EnviroPolitics Blog

ETS looking to score a 1.8 on its solar energy project

The organization that tests just how bright college-bound students are just got a bit brighter itself with the installation of a 1.8 megawatt solar energy system.

Educational Testing Service and SunPower Corp. have announced that the installation of a solar system on the roofs of ETS’s Lord and Messick halls in Princeton, NJ and Z Building in nearby Ewing, NJ will be complete next month.

According to a joint press release, “the T5 Solar Roof Tile is the solar industry’s first non-penetrating rooftop product that combines a high-efficiency SunPower solar panel, frame and mounting system into a single pre-engineered unit.

“The systems at ETS were financed through a SunPower power purchase agreement with Wells Fargo Bank. Under the agreement, ETS will host the systems and buy the electricity from SunPower at prices below retail rates, providing not-for-profit ETS with a long-term hedge against rising power prices with no initial capital investment. Wells Fargo owns the solar renewable energy credits and environmental benefits associated with the systems.”

ETS expects that the 1.8-megawatt installation will generate the equivalent of 10 percent of current electricity demand at the sites, delivering $1.5 million in cost savings over the next 20 years.

Several miles north of the ETS facilities, in South Brunswick, NJ, Sun Power Corp is installing a 4.1 megawatt solar roof system at Dow Jones’ corporate offices on Route 1.

That system will comprise a rooftop installation with 522 kW capacity and 3.6 MW of elevated solar panels installed above parking areas. Once completed next year, this system is likely to produce the equivalent of 15% of the present electricity requirements for Dow Jones’s 200-acre campus.

The project is partially financed by means of the Solar Loan Program of PSE&G, through which PSE&G provides loans meant for solar energy.

Our most recent posts:
Pennsylvania builders get permit extension relief
NJDEP consolidating some PO box numbers
EPA transport rule targets deep cuts in SO2, NOx New York sued over Long Island Sound pollution Legislation puffs up NJ’s offshore wind prospects

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Pennsylvania builders get permit extension relief

A building permit extension bill, designed to help Pennsylvania’s struggling homebuilders survive the continuing economic downturn, has been signed into law by Governor Ed Rendell.

The Pennsylvania Permit Extension Act gives developers who have already lined up just about any kind of state or local permit–building, water, sewer or road–until July 2, 2013 to break ground on the project without having to secure a new permit.

In seeking passage of the legislation, developers argued that the economy has put many projects on hold due to a lack of consumer demand or diminished access to financing. As a result, permits acquired before or since the downturn have been expiring.
They warned that, if developers and landowners lost their permits and were forced to reapply when the economy recovers, construction projects would be further delayed.

Pennsylvania lawmakers may also have taken some cues from neighboring New Jersey where a law, enacted two years ago, extended existing permits through July 1, 2010. The Legislature recently extended that period until Dec. 31, 2012.

Environmental organizations in both states opposed the legislation. Related:
Pa. permit extension law comes to builders’ rescue Our most recent posts:
NJDEP consolidating some PO box numbers
EPA transport rule targets deep cuts in SO2, NOx
New York sued over Long Island Sound pollution
Legislation puffs up NJ’s offshore wind prospects
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Upcoming ‘Gasland’ screenings in NY & PA

Gasland, the documentary film that’s focused public attention on environmental and public health problems associated with the improper application of natural gas ‘fracking’ techniques,
will be shown at the times and locations listed below:
July 8th @ 7:00pm, Hancock, NY
The Old Capitol Theater
170 East Front Street
Hancock, NY 13783 July 9th @ 7:00pm, Honesdale, PA
Parish House of the Grace Episcopal Church
Church Street and 9th Street
Honesdale, PA 18431 July 10th @ 1:30pm, Lower Bucks County, PA
Yardley-Makefield Free Library
1080 Edgewood Road
Yardley, PA 19067 July 12th @ 6:00pm, Sullivan County, PA
Sullivan County High School July 15th @ 7:30pm, Bethlehem, PA
Whitaker Lab at Lehigh University
27 Memorial Drive West
Bethlehem, PA 18105

HBO plans to re-broadcast GASLAND over the next two years.
Click here for the full schedule. The film also is available on HBO on Demand.

Have you seen Gasland? Did you find it to be believable and instructive or biased? Based on your viewing, do you think
New York and Pennsylvania lawmakers should impose a moratorium on the drilling technique until the EPA completes its upcoming study? Or can state environmental regulators handle the task of overseeing its use? Use the comment box below to share your opinions with other readers. If the box isn’t visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link.

Related:
Natural Gas as Panacea? This prof’s not so sure
Shale gas drilling controversy no longer local
What’s in fracking fluid? Wyoming wants to know
Lawmakers in NY and PA weigh a gas-drilling moratorium
Fracking the Marcellus Shale: Disaster ahead?
Don’t worry, shale gas will rock your world ————————————————————————–
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NJ to axe deadwood commissions & boards

The New Jersey Legislature is moving to eliminate a total of 41 boards, commissions, committees, councils, and task forces that have “served their purpose, been inactive for years, no longer have a role to fulfill, have completed their work, have not been convened for a long period of time, or were never organized.”

