Green Power

NYMEX/Evolution Markets Announce Green Exchange

Evolution Markets has announced along with NYMEX the launch of The Green Exchange. The Green Exchange will provide the world's most comprehensive marketplace for environmental commodities such as global carbon credits and allowances, U.S. emissions allowances, and renewable energy credits.

This is an all inclusive marketplace that will serve as a major step forward in creating robust and liquid trading markets designed to address our greatest environmental challenges such as global warming, clean air, and sustainable energy.

The Green Exchange will be a standalone company. Its products will be traded on the NYMEX Globex Trading Platform and trades will be cleared through the NYMEX clearinghouse. It will provide a compliment to Evolution Markets' existing OTC brokerage operations much in the same way NYMEX does for natural gas or coal markets, including increased liquidity through online or screen trading and a robust OTC clearing platform.

Trading on the Green Exchange is scheduled to begin Q1'08, and we look forward to working with all interested market participants in designing the best possible exchange marketplace.

Along with NYMEX and our other partners, MorganStanley, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Merill Lynch, Constellation, Tudor Investments, and ICAP, I invite you to learn more about The Green Exchange. Source: Evolution Markets, 12/12/2007.

Alabama Power Expands Renewable Energy; Now Available to Residential and Business Customers

Alabama Power customers will pay less for renewable energy, following a vote today by the Alabama Public Service Commission. The vote also allows commercial and industrial customers to begin signing up for the Renewable Energy Rate.

"Expanding our Renewable Energy Rate and making it less expensive is another way we're working to meet our customers' need for affordable, reliable power while working to protect the environment," said Willard Bowers, Alabama Power's vice president for Environmental Affairs.

Beginning Jan. 1, residential customers can buy 50 kilowatt-hour (kwh) blocks of renewable energy for just $2.25 per block. That's a 25 percent price reduction from the previous rate. Commercial and industrial customers, meanwhile, can now purchase 100 kwh blocks for just $4.50.

The revised Renewable Energy Rate also lets residential, commercial and industrial customers tie a percentage of their monthly power usage to renewable energy. Customers can sign up at the 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent or 20 percent level.

The price of renewable energy is in addition to a customer's regular, monthly electric bill. There's no limit to the number of blocks a customer can purchase, but those who sign up must agree to buy at least one block a month for a year.

Switchgrass and other biomass, such as wood chips, are the primary fuel sources for the Renewable Energy Rate. By purchasing renewable energy, customers are helping add biomass to the company's overall fuel mix.

For more information about the Renewable Energy Rate, or to sign up, residential customers can call Customer Service at 1-800-245-2244. Commercial and industrial customers can call the Business Call Center at 1-888-430-5787. All customers can also sign up online. Source: WEBWIRE--Friday, December 07, 2007.

Visit U.S. DOE EERE Green Power Network for more information.

Renewable Energy Technologies

$45 Mill Wave Energy Deal Signed

Block Island finds itself at the center of initiatives in both wave and wind energy that are meeting with mixed reactions from the state.

Governor Donald Carcieri is to announce the signing of an agreement between the state Office of Energy Resources, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and wave energy company Oceanlinx Limited to create two wave energy plants in Rhode Island coastal waters, including a pilot plant off Block Island that could reduce island electric rates.

The agreement hinges on state legislators approving a key bill next session to establish a state power authority. A similar bill died in the General Assembly last session.

Confident that the bill will pass early next year, Gov. Carcieri is expected to give the deal his public blessing at a press conference at the University of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay Campus on Tuesday, December 4, that will focus on state energy policy and the development of both wind and wave technology.

Meanwhile a proposal from a New York wind energy company that filed for permits and made a public announcement before talking to the state has met with a more chilly reception. But company representatives this week said they are committed to the project and are pushing for approval to start gathering the data needed to build offshore wind farms in state waters. As part of the plan, the company wants to install a meteorological mast south of Block Island to measure wind speed and direction.
 
Oceanlinx announced October 26 that it had signed an agreement with Rhode Island to build two plants in Rhode Island. The announcement was made as the company began preparations to make an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.

The deal has a number of ambitious components. Under it, the company will base its U.S. headquarters and East Coast manufacturing center in Rhode Island.

It will also be a partner in a newly established Renewable Energy Center of Excellence in cooperation with the state and URI. The state Office of Energy Resources has already given the university $125,000 to start the center, said Andrew Dzykewicz, commissioner of the state Office of Energy Resources.

At next Tuesday's event, the university is also expected to announce the creation of an Energy Advisory Board and a public lecture series to educate state residents about renewable energy and energy conservation.

Dzykewicz said he thinks the General Assembly will pass the legislation needed to create a power authority early next session. He said he and the governor have spent a lot of time talking to legislators about the importance of the bill to facilitate renewable energy projects.

The newly created power authority would raise $45 million in bond money for Oceanlinx. That's in addition to $750,000 in financing the company received from New England states, including Rhode Island, for preliminary studies in November 2003.

The company says it is ready to start work in Rhode Island. "We are ready and raring to go," said Andrew Hold, a communications specialist from London firm Finsbury Group, which represents Oceanlinx. "We just need the relevant approvals."

Oceanlinx's first project would be a pilot plant in waters just off Block Island, expected to cost between $3 million and $4 million. The project is expected to get streamlined federal permitting as long as the 1.5 megawatts of electricity generated is given away. The energy would go to Block Island, says Dzykewicz, and the state could look to get a contribution to its renewable energy fund in return.

The second project would be a much larger commercial plant off the southern coast of Rhode Island that would generate 15 to 20 megawatts. The state consumes about 1,000 megawatts on average, Dzykewicz says.

The wave farms, and the public/private partnership, would be the first of their kind in the United States, says Dzykewicz.

