TECHNICIAN
thursday february
27 2014
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Raleigh becomes site for climate research
Duke Energy Renewable-Energy Projects: Solar and Wind
Ravi Chittilla Assistant News Editor
Solar Power Projects Wind Power Project Battery Storage Facility INDU Solar Projects GRAPHIC BY AUSTIN BRYAN, SOURCE: DUKE ENERGY
Duke Energy proposes plans for a brighter, cleaner future Brittany Bynum Staff Writer
Duke Energy has proposed to nearly double its capacity for solar energy in North Carolina by the end of 2015. The corporation currently has 350 megawatts of solar power from developers which compares to the size of a small power plant, according to Randy Wheeless, communications manager of Duke Energy. With the new proposal, Duke Energy will add an additional 300 megawatts of power by renewable means. Wheeless said there are a significant number of solar projects being planned already, and they are in various stages of development. Duke Energy is giving its attention toward projects being proposed in order to achieve successful results. “We know those projects in development have the best chance of being ready by 2015,” Wheeless said.
Wheeless said solar developers will have flexibility in choosing whether they want to bring Duke Energy the solar project and sell the power over a particular period of time or sell the project when it is complete. “It gives the developers more flexibility on how they want to do it,” Wheeless said. “The bottom line for us is that we want to buy more solar energy or add more on to our system.” Wheeless said it’s more beneficial for Duke Energy to buy the project from other parties than to build the projects themselves. Wheeless said Duke Energy is looking for projects larger than normal size because it costs less per kilowatt hour than a smaller solar farm. The solar projects will be larger than five megawatts, which is midsize for a large solar farms. “Duke Energy has been around for 100 years.” Wheeless said. “Running power plants and buying power plants is just what we do.” Wheeless said North Carolina’s environmental
NCSU alumna recounts Peace Corps experiences Jacqueline Lee Staff Writer
N.C. State graduate Maggie Ernest had what she called the best experience of her life volunteering with the Peace Corps but she also faced many challenges. Ernest spoke to members of the International Club on Wednesday night in Withers Hall about her time serving in a village in the western region of Ghana. “It’s my other home now,” Ernest said. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but I’d do it again in a second.” She moved to Ghana in June of 2011 and returned at the end of July in 2013. The first three months she spent there consisted of a training period with other volunteers. Then she was sent to a specific village for the next two years, with the closest fellow volunteer 45 minutes away. “You realize you aren’t going to change the world, but you can do a lot of great things,” Ernest said. For example, Ernest said she helped a farmer start a bee keeping business to make more money to support their family. “You have to look at all of your successes and not just think ‘why
isn’t everyone listening to me?’ and ‘I can make this country so much better,’” Ernest said. “You have to go with the little successes which is something many volunteers have trouble making peace with.” Not only is there the challenge of getting emotionally adjusted to being part of a different culture, but also the threat of becoming sick with diseases such as malaria. Ernest said the hardest challenge, however, came when a volunteer she knew passed away because she became sick with cerebral malaria. “It was an unfortunate and rare occurrence, but it does happen,” Ernest said. During that time, she said all the volunteers supported each other because during the time volunteering, they felt like a family to her. Ernest said when she returned home she had the weird feeling that she didn’t fit in with her own culture anymore because the culture she was around for two years became part of her identity. She looks forward to returning to Ghana to see how children in the junior high class she taught science to are growing up. She talked about how living in
conditions and tax incentives are beneficial for solar projects. North Carolina is one of the top five states that has the capacity to generate solar power in the nation, according to Wheeless. The timeline of solar-project plans also aligns with the 2015 expiration date of federal and state tax credit influencing solar developers to build the projects by the deadline, Wheeless said. According to Wheeless, Duke Energy must generate more than 50 percent of its power using renewable means by 2021. Bringing the new solar energy projects into the system will be instrumental in the company to meet this requirement, Wheeless said. Solar farms are already housed throughout the state in Eastern North Carolina, Piedmont and west of Charlotte, according to Wheeless. The location of the new solar projects will be based on the bids made by developers and where the most logical ENERGY continued page 3 place will be
The White House has selected Raleigh as one of seven regional research hubs to assist farmers in adapting their agricultural practices to a time of changing climate that has brought drought, f lood and unpredictable weather. The announcement was made earlier this month by Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilisack. The Southeastern Regional Climate Hub will contain a research library, train officials to work with rural farmers, coordinate climate research information and organize educational programs for farmers. The hub will work with farmers, ranchers and timber specialists in 11 Southeastern states and Puerto Rico. The seven hubs have also received a significant amount of attention on the major stage when President Barack Obama touted the new hubs in his State of the Union address last month. The announcement came only a week after the official grand opening of the Southeastern Climate Science Center, which works under the Interior Department and collaborates directly with the United States Geographical Survey. According to Steve McNulty, director of the USDA Climate Hub and a research ecologist at the U.S. Forest Service, the new hub will not be one that conducts original
CLIMATE continued page 3
LAST-SECOND LAYUP DASHES PACK’S HOPE : PAGE 8
CHRIS RUPERT/TECHNICIAN
Head coach Mark Gottfried takes a breath Wednesday at PNC Arena during the Men’s Basketball game against UNC-Chapel Hill. The Wolfpack lost in overtime 85-84.
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Cedars in the Pines exhibit comes to the City of Oaks story. See page 6.
PEACE continued page 2
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Q&A Thursday story. See page 8.