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Wal-Mart Canada today announced that it has made the largest commercial purchase of green power in Ontario’s history. In partnership with Bullfrog Power, Wal-Mart will purchase 39,000 MWhrs of green power over a three year period. In the first year alone, this purchase will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 7,000 tonnes.
Bullfrog Power, Ontario’s first 100 percent green electricity retailer, sources power exclusively from wind and low-impact hydro generators that meet or exceed the federal government’s Environmental ChoiceProgram EcoLogostandard for renewable electricity. Wal-Mart’s decision to support clean renewable power is a component of the company’s comprehensive environmental strategy that includes a commitment to reducing emissions across its Canadian operations. Source: Bullfrog Power, 4/26/06
H.E. Butt Grocery Co., a San Antonio-based grocery chain, was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as a top retail buyer of green power. H-E-B's Austin region was recognized for its voluntary purchase of 27,600 megawatt-hours of green power from Austin Energy's GreenChoice Program. H-E-B came in at No. 6 on the Top 10 list of retail partners, which was published on the EPA's Green Power Partnership site. The list highlights those companies that have been substantial, voluntary, green-power buys. The list is released quarterly. The current ranking recognizes purchases through June 26, 2006.
The Green Power Partnership provides assistance and recognition to organizations that demonstrate environmental leadership by choosing green power. Green power is defined as electricity products that are partially or entirely generated from environmentally preferable resources — such as solar, wind, geothermal or hydro resources. Not only are these energy sources renewable, they are cleaner than conventional energy sources, which produce carbon dioxide emissions. H-E-B's green power represents about 25 percent of the electricity used by its Austin region facilities. The company uses biogas electricity — which is generated at the Tessman Landfill Biogas Project near San Antonio — and wind-generated electricity. Source: by Tricia Lynn Silva, San Antonio Business Journal, 7/19/2006.
Open Energy Corporation, a renewable energy company focused on the design and manufacturing of solar energy products, announced that it has completed the installation of its SolarSave Roofing Tiles at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Science at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, NV. Open Energy has provided the roofing design and construction materials for a 31.5 kilowatt photovoltaic roofing system comprised of 900 SolarSave PV roof tiles as well as nine Open Energy 3500 watt inverters with combiner boxes. The system was chosen because of the high power provided, attractiveness of the tiles, ease of installation and the ability of the tiles to withstand up to 280 lbs per square foot — important for the potential extreme snow loads on the building. The system will produce 4,400 kwh per month for the building.
The Tahoe Center for Environmental Science is an environmental research and education facility which was built in conjunction with the University of California, at Davis. The Desert Research Institute and RAND Corporation are collaborators in the $24 million project. The new facility will be an international center for science and teaching on the preservation of alpine lakes and their watersheds.
The Tahoe Center for Environmental Science is currently seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, which is the national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings given by the U.S. Green Building Council. This project is currently under review and tracking 56 LEED certified points, while only 52 are required for platinum certification. There are currently only 17 platinum certified buildings worldwide. Source: Open Energy Corp., 7/24/2006.
A one million dollar appropriation will support Denver Zoo’s plans to build a new, environmentally-sound, 10-acre exhibit called Asian Tropics, the future home of 15 Asian species including elephants and rhinoceros. An exceptional component of the new exhibit will be the installation of a biomass gasification system designed to convert the zoo’s solid waste materials into on-site energy generation and distribution. The funds were secured by Senator Wayne Allard. “We are thrilled. This has been in the works the better part of a year and we are very grateful for Senator Allard’s efforts and vision,” says Denver Zoo President and CEO Clayton Freiheit.
The biomass gasification system is expected to convert more than 90 percent of the zoo’s trash into useable energy that will be utilized to operate the Asian Tropics facilities. “The concept of being able to convert animal waste and human trash – both of which the zoo produces in abundance – to provide heating, cooling and power for Asian Tropics’ buildings and animal exhibit water features is mind boggling. Widespread future use of this technology could, over time, mean an end to sanitary landfills and have a huge positive effect on our environment. As a conservation-oriented institution, vitally concerned with the future of our natural world, we're extremely pleased” says Freiheit.
Asian Tropics is a unique zoo exhibit designed to completely change the way zoos care for highly-endangered Asian elephants and Indian rhinos. The expansive complex will give guests the opportunity to explore and discover the rich history of animals in Asian culture and their complex relationship with humans. Asian Tropics will provide significantly expanded and enriched space for various animal species, as well as opportunities to rotate Asian elephants, Indian rhinos and Malayan tapirs among the five outdoor enclosures. Source: The Cherry Creek News Staff, 7/24/2006.
