An Executive Digest of the Industry

Brazil Gives Green Light to Amazon Dam

2011-06-02T19:44:48Z

Alexei Barrionuevo, smh.com, 06.02.2011

BRAZIL'S environmental agency has approved a giant hydroelectric power plant in the Amazon rainforest that has been at the centre of a protracted battle between the government and environmentalists over the fate of indigenous people.

After three decades of planning, the agency Ibama granted a licence to a consortium for the dam, which will be the world's third largest.

Opponents said they would not give up the fight against the Belo Monte dam, which they said would flood a large part of the Xingu River basin, affecting local fishing and forcing tens of thousands of indigenous people from their native lands.

''We will not cede an inch,'' said Antonia Melo, the coordinator of Xingu Vivo Para Sempre, a group based in Altamira, a city that will be partly flooded. ''Our indignation and our strength to fight only increases with every mistake and every lie of this government.''

Belo Monte became a priority for the previous government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said it was critical to Brazil's energy needs. His successor, President Dilma Rousseff, is committed to the project.

The North Energy consortium will pay $US1.9 billion ($A1.77 billion) for ''social-environmental measures'' to help people affected by the dam's construction and to offset environmental effects, an agency spokeswoman said. The government has committed $US314 million, she said.

Conservationists have become increasingly critical of Brazil's efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest. The country's deforestation numbers have risen sharply over the past nine months, and the lower house of Congress last week approved a revision of the Forest Code that would open protected areas to deforestation. The Senate has yet to vote on the measure.

The $US17 billion dam, which is expected to start producing electricity in 2015, would divert the Xingu River along a 100-kilometre stretch in Para state. Environmental groups say it will flood more than 49,000 hectares of rainforest and settlements, displacing 20,000 to 40,000 people and releasing large quantities of methane. The Ibama spokeswoman said no indigenous people would be removed from their lands.

Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch, said: ''This is a tragic day for the Amazon … this dam is going to spell disaster for the local people.''

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Construction Industry Video News

2011-06-02T17:45:00Z

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The Construction Industry - Here is Construction Video News updated real-time every day. Construction management software by Procore is the #1 web based construction software application, including new iPhone construction app and Droid construction app makes ProTech the most high-tech construction software. ProTech is the US Procore dealer selling construction project software also known as Construction Cloudware. Web based project management is replacing server based systems from Primavera and Prolog, Timberline and Expedition. Project Technology Solutions in Las Vegas.

Solar Array Manufacturing Plant Opens in North Las Vegas

2011-05-18T19:37:00Z

by Paul Takahashi, lasvegassun.com, 05.18.2011

Gov. Brian Sandoval addresses the crowd during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Amonix, a California-based solar power company that recently opened its new North Las Vegas facility, Tuesday, May 17, 2011.

North Las Vegas celebrated the completion of a new solar project Tuesday that is bringing more than 300 jobs to the economically beleaguered city.

In October, California-based solar power company Amonix broke ground on its largest manufacturing plant, located at the Golden Triangle Industrial Park near Craig Road and Interstate 15 in North Las Vegas.

On Tuesday, energy executives and Nevada politicians from the federal, state and local levels heralded the newly completed, 214,000-square-foot facility as an important milestone in the state’s push to become the nation’s green energy leader.

“This is the essence of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Gov. Brian Sandoval said above the din of the manufacturing plant. “Not only do I want Nevada to be the renewable energy capital of the United States, but I want it to be the renewable energy capital of the world.”

Amonix and its partner, Flextronics Industrial, will manufacture concentrated photovoltaic solar power systems at the new plant, producing about four solar panel arrays — each 50 feet by 72 feet — a day.

The Amonix 7700 systems, each weighing more than 11 tons, can generate enough solar energy to power up to 30 houses daily.

The plant will operate around the clock, churning out solar power systems that could generate 150 megawatts of electricity each year, enough to power 50,000 homes, said Amonix CEO Brian Robertson.

“This technology is ideally suited for Nevada,” Robertson said. “We concentrate the light on very high-performance cells in really sunny places like Nevada, where there are 300-some-odd days of direct sunlight each year.”

Amonix ships many of its solar panels to clients in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona, but hopes to establish more energy partnerships in Nevada. In recent years, Amonix has built solar arrays for UNLV, NV Energy and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

“We hope to work on more projects with people here in Nevada,” Robertson said, adding that Amonix is working to secure energy contracts with MGM International and for the new water reclamation facility and Veterans Affairs hospital under construction in North Las Vegas.

U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., whose district includes the plant, said Amonix will help North Las Vegas and the state recover from the recession. The facility was financed with a $5.9 million investment tax credit from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act awarded to Amonix in 2010 and another $12 million in private capital.

“I’m a great proponent of diversifying our economy in this state,” Berkley said. “I believe that the future of this state can be found in renewable energy. We are creating an entire economy based on green jobs.”

The new Amonix plant will employ 333 southern Nevada residents in management, technical and production jobs paying an average of $18 per hour, plus benefits. That’s good news for North Las Vegas, which has a 17 percent unemployment rate, officials said.

“We’re glad for southern Nevadans and North Las Vegas residents to go back to work,” North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck said. “North Las Vegas has the highest unemployment, unfortunately, in this state, and we’d love to see that number go down.”

“North Las Vegas has such potential for these types of projects and for Amonix to be our first big project to come in, they’ve set the bar really high,” Buck said.

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Seoul's Floating Island Uses Solar Panels

2011-05-18T19:33:00Z

Source: solarnovus.com, 05.18.2011

The Seoul Metropolitan Government in South Korea announced that it will partially open its Floating Island to the public on 21 May 2011.

The island that makes up the sprawling 20,382 square metres (m²), or 219,390 square feet (ft²), has been developed under three key themes: exhibition and convention, culture and aquatic leisure. The 96.4 billion KRW (~$88 million USD) project was funded entirely with private funds. Comprised of three artificial islets, the Floating Island is currently under construction on the Han River near Banpo Hangang Park in Seoul.

• Islet 1, the biggest of the three islets, is three stories high and measures 10,845 m²(116,735 ft²). It includes a 700-seat convention hall on the roof of which solar energy panels measuring 54 m² (581 ft²) and generating 6 kilowatts (kW) per house of energy each day have been built.

• Islet 2, a three-story structure measuring 5373 m² (57,834 ft²), is focused on developing facilities for cultural events.

