Happy Holidays from Panorama Environmental!
California Gears Up to Set Ambitious Energy and Emissions Goals
Earlier this month, the California legislature pushed forward the agenda to mitigate climate change with clean energy and reduced emissions goals by passing several bills through their houses of origin. The following bills will next undergo scrutiny in the opposite house: Assembly Bill 645 (Williams & Rendon) increases the current renewable energy standard of 33% […]
The latest on KenGen: Laurie Hietter visits Kenya’s geothermal power plants
Laurie Hietter, Panorama Principal, attended the Kenya Electricity Generating Company’s (KenGen) Geothermal Board of Consultants meeting in Naivasha this March. The members of the Board toured the Olkaria geothermal field, the Eburru power plant, as well as their wellhead generators. KenGen has now added 280 MW of geothermal power to the national grid with Olkaria IV providing 140 […]
Increasing Geothermal Energy Generation in Kenya
Energy generation from geothermal plants owned by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited (KenGen) is going strong. The 2010 expansion of the Olkaria II Geothermal Plant included construction of a third generator, increasing generation at the facility by 35 megawatts. The increase in generation contributes approximately 276 gigawatt-hours annually to Kenya’s national grid and reduces the […]
Analyzing the Connection Between Upstream and Downstream Waters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report in January 2015 assessing stream and wetland connectivity. The report, Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientifc Evidence, analyzes over one thousand peer-reviewed publications in an effort to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the connectivity and mechanisms by […]
Brown is the New Green: The Response to California’s Drought
Last month, Governor Jerry Brown announced a $1 billion relief plan for California’s now four-year-long drought. Money in the relief plan will be allocated as such:
Solar Power Going Strong In California
February was an important month for solar energy in California. The largest solar power plant in the world, Desert Sunlight, opened in Riverside County. The 550 megawatt solar farm will provide power to 160,000 homes and 400,000 people. The project was funded by a $1.5 billion federal loan guarantee, and it helped propel the momentum […]
California to introduce new renewable energy legislation
The California legislature has taken the words from Jerry Brown’s inauguration very seriously. Governor Jerry Brown called for an expansion of California’s renewable energy goals in his inaugural address (check out our blog post on the topic) and proposed the following goals: Increasing electricity derived from renewable sources from one third to 50 percent Reducing today’s petroleum use in […]
Panorama Participates in Broom Bust!
Pictured: Leo Mena (Environmental Analyst) Removing Scotch Broom (Image courtesy of Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy) Two members of the Panorama team got their hands dirty over the weekend at the Hands On Tam Winter Workday Broom Bust! The Marin Municipal Water District and the Marin County Parks hosted the volunteer event, with coordination from […]
Susanne Heim Presents Panorama’s work at the Wildlife Society Conference
Panorama’s very own Susanne Heim, Senior Environmental Scientist/Project Manager presented at the Wildlife Society Conference on the topic of habitat distribution models. The presentation, Evaluation of Desert Tortoise Habitat Suitability Model Predictions in the Soda Mountain Area, San Bernardino County takes a look at a desert tortoise habitat suitability model developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).