Energy in the News
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Study ranks N.C. 8th on jobs potential from energy efficiency
- Charlotte Business Journal (new window)
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2010-09-01 |
| North Carolina ranks eighth among states with the greatest potential for economic development through energy-efficiency policies, according to a report by a national think tank and an energy-investment firm. | |
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Developer sees potential for wind farm on Onslow Bay
- Jacksonville Daily News (new window)
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2010-08-20 |
| A national wind energy developer wants to explore the possibility of a wind farm off the local coast. | |
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Can N.C. up the ante on renewable energy?
- Independent Weekly (new window)
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2010-08-11 |
| When the General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 3 in 2007, it was an important step toward using more renewable energy sources for electricity in North Carolina—and a step away from coal, and perhaps from nuclear power as well. Since then, however, renewable-energy technologies have blossomed to the point that the modest goals established by SB 3 are already outdated. | |
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High-school science teacher builds energy-surplus house
- Winston-Salem Journal (new window)
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2010-08-09 |
| Dave Boyer built himself a teaching tool. With the help of a "green" architect and a "green" builder, Boyer, who teaches science at Kernersville Middle School, is putting the finishing touches on a ridge-top home in Stokes County that not only won't require power from commercial sources, but will generate enough extra electricity to sell to Duke Energy. | |
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New Pitt school buses energy efficient, eco-friendly
- The Daily Reflector (new window)
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2010-07-29 |
| When school buses start rolling in August, two new energy efficient and environmentally friendly models will hit the pavement in Pitt County. | |
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Nuclear Energy Loses Cost Advantage
- The New York Times (new window)
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2010-07-26 |
| PARIS — Solar photovoltaic systems have long been painted as a clean way to generate electricity, but expensive compared with other alternatives to oil, like nuclear power. No longer. In a “historic crossover,” the costs of solar photovoltaic systems have declined to the point where they are lower than the rising projected costs of new nuclear plants, according to a paper published this month. | |
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Duke, opponents square off over fuel for plant
- Charlotte Observer (new window)
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2010-07-15 |
| Power companies, environmentalists and forestry interests will appear before the N.C. Utilities Commission today to argue over Duke Energy's plan to burn wood with coal at two power plants. | |
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Are wood chips renewable fuel? Duke Energy wants to know
- News & Record (new window)
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2010-07-14 |
| CHARLOTTE (AP) — North Carolina electric utilities want a state law requiring them to use renewable fuels to count wood chips tossed into a coal-fired power plant. | |
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Raleigh eases way for electric cars
- News & Observer (new window)
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2010-07-13 |
| Raleigh is preparing for the arrival of plug-in electric cars by making it easier for homeowners to get a city permit for rechargers. | |
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See new biofuel technology
- The Herald Sun (new window)
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2010-07-13 |
| PITTSBORO -- Piedmont Biofuels, leaders in biofuels in North Carolina, will unveil its newest technology for renewable fuel production at a ribbon cutting event and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday at its Pittsboro plant. | |
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Biodiesel in U.S. & Asheville treading on thin ice
- Mountain Xpress (new window)
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2010-07-13 |
| As the country watches the oil spill in the Gulf destroy wetlands and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, the biodiesel industry in the U.S. is on the brink of collapse. Biodiesel is the only commercially available advanced biofuel in the U.S. It dramatically reduces carbon pollution, lessens our dependence on foreign oil and employs thousands in green jobs across the country. While paying lip service to U.S.-made energy and alternative fuels, Congress and the Obama Administration allowed the federal biodiesel tax credit to expire in December 2009. In the five years since it was enacted, the energy legislation has been highly effective, leading to over 150 biodiesel plants in 44 states, 53,000 green jobs added to the economy, and billions of dollars of net tax revenue to state and federal governments, all while displacing billions of gallons of petroleum. Yet since the sunset of the biodiesel tax credit in December 2009, biodiesel producers across the country have been forced to close or severely curtail production, resulting both in the loss of good paying, "green" jobs, as well as the availability of alternative fuels at reasonable costs to consumers. In fact, Blue Ridge Biofuels in Asheville is one of a handful of biodiesel producers still in operation today. | |
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WARN: Solar power costs less than nuclear
- News & Observer (new window)
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2010-07-09 |
| A Durham advocacy group contends that solar power already is cheaper than electricity generated by new nuclear plants and will be cheaper still. | |
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Solar power now cheaper than nuclear in North Carolina
- The Institute for Southern Studies (new window)
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2010-07-09 |
| While the price of solar photovoltaic systems has been falling for decades, the cost of new nuclear plants has been climbing -- and a historic crossover point has been reached in North Carolina, where solar power is now cheaper than nuclear. | |
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Wind, solar power costly, unreliable
- jdnews.com (new window)
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2010-07-09 |
| WHEN THE SUN doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow, solar and wind energy producers don’t produce, making them highly unreliable. When government subsidies come to their inevitable end, such alternative energy sources no longer are economically viable. | |
