Green Jobs Now!

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Comment by Michael, Houston on December 20, 2008 at 6:36am

University of Michigan offering alternative energy transportation grants
Posted by Tina Reed | The Ann Arbor News December 19, 2008 14:17PM

The University of Michigan and research group Fraunhofer are partnering in a $2.2 million program to provide grants for alternative energy in transportation projects.

Seed money grants of up to $200,000 annually, for up to two years, will be available for groups with researchers from U-M and Fraunhofer who are working on new ways to fuel transportation.

Projects will be evaluated by U-M's Office of the Vice President for Research, Fraunhofer and the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute. The projects will be awarded in 2009 and must be finished in two years. For more information, visit www.energy.umich.edu.
© 2008 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

Comment by Michael, Houston on December 20, 2008 at 6:12am

OBAMA CHOICE FOR GREEN JOBS POST

Comment by DANIEL B FROMHOFF on December 18, 2008 at 9:50am

SOUTH EAST FLORIDA:
CATCH THE WIND dba RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC. (CTW/RESI) IS SEEKING A RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSULTANT TO BEGIN TRAINING AND SELLING HyRES WITH A RETAIL PRICE OF ABOUT $28,000 ON THE 1st OF FEBRUARY. CANDIDATE MUST HAVE A CAR, CELL PHONE AND A LAPTOP.

Comment by Thomas Peterson on December 18, 2008 at 9:17am

Hi Melissa,

Thank you for your blog comments.

I applaud and fully support all that President-elect Obama is doing to advance alternative energy. However, I am astounded that no attention is being given to saving energy. SEE (Super Energy Efficient) housing has the potential to cutback (save) on total U.S. energy use by 20% or more. I know this is not an "alternative energy", but it supports the same goal of cutting back on energy use and pollution.

More importantly (at the moment), it will also create jobs - - a lot of them - - that can help save our economy short- & long-term! These jobs will be in the construction, manufacturing, and distribution sector. In addition they will be mostly middle-class jobs that are "un-exportable" and will be distributed evenly throughout the U.S. It seems that simple low tech solutions that large corporations cannot directly benefit from, are given little if any consideration by Washington. If Washington simply said that SEE housing was a good thing to do (beyond what the government sponsored Energy Star Program does - - very quietly I might add), people would begin seeing its many advantages.

I feel like "Chicken Little" saying the sky is falling and no one is listening. Well, our economy is falling (certainly short-term, and potentially long-term), the health of our planet is falling, and people's personal finances are falling. The "sky is the limit" is falling and it is not an "acorn" and I am smarter than Chicken Little! Of course, my mistake might be in assuming that Washington is smarter than Chicken Little.

I apologize for the sarcasm, but I am trying everything that I can think of to get people to look at the concept of SEE housing. I have yet to even convince the Picken's Plan to add it to their proposals. Want to help?

Comment by Michael, Houston on December 17, 2008 at 3:23am

THE GREEN JOBS ARE COMING

Three Things Obama Will Do to Advance Alternative Energy
by: Kelvin Schulle December 16, 2008

On Monday, President-elect Barack Obama announced one of his most important cabinet figures - energy secretary. Obama has been drawing a green picture for US citizens, and says he will use green energy revaluation to create at least 2.5M jobs. People around the country have been asking the same question: how does he do it? Well, by appointing Steven Chu, a renewable energy/environment pioneer and Nobel Prize winner.

"We can spark the dynamism of our economy through a long-term investment in renewable energy that will give life to new businesses and industries with good jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced," he said, adding, "We'll make public buildings more efficient, modernize our electricity grid, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while protecting and preserving our natural resources. We must also recognize that the solution to global climate change must be global."

It is clear now that the new administration will do the following three things right after January 20th:

1. Install solar panels/vinyl on all government/military buildings. The companies who can provide products are Suntech Power (STP), Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), Sunpower (SPWRA), First Solar (FSLR), Evergreen Solar (ESLR), JA Solar (JASO), and Canadian Solar (CSIQ). Based on the U.S. Department of Energy is leading The Solar America Initiative (SAI). By 2015 SAI will provide 5-10 GW of new electric capacity from decentralized sources of clean power to the electric grid in the United States, SAI will also boost our economy by promoting a U.S. based solar industry. With new administration takes office in Jan., we will see this program kickoff quickly. Companies who have domestic production should benefit, including FSLR, STP SPWR, ENER.
2. Modernize our electricity grid. Obama wants to run the country’s economy on renewable energies, such as solar and wind. The problem is that the existing power grid is too out of date to transport new energy across the nation. Steven Chu’s expertise is a great fit here. He has long been promoting new power grid to carry electricity from one part of the nation the other. Companies such as American Superconductor (AMSC) can provide next generation power grid system - a secure super grid technology. More details can be found on the company website.
3. Promote wind energy. Wind energy has been proven cheaper than solar and has achieved grid parity to some extent. Many companies are developing wind turbines or parts for wind energy market, including Trinity (TRN), American Superconductor, and Vestas (VWDRY.PK).

