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Silicon Valley Power, the City of Santa Clara’s municipal electric utility, announced today that the City of Santa Clara’s City Hall and the City’s Central Park Library have enrolled in the utility’s renewable energy program, Santa Clara Green Power. Both facilities are supporting clean, renewable wind and sun energy for 10 percent of their energy loads. With these commitments, each City of Santa Clara facility joins the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership and becomes a Green Power Partner, among fewer than forty local government Green Power Partners in the nation.
The City of Santa Clara strives to make its community a better place in which to live, work, play and learn and has taken many decisive actions to arrive at this goal. Through its latest commitment, Santa Clara’s City Hall will be effectively preventing 180,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere and helping create a cleaner environment. This is the environmental equivalent to planting over 24 acres of trees or removing 15 cars from the road each year.
“We are committed to a sustainable environment and see renewable energy as an important factor in that effort,” said Jennifer Sparacino, City of Santa Clara City Manager. “We are proud to encourage other residents and businesses within Santa Clara to enroll in this great community program. Supporting Santa Clara Green Power is an easy way to exercise environmental stewardship.”
Having re-opened just over a year ago, the new City library is now taking one more step to reduce its environmental impact. The Central Park Library was designed as a “green” project to maximize its environmental friendliness to the community. The building features many environmental initiatives including the use of an underfloor air distribution system that is energy efficient, provides better fresh air building ventilation compared to traditional supply air systems, and has more precise temperature control than traditional distribution systems. The library also bettered the legal requirements for energy efficiency by 10 percent when it was built. Not only has the library reduced its energy usage but it is also “greening” 10 percent of its remaining energy use with clean wind and solar power. With this commitment, the library will prevent more than 200,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere annually, the environmental equivalent to planting over 27 acres of forest or taking 17 cars off the road each year.
“The City’s commitment to Santa Clara Green Power shows great support for our local utility, its programs, our community and the environment,” said Joyce Kinnear, Public Benefit Program Manager for Silicon Valley Power. “SVP has been a City owned and operated utility for over a century and we are proud to be a part of a community effort, along with the City and its citizens, to make a positive environmental impact.”
The City’s purchases make both City Hall and its library partners in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, a voluntary program working to standardize green power procurement as part of best practice environmental management.
Currently, Santa Clara Green Power has 1,100 residents and businesses enrolled in the program, making community participation over 2 percent. Santa Clara Green Power offers all Santa Clara residential and business electricity customers an easy and affordable way to support clean renewable energy through their utility bill. The participants enrolled in Santa Clara Green Power pay a low additional program fee to fund renewable power generators to deliver wind and solar power to the regional power pool instead of non-renewable energy. On behalf of Santa Clara Green Power program participants, SVP purchases renewable energy credits from newly constructed wind farms and solar photovoltaic projects located within California. Additionally, a portion of the Santa Clara Green Power rate supports new solar facilities in the City of Santa Clara, such as the recently completed Haman Elementary School project, helping to bring new installations into the community.
Santa Clara utility customers can enroll in Santa Clara Green Power by signing up through the secure website, sending an email that includes customer name, address, account and phone number or by calling (408) 244-SAVE (7283). 3 Phases Energy Services, a California-based renewable energy company, supports SVP as its partner in developing the offering and in managing renewable energy purchases and marketing on behalf of the City. Source: 3 Phases Energy Services, 7/7/2005.
A non-profit environmental organization working on a particular sustainable energy initiative in Canada has found what some might consider to be an odd supporter: an oil and gas company.
The Pembina Institute recently announced that Calgary, Alberta-based Suncor Energy Inc., which extracts and upgrades oil sands, as well as markets refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, has joined Pembina's wind power program. Suncor's move, which involves having 4,500 of its PCs and laptops powered by the wind, will not only reduce the firm's greenhouse gas emissions, but also support Pembina's goal of having 20,000 computers enlisted into the program by year's end.
Pursuant to the program, Suncor will, over the next three, years allocate to Pembina 5,000 megawatt hours of wind power generated by one of its own wind power projects. This ration, as it turns out, will counterbalance all of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by Suncor's computers at facilities across Canada and the U.S.
Companies or individuals who get involved in the program need only buy wind power certificates from Pembina, which ensures that wind power is transmitted to the electricity grid, essentially offsetting conventionally produced electricity that is used by those participating in the wind power initiative. Darcie Park, a spokesperson for Suncor, noted that the company's IT department was an active participant, rather than a passive spectator, in getting the proverbial ball rolling. Source: IT Manager’s Journal, 7/7/2005.
The amount of "green" power purchased by La Plata Energy Association customers more than doubled in 2004, a spokesman for the co-op told a Green Business Roundtable lunch crowd at the Strater Hotel. The electricity from renewable resources is purchased in 100-kilowatt-hour blocks. In April 2004, LPEA customers bought 600 of these blocks. By December they had purchased 1,400. Now, the number stands at 1,500, David Waller told the group on May 11. To help the co-op buy this "green" electricity, the average household pays about $17.50 extra per month. The surcharge goes to a Wyoming wind farm, from which LPEA electricity supplier Tri-State Generation and Transmission purchases part of its electricity.
In addition to wind power, LPEA also uses the entire 20 million kilowatt-hour annual production from Vallecito Reservoir, Waller said. However, the hydropower produced at Vallecito is barely 2 percent of the 970 million kilowatt-hours of power the co-op buys annually, Waller said. Waller wasn't sure how Amendment 37 will affect LPEA. In broad terms, Amendment 37, approved by voters in November, requires utilities with at least 40,000 customers to buy 10 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2015.
Ambiguities in the amendment were clarified by Senate Bill 143, Waller said. The Public Utilities Commission has until March 31, 2006, to decide how to interpret certain provisions, with the revised statute taking effect Jan. 1, 2007.
LPEA officials are waiting to see how the regulations will affect the co-op, Waller said later. LPEA hasn't reached the 40,000 customer threshold but could be close, depending on how "customer" is defined - as people or meters, he said.
A good number of LPEA power purchasers have three meters, for example - a house, a business and a well, Waller said. The co-op sells power to 26,000 purchasers but had 36,000 active meters.
Waller also mentioned at the roundtable lunch that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has $22 million for loans to rural small businesses or individuals to make energy improvements. Dan Harms, an LPEA engineer, said individuals or businesses that have their own source of renewable power can participate in the co-op's net metering program. If the generator of a business or homeowner produces more power than the owner uses, the meter runs in reverse and sends power into the LPEA grid. The customer is charged only for the net amount of power used. Certain net metering equipment must be installed at the customer's business or home to accommodate the system. The Green Business Roundtable is sponsored by Durango-based San Juan Citizens Alliance. The roundtable is designed to educate the business community on environmental issues. For more information, call 259-3583. Source: By Dale Rodebaugh, Durango Herald Staff Writer via Lori Bird, NREL, 5/27/2005 .
