John Hennessy III,
P.E.
RENEWABLE AND APPROPRIATE ENERGY LABORATORY
The environmental and societal benefits of deploying renewable energy technologies at utility scale must be considered alongside the concomitant costs and alternatives in order to properly evaluate the social return on investment of each technology.
Want an alternative to vehicular dependence on gas and oil? Forget about electric cars – how about wind-up cars, sail cars, and pogo cars! “Bruce McCall’s Energy Free Transportation Future” envisions our roads and skies as environmentally fantastical places.
View this complete post...HUMAN TRANSIT
When consumers aren’t finding what they’re looking for when it comes to public transportation, they are turning to social media to help garner the influence they need to get the services they’re after. This has left many professionals scratching their heads, uncertain how social media can influence a public service…Here are some answers as to why consumers are turning to social media when it comes to public transportation, as well as how consumers and cities are driving the social media efforts.
Black & Veatch is one of eight Kansas City metropolitan companies chosen by KCP&L to house the sites. The station at Black & Veatch should be operational by late July and will be able to serve two vehicles at once. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program, KCP&L will not charge users for the service through the end of 2013.
View this complete post...
GOOGLE.ORG
Our need for energy must be balanced against the often competing interests of the economy, environment, and national security. Clean, sustainable, safe, and secure sources of energy are needed to avoid long-term harm from geopolitical risks and global climate change. Unless fully cost-competitive with fossil fuels, the adoption of clean technologies will either be limited or driven by policy. Innovation in clean energy technology is thus needed to reduce costs and maximize adoption. But how far can energy innovation go towards meeting economic, environmental, and security needs? This analysis attempts to estimate the potential impact clean energy innovation could have on the US economy and energy landscape.
SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION
For concentrating solar, which includes both concentrating solar power (CSP) and concentrating photovoltaics (CPV), the U.S. is poised to become the global market leader in installations. After 20 years of near-dormancy in the industry, many large-scale concentrating solar projects are set to continue their expected ramp-up over the next few years including the expected completion of the world’s largest CPV facility (at 30 MW) expected before December.
SOLAR ELECTRIC POWER ASSOCIATION
In addition to continued growth, the new report shows two dramatic changes taking place in utilities‘ use of solar power. 1) The report demonstrates that more and more growth came from areas outside the traditionally strong solar regions of California and the Southwest. Many utilities in other parts of the country now have sizeable solar portfolios, and tens of thousands of photovoltaic (PV) systems were installed in nationwide. 2) With a growing trend toward more utility-owned solar projects and third-party power purchase agreements (PPA), the industry is no longer based solely on customer-owned, net-metered systems.
INSTITUTE FOR TRANSPORTATION & DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Bus Rapid Transit was first implemented in Curitiba, Brazil in 1974, and has become a global phenomenon in the twenty-first century. Major new BRT projects have opened since the turn of the century in Africa, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Turkey, several cities in Europe, and dozens of cities in Latin America…Though it is still in its infancy in the United States, several good BRT systems have opened in the country over the last decade, and perhaps a dozen new projects are in the pipeline in cities from San Francisco to Chicago. In many ways, the spread of BRT in the twenty-first century mimics the worldwide spread of the streetcar a century earlier.
The Department’s Federal Railroad Administration selected 15 states and Amtrak to receive $2.02 billion for 22 high-speed intercity passenger rail projects as part of a nationwide network that will connect 80 percent of Americans to high-speed rail in 25 years.
View this complete post...    |
Follow InfrastructureUSA
Video, stills and tales. Share images of the Infra in your community that demands attention. Post your ideas about national Infra issues. Go ahead. Show Us Your Infra! Upload and instantly share your message.
Is the administration moving fast enough on Infra issues? Are Americans prepared to pay more taxes for repairs? Should job creation be the guiding determination? Vote now!
What do the experts think? This is where the nation's public policy organizations, trade associations and think tanks weigh in with analysis on Infra issues. Tell them what you think. Ask questions. Share a different view.
The Infra Blog offers cutting edge perspective on a broad spectrum of Infra topics. Frequent updates and provocative posts highlight hot button topics -- essential ingredients of a national Infra dialogue.
It is encouraging to finally see clear signs of federal action to support a comprehensive US infrastructure investment plan.
Now more than ever, our advocacy is needed to keep stakeholders informed and connected, and to hold politicians to their promises to finally fix our nation’s ailing infrastructure.
We have already engaged nearly 280,000 users, and hoping to add many more as interest continues to grow.
We require your support in order to rise to this occasion, to make the most of this opportunity. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to InfrastructureUSA.org.
Steve Anderson
Managing Director
SteveAnderson@InfrastructureUSA.org
917-940-7125
RSS Feed
© InfrastructureUSA | Terms of Use | Site developed by Andigo New Media
InfrastructureUSA.org is a nonprofit project fiscally sponsored by FJC, a Foundation of Philanthropic Funds.