Wave turbines can also be used to prevent beach erosion, he says, or as breakwaters. The plants sit low on the water, creating minimal visual impact. The technology can also be used to create desalinization plants, which could be the answer to water shortages in South County.

State scientists have advised that wave generation will "dovetail perfectly" with wind farms, says Dzykewicz, since wave action tends to lag behind high winds by a couple of days.

Dzykewicz says he expects the pilot wave plant off Block Island to be in place within a year. "It's not going to make your electric bills zero," he said. "But there will absolutely be a reduction."

Block Island Power Company's (BIPCo) Cliff McGinnes Sr. said this week that nobody has approached the utility about the plan, but "we're all for it. We'd be more than happy to cooperate with them."

The island's peak summer electric consumption is about 4 megawatts, he said, but off-season use is much lower. In the past week, for instance, BIPCo generated about 1.3 megawatts, less than the 1.5 megawatts the pilot wave plant could produce at maximum output.

The energy that might come from a wave plant would essentially replace the diesel the power company now ships over, said McGinnes. Consumers would still get a bill to cover the company's infrastructure and staff, but the fuel cost adjustment that now makes up a large percentage of each bill would be slashed. The reduction would depend on overall consumption and the plant's output, but McGinnes guessed that at times, bills could be cut in half. "It's promising," McGinnes said. "But a lot of things need to be worked out, and the devil is in the details."

First Warden Kim Gaffett said she had not yet heard of the plan. "I wonder how [the power] will make landfall," she said. "But if it's going to benefit us, I'm all for it."

The local Energy Task Group is scheduled to meet this Monday at 2 p.m. at the Fire Barn, she added. The group is expected to give a recommendation soon about the future of BIPCo. Among the options the group has considered has been a municipal buyout of the tiny utility, which has rates three times higher than the rest of the state and recently announced that it is applying to raise rates by another 9 percent.
 
Oceanlinx designs, manufactures and installs industry-leading wave turbines. It has one test plant in place at Port Kembla in New South Wales, Australia, which company spokesman Holt said has been functioning since 2005 and "will shortly be connected to the grid." When that happens, "it will be the world's first commercial onshore power plant."

An Oceanlinx project in Victoria, Australia, will probably be the next commercial plant to come on line, Holt said, and when it does it will be the largest offshore wave plant in the world.

The technology planned for the Rhode Island project is different from that at the Australian test plant, Holt said, because instead of being anchored to the ocean floor in inshore waters, it will be tethered to the bottom by cables and sit further offshore. The wave farm will also sit slightly lower in the water, protruding about 28 feet above the ocean surface.

Using what it calls oscillating water technology, the wave chambers use wave action to compress air and drive a turbine. A hallmark of the technology is that computers measure the air pressure and alter the angle of blades in the turbine so that although the wave action ebbs and flows at different speeds, the turbine spins at a constant speed in a single direction. The turbine is the only major moving part, and sits in a sealed box slightly above the water line.

Oceanlinx representatives came to Block Island May 30 to meet with a local energy task group. The local group later discussed the project and forwarded some concerns to the state.

Dzykewicz said this week that he is looking forward to further talks between the state, the company and local officials as the project moves forward.
 
Rhode Island will secure the permits and float the bonds. "Any time you want the state to own something, everybody starts to shake," says Steve Kass of the governor's office. But in this case, the state will sell off the pieces of the deal. That way, he said, the state remains in control and will get the best deal from private frims. It's the same model the state wants to use for wind farms.

For instance, Kass says state taxpayers shouldn't worry about the $45 million bond proposed to pay for the wave plants. "It won't be on taxpayers' backs at all," he said. That's because part of the deal would be a power purchasing agreement with Rhode Island's main utility company that would guarantee a solid return, making the bond an attractive deal to sell off to private investors. "If National Grid signs a contract for 20 years, any number of investors will buy the bonds," he said. "They would be crazy not to."

The purchasing agreement would mean that Rhode Island would sell the electricity from the plant to the grid, then be first in line to buy however much it needs back at a set rate. Any excess is profit. The energy would also earn the state renewable energy credits.

If the General Assembly passes the necessary legislation, Block Island will be the first community in the state to benefit from power at a stable rate that's no longer linked to oil prices. "We want want to reduce your power costs," said Kass. "You [Block Island residents] are going to be the big winners in this."  Source: By Pippa Jack, 12/03/2007, 12/3/2007.

Companies See Green: Local, State Incentives Have Impact on Building, Heating Choices

It's beginning to look a lot greener in New Hampshire and Maine as more companies follow a trend to use more renewable energy methods to save money and help the environment.

"Yes. I think anywhere you look your local companies are going green," said Jack Ruderman, deputy director of the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning in Concord. "I think it's been building for several years, but it really accelerated when oil prices spiked."

Ruderman said the price of oil is close to $100 per barrel. He said higher prices for electricity, natural gas, home heating oil and propane are driving companies as well as state and municipal governments to go green.

In Epping, TD BankNorth officials plan to build a new bank branch at Epping Crossing that will include solar panels on the roof.

Clay Mitchell, Epping's town planner, said the bank agreed to incorporate a certain percentage of renewable energy features as a result of a town ordinance that passed at town meeting in March.

Mitchell said Epping's Carbon Coalition Climate Change Resolution made the town the first in New Hampshire to pass such an ordinance.

He said the TD Banknorth project represents the first one that was approved after the new law was enacted. "I think what we found was it put them (TD Banknorth officials) in a position where they had to think a little different," Mitchell said. "They not only met the requirement of our ordinance, they exceeded it."

Mitchell said TD Banknorth's seven solar panels represent more than they would have been required to do. He said they will provide seven kilovolt amps, or KVA, of power.

Mitchell has received a number of calls from other New Hampshire communities considering asking town meeting voters next year if they want to add similar renewable energy ordinances.
 
