Germany has been a leader in adopting renewable energy. The country has extensive wind farms and solar power arrays. At present, renewable power represents about 17 percent of the German total. The country has been planning to phase out its nuclear power generation as those plants reached the end of their service life, but the German government recently chose to accelerate that phase out, and will now end its use of nuclear power by 2022.
Bipartisan Efficiency Bill Promotes Efficiency Standards
A bill recently introduced in the Senate would improve the efficiency of homes and commercial buildings, advace the adoption of improved building codes with greater efficiency requirements, and require the federal government facilities to adopt efficient measures and require new federal buildings to meet the highest efficiency standards. The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011 (Bill S.1000) would promote greater efficiency for buildings and appliances as part of a national energy efficiency strategy.
Germany Will Phase Out Nuclear Power by 2022
The German government has decided to phase out all nuclear power in the country in the next 11 years. Although the country is ending nuclear power, other sustainable power goals remain in place. "We don't only want to renounce nuclear energy by 2022, we also want to reduce our CO2 emissions by 40 percent and double our share of renewable energies, from about 17 percent today to then 35 percent," said Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Another Jump in Thin-Film Solar Efficiency
Researchers at Empa (the Swiss national research laboratory) have achieved a new record in thin-film solar cell efficiency. The flexible solar cells are made from copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), and these cells have achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 18.7 percent. The previous record of 17.6 percent was achieved only a year previously (and by the same research group, too).
San Francisco Replacing 18,500 Street Lights with LEDs
San Francisco Water, Power and Sewer is beginning a city-wide project late this year to replace 18,500 high-pressure sodium street light fixtures with LED fixtures. The new fixtures will use 50 percent less energy than the existing street lights and will cost far less to maintain since they only have to be replaced every 15 - 20 years compared to the current bulbs that have to be replaced every four years.
Southern Oregon Getting EV Quick-Chargers in First Phase of "Green Highway"
As part of the Green Highway project where California, Oregon and Washington are partnering to turn Interstate 5 into the first alternative-fuel-friendly freeway in the U.S., AeroVironment is installing Level 3 EV quick chargers along the route in Southern Oregon. For this first phase of the project, from the California state line to the Willamette Valley, 150 miles of the highway will have convenient access to EV chargers that can fully charge a battery in 30 minutes.
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