Friday, April 29, 2011

Cumming, GA Sees Another BIG Solar Installation

Image credit - AJC


Some wording borrowed from AJC and Forsyth County News

Most everyone has heard of cutting a ceremonial ribbon to welcome new facilities, but how about a power cord? That's exactly what one south Forsyth business did to officially roll out the second largest commercial solar energy array in Georgia.

DataScan Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of JM Family Enterprises Inc., now has the capacity to capture and convert sunlight to create an estimated 285,500 kilowatt hours of electricity each year.


To symbolize the impact on the firm's electricity bill, company leaders cut a yellow electrical cord instead of a red ribbon during a dedication ceremony Tuesday.

DataScan Technologies is a global leader in wholesale finance accounting and risk management systems and services. It employs about 500, including some 200 at the local center.

Brent Sergot, vice president of DataScan, said officials began developing ways to reduce the data center's environmental impact about a year ago. He said the solar array, which is more than 24,000 square feet and housed on the center's roof, has the capacity to produce electricity equal to that used by some 25 standard residential homes each year.

It would take 377,000 pounds of coal or 477 barrels of oil to produce that much energy.

Colin Brown, president of JM Family Enterprises, thanked state leaders for approving Georgia's Clean Energy Tax Credit legislation during the past legislative session. The previous cap of $2.5 million dollars per year for solar projects was increased to $5 million dollars during an eleventh hour meeting.

"Without a partnership with the state of Georgia, this would not have happened," Brown said. "We're headquartered in the sunshine state of Florida, but Florida offers no energy credits.

"Georgia is on the fore-front in leadership in this area. You're having a great impact on the environment while also creating jobs."

Estimates from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority and the Georgia Solar Energy Association indicate the solar industry in 2010 had about 450 direct and indirect jobs, which generated about $1.3 million in withholding taxes.

DataScan's solar array features nearly 1,200 glass modules, which absorb sunlight and can withstand winds up to 130 mph. The modules are also hail-resistant.

The array, produced by California-based solar systems manufacturer Solyndra, is arranged on the roof to avoid shadows.

Officials said the $2 million investment in the array should be returned in about seven years through reduced power costs.

The short-term goal is to lower the data center's energy consumption by 10 percent in 2011.
Several state and local elected officials attended Tuesday's dedication.

Forsyth Commissioner Todd Levent called the project "absolutely on target."

"I'm all for the whole concept of getting away from foreign oil," he said. "With a seven-and-a-half-year return on their investment, this makes a lot of sense.

"It's nice to know Georgia is leading the way with environmental incentives."

Another business in Dawsonville recently went solar on their rooftop due to the lucrative tax incentives and solar energy repurchase agreements that are currently offered from local utility companies.

A display in the lobby of DataScan Technologies shows how much electricity a newly-installed solar array is generating. Local officials toured the south Forsyth facility during a "power-cord-cutting" ceremony Tuesday. Below, DataScan Facilities Manager Dennis Arserio, right, shows Forsyth County Commissioner Todd Levent some of the technology used in the solar array.

Company officials and guests gather on the roof of DataScan Technology on Tuesday to view the company's new solar power system.

'Georgia is on the forefront in leadership in this area. You're having a great impact on the environment while also creating jobs. Colin Brown President, JM Family Enterprises. 'I'm all for the whole concept of getting away from foreign oil. With a seven-and-a-half-year return on their investment, this makes a lot of sense.'


Other local solar developments include a solar carport and solar powered EV charging station that is currently being constructed by Atlanta mogul Ted Turner, a 48-acre landfill that is being converted into a solar power plant, and another 30 acre lot near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that will include 4,000 solar covered parking spaces.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Ted Turner IS Captain Planet




Article source: AJC


I failed you, Atlanta. I sat down to interview Ted Turner last week with one main goal: to get an answer to a question that several local business and political leaders have been asking themselves lately.

The question: How can Atlanta get its mojo back? Big ideas like going after the Olympics and building Hartsfield-Jackson have largely been responsible for turning the metro area into what it is today. But to our detriment over the past several years — to this very day — there has not been a big idea capturing our imagination.


So who better to ask about what the next big idea might be than a visionary like Turner?

He wouldn’t bite.

“I’m not a business consultant,” he said.