An antique version of a windmill stands at the village green as the town's main icon. Now, the Eastham Alternative Energy Committee is moving forward with a modern windmill project – one that could net the town some much-needed funding, and help the environment. With town meeting approval and the board of selectmen's blessing to pursue the feasibility of the project, the committee has launched a public education campaign to let residents know exactly what it would entail. The proposal includes placing four 400-foot-tall wind generators built, maintained and operated by a private company on about 12 acres of town-owned land in North Eastham. The generators would be similar to wind turbines along the Southeast Expressway in Boston and at Hull High School. The proposed Eastham site is on the eastern side of Route 6 off Nauset Road and abuts Cape Cod National Seashore.
The wind generators – which are still more than a year away from reality – have the potential to cover the town's entire $170,000-a-year electrical costs for its municipal buildings, said Jack Slavin, the town's management information systems director. ''We could see benefits well over $200,000,'' he said. This money would go into the general fund to offset property taxes. So far, all of the town's expenses on the project, which includes consulting fees and meteorological test towers, have been paid for by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The collaborative is a quasi-governmental agency set up to develop alternative energy sources. It is funded by a line item on residents' electric bills, which amounts to about $2 a year for most users, according to a collaborative representative. Utility bills for Eastham residents would not drop as a direct result of the turbines.
A private company to operate the turbines would be determined through a competitive bidding process. It would lease the land from the town and sell the energy to the regional electrical power grid. About 90 percent of the feedback the committee has had from residents has been positive, Slavin said. But Kevin Holland, owner of Viking Shores Motel in North Eastham, which is near the wind turbine site the town is considering, called it ''a bad thing all the way around.'' Holland, who is on the town's planning board, will have his say to the energy committee when Eastman sits down with town boards and committees in the near future to gauge their feelings. Selectman Russell Sandblom said his endorsement of the project is still tentative. Among his concerns are whether it makes sense to sign over valuable town land for that purpose. Source: By ROBIN LORD, STAFF WRITER, 7/24/2006.
The town of Webster is looking at the wind to treat its sewage. The town plans to set up a 165-foot-tall tower near its sewage treatment plant to gather data. Sustainable Energy Development of Ontario, Wayne County will study the possibility of using a wind turbine to help power the plant. A steady wind of at least seven miles per hour at the site is needed to make the turbine feasible. The study will be paid for with a $25,000 state grant and $25,000 from a town reserve fund. Town officials are hoping that a turbine could save 25 percent to 30 percent of the cost of power at the plant where electricity now costs about $125,000 annually. Installing a turbine would cost about $300,000. Source: Associated Press, 7/24/2006.
Ormat Technologies, Inc. recently announced that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a $4.4-million contract with German firm Geo X GmbH for the supply of one Ormat Energy Converter (OEC) for a geothermal power plant in Landau, Germany. According to Ormat, the geothermal plant will consist of one OEC using the company's Organic Rankine Cycle technology, which converts geothermal heat to electric power enabling re-injection of 100 percent of the geothermal water back to the reservoir without the need for any additional fuel or water. The equipment is to be supplied and installed within 17 months from the date of the contract signing. The construction of the pre-assembled OEC at the Geo X site in Landau will be undertaken by a third party under a consortium agreement with Ormat. Contact: Dita Bronicki, Ormat, phone 775-356-9029. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 7/20/2006.
Wisconsin Power and Light Company, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation, today announced that it has purchased development rights to the Cedar Ridge Wind Farm project, previously owned and developed by Midwest Wind Energy of Chicago since 2004. The proposed 80- to 100-megawatt wind farm, located in the townships of Eden and Empire in Fond du Lac County, Wis., will consist of approximately 40 wind turbines across 12.2 square miles of land. When complete, Cedar Ridge Wind Farm will generate enough electricity to power as many as 20,500 homes.
Cedar Ridge Wind Farm has been under development by MWE since 2004. Preliminary permits, including zoning, land use agreements, and environmental studies were completed by MWE during that time. WP&L will assume responsibility of the remaining activities, including permitting, engineering, construction and operation of the wind farm. WP&L and MWE will continue to collaborate on certain aspects of the wind farm development. WP&L plans to file its Certificate of Authority and fixed financial parameters (Act 7) applications with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in August 2006. The PSCW's rulings on the CA and Act 7 applications are expected in early 2007. Depending on availability of wind turbines and all necessary approvals, Cedar Ridge Wind Farm will begin commercial operation either in late 2007 or 2008. WP&L will also include the estimated total project cost in its CA application with the PSCW.
The Cedar Ridge Wind Farm is one part of WP&L's 2006-2013 Generation Plan. The Generation Plan also calls for a 300-megawatt expansion of WP&L's Nelson Dewey Generating Station in Cassville, Wis., or Columbia Energy Center near Portage, Wis. WP&L plans to file its application materials to the PSCW for the baseload plant expansion later this year. In addition, WP&L received permission from the PSCW in June 2006 to increase its investment into its Shared Savings energy efficiency program from $20 million to $40 million for the year 2006. The increased investment will have minimal impact on ratepayers and will help save the same amount of electricity needed to power 7,700 typical households. Source: Alliant Energy Corporation, 7/24/2006.