• Islet 3, two stories high, takes up a 4164 m² (44,821 ft²) area and is devoted to various aquatic leisure sports activities like yachting.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government expects this center to play a pivotal role in advancing its tourism and convention sectors. The total number of seats for exhibitions and conventions will reach 1400 among all three of the islets. The Floating Island is scheduled for completion in September 2011.

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WindTamer to Supply Wind Turbine for 1MWh Energy Storage Project

2011-05-18T19:24:00Z

Source: brighterenergy.org, 05.18.2011

WindTamer Corporation (OTCBB:WNDT.O, a developer and manufacturer of wind turbines and renewable energy power storage and management systems, will supply the wind power component for a 1MWh energy storage project.

The company based in Rochester, New York, said its WindTamer wind turbine has been selected by Ultralife Corporation (NASDAQ: ULBI) as the wind component for the energy storage system demonstration project to be installed at Ultralife’s Newark, New York, corporate campus.

Ultralife has purchased an 8.0GT model WindTamer turbine together with monitoring capabilities for the initial prototype installation.

A New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) award will help support the design, development, prototyping, scale-up and installation of the large scale lithium ion energy storage system.

The system will integrate lithium ion batteries, ultracapacitors and renewable-energy generation sources, including wind and solar, and will allow utility companies and renewable energy generators to intelligently manage energy for consumption or storage.

Ultralife is organizing and leading a collaborative team composed of partners including academic institutions, industrial and consulting businesses to develop the system to store and mange power generated from any source for use at optimal peak times.

“We are extremely pleased that Ultralife has chosen the WindTamer wind turbine to be a component of this system,” said William A. Schmitz, Chief Executive Officer of WindTamer.

WindTamer Corporation is a developer and manufacturer of wind turbines and custom-designed renewable energy storage and power management systems and a supplier of solar energy systems.

The WindTamer diffuser-augmented wind turbine utilizes a patented technology for the production of electrical power. WindTamer’s patent-pending Power on Demand system utilizes inputs from multiple energy sources including wind, solar, fuel cells and the grid in conjunction with a custom-designed battery storage system and a proprietary smart monitoring technology that releases energy at optimal times to reduce peak power demand, thereby lowering electricity costs for large energy users who deal with peak usage pricing.

WindTamer also sells a mobile renewable energy system that that generates wind and solar energy to an onboard storage unit for military and other applications, and a renewable power station that is a scalable system that can be drop-shipped to off-grid locations to be used as a “micro-grid”.

WindTamer’s Board of Directors has approved changing the name of the Company to Arista Power, Inc. subject to shareholder approval at its May 18, 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

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Solar Panels Available for Affordable Housing Developers

2011-05-09T18:17:00Z

By Richard Thompson, The Times-Picayune, 05.08.2011

Make It Right, the Brad Pitt-led push to rebuild the storm-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward with affordable, energy-efficient housing, has launched a new initiative that aims to help make solar panels more accessible to other nonprofit developers in the city.

A separate, for-profit entity, called Make It Right Solar, has worked with two local housing development agencies, the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative and Project Home Again, to provide panels at a fraction of the high upfront costs, which some say has largely kept the technology out of reach for many homeowners.

As part of the deal, Make It Right Solar purchases the equipment, pays for its installation and takes advantage of the available federal and state tax credits, which cover up to 80 percent of the cost of the panels. From there, developers are on the hook for the remainder of the cost, plus installation, working out to about $5,000 to $7,000 per unit.

Make It Right Solar leases the equipment to the nonprofit for a dollar a year for seven years, after which it becomes the property of the homeowner.

Pierre Moses, a project manager with Make It Right, said the program "essentially makes solar affordable, which has always been our goal."

"Typically, solar is so expensive, and historically it's been that people only correlate solar with rich folks, just because of the big upfront costs," Moses said, adding that 21 installation projects have been completed or are under construction. "So the kind of unique thing that we've implemented is offering that we pay for the system, we finance the system up front, and through a (financing) structure, we're able to offer the end-user, which in our case is always a low-income resident, free, clean energy."

Pitt, the actor and part-time French Quarter resident, has set his sights on building 150 homes loaded with green features like solar panels and rainwater collectors in the Lower Ninth Ward in the years to come, and Make It Right is almost halfway there. "We were already engaged in this market," Moses said, "and so it was sort of a natural progression for us to offer the same technology that we've been installing."

The new initiative will also help foster an expanding solar workforce. The company has worked alongside three local contractors to complete the work, and Moses said that the industry is getting to a point where it's "capable and able to deploy solar on a large scale, to a larger population."

Along the way, the program has changed the thinking of some nonprofit leaders. Carey Shea, executive director of Project Home Again, a nonprofit backed by a $20 million pledge from the New York-based Riggio Foundation that plans to build 100 homes in Gentilly, said she had "always been a little bit hesitant" about including solar panels as part of the design in the homes.

"I've been doing affordable housing for 30 years, so I am very hesitant to get pulled into a situation where they have an expensive piece of equipment on their houses that they may not be able to pay to maintain should it break," Shea said.

Under guidelines from the federal Recovery Act's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which has helped fund the group's efforts to restore the homes, Shea said that homeowners earning up to 120 percent of the area's medium income are eligible for the homes her group is building, a point that has provided some flexibility. "You have people living in the houses who have a little more discretionary income," she said. "So, six years down the road, if a $400 repair has to be made, they'll be able to afford to make the repair and keep this thing operable."

Project Home Again, which has built houses designed to use 40 percent less energy than comparable new properties in the region, has installed seven solar panels so far, she said. The group builds homes for low- and moderate-income families whose homes were severely damaged or completely destroyed during Katrina.

In a city where the average family income barely topped $37,000 in 2009, and 23 percent of residents live below the poverty line, the potential savings could make a big difference, some observers say, especially as recent government research showed the New Orleans metropolitan area's median monthly cost of housing has risen nearly 33 percent, from $662 in 2004 to $882 in 2009.

The upfront costs were also prohibitive for the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative, which has rebuilt more than 25 vacant properties into affordable housing for Central City residents, said Charles Cutno, project manager for the group.

"We looked into it for a period of time, we researched it and found that the overall costs to go with an independent distributor were a lot more expensive," Cutno said. "That's one of the reasons we restyled with Make It Right Solar, to bring more of an affordable point to it."

From what he could find, Cutno said those costs were 100 to 150 percent higher than the current arrangement, which allows him to pass the savings on to eligible homeowners.

"We're able to pass on to the homeowner, at that point, and to me that's one of the major advantages of it, actually," he said. "Overall, it's going to reduce their energy bill, we estimate, between 30 to 50 percent now, depending on the day uses, so for the individuals we build for, that's a drastic reduction in their bill."

