By producing solar power on site, USFloors is able to take advantage of excellent Government and Utility benefits; a 30% Federal Grant, a 35% State Tax Credit and accelerated depreciation. North Georgia EMC pays USFloors a premium for the solar power that it generates. Ownership of power provides business owners with the opportunity to hedge against dramatic cost increases, and carries strong financial benefits.

The system was installed by Alpharetta based United Renewable Energy, LLC. William Silva, President of United Renewable Energy LLC added that “USFloors continues to show leadership in sustainable manufacturing practices and job growth. This solar power system is impressive in it’s size alone, but more importantly because this is the largest commercial solar photovoltaic installation in Georgia since the 1996 Olympics.”

Installing this solar array is just one of the many sustainable practices of USFloors, a company actively working towards a solar powered future for Whitfield County. “Through our work with the Whitfield County Chamber, we have demonstrated how being sustainability stewards can benefit all local businesses,” said Dossche. This solar array created at least fifteen jobs, and preserved many more by reducing operating costs, developing a new industry and introducing Dalton’s business community to ways to stay sustainable and competitive.

About USFloors- USFloors’ commitment is to provide consumers and specifiers with beautiful and durable floors at a good value, while minimizing our impact on the environment and enhancing and improving it whenever possible. USFloors is committed to sourcing and utilizing sustainable resources for its flooring products whenever possible and specifying raw materials and processes that meet stringent U.S. and European environmental standards, USFloors NEVER sources from clear cut or unmanaged forests. USFloors continually strives to actively reduce its environmental and energy footprint, creating better indoor air quality and promoting Green Building through renewable energy and LEED initiatives.

About United Renewable Energy, LLC- Alpharetta, Georgia based United Renewable Energy, LLC (URE) delivers practical, economical, renewable energy solutions to businesses and homes throughout the East Coast. URE is the leading integrator of commercial photovoltaic solar electric power systems in the state of Georgia, and one of the fastest growing renewable energy companies in the country. URE’s president is a NABCEP Certified PV Installer_TM, and as Adjunct Coordinator of Solar Programs at Lanier Technical College, shares best practices with aspiring solar installers. URE is committed to promoting quality solar installations, to educating the public and promoting supportive legislation for renewable energy.

Via : u-renew.com

GE (NYSE: GE) gas turbine technology will be used to convert a conventional power plant into the first large-scale cogeneration plant in Mexico, which will offer increased efficiency and will supply process steam to one of the country’s most important natural gas complexes. The project supports the Mexican government’s initiative to promote cogeneration as a key step in improving the efficiency of the country’s energy infrastructure.

The Mexican Congress passed energy reform legislation in 2008, as part of the country’s commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below 2002 levels by the year 2050. The government is promoting combined heat and power, or cogeneration, as an energy efficient option to help meet the country’s energy goals.

Cogeneration, the simultaneous production of electricity and heat using a single fuel such as natural gas, harnesses heat that would otherwise be wasted. This can result in higher thermal efficiency or higher heat values; also, carbon dioxide emissions can be substantially reduced.

GE will supply two Frame 7FA gas turbines for Nuevo PEMEX, a 300-megawatt cogeneration plant located in the state of Tabasco, Mexico. GE’s 7FA gas turbine has the capability to burn natural gas with high nitrogen content, which fits the profile of the available fuel at the Nuevo PEMEX site. In addition, GE has signed a 20-year Contractual Service Agreement (CSA) to provide a full range of plant services, including planned and unplanned maintenance.

The new cogeneration plant will be owned by a consortium made up of Abener and Abengoa Mexico and will supply steam and power to PEMEX, Mexico’s state-owned oil and gas company, for use at PEMEX’s existing natural gas processing facility at the site. The cogeneration plant will be able to generate between 550 and 800 tons of process steam per hour.

Abener and GE Energy have worked together successfully on a wide range of global projects to date.  Abener and Abengoa Mexico are part of Abeinsa, the Industrial Engineering and Construction arm of the Abengoa business group.

