Sustainable Industries Daily Update

The California Energy Commission has approved a license for the nation's first new large-scale solar thermal power plant in two decades. Over the next month, the commission is expected to approve three more large solar farms in the Mojave Desert. Combined, the projects would generate close to 2,000 megawatts of electricity, the equivalent of a couple of large nuclear power plants.

According to newly released July 2010 data from the monthly Green Confidence Index, Americans' faith in their employers' environmental responsibility has dropped to a new low. Confidence that "the company you work for" is doing enough to address environmental challenges dropped more than 2 percentage points in a single month.

As Portland continues to expand on supporting the electric vehicle industry, Swiss battery technology firm ReVolt Technology LLC has selected a site for its North American headquarters in Portland. ReVolt announced in September 2009 that it had chosen Portland for its U.S. headquarters, and has now been approved for $6.8 million in tax credits and loans from the Oregon Department of Energy and the Portland Development Commission to help develop its rechargeable battery technology for EVs.

Ocean Power Technologies is making waves in the coastal town of Reedsport, Ore., in the tidal energy field. After an extensive permitting process, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the company for the country's first-ever federal license to proceed with a utility-scale tidal energy project.