Mitchell said Epping residents wanted to do something now instead of wait for the state or federal government to mandate environmental conservation.

Several New Hampshire and Maine companies have decided on their own to add more renewable energy techniques within the last year.

For example, Heine North America in Dover decided to use solar based lighting in its new warehouse facility that was constructed earlier this year, according to Ben St. Jean, president of the U.S. operation for parent company Heine Optotechnik, of Munich, Germany.

St. Jean said the company wanted to be socially responsible and go with renewable energy methods that would help the environment. He said he does not know how much money the company will save from the solar-based lighting, but the investment should be paid off in three years.

Heine manufactures medical diagnostic instruments, principally scopes. The company moved from its former location in the 1 Washington Center mill in downtown Dover to its new 22,000-square-foot facility on Venture Drive this fall.

St. Jean said the new building also used a non-petroleum coating instead of tar for its roof and low e-glass windows help keep the building cooler in the summer and retain more heat during the winter. Heine also installed cork flooring, which is renewable, St. Jean said.

Andrew Kellar is the owner of Simply Green in Stratham, a company that specializes in selling and delivering bio-heat to residential and commercial customers. Bio-heat is a mixture of traditional heating oil and oil derived from agricultural feed stocks. Kellar said his company's bio-heat product utilizes soybean oil.

One of his newest customers is Brazonics of Hampton, an aerospace supplier, Kellar said. Steve Horton, a Brazonics quality assurance manager, was already a Simply Green customer and he told his manager how he was saving money with biofuel. Brazonics decided to try it to heat its 44,000-square-foot facility.

Simply Green's website quotes Brazonics facility manager Ray Jelison as saying the company saved 20 cents per gallon by going with biofuel. Kellar estimated that Simply Green will save Brazonics from $800 to $1,000 in heating oil costs this winter. He said homeowners who use biofuel tend to save between $100 to $250 per winter heating season.

Kellar said his company is also providing biofuel for the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport, Maine, which has 111 guest rooms and is a full-service banquet facility. He said he has also received some calls from Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine, and expects to hear from more businesses and homeowners.

Co-owners Jack Bigham, his wife, Pam, Jay Lawrie, a builder, and Dave Glover, a plumber, all from Barrington, decided the time was right to sell solar heating and electricity systems, and energy efficient appliances.

The store sells solar hot water heaters, energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, and solar tube skylights.

Bigham said a solar hot water heating system for a family of four can cost up to $7,000 and take between three to five years to recoup the investment.

The state Office of Energy and Planning's Ruderman said some businesses and homeowners have been reluctant to invest in renewable energy, but state and federal rebate programs along with the high cost of oil are making alternative energy more cost effective.

In 2006, New Hampshire lawmakers passed a renewable energy property tax exemption. Also, 62 cities and town offer property tax exemptions to businesses and homeowners who use renewable energy.

For example, the Lakes Region towns of Alton, Belmont, Meredith and Sanbornton offer a solar energy exemption. Several Seacoast municipalities, including Portsmouth, Rye, Hampton, Barrington, Durham and New Durham, also offer solar energy exemptions.

Portsmouth, Farmington and the Carroll County towns of Sandwich, Tamworth, and Wakefield also offer exemptions for wind power and wood heating, according to the state agency.

The federal U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 offers several renewable energy and energy efficiency tax credits for items put into use on or after Jan. 1, 2006.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch also signed House Bill 873 into law in May that created a 25 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard. According to the law, New Hampshire wants 25 percent of its total power to come from renewable energy sources. Maine lawmakers adopted an RPS law in 1999 which called for 30 percent of all power produced by public utility companies come from renewable energy sources.

University of New Hampshire economics professors Ross Gittell and Matt Magnusson authored a report in February that discussed the benefits of adopting such a RPS law. They concluded it will generate 1,100 new jobs and $1 million in new annual state revenue. Source: By ROBERT M. COOK, Staff Writer, 12/09/2007.

Idaho Power Buys Geothermal Energy

Electricity users could pay a few cents more for their power if the Idaho Public Utilities Commission approves a request from Idaho Power Co.

The utility wants to incorporate money it spends buying geothermal energy as part of a formula called a "power cost adjustment." The company uses the PCA formula to either grant discounts or levy surcharges to customers each spring.

Depending on how much water flows through the company's hydroelectric facilities each year, Idaho Power either discounts customers or charges extra. If the commission approves the request, customers could pay more on their bills to also cover in part what it costs the utility to buy electricity from a geothermal plant near Malta owned by Boise-based U.S. Geothermal.

The commission and Idaho Power say the costs aren't likely to break anyone's bank.

"The costs will be insignificant," said Dennis Lopez, an Idaho Power spokesman.

Under a contract with the company, Idaho Power will pay about $52.50 for each megawatt-hour produced at the plant.

The market rate was $68.02 for peak electricity on Monday and $54.75 for non-peak power.

Idaho Power will buy about 13 megawatts from the company under a 25-year agreement in which costs escalate over time. In 2032, for example, the utility will pay $73.92 for each megawatt-hour.

U.S. Geothermal is offering to sell 45.5 megawatts to the utility, and a deal to buy that power could develop later. Idaho Power plans to buy 200 megawatts of geothermal electricity by 2022. Ten megawatts can meet the electricity needs of about 7,500 people.

Geothermal power is more reliable than wind and solar energy, it has virtually no emissions and it has promising potential in Idaho, according to a 2006 report by the Geothermal Energy Association. That report cited a January 2006 study by the Geothermal Task Force of the Western Governors' Association that estimated Idaho could produce 850 megawatts of geothermal electricity by 2015 and 1,670 megawatts by 2025.

Just 850 megawatts is enough to meet 30 percent of Idaho's energy needs.

