The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center recently conducted a survey of state businesses, the Green Jobs Report that found that nearly five percent of the state’s total employment, or more than 130,000 job positions, are now part of the green economy sectors. These numbers are also expected to rapidly grow as soon as the general economy begins to recover.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), one of the largest combination natural gas and electric utilities in the United States and based in San Fransisco, CA announced that it has contracted with Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., the U.S. arm of the world’s largest provider of wind power, to purchase and operate a major wind generating plant to be built in Southern California to serve the utility’s electric customers.
For our readers in the New York area who are interested in the subject of green data center design the Green Grid is hosting an exclusive high level industry discussion in New York, NY on October 2nd, 2009. The event will feature a prominent industry discussion and forum on green data center design.
The Green Grid is a consortium of many of the world’s leading tech and telecom companies with the goal of promoting efficient green data center designs and technologies that use less energy and water as well as recycle the computing and support equipment used by data centers.
The 3rd annual Opportunity Green Business Conference, on November 7-8, 2009 and hosted by the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Price Center brings together more than 500 prime movers & shakers and up & coming innovators driving today’s new green economy. It is certainly one of the Los Angeles metro area’s premier annual gatherings in the green economy space and features some of the brightest leaders and innovators at the forefront of the green business revolution.
The second Renewable Energy Finance Forum – West (REFF-West), will take place in San Francisco on September 29-30, 2009. It builds on the success of both REFF-Wall St and the inaugural REFF-West, which took place in Seattle in October 2008.
The conference focuses on finance and investment for clean energy technologies, with a particular emphasis on the Western US, and covers both large scale projects and the development and commercialization of new technologies. REFF-West is targeted at a senior level audience including investors, financiers, project developers and clean technology companies. Conference sessions will examine opportunities in a range of cleantech markets.
A new wind farm in Missouri will create 2500 green jobs. Duke Energy will be building mini solar plants in North Carolina. Argonne National Laboratory and BASF have established a partnership to build an electric car battery plant in Ohio. The Milwaukee Conservation Leadership Corps was named as a $550,000 grant recipient at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Gov. David Paterson announced a new $10.7 billion state rail improvement plan that calls for improving service between New York City and Niagara Falls and increasing freight rail usage by 25 percent. Under the proposed plan the speed of intercity passenger rail service from Albany to Niagara Falls would be increased to 110 mph by adding a third track to the existing rail corridor. Previous studies have estimated that new tracks allowing speeds of up to 110 mph could bring the trip time under 4 hours a significant improvement over the more than 5 and a half hours the trip currently takes.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has introduced legislation to support president Obama’s vision of a green grid. The Clean Renewable Energy and Economic Development Act will promote investments in transmission to facilitate access to renewable power, and also establish a streamlined planning and siting process for transmission lines. This legislation will make it easier for renewable energy suppliers to deliver clean energy from the often remote areas where it is harnessed to major population centers across the country.
The 2009 Green Innovation Index, which was released last week, showed that in spite of the global financial crisis, that total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced per unit of energy (energy productivity) is 68 percent higher in California than the rest of the nation. This generates billions for the economy. Since 2005 green jobs in California have grown at a rate ten times faster than total job growth. Green tech venture capital investment nearly doubled in one year, hitting an all-time high of $3.3 billion in 2008, capturing 57 percent of the national total.