S-1997, sponsored by Senators Jim Whelan and Fred Madden, puts on the legislative chopping block a list of entities identified in the April 19, 2010 report of the Lieutenant Governor’s Red Tape Review Group.

The bill would eliminate the:

Agent Orange Commission
Camden Financial Review Board
Christopher Columbus Quincentennial Observance Commission
Commission on Early Childhood Education
Commission to Study Sex Discrimination in the Statutes
Committee to Review the State Commission of Investigation
Corporation Business Tax Study Commission
Crime Prevention Advisory Committee
Delaware & Raritan Canal Transportation Safety Study Commiss.
Drug Utilization Review Council
Environment Advisory Task Force
Ergonomics in Education Study Commission
Fisheries Information and Develop. Center Coordinating Board
Governor’s Air and Space Medal Nominating Committee
Hospital Care Payment Commission
Jewish Heritage Trail Study Commission
Managed Care Task Force
New Jersey Citizens’ Clean Elections Commission
New Jersey Commemorative Coin Design Commission
New Jersey Health Data Commission
New Jersey Obesity Prevention Task Force
New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Museum Commission
New Jersey Uniform Securities Law Study Commission
Parents’ Education Program Advisory Committee
Police Paperwork Reduction Task Force
Pollution Prevention Advisory Board
Prepaid Higher Education Expense Board
Property Tax Convention Task Force
Recreational Sports and Leisure Activities Liability Study Comm.
Regional Intergovernmental Transportation Coordinating Study Commission
Right to Know Advisory Council
School Construction Review Commission
State Board of Public Movers and Warehousemen
State Commission on Drunk Driving
State Revenue Forecasting Advisory Commission
State Review Board on Driver Education
Task Force on New Jersey History
Task Force on Workplace Violence
Task Force to Study Attendance in Public Schools
The Trustees of the New Jersey School of the Arts
World Language Instruction Committee

Our most recent posts:
NJDEP consolidating some PO box numbers
EPA transport rule targets deep cuts in SO2, NOx
New York sued over Long Island Sound pollution
Legislation puffs up NJ’s offshore wind prospects
Natural Gas as Panacea? This prof’s not so sure

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NJDEP consolidating some PO box numbers

If you ever send mail to air, water, waste or several other compliance and enforcement units within the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, please note that their formerly separate Post Office box numbers have been consolidated.
Here’s how the DEP explains it:

“In a State-wide effort to reduce costs and streamline the handling of mail, a consolidation of PO Box numbers throughout the DEP has occurred. Effective July 1, 2010, Compliance & Enforcement will no longer be utilizing PO Box numbers 407, 411, 422, 437, and 441; instead, all mail to the Trenton campus will be consolidated into PO Box 420 and include a mail code that represents the Bureau or Unit. This affects not only the air, water and waste program areas but also the multiple related units within Compliance & Enforcement including Exams & Licensing, Pesticides, Manifests, Medical Waste, Hauler Registrations and A901, Utilities, and County and Local oversight (CEHA).”

PDF chart of all NJDEP compliance units affected by the PO consolidation, effective July 1 2010

Our most recent posts:
EPA transport rule targets deep cuts in SO2, NOx
New York sued over Long Island Sound pollution
Legislation puffs up NJ’s offshore wind prospects
Natural Gas as Panacea? This prof’s not so sure

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NJDEP consolidating some PO box numbers Read More »

EPA transport rule targets deep cuts in SO2, NOx

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing regulations to cut air pollution for people living downwind of power plants.
The so-called “transport rule” is expected, by 2014, to reduce power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) by 71 percent over 2005 levels and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 52 percent.
SO2 and NOx react in the atmosphere to form fine particle pollution and ground-level ozone (smog), which are linked, the EPA says, to thousands of asthma cases and heart attacks, and almost 2 million lost school or work days.
The agency estimates that the regulations will yield more than $120 billion in annual health benefits in 2014, including avoiding an estimated 14,000 to 36,000 premature deaths, 23,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 21,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 240,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and 1.9 million days of missed school or work due to ozone and particle pollution-related symptoms.
The agency puts the expected annual cost of compliance to power plant operators at $2.8 billion in 2014.

The proposal replaces the 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered EPA to revise in 2008. The court allowed CAIR to remain in place temporarily while EPA works to finalize the replacement rule proposed today. EPA will take public comment on the proposal for 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register. The agency also will hold public hearings. Dates and locations for the hearings will be announced shortly. More information: http://www.epa.gov/airtransport

Our most recent posts:
New York sued over Long Island Sound pollution
Legislation puffs up NJ’s offshore wind prospects
Natural Gas as Panacea? This prof’s not so sure
Appalachian power line PATH misses another deadline
Environmental bills up for votes Monday in NJ

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