I asked the question a few different ways, but his head and heart are elsewhere now — on tackling nuclear disarmament, containing population growth and reducing global warming by investing in alternative energy.

Turner, 72, argued that making the globe a better place benefits Atlanta, too.
“The last time I checked, Atlanta was on the planet Earth,” he said.

Intellectually, he’s right, of course. Still, I can’t forget how much of an impact he had in helping turn around a struggling downtown Atlanta — CNN Center, Turner Field, Philips Arena and the Turner Entertainment complex beside the Downtown Connector are examples.

I covered Turner for this newspaper during part of the 1990s, and I know that several of his advisers told him there were greener pastures in the suburbs. But Turner would have no part of it.

“God knows what would have happened to Atlanta if we moved to the suburbs,” he said.
Now, however, Turner only spends about 10 percent of his time here as he tackles some of the planet’s biggest messes with his money — a running total of $1.5 billion to the U.N. and a variety of environmental and anti-nuclear causes — and his mouth.

“My top priority is nuclear weapons because they can end it all in an afternoon,” he said. “There’s going to be a nuclear-weapons accident,” he predicted, similar to the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan.

Unstable governments with nuclear weapons, such as Pakistan’s, threaten the world, he said.

“We need to get rid of all nuclear weapons immediately,” he said. He knows that’s not going to happen but sees his role as pushing the envelope.

That same style takes hold when he talks about our reliance on oil and coal.
“The days of fossil fuels are over,” he said. “The trouble is we’re going to run out of atmosphere first.”

Turner is involved with promoting clean energy, favoring solar, wind and geothermal projects. He has reservations about natural gas and opposes the resurgence of nuclear power.

“Who wants to have a nuclear power plant in their backyard today?”


In the side yard of Turner Enterprises downtown — the parking lot — he has installed solar panels to help power the building. (I can’t criticize him for overlooking Atlanta on that score.)

“I think clean, reliable energy should be our top priority,” he said. The federal government should phase out subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, he believes, and transfer that money to beefing up alternative energy sources.

He recently teamed up with Atlanta-based Southern Co. and the local power cooperative serving Cimarron, N.M., on a big solar project there.

Speaking of teams, I asked if he had an interest in becoming a sports owner again, since the Thrashers are for sale and he was instrumental in bringing pro hockey back to Atlanta. There have been persistent rumors about the Thrashers ending up in Canada as the Flames did, negating Turner’s efforts from 15 years ago.


“No, I’ve done sports — been there, done that,” he said.

(During his quest for an NHL franchise back then, I once threatened to stop a Manhattan elevator right before Turner was heading into a closed-door meeting if he didn’t give me a quote to pacify my editor. “Ted, I’m not going to get fired over you,” I remember telling him. “OK, OK,” he replied, before telling me what was going on.)

I couldn’t end the interview without asking what business accomplishment he considers his most significant. I thought he might say the influence he had on other wealthy business people to give away their money, which a lot more are doing these days.

Instead, Turner cited an Atlanta icon.


“Of my business accomplishments, I’m proudest of CNN because it brought information to people who were deprived. … There are 99 24-hour news networks in the world today. … It’s amazing. When we started, there were zero.”


From Henry Unger, The Biz Beat - AJC

Friday, April 15, 2011

Green And Growing In East Dublin, GA





Quitting time on Nathaniel Drive once meant traffic, bumper to bumper, from the bridge spanning the Oconee River into Dublin back to the textile plants that spun the fabric of a thriving local economy. Now, Nathaniel is a lonely, almost lifeless 3.5-mile stretch of five-laned blacktop. Weeds and grass grow tall through cracks in the parking lot at the former Forstmann plant, once Laurens County's largest employer with 1,500 workers.


A few weeks ago, wrecking crews began leveling the mill, which closed in 2007, looking to salvage whatever steel remains after the equipment followed jobs out the door. Company could make Dublin "green and growing" again Wray, the county's lead economic developer, is optimistic of a turnaround. The economic development authority is "busier than we've ever been." Officials have hosted 10 official visits by new industry prospects since January, he said. "We're excited. We're busy. The projects we're working are about $1.3 billion worth of investment - and that is with a 'B.' ... The activity, the looks we're getting, they're really quality projects. They're quality jobs with well-run companies. "We're close on several of them," Wray said. "It's a matter of the companies pulling the trigger." Targeted industries include aerospace, clean-tech, light manufacturing, wood aggregate and distribution companies. "We look very specifically at whether a business is propped up by government subsidies," Wray said. "A business propped up by government subsidies might not be the best business to go after. You never know when they might go away."


