This time, Google buys 100 MW of wind-generated electricity

Google Inc. will be buying more wind-generated electricity that it says will translate to alternative energy benefits for its new data center, even as it raises direct investment in the sector. On its Web site, Google said it will purchase the entire output of the 100.8-megawatt Minco II wind farm being built by NextEra Energy Resources in Mayes County, Oklahoma. The project will use G.E. turbines.

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World’s largest wind farm gets $ 500 million from Google, Itochu and Sumitomo

Google and subsidiaries of two Japanese conglomerates are joining original planners Caithness Energy and G.E. as owners in what could be the world’s largest land-based wind farm. A release in GE Energy Financial Services’ Web site states that Google, Sumitomo Corporation of America and Tyr Energy, the last two being subsidiaries of Sumitomo Corporation and Itochu Corporation, respectively, are investing in the Shepherds Flat wind project being built in Arlington, Oregon.

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Can nuclear power plants float?

MOSCOW, April 18 (Reuters) - A tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant might give some countries pause over the risks of exposing reactors to the power of the oceans. Not Russia. Moscow is pushing ahead with the world's first offshore atomic plant, despite increased safety fears and costs amid the fallout over Japan's nuclear emergency. "We are not worried. Even Japan has no alternative to atomic energy.

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Gamesa partners with Longyuan to install 200-MW wind farm in China

Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA has partnered with China Longyuan Power Group Corp. Ltd., the world’s third biggest wind farm developer, to develop a 200-megawatt wind farm in China. The agreement signed, the first to be signed by Chinese and Spanish companies in the wind energy industry, is to jointly develop a 200 MW of wind farm in China by 2015.

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Ford reports sustainability gains on cam covers from recycled carpets

Ford Motor Company revealed the results of its use of material made from recycled carpets for the cylinder head covers of its car engines since 2010, with reduced oil consumption by over 430,000 gallons ranking high in the benefits. According to Ford, the EcoLon material application on the cam covers of its vehicles which started last year prevented the disposal of 4.1 million pounds of carpet from landfills – equal to the span of about 154 football fields.

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AWEA: U.S. wind to perform better this year on the wings of tax credit

America’s wind industry could have a strong comeback this year after suffering big drops in project numbers in 2010. United States wind energy entered 2011 with over 5,600 megawatts’ worth of projects currently under construction, this according to the annual report of the American Wind Energy Association.

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G.E. takes careful steps in solar, backs thin-film

General Electric plans to build what it claims will be the largest thin-film solar factory in the United States, banking on a thin-film solar company that uses high-efficiency cadmium telluride technology for its solar cell. The United States’ largest conglomerate said on Thursday it will spend about $600 million to build the manufacturing plant that will produce 400 megawatts’ worth of thin-film solar power-derived electricity.

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Microsoft and Toyota to have E.V.’s running on the cloud by 2012

Microsoft Corporation and Toyota Motors Corporation are jointly investing 1 billion yen ($12 million) in one of Toyota’s subsidiaries to develop a service that can connect its electric and plug-in hybrid cars to homes and smart grids by 2012 using cloud computing. The world's biggest software company and the biggest automaker made the investment in Toyota Media Service, a subsidiary that handles the automaker's digital information services for its customers.

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U.S. Interior, Energy allot $110 million for PV, $26 million for hydro

United States government agencies have allotted over $110 million and $26 million for the advancement of solar photovoltaic and small hydropower technologies, respectively. The Energy department will be giving $112.5 million in funding over a period of five years to support the development of advanced photovoltaic-related manufacturing processes in the country through its Sunshot Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships program.

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Vestas introduces giant 7-MW turbine for offshore wind market

Vestas Wind Systems A.S., the world's biggest wind turbine manufacturer by market share, unveiled a new giant 7-megawatt offshore wind turbine that is planned for mass production in 2015. Ditlev Engel, chief executive of the Danish wind turbine maker, told the press during a conference for the unveiling in London on March 30 that the new turbine was the first that Vestas developed specifically for the offshore energy category.

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