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Shuler: Nuclear waste is not headed to Asheville area
- Asheville Citizen-Times (new window)
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2010-07-09 |
| ASHEVILLE — There is no plan to dump nuclear waste in Western North Carolina, the region's congressman said Thursday. | |
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Flat Iron Building gets solar panels
- Mountain Xpress (new window)
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2010-07-08 |
| The Flat Iron Building — built in 1926, just two years before Asheville City Hall — is getting greener: On Thursday, July 8, Crane crews hoisted several solar panels up to the roof of the eight-story, Beaux art-style building. The panels will heat the water used by the the building’s steam-radiator heating system. | |
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How the electric car will save us
- Indyweek.com (new window)
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2010-07-07 |
| You've watched in horror as a blown BP well fills the Gulf of Mexico with despair. Dick Dell is horrified, too. But it's only the latest disgrace our nation's suffered, Dell says, because of our national addiction to oil. | |
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A new type of battery is like Red Bull for the electric car
- Indyweek.com (new window)
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2010-07-07 |
| When Dick Dell opens the back of his Prius to show off its A123-model battery pack, he's displaying the state-of-the-art in car batteries today. The A123, made in Massachusetts by a company called Hymotion, is a 5-kilowatt-hour (kwh) lithium-ion battery that fills the wheel-well compartment where a spare tire would otherwise be. | |
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N.C. renews permit for Duke Energy’s Cliffside plant
- Charlotte Business Journal (new window)
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2010-07-02 |
| N.C. environmental regulators have renewed the air-quality permit for Duke Energy Carolinas’ Cliffside Steam Station in Rutherford County. | |
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Poll finds support for WNC mountain wind turbines
- Asheville Citizen-Times (new window)
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2010-06-29 |
| Thirty years ago, the federal government built the largest wind turbine in the world in Boone. It was a prominent beacon, rising 130 feet on top of a mountain 2 miles north of Appalachian State University, and experts said it could power hundreds of homes. Now fast forward three decades and the idea of harnessing wind for generating power faces an uncertain future. | |
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DOT tries out I-40 biofuels concept
- The Herald Sun (new window)
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2010-06-25 |
| A small field of bright yellow flowers planted by the N.C. Department of Transportation along Interstate 40 may look like any other bed of wildflowers, but in the case of this crop, there is more than meets the eye. Two weeks ago, NCDOT harvested these flowers -- actually canola plants -- with the aim of turning them into fuel for diesel engines. | |
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Duke Energy seeks to continue smart-grid, solar test in south Charlotte
- Charlotte Business Journal (new window)
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2010-06-17 |
| Duke Energy Carolinas wants to extend its pilot smart-grid, solar and energy-efficiency program in south Charlotte for another year. | |
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N.C. energy official appointed
- Charlotte Business Journal (new window)
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2010-06-17 |
| N.C. Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco says Jennifer Bumgarner will become the department’s assistant secretary for energy on July 1. She’ll replace John Morrison, who said he was forced from office in April after less than a year in the post. | |
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Duke Energy continues energy legislation efforts
- Charlotte Business Journal (new window)
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2010-06-16 |
| Federal legislation capping carbon emissions appears dead for now. But some energy bill is still likely in the current Congress, and Duke Energy continues its efforts to help shape the legislation. | |
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Company touted for its energy efficiency
- Charlotte Observer (new window)
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2010-06-15 |
| U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan climbed onto the roof of Optima Engineering on Monday and touted her support for a bill that would make it easier for small businesses to get loans, allowing them to invest more in renewable energy. | |
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Cree hosts Senate climate bill teach-in
- News & Observer (new window)
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2010-06-15 |
| DURHAM -- A North Carolina green-energy company is holding a public forum to drum up interest in federal legislation that could help its business. | |
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Duke rethinking options on use of mountaintop coal
- Charlotte Observer (new window)
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2010-06-12 |
| Duke Energy made an unusual request of its coal suppliers last month: Quote the price of coal mined without blasting Appalachian mountaintops. | |
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Dump coal stock, legislators say
- News & Observer (new window)
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2010-06-09 |
| Some Democratic legislators are backing a bill that would force the state treasurer to sell off all pension investments in Massey Energy Corp., the coal giant whose safety and environmental record has been under scrutiny since an April mine explosion killed 29 men. | |
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Triad solar projects get stimulus funds
- The Business Journal of the Greater Triad (new window)
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2010-06-08 |
| Four Triad solar projects will receive nearly $630,000 collectively in grants through the North Carolina Energy Office. These grants, part of 18 grants statewide totalling $2.3 million, are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. | |
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Wind power should play a bigger role in debate over energy production
- The Herald Sun (new window)
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2010-06-07 |
| Despite the growing problems being caused by oil spewing from an uncapped well into the Gulf of Mexico, support remains strong in many quarters for offshore oil exploration and drilling in East Coast waters. | |
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