Interest has been generated with wind, solar and wood pellet-burning energy companies, and the Dublin area's potential for alternative energy prospects might have some jokingly considering a change in motto.


"Our slogan is 'green and growing,' " said Wray. "People have started to use 'green and sustainable.' "


One of the area's top selling points is location. Interstate 16 knifes through the heart of the county, which sits midway between Atlanta and Savannah, a two-hour drive to both. That access to the world's busiest airport - Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta - and the country's fastest-growing port was a major plus in landing the Germany-based MAGE Solar's new North American headquarters. "They could bring product into the port," Wray said, "and they could make a direct flight from Atlanta to Stuttgart, near their headquarters."


The county, he said, offers a "low cost of doing business with a high-quality of life." It is a drawing area for nine to 12 counties. "Before the recession, it was probably nine counties, but people are willing to drive further for employment," Wray said. "We're drawing from a much larger labor pool." Laurens County, which according to the 2010 Census has about 48,000 residents, has a workforce of about 22,000. Factor in the surrounding counties, Wray said, and the number of available workers is closer to 80,000. "The people who come here to work already come here to shop," he said. "They already come here to go to the doctor." The development authority owns about 600 acres, with utilities, to offer prospects, and it also has partners with available land, Wray said.


MAGE Solar has moved into the former Rockwell Automation plant, which announced in 2009 that it would close, leaving 145 people out of work. The solar panel maker actually shared the facility on Dublin's Industrial Boulevard with Rockwell for three months last year. The company already has launched and expanded its "Solar Academy" operation and has hired 40 employees, mostly management, sales and engineering personnel.


Production lines are being installed, and, after test runs, the plant could begin manufacturing solar energy panels by the end of May, said MAGE Solar spokeswoman Susanne Fischer-Quinn. The company plans to hire 350 employees within five years, she said. It also has bought additional land at the site for possible expansion.


We are proud to say the solar panels we offer at Energy Roofing Systems come from the local MAGE facility in Dublin. We are committed to investing in our local communites whenever possible.

MARTA Puts On Green-A-Palooza Featuring Solar Canopy

Source: AJC

MARTA hosts a Green-A-Palooza at the Edgewood/Candler Park Rail Station from 3 to 6 p.m. today. Featuring entertainment and giveaways, attendees will learning why mass transit is a good way to protect the planet. There will also be an introduction to MARTA’s “green” project, a federally funded Laredo Bus Facility solar canopy installation currently under construction. Once completed, it will be the largest structure of its kind in Georgia and the second largest at a U.S. transit system.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Dalton now the ‘solar energy capital’ of Georgia?


Source: GB Chronicle


With Phase I of his company’s 1 megawatt photovoltaic project near Dalton already generated electricity, United Renewable Energy’s Bill Silva has declared my hometown the “capital” of something other than what it’s best-known for. We have over 1 MW of installed solar capacity in Dalton, the ‘carpet capital,’ which is now the solar energy capital of Georgia,” says Silva, president of the Alpharetta-based solar integrator. Silva was prepping today for yet another celebratory photo op Wednesday at what I’m pretty sure is the largest single photovoltaic project now under development in Georgia. Phase I is generating 350 mw already, and the project is planned to completed over the next three years in two more phases. The project is owned by Georgia Power, which then is selling the energy to municipally owned Dalton Utilities. Other relatively large users of solar electricity in the Dalton area include carpet manufacturing plants.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Solar Inches Closer To $1 Per Watt

Source: Renewable Energy World Rapid growth in solar photovoltaics has brought installation costs within sight of $1 per watt for large projects and closer to competing with fossil fuels.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Five myths behind rising gas prices

Source: AJC

Gasoline prices have been steadily climbing for several months, and Americans are feeling the pain at the pump. The possible culprits (from greedy oil execs to Mideast turmoil) are as plentiful as the proposed solutions (more offshore drilling, green energy or government reserves). But what is really driving prices up? And what, if anything, can be done about it? Let’s take a moment to fill up on information about our fuel.


