Here's some really exciting renewable energy news.  Spain's Gemasolar concentrating solar power plant just became the first solar power plant to generate power for 24 continuous hours.

The plant uses a Power Tower design where a field of mirrors concentrate the sun's heat onto a boiler in the central tower.  That boiler creates steam which turns a turbine.  None of that is out of the ordinary when it comes to concentrated solar power, but the Gemasolar plant is the only one in the world to use molten salt as a heat transfer fluid, which allows for the storage and generation of electricity even once the sun goes down.

The 19.9 MW capacity plant on average is able to generate power for 20 hours a day and during the summer, many days will see 24 full hours of energy generation.  The molten salt storage really makes a big difference here.  Compared to the larger 21.2 MW Solarpark Calaveron plant that generates about 40 GWh per year, the Gemasolar plant generates almost triple that with 110 GWh per year.

Power storage is one of the major issues facing the growth of renewable energy generation.  The wind isn't always blowing and the sun isn't always shining, but innovative storage solutions like the one at Gemasolar will be what turns renewable energy into not just a clean source of electricity but also a reliable one.

via Grist

Butte College, which lies about 75 miles outside Sacramento, will be the first college in the nation to go grid positive -- that is, generate more electricity than it uses.

The college is achieving this amazing feat by operating 25,000 solar panels on its property that will generate 6.5 million kWh per year, enough to power 941 homes.  The reduction in emissions from using renewable energy will be equal to taking 615 cars off the road.

The college will also benefit financially from the solar arrays, saving $50 million - $75 million in the first 15 years by getting rid of an electricity bill, getting paid for excess electricity and avoiding future electricity rate hikes.  That number also accounts for project costs.

Butte has also put a lot of emphasis on efficiency and sustainability measures with several LEED certified buildings, a 75 percent recycling rate of waste materials and a large student transportation system.

via Butte College