Japan Creates Mega Solar City -Leads World
The title of the project is quite a mouth full – the Sakai City Waterfront Mega Solar Power Generation Plan. Say that three times fast. I guess the title has to be fitting for the size of the project, however, because the two facilities will have a 28,000 kW combined maximum capacity and will help to reduce CO2 emissions by a whopping 10,000 tons annually. The city will work in conjunction with Sharp Japan and Kansai Electric Power, with Sharp planning on using thin-film silicon solar modules.
The project is off to a pretty good start on the “Cool City Sakai” low-carbon metropolis initiative, with the first facility to be erected atop an industrial waste landfill, and the second will actually be solar power generation facilities installed on Sharp’s and other companies’ buildings in a manufacturing complex, so Sharp can run on solar, making their products just that much greener.
Japan is fast becoming the world's solar capital. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., leaders in the U.S. solar energy industry blasted the U.S. government on Monday for a freeze on applications for new solar projects on public land in six Western states.
The Bureau of Land Management announced the freeze a month ago, saying it would conduct an extensive study looking at the environmental, social and economic impacts of solar energy development.
During the 22-month study, the agency will not consider any new proposals for solar energy developments on public land in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico or Utah.
Fred Morse, senior advisor for U.S. operations at Abengoa Solar, a Spanish company with a solar plant in development in Arizona, said the moratorium could hurt many companies in the burgeoning U.S. industry.
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www.goodcleantech.com
http://www.enn.com/energy/article/37536