What you might be flushing down the toilet could be the material that would power your car or even your home in the near future. Surprised or maybe you just think that we have lost it and are going plain crazy! Well, If Oregon State University College of Engineering has its way then very soon every sewage plant across the world can also open its own Hydrogen fuel supply chain. Just imagine the day big firms and multi-million dollar corporate houses would be fighting over sewage rights… Truly, stuff tailor-made for a reality television show.

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Offshore winds has always been known to cause showers and thunderstorms. These winds are now being utilized to generate renewable electricity which is safer for the environment. Principle Power, a new company that was started in January this year has planned its first project on the offshore of Tillamook County coast of Oregon. The firm has raised an amount of $20 million to provide a power of 150-megawatt power to Oregon.

Principle Power has already secured license from Marine Innovation and Technology for WindFloat, an establishment that supports offshore windmills and also signed an agreement with the Tillamook Intergovernmental Development Agency for the project. As said by the co-founder and President Jon Bonanno, of the $20 million the company has raised, a loan of $2.3 million is convertible which gives the lenders shares in the company. This money will be used to fund the project. The company uses renewable technology devised by others in the building of these offshore wind power plants.

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A famous Oregon Winery called Willamette Valley Vineyards turned a silvery 25 this year. Apart from offering quality liquor to us all for all these years, this winery also set a benchmark of eco-friendliness. From the very beginning, Willamette Valley Vineyards has been offering 10 cents for each wine bottle brought in for recycling irrespective of who the original producer is!

The bottle deposit law was first passed by Oregon that supports recycling. Under this law, participating vendors are offered 5 cents for each drink container they recycle. And wine bottles were not included in this. So, you can see what an important and inspiring role Willamette Valley Vineyards is playing. Founding winegrower, Jim Bernau, was also honored by Low Input Viticulture and Enology (LIVE) for his vineyards’ sustainability.
But there is more. In 2007, Willamette Valley Vineyards introduced sustainable cork stoppers that were certified by the Rain Forest Alliance. Kudos to the organization for telling us really why the wine bottles are made of green glass!
Via enn

Renewable energy projects are picking up pace in USA with Oregon Energy Facility Sitting Council giving it a green signal to build the world’s largest onshore wind farm- The Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm .It will be built on private land (spanning Gilliam and Morrow counties); 5 miles southeast of Arlington and will consist of 300+ wind turbines, plus a combined installed capacity of 909 megawatts. According to Michael Grainey, director of the Oregon Department of Energy, this announcement marks a tremendous day for the state’s renewable energy options.

So far, the largest single wind farm (the Horse Hollow wind farm, located in Texas) holds a capacity of 765 MW. Development of the Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm will be undertaken by Sacramento (California firm Caithness Shepherds Flat LLC) and it hopes to alleviate the current energy scenario in Oregon.The wind farm will double-up the Oregon’s wind capacity. While Shepherd’s farm might seem to be the largest so far, plan to build a 4,000 MW wind farm in Texas by business tycoon T. Boone Pickens by 2014, seems a wee bit outlandish.

As planned, Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm will feed its power output to the Federal Columbia River Transmission System through Bonneville Power Administration’s Slatt Substation. Details about the commencement of this wind farm are still not announced. However, one thing is for sure, once completed the massive farm will be a boon to the state and will set an example for other countries which receive high wind velocities but haven’t tapped on this natural resource so far. Here’s wishing good luck to The Shepherd’s.
Via: treehugger