Renewable Energy

Solar energy is no longer some futuristic, pie-in-the-sky idea in Washington County. Concerned about rising energy costs, the environmental threats associated with traditional methods of electric generation and what kind of world is going to be left to their children, business owners in the county have invested tens of thousands of dollars to set up their own solar-power systems. Solar panels now stretch across roofs and atop columns that track the sun as it moves across the sky. At a Staples distribution center along Hopewell Road in Hagerstown, more than 11,000 solar panels soak up the energy from the sun and generate electricity.

People touring a new facility that converts methane gas into electricity might have been turned off by the dreary weather Tuesday morning, but the microbes making the needed methane loved it. The microbes converting decaying landfill trash into methane function best in moist environments, PPL Renewable Energy President Mike Kroboth explained. The methane they make is now being used to power homes and businesses in the Borough of Chambersburg. A four-mile “extension cord” carries electricity generated at the IESI Blue Ridge Landfill in Greene Township, Pa., to the nearby borough.

Hagerstown Community College will host the Go Green, Save Green Expo on Saturday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Valley Mall in Hagerstown. The expo is an educational forum that will feature several energy-efficient, renewable energy and recycling businesses from the Tri-State area. Businesses will have the opportunity to give two 15-minute presentations on their products, with an emphasis on the cost-saving benefits of alternative- energy technology. HCC's Alternative Energy Technology Program also will be featured.

Energy Star provides information about the Energy Star certification program, compact fluorescent bulbs, tax credits for energy efficiency and general information on how to make a home more energy-efficient. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has a report on the vulnerabilities of the Energy Star program Clean Energy , a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency site, can help you determine how clean the energy you use is, how you can reduce your impact and more.

Maryland Solar LLC, the company that announced plans last year to build a 20-megawatt solar power-generating facility on the grounds of the Maryland Correctional Institution, has been acquired by First Solar Inc., which intends to complete the project by the end of the year. Headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., First Solar announced the acquisition on Wednesday, but spokesman Alan Bernheimer said the cost of the purchase is not being disclosed. “We expect to begin (construction) sometime in the second quarter,” said Roy Skinner, the project developer for First Solar.

Under a broiling sun, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley joined a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday for what will be the largest solar power array in the state - and one of the biggest on the East Coast - when it is completed later this year. The 100-degree temperature was “a reminder from Mother Nature that the sun is our most abundant resource,” O'Malley told an audience of about 100 guests sitting inside an air-conditioned tent before the ceremony. Maryland has set a goal to produce 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources - solar, wind and geothermal - by 2022, O'Malley said.

The array of solar panels all facing south give the appearance of a shimmering lake. And by late December, the 300,000 solar panels, each roughly the size of a 46-inch flat screen television near the Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown off Roxbury Road, are expected to generate a peak of 20 megawatts of power per hour. The solar farm annually will produce enough electricity to power 4,000 to 5,000 single family homes, according to an estimate by an official at First Solar Inc., the company leasing the land from the state to run the plant.

Maryland faces great challenges with climate change. The recent report from the Maryland Commission on Climate Change echoes longstanding concerns of other reports from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other credible groups about addressing climate challenges in a meaningful way. As a member of the commission's Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Mitigation Working Group, I want to thank Gov. Martin O'Malley and our political leaders for bold policy recommendations...

Deal approved for landfill gas flaring operation The Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday approved an agreement with a renewable energy company for a landfill gas flaring operation at the closed Resh Road Landfill. The contract, similar to one already approved for the active Forty West Landfill, allows Washington Renewable Energy LLC to install and operate a gas flare system at its own expense and entitles the county to a percentage of the company's revenue from the sale of carbon credits earned by destroying the harmful greenhouse gas. The county had planned to install its own landfill gas collection system at the Resh Road Landfill to meet state requirements, but that system would not have allowed the county to earn carbon credits, said Clifford J. Engle, who heads the county's Solid Waste Department.

The largest solar-generating facility in Maryland, capable of powering more than 2,000 homes at peak output, is planned to open in 2012 on 250 acres of state-owned land near the Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown and the Maryland Correctional Training Center. Maryland Solar LLC of Annapolis announced plans Friday to build the $70 million, 20-megawatt solar facility - a plant that company officials said will be one of the largest on the East Coast and will double the state's current solar-generation capacity.