“With our advanced technology and global experience, we are well positioned to help our customers meet their energy and environmental goals,” said John Reinker, General Manager of Gas Turbine Combined-Cycle Products for GE Power & Water. “Our F-technology machines are well proven in a wide range of power generation applications worldwide, and have the flexibility to meet the specific requirements of large-scale cogeneration projects.”

www.ge.com/energy – www.ge.com

WASHINGTON DC -   The Department of Energy announced that it has received certifications for over 600,000 residential appliances in 15 different product categories in response to the Department’s enhanced energy efficiency enforcement efforts.

DOE recently announced that manufacturers had until January 8, 2010 to submit correct energy use data to the Department of Energy before aggressive enforcement actions were taken.  The certification data provided by 160 different manufacturers will allow DOE to review manufacturers’ compliance with minimum energy efficiency standards and take action to ensure that products are delivering the energy and cost savings required by law. DOE will continue to accept certification reports that were sent by mail and postmarked by January 8th.

“The Department of Energy’s newly enhanced enforcement efforts are greatly improving the quality of the energy efficiency information available to DOE and the American consumer,” said DOE’s General Counsel Scott Blake Harris. “Moving forward, we will aggressively pursue all manufacturers who have failed to comply with these certification requirements or whose products violate the country’s energy efficiency standards.”

Under federal law, manufacturers of a range of household appliances are required to certify with the Department that their models meet DOE’s minimum appliance conservation standards.  DOE has made clear that failure to submit these energy use reports violates the Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975 and will result in enforcement by the Department, including civil penalties or fines.

These certification reports provide DOE with critical information to ensure that American consumers are buying products that deliver significant energy and cost savings. DOE will immediately begin reviewing the filings and will aggressively enforce any violations.

London, January 11, 2010 – The world took a big step closer today to a green and more sustainable communications future with the launch of Green Touch™, a global consortium organized by Bell Labs whose goal is to create the technologies needed to make communications networks 1000 times more energy efficient than they are today.

A thousand-fold reduction is roughly equivalent to being able to power the world’s communications networks, including the Internet, for three years using the same amount of energy that it currently takes to run them for a single day.

Today’s Green Touch press conference will be available via a video webcast at 2:30 p.m. GMT (3:30 p.m. CET/9:30 a.m. ET) through the following link: www.greentouch.org

Green Touch brings together leaders in industry, academia and government labs to invent and deliver radical new approaches to energy efficiency that will be at the heart of sustainable networks in the decades to come.  With its launch, the consortium also has issued an open invitation to all members of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) community to join forces in reaching this ambitious target.

“Truly global challenges have always been best addressed by bringing together the brightest minds in an unconstrained, creative environment. This was what we used when putting a man on the moon and is the same approach we need to implement to address the global climate crisis.  The Green Touch initiative is an example of such a response – bringing together scientists and technologists from around the world and from many different disciplines in an environment of open innovation to attack the problem from many different directions,” said Dr. Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy.

“The ICT sector is perfectly placed to bring its innovative and technological forces to bear in the low carbon transition as well as in curbing its own carbon footprint.  The Green Touch Initiative shows how business can play its part in delivering the low carbon society we are working to achieve. With Government creating an environment in which innovation can flourish, we welcome industry coming together with academia to create the research, technology and solutions necessary to reduce carbon emissions,” said Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, UK.

“Industry has to play a major role in the drive to increasing global energy efficiency. This is both a matter of environmental responsibility and competitiveness. We regularly endorse such projects in our “pole de compétitivité” (competiveness cluster) policy and the Eureka clusters.  This is a particularly crucial area of focus because of increasing usage of ICT and the Internet. The world-wide Green Touch consortium will open the way to generating major technological breakthroughs.  France supports this project, which is open to all and in which two major French labs are founding members,” said Christian Estrosi, Minister for Industry, France.