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Study Planned for High-Speed Rail Over Grapevine

2011-05-05T20:00:00Z

by Tim Sheehan, The Fresno Bee, 05.05.2011

SACRAMENTO -- The California High-Speed Rail Authority has approved re-evaluating the Interstate 5 corridor over the Grapevine and Tejon Pass as a potential route for high-speed trains from the San Joaquin Valley to the Los Angeles Basin.

On a 9-0 vote today, the board gave a green light to a "conceptual study" that is expected to cost about $700,000 and take three to six months. Engineers hope to learn if the Grapevine is a reasonable alternative to include in a detailed environmental analysis.

The Grapevine was rejected as an option after a 2005 environmental analysis of the entire length of the proposed statewide, 800-mile high-speed train system between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with connections to Sacramento and San Diego. The rejection was based on the expected complexity of construction to deal with mountain grades over the Tehachapi Mountains and concerns over earthquake faultlines in the mountain range.

As a result of that 2005 study, the authority has focused its more detailed analyses on two options that head from Bakersfield, southeast through the Tehachapi Pass to Lancaster and Palmdale before swinging into Los Angeles.

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High speed rail construction in California over the Grapevine assisted by ProTech the Procore dealer of construction software also known as Construction Cloudware. High Speed rail planned at tejon pass, California.

Hydro Green Energy Secures Funds for Hydro Projects

2011-05-05T19:10:00Z

Source: Energy Business Review, 05.05.2011

US- based Hydro Green Energy has secured equity capital and project development investment from Providence Renewables for development of its 1,000 MW pipeline of hydro projects.

The company plans to hire additional technical, commercial and regulatory personnel to aid in the development of the projects.

Hydro Green Energy said it will also invest in research and development of its innovative hydropower technologies.

It can now deliver baseload renewable energy that is cost competitive with fossil fueled resources.

The renewable energy development company is presently developing 34 low-head hydropower projects across the US.

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New Hydro Green Energy projects approved for funding in multiple locations. Web based construction software known as construction cloudware is provided by ProTech, the Procore dealer. New hydro projects starting large hydro energy construction projects fueled by new Hydropower technology.

Local Governments Add Renewable Energy Projects from Grants and Partnerships

2011-05-04T17:51:00Z

by ALYSON ZEPEDA, cronkitenewsonline.com, 05.03.2011

Maricopa County used a $540,000 grant under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to put 228 solar panels atop the White Tank Library near Buckeye. Photo by Alyson Zepeda

BUCKEYE, ARIZONA – Tucked away in the foothills of White Tank Mountain Regional Park, an unobtrusive building is saving Maricopa County money.

Between the 85-kilowatt solar panel system on its roof and earning the highest rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, the White Tank Library is estimated to save the county $10,400 per year in energy costs, said Nelson Mitchell, public information officer for the Maricopa County Library District. The solar system, installed using a $540,000 grant under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, supplies 25 percent of the building’s annual needs.

“We value energy efficiency as a way of life,” Mitchell said.

Meanwhile, the county is using a $2.3 million stimulus grant to install solar hot water systems at two of its jails.

“It makes economic sense,” said Jonce Walker, the county’s sustainability manager. “If you reduce energy you are saving a lot of money.”

Maricopa County is part of a national trend, helped by stimulus money, of local governments investing in solar power, said Carolyn Berndt, principal associate for infrastructure and sustainability with the National League of Cities.

“Energy efficiency is the cheapest and most efficient form of greenhouse gas reduction, and I think these renewable energy projects can save these governments a lot of money in energy costs,” she said.

Berndt said that some local governments were already investing in solar projects before stimulus grants were available, but many more are doing so now. She expects more solar projects to pop up around Arizona and the rest of the country as local governments face a deadline of using stimulus money by the end of 2012.

“I think for local governments it is a win-win,” Berndt said. “You are reducing your energy costs by installing these renewable energy solar power systems, and that’s the bottom line.”

Governments have always been leaders in green initiatives, and it is no different when it comes to energy efficiency and solar power, said Mick Dalrymple, project manager for Arizona State University’s Energize Phoenix, a program funded by stimulus dollars.

“Taxpayers and governments own their buildings and they hold them for a long time,” Dalrymple said. “When they make improvements to them, taxpayers see the benefits, so it makes a lot of sense.”

Installing solar panels is usually the last step in a process of making a building energy efficient, Dalrymple said and that is what many governments focus on first. But adding solar panels to a building once it is energy efficient is an investment with guaranteed returns for governments, he said. Though many solar systems are estimated to pay for themselves in over 20 years when they are first installed, the inevitable increase in electricity rates make them profitable much faster, he said.

In a time of cuts to education, solar power is a way for Riverside Elementary School District in the southwest Valley to inject more money back into the school, said Jaime Rivera, the district’s superintendent.

“You try to reduce as much as you can to be able to bring these funds back into the classroom,” he said.

Last year, the district partnered with California-based SolarCity to install panels on the roofs of the district’s two elementary schools. SolarCity financed, installed, maintains and owns the solar panels and sells the energy to SRP. In return, the schools are guaranteed electricity for no more than 9 cents per kilowatt hour for the next 25 years regardless of peak hours, time of year or rate increases. Rivera said solar is a growing trend among Arizona school districts.

“I think because we are small, we are more light-footed and can put things in place faster than maybe larger school districts,” he said.

As for Maricopa County, Walker said the investment in renewable energy won’t stop once the stimulus money is gone. Already the county has set a goal of increasing their current renewable energy capacity from 6 megawatts to 8 megawatts by 2015.

“Quite frankly there is a lot of opportunity still,” Walker said. “We are by no means done.”

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Massive Solar Plant Halted Over Endangered Species

2011-05-03T18:12:00Z

by Nate Lew, coolerplanet.com, 04.29.2011

The construction of a huge solar plant in Southern California has been put on hold over concerns that it would displace a large population of endangered tortoises from their natural habitat.

The BrightSource Energy 392-megawatt solar farm, planned for construction in the Mojave Desert, has been halted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management after it was discovered that the 5.6-square mile construction site was home to more than 600 endangered desert tortoises, according to a report from UPI. This was considerably higher than BrightSource's original estimation, which stood at just 38.

Though the project is put on hold while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service comes up with a new scientific opinion on the site's effect on the larger tortoise population, that could be done by the end of May, the report said. For its part, BrightSource disputes the government's claims over the size of the reptile's population.

