June 17, 2011
EcoCAR Challenge Top Honors — DOE Reports
posted by Steven Barrymore

The top honors in the EcoCAR challenge went to the team at Virginia Tech University. Beating out 15 other competing universities to be awarded winners of a three-year program sponsored by the Department of Energy and General Motors. GM donated vehicles were re-engineered to minimize fuel consumption and emissions, while maintaining utility, safety, and performance.

modified Chevrolet Malibu for the EcoCAR challenge (Photo Credit: U.S. Government)

View the EERE News full story here: EcoCAR challenge

January 12, 2011
National Commission Final Report on BP Oil Spill
written by Steven Barrymore

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill And Offshore Drilling has issued the Final Report to the President. The final report, Deep Water — The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling, featuring fiery cover art is available through the Government Printing Office or Amazon for $39. For immediate gratification you can download the pdf version at the link below.

The Commission’s Highlights of Key Recommendations contain a lot of “should”. But one recommendation that stood out is “The oil and gas industry must adopt a culture of safety.”

If you need to occupy your time on a flight from San Francisco to London, or a cozy read in front of the fireplace, this 380 page turner may be ideal.


Link: National Commission Final Report on BP Oil Spill

October 5, 2010
Bay Area Green Drive Expo — Consumer Event
posted by Steven Barrymore

On October 9, 2010 the San Francisco Bay Area will host the first consumer expo dedicated to ecofriendly vehicles including hybrid, plug-in, and ev. Join over 35 exhibitors and sponsors at this evolutionary event. This hands-on event will showcase alternative energy source vehicles including electric, hybrid, natural gas, hydrogen and other vehicles. Test drive the new Toyota Plug-In Prius and upcoming technologies from Ford. There will be an Owners Showcase so private owners can show off their vehicles (website states that registration is closed for new entries).

Panel sessions throughout the event will feature industry leaders, nationally known experts and the grass roots sector.

Date: October 9, 2010
Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Craneway Pavilion is located at
1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond, CA 94804
Cost of Admission: Adults $10* at the door

Mitsubishi iMiEV all-electric car (photo credit: Mitsubishi Motors)

September 1, 2010
250 megawatt (MW) solar-thermal power plant – California Approved
written by Steven Barrymore

The California Energy Commission has given the go ahead for the construction of the Beacon Solar Energy Project (subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources) a 250-megawatt solar thermal power generation facility. Scheduled to be built on 2,012-acres in the Mojave Desert. The system will use a parabolic trough design — a series of curved mirrors which reflect the sun’s rays onto a glass tube (collector) containing a fluid that runs the length of the trough. The sun’s perpendicular position to the trough can be adjusted by a tilting mechanism. This will be the first solar thermal power plant permitted in California in two-decades.

Solar Trough System

The Beacon Solar Energy Project is part of a proposed 2,800 MW of solar power plant projects in California. That would be roughly enough energy to power 2.8 million homes a year.

The CEC’s last approval of Solar Electric Generating Systems was in 1990 with LUZ SEGS IX and X projects. Someone needs to design a smartphone app to control all this solar energy goodness.


Link: CEC
Image Source: Wikipedia

PHEV bumper sticker