MTSU, Tennessee Valley Authority and Murfreesboro Electric announced a partnership Thursday that will allow the university to sell solar power to TVA. Generation Partners is the program that TVA has established to buy power sold to them from residents and organizations. The power bought goes into the Green Power Switch program with TVA, according to Jim Keiffer, senior vice president of marketing for TVA.
"Green Power Switch is the program where we sell renewable energy to customers who voluntarily buy it," Keiffer said. "There are about 7,000 customers who voluntarily pay more for their energy to make sure that it's green. That comes from wind, solar and landfill gas."
"What we're doing with the Generation Partners is that we, TVA, are buying some of this renewable energy, and we are putting it as part of our supply that we resell as part of our green power program," Keiffer said. "We first built our own green sources, then we buy from others that are standalone that are not part of Generation Partners," Keiffer said. "Generation Partners was the third piece that came in. It [gives incentives to] people with the rate we pay, so if they want to go in and put a solar facility in like Dr. Ricketts did, then it works that way."
University officials, along with TVA representatives, credit agribusiness and agriscience professor Cliff Rickets with organizing the program. "When we put Generation Partners together, the plan was some of the smaller home owners who wanted to put a solar facility on, we could help them along by buying the power. It worked better from a safety point of view," Keiffer said.
University President Sidney McPhee addressed those gathered. He explained the universities excitement with the program. "We have developed three major strategic goals for our university, enhancing quality in everything we do in our programs, in the students we recruit, the faculty, our facilities, our staff," McPhee said.
The second is establishing great partnerships with business and industry and community agencies that will enhance the goals and objectives of this university," McPhee said. "There is no question that this program is a classic example of a meaningful partnership that is a win-win for all concerned, but particularly for the citizens of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County and also for the state, and those customers of Tennessee Valley and Murfreesboro Electric."
"March 9, 2004, is when we turned this unit on," Ricketts said. "They changed units out two days ago to go digital and electronic with Murfreesboro Electric. But up to two days ago we had produced 17,777 kilowatts of electricity. At 20 cents, that's about a little over $3,000 if my math is correct." Ricketts said he meters the amount of electricity he uses, and to this point he has used approximately 1,700 kilowatts for the alternative fuel vehicles he works with. Source: By Sandi Van Orden, Sidelines Online - MTSU Student Newspaper, 7/6/2005.
Alberta, Canada’s electricity market has become the unlikely spawning ground for a new company aimed at giving investors an opportunity to profit from the Kyoto Protocol. Creststreet Kettles Hill Windpower LP filed a final prospectus for a $40-million equity financing for its latest wind-turbine project, Kettles Hill Wind Energy Inc. Creststreet's plans go further than the typical wind-power project; it says it will profit from both selling electricity and selling green credits to other companies to offset their greenhouse-gas emissions. "If you believe in Kyoto, it's a way to play it," Creststreet chief executive officer Eric McFadden said. "If you don't believe in Kyoto, it's a way to hedge against it." Source: EMA Tips, 7/15/2005.
When Alix Mayer faced the possibility of paying nearly $10 a month more on her Palo Alto electric bill, she started to cry — not from a sense of frustration or desperation, but one of renewal.
Her story is unique, but the spirit behind it helps to explain why PaloAltoGreen has become one of the country's most successful voluntary green power programs. Residents and businesses pay more for electricity, just under $10 a month for a typical home, and the city government-operated Palo Alto Utilities uses the money to buy wind and solar power that is used citywide.
Program Manager Brian Ward said the city's Future Green program had fewer than 200 participants, so it was renamed and revamped in June 2003. Now, about 3,400 residents and businesses participate. That's 12.7 percent of the city's overall electrical customers, a participation rate that's the second highest in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Officially, Mayer is simply one of the 3,400; it's her spiritual energy that makes her special. Her mother, Rudd Mayer, was a wind energy pioneer in Colorado. "Renewable energy was kind of a family ethic," Mayer said. "She convinced me beyond a doubt that all the energy needs in the country could be met by wind power if all the windiest sites were developed."
When Mayer saw a PaloAltoGreen booth at a 2003 concert, she received an emotional jolt. Her mom had died unexpectedly the previous year. "It was kind of like seeing her ghost," Mayer said.
She signed up, of course. Mayer also sent letters to friends, encouraging them to go green. Now, when she sees a PaloAltoGreen booth at concerts, she'll grab brochures and hand them out to people in the audience, describing the program to them.
Although having concert booths and including information about PaloAltoGreen in utility bills have helped, Ward says word of mouth is crucial. He says Mayer has signed up dozens of customers, and many people have put renewable energy signs in their front yards, letting neighbors know about the program.
One good strategic move was hiring 3 Phases Energy of San Francisco to help publicize the program, said City Councilman Bern Beecham, the council's liaison on energy issues. Beecham said the city also simplified its strategy, deciding to use PaloAltoGreen funds for only wind and solar power, which are easy for consumers to understand. The city buys other renewable energy but doesn't use PaloAltoGreen funds for it.
Ward said the money had allowed the city to have 2 percent of its overall energy come from wind. Solar is not as widely available, so 97 percent of the PaloAltoGreen funds go for wind energy.
Why only 2 percent? Although 12.7 percent of customers have signed up for PaloAltoGreen, Ward explained, most of the large commercial users have not.
As the Palo Alto Medical Foundation made plans to add a 300,000-square- foot building on El Camino Real, its leaders decided last year to purchase enough green energy to represent what the facility will use, said David Jury, the foundation's senior director of support services. Although that building won't open until 2006, the foundation has started buying the green power already.
"We want people to feel when they walk in the door that they're in a place of health," Jury said, adding that having a clean environment contributes to that.
Ward said PaloAltoGreen's next goal is to pass the 15 percent mark — and catch the national leader, a small utility in Lenox, Iowa. In terms of sales volume, Austin Energy in Texas leads the nation, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District is in the top 10 nationally in both sales and percentage of participants.
The Department of Energy says about 600 utilities nationwide offer green programs. Participation in the Bay Area has been light, but Silicon Valley Power in Santa Clara started one last November and already has about 1,100 customers signed up.
PG&E offers no voluntary program, but spokesman Jon Tremayne said the utility gets 31 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Only 1 percent comes from wind, but it also draws from such sources as geothermal energy, waste and hydroelectric power.
If you discount large hydroelectric plants, which some people argue are not dependable enough to be considered a renewable resource, PG&E gets 13 percent of its electrical energy from renewable sources, compared with 7 percent for Palo Alto.
