarandwindexpo.com) will convene at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium this May 7 to 9. The indoor and outdoor event will be the first consumer show in the state devoted to renewable energy. “Never has there been a better time for this kind of …

Guiding 200,000 Amps Safely to Ground

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Excerpt: A main lightning discharge is characterized by rapidly rising current that peaks at about 200,000 Amps and averages  about 30,000 Amps over its duration. Even though the event is over in milliseconds, there is great potential for harm  to personnel and damage to equipment. Personnel working around …

Turning vibration into useful dc voltage

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Excerpt: The Joule-Thief energy harvesting modules and demonstration kits are first-of-its-kind random vibration dc power supplies. The design, from AdaptivEnergy, Hampton Roads, Virginia, scavenges and converts ambient mechanical energy, such as vibration and impact events, into a standard dc voltage. Other …

Mouser Electronics now stocks tiny TI temperature sensor

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Excerpt: Mouser Electronics Inc. is now stocking the Texas Instruments TMP112 digital temperature sensor with SMBus and two-wire serial interface. It requires no external components and is capable of reading temperatures to a resolution of 0.0625°C. The TI TMP112 digital temperature sensor allows up …

Personal power plant charges 5V devices

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Excerpt: The HYmini is a handheld, hybrid universal charger that captures wind and solar power along with conventional wall plug power. The energy captured in the internal battery can then be released to charge most 5V digital gadgets such as cell phones, mp3 players, iPods, and digital cameras. Users ac …

Lightning protection and tests for ground connections

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Excerpt: A range of grounding, surge, and lightning-protection products for the wind-energy industry come from Erico, Solon, Ohio. Company engineers provide design assistance for grounding and lightning protection for facilities worldwide. The company says it can design lightning protection that compl …