BACKCOUNTRY.COM PARENT INVESTS $300 MILLION IN US SOLAR PLANT

Transworld Business: Backcountry.com parent Liberty Interactive Corporation has invested $300 million in ground-breaking Solana solar plant in Arizona.

Solana, which is in its final testing phase, has a total installed capacity of 280 MW (gross), making it the largest parabolic trough solar plant in the world and the first solar plant in the United States with thermal energy storage. During these final tests, the concentrating solar power (CSP) plant is demonstrating that it will generate electricity during the day and night, and its capacity to store energy and adapt to consumption demands.

Liberty’s $300 million investment in the limited liability company that holds Solana has been approved by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Abengoa will continue as managing partner and will be responsible for the management, operation and maintenance of the plant. The total investment in the plant is approximately $2 billion and during financing, received a federal loan guarantee for $1.45 billion. Liberty’s investment is attributed to its Liberty Ventures Group.

One of the advantages of CSP over other renewables is its ability to store energy efficiently. The thermal storage system makes the energy generated dispatchable, permitting plant operation during transient periods or after sundown. This dispatchability eliminates the intermittency that other renewables, like wind or photovoltaics, experience and thus the electricity generated from CSP plants has a higher value.

Solana is located near Gila Bend, AZ. Parabolic trough technology is a mature technology that enables clean energy to be produced and stored. Solana’s thermal energy storage system has the capacity to store energy for 6 hours at maximum power, which will allow the plant to generate dispatchable electricity throughout the day and night. The six hours of storage will be able to satisfy the region’s peak electricity demands during the summer evenings and early night time hours.

Arizona Public Service (APS), the largest utility in Arizona, will purchase all of the electricity produced by the solar plant through a power purchase agreement with Solana.

Solana will generate the clean energy equivalent to that needed to power 70,000 households and will prevent about half a million tCO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere per year. Also, Solana has reduced water consumption to less than 25 percent of that consumed when the land was previously used for agricultural purposes. These reductions will help reach state renewable energy goals, as well as reach the U.S. national goals for climate change mitigation.

Furthermore, the construction of Solana, which began in 2010, led to the creation of more than 2,000 jobs and a national supply chain that spans 165 companies in 29 states.

Abengoa currently has 931 MW of CSP in operation and 710 MW under construction. It is the largest CSP company in the world and one of the few that constructs and operates both solar tower and parabolic trough plants.

The Greenest of the Ski Lifts by MRAblog.com

Mountain Rider’s Alliance is always looking for new, clean, and innovative ways of powering our uphill transportation. These lifts from all around the world have set the (T) bar high, plowing a path for the future of skiing. Without further ado, they present the Greenest Ski Lifts in the world:

1. Tenna T-Bar, Switzerland

This T-Bar is known as the world’s first to be powered by solar panels, which are placed along the lift. The lift generates over 90,000 kilowatts a year and sends energy back into the grid when it is not being used.

Tenna T-Bar in Switzerland

2. Sonnenlift, SkiWelt, Austria
This solar-powered T-bar lift completed the long-planned ski-lift connection between two of Austria’s biggest ski areas of Kitzbuhel and the SkiWelt. The tow is powered by a photovoltaic system which, even in poor weather, has enough power to keep the lift running smoothly.

Sonnenlift at SkiWelt

3. Ranfoilly Express, Les Gets, France
Les Gets has replaced diesel generators on the Ranfoilly Express with solar panels. The resort also recuperates kinetic energy from the Les Planeys chairlift from the rotation of the return pulleys on the pylons.

Ranfoilly Express in Les Gets

4. Horse-powered lift, Alta Badia, Italy
The lift that links the Lagazuoi piste to the Alta Badia ski area is, quite literally, horse powered. It consists of a long rope that the skiers hold on to and a sledge that is drawn by a “green engine” – a pair of noriker horses. Since the lift is fuelled by hay, it does not burn any fossil fuels. However, the amount of climate-changing methane gas produced has not yet been calculated.

