Wind Research at WVU Could Have Worldwide Impact

It could also help reduce America's dependence on foreign oil

By Courtney Dunn ... March 4, 2009 ... WVNS TV

MORGANTOWN -- Throughout much of the country and even here in West Virginia, many are turning to wind power to generate electricity.

In Morgantown, researchers at WVU's College of Engineering and Mineral Resources are busy developing a new type of wind turbine.

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Portec Rail Expands Market Offering With Total Friction Management Program On Canadian Pacific

March 4, 2009 ... MSNBC

PITTSBURGH, March 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Years of friction management research and development have converged with refined field-service practices as Portec Rail Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:PRPX) and Canadian Pacific (CP) implement Total Friction Management(tm), a state-of-the-art rail friction management program featuring new technologies, equipment and practices.

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West Virginians at D.C. coal protest

By Ken Ward Jr. ... March 4, 2009 ... WV Gazette

Vivian Stockman at the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition reports that a number of West Virginians are headed to Washington, D.C., this weekend for the big protest on Monday over climate change and the coal-fired Capitol Power plant.

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How many wind turbines will it take?

By Arthur Hooton ... March 4, 2009 ... WV Gazette

If you think your electric bills are high now, prepare for sticker shock if Gov. Manchin's Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act sees the light of day.

The governor's assertion in his State of the State address on Feb. 11 that "West Virginians know energy better than anyone" is belied by his woeful ignorance of wind power's limitations. He seems all too eager to sacrifice the glorious vistas of the Mountain State - as well as the tourism, recreation and vacation home building industries dependent on those unfettered, forested ridges - to posture himself as a forward-thinking, environmentally minded political leader.

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Cyberstalking in W.Va.: 'Digital evidence doesn't lie'

Use of technology by abusers, stalkers offers more ways to control victims, but also for police to stop them

By Kathryn Gregory ... March 4, 2009 ... Gazette Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Just a few years ago, police and domestic violence workers didn't spend much time thinking about the ways technology could be used against women in abusive and controlling relationships.

Now, cyberstalking is a harsh reality for those women, but the technology that makes it possible also can make it easier to catch stalkers in the act.

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Ex-WVU Tech president says nuke plant ‘absolutely’ needed

March 02, 2009 ... Mannix Porterfield ... Register-Herald

CHARLESTON — A former WVU-Tech president urged a Senate subcommittee Monday to amend the law so a nuclear power plant could be constructed in West Virginia.

“We absolutely need a nuclear power plant," Dr. Leonard Nelson told a subcommittee, formed after the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee couldn’t agree on a bill by Sen. Brooks McCabe.

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Lawmaker Seeks New Tax Credit to Brighten Solar Power’s Future

House Bill 2535 proposes to allow homeowners to qualify for a personal income tax credit of up to 30 percent of the cost of buying and installing a solar power system.

By Walt Williams ... February 28, 2009 ... WVNS TV

CHARLESTON -- There may come a day when rooftops across the country are lined with solar panels, but some alternative energy advocates don’t see West Virginia as ready for that future.

With the exception of net metering, West Virginia, unlike many states, offers no financial incentives for the installation of solar panels on homes. A bill before state lawmakers would offer residents tax credits up to $2,000 to install solar systems in their homes.

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Heritage Microfilm and NewspaperARCHIVE Announce Access for State of West Virginia

Heritage Microfilm and their digital brand NewspaperARCHIVE have secured an arrangement with the State of West Virginia to provide their institutional newspaper archive product, ACCESS NewspaperARCHIVE, to libraries state-wide.

February 27, 2009 ... PR Web

Cedar Rapids, Iowa (PRWEB) February 27, 2009 -- Heritage Microfilm, premier preservation vendor, has partnered with the State of West Virginia to grant state-wide access to more than 90 million historical newspaper pages through their product ACCESS NewspaperARCHIVE. Access to the site will be provided to every library in West Virginia via their website portal www.wvinfodepot.org.

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Capitol Hill coal power plant targeted by environmentalists

Campaigners are converging on Washington to press for the closure of 'Congress's own coal fired power plant', marking a political turning point for the future of the fossil fuel

By Suzanne Goldenberg ... February 27, 2009 ... The Guardian UK

It might, in other circumstances, seem a quaint and harmless relic from another era: a coal plant built 99 years ago to assure Congress an independent source of power.

But the Capitol Hill Power Plant, a compact red brick building now encircled by modern concrete, is seen by some as evidence of how a powerful industry has been able to bend Congress to its will.

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More Than $1.6 Billion in Stimulus Funds Directed to West Virginia

WVU, NETL researchers developing coating to make fuel cells more efficient

February 26, 2009 ... Fuel Cell Works

A manganese-cobalt coating developed by researchers at West Virginia University and the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will help keep a potential new energy source cheap, efficient and clean.

Xingbo Liu, a mechanical and aerospace engineering assistant professor in WVU’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, led a team that developed a new electroplating that makes connecting multiple solid oxide fuel cells – SOFCs – more efficient.

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The “Soft Underbelly” of Development?

Alternative Septic Systems a Troublesome Fix for Rural Areas

By Amy Reinink ... February 26, 2009 ... Public Integrity

Diana Johns had just moved into her four-bedroom, 6,500-square-foot Leesburg, Virginia, home in 2002 and was thrilled with its elegant pillars, golf-course views, and expansive, sunny rooms. But the bleating alarm tied to the home’s “nonconventional” septic system signaled that beneath the surface, something was terribly wrong.

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Natural Gas Becomes Leaner, Meaner

Natural gas companies have "become too good at their jobs of pulling gas out of the ground."

By Rob Cornelius ... February 26, 2009 ... WOWK TV

A few weeks ago, we spoke in this space about Chesapeake Energy and the rampant concerns of locals in West Virginia on whether that company was planning to “ take a break” from the state.

Obviously, the natural gas producer from Oklahoma has existing contracts in the eastern U.S. and commitments to produce gas for StatOil among others, so it could never just disappear. The worries came from a gas price that has fallen to $4 per thousand cubic feet/MCF. Right. That’s the same gas your local gas utility probably charges you about $13 this winter.

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