Huge thermal plant opens as solar industry grows

[ProSense]

Huge thermal plant opens as solar industry grows

<...>

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling across roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border, formally opens Thursday after years of regulatory and legal tangles ranging from relocating protected tortoises to assessing the impact on Mojave milkweed and other plants.

The $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc. and BrightSource Energy, can produce nearly 400 megawatts — enough power for 140,000 homes. It began making electricity last year.

Larger projects are on the way, but for now, Ivanpah (EYE'-ven-pah) is being described as a marker for the United States' emerging solar industry....President Barack Obama has mounted a second-term drive to combat climate change, proposing first-ever limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. His plan aims to help move the U.S. from a coal-dependent past into a future fired by wind and solar power, nuclear energy and natural gas.

<...>

In 2012, the federal government established 17 "solar energy zones" in an attempt to direct development to land it has identified as having fewer wildlife and natural-resource obstacles. The zones comprise about 450 square miles in six states — California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/viewart/20140213/NEWS04/140213003/Huge-thermal-plant-opens-solar-industry-grows-

90 Percent Of States Added Solar Jobs In 2013, Fueled By Growth In The South

By Katie Valentine

California leads the way in solar jobs, but 18 other states more than doubled their solar jobs in 2013, according to a new map...published by the Solar Foundation as part of their National Solar Jobs Census, found that Southern states were some of the most active in creating solar jobs in 2012 — new solar jobs in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana accounted for nearly a quarter of the total new solar jobs added last year. In Georgia and North Carolina, solar installation jobs doubled, bringing their respective totals to 2,600 and 3,100. Both these states’ solar and renewable laws were in the news in 2013: last year in North Carolina, one lawmaker tried to repeal the state’s Renewable Energy Standard, which mandates North Carolina utilities to get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2021. That attempt failed after North Carolina’s swine industry teamed up with environmentalists in support of the RES.

And last summer in Georgia, the Atlanta Tea Party teamed up with state environmental groups to call on the state’s largest utility to expand its development of solar energy. In July, the Georgia Public Service Commission voted in favor of a plan that requires Georgia Power Co. to up its solar capacity by 525 megawatts by the end of 2016.

But despite the growth in the South, the report found California to be the number one state for solar employment, supporting a total of 47,223 solar jobs— a third of the nation’s total — and adding 3,523 solar jobs since 2012. California has several policies and programs that are friendly to solar and other renewables, including Go Solar California, which has a goal of installing 3,000 megawatts of solar energy on homes and businesses by the end of 2016. Solar employers in California expect the solar job market to continue to grow in 2014, predicting 10,500 new jobs in the state this year.

Overall, the U.S. added more than 23,600 solar jobs last year, bringing the total to 142,698 solar workers, according to the Solar Foundation.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/11/3279221/states-solar-jobs-2013/

[ProSense]

1. Kick! n/t

[MineralMan]

2. Wikipedia has a good article on the Ivanpah plant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpah_Solar_Power_Facility

Not without controversy, the plant is finally ready to go, and plans for expansion are in the works.

[ProSense]

4. Thanks. What's the "controversy"? n/t

[MineralMan]

5. The project is built in the desert, where vegetation is

scarce and where there are some endangered species. The desert tortoise is the primary one of concern. There's a sanctuary area near this project site. As with all alternative power generation projects, at least all large ones, there are environmental concerns. It's very interesting to see. We need to harness solar power as an alternative to fossil fuel and nuclear power generation, but projects like this one always face, strong opposition from some environmental groups.

I don't get involved in such controversies, but am always aware of them.

The Ivanpah project has interested me for a long time, and I've seen it a couple of times on my way to Las Vegas during its early phases. Now, I live in Minnesota, though, rather than in California, so I don't travel that way any longer.

But, every large alternative energy facility has opposition. It comes with the territory. It's something of a paradox, I think. Wind power is growing in the Midwest, and almost every project has those who oppose it, while promoting alternative energy. It's always something, it seems.

[ProSense]

6. Yes, there was concern. From Wiki:

However, environmentalists have raised concerns that relocated tortoises are more likely to die due to the stresses involved.[25][26] BrightSource has also installed fencing that will keep wildlife out of the area.[27] In 2010, the project was scaled back from the original 440-megawatt (590,050 hp) design, to avoid building on the habitat of the desert tortoise.[28]

There will always be concerns. The wind industry faces a similar push back because of the threat to birds.

8 Ways Wind Power Companies Are Trying to Stop Killing Birds and Bats

Wildlife researchers and industry are collaborating on new approaches—some proven, some experimental and even far-fetched.

—By Roger Drouin

Hundreds of thousands of birds and bats are killed by wind turbines in the US each year, including some protected species such as the golden eagle and the Indiana bat. That's only a small fraction of the hundreds of millions killed by buildings, pesticides, fossil-fuel power plants, and other human causes, but it’s still worrying—especially as wind power is experiencing record growth.

Both the wind industry and the federal government have been under intense public scrutiny over the issue in recent weeks. In late November, the Obama administration fined Duke Energy Renewables $1 million for illegally killing birds, the first time a wind company has been prosecuted under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Then, just two weeks later, the administration announced a controversial new rule that will allow energy companies to get 30-year permits for non-intentional eagle deaths at wind farms. The feds emphasize that the new rule requires additional conservation measures, but it still angered many conservationists.

The pressure is now on for wind energy companies to reduce bird and bat mortality. Lindsay North, outreach manager for the American Wind Energy Association, which lobbies for the industry, says wind developers are committed to "doing our best to try to have the lowest impact on birds."

- more -

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/01/birds-bats-wind-turbines-deadly-collisions

[hunter]

7. It's an obscenity.

Undeveloped land, especially very fragile desert environments, ought to be left alone.

Solar can be installed on rooftops and over parking lots.

Parking lot and rooftop solar is nearly ideal in an economy with affordable electric automobiles. Drive to work, plug your car in, it's charged by the sun, drive home.

Paving over the deserts and transmitting the electricity long distances over ugly electric power lines is not a reasonable solution to any problem.

[ProSense]

8. The criticism are there.

<...>

It’s not just the loan guarantee that made this a controversial project. Some environmentalists have been angered by its impacts on the desert ecosystem, focusing on displaced desert tortoises. Others have questioned why a solar plant that uses water would be built in the desert — instead of one that uses photovoltaic panels.

But with the historic “first sync” of one of the power plant’s three units on Tuesday, it might be a good idea to put those questions aside for now and just celebrate the achievement of a massive solar milestone in California.

http://grist.org/business-technology/worlds-biggest-solar-thermal-power-plant-fired-up-in-california/

As solar and wind power ramps up so will the issues pro and con.

[hunter]

10. Nope. Not going to put "those questions aside."

Building crap is how we got into this mess. Building more crap won't get us out of this mess.

We ought to be retreating from and restoring lands. Instead we are simply making more messes.

[ProSense]

11. Well,

"We ought to be retreating from and restoring lands. Instead we are simply making more messes. "

...the President has a strong record on protecting public lands: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002141907

[ProSense]

9. Kick! n/t