Over the years, the Palo Alto Research Center has developed numerous electricity-gobbling innovations Now, the storied lab that gave the world laser printing and graphical user interfaces is trying to harness the sun to power its inventions. The Xerox Corp. subsidiary known as PARC has produced super-efficient solar systems that experts say could make photovoltaic power — sunlight converted directly into electricity — available on a large scale at prices competitive with fossil fuels for the first time. PARC's technology is one of several promising approaches in the field.
The research at PARC is part of an eco-friendly technology trend that draws on the materials and know-how that built computer microprocessors and other high-tech staples. PARC's efforts dovetail with Silicon Valley's push into "clean tech," including conservation and renewable energy. Reusable paper is another of PARC's development projects. The California Clean Tech Open — sponsored by dozens of companies, venture capital firms, universities and other groups — recently received 155 competing business concepts.
In an era of stratospheric oil prices, investors are beginning to see solar as the next big thing, despite its embryonic state. Many industry watchers expect to see large rooftop collectors for powering businesses, and solar farms that will approach the size of major power plants.
For decades, solar power was dominated by thermal systems that heat water for bathing or power small turbines to create electricity. Photovoltaic technology — the combination of light and electricity — gradually is replacing thermal. At the core of photovoltaic cells are semiconductor materials such as silicon. Solar rays knock electrons loose from silicon atoms; those electrons are drawn off to create a current. Solar arrays combine many cells. The first generation of photovoltaic technology was based on large, heavy collectors — costly, inefficient systems that converted only 10 percent to 15 percent of solar rays to power. The rest reflected away or diffused as waste heat.
Recently, a handful of companies have developed systems that use mirrors or lenses to concentrate the sun's rays as much as 500 times and increase efficiency to as much as 26 percent, with projections up to 50 percent. Higher efficiency means cheaper power. Several such "concentrating photovoltaic" schemes have been devised. PARC's concentrating technology was developed with SolFocus, a start-up being incubated inside PARC. The first-generation system comprises grids of solar collectors about 8 inches thick. Metal cones and optical systems concentrate sunlight on a 1-square-centimeter solar chip. The second-generation system shrinks the collectors 90 percent and makes them about half an inch thick, creating a honeycomb of precision-molded glass coated with mirrors. The newer technology uses chips just 1 millimeter square made from layers of germanium and silicon. The layers absorb different parts of the solar spectrum to increase efficiency.
Their small size would make the collectors more economical and easier to mount on the rooftops of commercial buildings, such as big-box retailers in sunny climates. Last year, SolFocus' entry beat more than 100 competing designs to win the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Growth Forum award. PARC estimates that the new system will easily compete with fossil fuels at today's prices, although it won't be ready for commercial use for a few years. Source: By Charles Piller, LOS ANGELES TIMES, 7/22/2006.
Nature’s Accent, Inc., a wholesale generator of renewable energy announced a proposal to the New Mexico PRC for low-cost renewable energy at fossil fuel prices. The company will produce renewable energy that is competitive with non-renewable energy produced from fossil fuels, and it never shuts down.
Highlights of the precedent setting proposal are:
• Power priced at 4.8 cents per kilowatt at a fixed price for 30 years.
• This price equates to power being discounted to 2.2 cents per Kilowatt over the term of the contract with inflation estimated at 2.5 percent
• Guaranteed 100 percent deliverability
• Guaranteed price matching of any renewable energy supplier over term of the contract
• The proposal was made to all state & federal entities, wholesale buyers, public utilities, co-op electric utilities and, if legislated, to all buyers of electricity statewide.
Allen Witters, CEO of the Company, said. "Through ecologically managed forests, we will reduce the threat of catastrophic fires while increasing water production for the surrounding communities. By using dairy and feed lot waste, we remediate a large ecological problem and create low cost energy. New Mexico has tremendous natural energy resources that can be turned into large scale renewable energy generation. We can compete directly with coal, gas and nuclear systems and beat them on price, global ethics and uptime.”
Las Vegas, NM, is the proposed site of the first plant to be located in the Northeast Regional Wood Business Park owned by San Miguel County and managed by the Las Vegas/San Miguel Economic Development Corporation. The plant will create about 350 high paying professional jobs in rural New Mexico. Nature’s Accent has identified 12 other rural communities with the renewable resources to build clean energy plants.
Witters said the Nature’s Accent Tri-FuelTM concept is unique because it combines the use of biomass from either wood waste or cow manure with thermal solar and wind technologies in a single plant. "This means we can deliver continuous electricity 24/7 throughout the year without interruption. The design is completely redundant and we adjust production to the least-cost fuel available at any instant in time," he said. Source: PR Web Press Release NewsWire, 7/21/2006.