The U.S. Geothermal plant, which is already selling about 10 megawatts of electricity to Idaho Power, is expected to be selling its contracted amount by June. It is Idaho's first commercial geothermal electricity plant.

Eventually, the plant, built on an abandoned Department of Energy test site, could produce 100 megawatts of power at its full capacity.

For comparison, Idaho Power Co.'s Milner Dam - just one of 17 hydro facilities run by the utility company - has a 58-megawatt capacity.

The state commission will decide on Idaho Power's request after a public comment period ends later this month. Source: By Matt Christensen, Times News Writer.

Honeywell to Install $4,000,000 US Wood Biomass Boiler in Elmira, N.Y.

Honeywell has been awarded a $4,000,000 US contract with Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, N.Y., to implement a renewable energy technology and infrastructure upgrade program to help the medical center cut greenhouse gas emissions and insulate its operating budget from fluctuations in energy costs. The performance contract, guaranteed to save Arnot Ogden more than $535,000 US in annual energy and operational costs, includes the installation of a biomass boiler powered by 7,000 tons of wood chips from a local mill to provide heat for the Center. Source: ep Overviews, 12/12/2007.

GE Energy To Supply Wind Turbines For Projects In Two States  

General Electric Co.'s GE Energy unit has received a contract valued at about $650,000,000 US to provide 333 wind turbines to Noble Environmental Power, an independent power company based in Essex, Conn. The Atlanta-based energy products provider said the contract is for new and expansion projects in New York and Texas that will add nearly 500 MW of wind power capacity. This new contract is the fourth wind turbine supply contract GE has signed with Noble, which is majority-owned by JP Morgan Partners affiliates. The four contracts include 877 GE 1.5-megawatt wind turbines with a total value of more than $1.5 billion US. Source: CNN Money, Dec. 11, '07.

Contact Daniel Mandli, Director Operations, Noble Environmental Power, 860-581-5010; or Kristin Schwarz, GE Energy, 518-385-7343. Source: ep Overviews, 12/12/2007.

Renewables Investments Seen over $100 bln in 2007

World annual investments in renewable energy will top $100 billion for the first time in 2007, led by wind power, according to a report issued at United Nations climate talks recently. "Policies to promote renewable energy have mushroomed over the past few years," the Renewable Energy Policy Network, which links governments, industries and other groups, said in its study. "In 2007, global annual investment in renewable energy will exceed $100 billion," it said of growth for wind, solar, hydro and other renewable energy sources. The report did not give an overall comparison for 2006 but said that investment in new renewable electricity generating capacity rose to $66 billion in 2007 from $55 billion in 2006 and $39 billion in 2005. Source: GEA Update December 12 2007.

Entrepreneur Hopes to Create Energy From Wood Waste

Arizona entrepreneur Robert Worsley once asked what would happen if he put sales catalogs in the hands of bored airplane passengers, offering them high-end motorized tie racks and garden statues.

The answer, after some adjustments, was a sometimes-turbulent company called SkyMall that was bringing in $82 million in annual revenue when he sold it in 2001. Its catalogs still are found on most U.S. flights.

Now Worsley has another idea that he's pitching, along with the investors in Tempe-based Renegy Holdings Inc.  Worsley is asking what happens when the "green waste" from thinning forests and people trimming their trees that normally goes into a landfill is burned to make electricity. Throw in some free paper sludge from a newsprint factory and the singed wood from wildland fires that cook the western United States each summer, and Worsley predicts there's enough woody waste around North America to generate a gigawatt of electricity at dozens of biomass-fueled power plants. That's enough electricity to power about 250,000 homes in Arizona. Worsley and Renegy plan to open a $53 million, 24-megawatt biomass power plant this spring near Snowflake.  Worsley discussed his plan from behind a pile of sealed plastic bags sitting on the conference table in the back of his Mesa home. Each is labeled with its organic contents: pi?on, juniper, sorghum, construction mix. He elaborates on their respective energy potential as the scent of fresh-cut pine wafts from the bags.

The company has amassed acres of wood chips, about 300,000 tons, and the state's two largest utilities have agreed to buy electricity from the project. Renegy collects "green waste" from landfill drop-offs across northern Arizona, including Payson, Pinetop-Lakeside and Strawberry. The company also has deals for forest-thinning projects that are designed to prevent massive fires.

Fire suppression has caused many forests, like Arizona's ponderosa woodlands, to become choked with smaller trees that can cause unnaturally large fires. But as forest managers thin the thickets, the trimmings usually either are burned in place with controlled fires or sent to a landfill.
 
Anyone who has sat around a burning campfire might doubt the cleanliness of burning wood for energy, but Worsley says the biomass burning plant is much cleaner than it would appear.

For starters, all of the particulate matter that makes visible smoke is removed from the emissions, so there are no visible emissions except possibly heat shimmers.

Burning biomass only releases the carbon dioxide from plants that already cycles through the atmosphere. That makes it less of a contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming than carbon from underground sources like coal.

Furthermore, if foresters thin the trees in fire-prone areas and leave the waste in place, it remains a fire hazard. If they burn it under controlled conditions, it causes particulate pollution, and if it is sent to the dump, it releases methane as it decomposes, a more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Forest conservation experts are supportive of biomass projects so long as they remove a sustainable amount of material from the forests.

"We agree that appropriately scaled industry is vital," said Ethan Aumack, director of restoration programs for Grand Canyon Trust in Flagstaff and co-chairman of the governor's forest health council.

"There's a balancing act," he said. "It is critical that the tail of (industry) doesn't wag the forest-management dog. Finding the sweet spot is something we and others are working on."

Worsley grew up in Boise, Idaho, and moved to Arizona in 1980 for a job with Price Waterhouse after graduating from Brigham Young University with an accounting degree. He launched SkyMall Inc. in 1989, and it sold in 2001 for about $47 million to Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc.

