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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>In the Dutch city of Breda washing machines will be plugged into a central computer which will calculate the best time for them to draw power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The 2-year pilot project will supply other information to help residents use power most efficiently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://blog.cleantechies.com/2011/04/14/solar-powered-washing-machine-puts-smart-grid-to-the-test/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cleantechies+%28CleanTechies+Blog%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://blog.cleantechies.com/2011/04/14/solar-powered-washing-machine-puts-smart-grid-to-the-test/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cleantechies+%28CleanTechies+Blog%29</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Tennessee Valley Authority is settling with the EPA by closing 18 of its coal fired generators (16% of its coal-fired power capacity) with the prospect of shutting down another 18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Sierra Club and 2 other environmental organizations joined 4 states in the suit, which was based on new pollution regulations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/14/us-utilities-epa-tva-idUSTRE73D6BL20110414?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/14/us-utilities-epa-tva-idUSTRE73D6BL20110414?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Arizona Public Service, a utility, is piloting a distributed solar power project using 200 homes who grant roof easements to the utility in return for a fixed Community Power rate for 20 years for the portion of their power covered by a solar installation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The utility covers the upfront costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
500 kw of centralized solar power and another 400 kw from an installation at a public school are also part of a single distribution feeder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The project will test the effect of intermittent solar power on the utility’s grid, and their ability to manage distributed power generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/04/sunrises-on-rooftops??cmpid=WNL-Friday-April15-2011"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/04/sunrises-on-rooftops??cmpid=WNL-Friday-April15-2011</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Associates of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley have released an unusually useful individual carbon footprint calculator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>We’re at 34 tons of CO2 a year and hope to do better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>You?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would like to pass on success stories; let me know if that would be okay when you send me such.
</font><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110415163527.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110415163527.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The first certified passive house for hot and humid climates came in at under $120 a square foot, including the $20,000 solar panels, and is performing as designed while the weather heats up in Lafayette, LA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Utility bills have been between -$.62 and $5 a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The house, designed by a Louisiana U architecture prof, was completed in February.
</font><a href="http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/following-passive-house-deep-south"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/following-passive-house-deep-south</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>More detail, with interior pics:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.theind.com/cover-story/6483-passive-aggressive"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.theind.com/cover-story/6483-passive-aggressive</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The 2010 heat wave in large parts of Eastern Europe was the most severe in at least 500 years, according to a study in
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Science</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It destroyed 25% of the crops and killed 55.000 people in western Russia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Models indicate that less extreme heat waves are 5-10 times more likely in the next 40 years, and heat waves as severe as last year’s will become more common in the latter half of the century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>See “Burn, Baby, Burn” in the link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
</font></font><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6026/twis.full"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6026/twis.full</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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