The focused, contemplating eyes of more than 100 Adirondack residents never left the Tannery Pond Community Center stage Wednesday evening during a public forum on wind power. Seats creaked as people with gray hair — and even those with pigtails — leaned forward to listen to four panel members expressing opinions both for and against the proposed Barton Mines project to build 10 wind turbines on the northern side of Gore Mountain. When the panel's members quieted, the audience erupted into an organized procession of questions that put the experts under the spotlight of a collective, earnest interest to know more — and to know why.
One man, for instance, demanded to know why John Sheehan, director of communications for the Adirondack Council, thought biomass was a better green energy alternative to fossil fuels like coal and gasoline than wind power. Burning wood chips or plant matter to generate energy releases carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, the man said. Why would you cut down the trees and burn them? After all, they can't continue absorbing carbon dioxide and taking it out of the air if they're not there, he said. Sheehan responded by explaining that he wasn't talking about clear-cutting Adirondack woodlands. "We'd still have the forest,” he said. "Emissions from the (processing) plant and those absorbed by the trees would even out."
Sheehan spoke against the Barton project, giving examples of other energy choices the park could make, because he and the Adirondack Council believe wind turbines would disfigure the wildly beautiful face for which the Adirondack Mountains are cherished. To drive his point home, he brought up the hydro dams that have been built in the park to generate clean energy. Reservoirs now cover many important historical sites, rivers were dammed, and fisheries were drained, Sheehan said gravely.
David Gibson, executive director of The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, agreed that the ecological treasures New York could lose in the wake of wind farm construction and operation are too great to risk just for the generation of green power. "We all want clean, green, much more friendly habits, but we don't think tall industrial structures on ridge lines anywhere is good public policy," said Gibson. The main reason Gibson gave for his agency's position revolves around statutes limiting or prohibiting industrial development and alteration of the landscape within the park. "It's right in our state constitution — not only forever wild — but the policy to preserve and protect the natural beauty," Gibson said.
Jim McAndrew, vice president of strategic projects for the Barton Group, disagreed that the company's project would set a bad precedent for development in the park, or compromise the natural beauty of the area. The site on the northern side of Gore, which hasn't been used to mine garnet for 20 years, already has roads, power lines and windy weather, McAndrew said. It's also already zoned for industrial use, which is rare in the park. McAndrew also pointed out that Barton wouldn't be the only entity benefiting from the wind farm and its 27 megawatt production power. "It's 10 times what Barton Mines uses in a year," he said. "We could power Barton plus the ski area and most of the surrounding communities' households." Besides the farm's potential to decrease the North Creek area's dependence on electricity generated from fossil fuels, McAndrew also believes the farm could act as an educational destination for vacationers.
The panel's final member, Tom Tuffey of PennFuture in Pennsylvania, didn't address tourism potential, but he did stress the uniqueness of the Barton site. Because it's already disturbed and the land has already been altered by heavy industry, he said, the mine is a good place for a 10-turbine farm that would do much less damage than has already been done. Though none of Tuffey's fellow panel members explicitly brought up a concern for the number of birds that would be killed by turbine blades, he addressed that issue as well. "I would predict four birds per year per turbine. That's the average on the East Coast," he said. Source: By ERIN DEMUTH, 7/22/2006.
Germany retained its position as world leader in the field of wind power in 2005, accounting for 38 percent of the global turnover of 10.6 billion euros (13.1 billion dollars). Exports of wind turbines climbed 55 per cent over the previous year to 2.9 billion euros, while domestic sales rose 11 per cent to 1.16 billion euros, according to the German Wind Energy Association. 'We expect similarly good prospects for 2006 because the export market is continuing to grow,' according to Norbert Giese, a wind power specialist with the German Electrical Engineering Association. Germany's main market for exports was the United States, followed by Europe. Some 5 per cent of Germany's domestic energy needs are met by wind power, a figure which could grow to 20 per cent by 2020, according to Ralf Bischof, managing director of the German Association of Wind Power. Experts predict wind power and other renewable sources of energy such as solar and geothermal could account for 25 per cent of Germany's electricity in the next 15 years. Germany currently has 18,054 wind turbines in operation with an installed capacity of 19,299 megawatt. Source: By Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 7/24/2006.
U.S. Geothermal Inc., a Boise-based alternative energy company, will break ground Saturday on what the company said is the first geothermal power plant in Idaho in Raft River, east of Rupert. "This completely clean, green and renewable energy source will soon be put to work for our Idaho ustomers," said Daniel Kunz, chief executive officer and president of U.S. Geothermal. "We're excited to show off this advanced new power plant and all of our hard work to harness this unique and efficient power that literally wells up from deep inside the earth." The plant will be on the same site where the world's first experimental binary geothermal power plant was built and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy between 1974 and 1982. U.S. Geothermal, which is scheduled to begin production next year, has a 20-year agreement to sell power to Idaho Power Co. for delivery of an average of 10 megawatts of electricity each month. Ultimately, the site could yield up to 90 megawatts of electricity, the company said. Source: The Idaho Statesman, 7/27/2006.