Comment by Michael, Houston on December 17, 2008 at 1:59am

This is a guest post by Leonard Adler, an entrepreneur who is the founder of Green VC, a resource for entreprenuers, and Green Jobs Network, a resource for job seekers.

Social Design Network

If you are an environmentally-oriented designer or online marketer who is looking for some extra funds you might consider entering the Wood, Paper, Checkmark competition. This competition was developed by DESIGN 21: Social Design Network to benefit The Nature Conservancy and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and will present a total of $10,000 in prize money for winning consumer awareness campaigns for sustainable forestry. The $10,000 will be awarded as follows:

* $5,000 to the Overall Winner chosen by The Nature Conservancy and FSC-US
* $5,000 divided between multiple prizes: DESIGN 21 Judge’s Picks and Most Popular

To enter the competition you will need to create elements of a consumer call-to-action campaign that asks targeted consumers to purchase FSC products as a means of protecting forests around the world. Entries need to contain the following components (please review the competition website for complete guidelines and the design brief):

1. A compelling, persuasive message/approach that:
* Creates awareness of FSC and shows people that by buying FSC, they can play an active role in protecting forests.
* Drives people to a consumer-searchable website where they can locate FSC products to buy.
2. A campaign design that includes these mandatory elements:
* A print ad
* A suite of online advertising banners and buttons
3. A URL name suggestion for the consumer-searchable website with FSC product locations.

The submission deadline for this competition is January 13, 2009. Good luck!
Melissa

Comment by Richard R. Blake on December 14, 2008 at 7:42pm

It occurred to me that the auto bailout might present an opportunity to advance the Pickens Plan, especially in the area of conversion of automobiles to natural gas, here is the article, http://www.examiner.com/x-1863-Denver-City-Buzz-Examiner~y2008m12d13-What-the-auto-bailout-means-to-Denver > Perhaps we ought to begin contacting the next Congress and the Pres Elect

Comment by Michael, Houston on December 14, 2008 at 11:11am

Mercer, Lawrence visualize green-job potential
Sunday, December 14, 2008

By Jeanne Starmack

Green jobs are seen as crucial to economic development.

In the midst of the country’s bleak economic crisis, green jobs are being hailed as an oasis.

President-elect Barack Obama pushed them in his campaign, and Congresswoman-elect Kathy Dahlkemper stressed them in her bid to unseat Phil English in the 3rd District.

Now, as the guard gets ready to change in Washington, officials here in western Pennsylvania are starting to consider what they need to do to attract green jobs to their communities.

Dahlkemper, who’ll be sworn in Jan. 6, met with business and community leaders last week in Mercer County to get a feel for what their priorities are so she can represent them as discussion gets under way for an economic stimulus package in Congress.

Green jobs, she reiterated, are certainly an important part of that picture.

To the south, the Lawrence County commissioners also spoke last week of the importance of “greening up” the county’s job prospects.

They’re a way to stimulate the economy, put people to work and help the environment at the same time, officials have said.

Work could be available in plants on assembly lines that make components for green products such as wind turbines.

It could be available in the construction field, as companies retrofit buildings to make them more energy efficient.

“I believe a green revolution is coming,” Lawrence County Commissioner Richard DeBlasio told Dick Craig, a member of a county group called Progressive Democrats, when he brought up the subject at a commissioners meeting Tuesday.

“We know it’s coming and full steam ahead.”

The county itself is actually an employer in a large green project right now.

Johnson Controls, a company that programs temperature controls to save energy, is overseeing a retrofitting of all the county’s government buildings to make them more energy efficient. The project, which began in April, is a huge undertaking, said Edward Cvelbar, an account executive in building efficiency at the company’s Youngstown office.

While the company does the actual installation and programming of the controls, other work included in the project is subcontracted to local firms and contractors, he said.

Just to the north of New Castle in Neshannock Township, a company called Axion Power is charging up, with plans to add two partial shifts to make batteries that contain less lead than others on the market.

The company, which opened its New Castle plant in 2006, also makes a product called the Axion Power Cube. The cube is made up of 50 of the company’s batteries, said Stephanie Ellsworth, assistant to the chief technical officer. Applications for the cube, she said, would be in large businesses such as data centers and hospitals as a backup so that when a business loses power, it doesn’t lose its data. The cubes store solar and wind energy.

The company employs 50 people right now, Ellsworth said. Twenty-five of those people work assembling batteries, with those jobs starting at $9 an hour with benefits after six months. The added shifts, she said, would employ from five to 10 people on each.

The company also is hiring four more general laborers, two staff scientists, a mechanical engineer, a quality-control manager, a purchasing manager and a human resources manager.

In Mercer County, green jobs could help several communities facing a dwindling tax base because of population loss. Sharon is one such community, with the population falling since the late 1970s from 25,000 to around 15,000 now.

