We’re talking $2.3 billion dollars in federal tax credits handed out by the Department of Energy (DoE) to create green manufacturing jobs in 43 states.

DoE says the credits will generate 17,000 clean energy jobs and provide a boost to 183 renewable energy projects. The 30% tax credit approved by the energy agency is expected to pull in another $7.7 billion in private investment to help companies make:

1. solar cells, panels and arrays
2. wind turbines and microturbines
3. fuel cells for homes and businesses
4. high-tech batteries
5. electric cars
6. energy efficiency upgrades
7. smart grid technology products, and
8. pollution control equipment that captures carbon dioxide.

Some of the tax credits approved by DoE:

• AAF-McQuay, Inc., won $2.7 million to produce more efficient industrial chillers and filtering equipment in Kentucky and Virginia,
• Abound Solar, Inc., won $12.6 million to expand production in Colorado of solar panels made with cadmium telluride semiconductor technology,
• Brevini Wind USA, Inc., won $12.5 million to build a factory in Indiana that will make the gear boxes for wind turbines,
• CaliSolar, Inc. won $53.6 million to build a California facility that will make silicone used in solar cells,
• DuPont won $50 million to produce film coatings used to make solar cells,
• General Electric received more than $92 million to make Energy Star heat pumps, refrigerators, dishwashers, gas turbines, a heat-pump powered clothes dryer and a more fuel efficient airline engine. GE’s also getting credits to relamp some of its manufacturing facilities with fluorescent lighting systems,
• SolarWorld Industries America, Inc., won $82 million to make solar components and materials in Oregon, and
• United Technologies Corp., won $110 million to produce a more efficient jet engine in Connecticut.

All of the Section 48c Manufacturing Tax Credits approved by DoE must be completed by 2014. Roughly 30% of the projects will be ready in 2010.

After all, the standard lights of old wasted about 90% of the energy producing heat, not light. The new lights generate more light than heat, so they’re better, right?

But the lack of heat generation by LED lights (light-emitting diodes) creates traffic problems during certain snow and icy storms.

Problem: Traffic lights with LED bulbs are super efficient, but they can’t generate enough heat to melt ice and snow, so motorists can’t tell whether they’re facing a red, green or yellow signal.

Result: Dozens of traffic accidents and at least one fatality have been blamed on snow-covered traffic lights, according to a report by the Associated Press. The death occurred when a driver ran a red light that he couldn’t see and plowed into a car in the intersection that had a visible green light, killing the driver who had a green light.

Police note that traffic laws require drivers to treat broken or obstructed traffic lights as stop signs.

Despite the accidents, there’s no thought of going back to the old lights. Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation told AP that the state saves about $750,000 a year in energy costs alone now that it has switched to LED lights.

Plus, there’s less maintenance. LEDs installed seven years ago are still working whereas incandescent bulbs had to be replaced every 12 to 18 months.

The LED lights are only blocked in certain snowy conditions, when this happens, maintenance crews use compressed air to clear the lights.

So, is the problem with LEDs? Are they a green menace or is it the drivers? Share your thoughts.

Dave Twining created a personal power plant for his restaurant by installing 48 solar panels on the roof and a 53-foot tall wind turbine.

Result: Nantucket’s cut its monthly electric power bill by a third.  The wind and solar combination generate about 12 kilowatts of power. The average U.S. house uses about 4-6 kW, according to a report on Twining’s power investments on the Build Baby Build Web site.

Twining used federal stimulus funds to help defray the $104,000 energy project.

But other businesses in Fenwick Island won’t be so lucky to escape from total dependence on the local power company. At least wind power won’t be an option anymore.

Reason: The town reacted to Nantucket’s investment in renewable energy by banning new wind tower installations.

Although the town prides itself on being sustainable, town fathers don’t want to look at more “eyesores” like the 53 ft. wind turbine at Nantucket’s.

The town can’t ban wind turbines outright because Delaware law allows them. The Coastal Point reports that Fenwick Island officials adopted a zoning restriction to keep any future wind turbine towers to 33 ft., which is well under the recommended height to maximize efficiency.

Have you investigated wind power and run into similar obstacles? Post your experiences in the comments section.

The payoff for Wal-Mart is huge. The company expects to reduce electricity costs by 82% by replacing ceramic metal halide lighting systems with Low Emitting Diode (LED) lamps.

The life span of the LED lamps can be more than five years in Wal-Mart stores that will be operating 24/7. Lighting manufacturer Cree, Inc. will be installing its Cree’s LRP-38 lighting system to replace use of 70-watt-bulb lighting systems.

The switch to LED lighting is part of a revolution in business and industry to switch to highly efficient lights. Why? Because they greatly reduce operating expenses. The environmental benefit is that companies can earn credit for doing their part to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing demand for coal-fired electricity.

The Cree lighting systems will be installed in new and renovated Wal-Wart stores. Wal-Mart has already added LED systems to display cases in over 500 stores.

The push to get away from coal-fired electricity and GHG and other pollutants associated with fossil fuels is also driving Wal-Mart to switch to clean, renewable energy providers.

For example, Wal-Mart plans to double its use of solar power by 2012 by installing rooftop solar arrays in up to 20 stores in California and Hawaii.