Customer Mayer has no doubt that PaloAltoGreen's participation will continue to grow. She said many people are still unaware of the program. It's also a challenge because it doesn't have an obvious benefit to the consumer; power still flows into the house or business the same way it always did. "You don't get anything unless you really believe in the cause." Which, of course, she does. "A little bit of my mom is still with us," she said, "every time I turn on a light." E-mail Dave Murphy. Source: Dave Murphy, Chronicle Staff Writer, 7/6/2005.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative recently announced that it has partnered with FPL Energy for the creation of a new 33-turbine wind farm, the Wilton Wind project, southeast of Wilton, ND. According to the company, each turbine at the new wind farm will have a generation capacity of approximately 1.5 megawatts. Basin Electric said it will purchase the production from the wind farm and combine the output with its other generating resources. Basin Electric noted that FPL's role will be to construct, own and operate the project, as well as deliver the generated power to Basin Electric. Contact: Floyd Robb, Basin Electric. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 6/20/2005.
Carmanah Technologies Corporation, a manufacturer of LED-based lighting and illumination products, recently announced the completed acquisition of solar power system company Soltek Powersource, Ltd. (SPS). According to Carmanah, the acquisition positions the two companies to develop new solar/LED products to take advantage of a solar industry estimated to be worth more than $18 billion by the end of the decade. “The acquisition of SPS is a significant step in the delivery of Carmanah’s strategy to become a premier global solar-powered solutions provider,” said Carmanah CEO Art Aylesworth. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 7/7/2005.
The quaint town of Whitstable on England's southeastern coast is known for its fresh oysters, sandy beaches, and charming vacation cottages. But if a group of energy companies has its way, Whitstable will soon be known for something else — wind power. In June, Shell WindEnergy, E.ON UK Renewables, and CORE, a joint venture of British and Danish wind power companies, unveiled a plan to build the world's largest wind farm 12 miles off the British coast, where the estuary of the Thames River flows into the North Sea. The ambitious $2.7 billion project will add 1,000 megawatts of capacity, enough to meet one-quarter of London's power needs, by 2010. Advertisement
The venture is just the latest sign that wind power is becoming a serious business. No longer the purview of starry-eyed environmentalists, wind power has taken off in recent years. According to BTM Consult ApS, a Danish consultancy that specializes in renewable energy, wind power has been growing at an average annual rate of 28 percent since 1999 and now amounts to 48,000 megawatts of installed capacity worldwide. Nearly three-fourths of that is in Europe, where governments have made investment in renewable energy sources a priority. Europe gets 2.5 percent of its electricity from wind power, more than twice the proportion in the U.S. "The business has changed from the image of children with windmills on the beach. People are investing in wind for sound business reasons," says Jason Scagell, director of E.ON UK Renewables, a unit of Germany's E.ON Group.
Soaring demand for electricity, rising oil prices, and efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as mandated under the Kyoto Protocol are among the factors driving investment. But since wind power remains a more expensive alternative than natural gas or nuclear power, government incentives play a big role, too. It costs 4 cents to produce one kilowatt hour from a gas-fired or nuclear power plant, compared with between 7 cents and 10 cents for wind, according to Britain's Royal Academy of Engineering. In Germany, which has the largest installed wind-power capacity on the globe, operators are guaranteed a fixed price for every kilowatt they produce. Siemens, which acquired Danish wind turbine supplier Bonus Energy last year, is bullish on the business. Siemens Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld sees wind power as a "megatrend."
One big reason is that the economics have improved markedly. Take the advances in wind turbine technology. Britain's first wind farm consisted of 10 turbines, each producing 400 kilowatts of power. That was 14 years ago. Today, turbines have as much as 10 times that output, thanks to strides in engineering, design, and aerodynamics. Given such improvements, investment costs have been falling by some 3 percent to 5 percent a year since the 1980s, according to the European Wind Energy Assn., a trade group in Brussels.
The world's fastest-growing producer of wind power is Spain. Last year the country boosted capacity by 38 percent, to 8,529 Mw, equal to 6 percent of its overall power supply. Since Spain has low rainfall and is not an oil or gas producer, successive governments have resorted to subsidies to spur investment in renewable energy. Iberdrola, Spain's No. 2 utility, last year overtook FPL Energy of Florida as the world's largest wind farm operator. Yet Miguel Martin, Iberdrola's deputy director for renewable energy, says oil prices would have to increase even further to make wind power competitive with other fuels.
Indeed, most analysts agree that the wind power industry is still not mature enough to stand on its own two feet. Investors confront several hurdles. In Britain, Europe's windiest country, it takes up to 30 months for a company to secure permits to set up a wind farm, according to Standard & Poor's. On Spain's Atlantic coast, bird lovers, fisherfolk, and tourism officials have joined forces to oppose the creation of offshore wind farms, claiming that they wreak havoc on birds' migratory patterns, obstruct navigation channels, and blight the coastline. The sleek white turbines will probably never replace the picturesque old wooden windmills on postcards. But as oil prices go ever higher, Europeans may grow to cherish them nonetheless. Source: Business Week, By Laura Cohn in Whitstable, with Carlta Vitzhum in Madrid and Jack Ewing in Frankfurt, 7/6/2005.
Atop two mixed-use buildings near the corner of Pleasant Street and Oak Park Avenue two weeks ago, solar panels rose to greet the sun, making the rooftops look like the wings of a commercial jet at touchdown. Local landlord Dr. Eugene Anandappa owns the buildings, as well as another in Oak Park and two in Forest Park, where Niles-based Solar Service Inc. has installed hot-water-producing solar panels.
"I’m very much aware of the energy problem, and I try to do whatever I can in a small way to make it better," said Anandappa, a physician and 30-year River Forest resident. Anandappa said the project required a large capital outlay, which he expects to recoup in 5 to 10 years, depending on the rate of increase of natural gas prices. But the primary impetus for going solar was environmental and to stop relying on natural gas.
Solar Service owner and founder Brandon Leavitt said energy is a commodity, and most people are consumers. "We believe it makes more sense to own your energy," Leavitt said. He tells owners of new solar systems to expect 70 percent reductions in their hot water bills.
Leavitt said solar hot water systems have been around for a century, but that the technology has improved. After switching the system on at the Pleasant/Oak Park Avenue building on a sunny 90-degree afternoon, 360 gallons of 74-degree water was brought to a temperature of 126 degrees Fahrenheit. Even in the winter, just four hours of sunlight are enough to heat water for a building, Leavitt said.
Here’s how it works: a 12-horsepower pump sends a mix of water and antifreeze to the panels, where the fluid is heated and returned to the basement, where it enters a heat exchanger. There water pumped from three 120-gallon reserve tanks takes the heat from the antifreeze mixture.
