Alternative Energy Institute News

Ken Starcher at WEATS

July 2nd, 2009
AEI’s Ken Starcher is gone this week at the WEATS symposium. The Wind Energy Applications Training Symposium (WEATS) is an internationally acclaimed workshop on wind energy first launched in 1988.

Designed for project planners, developers, utility officials, and engineers directly involved with energy projects within the Native American community, training will be held at three venues this year,  Albuquerque, NM; Rapid City, SD; Portland, OR.

If you’re interested, you may want to check out AEI’s galleries of previous WEATS here.

Fed works to speed solar development in Southwest

July 2nd, 2009

Got this link from our friends at Class 4 Winds! The Associated Press has a story out about the Fed’s attempts to speed up solar development. Here’s an excerpt:
The federal government’s top land steward said Monday that the United States will fast-track efforts to build solar power generating facilities on public space in six Western [...]

National News: TIME – Can Wind Power stay up to speed?

June 25th, 2009

TIME recently released a great article on its website about the future of Wind Power that you should check out. Here’s an excerpt:
But for all the green talk and growth in wind power — it accounted for 42% of all new electricity generation added to the U.S. grid last year — wind still makes up [...]

Amarillo College looks to add solar energy program

June 19th, 2009

The Amarillo Globe-News has a story up about Amarillo College’s attempts to start a solar program. AEI’s Ken Starcher offers his opinion on the issue. Here’s an excerpt:
Amarillo College is seeking nearly $900,000 from the National Science Foundation to add solar energy education as a program at its Amarillo and Dumas campuses.Such a program would [...]

Local People: Swope swoops in to wind movement

June 10th, 2009

The Amarillo Independent has a great story about Class 4 Winds‘ s AJ Swope. Here’s an excerpt:

AJ Swope was a celebrity, but it wasn’t enough.
The 2003 Pampa High School graduate was an anchorman on an Amarillo television station, but he wanted to do more with his life. Now, he feels he is.
After high school, Swope [...]

Local People: Local Energy Pioneer: Bill Paetzold of Hereford

May 26th, 2009

Bill Paetzold was born in the depression and has been a farmer all of his life. During his years of dryland farming, he has seen the oil economy boom and bust, water levels drop, and fuel prices go through the roof. In his 70+years of wisdom, Mr Paetzold began to think there should be a [...]

National News: Lesser Prairie Chicken “endangered” status

May 14th, 2009

Some news from the Hereford Brand, concerning wind turbines and wildlife…
The lesser prairie chicken has been under consideration by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for inclusion on the federal endangered species list for nearly 20 years, but the threat to the rare bird posed by hundreds of wind turbines could be enough to force [...]

Texas News: Wind industry anticipates boom with many job openings

March 26th, 2009

LubbockOnline is featuring an article about Wind Energy in the Panhandle, quoting our very own Ken Starcher:
The title of Wednesday’s alternative-energy seminar was “What’s in the Wind?” The answer seemed to be “jobs.”
Most presentations focused on staffing an anticipated boom of wind farms, assuming credit markets get stronger and the Public Utilities Commission makes a [...]

Local News: Dr. Nelson’s Book On Sale

March 26th, 2009

AEI’s Dr. Vaughn Nelson’s book, Wind Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment is available for sale at CRCPress Online.
The book is selling for $107.96.
Book Summary
Due to the mounting demand for energy and increasing population of the world, switching from nonrenewable fossil fuels to other energy sources is not an option—it is a necessity. Focusing on [...]

Texas News: Texas selects developers to build transmission lines to tap wind regions

January 30th, 2009

Breaking news from SNL Interactive:
Texas regulators on Jan. 29 awarded more than a dozen electric transmission developers shares of an approximately $5 billion plan to build transmission lines between wind-rich regions in west Texas and the panhandle and major load centers.
The decision, made by the Public Utility Commission of Texas at its open meeting, parcels [...]