California is currently the nation's leader for solar construction projects because of the large amount of direct sunlight the state receives, particularly in its southern regions.

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8 Impressive Solar Projects Under Construction

2011-05-02T18:24:00Z

by Amal Kiran, ecofriend.com, 04.30.2011

Technology drives today’s world and electricity drives technology. The primary source of electricity till date has been from fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum. But as these reserves dry out, there is an urgent need for alternate, cleaner and renewable sources of electric power. The one source that stands out, quite literally as bright as day light, is the sun. Realizing the untapped potential of solar energy, several efforts are being made around the world are looking to harness this energy into more usable forms. Here’s a list of some of the large scale projects that are taking shape as you read and might as well go on to shape our futures.

1. Google to help build World’s Largest Solar Tower Power Plant

Google seems to have all the answers. After taking the podium as the undisputed leaders of search on the internet, they are now attempting to answer the search for alternate energy. On April 11th, 2011 Google announced in its official blog,

We’ve invested $168 million in an exciting new solar energy power plant being developed by BrightSource Energy in the Mojave Desert in California. Brightsource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) will generate 392 gross MW of clean, solar energy.

This happens to be the singe largest investment Google has ever made.

2. Mammoth Solar Panel farm in Sahara to power European Cities

Sahara has had the distinction of being the largest desert on the face of the earth. Before you dismiss it as a big waste of land, consider this. The Sahara could soon be home to a mammoth Solar Panel farm generating energy for Europe. Electricity thus generated would be transmitted via high voltage lines being built at an enormous expense, but could greatly reduce the carbon footprint of Europe. And by 2050, could be generating up to 100GW of power. The idea has won the appreciation of Gordon Brown and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Hopefully, Africa will see a piece of the pie too.

3. South Africa announces plan for the world’s largest solar park

In 2008, South Africa experienced severe shortage of electricity and suffered frequent blackouts. Ever since then, electricity has been carefully rationed in the country. Some of the countries surrounding South Africa also depend on them for power. Realizing the need for a long term solution to the problem, they have decided to build a massive solar power plant at a whopping £18.42bn. The country’s Northern Cape province has been found suitable for such a plant and the project is estimated to provide for one-tenth of the country’s power needs by 2012.

4. Largest solar plant for U.S. Army may produce a gigawatt of power

The US army seems to have joined the greening efforts. The army has agreed to lease about 14000 acres of its land at Fort Irwin, Mojave Desert, California for the construction of a 1 GW solar energy complex by the Irwin Energy Security Partners(IESP) at a cost of $2 billion. IESP is a joint venture between ACCIONA Solar Power in Henderson, NV and the Clark Energy Group in Bethesda, MD. The power would be used for the activities at the base as well as supplied to the public electric grid.

5. California approves gigantic solar power plants to double US capacity

The deserts seem to be taking center stage at this point and turning into hubs of activity for power generation. The US Bureau of Land Management has granted the use of close to 10000 acres of the Californian desert for 2 Solar projects. The 1000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project is to be developed by the Solar Millennium Inc. at a cost of $6 billion over the next 6 years. A smaller 250 MW Beacon Solar Energy Project by NextEra Energy Resources will come up in about 3 years.

6. Ambitious proposal for North America’s largest solar roof in New Jersey

Roof tops of large buildings offer excellent space for installation of solar panels. The Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey is showing the way after deciding to utilize its roof top space of 322,410 sq feet for building the largest single-rooftop solar power system in North America. The system is to be built and maintained by the SunPower Corporation and will cut down the mall’s dependency on other sources of power by a tenth. Another such rooftop installation is being planned for a distribution center of White Rose Inc. Both these installations will produce close to 5 MW of power each.

7. Cobra energy eyes $1 billion solar power plant for Australia

Harnessing Solar power is becoming a global phenomenon. Australia now joins this list after a Spanish company proposed to build a $1 billion solar power plant on its soil. Cobra Energy, a part of the conglomerate ACS, has applied for funding from the Australian government under the Solar Flagships program which aims to offload 400MW of the country’s energy requirements to solar energy. Cobra has the expertise and has already executed similar projects at installations in Spain. This particular installation will be watched for its innovative approach to storing excess solar energy in molten salts to continue generating power even after sun down.

8. Tata Power plans India’s largest photovoltaic power plant

Here’s an example of the developing countries too doing their bit to reduce their carbon footprint. India’s ambitious National Solar Mission was launched with the objective of establishing India as a global leader in solar energy. The mission will run in 3 phases to reach a target of 20GW of solar power by the end of its third phase. Responses from across the country have been very positive with several hundred bids pouring in. One such proposal comes from one of the most respected and trusted corporate houses of India, the Tata group. Tata Power has proposed the construction of the country’s largest photovoltaic power plant in Mithapur, Gujarat which would produce 50MW of electric power for use in both Tata’s plants as well as the public grid.

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The largest solar farm and solar construction underway. ProTech, the Procore dealer for construction cloudware and web based construction software is essential for large solar project construction. The largest solar farm in the world now being built. The South Africa Solar Project is proceeding forward. Google Solar Investment, their largest investment. Tata Power constructing solar fields and Cobra Energy building Solar power projects and the Solar Roof in New Jersey.

Historic Bridge Project vs Dreaded Highway Expansion

2011-05-02T17:43:00Z

by ADRIENNE PACKER, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 05.01.2011

The price tags were almost identical: $240 million and change.

One bought an engineering marvel that, at least briefly, lured tourists away from the Strip to watch workers dangle from cranes to piece together a span 900 feet above the Colorado River. The second buys five major interchanges, 26 new bridges and a maze of frontage roads in the heart of the Las Vegas Valley.

The Hoover Dam bypass bridge and the I-15 overhaul both were designed to move traffic more efficiently. But one was viewed as a historic event; the other, a hand-wringing annoyance. But comparing the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge to the Interstate 15 overhaul is a bit like comparing a baseball superstar to a grind-it-out clutch player.

It's Alex Rodriguez vs. Lenny Dykstra. Or a Hollywood glamour vs. Tinseltown trouble; Liz Taylor vs. Lindsey Lohan. The similarities of the two transportation projects went beyond price tags. Workers overcame treacherous conditions on both. Gale-force winds funneled through Black Canyon, buffeting the bridge workers. Motorists traveling 80 mph blow by the freeway workers just 5 feet away. Accidents claimed the lives of one worker on each project.