What’s it say when students can find millions of dollars in energy efficiency savings during internship programs? Can you say “low hanging fruit?”

And, the really good news is that there are still plenty of ideas for you to capitalize on.

That is the lesson from 26 MBA students after they spent the summer with 26 Fortune 500 companies as part of the Climate Corps project sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Students from top-ranking business schools each identified energy saving projects that saved money, cut energy use and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In each case, students came up with the green ideas that:

• saved the participating companies $54 million over the life of the projects initiated
• cut 160 million kilowatt hours of energy use a year — enough to power 14,000 homes, and
• avoided creating 100,000 metric tons of GHG emissions each year — the equivalent of taking 12,000 SUVs off the road.

The encouraging part of these savings is that the Climate Corps students proved that there are plenty of no-cost and low-cost, money-saving projects that companies can adopt right away by upgrading lighting, computer equipment and heating and cooling systems. Energy-saving projects included:

• taking advantage of rebates companies are overlooking. That’s how Climate Corps fellow Neelam Bhatia found a $50,000 rebate for cooling equipment purchased by Advanced Micro Devices.
• cutting IT’s energy usage by adopting virtualization and other energy cutting measures. That’s how Mark Braby found $3.4 million in savings for Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems.
• increasing the temperature in data centers. Sara Shapiral proved to Cisco that easing off just a bit on the air conditioning can safely save $1.8 million.
• combining operation centers. David Fox saved North Carolina Central University $74,000 a year by proving it was cheaper to house students in one or two buildings during the summer rather than let them stay spread out in all the dorms, and
• retrofitting lighting systems. Ryan Whisnant developed a plan that cut SunGard’s energy bill by 25% with a mix of lighting and HVAC upgrades.

This was the second year of the Climate Corps project. EDF reports that 97% of the projects identified by students in 2008 have been completed or are still in operation.

Three business desktops have recently been anointed as green bargains by PC Magazine. The bargain winners offer a mix of good value with energy saving features to help promote a green office.

They’re green because they conserve energy. They’re good values because of recent price cuts by manufacturers. Some prices have dropped nearly 40%.

The keys to a “green” computer are a mix of fast processing power, which reduces power demand and heat, plenty of hard drive space and compact size. Winning choices this summer include units by HP Compaq’s dc7900 Ultra-slim and two from Lenovo, the ThinkCentre M57p and the ThinkCentre A62.

Bargains range from $553 to $1,373.

PC Magazine sees these bargain units working well in office environments where workers don’t need extra power and space for music and videos.

Click here for the magazine’s desktop picks.

It’s the little things you do to control everyday energy expenses, not fancy complicated new technology, that are racking up some big-time, green benefits. 

And, critically, the lessons learned in the past couple of years by McDonald’s can be adopted and customized for most any type of operation. That’s the encouraging news outlined in McDonald’s 2009 Global Best of Green report.

Some of the projects adopted by individual restaurants around the world include:

• cutting electricity use by 11% by developing software to help managers decide when to fire up operations
• improving energy efficiency by 22% by switching to green lighting and equipment
• cutting water use by 40% by installing high efficiency plumbing fixtures
• eliminating CFC refrigerants, which reduced energy use by 12% and greenhouse gas emissions by 25 tons
• reducing solid waste disposal costs by improving recycling programs, and
• motivating employees to search for energy savings opportunities.

Most companies don’t have the ability to hire extra staff and consultants to develop green projects that make economic sense now.

But McDonald’s has made the investment, and the company is sharing its results on more than 80 green projects that all ended up saving the company money. Why not learn from example instead of reinventing the wheel?

To read the Global Best of Green report, click here. The green report is part of McDonald’s Corporate Social Responsibility program.

If you need more ammunition to get your team to drive down costs of your environmentally friendly innovations, review a new survey by Wells Fargo Bank and the Gallop Poll organization. Their poll reveals that while most business owners say they want to do the right thing and be environmentally friendly, economic realities often take precedence.

Their survey found that 33% of companies have slowed down their go-green plans due to the faltering economy. Another 17% of companies surveyed said they’re doing “very little or nothing at all” to help the environment. Most companies think consumers won’t pay extra for green products. Nearly 70% of businesses surveyed said they thought consumers were gun-shy due to the economy. The Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey is here.

A separate Gallop Poll echoes this fear that Americans are now putting economic concerns ahead of environmental protections. Click here for this report.

However, there are also some positive indications that going green is a profitable strategy.  The Wells Fargo/Gallop survey also reports that most businesses are doing something to reduce their environmental footprint.  For example:

• 90% participate in recycling programs
• 77% use environmentally friendly products, such as energy-saving light bulbs or recycled goods, and
• 32% use alternative transportation (walking, biking, public transportation) instead of a car.

Despite the economy, many small business owners are making green changes as part of their long-term strategy. Marion Hook, owner of a bed & breakfast in Tuscon, AZ, told the survey that “going green has been good for the environment, and even better for our bottom line.” For example, The Adobe Rose Inn uses fluorescent lights and added a cistern to collect water because “our guests appreciate our efforts, and happy guests lead to repeat customers.”