He left to pursue opportunities with his newly acquired assets of New Mexico and Arizona Land Co., including 100,000 acres across northern Arizona and mineral rights stretching from Albuquerque to Kingman. Shortly after he bought the land, the massive "Rodeo-Chediski" fire in 2002 scorched 469,000 acres in the area, giving him a better idea --using the wasted wood to make electricity.

As he searched for a site for his proposed biomass plant, Abitibi-Consolidated paper mill officials called and offered free sludge if he built the plant next door.

The plant, which is a supplier to The Arizona Republic, makes newsprint from 100 percent recycled material, but some of the old paper brought in isn't strong enough to reuse, and the company has to dispose of it.

Renegy has 20-year contracts to sell the energy to Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service Co. beginning sometime around February, although a start date hasn't been announced.

"With biomass, there is no restriction when it can run," said Lori Singleton, SRP's manager of sustainability initiatives and technology, comparing the power plant to other renewables such as solar that run intermittently. "It can go 24/7."

It will help utilities meet their requirements to generate 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025. Source: The ArizonaRepublic12/11/07.

Mishawaka Schools Look at Potential Wind Power

The winds of change could soon blow through Mishawaka after plans to build a series of power generating wind turbines for the city's schools take another step forward.

School board members got their first look at a plan to build a series of massive wind turbines to help generate electricity for schools across the district. The board has been studying this idea for more than a year, and Tuesday night they got their first look at the data from that study.

"You could offset that electrical use without much problem using wind power," Alternate Energy Solutions President John Wolar told the board.

Michigan based Alternate Energy Solutions was hired to study the viability of wind energy more than a year ago. Using 373 days worth of data collected from a $10,000 150-foot test tower built just north of Ireland Road on Ireland Trail, Wolar calculated that 20-25 percent of the wind blowing through southern Mishawaka can be harvested, by building a 250 to 300 foot wind turbine that would generate up to two megawatts of energy.

That's about one fifth of the total energy the school corporation uses in a year. By putting up four more turbines, the school corporation could actually put energy back into the power grid, and sell it to utility companies.

But school officials would have to decide exactly where the turbines would be built, and so far, they haven't commented on what sites they're considering, saying only that there are two of them, both on the city's south side.

"At this point, we'd prefer not to disclose those," School City of Mishawaka Business Manager Randy Squadroni told WSBT. "You will see a lot of electrical towers and possibly water towers, things of that nature, where they have a lot of these types of structures already in place. So this would not be real obstructive to the area."

"I don't know why they're so secretive about it," said Pat Nash, who owns a home on the city's southern border, just north of the Bypass. "Obviously, it's just like a TV tower or a cell phone tower. We're not against alternative energy, but no one would want that in their backyard."

Nash says he believes many of his neighbors feel the same way, but school officials say it's far too soon to even talk about a final site.

"We will be open to people coming in to discuss their concerns, be it environmental, property, whatever the case may be," said School Board President Larry Stillson.

Stillson called the results of the first feasibility study "very encouraging," and says he hopes the winds of change will blow through Mishawaka soon.

Right now, Squadroni estimates the earliest the wind turbines could be up and running is March of 2009. But before that happens, the school corporation will do another study, this time for six months, on things like cost, historical wind data, and the impact on birds, bats and people.

School City of Mishawaka pays about $500,000 a year for electricity now, and they're confident the corporation wouldn't have to raise taxes to pay for the turbines. Instead, trustees could seek a bond issue, and pay the turbines off within 12 years.

Wolar says the life span of a wind turbine is more than double that, so while the turbines would mean an additional cost initially, they would bring major savings down the road.

S.F. Proposes Subsidy Program to Encourage Solar Panel Installation

Companies and homeowners who pay to install solar panels in San Francisco could save over 50 percent with help from an ambitious subsidy program, according to city officials who will announce the plan Tuesday.

Some experts say the effort is groundbreaking and, if implemented, could be the nation's biggest such program. The proposed subsidy would be $3,000 and $5,000 per residence and up to $10,000 for businesses. City officials are also proposing a low-interest financing program that would allow residents to incrementally pay back money borrowed for solar installations at below-market rates, possibly via charges on their property tax bills.

When combined with the state's solar rebate program and federal tax credits, the cost of installing solar could be cut in half for San Francisco residents and businesses, officials said Monday. With all those incentives, a typical 3-kilowatt residential system would cost between $16,370 and $18,370, based on current San Francisco installation costs.

"The type of leadership that San Francisco is demonstrating is probably unparalleled," said John Stanton, spokesman for the national Solar Energy Industry Association. "We haven't seen this type of local government commitment and initiative for a carbon-free future."

Claudine Schneider, president of the Solar Alliance of solar businesses and a former five-term congresswoman from Rhode Island, said her organization is excited about the program. "We only hope that many other cities follow course," she said.

The subsidy and loan plans are separate programs and each must still be approved. The subsidy program needs support from the city Public Utilities Commission and the Board of Supervisors; the loan program needs the approval of both the Board of Supervisors and voters. Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Jake McGoldrick are co-sponsoring the subsidy ordinance.

The target start date for the subsidy program is July 1, and the end of next year for the loan program. The cash-incentive is the centerpiece of 10 months of work by the city's Solar Task Force, city Assessor Phil Ting said Monday. Ting co-chairs the task force with PUC Commissioner Doug Hochschild. We think this is the largest local incentive program of its kind," Ting said.

A few other cities offer rebate programs. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power offers one of the most generous, amounting to about $4.50 per watt, or about $13,500 on a typical 3-kilowatt home solar system. However, Los Angeles customers aren't eligible for the state rebate available from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which is $2.30 per watt, or $8,900 for a 3-kilowatt solar installation.

