New Mexico community solar proposal clears first hurdle
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYANJanuary 28, 2021 GMT
FILE - In this April 20, 2011, file photo, are some of the 30,000 solar panels that make up the Public Service Co. of New Mexico s 2-megawatt photovoltaic array in Albuquerque, N.M. A proposal that would allow for community solar programs to be established in New Mexico has cleared its first legislative hurdle despite questions from some lawmakers and concerns among investor-owned utilities. The bill cleared the Senate Conservation Committee on a party-line vote Thursday Jan. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)
FILE - In this April 20, 2011, file photo, are some of the 30,000 solar panels that make up the Public Service Co. of New Mexico s 2-megawatt photovoltaic array in Albuquerque, N.M. A proposal that would allow for community solar programs to be established in New Mexico has cleared its first legislative hurdle despite questions from some lawmakers and concerns among
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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ UbiQD, Inc., a New Mexico-based advanced materials company, announced today that it has published the groundbreaking results of the first phase of its NASA-funded plant trials in the open-access Nature Research journal, Communications Biology. The study validates the use of quantum dots for optimized crop growth on space missions. The collaborative research and development project with the University of Arizona s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (UA-CEAC) demonstrated a 13% biomass improvement for red romaine lettuce using UbiQD s orange-emitting, luminescent greenhouse product UbiGro™, and a 9% increase for a new red-emitting film.
New observatory sets sights on community, educational outreach
The Gaston Gazette
After selling property in Myrtle Beach, Chris Ayers and Vicky Willis Ayers turned to land that s been in the Willis family for a long time, but not to build their dream home.
Instead, on Bear Creek Road between Bakersville and Spruce Pine, they built an observatory, a place to use the latest technology to glimpse the universe in an area of dark skies nestled between three ridges where Vicky Ayers grandfather used to mine, preach and shoe horses.
With money from the sale of the property, they ve made it one of the best observatories in the Southeastern US, according to Chris Ayers, who hopes it isn t just a place to stargaze, but a gathering place for the community and a resource to help students dive into astronomy and science.
Governors Wind Energy Coalition
Legislation introduced to establish clean fuel standard in New Mexico Source: By Erin Voegele, Ethanol Producer Magazine • Posted: Sunday, January 24, 2021
Legislation introduced in New Mexico on Jan. 19 aims to establish a Clean Fuel Standard within the state. The bill is supported by New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham, the Low Carbon Fuels Coalition, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.
If signed into law, the bill, SB 11, would require a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) from transportation fuels by 2030 when compared to a 2018 baseline. The required GHG reduction threshold would ramp up to 20 percent by 2040.
Those who refine, blend, manufacture and import fuel would be tasked with achieving the reductions. Fuel retailers would not be impacted.
As hot as John Travolta was in the ‘70s, an even hotter report from Jonn Axsen, Director of Sustainable Transportation Action Research Team and Michael Wolinetz at Navius Research is slamming California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office 2018 Low Carbon Fuel Standard report that had recommended the legislature rely more on the cap-and-trade policy instead of an LCFS. Also hot-off-the-press news that folks are lovin’ is the proposed New Mexico Clean Fuel Standard Act, a Governor’s priority bill that would bring an estimated $47 million in economic investments annually to the state while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.