Scottsdale | The Green Economy Post: Green Careers, Green Business, Sustainability

Distributed Energy Generation, a Green Economy Paradigm

By Chris de Morsella on September 17, 2009 24 Comments alternative energy, American Wind Energy Association, Arizona, AWEA, AZ, blackouts, brownouts, co-generation, coal, distributed energy generation, emergency power, Fuel Cells, gigawatt, green economy, green economy paradigm, line loss, micro-turbines, micro-wind, national security, peak demand, Peoria, photovoltaic, Pike Research, power transmission, Sandia National Laboratories, Scottsdale, small scale wind, smart grid, solar power, solar PV, solar thermal, Sterling Energy Systems, SunCatcher, Tessera Solar, thermoelectric, wind

Distributed energy systems can range from the micro sized do it yourself systems being installed on rooftops and on hilltops to small scale systems ranging up to around 20MW (megawatts) of capacity, although it must be understood that this is a pretty fuzzy boundary. The defining characteristic of distributed energy systems is that they generate energy close to the point of use where that energy will be consumed; hence the admittedly fuzzy 20MW upper boundary for their size.

The Greenest Cities in America

By Tracey de Morsella on July 31, 2009 4 Comments 000 clean energy sector jobs by 2015. Sacramento Municipal Utility District, air quality, AL, AR, Arlington Heights, Austin, Austin Energy, AZ, battery-swapping, Bellingham, bike lanes, biodegradable, Boston, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Burnsville, CA, CA. Sacramento plans to add 20, California, canopy cover, carbon offset, Chicago, cities Madison, clean air, Clean Energy Incubator, CO, compostable disposable food service ware, conservation, CT, Denver, edible urban gardens, electric-car charging stations, energy audits, energy conservation, energy efficiency, energy production, environmental standards, EPA, EPA Smart Growth Program, Eugene OR, Fayetteville, FL, for the Environment, Fort Collins, Gavin Newsom, generate jobs, Geothermal Energy, GHG, global warming, green building; recycling, Green cities, green concrete, green jobs, Green Medium Cities, Green Small Cities, Green Town Challenge, greenest cities, greenhouse gas emissions, greenness, Greg Nickels, How Green is My Town, Huntsville, hydroelectric, hydrogen-powered, hydropower, ICLEI, IL, incentives, kyoto protocol, landfill, Laredo, large cities, LEED, light rail, Living Cities, Local Governments for Sustainability, MA, Madison, Mission Viejo, MN, Mountain View, Nanosolar, Nashua, Natural Resources Defense Council, NH, Norwalk, NRDC, Oakland, passive cooling, plug-in charging stations, polystyrene foam, protect the environment, Redmond, renewable energy, reuse, rooftop gardens, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Scottsdale, Seattle, Smarter Cities, SMUD, solar manufacturers, solar panels, solid waste, Solopower, Spokane, Springfield, SunPower, sustainability, Sustainable Business, Tallahassee, The Denver, transportation, trees, TX, U.S. Green Building Council, Underwriters Laboratory, urban rehabilitation, urban sprawl, US Conference of Mayors Climate Agreement, WA, Washington, wastewater, water quality, WI, wildlife refuge, wind turbines, Wisconsin, Yale, zero-waste

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently announced their list of the greenest cities in the United States and have released their findings on a new web site, called Smarter Cities. The survey includes all cities in the United States with populations larger than 50,000. Smarter Cities is considered to be one of the nation’s most comprehensive and robust database of U.S. urban progress toward sustainability. Seattle ranked number one and San Francisco ranked number 2 among the 67 large cities that were evaluated. Madison, Wisconsin placed firstand Santa Rosa, California came in second among the 176 medium cities that were surveyed. Among the 402 cities that were evaluated, Bellingham, Washington came in first place and Mountain View, California came in second.