Horse-drawn Ski Lift at Alta Badia

5. Panoramabahn, Kaprun, Austria
All lifts and other operations on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier are powered by renewable energy. In addition, the lift company has put solar panels on lift stations to generate more, and recycles heat from the green-powered lift motors to warm buildings on the mountain.

Pamoramabahn in Kaprun

6. Sunshine Express, Steamboat, Colorado, USA
The sunshine express chairlift uses a combination of solar and wind-renewable energy and is believed to be the only chairlift in North America to be powered using solar energy.

Sunshine Express in Steamboat

7. Piz Nair Cable Car, St. Moritz, Switzerland
St. Moritz pioneered both winter sports and hydroelectricity in the 19th century, and in this one the Piz Nair cable car was rebuilt for the 2003 FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships, fitted with a solar-power system and a wind turbine at the top station.

Piz Nair Cable Car in St. Moritz

If you know of a ski lift that deserves to be on this list, please let us know in the comments section below this post!

Related posts:

1. Mt Abram Ski Area to Produce More Energy Than It Uses
2. 9 Ski Areas Involving Green Technology
3. A Skier’s Letter to President Obama
4. 2013 Green Sports Alliance Summit Recap
5. Ski Areas: What can they do without?

Berkshire East To Become First Ski Area To Be Fully Powered By On-Site Renewables

Story by Unofficialnetworks.com

A new solar installation a Berkshire East Ski Area has helped the Massachusetts ski area to become the worlds first ski area to be powered entirely from on-site renewables.

World’s First Ski Area Fully Powered With On-Site Renewables

The year-round resort recently developed a 500kW solar tracker farm that will produce 700,000kWh annually. The solar farm will supplement a 900kW wind turbine the company installed in 2011. Together, the two systems will cover the area’s entire annual electric demand.

The recently commissioned 500kW solar farm consists of 90 dual-axis AllSun Trackers, which are manufactured in Vermont and follow the sun throughout the day to boost energy production by up to 45 percent more than rooftop installations.

The AllSun Tracker is manufactured by AllEarth Renewables of Williston, Vt. The ground-mounted solar systems are designed for homes, businesses, non-profits, and commercial-scale installations. The company is a 2012 Inc. 500 business for fastest growing companies nation-wide and has installed over 1,400 complete grid-connected solar tracker systems.

Read more @ solardaily.com

Swiss Build the World’s First Solar-Powered Ski Lift

Even though as the crow flies, the postage-stamp town of Tenna, Switzerland, isn’t far from historic resorts like St. Moritz and Davos, Tenna is a one-horse town, one-shop, one-school, and one t-bar town.And that t-bar, the only ski lift in the whole valley, was on its last legs. But rather than let it die, locals raised enough money to update it and then went a step further: They built the world’s first solar-powered ski lift.

It’s more than solar-powered, in fact — it’s a smart investment. The Tenna lift generates 90,000 kilowatts a year, or three times the juice needed to run the lift, and the extra power goes back into the grid, which makes money for the town, which can pay residents back.

So what happens to the 82 solar “wings” when it dumps? Not a problem, because they rotate to follow the path of the sun in the sky and can be tilted to perpendicular during a storm, so there’s no load and the snow slides right off.

At $1.5 million, the project wasn’t cheap, but considering the cost of a new or updated lift anyway, plus the open skies above most ski lift pathways, it’s a no-brainer to use that area to offset the energy use. Other resorts might not gain 300 percent efficiency as in Tenna, where their modest lift shuttles 800 folks an hour and has a fraction of the energy requirements of, say, a high-speed quad, but if the offset is even a quarter of the energy used for shuttling people uphill, that’s a lot less carbon going up in smoke.

Environmental coverage made possible in part by support from Patagonia. For information on Patagonia and its environmental efforts, visit www.patagonia.com.

Story by adventure-journal.com

How Does Solar Energy Work?