Under San Francisco's new cash subsidy, the city's PG&E customers would also receive a base subsidy of $3,000, plus an additional $1,000 if they use a San Francisco installer. Another $1,000 would be provided for customers residing in an "environmental justice district," meaning a neighborhood next to one of the city's two power plants. Solar systems cost an average of $9.99 per watt in San Francisco, meaning $29,970 for a 3-kilowatt system.

The commercial subsidy would be $1,500 per kilowatt, up to $10,000.

"There's no increase in property taxes and no increase in electricity rates to pay for this new program, which is really good news for San Franciscans," Hochschild said.

The cash incentive would be funded by city PUC renewable energy funds, which come from sale of power generated by Hetch Hetchy dam. Between $2 million and $5 million of those funds would be pledged per year for 10 years. The renewable energy funds now provide for solar installation on city buildings, a program that will continue, said PUC General Manager Susan Leal.

The new loan program would apply not just to solar panels but also to other forms of renewable energy such as solar thermal and wind, Hochschild said.

The program's goal: Grow by 10-fold the amount of solar power produced in the city. Currently, the city produces roughly five megawatts of solar energy from solar panels placed on 666 rooftops, Ting said. "San Francisco now ranks last among the Bay Area counties in solar watts per capita," Hochschild said. "You're going to see the volume of solar skyrocket." Source: Charles Burress, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/11/07.

Efforts to Harvest Ocean's Energy Open New Debate Front

Chris Martinson and his fellow fishermen catch crab and shrimp in the same big swell that one day could generate an important part of the Northwest's energy supply. Wave farms, harvested with high-tech buoys that are being tested here on the Oregon coast, would strain clean, renewable power from the surging sea.

They might make a mess of navigational charts, too. "I don't want it in my fishing grounds," said Mr. Martinson, 40, who docks his 74-foot boat, Libra, here at Yaquina Bay, about 90 miles southwest of Portland. "I don't want to be worried about driving around someone else's million-dollar buoy."

The coastal Northwest is one of the few parts of the West where water is abundant, but people are still fighting over it. Amid concerns about climate change and the pollution caused by generating electricity with coal and natural gas, Oregon is looking to draw power from the waves that pound its coast with forbidding efficiency.

It might seem a perfect solution in a region that has long been ahead of the national curve on alternative energy. Yet the debate over the potential damage--whether to the environment, the fishing industry or the stunning views of the Pacific--has become intense before the first megawatt has been transmitted to shore.

"Everyone wants that silver bullet," said Fran Recht of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. "The question is, Is this as benign as everyone wants to say it is?"

The first federal permit to conduct testing for a wave energy farm off the coast of the United States was awarded in February to a company that wants to study the ocean area near Reedsport, Ore., 60 miles south of here. Three more permits have since been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Major technical and financial obstacles remain, and energy generated from waves is not expected to start contributing to the electrical grid in the United States for several years. Yet like wind energy in its early stages in the 1980s, wave energy is considered promising, perhaps inevitable, with the potential to one day provide 5 percent to 10 percent of the nation's energy supply, according to some projections.

Oregon, Washington and Northern California, where the Pacific Ocean first meets land in the contiguous United States after gathering momentum for thousands of miles beneath westerly winds, have the potential to generate four times as much energy from waves as states on the East Coast, according to studies by the Electric Power Research Institute.

All of the permits approved have been in Oregon, where transmission lines run close to the coast, making them easier to tap into, and where state government encourages businesses to explore new forms of energy.

With state support, Oregon State University is testing a wave energy buoy it plans to deploy off the coast here next spring.

Finavera Renewables, a Canadian company with an office in Portland, has conducted tests near the Yaquina Head lighthouse here, and has a permit to do more testing near Coos Bay. Ocean Power Technologies, the company planning the project near Reedsport, has received a preliminary permit to test the potential for a wave farm it says could generate up to 50 megawatts of electricity. A typical coal-burning plant produces about 600 megawatts.

Several kinds of technology are being tested. Some would use buoys that hold turbines turned by waves. One type being tested at Oregon State would create energy from the relative movement between a fixed spar and a buoy that rises and falls with waves.

The Reedsport project could transmit energy to shore through an outflow pipe once used by a now-defunct timber mill. That convergence of old economy and new reflects what supporters of wave energy say is fitting symmetry for a region that has evolved from an extraction-based economy built on logging to one striving to use natural resources in ways that are environmentally sound.

But some environmentalists and fishermen worry that the recent rush for renewable energy is more about politics, big business and the next big thing than it is about clean energy. They warn that too little is known about what effect wave farms might have on migrating fish and whales.

"The tendency with new technology is always to minimize the downside," said Ms. Recht, of the fisheries commission, which works with conservation agencies and the fishing industry to protect fish populations. "I'm not prepared to take new risks unless we're conserving and respecting the energy we already have."

For now, wave parks are expected to be built two or three miles offshore and cover as much as several square miles. Supporters say they will barely be visible, if at all.

Philip D. Moeller, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and a supporter of wave and tidal energy projects, said the government was "not allowing these to go into sensitive areas." Mr. Moeller added, "We haven't defined sensitive area, but the point is we'll be cognizant of that."

He said the commission was encouraging wave energy companies to seek a new five-year "pilot license" the commission has created specifically for wave and tidal energy projects. The license, which could be gained in six months, would let companies set up a short-term wave farm to test technology and demonstrate success to wary investors. If environmental damage became evident, he said, the equipment could be removed from the ocean fairly quickly, something that is far more complicated with dams.

"Let's get this stuff in the water and find out what it has to offer," Mr. Moeller said. "Consumers want green power, and this is an option." Source: William Yardley and Erik Olsen 12/10/07

This Ordinary House is Extraordinarily Green

The brick house in Raleigh's Meredith Woods subdivision looks like thousands of other big new homes in the Triangle. But this 4,300-square-foot house that Jonathan Philips and his family moved into a few months ago might be one of the greenest mainstream houses in the state, if not the country. It is a showcase for hundreds of environmentally friendly designs that could inspire home builders to try similar features.