“Climate change is an enormous and immediate challenge that needs to be address globally and with bold actions. It is only through harnessing the best minds around the world, regardless of their mother companies, industry, or nationality, that we will make the difference we need to. The Green Touch consortium, with its open innovation model that harnesses the leading minds across the globe and includes experts from every part of ICT, is the model for the sort of radical initiatives that we need to address the huge challenge of global warming,” said Jong-Soo Yoon, Director General, Ministry of Environment, South Korea.

“The Portuguese Government has been taking measures to promote the production of energy by clean technologies. The Green Touch initiative calls our attention to the importance of the network and collaboration between different institutions when we face global challenges as sustainable development.  I encourage the participants of this initiative to bring good solutions to promote the energy efficiency of communication networks,” said Paulo Campos, Secretary of State for Public Works and Communications, Portugal.

“Over the next decade billions more people will upload and share video, images and information over public and private networks as we communicate with each other in new, rich ways. We also expect ICT usage to dramatically increase as other industries use networks to reduce their own carbon footprints.  This naturally leads to an exponential growth in ICT energy consumption which we, as an industry, have to jointly address.  This consortium is unique in looking way beyond making incremental efficiency improvements and tapping into innovation and expertise from around the globe to achieve fundamental breakthroughs in ICT carbon emissions reduction,” Gee Rittenhouse, vice president of research at Bell Labs and consortium lead.

Green Touch Initiative founding members include:

• Service Providers: AT&T, China Mobile, Portugal Telecom, Swisscom, Telefonica
• Academic Research Labs: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Research Laboratory for Electronics (RLE), Stanford University’s Wireless Systems Lab (WSL), the University of Melbourne’s Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES)
• Government and Nonprofit Research Institutions: The CEA-LETI Applied Research Institute for Microelectronics (Grenoble, France), The Foundation for Mobile Communications (Portugal), imec (Headquarters: Leuven, Belgium), The French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA)
• Industrial Labs: Bell Labs, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), Freescale Semiconductor

This 1000-fold efficiency target is based on research from Bell Labs that determined that today’s information and communication technology (ICT) networks have the potential to be 10,000 times more efficient than they are today.  This conclusion comes from a Bell Labs’ analysis of the fundamental properties of ICT networks and technologies (optical, wireless, electronics, processing, routing, and architecture) and studying their physical limits by applying established formulas such as Shannon’s Law ^[1].

“With the boom in broadband usage, ICT energy consumption is rapidly increasing and immediate steps need to be taken to address this trend and mitigate its impact,” said Vernon Turner, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Enterprise Computing, Network, Consumer, Telecom and Sustainability at IDC, a leading industry analyst firm.  “What distinguishes the Green Touch Initiative is its commitment to a hugely ambitious yet quantifiable goal that is rooted in hard science.  Its global profile and multi-disciplinary approach will accelerate the necessary fundamental rethinking and development of new technologies.”

To support its objectives the Green Touch Initiative will deliver – within five years –– a reference network architecture and demonstrations of the key components required to realize this improvement.  This initiative also offers the potential to generate new technologies and new areas of industry.

The first meeting of the consortium will take place in February and will be dedicated to establishing the organization’s five-year plan, first-year deliverables, and member roles and responsibilities.

For those companies interested in joining the consortium, please visit the web site:  www.greentouch.org

About the Green Touch Initiative

Green Touch Initiative, a consortium of leading industry players, research institutions and non-governmental organizations to define the challenge, identify solutions and develop solutions with the goal to deliver the architecture, specifications, roadmap, and demonstrations of key components needed to reduce ICT energy consumption per bit by a factor of 1,000 from current levels within five years. www.greentouch.org

Green Touch Press Contacts

Peter Benedict

Tel: + 33 (0)1 40 76 50 84

peter.benedict@alcatel-lucent.com

Paul Ross

Tel +1 908 230 8030

Paul.ross@alcatel-lucent.com

“DOE is committed to advancing clean energy technology development and deployment globally,” said Secretary Chu.  “The Low-Carbon Communities of the Americas initiative offers an opportunity for the Department to work closely with our neighbors to reduce energy use, increase energy security, and promote a low-carbon future across the Western Hemisphere.”