Tempting as it is to compare the price tags, transportation officials cautioned those figures are deceptive. "With the Hoover bypass, you had contractors falling over themselves bidding for that project," said Scott Rawlins, deputy director and chief engineer for the Nevada Department of Transportation. "They knew how significant the project was and how it would benefit the marketing of their company if they were a part of that. It's not a fair comparison."

The state received a deal on its Interstate 15 project, too, but it had nothing to do with construction companies clamoring to be a part of history. The project was the state's second design-build project, meaning one company bid on the job and agreed to both draw up the plans and execute the improvements. That strategy eliminates costly change orders, because the same contractor is handling both tasks.

Congestion along Interstate 15 has progressively worsened over the past decade, and transportation officials acknowledged the massive project could no longer wait. "I-15 is the lifeblood not only to Las Vegas, but to the overall state economy," Rawlins said. "It's vital in moving goods and making sure tourists get to where they want to go in the resort corridor." That's why the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is using its room tax revenue to absorb much of the cost of the improvements, which will extend from Tropicana Avenue to Sloan.

I-15 IS A CRITICAL CORRIDOR "Interstate 15 is a critical corridor," public relations specialist Jeremy Handel said. "It's important for us to step up and make sure we maintain the corridor for our visitors." About 8 million tourists every year use Interstate 15 to visit Las Vegas from Southern California. Plus, more than 90 percent of the state's imported products arrive by truck and the majority of those haulers use Interstate 15, according to the Nevada Motor Transport Association.

The underlying concept of the freeway improvements is the same as that behind the recently added express lanes. Some motorists rely on I-15 to quickly navigate the valley from the north to the south, while it delivers others to the Las Vegas Strip. New frontage roads on either side of the interstate are designed to accommodate vehicles merging in and out of lanes to access the resort corridor, allowing the freeway to serve as a more express north-south route.

The new roads, which prompted the need for most of the additional bridges, will benefit locals and tourists visiting the Strip as well as resort workers. "The roads take them off the I-15 mainline and put them in a system designed to handle those weaving movements, those merging movements at a slower, more controlled way so 15 can function more effectively and more smoothly," Rawlins said.

Those frontage roads are expected to be open by early summer. Interchanges at Tropicana, Russell Road, Interstate 215, Blue Diamond Road and Silverado Ranch Boulevard also are being revamped to improve east-west traffic. Of course the numbers associated with the freeway endeavor pale in comparison to the Hoover Dam bridge: Twenty-six bridges, 35 retaining walls and 1.5 miles of sound walls doesn't sound nearly as impressive as 3.5 million pounds of rock excavated, steel pylons the size of a football field and a 1,060-foot concrete arch. And then the work force: At the height of activity on the freeway, 300 construction workers were on the job. But 300 engineers worked on the bridge design and logistics, and another 1,200 crew members built the span.

While the prestige of a high-visibility project drove down the price of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge, the higher costs of working in an urban setting drove up the bill for the I-15 overhaul. NIGHTTIME WORK ONLY Las Vegas Paving must abide by strict rules, because Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 are two of the city's busiest highways, carrying about 150,000 vehicles per day.

To lessen the inconvenience for daily commuters, crews are not allowed to close roads or ramps during daytime hours. So, most of the work on the roads and ramps occur between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. For a construction company, that means paying workers shift differential which drives up the cost. Work zones and associated traffic control set-ups are smaller because of this, which also limits productivity.

Corey Newcome, project manager for Las Vegas Paving, worked on the construction of the Las Vegas Beltway and experienced the luxury of building a road where none had existed. At the time, the area around the Beltway was mostly rural, allowing crews to work 12-hour shifts when necessary. On Interstate 15, that eight-hour overnight window is actually only six hours after workers set up cones and barriers and haul in equipment. "It adds to the costs. You do less when you have a smaller working window," Newcome said. "When your production goes down, your price goes up."

During the day, equipment deliveries must be carefully scheduled around peak traffic hours. "It makes it more complicated," Newcome said. Allowing overnight lane closures only might lessen the inconvenience for motorists, but it doesn't necessarily make workers on the project feel significantly safer. It is easier to move equipment by having an extra lane to accelerate and blend into traffic, but Vegas is a 24-hour city and that means plenty of vehicles are still on the road. "There are still a lot of people on the road and you wonder if a fair amount of them are impaired," Newcome said.

Fortunately, none of Newcome's workers have been hit by vehicles. However, three teenagers were killed when they drove up a closed ramp in a construction area and slammed into a pile of steel girders last year. Placement of traffic control devices presents yet another challenge. Newcome said project managers must decide exactly when and where a project takes place and then guarantee that it will happen because word must be spread in advance to commuters. "It takes coordination and communication so everybody is on the same page," he said. "We have to have what we need when we need it and make sure the public logistics are involved."

The bridge captured more attention because it was a once-in-a-lifetime project, while work on Interstate 15 will never go away. After the current project is completed from Tropicana to Silverado Ranch, two more projects will begin -- widening the highway to Primm and Project Neon between Sahara Avenue and the Spaghetti Bowl. Tourists probably won't be pulling over to take photographs of any those I-15 projects, but in the end, the improved flow of traffic will undoubtedly be more noticeable on the freeway than on the headline-grabbing bridge.

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Project Neon underway and Las Vegas road construction is made more efficient with web based construction software. Hoover Dam bridge built crossing the Colorado River from Nevada to Arizona is complete. ProTech is the Procore dealer for construction cloudware aiding in the construction of large bridge projects and bridge construction in the USA.

Wind Industry Targeted by Maine Legislature

2011-04-26T18:29:00Z

by Kevin Miller, bangordailynews.com, 04.25.2011

These turbines are along the Kibby Mountain Range in western Maine in 2009. Legislators on Monday heard two starkly different assessments of an industry that has, in recent years.

AUGUSTA, Maine — Critics of industrial wind power in Maine are waging their most organized fight against the burgeoning industry, urging lawmakers to impose tougher siting standards or require developers to compensate neighbors when wind farms harm their property values.

During the first of two days of public hearings on the issue, legislators on Monday heard two starkly different assessments of an industry that has, in recent years, made Maine the largest producer of wind power in New England.

To supporters, industrial wind farms create good-paying construction jobs, funnel much-needed tax dollars into host communities and help Maine move a few steps toward greater energy independence from fossil fuels. Wind power developers have spent an estimated $1 billion on projects in Maine in recent years.

“I don’t know of any other industry that has invested that type of money in the state over the last five years,” said John Cooney, vice president of finance and business development for Reed & Reed, a Woolwich firm that constructs wind farms.

