Los Angeles City Council Approves Power Purchase Agreement for 250 MW PV Plant on Native Land in Nevada

The Los Angeles City Council’s unanimously approved a 25-year power purchase agreement with K Road Moapa Solar (San Diego, California). The K Road Moapa solar power project will be located on the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians tribal land north of Las Vegas. The solar photovoltaic (PV) plant will provide up to 250 megawatts of solar power to homes in California.

Hydro Grows Around The World, And IEA Wants More

We don’t talk about hydropower much in the U.S. when we talk about renewable energy. Many states don’t even count it as renewable. But as a new International Energy Agency report highlights, around the world, hydropower is seen as a significant weapon in the battle against climate change. Since 2005, there’s been more new hydropower generation -- around 600 terawatt-hours – than wind , bioenergy , solar and geothermal combined (which account for less than 550 terawatt-hours combined). According to the IEA’s Technology Roadmap for Hydropower (PDF) , global installed hydropower capacities have been growing in recent years at an average of 24.2 gigawatts per year. By the end of 2011, total capacity was at 1,067 gigawatts and the new capacity under construction will drive the figure up to 1,300 gigawatts by 2017.

Brown defends Calif. steps to fight climate change

Brown said he has always been a steward of the environment, saying he earned the nickname "Gov. Moonbeam" decades ago during his first gubernatorial stint in part because of his interest in solar energy. The governor, who seemed energized by his Nov. 6 victory when voters approved his deficit-reducing ballot initiative to raise taxes, said he realizes that climate policies seem abstract in a struggling economy and at a time when basic services are being cut.

Exxon warming up to 'secret' U.S. carbon tax plans

Conservative economists and fossil-fuel lobbyists united in 2009 to fend off climate-change legislation that would have established a cap-and-trade mechanism. They are now locked in a backroom debate over a tax on carbon-dioxide emissions that could raise an estimated $100-billion in its first year. A carbon tax would force electricity producers, refiners and manufacturers to pay a fee for the greenhouse gases they emit. It is gaining interest as lawmakers and President Barack Obama pledge to simplify the corporate tax code and raise revenue to narrow the deficit.

BLM recommends reduction in size of Desert Harvest PV plant to 135 MW

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Desert Harvest solar photovoltaic (PV) project proposed in Riverside County, Southern California. In the EIS, the BLM recommends that the project be reduced from 1,208 acres of public land to 1,044 acres, with a corresponding reduction in output from 150 megawatt (MW) to 135 MW, in order to avoid impacts to rare plant species.