Through the LCCA program, DOE invited countries to submit proposals for collaboration in areas including renewable energy development and building and industrial energy efficiency.  DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), along with other National Laboratories, will provide technical assistance to countries receiving support under the initiative.

Later this year, Secretary Chu will host his counterparts from North and South America at the Energy Ministerial of the Americas to continue developing and expanding joint clean energy and climate efforts.  The Energy Ministerial will be held from April 15-16 in Washington, D.C.

DOE and NREL have selected the following three projects under the LCCA:

Energy Efficiency Center in Costa Rica

The government of Costa Rica, along with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), will create an Energy Efficiency Center in Costa Rica that will train and certify professionals in energy efficient technology and auditing procedures, and help expand the technical knowledge base and capabilities of countries across Central America.  Once established, the Center will partner with leading energy efficiency organizations to conduct its own research on efficiency programs and energy savings in tropical areas.  The results of this research would benefit the Central American and Caribbean region as a whole, as well as provide important information for other nations with similar climates. The project will bring together DOE, Costa Rica’s electricity and telecommunications group ICE, the NRDC, and the University of Costa Rica to create the program and training materials, train the Center’s future instructors, and run two initial energy efficiency auditor training courses.

At an event earlier this week in San José, Costa Rica, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sánchez joined with DOE officials and representatives of Costa Rica’s Ministry of Energy and Environment, ICE, NRDC and the University of Costa Rica to launch the Center.

Building Low-Carbon Communities in the Caribbean

This proposal from the Organization of American States (OAS) and several Caribbean governments will enable participating countries to expand the development and use of renewable energy and energy efficiency systems, helping to increase the sustainability of their energy supplies while reducing carbon emissions.  The project will target local training and technical programs on how to conduct energy efficiency audits and retrofits.  There will also be a focus on strengthening communities’ capacity to review and evaluate resource assessments related to indigenous renewable natural resources. This project will engage St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, The Bahamas, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

Dominica Wind Project

This project proposed by Dominica aims to prove the viability of smaller, distributed wind generation as an alternative to traditional, megawatt-class, utility-scale turbines. Efforts will take into consideration available technologies, economics, and constructability to identify and model appropriate turbine technologies under 250 kilowatts.  The Dominica Wind Project will also model commercialization strategies and the impact on the electrical grid of small distributed wind generation, assess the impact on energy costs for consumers, purchase and install initial pilot turbines, and implement a public information campaign to expand the use of renewable energy.

Washington, DC – The Department of Energy announced today that it has entered into a Consent Decree with Haier America resolving an investigation into whether Haier violated DOE’s energy efficiency standards.  DOE’s investigation led Haier to determine that a parts defect caused certain freezers to consume more energy than represented to consumers and possibly violated DOE’s energy efficiency standards and the ENERGY STAR® requirements for freezers.  As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to enforcing energy efficiency, this Consent Decree obligates Haier to notify affected consumers, repair defective units, and pay a voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury.

During the investigation by DOE’s Office of General Counsel, Haier voluntarily identified a parts defect that had caused the freezer models to consume additional energy and took immediate steps on its own to remedy the defects.  Haier’s cooperation with the Department of Energy’s investigation was critical in reaching the Consent Decree, the first ever entered into by the Department of Energy to enforce minimum energy efficiency standards.

“Enhanced energy efficiency is a national priority, and DOE will continue to vigorously enforce energy efficiency standards and ENERGY STAR® criteria,” said DOE General Counsel Scott Blake Harris.  “Haier’s voluntary disclosures and voluntary remediation measures helped to reach this Consent Decree, which requires swift action to protect both consumers and the environment from the consequences of wasteful energy use.  We would encourage all manufacturers to follow this example in the future.”