But critics contend that state officials — in their rush to embrace wind power — have ignored what they say are very real health, quality-of-life and economic consequences to allowing 400-foot-tall turbines near homes and camps.

“You are now paying the price of haste,” Gary Steinberg, a member of a group fighting wind power projects near Lincoln, told members of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee. “It was a well-planned legislative fraud perpetrated on the citizens of Maine.”

The committee is considering more than a dozen bills targeting the wind power industry.

One bill, LD 1479, would require a setback of between 1¼ miles and 2 miles between industrial wind turbines and houses, businesses or other occupied structures. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Larry Dunphy, R-Embden, also aims to strengthen regulations aimed at protecting neighbors from disruptive noise levels and “shadow flicker” created by the massive, spinning turbine blades.

Another measure by Dunphy, LD 1042, would require wind farm developers to offer a “property value guarantee program” in which residents would be compensated financially if their property values decline due to the nearby turbines.

Sally and David Wylie said they were assured that any noise from the three turbines spinning roughly 2,400 feet from their Vinalhaven home would be drowned out by ambient sounds.

But they say the thumping, whining and jet planelike noises from the turbines are so severe — and so disruptive — that two doctors have recommended the family move to another location. Now the couple questions whether they could get enough for their home to find a similar island property.

“When people say, ‘If you can’t stand the noise why don’t you move,’ we have to tell them that we can’t afford to,” said David Wylie.

But industry supporters questioned whether wind farms devalue neighboring properties.

James Shaw, who runs a real estate business in the Aroostook County town of Mars Hill, acknowledged that sound levels from the 28-turbine farm vary depending on a house’s location. But Shaw said he has not seen the precipitous drop-off in home values that some people predict, and new homes recently have been built near the wind farm.

“I have seen no negative impacts whatsoever on real estate values in Mars Hill,” said Shaw, who can see 20 turbines from his own home.

Others touted the economic benefits of the wind power industry.

Jeremy Payne, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy association, pointed out that the wind power industry has supported as many as 600 construction jobs at its peak. Those construction workers, in turn, supported rural Maine by staying in motels, dining at local restaurants and hiring local contractors.

Jack Parker, the company’s president, said he believes the slew of bills pending in the committee would send the following message to businesses: “We don’t want your investment, we don’t want your jobs and we don’t want your capital. Keep out.”

Several people living near wind power facilities questioned whether a few hundred temporary construction jobs is a worthwhile trade-off when the turbines force some homeowners who support the local economy year-round to move away.

“I’m listening to employee after employee come up and say, ‘I’m more important than somebody’s home,’” said Carrie Bennett, who lives near a three-turbine facility near Freedom. “Do you want to buy my house? Do you want to live in my house? Of course not.”

After hearing more than eight hours of testimony Monday, the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee will return Tuesday for public hearings on five more wind power-related bills.

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Solar Farm to Power Dubai's First Sustainable City

2011-04-25T20:57:00Z

by Andy Sambidge, arabianbusiness.com, 04.22.2011

Solar energy with power Diamon Developers' plans for a sustainable city in Dubai. (Getty Images)

Diamond Developers has announced plans to build Dubai's first sustainable city which will include a solar power farm and will be 70 percent green space.

The company said in a statement that it had put the final touches on plans to develop the green city.

The project's electricity needs will be supplied by a solar energy farm and to combat growing water shortages in the region, waste and sewage water will be treated and recycled for irrigation purposes.

Faris Saeed, chairman of Diamond Developers, added that the city will also adopt several initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and will be waste free due to a fully integrated waste treatment system.

Residents will also be provided with a sustainable public transport system that includes solar energy powered vehicles and horses, he added.

"Green areas account for 70 percent of the total area and include gardens and farms engineered to produce organic food products for the nutritional requirements of the population.

"There will also be a solar energy farm and a green belt of 100,000 qaaf and palm trees, stretching along 8km in and around the city, that will be able to accommodate 2,500 families," Saeed said.

The city will also include a mosque, hospital, school and multi-use complex.

"Infrastructure and landscaping works will commence during the second half of this year," Saeed said, adding that the city would also include a resort of 143 rooms.

"Guests can expect a unique living encounter as they witness sustainable environmental practices first-hand. The experience will include environment-friendly products, organic foods and a sustainable transport system on horseback," Saeed added.

The project will be completed in four phases with the first slated for completion in 2013. The project will be ready in 2016.

Saeed said the launch of the city was "the culmination of over three years of vigorous efforts to develop the first sustainable city in Dubai".

Diamond Developers' projects to date include the 23-building Diamond Business Centre in Arjan, Diamond Views in Jumeirah Village in Dubai and the six-building Marina Diamond in Dubai Marina.

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$2.1B Loan Guarantee from DOE for Giant Solar Farm

2011-04-25T20:32:00Z

by Ucilia Wang, gigaom.com, 04.18.2011

It’s a double-whopper: The federal government said Monday it’s offering the largest loan guarantee commitment yet for solar to what is the world’s largest proposed solar farm for now. Blythe Solar Project is set to get a $2.1 billion loan guarantee to build half of the 1,000MW plant in California’s desert.

The guarantee, if finalized, will be used to build 500MW, from which 484MW will be delivered to Southern California Edison. The developer, Solar Trust of America, is designing the project to be made up of four, 250MW units, a company spokesman told med. But the power each needs to produce to fulfill the company’s contract with Edison is less than the full capacity.

The loan guarantee will cover not only half of the solar farm construction but also eight miles of transmission lines and other related power delivery infrastructure, said the U.S. Department of Energy. The $2.1 billion is the second largest loan guarantee offered by the U.S. Department of Energy. The title holder goes to Georgia Power, which received a $8.33 billion conditional commitment for a nuclear power plant.

Solar Trust America, a joint venture between German firms Solar Millennium and Ferrostaal, already started preliminary construction of the project last fall by putting in an access road and some water supply infrastructure. The company plans to start building the project in earnest in late spring or early summer, said Uwe Schmidt, CEO of Solar Trust, during a conference call Monday. The first half of the solar farm will cost an estimated $2.8 billion, Schmidt said, and Solar Trust expects to start building the second half of the power plant within two years.

The project will use curved mirrors to concentrate sunlight to heat up fluid, which will be used to produce steam to run generators. Solar Trust plans to use the new HelioTroughcollectors for the solar farm. In all, the 1000MW power plant will reside on 9,400 acres in Riverside County and cost more than $5 billion, the company said. The power plant equipment will take up about 5,950 acres.