U.S. government scientists say they have developed a device to help them determine the efficiency and health of wind turbines. The U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories says it developed the Accurate Time Linked Data Acquisition System, or ATLAS II, to help engineers understand how well a wind turbine used to generate electricity is performing. Housed in an environmentally protected aluminum box, ATLAS II is capable of sampling a large number of signals at once to characterize the inflow, the operational state, and the structural response of a wind turbine. Scientists at Sandia — a National Nuclear Security Administration facility located at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M. — say the device is small, highly reliable, can operate continuously, uses off-the-shelf components, and has lightning protection on all channels. "The system provides us with sufficient data to help us understand how our turbine blade designs perform in real-world conditions, allowing us to improve on the original design and our design codes," said Jose Zayas, the Sandia project leader who has been working on ATLAS II since its inception in 1999. Source: News Provided By UPI, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., 7/26/2006.
Jon Ericson Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa Cedar Falls Utilities is continuing its efforts to burn biomass in one of its two coal-burning electric generation facilities. In March, CFU burned cornstalk and switchgrass cubes as well as oat hull pellets. They've determined the alternative renewable fuels could work in its Streeter Station Number 6 facility, now it's just a matter of settling logistics and making it affordable. "With biomass we could provide 20 percent of our power from Streeter Station Number 6 and that would be renewable. We could almost look at that as a baseload facility," said Ed Schultz, CFU's director of operations.
Last winter, CFU experimented with creating its own cubes of switchgrass and corn stalks. They found oat hulls could be successfully turned into pellets. Of those three, the size of the oat hull pellets made them burn best in the stokers at the electric plant. "We're currently in the process of evaluating the economic, the production and supply chain," Schultz said. CFU spokeswoman Betty Zeman said the biomass experiment is complicated by the fact that CFU would have to create its own supply chain. "Ideally we'd like to have something in 2007," said CFU Electric Production Manager David Rusley. CFU is exploring federal or state clean power incentives to help reduce the cost of producing power from biomass. Contact Jon Ericson at 319-291-1402. Source: McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, 7/26/2006.
With temperatures well into the triple digits in some parts of California yesterday, the California Independent System Operator Corporation, the organization managing the state's open-market, wholesale power grid, issued a Stage Two Emergency. California ISO reports that "rolling blackouts" could occur throughout the state as a result. "California's power emergency emphasizes the need for Congress to extend renewable tax incentives," commented Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association.
Congress enacted incentives to spur new geothermal and other renewable power production in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but industry says these incentivesare too short-term. The federal production tax credit, widely credited with spurring the rapid growth of the wind industry, was expanded in 2005 to include new geothermal and other technologies. But to obtain the credit, facilities must be on-line by January 1, 2008. "Geothermal, and most other renewable power plants, take from three to five years to bring on-line," explained Gawell of GEA. "Under the current law, if a project is not on-line in the next seventeen months it stands to lose the entire ten-year credit."
As a result, new development is already hitting the barrier created by short-term renewable tax credits, according to GEA. In California nearly 800 MW of new geothermal projects are under development, but further progress may hinge on Congress extending the PTC deadline. Provisions Congress included in EPAct to spur new renewable projects by public power authorities, known as Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, face similar time constraints.
Geothermal supplies 6 percent of California's power, nearly half the total non-hydropower renewable energy production in the state- already a substantial baseload power resource during emergency power situations. Recent estimates show that California's geothermal electricity has the potential to more than double or triple in the near term, adding 2,400-4,700 MW of additional power to California's grid.
GEA points out that besides providing reliable, stable power, geothermal offers an environmentally friendly option with significantly lower emissions than comparative fossil fuel facilities, tens of thousands of jobs, and substantial economic output to local, state and national economies. Source: U.S. Newswire. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning, 7/25/2006.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2006 Wind Power Pioneer Award, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America Program. This is the fourth year for the award honoring one public power utility for its leadership in wind power. All public power utility members of the American Public Power Association are eligible to apply, and utilities may nominate themselves. There is no cost to enter. Complete the nomination form and return it to Debbie Rock by 5 p.m. MDT, Sep. 15, 2006. For additional information, call Randy Manion, Western Area Power Administration, at 720-962-7423.
Interested in hydrogen from renewables? We've got the forum for you! On October 4 and 5, the NHA Renewables to Hydrogen Forum comes to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Source: National Hydrogen Association, Washington, DC, 7/25/2006.
A report prepared for a foundation connected with the Edison Electric Institute, the association for investor-owned utilities, underscores the high cost of current environmental compliance for electric utilities and recommends renewable power generation as a means of reducing the costs and growing risks associated with potential future greenhouse gas mandates.
