T. Boone Pickens pitches energy plan in Montana
By KAHRIN DEINES , 02.27.09, 07:43 PM EST
 
Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens appeared with Montana's governor Friday to pitch his plan for decreasing the nation's dependence on foreign oil, a strategy that could give windy states like Montana a key role.

Speaking at an energy conference for leaders in business and education, Pickens said oil prices are destined to return to painful highs within the year, pumping renewed urgency into efforts for energy independence.
(http://www.forbes.com ... MORE)

27 February 2009
Dell, the PC maker, announced today its Oklahoma City campus will be powered with 100 percent wind energy which is expected to avoid the generation of 5,100 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

"We encourage other companies to follow their lead and set similarly aggressive energy efficiency and renewable-power targets," said Steve Howard, CEO of the Climate Group in a statement this week.


Dell obtains 35 percent of its U.S. energy use from green power, including the Oklahoma City campus, it said. The firm will aim to reduce its global facilities' CO2 emissions as much as 40 percent by 2015.
(http://www.ibtimes.com ... MORE)

2/26/2009 7:59:05 PM GMT -ARCADIA, FLORIDA

Florida Power&Light Co. (FPL) has begun groundbreaking on the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center. The 25-MW photovoltaic solar facility will bring commercial scale photovoltaic power to Florida.The plant will be the largest photovoltaic solar facility in the United States when it is complete at the end of 2009. The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will use 90,000 photovoltaic panels on 180 acres of land and provide enough electricity to power more than 3,000 homes, nearly 20 percent of the population in DeSoto County.

The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will use SunPower panels and SunPower Tracker technology. The Tracker automatically follows the sun's movement throughout the day, increasing sunlight capture by up to 25 percent over fixed systems.

The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center is one of three new solar facilities ... read more

Many of the elements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka - Federal Economic Stimulus Package) signed into law on February 17 2009, are directly focused on fighting global warming and reducing the nation's dependence on fossil fuels.

The 787 billion dollar bill constitutes the nation's largest investment to date in support of renewable energy alternatives.  

With this heavy focus on changing our energy model, we should immediately see a spur of growth in Wind Energy Projects.  The technology is readily accessible, there appears to be many "shovel-ready" projects across the nation, and as other construction projects gear down due to the worsening economy, needed labor is becoming readily available.

Wind Energy may be only an element of our future energy plans, but is obviously the most approachable. 

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