General News

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and consulting firm AWS Truewind, LLC have developed new wind resource maps and wind potential tables for the United States, the first comprehensive update of wind energy potential since 1993. The analysis indicates that wind resources in the U.S. are greater than previous estimates, up to three times more than previous estimates with the potential to generate up to 37 million gigawatt hours annually.

Washington, D.C., January 26, 2010 - The U.S. wind energy industry broke all previous records by installing nearly 10,000 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity in 2009 (enough to serve over 2.4 million homes) according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in its “Year End 2009 Market Report.”

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) project has awarded CERTs seed grants of up to $11,000 to help projects garner further funding and bring communities together in identifying and implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. CERTs received 122 proposals, of which 55 proposals were funded for a total granting amount of $280,000.

The energy sector is transforming from a “big” business structure driven by non-renewable environmental extraction to a sector built on accessible abundant and renewable energy to households and business of all sizes, according to a series of briefing papers by the Center for Social Inclusion. This change will bring exciting new entrepreneurship opportunities and the potential to transform socially and economically isolated communities into meaningful partners in their local and regional economies.

The Environmental Law & Policy Center has published an updated version of the Community Wind Financing Handbook. This guide reflects new financing opportunities available from federal energy and economic stimulus legislation, the new Farm Bill, and state incentives.