The system is automatic. As the heat atop the building rises above the temperature of the reserved water, it kicks on to further warm the water. When nightfall or cloud cover stops heating the panels, the system shuts off, trapping the energy in the reserve tanks.
Glass on the solar panels is tempered, and stronger than a car’s windshield. It also has antiglare properties, which help capture energy. The panels never need cleaning and are cool to the touch, making lawn installations possible for residential customers, Leavitt said.
Solar hot water is much more efficient that photoelectric solar panels, Leavitt said. He’ll install solar electric, but only "when it makes sense." "The market for solar is vast," Leavitt said. Looking out over rooftops in Oak Park he can easily see available work.
He has installed systems for buildings large and small, some to heat pool water. Upcoming projects include Governors State University and hangars at the Greater Rockford Airport. Leavitt said he’s installed more than 1,000 systems since his first-for his mother-in 1977, and that they’re all still working.
"If it’s not working today it’s probably because the house has been torn down," he said. Patrick and Binita Donohue installed a solar hot water and heat system in December at their home on the 1000 block of South Taylor Avenue. "Oak Park is built for this stuff," Patrick Donohue said. "It’s like having a little science experiment in your house. The kids kinda like it." The Donohues’ children are 12 and 9.
Donohue said his system cost $15,000 to install. But wait, there’s more. Incentives drive down the cost of every installation, Leavitt said, by grants and rebates through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and federal tax write-offs for commercial building owners.
The Donohues also benefited from a Village of Oak Park loan/grant program they qualified for by being neighbors of Barrie Park, recently the site of a major environmental clean-up. State incentives dropped the price by $6,000, and Solar Service handled all of the paperwork, Donohue said.
Of the remaining $9,000, half was paid in village grant money, while the other half is in a low-interest loan. So they feel they paid about $5,000 for the system. Donohue said they didn’t start seeing the full effects of the solar panels until spring, when their April gas bill was $33, half of its normal amount. He expects to save $500 annually.
Donohue, a high school economics teacher, said money wasn’t what drove the family to go solar, and that as an investment it has to be looked at as long-term. A company flyer says an owner of an 18-unit six-flat could expect $20,000 in savings in a decade on a $30,000 investment.
Leavitt said panels can be installed on any roofs-flat or sloped, facing any direction-and garages and lawns, too. Leavitt got the idea for going solar while in a summer school program sponsored by Buckminster Fuller, known for designing the geodesic dome. Students were given one problem and one rule: Solve one of the world’s energy problems without making a problem for someone else. "I was just out of high school, and I was concerned," Leavitt said. Source: By Drew Carter, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, 7/6/2005.
FirmGreen Energy, Inc. recently announced that it has begun working with the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio to build a facility to extract, clean and use methane and carbon dioxide from landfill gas at a site in Franklin, OH.
According to FirmGreen, the first phase of the project will generate electricity for SWACO by the end of the year. The project's second phase involves the conversion of LFG into compressed natural gas, while a third phase will convert the LFG into methanol.
FirmGreen noted that the Environmental Protection Agency's Landfill Methane Outreach Program estimates the project will reduce the equivalent of emissions from nearly 2,000 cars from the road for a year, "reducing oil consumption by nearly 20,800 barrels per year." Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 7/6/2005.
On August 17, 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) GeoPowering the West (GPW) Program will be conducting a Utah Geothermal Power Generation Workshop at the Utah Department of Water Resources located at
1594 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT.
This meeting is designed for utility resource personnel and focuses on the key benefits and risks of including geothermal power in a utility’s resource portfolio. The event is cosponsored by the following organizations:
The highly qualified speakers bring a mix of professional experience in all aspects of geothermal energy. Attendees will:
There is no registration fee for the meeting, HOWEVER, you must register to attend. To register, contact Guy Nelson at (541) 994-4670.
Please save the date and make plans to join us for this leading-edge forum in Santa Fe. Conference attendees will choose from policy and technical sessions on developing renewable energy throughout the Southwest. Policy sessions will include Energy Policy Best Practices, Forums for Advancing Clean Energy Policy, Voluntary Green Power Market, Re-Valuing Renewable Energy and more. Technical sessions will offer Case Studies in Integration and Interconnection, Transmission Access in the West, Renewable Energy Technology Costs and Trends, and Project Development Case Studies, to name a few. Plenary sessions will be offered on Climate Change and Western Energy Choices, and Creating Regional Renewable Markets. Historically, the Southwest Renewable Energy Conference has been held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In an effort to broaden the reach of the Conference, we will convene this year in New Mexico. We will return to Arizona in 2006. A limited number of rooms are available at the Conference Rate. Source: Amanda Ormond, Conference Director.
On June 22, 2005, the National Wind Coordinating Council held a workshop, "Transmission Planning Wind Energy in the Midwest at the MISO Center in St. Paul, MN. Eighty-five representatives of the electric utilities, transmission companies, public service commissions, consumer advocates, environmental community, and wind energy developers and advocates met to review the status of regional transmission planning efforts (including CapX 2020, MTEP 05 and 06, and planning work underway by WAPA and Manitoba). The workshop provided an opportunity to address how transmission providers are proactively planning and moving forward on transmission to meet the large amount of wind expected to develop in the region over the next decade. Using case studies and overviews of the regional plans and their interlinked sub-regional plans, the meeting brought together a cross-spectrum of interests engaged in policy development and transmission implementation in the MISO region to identify obstacles and transmission needs for wind at the regional and sub-regional level. Workshop participants helped identify milestones for concrete near-term steps and solutions for moving transmission planning forward that supports wind energy in the near term. The meeting summary is forthcoming, but in the meantime, you can find a number of meeting materials on the Midwest Transmission Meeting page of the NWCC Web site, including presentations, agenda, an interim summary of the participant comments & recommendations from the final discussion and other information. Source: Miles Keogh, NWCC, 7/7/2005.
New National Coalition Formed to Promote Clean, Renewable, Domestic Wind Energy Development
Local grass roots group joins “Wind Energy Works!” which will draw on diverse membership to engage in the national Wind Energy debate and correct misinformation
The Cape Cod grass roots organization, Clean Power Now, is a part of what the American Wind Energy Association today announced is the formation of a broad national coalition of wind energy advocates that is intended to be the largest pro-wind energy development organization of its kind in the United States. Wind Energy Works! will actively and aggressively engage in the public conversation over the merits of wind energy, educate the public about the many benefits of wind energy development, and act as a counterbalance to the misinformation being spread by wind energy opponents in communities across the country.
