The news roundup for green jobs
As the immediate effects of the BP oil spill begin to fade, the long term effects are still be determined. The cleanup will continue to generate new jobs in the Gulf Region for months (if not years) to come. However, the oil spill wasn’t the only news in the green economy - read on:
- New efforts on a renewable electricity standard: Some clean energy and climate advocates have shifted their sights to a scaled-back but still ambitious goal: passage of a national renewable electricity standard. Such a law would require utility companies to produce a set amount of electricity from renewable sources by a certain date, spurring the development of clean sources like wind and solar and probably lowering overall emissions nationally. Such a standard would drive additional employment in the wind and solar sectors.
- Wind farm ‘mega-project’ underway in Mojave Desert: the project is officially breaking ground in the Tehachapi Pass, a burgeoning hot spot for wind energy about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. When completed, Alta could produce three times as much energy as the country’s largest existing wind farm, analysts said. It’s slated to be done in the next decade and will create hundreds of construction and maintenance jobs.
- New Stirling engine solar heating and power system in Colorado: Cool Energy, of Boulder, Colorado, a developer of clean energy heat and power generating systems, today announced that Xcel Energy will be providing research and analytical support for the first planned pilot field installation of the SolarFlowÆ System in a commercial building located in Boulder, Colorado.
- Xtreme Power raises cash for renewable-energy storage: Xtreme Power, an Austin, Texas company which is commercializing battery technology originally developed for electric vehicles, is expected to announce on Tuesday that it has raised nearly $30 million to expand into utility energy storage.