Prior to the Consent Decree, Haier took actions on their own to stop the distribution of any of the affected freezer models.   Standalone upright freezers sold between December 2008 and August 2009 are covered by the Consent Decree, although not all of the units will necessarily be affected by the parts defect.  The following freezer models are covered: HUF138EA (ENERGY STAR®), HUF138PB, HUF168EA (ENERGY STAR®), and HUF168PB.

Under today’s legal agreement, Haier will expand its efforts to inform consumers about potential defects in previously distributed freezers, will correct any identified defects at their expense, and will make a voluntary payment to the U.S. Treasury.  The Consent Decree announced today provides an immediate mechanism for protecting consumers and the environment from inefficient appliances.

Among other obligations, Haier has agreed to:

• Attempt to obtain information from retailers or other parties who may have contact information for affected customers;
• Individually notify affected customers with their offer to repair the affected unit;
• Conduct on-site unit repairs at no cost to consumers;
• Extend the warranty on all affected units; and
• Voluntarily contribute $150,000 to the U.S. Treasury.

Read the full Consent Decree.

Summit participants will include members of the scientific and research communities, investors, technology entrepreneurs, corporations with an interest in clean energy technologies, policymakers and government officials.

“I am especially excited about the first ever ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit,” said Secretary Chu. “This conference will bring together the nation’s top energy leaders and members of the scientific community to begin building the next Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies, which will create new jobs and help reduce our carbon footprint,” said Secretary Chu.

The summit will spotlight some of ARPA-E’s first round of 37 winning research projects and will for the first time showcase many of the more than 250 highly-rated research projects – out of the nearly 3,700 concept papers submitted – from the organization’s first $150 million solicitation.  Participants will hear from distinguished speakers such as Secretary Chu, ARPA-E Director Dr. Arun Majumdar, and a number of the nation’s leading energy innovators.  Panel topics will include:  identifying game-changing technologies, building regional energy innovation clusters, the role of energy in our national security, and successfully developing and commercializing energy technology breakthroughs.  In addition, the conference will be preceded by a one-day program of workshops where researchers, entrepreneurs and investors can meet ARPA-E’s Program Directors, discuss the goals and directions for ARPA-E’s technology program areas, and learn the outcomes of previous workshops on these topics.  The pre-conference day also will offer tutorials on topics such as best practices for commercializing breakthrough energy technologies and taking advantage of the SBIR program.  Read more information and register for the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit.

About ARPA-E

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the U.S. Department of Energy, is the country’s first organization dedicated exclusively to supporting high risk, high reward energy research projects.  ARPA-E’s mission is to support nimble and inventive technological approaches that can deliver transformative new solutions for climate change and energy security while advancing America’s technology leadership.  Learn more about on ARPA-E’s website.

Aberthaw, owned and operated by RWE npower, was playing a vital role in providing heat and power for 1.5 million people in Wales as demand for electricity across Britain soared in the winter weather.

Aberthaw station manager Phil Allen said: “When we were informed of the expected snow storms we put our plans into place to ensure that all essential workers were able to get into work. There are no problems with power generation and although we have obviously seen a rise in demand the situation is well under control.

“Aberthaw Power Station has good supplies of coal, and our local coal suppliers are cooperating to meet our expected future demands. We have contingency plans in place to ensure that all other vital supplies to the power station are not affected by the poor weather.

“Weather like this shows the need for a balance of fuel supplies for generating electricity across the UK. Demand is high at the moment but within the levels anticipated during the winter months. Aberthaw is playing a major part in keeping households and businesses warm throughout Wales.”

Aberthaw Power Station has a well-rehearsed system for gritting and salting roads within the site and clearing pathways for staff.

The biggest problem faced by RWE npower across the UK was getting staff into work on snow-clogged roads. Staff braved the snow to work at the company’s power plants and also into its customer service centres with a number making their way in on foot.