A former Westinghouse plant that closed in the late 1980s employed 10,000 people, and many of them lived in Sharon, said Mayor Bob Lucas.

“I’m interested in landing green jobs, because that’s our future,” Lucas said, pointing out that much of the old Westinghouse plant on Sharpsville Avenue, now owned by businessman Jim Winner, is open for development.

Three-hundred-thousand square feet of the 1 million-square-foot plant could be manufacturing space, and 200,000 square feet of it could be for offices, laboratories and light industry, said Jack Campbell, vice president of Winner Global LLC.

Campbell said the company is planning to seek funds to rehabilitate the plant and to develop about 60,000 square feet into a business incubator to help primarily energy technology startups.

The businesses would be allowed to stay in the building rent-free and receive mentoring with the idea that, as they expand and their products become viable, they would move on to produce the products at the plant and create jobs, he said.

He said that so far, a company that is developing reverse osmosis to take salt out of saltwater has shown an interest in the plant, and so has a company involved in converting energy from windmills.

Winner also has its own product in development, he said. It’s a system that cleans acid mine drainage, allowing clean water to be discharged into waterways. Byproducts of the cleaning, potassium sulfate and ferris sulfate, can be sold as fertilizer, he said.

He said the company is trying to attract money from the federal and state governments to redevelop and rehabilitate the plant, which in itself would be a green project.

“We’re looking at rehabbing it green, with alternative energy sources and recyclable products. It could be up to a $30 million project,” he said.

He said Jim Winner would match government funds. “Mr. Winner’s made a commitment to bring jobs here.”

Dahlkemper said her visit to the county last week was primarily fact-finding, as she asked business and community leaders about their concerns and priorities.

She said attracting green jobs to the area might mean making some changes in incentives at the state or local level.

“I want to hear from businesses and those working on economic development to find out what I can do to help them attract businesses,” she said. “With the economic situation the way it is, how can we leverage that taxpayer money? How can we leverage that to turn it greener?”

Comment by Roy R on December 9, 2008 at 4:30am

My name is Roy Ratner, and I represent Atlas Solar Innovations and the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy - (FARE).
Atlas Solar Innovations is a subsidiary of All Atlas Roofing of South Florida. We are distributors, designers and installers of Photovoltaic (PV), Domestic Hot Water (DHW), and Solar pool heating Systems for both residential and commercial properties. We cofounded the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy - (FARE) for the promotion of renewable energy policies that will permit every individual, business and organization in the state of Florida the opportunity to become independent producers and sellers of all forms of renewable energy. We are very committed to be a part of this movement toward a healthy environment, future energy independence, and economic prosperity for the state of Florida.
Our Association endorses and promotes the adoption of the renewable energy policy that is proven to be the most successful and efficient renewable energy policy in the world. This policy mechanism is responsible for 50% of the world's renewable energy deployment in the past few years. Currently 45 countries worldwide utilize this simple, transparent policy. By adopting this policy, Floridians will be able to deliver renewable energy more rapidly and for less cost by including the participation of everyone; homeowners, business owners, churches, schools, farmers and others. Currently Hawaii, Oregon, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Rhode Island and the city of Gainesville Florida are in the process of adopting this policy mechanism.
Germany, the first European country to implement this policy, is a great example of this renewable energy deployment success.
As a direct result of this policy, renewable energy accounts for 14% of Germany's energy supply as of 2007.They are targeting 27% by 2020, and 45% by 2030. They have 70,000 employed in the wind industry, 50,000 employed in the PV industry, 8,000 employed in the biogas industry. With a total of 250,000 people employed in the renewable energy industry. Germany’s policy success produces a $30 billion turnover and a net benefit of $9 billion annually. This simple policy levels the playing field for all producers and sellers of renewable energy.
It is imperative that we participate in the environmental and economic gift that renewable energy gives us.
We have the opportunity to create a widespread home-grown industry, the chance to spare the environment further damage, create thousands of local jobs, collect millions in local revenue, and establish Floridian generated energy independence.

Do not let Florida miss this renewable energy boom, bring it home, and bring it to Florida
At The Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy we firmly endorse the policy of Renewable Energy Payments (REP’s) also known as Feed- in Tariffs (FIT’s) to be the single most effective way to achieve widespread rapid deployment of renewable energy in Florida.
Please join us and help others to understand the necessity of this policy adoption for the future of state of Florida @ www.farenergy.org.

Thank you,
Roy Ratner
Atlas Solar Innovations 1-877-299 –Solar
www.Atlas -solar.com
rr @Atlas -solar.com

Comment by Dr. Gina M.-S. on December 8, 2008 at 9:11pm

I am a Molecular Genetics research scientist with a Ph.D. who is interested in going green and would like a job in the Seattle area. I can do all kinds of things. If it means putting papers up on a wall, I am willing to do that, too... Let me know.

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