“Wind energy works because it is one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources in the world, helps reduce our country’s dependence on foreign sources of energy, creates jobs and supports local economies,” said Randall Swisher, Executive Director of the American Wind Energy Association. “But despite all of these benefits, there is an ongoing effort by wind energy opponents to mislead the public and hinder or block further wind energy development across the country. This new coalition will make the positive case for continued wind energy development and engage the public with the facts.”
87 percent of Americans support wind farms: There is great support in this country for wind energy development. A May 2005 Yale University poll found that 87 percent of Americans support expanded wind farms and 86 percent want increased funding for renewable energy research. Despite such widespread support, opponents have mounted a concerted effort to distort the truth about wind energy’s benefits and spread misinformation to the public in an attempt to influence their favorable perception of wind energy. The Wind Energy Works! coalition was created to counter myths with facts.
Who's in the group?: The initial organizations in the coalition include a diverse array of national, regional and local environmental, agricultural, economic development, faith-based and wind and renewable energy advocacy groups. Members include: Earth Policy Institute, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Izaak Walton League of America, Union of Concerned Scientists, the American Corn Growers Association, the American Corn Growers Foundation, Prowers County Development, Inc., and The Regeneration Project/Interfaith Power and Light. Wind and renewable energy advocacy organization members include: AWEA, Renewable Energy Long Island, Western Resource Advocates, the Renewable Northwest Project, Wind Power New York, Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, The Wind Coalition, Green Energy Ohio, Clean Power Now, Wind on the Wires, the Interwest Energy Alliance, Clean Energy Partnership, Renew Wisconsin, West Wind Wires, Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. This initial group will be supplemented over time by an even broader set of national, regional, state and local organizations.
Although the establishment of the coalition was spurred by AWEA, the coalition’s vision is to become a broad-based alliance of independent voices providing a platform for organizations from the environmental, agricultural, business, health, social justice, faith, and academic communities to promote their combined expertise and perspective on the need for continued wind energy development. This effort will reach every corner of the country and every level of the wind energy conversation – from local town hall meetings to state media coverage to the floor of the U.S. Senate, the coalition’s presence will be felt and its perspective will be voiced.
Locally, Clean Power Now has joined the coalition and will bring its considerable resources to bear on behalf of wind energy development both regionally and nationally as well. “Clean Power Now is excited to join this remarkable list of organizations in the effort to promote wind energy development and to provide everyone with the facts about wind energy’s significant benefits to our town, and the nation,” said Clean Power Now Executive Director Matthew Palmer. Wind farms are located across America.
“By combining the resources of its members and creating a unified message and communication infrastructure, the coalition will engage in every aspect of the wind energy conversation across this country and let no myth or falsehood about wind go unanswered without the facts about wind energy’s tremendous benefits,” said Coalition Steering Committee Member Susan Sloan of The Wind Coalition (Austin, Texas). “The strength and effectiveness of this coalition will be greater than the sum of its parts.”
Wind Energy Works! is intended to be a simple, effective, memorable statement of the value and benefit of wind energy development. Wind energy works! because it's effective: it creates jobs, generates local tax revenues and supports local economies. Wind energy works! because it is a reality today: wind energy is a viable energy source creating electric power for more then 1 million Americans. Wind energy works! because it is a clean, renewable, domestic source of energy that can be expanded across the country: wind energy could provide at least six percent of the nation's electricity by 2020. Source: CapeCodToday, 7/7/2005.
The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy’s Capital Markets and Sustainability program has completed a series of background papers exploring the relationship between capital markets, financial performance and sustainability in Canada. The background papers are Corporate Disclosure and Capital Markets - Demand and Supply of Financially Relevant Corporate Responsibility Information and Comparative Study of U.K. and Canadian Pension Fund Transparency Practices. Source: EMA Tips, 7/15/2005.
Electric City applauds the passage of the Senate's Energy Bill and its emphasis on utilities, energy efficiency resources and renewable sources of energy. The legislation should lead to increased interest in demand reduction technologies like the Company's Virtual "Negawatt" Power System to help manage the nation's 700,000 MW peak electric demand and an even more important role in managing and controlling the growth of that peak demand.
Under the Senate Bill, all U.S. states will be required to conduct a process to explore and design requirements for utilities to implement energy efficiency resource programs in order to reduce annual electricity consumption and/or peak demand. The legislation also would force utilities to review and shore up the reliability of their power grids to avoid massive blackouts such as the one that darkened the Northeast in August 2003. Utilities can strengthen their transmission and distribution systems through traditional upgrades and/or through demand reduction in critical areas.
"We are very pleased to see language in the Senate Bill that addresses the fundamental need to include demand side resources as part of utilities' operating plans," stated John Mitola, Electric City Corp, CEO. "The legislation should benefit the Demand Response industry as state regulators and utility companies place greater awareness on competitive demand side solutions to deliver sustainable, affordable and reliable electric power for customers in the years to come. We have recently benefited from utility sponsored efficiency programs and expect that growth in these programs will serve as positive drivers for our Demand Response technologies. We believe that affordable electricity prices and system reliability are the two most important issues that regulators, utility operators and consumers face today and the use of smart demand reduction technologies, like our VNPP, helps address both issues."
In addition to targeting energy efficiency, the Bill places emphasis on renewable energy which helps to provide additional growth drivers for Demand Response. The Bill will now require electric utilities to obtain a minimum of 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and other sources by 2020. Utilities will have to rely on their respective state's renewable portfolio standards when they decide on what form those renewables should take. Several states that include Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada and Illinois have already or are currently in the process of enacting legislation that includes energy efficiency/Demand Response in their respective renewable portfolio standards and/or energy efficiency plans; we anticipate that more states will enact similar legislation.
"This provision is also important and significant for Electric City," continued Mitola. "Demand Response like our Virtual 'Negawatt' Power Plan is the cleanest form of green technology because it reduces instead of produces. We continue to be very active in lobbying regulators and policy makers for Demand Response to be included in states' Renewable Portfolio Standards and we fully expect other states will pass similar standards to their Renewable Portfolios in the future. We believe that passage of the Energy Bill will enhance our ability to sell our VNPP demand reduction offering to utilities in states that adopt these measures because of our significant cost and operating advantages over other forms of renewable energy."
Electric City's VNPP Demand Response system, currently allows utilities like ComEd in Chicago and PacifiCorp in Utah to remotely control a wide range of commercial, industrial and government lighting systems over a managed and secure IP network. Through the use of the EnergySaver(TM)/GlobalCommander(R) technology, any participating utility will be able to reduce electric capacity requirements during periods of peak demand, providing instantaneous control, measurement and verification of load reduction. The 50 MW system in Chicago and the 27 MW system in Utah represent two of the largest deployments of demand control technology in the nation and are expected to incorporate roughly 2,000 to 2,500 EnergySaver(TM) systems.