- Aberthaw Power Station can generate 1,500MW of electricity – enough to power the needs of some 1.5million people, equivalent to the total population of five cities the size of Cardiff. The station contributes over £50m to the Welsh economy per year.

RWE npower is an integrated energy business, generating electricity and supplying gas, electricity and related services to customers across the UK. We operate and manage flexible, low-cost coal, oil and gas-fired power stations – generating over 10.3 GW of electricity. We serve around 6.8 million customer accounts and produce more than 10% of the electricity used in England and Wales.

• Plugs into any PC’s USB port
• At the push of a button, the ecobutton automatically puts your computer into a special “ecomode” that saves more energy than normal sleep mode, drawing only the same nominal power as when the computer and monitor are completely shut down
• Save energy while taking a phone call or break, while doing paperwork or going to lunch or meetings,
• At the touch of any button, the computer instantly returns to where you left off and displays a splash screen showing both money and carbon (CO2) savings
• Your company logo, message and weblink can be incorporated into the ecobutton splash screen***
• Reduces company energy output and carbon footprint

Other Notes:

STANDARD SPLASH SCREEN (7-10 DAYS DELIVERY AFTER APPROVED ARTWORK) • Displays dollar and carbon savings for the time your computer was placed in “ecomode” • Displays daily and cumulative dollar and carbon savings ***BRANDED SPLASH SCREEN (3-5 WEEK DELIVERY AFTER APPROVED ARTWORK) • Displays daily and cumulative dollar and carbon savings for the time your computer was placed in “ecomode” • Displays your company logo • When logo is clicked, it launches company website • Three logo sizes available

Visit Ecobutton

“Increasing the availability and use of low-carbon fuels will bring immediate and long-term environmental benefits by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging sustainable agricultural practices that provide greater efficiencies and lower costs.

“As outlined in a recent BIO report, ‘Achieving Sustainable Production of Agricultural Biomass for Biorefinery Feedstock,’ farmers will be able to produce, harvest and deliver sufficient feedstock to the growing biorefinery industry in an economically and environmentally sustainable way through increased use of no-till agriculture. The report identifies available techniques for sustainable harvesting of agricultural residues – such as corn stover and cereal straws – for use as feedstocks for advance biofuel biorefineries. The report is available at http://bio.org/ind/biofuel/SustainableBiomassReport.pdf.

“With agricultural biotechnology, farmers can continue to increase yields of crops to meet the demands for both food and fuel. Over the past 10 years, agricultural biotechnology has helped U.S. farmers increase yields by 30 percent, a rate of yield increase that will be sufficient to meet the goals of the new renewable fuel standard. In addition, farmers can reduce operating costs, prevent soil erosion, maintain soil fertility, and harvest crop residues as raw materials for advanced biofuels through adoption of no-till agriculture. In many cases no-tell practices can even result in carbon sequestration.

“The Renewable Fuel Standard in the recently enacted Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 calls for 36 billion gallons of biofuel to be used by U.S. motorists by 2022. Of that, 21 billion gallons has to come from advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. All new biofuel production is required to meet aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets.

“Industrial biotechnology has greatly enhanced the efficiency of current biofuel production and made it possible to produce advanced biofuels from a broader range of cellulosic feedstocks, including crop residues. As America and countries across the world convert to bio-based fuels, industry leaders and policymakers must ensure that native habitats are protected and that only sustainable agricultural practices are utilized.”

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Upcoming BIO Events

·   BIO CEO & Investor Conference

February 11-13, 2008

New York, NY

·   Partnering for Global Health

March 10-12, 2008

Washington, DC

·   BIO-Europe Spring

April 7-9, 2008

Madrid, Spain

·   BIO National Venture Conference

April 22-23, 2008

Boston, Mass.

·   World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing

April 27-30, 2008

Chicago, Ill.

·   2008 BIO International Convention

June 17-20, 2008

San Diego, Calif.

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,150 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology technologies. BIO also produces the annual BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

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Contact:

Contact Paul Winters

202-962-9237,