California has long been the largest solar energy market in the country, thanks largely to its policy and subsidies that encourage small-scale installations at homes, businesses and government buildings. The state mandate for its utilities also is turning California into home for large solar farms and making it a major beneficiary of federal programs to fund renewable energy power plant construction.

Just last week, Energy Secretary Steve Chu announced a conditional loan guarantee commitment of $1.2 billion for SunPower to build a 250MW project in central California that will be owned by NRG Energy. Also last week, the DOE finalized a $1.6 billion loan guarantee with BrightSource Energy to build a 392MW solar farm in California’s Mojave Desert.

California requires its utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2013 and 33 percent by 2020. The state Legislature passed a bill to set the 33 percent mandate last month, and Gov. Brown signed it last week. Brown, like his predecessor, also styled himself as a renewable energy champion and joined the press conference for Blythe Solar’s loan guarantee announcement Monday.

The California Energy Commission approved nine solar power projects in just four months last year, decisions that have drawn lawsuits from critics who argue that the commission didn’t do enough to make sure some of the projects won’t have a significant impact on wildlife. The state Supreme Court tossed two such lawsuits, one of which was filed by Sierra Club, last week.

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Blythe solar farm adding to the solar construction boom in the US and ProTech is the dealer for Procore web based construction software. Largest solar farm in America helped with solar construction loan guarantees from the DOE.

Private Sector Shows Interest in Calif. High-Speed Rail

2011-04-25T20:23:00Z

By John Cox, The Bakersfield Californian, 04.19.2011

April 19--For a massive infrastructure project beset by severe challenges at virtually every turn, a rare dose of good news surfaced last week at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Hundreds if not more than 1,000 business people showed up to the California High-Speed Rail Authority's Industry Forum to find out how they might participate in the $43 billion project proposed to link Los Angeles and San Francisco by 2020.

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of companies represented that day hope to win lucrative contracts to design or build the project. But a select few -- 22 in all, including some pension funds, according to the rail authority -- hope to invest in the project in expectation that doing so will return them a profit.

If even a few of those preliminary "expressions of interest" lead to actual deals involving cash, trains or other tangible contributions, it could help the rail authority fend off attacks by critics who contend that the project is too political and poorly conceived to attract the $10 to 12 billion in private sector money the authority expects to cover about a quarter of the project's budget.

As rail authority CEO Roelof van Ark proclaimed to his audience April 12, bullet train systems around the world thrive in the hands of private companies long after government-funded construction ends.

"The real high-speed rail systems in the world generate cash," he told reporters at a press conference later that morning.

Representatives of large international firms and consortia present at last week's event confirmed that they look forward to sitting down with van Ark to negotiate terms for making large investments in the project.

John McGrath, project manager and business developer for ACS Infrastructure Development Inc., a Spanish-owned rail contractor with offices in Florida, said the company is open to helping build, maintaining and operating all or part of California's bullet train system. He said ACS plans to bring money to the table.

Asked whether he thinks van Ark's vision is going to be profitable, McGrath said, "I believe it is."

Challenges ahead

But it remains unclear exactly how and when private sector deals might come together. Also, doubts persist as to whether the rail authority will be able to reassure would-be investors that the project will be fully built as proposed.

Uncertainty with regard to the project's public sector financing poses a significant hurdle. The Obama administration's budget deal with Congressional Republicans earlier this month slashed all $2.5 billion in 2011 high-speed rail funding, though van Ark insisted that his agency retains access to $5.5 billion in state and federal money -- enough to build the initial segment from north of Fresno to about Bakersfield starting next year.

Some say the lack of a federal commitment to finish the project will jeopardize private investment.

"It's very difficult to put a long-term plan together not knowing if you're going to be funded next year," said Stephen Buschmeyer, vice president of business development at Tutor Perini Corp., a large, Sylmar-based construction firm that he said has tentatively offered to perform and finance some of the system's construction in exchange for an equity stake in the project.

This dilemma -- private sector reluctance to invest in California high-speed rail without adequate public sector commitment, and vice versa -- came up last year in a highly critical report to the state Legislature by an industry peer review group.

The report said that resolving this problem, which it termed a "chicken-and-egg" conundrum, will require the authority to finish a full business plan complete with realistic revenue projections and a business model spelling out things like who will operate, maintain and build the system.

Speaking last week on his own behalf, the group's chairman, Will Kempton, CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority, said he was encouraged by the fact that 22 entities have expressed interest in investing in the project.

But he also said the authority needs to complete its business plan as soon as possible, if only to allow future partners to provide key input while the system is still in a formative stage.

"The operator will bring a wealth of knowledge or input into the design," Kempton said.

Still more urgent calls for a business plan have come from state Treasurer Bill Lockyer. He said through a spokesman that because of an unclear overall plan for the project, investors continue to demonstrate "tepid" interest for $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds approved by California voters in 2008 to provide the state's share of the project.

Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said investor reluctance does not necessarily hinder the bond sales but that they seem like a misplaced priority as California struggles with other pressing infrastructure needs.

"The real issue is not so much whether we can sell high-speed rail bonds," Dresslar said. "The question is, should we sell high-speed rail bonds?"

Rail authority staff acknowledge that a full business plan is necessary, and say they expect to meet the Legislature's October deadline for a draft of the document. The agency blames the delay on a staffing shortage that Kempton's group has also pointed to as being problematic.

Working out details

It may be that the business plan, as well as the long-term future of the project, will be guided by talks that kicked off at last week's industry forum in Los Angeles.

As far as what form the contributions from the 22 potential private sector investors could take, Van Ark and members of his staff said they are keeping an open mind for now.

Van Ark told his audience at the industry forum about different models that exist in Europe, including a toll road-type arrangement in which private companies are granted government concessions to maintain and operate a portion of high-speed track over a set period of time.

But he quickly backed away from that level of specificity, saying moments later at the press conference that it was "too early to say" what type of public-partnership might work best in California's case. In fact, he declined to be specific in any way about what kinds of public sector partnerships he would consider.

"All the interested parties today could well become partners of ours," he said.

Some of the large consortia at the forum agreed that keeping an open mind on public-private partnerships seemed like a wise approach, even as some said certain details must come forward soon.

Arvind Kapoor, representing a joint venture between General Electric Transportation and CSR Corp. Ltd., also known as China Southern Railroad Group, said the partnership hopes to manufacture trains for the bullet train project, and that it "would be willing to look at" a public-private partnership with the rail authority.

