NMSS - Technology

Labs Receive Funding to become Clean Energy Research Centers

emily — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:52:46 -0600

"Energy Frontier Research Centers"—that's the new moniker given to Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories.

According to an Associated Press wire story, the designation comes with funding—$3.6 million for Sandia and $3.9 million for Los Alamos—for research in clean energy technology.

The Sandia money is earmarked for solid state lighting research and the Los Alamos money will go toward technologies to convert sunlight to electricity.

—Santa Fe New Mexican/AP, 4/28/08

Biofuels Innovator Visits ABQ

emily — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:19:34 -0600

A Denver-based biofuels entrepreneur is considering the Albuquerque Sunport as the site for a future biofuels production facility, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

George Bye, of Bye Energy, is experimenting with using algae to develop fuel for business-class jets. Bye told the Journal he's hoping to build a small pilot plant—$1 million and an initial footprint of about 2000 square feet. The company is on the cusp of moving the project from laboratory to manufacturing. The company is exploring similar projects in Phoenix and Denver.

—Albuquerque Journal, 4/20/09

U.S. Energy Secretary Visits Los Alamos and Sandia Labs

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:02:05 -0600

In a speech today at Sandia National Laboratories, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu compared unchecked global warming to riding on the Titanic. To help turn the ship, Chu wants to expand work at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories to include research on climate change and development of alternative energy. Chu said supercomputing capability at LANL and Sandia can help in studying climate change and predicting its impact. It also can help in developing new technologies in energy and other fields. “Research and development are key to U.S. prosperity, and the labs are a key part of that,” Chu told reporters after his presentation. “The labs are an incredible resource for the country.”

New Mexico Business Weekly, April 10, 2009

New Solar Project for Albuquerque Area

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:31:31 -0600

Solar Array Ventures Inc., said that it will build a solar panel manufacturing plant in Bernalillo County that could employ up to 1,000 people. The company will relocate its headquarters from Austin, Texas to Bernalillo County. The manufacturer will invest $210 million in the initial phase and expects to hire roughly 225 full-time employees with a payroll of $12 million it its first year. When the project finishes the employment total could grow to 1,000. Employees could make from around $35,000 to $80,000 a year with full benefits. Company CEO John Hudgins said that a large percentage of the workforce to build the facility will be local. Company officials said that construction could begin by late summer.

Albuquerque Journal, April 10, 2009

Construction has Begun on Estancia’s Biomass Power Plant

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:32:58 -0600

The initial phase of construction of the Estancia Basin Biomass Power Project has begun. $100 million is still needed to complete the project but full-blown construction should begin late this summer. Since the project began before February 21^st the project will receive the renewable energy production tax credit approved by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resource Department. The tax credit could be worth up to $27.4 million over a 10-year period.

Business Outlook Albuquerque Journal, April 6, 2009

New Mexico Green Grid Initiative

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:50:41 -0600

New Mexico is setting in motion a new plan to build out the nation’s first fully integrated smart green grid. Government officials are leading a broad cooperative effort with utilities, energy businesses, the national labs and research universities to begin modernizing the grid by 2014. The federal government is aggressively promoting smart-grid development, with $4.5 billion earmarked for that in the stimulus plan. The New Mexico plan calls for development and testing of new technologies, followed by construction of two pilot microgrids in targeted communities to assess the system before launching it statewide, said Tom Bowles, the governor’s science advisor on loan from Los Alamos National Laboratory. “We feel New Mexico can and should be the first state to fully develop and roll out a statewide green grid system because the governor is pushing hard to make New Mexico the ‘clean energy state,’ and we have so many of the needed resources here,” Bowles said.

Under the ‘New Mexico Green Grid Initiative,’ the state expects to:

Reduce local need for peak-power generation by 25 percent by 2025
Reduce consumer electricity use by 6 percent
Increase public and private revenue by $11.5 billion by 2020
Create 1,780 temporary jobs and 890 permanent ones

New Mexico Business Weekly, April 3, 2009

$22M in Funding for NM Energy

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:01:17 -0600

Under the federal stimulus plan New Mexico will receive about $22.3 million. Cities and counties will receive $20.7 million and the 21 tribal governments will receive $1.7 million. Funding comes from the stimulus plan's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. “Of all the stimulus-related activities, nothing gives a greater return on investment than saving energy — something that can be done in every corner of New Mexico — while creating jobs across the state,” said Gov. Bill Richardson. Albuquerque will get $5 million of the total. Other large slices of funding include $888,000 for Las Cruces; $781,600 for Santa Fe; $697,000 for Rio Rancho; $459,500 for Bernalillo County; and $446,900 for Doña Ana County.

New Mexico Business Weekly, March 27, 2009

30-Megawatt Solar Plant for NM

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:25:21 -0600

New Mexico is expected become home to one of the largest solar power plants on the continent. The Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Arizona-based First Solar Inc. announced an agreement Tuesday to develop a 30-megawatt, solar photovoltaic power plant in Colfax County, between Cimarron and Springer.

The plant dubbed the "Cimarron I Solar Project," will consist of 500,000 2-foot by 4-foot photovoltaic panels and is expected to generate enough energy to serve the equivalent needs of about 9,000 homes. Construction is planned to begin in April 2010, with the plant fully operational by the end of that year. It is expected to create 120 to 140 construction jobs.

Albuquerque Journal, March 25, 2009

Sloan Telescope Gets $40 Million

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:31:29 -0600

According to a recent study of the world’s telescopes, the Sloan telescope located at the Apache Point Observatory near Cloudcroft has generated more scientific papers than any other telescope including the Hubble Space Telescope. “Here we are below the radar, 1 percent of the funding of Hubble, and we outrun them,” said Bruce Gillespie, Sloan’s program manager. The funding which is extending the life of the telescope is coming from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy, according to Gillespie.

Albuquerque Journal, March 23, 2009

Seed Investments on the Rise

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:57:31 -0600

The New Mexico Angels and other venture capital firms are investing more in seed capital. “We’re seeing some really good deals with a lot of growth potential,” said NM Angels President John Chavez. In December of 2008 the Angles invested $270,000 in three companies bringing their total investment for 2008 to $1.3 million.

New Mexico Business Weekly, March 13, 2009