Daniel Green, chief executive officer of HomeSun, which works to assist in the cost of installation of energy saving photovoltaic systems, says some people suffer from “inertia” because of fears about the expense associated in purchasing the technology.

He adds that this is compounded by “worry that they won’t get the returns that more efficiency will give them instantly”.

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Last year, more than 260 schools took part in a district-wide campaign to conserve energy. All together, the schools saved about $6 million and 46 million kilowatt hours.

Now, 500,000 of those dollars are making their way back to the schools that saved the most.

The biggest winner was Coconut Palm K-8 Center in Homestead, which earned $43,895.

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The new strategy will set out priorities for 2020 in order to deliver on the EU’s energy and climate goals.

This will require the EU to spend €1 trillion over the next decade on infrastructure, new technologies and electricity storage, according to a draft, seen by EurActiv.

“In the next decade, investment in energy, both to replace existing resources and in order to meet increasing energy requirements, will oblige European economies to arbitrate among energy products which, given the inertia of energy systems, will condition the next 30 years,” it says.

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At least, that’s how it used to be. Interest is ramping up in storing the sun’s energy so that solar plants can keep producing power into the night and when clouds gather.

That can improve the efficiency and potentially the economics of solar power generating stations. It also helps deliver a more stable and reliable power output for the grid.

The deal will involve no upfront costs to the City, with SunEdison financing, constructing, monitoring and maintaining the three carport canopy photovoltaic power plants.

The company, which has its HQ in Beltsville, Maryland, will sell power to the City via 20-year power purchases from the installations at the Huntington Beach Civic Center, Central Library and City Yard.

Last week, William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey announced that it was installing a large solar-power system. The installation – which was financed and built by New Jersey companies – should provide between 15 and 20 percent of the university’s energy needs.

Furthermore, WPU estimates that its array will help it save $4.3 million on energy over the next decade and a half.

The project includes a 408-kilowatt solar system, which provides electricity through solar panels located on the top level of two parking structures that is generating power for the two garages and a significant portion of the Business Education Building. Chevron Energy Solutions designed, engineered, installed and operates the solar system and maintains and guarantees the system’s performance. SMC has also improved its energy efficiency through a campus-wide lighting retrofit, variable speed drives, new heating hot water boilers, fire alarm system and emergency circuit upgrades that were also installed by Chevron Energy Solutions, college officials said.

“We are committed to academic excellence, global responsibility and educational, environmental and economical awareness,” said Dr. Chui L. Tsang, president of SMC. “Our collaboration with Chevron Energy Solutions allows us to reduce the amount of energy used and lessen our college’s carbon footprint.”

The state’s Public Utilities Commissionapproved a feed-in tariff programthat would allow renewable energy projects of up to 500 kilowatts to get paid for the power they feed back into the electrical grid.

This is part of a programme of 8500 studies the Environment Agency will carry out to help improve the quality of rivers over the next two years.

Improvements in water quality over the last two decades have primarily been achieved through successful action on pollution from sources such as factories and sewage treatment works (‘point source pollution’).

Last month, the Environment Agency published its annual classification of water quality in rivers in England – revealing they are the cleanest they have been since the industrial revolution.  Recent reports have shown that record numbers of otters, salmon and trout are now being found in rivers like the Thames and the Tyne.  The Thames, which in places was declared biologically dead in the 1950s, was last week crowned winner in the International Theiss River prize, the world’s biggest environmental award.

The Agency will increasingly focus on pollution from agricultural land, highways and urban areas, which is now the main cause of failing water standards in many areas, but is harder to identify.  One way of better understanding this issue is the deployment of new technology in areas of concern.

Tamar trial

A pilot study for the new technology will take place on the River Tamar between Devon and Cornwall. A variety of sensors will be placed in the river to automatically sample water quality and send the results back electronically to a central location. New software will allow the sensors to work together as one, providing an instant snapshot of the health of the river.  If successful and cost-effective, the Environment Agency will look at using the technology in other problematic areas around the country.

The trial on the Tamar will start in November and last for an initial five months.  It will involve placing 11 sensors along a 20km stretch of river and will help identify and tackle the problem of agricultural pollution in the river – one of England’s most beautiful waterways. Although the river is cleaner than 20 years ago, the impact of diffuse pollution has continued to create challenges in some stretches.

New standards

The trial comes as the Environment Agency publishes its classification update of rivers under new, tougher standards set out under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).

The WFD assessment focuses on the ecological health of waters. In total, 37 measures of water quality, including the health of river insects and plants, are assessed and the grading of each water body is determined by the measure which scores the lowest result.

Under this more stringent system, 27.8 per cent of water bodies are classed as ‘good’ or ‘high’, 57.2 per cent ‘moderate’, 13.1 per cent ‘poor’ and 1.8 per cent ‘bad’. However, more than a third of water bodies missed out on the ‘good’ status by just one of the thirty-seven different indicators. This means that by taking action to improve a single measure, many more waters will achieve ‘good’ status. These results are an improvement on last year’s and indicate that the actions already being taken are improving water quality.

River modification, including walled banks through towns and cities, culverts, dams and weirs is a factor in over a quarter of rivers failing to achieve ‘good’ WFD status.

Dr. Paul Leinster, Environment Agency Chief Executive said:

“River quality in England and Wales has steadily improved over the last 20 years and newer, more stringent EU standards will help ensure that they continue to do so.”

“The return of wildlife including otters and salmon to rivers demonstrates the tangible benefit this provides for wildlife and for people, but we are not complacent. The Environment Agency is committed to tackling diffuse pollution and will be working with community groups, River Trusts and wildlife and angling organisations who all have important roles to play in improving waterways.”

More information

National media enquiries please contact the press office on 020 7863 8744 or send an email. Outside normal office hours, please contact the National Duty Press Officer on 07798 882 092.

The city’s power agency claims the rebate program has exceeded its $33 million annual budget for this year and next, and also notes that the cost of solar panels has dropped sharply. As a result, the DWP is proposing a 30 percent cut in rebates to residential and small business customers for solar panel installation.

But installers say such an abrupt cut in the rebates would drive away customers and devastate their business.

Ken Button, president of Verengo Solar Plus, an Orange-based solar roof panel installer that does about 40 percent of its business in Los Angeles, said that the DWP proposal would add about $4,000 in up-front, out-of-pocket costs for a typical homeowner. He estimated the proposal would cost small businesses up to $40,000 more in up-front costs. Small business systems are typically larger than single-family residential solar systems.