Currently, Electric City is planning a rollout of a National VNPP Program for all of its customers. The Senate Bill outlines the convergence of factors that underscore the need for a program such as this. These factors include: the critical need for the inclusion of energy efficiency/Demand Response in the overall design of the nation's electricity market, the emphasis on renewable portfolio standards for all states, and focus on power grid reliability. Electric City and industry advocates strongly support the prompt passage of the long-awaited Energy Bill by the House; the Company plans its introduction of a National VNPP Program by year's end. Source: Electric City, 7/6/2005.
On an 85-to-12 vote last week, the Senate passed national energy legislation that differs significantly from a version passed by the House in April, setting up a difficult House-Senate conference to resolve the two bills under a tight schedule.
Among the differences, the Senate bill requires utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their electricity with renewable sources by 2020, offers $14 billion in tax breaks with a tilt toward conservation and renewable energy, and says global warming is real and the U.S. must eventually cut carbon emissions through mandatory measures.
The House bill is silent on global warming. It offers $8 billion in tax breaks and focuses them on traditional energy sources, such as fossil fuels and nuclear power. The House bill also contains provisions that the Senate could not agree upon and that Senate Republican and Democratic party leaders specifically kept out of their bill: language protecting oil companies from liability for drinking water contamination due to the gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and language opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration. If House Republicans retain these provisions in the bill during conference, Senate leaders may find it impossible to get support from 60 senators needed to overcome a filibuster.
Congressional leaders intend to arrange a conference committee immediately after returning from the July Fourth recess. The conference may be large, with conferees representing a dozen committees, and the schedule will be compressed to meet demands by the White House and Republican leaders to hammer out an agreement, marshal the compromise bill through both bodies, and send it to the President in the three weeks left before the August recess. Source: By Jeff Johnson, Chemical & Engineering News, 7/6/2005.
A California Assembly committee unanimously approved Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) comprehensive $2.5 billion solar power plan yesterday.
SB1, which passed the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, builds on Schwarzenegger's "million solar roofs" initiative. The bill would establish rebates for builders and homeowners, extend an existing solar energy tax credit for homeowners and mandate that builders offer solar power in new developments of more than 50 homes. Money for the plan would come in part from an existing, tax-financed renewable energy fund. Under the plan, California would increase the state's solar output from 101 megawatts to 3,000 megawatts by 2018, enough to run 2.25 million homes.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. customers could be forced to pay an extra $1.8 billion for the subsidies. The typical home would be subsidized at about $5,600, although structures that are exceedingly energy inefficient could see larger savings, according to Bernadette Del Chiaro of Environment California, an environmental group supporting the legislation (Steve Lawrence, AP/San Francisco Chronicle online, June 6).
Supporters say that the bill would help California diversify its energy supply and would create incentives for businesses and consumers to invest in the state's infrastructure. "It promises to make solar power a self-sufficient and thriving market, which means it revolutionizes the way we generate energy in California," said Del Chiaro.
But many business groups and utilities oppose the legislation. Critics said the bill would drive away businesses -- already hurting from California's high energy costs -- by forcing them to pay more for their energy consumption. "They're basically foisting all the costs onto the large industrial users," said Gino DiCaro, spokesman for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association. "We're not opposed to solar power. But it is inappropriate to make them bear the brunt of those costs" (Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, San Jose Mercury News, July 6).
Next, the bill goes before the Housing and Community Development Committee.
A Los Angeles Times editorial: "It's clean, never runs out and doesn't involve drilling off the California coast or relying on foreign oil powers. That's more than reason enough for the state to invest in solar energy. Committee members who think in larger terms than political and labor snits will vote in favor of SB 1." Source: Greenwire, 7/11/2005.
A joint venture owned 50-50 by energy firms in British Columbia and Maine is proposing an alternative sub-sea and land-based route for Lower Churchill power to the United States. The plan would also allow the development of wind power in the province, the proponents say. That energy could be piggybacked on Lower Churchill energy for transmission and sale to American customers.
A similar transmission route for Labrador power - the so-called Anglo-Saxon route - was examined in the 1960s, but found unfeasible at the time. But the proponent says that may not hold true today. “We’re still doing pricing analyses on this, but our early indication is that it would be feasible,” Paul Manson, president of Vancouver-based Sea Breeze Power Corp., told The Telegram Tuesday.
Sea Breeze Power Corp. and Boundless Energy LLC of York Harbour, Me., are 50-50 partners in Sea Breeze Pacific Regional Transmission System Inc. That’s the company which has pitched the idea to the Newfoundland government, Manson said.
Earlier this year, the Williams administration threw open the door to any and all proposals to develop Lower Churchill hydroelectric power. In April, the province announced it had received 25 submissions. Officials said that 10 of those were comprehensive plans for overall development of the resource.
The province has declined to identify any of the proponents, and is continuing to assess the submissions. The first stage of that process is expected to wrap up within weeks. A spokeswoman from the premier’s office declined comment Tuesday. Sea Breeze’s plan contains several components, Manson said.
The firm would run a line from dam locations east across Labrador. A sub-sea, high-voltage cable would cross onto the island of Newfoundland north of the Strait of Belle Isle, then traverse over land to the south coast.
Manson said that would allow Labrador power to be used in Newfoundland, and would also allow for the development of “stranded potential” for wind power on the island.
Wind power bonus: That new wind power could be added to Lower Churchill hydro power and transmitted to the eastern seaboard of the United States, via sub-sea cable across the Cabot Strait and through the Maritimes.
“Routing through Newfoundland would give access to inexpensive power to the people of Newfoundland, and provide a very good base for attracting business to that area, much the same way that inexpensive power in British Columbia and Quebec has benefited those economies,” Manson said.
While Sea Breeze has similar projects in the works, none of them are currently up and running. “It’s true enough that we as a company don’t yet have a line like this is operation, but the technology itself is well, well proven,” Manson said.
The joint-venture partners do have a number of renewable energy projects in various stages of development. Sea Breeze has received environmental approval for a 450-megawatt wind farm on Vancouver Island. Its construction is dependent on a power purchase agreement.
Boundless Energy, Sea Breeze’s joint-venture partner, is also involved in the construction of a 660-megawatt underwater transmission line from New Jersey to Long Island in New York. And the two firms have also combined to form Juan de Fuca Cable Management Inc., which is looking to build an underwater transmission cable between Vancouver Island and Port Angeles, Wash., to meet U.S. energy needs.
Local media reports on the west coast indicate that project is moving closer to reality, with plans to have the first of two cables on line by 2007. Asked who would finance the Sea Breeze proposal for Labrador hydro power, Manson said he didn’t anticipate problems finding the cash.
