Homes of bark and energy of the Sun

Highland craftsmen Inc., a small poplar bark shingle manufacturer in North Carolina reached the net energy efficiency milestone before recently NULL power consumption with means made available by the Department of energy State energy program (SEP) under the American recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). The owner, Marty and Chris McCurry, installed photovoltaic modules in their production site to produce electricity, and updated it controls, piping, and flooring to improve the operation of the three natural gas furnaces, the local dry wood purchased. The grants funds were provided by the North Carolina Department of Commerce Green Business Fund with recovery Act SEP and have been managed by the North Carolina Energy Office.

The energy efficiency upgrades will help the company its bark House brand to produce siding with net NULL power consumption, meaning that that the process will produce at least as much power as it uses in a year. The solar system decreases the Highland craftsmen electricity bill of $6,000 per year, so the company the excess energy back to sell on the net. The furnace upgrade, which is expected to increase efficiency by 40 percent furnace, amount to $5,000 savings. For the complete story, see the energy blog.

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Turbines off NYC East River Will Power 9,500 Homes

As part of the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project, 30 turbines are being installed along the strait that connects the Long Island Sound with the Atlantic Ocean in the New York Harbor. The project, led by Verdant Power, Inc., is the first ever commercially licensed tidal energy project in the United States. The turbines are scheduled to be fully installed by 2015 and will use the flow of the East River and tides to generate 1,050 kilowatts of electricity—enough to power 9,500 New York homes.

The turbines will also collect important data about environmental impacts on fish and river sediment and provide jobs to a team of technicians who will maintain and monitor the equipment.

DOE helps advance water power technologies by funding research to determine the size of the water resource and by developing innovative technologies to unleash its energy potential. The department began providing Verdant Power with funding in 2008 to improve the turbines’ blade design. Verdant had been successfully developing and testing turbine prototypes in the East River since 2002, but those turbine rotors were not durable enough to be scaled up for commercialization. With the DOE assistance, Verdant designed and tested new blades, which are stronger and more reliable—allowing them to capture more energy from faster currents at greater depths and at a lower cost. Read the complete story in the DOE Energy Blog.

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