May 2012 Posts (14)

From the Watauga Democrat:

State officials honored Grandfather Mountain Tuesday for being the first North Carolina attraction to become certified through the state's new NC GreenTravel Initiative...Grandfather Mountain's green practices and features include generating seven kilowatts of electricity per month through an array of photovoltaic cells; using solar thermal panels to heat water and supply radiant heat in the Fudge Shop; renewable bamboo…

Calling All Clean Energy Supporters

Recent clean energy policies are coming under attack by several NC legislators. NCSEA's Registered Lobbyists, Julie Robinson & Tom Bean, reach out to legislators each week. But we need you and other clean energy supporters to help educate them…

It sounds like Hertz is positioning itself to enter the car-sharing market in a pretty serious way with Hertz-On-Demand. The program offers hourly rentals with no annual membership, no late fees, and one-way rentals, which are all significant advantages over Zipcar. The service was launched in March and already has over 90,000 members in the US—Zipcar has ~700,000—with minimal marketing and only a fraction of the number of vehicles…

MARK TIMES: Socializing begins at 5:30 PM; Programming at 6:00 PM, Wednesday, 5/22 

LOCATION: Posana Cafe, 1 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Join us as we launch Asheville Beyond Coal! 

 …

Via the Guardian:

Apple plans to power its main data centre entirely with renewable energy by the end of this year, taking steps to address longstanding environmental concerns about the rapid expansion of high-consuming computer server…

Each year, the Department of Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University launches a two semester Senior Capstone Project course for our soon to be graduating students.  Projects should allow them to integrate as much of their education as possible.  This course is multi-disciplinary-- mixing students from all three of our programs (electrical engineering, electrical and computer engineering technology and engineering technology).  This year we will have forty-six (46)…

On Friday, March 9, 2012, Blue Ridge Biofuels sold its one-millionth gallon of B99 biodiesel. That means 1,000,000 gallons of petroleum diesel not consumed in North Carolina and over 8,700 tons of carbon dioxide kept out of our atmosphere. In 2011, we reached a record annual production level of 250,000 gallons of B99 and we are on track to double that this year. We have been purchasing new equipment that is opening up bottle-necks in our production process which makes the…

A low-income neighborhood including the Pisgah View Apartments is the first in the Carolinas to benefit from a new energy conservation and efficiency project from Progress Energy. Neighborhood Energy Savers (NES) is designed to help low-income customers save electricity and money on power bills — at no cost to them. 

Progress Carolinas CEO Lloyd Yates, Congressman Heath Shuler, Mayor Terry Bellamy, and other dignitaries were on hand to launch the program at the Pisgah View…

From the Winston-Salem Journal:

[Swinson and her team] won an additional $90,000 from the EPA's P3 competition to continue the research and develop a system to recycle the rinse water at Haircut 101 for a two-year project. The team also received an additional $1,000 from the Chemical Engineers Society and will give a presentation at the group's annual conference.

Wastewater from bathing, shampooing, dishwashing, mopping or other household…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed and launched two new tools designed to test underutilized sites and contaminated land for solar and wind energy potential. State and local governments, site owners, and community members can use the tools to help identify the most desirable sites for solar or wind installations from both a logistical and economic standpoint, without the need for…

NC GreenPower announces a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) produced in North Carolina.



All bids are due by June 1, 2012 by 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDST) to be considered under this Request for…

A Discussion of the Role of Local Governments in Providing Distributed Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Services in the State of North Carolina. Read more here.

Oskar Blues brewery, the maker of Dale’s Pale Ale, will build a major expansion operation in Brevard, the company has announced.Read more here.

From the Watauga Democrat:

On Monday, Makoto's owners Ronald and Gwen Dhing continued the trend by installing Boone's first electric vehicle charging station. After the apparatus passed the town of Boone's inspection, Dr. Peck Garner, three-week owner of a Chevy Volt, was the first to juice up at the station, located near the right side of the restaurant building.



Makoto's installed a mid-level charging station that can…