Only one of the other Lower Churchill proponents has made public its interest to date. The Ontario and Quebec governments have teamed up with a private-sector engineering firm to offer Newfoundland and Labrador two options.
The development of both Gull Island and Muskrat Falls would combine for about 2,800 megawatts of power. That’s about half the capacity of the Upper Churchill. The province is still haunted by the spectre of the 1969 Upper Churchill agreement.
Its terms see Quebec reap hundreds of millions in annual profits, while Newfoundland and Labrador receives a pittance in return. Previous attempts to develop the Lower Churchill - invariably in conjunction with Quebec - have collapsed at least in part because of the perceived injustice of that original deal, which runs until 2041.
In launching the request for Lower Churchill proposals earlier this year, officials said they wanted to expand their horizons beyond Quebec. The province should ensure it has “exhausted every possible scenario here, because it’s almost like selling your house - you just don’t offer it to one person, you want to offer it to the marketplace so you can get the best price,” Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corp. chairman Dean MacDonald said Jan. 10. Source: By Rob Antle, The Telegram, 7/7/2005.
Only four years removed from an energy crisis that cost a governor his job and plunged the state into debt, California is embarking on an environmentally friendly but risky strategy to quench it future thirst for power.
The state is encouraging energy development, including production from out-of-state and a 1,300-mile transmission line to deliver the power that Californians will need to avoid the rolling blackouts that they experienced in 2000 and 2001. However, it is demanding that the power be produced in a way that doesn't further harm the environment.
Because of its size, market muscle and emerging crackdown on greenhouse gases, the most populous state and world's fifth-biggest economy could trigger sweeping changes in electricity production and transmission across the fast-growing West.
California led the nation during the 1960s and 1970s in forcing automakers to cut tailpipe pollution, and the state once more has forged ahead of the federal government with aggressive goals to help staunch global warming. The consequences could hasten the USA's shift to cleaner energy, including renewable sources such as solar and wind, and encourage other states to regulate greenhouse gases, the chief cause of global warming, energy experts say.
"California's policy sends a strong market signal that consumers are worried about the impacts of global warming and want cleaner energy," says John Nielsen, an economist with Western Resource Advocates in Boulder, Colo., a group that promotes sustainable energy. "Hopefully, it sends a strong message to national policymakers."
Taking global warming seriously: Among recent developments:
• Last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the global-warming debate "over" — a step the Bush administration hasn't taken, although the president said Monday that climate change is a long-term issue — and announced a commitment to curbing greenhouse-gas emissions from homes, vehicles, industry and power plants.
• State regulators are writing rules that, in effect, would prohibit new out-of-state power plants from sending electricity to California if they spew large amounts of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. The state currently imports about a fifth of its power.
• A "One Million Solar Roofs" bill moving through the Legislature with Schwarzenegger's support would require builders to offer solar heating and cooling systems to new homebuyers. The goal is to jump-start the solar industry and bring costs down.
• Schwarzenegger and the governors of Wyoming, Nevada and Utah have agreed to pursue a $1.7 billion transmission project called the Frontier Line that would bring power generated in the interior West to California. It would carry electricity from solar and wind resources as well as from fossil fuels.
California is taking a calculated risk with its environmentally friendly policy. Its future electricity demand is expected to climb by nearly 1,000 megawatts a year, the equivalent of one large power plant. It will need reliable new sources, both from inside and outside the state.
Selling clean-burning coal: The state is gambling that it can cajole energy developers eyeing California markets to build non-polluting plants by insisting that new electricity imports be renewable or from traditional sources that employ clean technologies.
California's policy targets plants that would burn the West's abundant coal to produce electricity. The region has at least a 250-year supply of recoverable coal, according to federal estimates, concentrated largely in Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and Colorado.
Conventional coal-fired plants belch tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Technologies that pulverize coal, turn it into a slurry and convert it to gas before burning it have the potential to capture and dispose of carbon dioxide. Those technologies raise the price of coal-generated power by about 10 percent a kilowatt-hour.
However, none of the 31 new coal-fired plants planned in the West, including at least 10 that intend to sell power to California, would employ those new technologies, says Nielsen of Western Resource Advocates, who tracks new power-plant proposals.
But an "unwritten rule" of new power-plant development is "the buyers of power determine what gets built," says Doug Larson, who runs the energy arm of the Western Governors' Association. Plants aren't built without long-term contracts to sell power.
Environmentalists worry about more than California. They predict the biggest resurgence in new coal plant construction in the region's history to satisfy Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Salt Lake City and other booming metro markets.
"The citizens of the interior West will bear a significant health burden from heavy reliance on these high-polluting coal plants," says Vickie- Patton, a lawyer for Environmental Defense in Boulder.
California policy is designed to promote more alternatives to fossil fuels. Not counting hydroelectric power, the state already produces nearly four times more renewable energy than the No. 2 state, Georgia, according to federal data.
Questions, skepticism: A key selling point for the Frontier Line, which is little more than a proposal at this point, is that it would tap abundant wind resources in Wyoming and Montana and solar in Utah and Nevada.
"This project is the single largest enabler of renewable energy technologies ever proposed in the U.S.," says Joseph Desmond, chairman of the California Energy Commission and a Schwarzenegger adviser.
But Dan Kammen, an energy professor at the University of California-Berkeley, estimates that the line would boost solar and wind no more than 1 percent to 2 percent. "The real big winner here is coal," he says. And there's no assurance the clean energy — renewable or fossil fuel — California wants will be available as electricity demand soars in the next 20 years.
Technologies that convert coal to gas — gasification — are untried on a large commercial scale. Two small gasification plants operate in Florida and Indiana with federal subsidies. The means to separate carbon dioxide in the coal-burning process, capture it and inject it into the Earth to keep it out of the atmosphere is still experimental.
Power-plant developers are reluctant to abandon conventional coal generation and its long and dependable history. Gasification "is certainly a viable technology for the future," says Art Larson, spokesman for Sempra Energy, developer of a 1,450-megawatt conventional coal plant in northern Nevada. "But there are issues with reliability and cost."
Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, says the state, from the governor on down, has drawn a line. "This is kind of a Kabuki dance, a great strategic play, and we're just going to have to see what the outcome is," he says. "If coal can meet the test, fine. But we don't want to further exacerbate global warming." Source: By John Ritter, USA TODAY, 7/7/2005.
A German-based financial services provider will invest Euro 300 to 500 million in renewables over the next five years to mitigate the liability from climate change. “Climate change creates significant costs for the financial industry," says Joachim Faber of Allianz Group. “In the interest of our clients and shareholders, we are obligated to take these risks into account when making decisions on insurance underwriting, investments or lending credit.”