1. Fighting in Libya is sending gas prices higher.


Libya is not a big enough global oil supplier for the battles there to have a meaningful effect on gas prices. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Libya was a major U.S. supplier, selling us about 700,000 barrels of oil per day. But today, we import less than 50,000 barrels per day from Libya — a tiny fraction of the 9.2 million barrels per day the United States imported in 2010. So why are gas prices up?
Though Moammar Gadhafi’s fate is largely irrelevant to the oil market, unrest throughout the greater Middle East is not. The Persian Gulf region produces almost 24 million barrels of oil per day, more than 25 percent of global oil consumption. The Arab spring that has brought protests to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen makes markets nervous, and when markets fret over a possible disruption to oil supplies, gas prices rise — whether the disruption materializes or not.

2. Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, SPR, is a smart way to reduce gas prices.


The U.S. government maintains a 727 million-barrel oil reserve — 38 days’ worth at current levels of consumption — to protect against potential supply disruptions. But just about every time prices rise, politicians want to access the oil in the reserve to increase supply and bring prices back down. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., for instance, has been calling for oil releases from the SPR for more than a decade. In a letter to President Bill Clinton in 1999, he endorsed the release of several hundred thousand barrels a day from the SPR because, according to a news release about the letter, oil prices had made a “meteoric ascent to nearly $25 per barrel.”


Had Clinton dipped into the reserve then, as Schumer requested, we almost certainly would have gotten a raw deal. What if that $25-per-barrel oil could be replenished only at $75 per barrel? Tapping the SPR makes the government an oil speculator, and any nation running record deficits that becomes a commodity trader is playing a dangerous game.


3. Oil companies produce less in the spring to make gas prices increase.


Almost every year, gasoline prices rise in the spring. At the same time, refineries produce less fuel. This isn’t because oil companies want to keep inventories low to drive prices higher. It’s because what’s in our gasoline — specifically, butane — changes from season to season. Butane is a cheap ingredient in gasoline that boils at low temperatures. In winter, this isn’t a problem. But in summer, butane evaporates from gas, polluting the air while leaving us with less fuel in the tank than we paid for. As temperatures rise, refineries replace butane with more costly ingredients and draw down winter inventories just as beach season begins. Chemistry, not corporate conspiracy, limits supply.


4. The Obama administration is driving up gas prices.


Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says the White House drilling moratorium shows President Barack Obama’s “culpability in the high gas prices hurting Americans.” Blaming the president for rising gas prices is nothing new, and it’s a bipartisan tactic. In 2004, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., blamed President George W. Bush for higher gas prices and for continuing to fill the SPR as oil prices climbed. Just one problem: Even if domestic supplies were developed, American presidents couldn’t really control oil prices. The U.S. government has estimated that there are 18 billion barrels of oil in the outer continental shelf of the lower 48 states that are off limits to development. That may sound like a lot, but it is only about
2 1/2 years of supply for the U.S., and it would take several years to allocate leases and drill exploratory wells.

Even if the estimated 10 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were available for development, today’s policy decisions would have no impact on gasoline supplies for as much as a decade. Obama can’t dictate what you’ll pay for premium tomorrow.
5. Americans can’t live without cheap gas.

Yes, Americans love to drive, and Americans love cheap gas. But across an ocean, there’s a continent filled with people a lot like us who’ve lived with high gas prices for years.
While U.S. gasoline heads toward $4 per gallon, Europeans have been paying much higher prices for years because of high taxes on fuel. Last month in Britain, gas hit about $9.76 per gallon. Because gas is so dear, Europe’s per capita energy use is half that of the U.S., leaving Europe less vulnerable to oil price shocks yet not undermining its standard of living. The U.S., built on cheap oil, is much less densely populated than the Old World, with more wide-open spaces to traverse. But that doesn’t mean we can’t embrace some of what has helped Europeans keep their gasoline bills down — such as high-speed rail, public transportation and green energy.

In fact, Americans have shown that they can adjust their behavior when faced with sticker shock at the pump. As gas prices rose from $2.31 per gallon in 2005 to $3.30 per gallon in 2008, sales of the Toyota Prius eclipsed those of the Ford Explorer, and public transit use reached a 50-year high. When it costs $30 to fill up a Geo Metro, all options are on the table.