Recently in Concentrating Solar
Concentrating Solar:
A deal has been made to preserve 7,000 acres of land in the Mojave Desert as mitigation for the Ivanpah solar project. But not everyone's happy with that.
Concentrating Solar:
The proposed Palen Solar Electric Generating System east of Desert Center could be visible from as far away as the Mojave National Preserve, Mount San Jacinto and the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, according to preliminary calculations by ReWire.
Concentrating Solar:
The concerns expressed in the letter may have serious ramifications for other BrightSource projects.
Concentrating Solar:
The company cited scheduling issues and transmission obstacles as its reasons for the decision.
Wildlife:
BrightSource experts say that the California Energy Commission oversimplifies the issue of solar flux injury to birds, but one of those experts may have made a sensible suggestion that the firm won't like much.
Concentrating Solar:
According to the California Energy Commission's scientific staff, BrightSource Energy's Hidden Hills project will "almost certainly kill or injure" eagles and other special status species of birds.
Concentrating Solar:
Both BrightSource and the California Energy Commission staff agree that there's a level of concentration of solar flux from the proposed Hidden Hills solar project that will harm birds. Where the disagreement arises is just what that level is.
Concentrating Solar:
Inyo County drops its opposition to the Hidden Hills solar project for $15 million.
Concentrating Solar:
BrightSource Energy tested the effects of their concentrated solar on a number of dead birds as part of their studies of the proposed Hidden Hills solar facility in Inyo County, but the company has since refused to release the photos to the public because they're too "inflammatory."
Concentrating Solar:
"Embedded carbons," the amount of CO(2) produced by building renewable energy power sources, should be taken into account openly in the renewable energy discourse.
Concentrating Solar:
A photo of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System taken in late February by members of Basin and Range Watch points up a persistent problem with siting utility-scale solar facilities in the desert: once disturbed by construction, desert soils can loose huge amounts of particulate matter into the air.
Concentrating Solar:
It looks like the possible impact on habitat for the Mojave fringe-toed lizard will loom large in CEC's decision to approve BrightSource's Palen solar project.
Concentrating Solar:
The Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System, proposed by BrightSource Energy for the Pahrump Valley in Inyo County, would destroy half the known occurrences of a rare plant in California, according to the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) -- and the California Energy Commission (CEC) isn't doing enough to make sure that loss of population won't result in the plant's extinction in the state, says the group.
Solar Thermal:
Building the 3,277-acre concentrating solar project "will cause irreparable adverse impacts" to cultural landscapes important to the Pahrump Paiute and nearby Native people.
Concentrating Solar:
BrightSource Energy, which had called its planned 500-megawatt Rio Mesa solar project a crucial step in developing reliable solar power generation, now says it's putting that project on hold.
Concentrating Solar:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the California Energy Commission needs to provide more data on potential risks to wildlife, especially migratory birds, from the proposed Rio Mesa Solar Electric Generating Station.
Concentrating Solar:
Residents of Boulevard are starting to feel like their community has been unfairly targeted by renewable energy development
Concentrating Solar:
The California Energy Commission's staff has assessed the proposed Hidden Hills solar project, and says it will cause irreparable harm to desert wildlife.
Concentrating Solar:
Riverside County has significant concerns over how BrightSource Energy's 500-megawatt solar thermal plant would affect the county's wildlife, historic sites, and public health and welfare.
Concentrating Solar:
Inyo County's Board of Supervisors is having second thoughts about a large solar project on the Nevada state line.
News and analysis about renewable energy in California. Blog host Chris Clarke is an environmental writer of two decades standing. He currently lives in Joshua Tree and can be contacted at: rewire@kcet.org.
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