Sustainable Industries Daily Update

A California chicken farm is looking to an anaerobic digester and fuel cell solution to supply it with power while helping it cut waste disposal expenses. Olivera Egg Farm, which delivers 14 million cartons of eggs per year, says it plans to have the system up and running by mid-2011 and that with state and federal incentives, the system should have paid for itself within five years. 

In terms of jobs, the energy efficiency sector is expected to expand to four times its current size in the coming decade. Community colleges are on the front lines of training those workers, including future management-level green collar employees, the New York Times reports. 

The U.S. market for energy storage is expected to be worth almost $2 billion by 2015, according to a study released this week by SBI Energy. That could be helped along by a bill that was approved by the California Senate on Wednesday that would set targets for utilities to acquire energy storage systems. 

Beacon Solar Energy got the go-ahead from state regulators this week on its plans to build a 250-megawatt solar plant in the California desert. That could offer a ray of hope for other solar developers who are looking to get their projects approved before the late 2010 expiration date of a federal loan guarantee program.