This Weeks News Headlines

This feature will likely run only on Monday but as it is the first one I thought Tues. would be acceptable.

Here are some of the more interesting ‘green’  headlines from across the web and the world.

-Southern California Edison has signed a deal under which First Solar will build two solar power generation stations with the potential to provide electricity to 170,000 homes.  The contract, which is subject to the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission sees the First Solar agreeing to complete the two stations by end of year 2015.  Looks bright for their future!

-Here is a bit of cool fuel news, LiveFuels, an algae biofuel start-up, announced a pilot project to grow and harvest algae biofuels in open waters with the help of naturally occurring activities in the ecosystem. The approach is different than other attempts at algae biofuels, in which algae is grown and harvested in a closed environment. The LiveFuels algae pilot farm, set to cover 45 acres of saltwater ponds in Brownsville, Texas, will consist of algae already native to the region.

-General Motors’ announced that it expects that the Chevy Volt will get an eye-popping 230 miles per gallon begs an obvious question: how can the mileage of electric vehicles be compared to gasoline cars? It’s a problem that the Environmental Protection Agency is working on with the Department of Energy, the Society of Auto Engineers, and California.  The EPA also put out a statement saying that it has not tested the Volt for mileage yet and “cannot confirm the economy values claimed by GM.” GM said that its mileage estimate, including triple digit combined city and highway driving, was based on a draft methodology developed by the EPA. The lack of verifiable tests makes us all say, mmmmmmm. But let’s hope for the best and see if we can get North America off of oil dependence.