Video Press Release: Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Complete Million Solar Roofs Plan

Concluding a two-year effort to help make California the nation’s leader in solar energy, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed SB 1 by Senator Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles), putting the finishing touches on the Governor’s Million Solar Roofs Plan.

Click here for full release, video, and photo essay. 

Rep. Cardoza Wants Solar Energy to Be Valley Focus

By Corinne Reilly CREILLY @ MERCEDSUN-STAR.COM

Merced Sun Star 

"We believe it's time for a new energy source, and we believe in solar power," said Cardoza, D-Merced. "We can make the Central Valley the Silicon Valley of renewable energy."

Cardoza's bill -- dubbed the Empowering America Act -- seeks to make solar power affordable for all Americans. It would increase tax credits to homeowners who install solar panels and spur solar power research and development programs.

With a just-installed $50,000 solar power system atop his Merced home, Cardoza said he's demonstrating his commitment to renewable energy.

Showing off his new solar panel system, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced,

holds a press conference at his home Friday morning.

Heat Wave Draws Attention to Solar Energy

Triple-digit temperatures and record weekly electricity use grabbed headlines from gasoline prices for a short while this summer. Demand in turn led to record-high natural gas prices, as this is used to generate around 18 percent of the nation’s electricity.

Farmers rely both on electricity and natural gas in the production, processing and storage of commodities so they get a double-whammy when these prices rise.

In California, Farm Bureau members participated in a voluntary state-wide program to reduce energy consumption any time a power emergency was declared. Conservation and efficiency help, but the blazing sun itself is a potential remedy for rolling blackouts and rising energy prices.

Renewable Energy for Agriculture

Western Farm Press
Aug 7, 2006 9:12 AM
By Dan Bryant

Methane digester converts dairy manure to electricity

“Making electricity out of cow manure sure beats paying the utility,” says Carl Morris, general manager of Joseph Gallo Farms, a dairy and cheese processor in Atwater, Calif.

Morris explained how that can be done profitably with a methane digester in a talk before the recent forum of the California Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) in Visalia, Calif. The Merced County operation has 17,000 cows on five dairies and processes 900,000 pounds of milk daily. The methane digester at their 5,000-head, Cottonwood, Calif., dairy fuels an electric generator and heats steam for the cheese plant, and the wastewater from the plant enhances production of methane.

Solar Rollercoaster

State Legislature has another chance to make SB 1 shine.

Fresno Bee Editorial

(Updated Thursday, August 3, 2006, 4:38 AM)

If California's homes included an extra 1 million solar roofs right now, we'd have 3,000 more megawatts of power during the hottest part of the day. That would shave 6% off the peak energy demand that strained the state's electric grid last week.

Assembly Speaker Fabián Núñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata could make this vision a reality when the Legislature reconvenes. But they also could squander an opportunity just when the state needs to get serious about harnessing the sun.