“While it is extremely unlikely that mandatory [carbon dioxide] controls will take effect during the period examined in this report [i.e., over the next decade], uncertainty over the eventual stringency, structure, and pace of potential [carbon dioxide] emission reductions adds significant risks for utility investment in new base-load generation,” the report states. “Given the size and scope of the issue, coupled with the long expected lifetimes of generating facilities, the uncertainty regarding possible greenhouse gas regulation may represent as much risk to utility supply planning as the uncertainty regarding fuel prices.”
The report, “Why are Electricity Prices Increasing? An Industry-Wide Perspective,” was produced by the Brattle Group for the Edison Foundation, which is affiliated with the Edison Electric Institute. Fuel and purchased power cost increases, the report says, “have been enormous and are the largest cause of recent electric cost increases.” The Brattle Group’s analysis found that fuel and purchased power costs account for roughly 95 percent of the cost increases for utilities in the last five years.
The report states that electric generators spent about $3.5 billion on compliance as far back as 1999, and that, according to an EEI survey of recent 10K annual reports, electric utilities spent at least $3.2 billion in 2005 on environmental capital investments. Moreover, the report cites fuel costs (which for wind are zero), as an increasing risk factor. “[T]he ramifications of higher gas commodity prices and the related effects on the prices of coal, emission credits and wholesale electric power are tipping the balance toward greater risk for regulated gas and electric utilities and for those generators most dependent on natural gas,” the report states, directly citing an analysis from a major credit rating agency. To view the report, go to www.eei.org. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly, 7/21/2006.
Plan to join us at the beautiful Chena Hot Springs Resort, August 20-22. The conference will feature:
Chena Hot Springs Resort serves over 70,000 visitors a year, and is the largest wintertime tourism destination in Alaska outside the Anchorage area. Source: Alaska Geothermal Conference, 7/25/2006.
Mark your calendars for the Southwest Renewable Energy Conference August 2-3, 2006, Flagstaff, Arizona. The Southwest Renewable Energy Conference is a forum for the exchange of ideas and information about renewable energy. The conference program covers a wide range of information to encourage thoughtful evaluation and discussion on the development of wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy on tribal, federal, state and private lands. Topics will include: Climate change risks, regulations and mitigations strategies, Global energy markets and their effect on renewable energy, The water-energy nexus, Utility acquisition of renewable energy resources: To buy or build, Financing renewables, Making renewable energy projects attractive to utilities, Transmission policy and planning, Tribal energy projects in the Southwest – Lessons learned, Costs of wind project integration, Renewable energy credit markets and solar initiatives, Western Governors' Association – Clean and Diversified Energy Initiative. Registration is now open. For further information, please contact: Kristine Newton at 303-384-0414, or Shelly Collings at 720-233-5590. Source: Southwest Renewable Energy Conference, 6-15-2006.
The Geothermal Resources Council will convene its 2006 Annual Meeting at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego, CA on September 10-13, 2006. Committee organization and planning for the event is underway. Check the GRC website for more information about the meeting – and the companion Geothermal Energy Association Trade Show – as it becomes available. See you in San Diego! Source: Geothermal Resources Council - 6/15/2006.
On July 17, the Department of the Interior announced that President Bush intends to nominate Bob Johnson, currently Regional Director for the Lower Colorado Region, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. Johnson has been a Bureau employee since 1975, beginning his career in the Mid-Pacific Region in Sacramento. He has held many leadership positions with the agency, including Regional Director, Deputy Regional Director, Chief of the Water, Land, and Power Operations Division in the Lower Colorado Region, and a management position in the Commissioner’s Office in Washington, D.C. Bill Rinne has been serving as acting Commissioner, and will continue serving in that capacity until Johnson is sworn in. Source: NWPPA e-Bulletin for Week of 7-24-06.
Idaho is ranked 13th in the nation for wind energy potential. The prospect has several small-scale renewable energy producers lining up to build windmills and other infrastructure. But state officials remain a road block. Many are waiting for the upcoming release of a state utilities wind study to see just how friendly the state will be to wind power. Last summer, the Idaho Public Utilities commission, a three-member panel appointed by the governor, approved a moratorium on a policy that required utilities to buy small amounts of power from wind farms. The upcoming study may offer new solutions. Source: Associated Press, 7/24/2006.
Solar roof panels are to become compulsory on all new houses in Northern Ireland from April 2008, the Secretary of State announced today. Peter Hain – who disclosed that he had cut his own energy bill in half by installing panels on his home in Wales – said he was committed to "green energy". Mr. Hain announced the proposed change to building regulations in Northern Ireland as he launched an £8m renewable energy household programme. The grant aid, part of the Government's £59m renewable energy fund, will help 4,000 householders to install renewable energy systems in their homes. The change to building regulations will make the use of solar panels obligatory in all new homes, office blocks and public sector buildings. Solar panels heat water while solar photo-voltaic panels, such as those used by Mr. Hain, generate electricity.
