A brief by attorneys for the State Department of Agriculture and Markets could mean a big change for a $254 million Rochester Gas and Electric project in the western half of Monroe County. Rochester Gas and Electric wants to tap into a New York Power Authority line that carries electricity from the Niagara Falls hydroelectric […]
Energy
Posted inNews & Opinion
Environmental moves make good business sense
Bob Bechtold built a successful manufacturing company by embracing new technology, not treating it as a threat. Bechtold founded Harbec, Inc., almost 40 years ago in the Wayne County town of Ontario as an all-purpose machine shop. Computerized machine tools were just starting to make their way to shop floors, and some in the toolmaking […]
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Germany gains in renewables
In the first six months of 2014, Germany got more than one-third of its electricity from renewable sources, according to a new report. The country’s solar power production was 28 percent higher over that time than it was during the same period in 2013, says a report from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, a […]
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Sun gods: Why solar power isn’t just for hippies anymore.
A growing number of homeowners, businesses, and institutions in New York and across the country are adopting solar.
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The no-win dilemma of oil trains and pipelines
New York certainly hasn’t been immune to the oil train boom, particularly in Albany where a company’s plan to enhance its crude oil transfer terminal has generated a lot of controversy. And the Rochester area, too, has crude oil-carrying trains coming through it (see “Rochester’s crude awakening” in this week’s edition of City). This morning, the New York […]
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Rochester’s crude awakening
The amount of crude oil being hauled on the nation’s freight rail lines is on the upswing. The oil and rail industries say that’s because of surging oil output from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale formation as well as a lack of pipeline capacity. A December article from the American Association of Railroads says crude oil […]
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Report says Northeastern states could see more tar sands-derived gasoline
As more crude from Canadian tar sands heads to Gulf of Mexico refineries, Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states could see more gasoline derived from the oil. That’s the thrust of a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The report says that in 2012, less than 1 percent of the gasoline sold in Northeastern and […]
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Schumer targets specific type of railroad tanker
In 2009, approximately 30 railroad cars per day were shipping oil or ethanol across the United States, but that figure has grown substantially over the last few years, according to Senator Chuck Schumer. Approximately 200 to 300 of the cars pass through Rochester on the CSX freight line each day, Schumer said today during a press […]
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Lake Ontario offshore wind not a dead issue
The state Department of Environmental Conservation recently released its Great Lakes basin action agenda — 10 items and related goals compiled from existing plans and studies. The document is full of important and interesting goals and objectives, but some are going to get more attention than others. Offshore wind power development is one of those issues. A […]
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Cornell prof says shale gas is a ‘gangplank to more warming’
Cornell University Professor Anthony Ingraffea has consistently argued that natural gas from high-volume hydraulic fracturing is not as clean as its supporters make it out to be. This week, an editorial by Ingraffea ran in the New York Times and it’s worth a read (if the Times paywall blocks you, just Google “Gangplank to a […]
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Nuclear options
A Vermont Law School researcher recently released a list of 12 US nuclear power plants that he says face economic risks that could lead to early shutdown. And the Ginna nuclear plant in Wayne County is on the list. Mark Cooper, a senior fellow for economic analysis at the school’s Institute for Energy and the […]
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Battery testing center headed to Rochester
A Pennsylvania energy storage testing lab is relocating to the Eastman Buisness Park. DNV KEMA Energy & Sustainability, a global energy consulting company that specializes in testing, inspection, and certification, will work with the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium to relocate its lab, says a press release from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. […]