By Treehugger.com

For as long as our planet has spun 'round the sun, there's been solar energycascading down on the earth, and, for a long time -- since the 7th century B.C., when glass was used to magnify it -- humans have been working to harness it. These days, technology is a bit better, providing electricity, heating, lighting, and even flight, but the point is the same: use the sun's warm glowing warming glow for our benefit.

Solar energy vs. solar power: what's the difference?

Often used synonymously with solar energy, solar power is what you've got once the sun's energy has been converted to electricity. This can be done one of two ways: heating a liquid to produce steam and spin a generator, or through photovoltaics (but that's another post). For now, we'll concentrate on how to use the massive and largely untapped potential that exists with solar energy. But first, some basics.

What is solar energy?

Short answer: the light and heat provided by the sun. A slightly longer answer: after running the gauntlet from an average of 93 million miles away, through the various layers of atmosphere and atmospheric conditions (clouds, pollutants, dust and the like), about half of the solar energy is absorbed by water and land, with the other half reflected and re-radiated back into space. The half that makes it is absorbed by oceans, land masses and plants; in the ocean, the energy drives heat and wind-driven currents (like the Gulf Stream); on land, the energy is absorbed and creates heat, and the little bit that's left is absorbed by plants and converted to chemical energy through a process we all know as photosynthesis.

How does solar energy work?

Outside of the three scenarios above, solar energy usually requires a little human input to really work (photosynthesis, which helps grow crops for food and fuel, is a notable exception). This help can come in lots of different forms, from architecture and urban planning, which uses techniques to maximize light and heat from the sun to our benefit in our buildings, to solar thermal, the most widely used category of solar energy technology, including solar cooking, water distillation and purification and lots more, toheating water for our use and desalination.

But, by far, solar energy's most talked-about use is electricity generation. For now,photovoltaic (PV) cells and panels remain the most-used method for turning sun into electricity. Basically, photovoltaics cause photons from sunlight to knock electrons into a higher state of energy, creating electricity. Photovoltaic production has been doubling every two years, increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy technology.

But it's not alone in the solar world; concentrating solar systems use lenses, mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small, concentrated beam, which is then used to generate electricity. This can be accomplished using a trough system; by allowing direct sunlight to hit troughs, the solar collectors concentrate it into a single area that boils liquid in order to make steam, which in turn moves turbines to make electricity. This up-and-coming technology can be made even more efficient with the use of a solar tower, which is just what it sounds like: a tower that uses careful sun tracking to concentrate solar energy near its top. There are various other technologies that can create solar power from solar energy, but, for now, these remain the most popular and most viable.

Advantages of solar energy

Solar's biggest advantage is that there's so much of it. The total solar energy available to the earth is approximately 3850 zettajoules (ZJ) per year, while worldwide energy consumption was 0.471 ZJ in 2004, according to the US Department of Energy. Even if you aren't a solar panel installer, you can tell that there's way more solar energy available than the world will ever need. Solar energy is also terrifically versatile; as we mentioned above, it can be used to help grow food and fuel, light, heat and modulate the temperatures in our homes, disinfect and desalinate water, and more. And, once you figure out how to best maximize the available energy, solar is the gift that keeps on giving; as long as the sun doth shine, solar energy will be available for its myriad uses.

Disadvantages of solar energy

Solar energy's disadvantages can be pretty well boiled down to one thing: cost, at least for using it as electricity. It takes a lot of land and costs a lot of cash to be worthwhile, as most types of solar cells require large surface areas to achieve average efficiency, and the silicon used in many of today's cells is also very expensive. Pollution and weather can further cut back their efficiency, which, of course, increases the cost over time.

And though solar energy will always be available on a macro scale, it isn't always available on an hour-to-hour scale, because it doesn't work when the sun isn't out (which always happens at night and sometimes happen due to weather). Storing the energy in batteries for use during these times cuts back on the efficiency further. And, of course, if you live somewhere that doesn't have good solar energy exposure, there isn't much you can do. You gotta have the sun.