At the same time, its resemblance to other non-green houses on the cul-de-sac is precisely the point.
Cherokee Investment Partners of Raleigh, the nation's largest redeveloper of polluted lands, built the house to show that it is possible to construct an environmentally efficient home without sacrificing the kinds of traditional comforts, even luxuries, which attract home buyers.

"One of the most remarkable things about this house is it's so unremarkable," said Philips, who is senior director at Cherokee. "It blends in. We went the extra length to appeal to the mainstream setting and appeal to conventional builders."

The house, with a tax value of $741,000, is designed to use 50 percent less electricity and water than a comparably sized traditional house. It retains storm water on site and makes wide use of recycled construction materials, from the recycled glass kitchen countertops to the wide-grained hardwood floors cut from logs dredged from the Cape Fear River.

The bricks used to build it were fired in a kiln in Lee County, powered by sawdust from waste wood. The Sheetrock walls are made of gypsum created as a byproduct from scrubbing air pollutants from power plant emissions in Alabama.

Cherokee invests in environmentally contaminated sites in North America and Europe, which are cleaned up and redeveloped as mixes of stores and homes. The company projects about 400,000 houses will be built in the next 10 to 15 years on those reclaimed sites. Company leaders hope all those homes will share the virtues of the Meredith Woods model.

The house has one of the largest residential solar power-generating systems of any house in the state. But a casual observer might not notice. The unobtrusive solar panels look like dark slate shingles on the roof. The 10 kilowatt solar power system, which experts said would cost about $90,000, has been generating about 450 kilowatt hours of electricity on average a month, according to Progress Energy.

The electricity, which would not be enough to fully power the house, is sold directly to Progress Energy through the N.C. Greenpower Program, which promotes green energy. The homeowner will receive about $1,200 in payments annually from the utility and the N.C. Greenpower Program.

The house has a geothermal heating and cooling system that takes advantage of the Earth's constant underground temperature of 55 degrees to enhance the efficiency of the house's air conditioning. A heat pump circulates water in 300-foot wells to remove heat from the ground in the winter and put it into the ground in the summer.

Bob Kingery, co-owner of Southern Energy Management, which does home energy surveys, analyzed the house. "It uses the energy of a house a quarter its size," Kingery said. "They did it right, and it deserves to be held up high."

It is the first house in the Triangle to receive the high level of environmental certification from the Home Builders Association of Orange, Durham and Chatham Counties, which administers the green building program in the Triangle. Source: Wade Rawlins, Staff Writer

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Outreach, Education, Reports & Studies

GEA's Geothermal Development and Finance Workshop - January 16th - Las Vegas, NV

The preliminary agenda for the Geothermal Energy Association's (GEA) Geothermal Development and Finance Workshop has been scheduled for January 16th in Las Vegas, Nevada at Bally's Hotel and Resort. The events sponsors include: Glitnir Bank, Ormat Technologies, Nevada Power, and Enel North America. Event co-sponsors include Western Area Power Administration, the Geothermal Resources Council, and the Geothermal Education Office. Source: Western, 12/4/2007.

Arizona Central Solar Power Forum - January 10, 2008 - Hyatt Regency, Phoenix, Arizona

The Central Solar Power (CSP) Forum is Arizona's first-ever conference on commercial-scale solar power technology. Attendees at the forum will learn about the economic costs and benefits of CSP development, potential locations and infrastructure needed to support projects, and technology options such as solar trough, power tower and more.

CSP plants are expected to be built in the Arizona desert in the next five years. Hear from local and industry experts on how this technology can help meet our growing energy needs while providing large economic investment in the state. This is the place to be to learn all you need to know about central solar power! Register before the holidays to secure your space! Early registration (before December 27, 2007) is only $70.00. After that date, registration is $95.00.
 
Title Sponsor: Arizona Public Service Company; Contributing Sponsors: Arizona Department of Commerce Energy Office, Abengoa Solar, BrightSource Energy, Grand Canyon Trust, Interwest Energy Alliance , Northern Arizona University, Western Area Power Administration, Meeting Facilitator: Ormond Group LLC.

South Dakota Transmission Conference A Success

Nearly 300 people participated in the Wind Energy & Transmission: The South Dakota Landscape conference on Nov 29-30 in Sioux Falls, SD. Speakers and attendees explored how to overcome transmission constraints to facilitate greater wind development in the state and region, capped by a keynote address from Sen. John Thune. Conference presentations will be available shortly online. Source: UWIG, 12/4/2007.

IREC's Connecting to the Grid - December 2007

The December 2007 issue of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Connecting to the Grid newsletter is now available. Source: IREC, 12/4/2007.

Wind Energy Weekly

See the latest issue of the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) Wind Energy Weekly newsletter. Source: AWEA, 12/07/2007.

Report: Global Renewable Energy Experiencing Double-Digit Growth

Renewable energy use is growing much faster than 10 percent per year throughout the world, according to a new report from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). Excluding large hydropower, the global electric generating capacity of renewable energy facilities reached 237 gigawatts (GW) this year, up 15 percent from last year. That's about 5.5 percent of the electric generating capacity throughout the world. At 93 GW, wind power provided about 40 percent of that renewable generating capacity; wind power capacity increased by 25 percent over 2006. Grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems reached 7.8 GW in capacity, a 56 percent increase, while the global production of photovoltaic systems reached 3.8 GW per year, a 52 percent increase over 2006.