Another form of so-called "micro-generation" is the use of a domestic-sized wind turbine designed for houses.
Mr. Hain said 100 percent grant assistance was being made available to install solar hot water systems in private-sector fuel-poor households. In the public sector, the Housing Executive is to install solar water-heating panels in 600 of its 90,000 properties. Mr. Hain said: "Northern Ireland is leading the rest of the UK in renewable energy and the household programme is another important milestone.”
The Secretary of State announced the new initiative during a visit to Comber during which he inspected a house which has benefited from renewable energy measures. He said the aim was to reduce electricity, oil and gas usage by persuading householders to switch to renewable energy. The Government's target is to generate 12 percent of electricity in Northern Ireland from indigenous renewable sources by 2012. But there is some way to go. In 2005/06 5.8 percent of consumption was from renewables with just 3 percent of that coming from indigenous sources. Indigenous wind power capacity in Northern Ireland now stands at 106 megawatts against a maximum demand for electricity of 1,700MW per day. Meanwhile, a Government- backed experimental £8.5m tidal energy scheme, which was approved last December, is expected to be up and running in Strangford Lough this autumn. Source: By Robin Morton, 7/24/2006.
California's solar power industry is one step closer to a $3.4 billion windfall, with only one vote to go. In January, the California Public Utilities Commission created the California Solar Initiative. The 10-year, $3.4 billion program, the largest solar program in the country, was designed to make solar power a mainstream option for Californians. A bill codifying the program and making statutory changes to expand the scope of the initiative, is wending its way through the Legislature, and will next go to the Senate energy committee in early August for a vote on amendments made by the Assembly in June. In the latest version of the bill, SB 1, amendments important to the solar industry relating to solar thermal have been reinstated.
The most recent amendments allocate up to $100.8 million in incentives for solar thermal and solar water heating devices, which save fossil fuel, reduce utility costs and produce clean energy. In previous iterations of the bill, introduced by Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, provisions for solar thermal were taken out. Solar thermal heating systems generally are less expensive than solar electric systems. That means a home or business owner who doesn't have $10,000 or more to spend on solar electric can make a smaller investment – $2,000 to $4,000 – and still realize the benefits. "It greatly widens the market base," said Gary Gerber, president of solar installation company Sun Light & Power Co. in Berkeley."
mscanlon@bizjournals.com | 925-598-1405. Source: By Mavis Scanlon, East Bay Business Times, 7/21/2006.
Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell recently announced that the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority has awarded a $193,000 grant to Southwest Windpower to place 15 small, advanced-technology wind turbines at schools, local government building and other public facilities across the state. According to Rendell, successful applicants are receiving one of the 1.8-kilowatt wind systems and basic installation at no charge. The units are valued at $10,000 each. The system recipients include the Bayfront Center for Maritime Studies in Erie, where students will help craft educational activities, and the rural Troy Township in Bradford County, where the turbine at the municipal building will serve as one of the area's first alternative energy projects. Contact: Kate Philips, Office of Governor Rendell, phone 717-787-1323. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 7/12/2006.
With its massive oil refineries and petrochemical plants, Texas often is viewed as a pollution-friendly red state. But when it comes to wind, it turns out the Lone Star State is even greener than California. The American Wind Energy Association reported today that Texas has surpassed California as the nation's top wind energy producer – breaking the Golden State's 25-year stranglehold on the top spot. "There was a time that California accounted for 80 percent of the world's capacity. To have another state come along and take over the leadership, it's definitely a sign that times are changing for the industry," said Tom Gray, deputy executive director of the association.
The state's 25 or so wind farms now account for 2,370 megawatts of power, about 50 megawatts more than California and enough to power 600,000 average American homes. Texas General Land Office Commissioner Jerry Patterson expects wind production to hit at least 3,000 megawatts by the end of the year as new projects come on line. He attributes the growth to simple economics – a combination of the volatile and rising cost of natural gas, improvements in wind turbine technology and federal tax incentives. And he thinks Texas, with its history and abundance of hot wind, is in a perfect position to capitalize. "This is energy, and we've been in the energy business for 100 years," Patterson said. As hot as the market is, wind accounts for only 2 percent to 3 percent of the state's energy.
There are tentative plans to build enough farms to provide an additional 16,000 megawatts of energy, said Mike Sloan, managing consultant with the Wind Coalition, an Austin-based wind energy advocacy organization. The biggest obstacle is a lack of transmission lines to move the energy to the areas that need it. All of the state's wind farms are in the western half of the state. Most are centered in the Abilene-Sweetwater area – far away from many of Texas' power-hungry metropolises. Several wind farms have been proposed for the coast, but they are years away from operating. Under current rules, it takes at least five years to construct a major transmission line, but only a year to build a wind farm, Sloan said. This makes it untenable for many banks to loan the hundreds of millions of dollars needed for wind projects.