Further solar power reading in TreeHugger

Together, solar energy and solar power is a huge, and hugely popular, topic here at TreeHugger. It seems like every week we're reporting the largest solar farm ever orefficiency breakthroughs for converting it to electricity. We even have a whole category dedicated to solar, but if that isn't enough to quench your thirst for sun-powered knowledge, check in with the International Solar Energy Society, the American Solar Energy Association, the Canadian Solar Industry Association and the Mexican Solar Energy Association, for starters (there's also the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation, of course). And stay tuned for more, much more, on the wonderful world of solar.

Get more solar info at How Stuff Works.

Plug in to more green knowledge with our Green Basics column, which appears Thursdays here at TreeHugger.

Park City Mountain Resort to Install Wind, Solar Power

Park City, UT - Park City Mountain Resort has received town approval to build a wind turbine and solar array at the top of the ski area's Silverlode chairlift.

Park City Mountain Resort (photo: FTO/Marc Guido)

Construction will take place this summer to install the 38-foot vertical axis wind turbine and 400 square-foot solar array at the 9,244 elevation level on the mountain, adjacent to the Summit House restaurant. Both are expected to be operational by September 1. An informational kiosk will also be built to educate guests on alternative energy sources and the power produced by the installation.


The project is expected to cost approximately $60,000, with half of that paid for by renewable energy credits. Combined they are anticipated to produce around 30,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is only about one percent of the resort's energy needs.

Grand Targhee Resort Awards Environmental Grants to Teton Valley Non-Profits

Grand Targhee Resort is proud to announce the granting of over $10,000 to Teton Valley non-profits for environmental projects benefitting the local community.  The Targhee Protect Our Winters (POW) Foundation awarded six local non-profits funds for projects ranging from solar panel installation to gardening education.

The Targhee POW Foundation collects donations throughout the year from employees who generously donate a specified amount from each paycheck.  These donations are matched 100% by the Resort.  Guests during the 2009/10 winter season were also able to participate in our fundraising efforts through the POW Targhee Two-Fer days – an offer than included two lift tickets and a $10 donation to POW for just $79.

The Foundation’s grant selection committee, open to any interested employee, selects recipients that meet the intent of foundation’s mission - to enhance and protect the environmental quality of Teton Valley through projects that protect ecosystems, promote environmental education and foster community stewardship of natural resources.

The committee selected the following grants for full funding:

-   National Outdoor Leadership School: $2,000 for solar panel installation & education project, will provide 30% of the school’s electricity use

-   Friends of the Teton River: $2,000 for a Valley-wide water conservation education campaign

-   Teton Valley Community Recycling: $750 for creation of a short educational film regarding recycling to show throughout the Valley

-   Teton Valley Community School: $2,000 to provide farm & gardening education to 150 school children this summer

-   Teton Valley Education Foundation: $2,000 for sponsoring public high school student’s conservation expeditions to Yellowstone

-   Teton Valley Trails & Pathways: $1,680 to fund one trail crew person to work in the wilderness improving trails

Targhee is a proud partner with the national Protect Our Winters organization, committed to uniting the winter sports community in fighting climate change.  

Swiss town gets solar-powered ski lift

Tenna, a small town in Switzerland with a population of just 110 inhabitants, got the world’s second ski lift that's powered entirely by photovoltaic panels. The ski lift’s solar panels has an energy generation capacity of 90,000KWh, which allows three lifts to move on renewable energy, each consuming about 22,000KWh.

All excess electricity is sold to the grid. The lift features solar panels that are incorporated on the same lift, without having to build additional structures. The panels are adjustable and can be removed to clear accumulated snow. The panels are anchored to the lift’s cables and bear the entire weight of the panels.

The panels are attached in a fashion that allows maximum sun exposure for maximum electricity generation. The solar lift is opened this past December.

