Maryland Govenor Martin O'Malley attended the launch of Maryland’s first solar tracking electric vehicle charger

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley,
Rob Lundahl, V.P. of Energy Systems
of ATR Corp and other dignitaries
at yesterday's dedication 

ATR continued it's tradition in innovative engineering yesterday when it launched Maryland's first tracking solar car charging station in Bethesda. The Solar Car Charger incorporates a 1,410 watt sun tracking array to supplement electric vehicle charging requirements. Standard Level II Car Chargers are mounted to the base of the tracking pole and conveniently situated to service two vehicles at once.



The new charging station
with a Nissan Leaf and
a Chevy Volt waiting
for charging. 



Sun Tracking provides up to 30% more power which is converted to AC and fed into the utility grid for generation credit. Car chargers are similarly connected to the local power grid and maintain 100% availability.

The solar power production and power suppied to EV's is monitored for a complete energy system accounting and analysis and it is available to the owner over the internet.




Tuesday's Headlines

Why are the big banks getting off scot-free?
Salon.com by Yves Smith

For most citizens, one of the mysteries of life after the crisis is why such a massive act of looting has gone unpunished. We've had hearings, investigations, and numerous journalistic and academic post mortems. We've also had promises to put people in jail by prosecutors like Iowa's attorney general Tom Miller walked back virtually as soon as they were made.


Yet there is undeniable evidence of institutionalized fraud, such as widespread document fabrication in foreclosures...

Duke Energy to Sell Renewable Power from New Texas Wind Farm to CPS Energy

PR Newswire (press release)

Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, will build, own and operate the 200-megawatt (MW) Los Vientos I Windpower Project in Willacy County, approximately 120 miles south of Corpus Christi and 20 miles inland from the Gulf of ... 

Underwater 'windmills' may feed power grid

Boston Globe

The equipment looks like a jet engine, but uses technology similar to what's in windmill-powered electric generators, such as those proposed for Cape Wind, the energy project planned for Nantucket Sound. Free Flow has also applied for more than 150 ...
 
Yosemite Installs Largest National Park Solar Array

EcoGeek

The whole system is made up of 2800 solar PV panels. The $4.5 million installation will save the park $50000 a year on energy costs and the park also expects to receive $700000 in energy rebates from PG&E over the next five years. ...
 
 

Offshore wind farm is a good idea that should not be killed

In response to Jay Hancock’s piece in the Baltimore Sun this past Sunday, I say you are totally wrong, Mr. Hancock. I have been critical of Governor O’Malley’s ideas on how to accomplish the important mission of installing offshore wind in Maryland. I do agree with Mr. O’Malley’s staff that being first would be a great achievement for Maryland and everyone that breathes our air. And there is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition between states.

However, I object to the conclusion Mr. Hancock makes in his story. He uses cost overruns in Massachusetts as the reason for not establishing offshore wind farms in Maryland. He says natural gas should be our new and cleaner way of making electricity. If cost overruns were a reason not to do things, we would not have a baseball or football stadium and many other things.

Let’s look at the current cost of natural gas for a moment, and I emphasize current. Back in 1995 when I built my first home, it was touted to me that natural gas was plentiful and that it was cheap. So I installed the best Trane heating system available. But my happiness did not last long. BGE was touting the same thing to everyone and before long the demand for natural gas was so high that its cost had gone through the roof and other ways of heating were cheaper.

Mr. Hancock then makes a comparison between nuclear, of all things, and wind energy. It’s as if he hasn’t been watching television for the past month. He does not prefer nuclear but he says the cost is similar. It isn’t. Nuclear waste is a big problem, as are issues of manmade or natural disasters. What do we do with the waste? We have a disposal issue today, and that’s before we ramp up nuclear to never before seen levels. Nevada and other states have repeatedly refused to have that stuff dumped in their backyards. The true cost of nuclear never ends since waste sites have to be maintained forever and guarded against terrorist threats.

Mr. Hancock also talks about the environmental benefits of natural gas because it emits 40 percent less carbon dioxide than coal, and 80 percent less nitrous oxide and negligible amounts of mercury. If his theory is correct, that leaves 60 percent carbon dioxide, 20 percent nitrous oxide and as far as the mercury goes, I think that the fish in the ocean would rather we keep that to ourselves. So his argument is that it is less bad? Mr. Hancock talks about a growing need for electricity. So it stands to reason that the number of pollutants under a natural gas scenario will surely grow.

I propose that whether we build offshore or not is not the question. We have to build. The question is how to keep the cost down. The demand for clean electricity will likely grow and the competition for those dollars will make it easier and cheaper to attain investment dollars, if we just allow markets to work without hindrance. In Europe and other parts of the world these clean offshore wind farms work. They are great wonders. Why can’t we build them? That, to me, is the question that needs to be answered.

How much longer can we continue to complain about pollution without doing anything about it? Tearing down mountains and drilling wells through our drinking water should no longer be on the table. Just build the wind farms, keep the competition open to all who want to bring this type of energy to us and let the public choose how their energy will be brought to them. I will choose clean energy and I bet enough others will too.

Energy independence will not be easy but it is attainable. Our infrastructure is old so new transmission lines need to be built. Let’s make them capable of bringing clean power to our homes and enough clean power to charge our electric cars too. Let’s disagree on the cost but let’s follow Governor O’Malley lead and make it happen.

by George Lopez
Executive Director
The Solar and Wind Expo