Among the many details yet to be negotiated, Kapoor said, are how much money the partnership would involve. But first GE and CSR need to know more about how the train system would be run, he said.

"I think there's a lot to be seen from the project side," he said.

The assistant president and director of business development for China Construction America Inc., Frank Zhang, said his company, owned by China State Construction Engineering Corp. Ltd., hopes to enter into a public-private partnership to design, build and possibly operate California's high-speed rail project, "depending on terms."

Zhang said the company awaits many important details of the project, but that the lack of information is not yet a problem.

"It takes time," he said.

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Should China Hit the Brakes on Infrastructure Development?

2011-04-21T22:36:00Z

by Eric Jaffe, infrastructurist.com, 04.21.2011

China is making like Casey Jones and watching its speed. The country has announced it will pump the brakes on its fast trains — taking them down to 186 miles per hour (300 km/h) from 217 mph (350 km/h) — citing safety and affordability as reasons for the change. The reduced speed may even be accompanied by reduced rail spending. For a country with the world’s most ambitious rail program, the moves signal “a serious rethink,” writes the Financial Times:

In addition to the new speed limit, which is expected to lower energy usage and operating costs, the total railway construction budget for the next five years appears to have been scaled back.
Mr Sheng said the government would spend Rmb2,800bn ($428.8bn) on railway construction from now until 2015, significantly less than previous reported estimates.
Although China’s railway network will still be expanded from the current 91,000km to 120,000km by the end of 2015 as previously planned, analysts said it was likely some planned high-speed routes would be cut and replaced with ordinary lines.

China’s recent infrastructure growth has been enormous. It not only dominates the world in high-speed rail track, but is also constructing some of the world’s tallest towers and planning the world’s largest cities. McKinsey recently predicted that 9 of the 10 cities with the greatest economic growth in the world by 2025 will be in China, with infrastructure advancements a major reason for this surge.

But even before this news of speed reductions, questions have followed China’s every move. Earlier this yearconcerns emerged that the country’s rail construction was advancing too quickly to ensure proper safety. For all its city planning, some of China’s new cities appear to be sparsely inhabited, at best. One economic expert believes China’s skyscraper construction is a sure sign of a bubble. Nouriel Roubini appears to concur; he recently wrote that China’s infrastructure investments have set up the country to hit an economic “brick wall”:

China is rife with overinvestment in physical capital, infrastructure, and property. To a visitor, this is evident in sleek but empty airports and bullet trains (which will reduce the need for the 45 planned airports), highways to nowhere, thousands of colossal new central and provincial government buildings, ghost towns, and brand-new aluminum smelters kept closed to prevent global prices from plunging.
Commercial and high-end residential investment has been excessive, automobile capacity has outstripped even the recent surge in sales, and overcapacity in steel, cement, and other manufacturing sectors is increasing further. In the short run, the investment boom will fuel inflation, owing to the highly resource-intensive character of growth. But overcapacity will lead inevitably to serious deflationary pressures, starting with the manufacturing and real-estate sectors.
Eventually, most likely after 2013, China will suffer a hard landing. All historical episodes of excessive investment—including East Asia in the 1990s—have ended with a financial crisis and/or a long period of slow growth.

Roubini believes China can escape this fate, in part, by reducing its fixed investments. The latest news shows that China can adjust its speed to avoid one type of crash. If Roubini and other experts are right, it may soon need to do the same for another.

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HS2 Creating 10,000 New Jobs in U.K.

2011-04-20T23:29:00Z

Source: randstadcpe.com, 04.20.2011

George Osborne has confirmed that the high speed rail network planned from London to Birmingham is likely to create in the region of 10,000 construction, engineering and rail jobs, reports railwaypeople.com.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer enthused about the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail link while on a visit to the Midlands city. He said the project would transform the Curzon Street area, where a new station terminal is to be built, bringing new employment and business opportunities to the community.

The new and highly publicised line, constructed and maintained by transport organisation, Centro, will carry trains from Euston to Birmingham in 46 minutes, with trains travelling at speeds of 250 miles per hour, according to the Financial Times. The track will then continue north, splitting when it reaches the Pennines.

Mr Osborne told the press "The project will create 10,000 construction jobs followed by 8,000 permanent jobs in and around Birmingham itself, 4,500 of which will be based in Curzon Street.

"These are not my figures. They are the findings of a new independent study into the project, which is a vital piece of transport infrastructure both for Birmingham and the rest of the country."

Mr Osborne's sentiment was echoed by Centro chairman, Angus Adams, who told railwaypeople.com: "I welcome the Chancellor of the Exchequer's comments as they reinforce what we have believed all along about HS2. It is a project which brings massive employment and regeneration opportunities to the area".

Author: Elizabeth Smythe

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HS2 rail construction in UK and high speed rail construction creating 10,000 new construction jobs in the U.K. The Procore dealer in the US is ProTech. This London to Birmingham rail project is being planned and will create 10,000 new construction jobs in the UK. Construction cloudware is another name for web based construction software.

Boeing, SCE&G Partner for Solar Farm on Top of Assembly Plant

2011-04-20T22:29:00Z

by Amanda Click, The Digitel Charleston, 04.20.2011

Boeing announced on Tuesday that they are partnering with SCE&G to install eight football fields worth of solar panels on the North Charleston assembly and delivery plant's roof, allowing the plant to be powered entirely by renewable energy.

The Charleston Regional Business Journal reports that the panels will annually provide the facility with the equivalent of power used by 250 homes in the same amount of time. In addition, the solar farm will be the largest in the southeast and the sixth largest in the United States.

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What Happened to the Vegas Development Boom?

2011-04-19T21:28:00Z

by Patrick Mayock, hotelnewsnow.com, 04.19.2011

Sometimes you come across a data point that makes you do a double take—or, in the case of my perusing STR’s latest U.S. pipeline numbers last week, almost choke on your turkey sandwich.

Have you cleared your airways? Here it comes: There are only 96 new hotel rooms under construction in Las Vegas.

Only 96! In Las Vegas! The country’s largest hotel market!

This is Sin City we’re talking about here, people—the desert oasis that saw a development boom that injected 9,104 rooms into the market during 2009. Granted, it’s not New York City, which has more than 6,000 rooms under construction, according to STR’s March pipeline, but nobody’s been able to measure up with the behemoth Big Apple for years now.

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Las Vegas hotel construction hit all time low. ProTech is the dealer for Procore construction software known as construction cloudware. Construction in Las Vegas off significantly from the development boom days.