“Early action is needed to provide greater certainty for business, long-term investment and technological change,” says the report, ‘Climate Change & the Financial Sector: An Agenda for Action,’ which was prepared with the World Wildlife Federation. “Inconsistent policies or no policies at all simply deter investment,” and it says the inconsistencies include the fact that the the EU subsidized fossil fuels by Euro 24 billion in 2004 compared to 5 billion for renewables. “The best strategy would involve a mix of actions on energy efficiency, including conservation measures, renewable energy and switching to low CO2 fuel and gases. Perhaps half of the potential growth in emissions could be saved by greater energy efficiency.”
Climate change is increasing the potential of property damage in the insurance business at a rate of 2 percent to 4 percent per year and, in some cases, “this might result in property damage premium rises in some markets as insurers adjust their risk-based insurance cost models to reflect the increasing severity of climate change events.” The report was aimed at world leaders attending the G8 summit in Scotland.
Banks face credit risks because policies to cut GHG emissions can create costs for carbon intensive sectors and companies, but “climate change also creates opportunities” and the global renewable energy market could be worth Euro 1,400 billion by 2020 and another 200 billion for the global carbon market in 2010, while exploiting the Kyoto Mechanisms could enhance project returns by up to 15 percentage points.
“The solution to climate change is essentially to convert the world’s economies to low-carbon technologies, through both alternative energies and more efficient energy conversion,” it states. “Low-carbon energies can be a contribution to the mitigation of GHG emissions and a business opportunity for project developers and investors,” with the International Energy Agency estimating that the current investment in cleaner energy is US$20 billion a year, mainly to solar and wind, which will grow to $100 billion globally within ten years. Investment in renewables increased 150 percent between 2000 and 2004, and this “growing market opens increasing opportunities for financial services providers.”
Renewables “often face a number of additional barriers compared to other projects,” and it is necessary to develop “specific expertise and financial involvement in low-carbon energies and to diversify the risks of such energy projects,” it adds. “Creating new energy technologies can be costly and risky; generally, this means that it does not suit investor’s requirements.”
“Policy changes are creating a perception of greater risk for investors in the energy sector due to increased uncertainty about fossil fuel economics,” it explains. “This can be countered to some extent by reducing the uncertainty in renewables, but in such a dynamic situation it seems inevitable that investors will have less appetite to participate in the energy sector until policies have crystallized and new business models have emerged and stabilized.”
“Renewable energy technologies can be both a contribution to the mitigation of GHG emissions and a business opportunity for project developers and investors,” it concludes. “The future outlook for the renewable energy market is promising, since ambitious targets for renewable energy generation have been set in many regions and countries.”
Capital and generating costs of renewables will fall steeply over the next decade, when global capacity from renewables is expected to reach 400 GW compared with 2,000 GW for gas, 1,400 GW for coal and 400 GW for hydro.
Banks play “an important role in developing and promoting the renewable energy markets,” but a bank’s primary criterion for investment is the expected profit and the due diligence for renewable energy projects is no different from other investments, the report explains. Renewable energy technologies often face a number of additional barriers compared to other projects, so due diligence for renewables requires special expertise. “Notwithstanding the additional barriers in the renewable energy market, the structured finance market for renewable energy has taken off in recent years.” Source: ReFocus, 7/6/2005.
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin has been awarded three grants to research renewable energy, according to a news release from the school. Renewables, in this case, include wind, solar and geothermal energy. Richard Erdlac, research scientist and senior lecturer, said a $194,458 grant, which started July 1, came from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The second grant for $115,000 comes from the Economic Development Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and will be used in part to find out if there are local companies that can benefit from renewable energy, what types of jobs would be available and what kind of background people would need for those jobs.
Erdlac was also awarded a $40,000 contract from the State Energy Conservation office in Austin to develop a database on subsurface temperatures high enough to generate electrical power. The contract period runs from Aug. 5 through Dec. 2006. Erdlac said he will be working with Southern Methodist University to build a statewide geothermal program.
Geothermal energy is heat within the Earth that can be captured and used for heating or cooling and generating electricity. Most people think of geothermal energy as coming from volcanoes or geysers, but this research will take geothermal energy in a new direction, Erdlac said.
"Our sedimentary basins are usually mined for oil and gas, and not for heat that can generate electricity. This type of energy can decrease energy bills 40 to 60 percent," he said. "These wells can make a profit and can open an extension of the oil and gas industry making the Permian Basin a leader in research and production of geothermal energy." Source: Midland Reporter Telegram, 07/07/2005.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently awarded $10 million to help finance 17 clean energy projects in the commonwealth.
According to the department, PFBC Environmental Energy Technology, Inc. will receive $1 million to design, construct and commission a "process rest facility" capable of burning a variety of state waste coals; EQA Landmark Communities will receive $413,477 to develop 300 acres of brownfields in South Fayette Township; Capital Technologies, Inc. will receive $162,629 to purchase and modify a natural gas microturbine to run on biodiesel; Plextronics, Inc. will receive $300,000 to fund the research necessary for development of polymer-based solar cells; Pristine Resources, Inc. will receive $3.5 million to convert waste heat from a 1.7-million-tons-per-year coking operation into an operation capable of producing 130 megawatts of electricity annually; Penn State University will receive $182,919 to obtain performance data from a suite of indigenous biofuels, as well as $130,342 to develop a novel solid absorbent to help remove hydrogen sulfides and carbon dioxide from the coal and biomass gasification streams; Southeastern Chester County Refuse Authority will receive $500,000 to develop a landfill gas collection system to produce 6.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually; and Franklin Fuel Cells, Inc. will receive $460,000 to research ongoing development of soild oxide fuel cell technology.
Additionally, C/G Electrodes, LLC will receive $491,114 to install two UTC Power PureCycle 200 units to produce electricity from waste heat generated by the company's normal operations; PPL Energy Services Holdings, LLC will receive $650,000 to develop a 3,200-kilowatt landfill gas-to-energy project in Conestoga; Community Energy, Inc. will receive $1 million to build a 24-megawatt, utility-scale wind farm to produce 73,000 megawatt-hours annually; Advanced Fibers & Powders, LLC will receive $139,960 to develop an integrated carbon activation and gasification process using anthracite coal as the primary feedstock; the Energy Coordinating Agency will receive $264,546 to create an ENERGY STAR affordable housing program throughout the state; Advanced Energy Partners, LLC will receive $425,000 to develop and install a 600-kilowatt dispatchable aggregate power plant; AFC First Financial Corporation will receive $77,337 to expand the Keystone Home Energy Loan Program; and Solar Power Industries, Inc. will receive $302,676 to research potential nontraditional means to increase available feedstock of solar-grade silicon. Contact: Ana Gomez, PA DEP, phone 717-787-1323. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 6/23/2005.
This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
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