Among non-electric renewable energy sources, solar hot water capacity increased by 17 percent to 121 thermal GW. Global ethanol production increased 16 percent to 11.6 billion gallons, while biodiesel production increased by a third to more than 2 billion gallons. The REN21 report estimates that global investment in renewable energy will exceed $100 billion in 2007, including $15-$20 billion invested in large hydropower facilities, at least $66 billion invested in other renewable energy facilities, $10-$12 billion invested in manufacturing plants for photovoltaic devices and biofuels, and $16 billion invested in public and private research and development. The full REN21 report will be published in January, but a pre-publication summary has been released in time for the climate conference in Bali. Source: EERE Network News, 12/12/2007.

EPTC Hosts Wind Interconnection Workshop, Jan. 23-25, 2008, Electric Power Training Center, Golden, CO

Get ready to integrate today's fastest growing form of generation into your power mix. Come to the Wind Interconnection Workshop at the Electric Power Training Center in Golden, Colo., Jan. 23-24. An optional tour of the National Wind Technology Center is planned for Friday, Jan. 25. This two-day overview of wind energy will answer your questions about interconnecting wind turbines and other forms of distributed generation to electric distribution systems.

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is sponsoring the workshop. Co-sponsors include APPA's Demonstration of Energy-Efficient Developments Program, American Wind Energy Association, Utility Wind Integration Group, Western Area Power Administration, EPTC and DOE's Wind Powering America Program.

Participation is limited to the first 30 registrants. Online registration is open. The registration fee is $300. For more information about the workshop agenda, please contact Bob Putnam, CH2M Hill, at 315-751-2638. Source: Western Area Power Administration, 11/14/2007.

Nominations Open for Wind Co-op of the Year

Nominations for the 2007 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award are now being accepted. Deadline is midnight, Jan. 16, 2008.

Sponsored by DOE's Wind Powering America Program, the award honors one electric cooperative for its leadership in wind power. Nominees must be members of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to be eligible for the award.

For more information, contact Randy Manion, Western Area Power Administration, at 720-962-7423. Source: Western Area Power Administration, 12/12/2007.

IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter

The IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter tracks a range of market-oriented news, services and outreach tools valuable to the renewable energy community. From webinars to white papers to workkshops and interviews with renewable energy newsmakers, you'll find the latest news about IREC members and other renewable energy stakeholders in this newsletter which is distributed semi-monthly to email subscribers and published on IREC's website. There is no fee for this newsletter. Source: IREC, 12/12/2007.

GEA Subsurface Technology Report Available

The Geothermal Energy Association released a new report November 14 assessing the state of geothermal "subsurface" technology. It concludes that improved subsurface technologies are the key to developing the vast potential of the resource base. "To utilize most of the geothermal resource base subsurface technologies need to be improved, new exploration technologies developed, and costs for drilling significantly reduced," Mark Taylor, author of the report states.

The report, entitled The State of Geothermal Technology, Part I: Subsurface Technology, examines how companies today are trying to find and exploit geothermal heat under the ground. It follows and explains the series of steps that a geothermal project takes from exploration to resource confirmation. It was built upon interviews and site visits with companies actively developing projects, and portrays the state of geothermal technology from their perspective. Source: GEA Update December 12 2007.

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News from Washington

Senate Passes Energy Bill; Bush to Sign Into Law

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to increase automobile gas-mileage standards for the first time since the mid-1970s, amid expectations that the centerpiece of the Democratic energy agenda will become law, even as the party failed to enact broader energy-policy changes.

By 86-8, the Senate approved the new fuel-efficiency standards as part of a scaled-back energy bill. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass the legislation next week and send it to President George W. Bush for his signature. The White House issued a statement praising Congress, and said the president would sign the bill into law.

Congress wants cars and light trucks?minivans and sport utility vehicles?to average 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a 40 percent increase, in order to lessen dependence on foreign oil and reduce tailpipe emissions that are linked to global warming. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that the new standards will save 1.1 million barrels of oil a day.

"This is a home run," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.

Also under the legislation, 36 billion gallons of so-called renewable fuel would be blended into the fuel supply by 2022. Of the 36 billion gallons, 21 billion gallons would have to come from sources other than corn, such as wood chips. The bill would also increase lighting-efficiency standards and require all new federal buildings to be more energy efficient.

Democrats have had larger ambitions all year, hoping to use the tax code to encourage investments in renewable energy. But their efforts were thwarted after the Senate twice failed to muster enough votes to get around Republican opposition. Earlier on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., fell short of the 60 votes needed to proceed to a vote on a larger energy bill that would have replaced tax breaks for oil and gas companies with tax breaks for investments in solar panels, wind-power projects, and other sources of renewable energy.

"One vote short," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., noted. "I think it is important to note with all legislation, you put out your high-water mark. You accomplish what you can do, and you signal where you are going next with it. And that issue will be revisited."

The remarks set the stage for a battle next year over taxes on oil companies and requirements included in an earlier version of energy legislation that utilities generate as much as 15 percent of their power from renewable sources. For now, the failure to enact these other policy changes marks a victory for utilities such as Southern Co. (SO) and oil companies such as ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX), which would have been hardest hit by the broadest of the Democrats' plans.

"We do intend to try to come back to both of those in the next session of Congress," Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., told reporters after the vote.

Oil prices that have hovered close to $100 a barrel, rising gasoline prices, concern about global warning, and fears about the country's reliance on energy supplies from politically unstable areas of the world such as Iran, Venezuela and West Africa combined to create the political will to pass the bill. Democrats are counting on those same forces to create an impetus for new efforts next year - when they see environmental issues becoming a key part of the presidential campaign.

"We want the American people to look at what happened here and see who voted which way," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She said that earlier Democratic efforts to go forward with a far-reaching energy bill were part of strategy to put the debate about energy and global warming before the public eye.

Environmental groups hailed the legislation, but expressed disappointment that it didn't go further. