by Sven Gustafson | Michigan Business Review
Tuesday March 03, 2009

A Vermont manufacturer of 100-kilowatt wind turbines said Tuesday it plans to begin contract manufacturing in Michigan possibly later this year.

Northern Power envisions opening two production facilities to serve the central United States for its community-scale wind turbines. Michigan is its top choice for its first facility, with Texas as another possibility.

"It will be contracting manufacturing," said Marty Gibbons, director of global supply chain for the Barre, Vt.-based company. "We're better than 25 percent of the way there as far as talking to future partners and things like that."

March 02, 2009

A significant challenge is that the creation of the smart grid -- and, consequently, the evolution of the intelligent utility -- is that utilities cannot start this process from scratch. This is where lifespan plays a major role.

In the telecommunications, computer and Internet industries, technology has an average lifespan of about three years, which allows for relatively smooth incorporation of new methods and systems as they come into being. Not so for the electrical distribution network, whose lifespan averages approximately half a century. Without the assistance of a crystal ball, how can utilities be sure that the devices they put on their networks today will be able to interact with the technology that will be available 15 years from now, taking into account demands and protocols that may or may not exist?

Source: The New York Times
By KATE GALBRAITH
Published: February 25, 2009

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — To the casual eye, the basement of this city's Firehouse 9 looks like a jumble of old hydrants, Dr Pepper cartons, rakes and random gear. To specialists in energy efficiency, the 1960s-era building is a mess of a different sort: wasteful hot water heaters for the firefighters' showers, ancient refrigerators and outdated lights.

Wrapping up an elaborate energy audit, Knoxville is about to find out which of 99 city buildings are wasting the most energy. It hopes to begin repairs this summer, just in time to catch a tsunami of federal stimulus money earmarked for such unglamorous tasks as replacing light bulbs and fixing leaky insulation.

Knoxville's timing is excellent. The city began the arduous work of cataloging deficiencies before the stimulus bill passed, and it is well along in planning its next steps. But experts worry that other beneficiaries, especially cities, are not ready to oversee the huge sums of energy-efficiency money about to come their way.

February 23, 2009

Members of the Europe Union are shifting their energy positions. Carbon emission policies there are giving nuclear energy added appeal -- even among nations that once eschewed such ideas.

The continent has expressed continued concerns over global warming and volatile oil prices. With the exception of a few nations such as Germany and Austria, most countries there say the nuclear option is appearing increasingly viable and particularly since the EU's most recent carbon reduction proclamation in December.

February 18, 2009

Long relegated to the back halls of Congress, weatherization has moved up the ranks. President Obama has now signed the stimulus bill with $5 billion included in it so as to make 2.5 million low-to-moderate income homes more energy efficient.

The federal government is greatly increasing its involvement in the area. By promoting energy efficiency and weatherization programs to insulate homes and save money, it says that families can permanently cut their energy bills while putting thousands of foot soldiers to work ensuring that the insulation and reparation gets underway.