Albany is getting electric car charging stations, reports Brian Nearing at the Times Union. The goal: 15 stations throughout the city:
A study will be done to determine the best locations for such charging stations, said Janet Joseph, a NYSERDA vice president. She said electric cars will help both reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, which are driving man-made global warming, and reduce transportation costs and fossil fuel imports. Joseph said the mileage of a fully charged electric car is the equivalent of gasoline priced at about $1.75 a gallon, which is well less than half of the current retail price of gasoline. The first charging stations could be installed over the summer, at possible locations like Albany City Hall or the University at Albany, while the study examines other key potential locations, added Joseph Tario, senior project manager at NYSERDA.
Hydrofracking
Capitol Tonight has reaction [video] to the well blow-out in Pennsylvania from Democratic New York Senator Liz Krueger, who recently sponsored legislation to ban hydrofracking.
Power bills
SUNY's College of Environmental Science & Forestry has picked up a state grant for $963,000 to build a gasification boiler, that will use willow wood pellets to create energy. Mike McAndrew reports at the Post-Standard:
The combination heating/electric generating system will cost about $2.4 million, but will save ESF $350,000 to $400,000 per year in heating and power costs, [ESF director of renewable energy systems Michael] Kelleher predicted. ESF is using a $963,000 grant from the New York Energy Research & Development Authority to help pay for it. The grant to ESF was among $20 million in grants NYSERDA announced for combined heat and power projects at 19 hospitals, paper mills, supermarkets, apartment complexes and other facilities in New York City and Upstate.
Columbia Utilities will have to pay almost $3 million to the state and its New York customers for "deceptive marketing tactics." The settlement was forged by New York's attorney general, reports My-Ly Nguyen at the Press & Sun-Bulletin, after the firm promised savings - but instead clocked in with higher bills.
Solar manufacturing
Clean Energy Authority has a look at all of the states vying for GE's thin-film photovoltaic manufacturing facility. Upstate New York is in the running, alogn with Arizone and Oregon, reports Chris Meehan. And of course, don't forget Colorado:
When the company announced its new photovoltaic intentions on April 7, it said it planned to name the location of the new plant over the next 100 or so days. While GE is still well within that time-range, states and cities are already lining up to vie for the plant and the 400 jobs it could create. Most recently and perhaps most publicly, the entire bipartisan Colorado Congressional Delegation to U.S. Congress joined Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) and leaders of state’s higher education institutions in signing a letter to GE Vice President of Renewables Vic Abate, urging GE to consider Colorado as the ideal home for its new manufacturing facility. “GE would find a fruitful partnership with the State of Colorado,” the group wrote. “As you know, we are already home to several innovative solar companies in Colorado, including the company GE recently acquired, Primestar Solar.”
Wind
At Offshore Wind Wire, Todd Griset has an update on offshore wind projects around the Great Lakes, including the likely-delayed GLOW initiative in New York.
GE remains committed to wind power despite declining sales in the U.S., reports the Associated Press, after an investor asked chief financial officer Keith Sherin about it on a conference call.
Nuclear
Larry Rulison reports at the Times Union's Buzz blog that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has received $1.5 million from the National Nuclear Security Administration for a nuclear safety research program:
RPI Professor Yaron Danon will lead the new program, which will study how to make more accurate predictions of energy production and safety of working nuclear reactors. A symposium will be held April 27 to kick off the new program.
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