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"Green" billboard ready to light up Times Square
Ben Gruber, Reuters
The world's first billboard running solely on wind and solar power is ready to make its debut in the capital of all billboards -- New York's Times Square.

Wind whistling between the neighborhood's skyscrapers should keep the giant billboard lit constantly, said the manufacturer, Japanese copy and photo giant Ricoh Company Ltd.

The "Eco-Board" weighs 35,000 pounds (15,800 kg) and will be powered by 16 vertical wind turbines and 64 solar panels.
(9 January 2009)

Oil execs see growth in renewable energy
H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press
Many oil and gas company executives are predicting a significant ramp-up of renewable energy use over the next five years to run cars and trucks and generate electricity, according to a new survey.

A survey of chief financial officers of 100 U.S. oil and gas exploration and production companies found that nearly nine of 10 executives predicted renewable energy to gain a larger share of the market in the next five years with better than 1 in 5 executives expecting the share to more than double.
(12 January 2009)

Ambitious Solar Plans in France
Tom Standing, The Oil Drum
The December 1 issue of the Oil and Gas Journal carried a “Quick Take” article about France’s “national plan for renewable energies” that they unveiled on November 17. Their plan includes all the popular ideas for alternative energy: biomass, wind, hydro, waves and tides, with a major emphasis on solar. For now, France has 13 megawatts of installed capacity in solar, but the energy minister wants solar to be an ambitious 5,400 MW in 2020. He says that France will change its carbon-based energy model to a completely decarbonized model: each home, company, and community will produce its own energy.

Why is France doing this? They already have the least carbon-intensive energy system of any industrialized nation. They generate 75% of their electricity with nuclear, supported by the most extensive technology to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, compared to any other nation in the world. Practically 100% of their rail system is electrified, packed with people, whether on the Paris Metro or speedy intercity trains. France has already developed the working model of a low-carbon energy system for other nations to emulate.

Let’s do some calculations on France’s solar plan, similar to my last email. We can see what surface area of collectors would be needed, and how much electricity would be generated.

Tom Standing is a "semi-retired, part-time civil engineer for the City of San Francisco."
(11 January 2009)

Wind in Wyoming (audio)
Marc Strassman, Etopia News
Ed Werner at Werner Solutions and Wyoming Wind Working Group on Wyoming wind power
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Ed Werner, founder/owner of energy consulting firm Werner Solutions and the director of the Wyoming Wind Working Group, talks about the development of wind power in Wyoming in this remotely-recorded audio interview, recorded January 12, 2009
(12 January 2009)