Scene-on-Green Eco-tourism program gains momentum

It's taken several years of planning to craft this program which gone through several iterations " Be Natures Guest " being one of them; a major difference now is the use of Social Media, Mobile and Cloud based technology and concepts have been employed to create and develop a system that could be easily emulated once our collaboration group provides a well thought out "Tool Kit" with the expertise to back it up; at all levels —including the students!

Karenia brevis, starting to pop up in samples

Southwest CoastKarenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in water samples collected this week alongshore of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Charlotte counties. One sample collected each alongshore of Lee and Collier counties, two samples collected alongshore of Sarasota County and one sample collected offshore of Pinellas County contained background concentrations of K. brevis. Samples collected last week just offshore between the Pavilion Key and Ponce De Leon Bay areas (northern Monroe County) contained concentrations of K. brevis ranging from low to medium.

Bloom Boundary: Sample analysis confirmed patchy concentrations of Karenia brevis last week in southwest Florida just offshore of northern Monroe County between the Pavilion Key and Ponce de Leon areas.  Recent satellite images suggest the continued presence of a small bloom in this area.

 

Northwest CoastKarenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in water samples collected this week offshore of Dixie and Hernando counties.

 

East CoastKarenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in water samples collected this week in the Indian River Lagoon system (Brevard County) or alongshore of Volusia and Dade counties.

Red Tide report

The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was not detected in water samples collected so far this week in the Indian River Lagoon (Brevard County) or offshore of Hernando and Dixie counties.  On the southwest coast of Florida, one sample collected alongshore of Sarasota County (out of 21 total samples) and one sample collected alongshore of Collier County (out of 9 total samples) each contained background concentrations of K. brevis.  Two samples collected late last week offshore of Pavilion Key (northern Monroe County) contained medium concentrations of K. brevis.

More investment to spur further Solar Energy Sustainable Solutions

After the recent news that the U.S. is becoming more domestically Energy Independent; EERE announced yesterday — as part of the Obama Administration's blueprint for an American economy built to last, today U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced over $12 million to speed solar energy innovation from the lab to the marketplace through the Energy Department's SunShot Incubator program. The funding will accelerate American innovation in solar energy and manufacturing by supporting advancements in hardware, reductions in soft costs, and the development of pilot manufacturing and production projects.
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Red Tide report for the Gulf Coast

Yesterdays report from via FWC — Background concentrations of K. brevis were detected in one sample collected alongshore of Sarasota County.  Yet, with medium to high concentrations of K. brevis present last week along Lee and Collier counties, it is possible that patches are still present in unsampled (offshore) areas of these regions.

Eco Programs: Hydrogen Learning Demonstration

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will be hosting a webinar titled "National Hydrogen Learning Demonstration Status" on Monday, February 6 from 12:00 to 1:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. During the webinar, NREL researchers will report on progress the lab has made in deploying fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen fueling stations through DOE's National Hydrogen Learning Demonstration. This webinar will also update participants on the metrics used by DOE and industry to evaluate the performance of fuel cell electric vehicles and fueling infrastructure in terms of fuel economy, fuel cell durability, refueling time, and fueling station use.

Student Teams, New Location for Solar Decathlon 2013

Energy Department Announces Student Teams, New Location for Solar Decathlon 2013

January 26, 2012

At an event today in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the 20 collegiate teams selected to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 and unveiled the competition's location, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. The 20 teams from colleges and universities across the United States and from around the world will now begin a two-year process to build solar-powered, highly energy-efficient homes that combine affordability, consumer appeal and design excellence. Throughout the two-year process, the teams will design, construct, and test their homes before reassembling them at the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition site. As part of the Solar Decathlon, teams compete in ten different categories—ranging from best architecture and engineering to energy production for heating and cooling—while gaining invaluable real-world experience in a growing global industry.
"As President Obama made clear in the State of the Union address this week, we need to ensure that the next generation of America's architects, engineers and entrepreneurs have the hands-on experience and training they need to lead our nation's clean energy future," said Secretary Chu. "The Solar Decathlon will unleash the ingenuity, creativity, and drive from these talented students to demonstrate new ideas for how families and businesses can reduce energy use and save money with clean energy products and efficient building design."
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