Posts tagged "AL"

Solyndra caught destroying it’s own parts

FREMONT (CBS 5) — After filing for bankruptcy last year, Fremont solar company Solyndra still owes American taxpayers half a billion dollars. But CBS 5 caught them destroying millions of dollars worth of parts. At Solyndra’s sprawling complex in Fremont, workers in white jumpsuits were unwrapping brand new glass tubes used in solar panels last week. They are the latest, most cutting-edge solar technology, and they are being thrown into dumpsters. Forklifts brought one pallet after another piled high with the carefully packaged glass. Slowly but surely it all ended up shattered. And it’s not a few loads. Hundreds of thousands of tubes on shrink-wrapped pallets will meet a similar demise. Solyndra paid at least million for the specialized glass. A CBS 5 crew found one piece lying in the parking lot. Solyndra still owes the German company that made the tubes close to another million. So why is a bankrupt company that owes a fortune to creditors, including American taxpayers, throwing away millions of dollars worth of assets? Solyndra is not commenting. But court documents reveal the company received permission from the bankruptcy trustee to abandon the high grade glass, the court agreeing that it was of “inconsequential value” because the cost of storing them exceeds their value. An employee for Heritage Global Partners, the company in charge of selling Solyndra’s assets, told CBS 5 they conducted an exhaustive search for buyers but no one wanted them. But how …

Indian college teaches solar lessons to women

As world leaders debate solutions at the UN climate change conference in Durban, a college in the Indian state of Rajasthan is teaching communities how to harness solar energy. The barefoot college, as it is locally called, trains women from villages on how to test and assemble complex circuits, which they can then use to set up solar projects back home. The lives of women, many from some of the world’s poorest countries, have been transformed as they are now assembling solar panels which are then sold in the market for 0 each. Al Jazeera’s Prena Suri reports from Rajasthan.

Designing North America’s first offshore wind farm

Professor Habib Dagher is building the first offshore wind farm in North America that will float off the coast of Maine – a state that some consider to be the Saudi Arabia of wind power. Test models have performed well in the laboratory, but the farm’s real turbines will need to stand up to the region’s bleak weather. If they do work, experts believe that they can generate enough electricity to power the US four times over. Critics, however, worry that the cost of such a development will be passed on to consumers, as the US has no formal energy policy. Al Jazeera’s John Terrett reports from Maine.

Debate in UK over benefits of green economy

The economy regularly gets in the way of climate change action as green initiatives give way to budget restraints. In the UK, environmentalists say the future for the Britain should include hundreds of wind turbines – creating free and clean energy well into the future as well as stimulating the economy. But its government has suggested that cutting carbon emissions would threaten jobs instead. Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee reports from northeastern England.

Rise of solar panel energy in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s power plants do not generate enough energy to meet demand, leaving 70 per cent of villagers without electricity. The government has encouraged local companies to invest in solar energy. Nicolas Haque reporting from Bangladesh