Story by ecofriend.org

Clif Bar Opens Sustainable Headquarters

Clif Bar & Company, the leading maker of all-natural and organic sports nutrition food and healthy snacks, unveiled today its new 115,000 square foot energy-efficient headquarters, located in Emeryville, California.

The latest in solar technology, a new on-site childcare center, repurposed materials — from shipping container wood to blue jeans — and a 40-foot bouldering wall are some of the features that support the company’s sustainability mission and unique company culture.

Located at 1451 66th Street, the newly designed space is housed in a former valve manufacturing plant with distinctive Bauhaus architectural details that hearken back to the city’s past.

“We recycled an old building into a new space that’s very open and communal as the next step on our journey toward sustainability,” said Kit Crawford, Clif Bar & Company’s co-CEO. “The space reflects who we are while limiting our footprint on the planet.”

“If you would have told me this was possible 20 years ago when I had the epiphany to create CLIF BAR during a 175 mile bike ride, I would have stopped in my tracks,” added Gary Erickson, founder and co-CEO of Clif Bar & Company. “This space is what Clif people have built – it’s more than a headquarters, it’s a home to their inspiration and passion to do business in a better way.”

Sustainability from Rooftop Solar to Recycled Denim

Clif Bar & Company is installing the largest “smart” solar array in North America on its headquarters roof and parking structure, which it anticipates will provide nearly 100 percent of the office electricity needs. “Smart” solar array represents an emerging trend in solar technology aimed at optimizing output and reducing costs by integrating monitors onto individual solar panels. Additional solar thermal panels on the headquarters roof provide 70 percent of the heat needed for hot water.

The solar power, in addition to energy conservation efforts in its R & D kitchen and energy-efficient office equipment, makes Clif Bar & Company’s new headquarters one of the first buildings in the state to comply with the 2008 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The company will be pursuing a LEED Platinum certification — the highest ‘green’ building rating available from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

To further soak up the California sun, the building’s “biophilic” interior design brings the outside world into the work space. Four atrium gardens integrated into the interior of the office space bring sunlight and rain to the plants and greenery in the gardens. The glass garden walls, plus extensive exterior and clerestory windows, flood the open floor plan with natural light.

Reused materials can be found throughout the new headquarters. Much of the wood was reclaimed from sources such as container crates, railroad ties and barns, while recycled denim was used to make 380 sound-absorbing panels. Repurposed bikes, kayaks, snowboards and surfboards serve as artwork suspended from the ceiling.

Clif Bar & Company’s new headquarters was built by San Francisco-based DPR Construction and designed by ZGF Architects, based in Portland, Ore. Earlier this year, Architect Magazine named ZGF Architects one of the nation’s top 10 green architect firms.

New and Expanded Work Perks

The building houses a new 6,700 square foot childcare center. The center consists of specially designed inside and outside areas for five distinct age groups, from infants to five year olds. A music room, fitness toys (“pint-sized” treadmill, elliptical trainer, stationary bike and bench press) and outdoor playground help to provide kids with a balance of structured- and free-time.

An expanded wellness center features a weight room with a 40-foot bouldering wall, a yoga room, dance studio, shower/locker facilities, access to five on-site fitness trainers and two massage rooms. On-site bike parking, two massage rooms and a hair salon are also back by popular demand.

The athletes and foodies who make the company’s sport nutrition food and healthy snacks are now sharing organic breakfast and lunch meals with their co-workers in Kali’s Kitchen. Named after founder Gary Erickson’s grandmother who inspired him to bake, Kali’s Kitchen is employee-operated and sources organic ingredients from regional farms.

Adding to the community feel of the space is a theater which houses an elevated stage, customizable lighting, professional sound board and seating for 350 people. It’s connected to a reception room and staging area by a wall that opens by rising into the building architecture.

Clif Bar’s snowboarders include Jeremy Jones, Forrest Shearer, Kimmy Fasani, and Brent Meyer.

www.clifbar.com

Story by esolarenergynews.com