Because of the situation, the industry is eagerly awaiting proposed rule changes the state's Public Utility Commission is expected to release next week. "If Texas does a really good job on those rules and make it clear how it will work, then we could end up with a whole lot of wind power in Texas," he said.
San Antonio's CPS Energy, which is building a new coal plant, has followed the state's wind-blown trend.
The utility's wind projects currently account for more than 263 megawatts of energy – enough to power 80,000 homes. The power comes from the Desert Sky Wind Farm near Iraan and the Cottonwood Creek Wind Farm near Sweetwater. The utility expects to nearly double its wind power by the end of 2007, adding about 240 megawatts from an expansion of the Cottonwood Creek project. At that time, renewable energy sources, mainly wind, will account for roughly 12 percent of CPS Energy's capacity. Source: Anton Caputo, Express-News Staff Writer, 7/25/2006.
Wind farms in central and western Kansas would have substantially helped to meet high electricity loads during Kansas City’s hot summer of 2003, according to a new study conducted by Spectrum Technologies for the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club. Wind speeds, on average, were strong during July and August 2003, when area utilities experienced record electricity demand, the study said. Had they been in place at that time, wind farms with state-of-the-art turbines would have produced power at a level well above average at three sites studied.
The study was performed by analyzing newly available “tall tower” wind data measured at a height commensurate with the big turbines now being used in wind farms in the Plains states. The study was done in response to concerns expressed by Kansas utilities that wind power would not be available when they needed it the most, during summer heat waves. Modeling the output of a 1.5-MW General Electric wind turbine at sites in Kearny, Logan, and Ellsworth Counties, the study found that winds on average were actually stronger on the hottest days in July and August 2003 than on other days. “This study indicates that wind power could greatly reduce the need for high-cost natural gas and purchased power now used to meet high loads on hot days,” said Brooks Albery, spokesman for the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly, 7/21/2006.
U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), Chairman of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, today became an original cosponsor of the Renewable Schools Energy Act to help public school districts in Colorado purchase renewable energy products. “The Renewable Schools Energy Act would help public school districts that are suffering from the high prices of electricity and natural gas,” said Allard.
The bill would provide zero interest bonds to public school districts for the purchase of renewable energy products. These federal funds may be used to install solar panels on the roofs of schools, purchase geothermal heat pumps or small wind turbines or other improvements to increase renewable energy resources.
States eligible to receive funding under this legislation include Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Utah and Idaho. The total bonding authority of this bill is $300 million, with $150 million available in 2007, $100 million in 2008 and $50 million in 2009. Public school districts would have 20 years from the issuance to repay the zero interest bonds.
The Renewable Schools Energy Act, which was introduced by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, has been referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance for consideration. Source: Jeanette Alberg, 7/25/2006.
The new issue of the Nebraska Energy Quarterly is now available. Source: Nebraska Energy Quarterly, 7/27/2006.
The Navajo County Board of Supervisors gave their approval for the issuance of $39.25 million in solid waste disposal revenue bonds by the Industrial Development Authority of Show Low to finance the biomass electrical plant to be located next to the Abitibi paper mill near Snowflake.
Attorney for the Snowflake White Mountain Power Biomass Plant John Overdorff explained that the county will not bear any liability for repayment of the bonds, but their approval is required because the bonds are tax exempt. Biomass plant official Scott Higginson explained that construction on the plant has already begun, and over one years’ worth of fuel has been hauled to the site. He also told the board that a used boiler is being shipped from Texas, and a new boiler, turbine and generator are currently in Maine being inspected prior to shipment.
According to Higginson, construction is expected to take a little over a year, and the plant should be in operation by the end of 2007. He noted a 20-year agreement to sell the power to Arizona Public Service Co. is already in place and the biomass plant’s sister company has already started work gathering fuel from areas damaged by the Rodeo-Chedeski fire. “You should begin seeing vertical building by September, and we expect to finish construction by fall of 2007,” Higginson said.
Higginson also told the board that approximately 60 people are already employed with sister company Renegy gathering fuel, and that about 10 more permanent jobs will be created when the plant begins operation. The biomass plant will burn a mixture of paper sludge created at Abitibi and wood chips procured from forest thinning projects to create energy. Because it is using products that would otherwise wind up in a landfill, the plant is considered a solid waste disposal facility and is eligible for certain tax credits, including the tax exempt bonds approved by the supervisors. Higginson told the board that the biomass plant will benefit the local area in several ways, including the creation of new jobs, stimulating the economy, increasing the stability of the local power grid, and by improving local forest health through the removal of dead trees. Source: By Tammy Gray-Searles, 7/21/2006.
This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
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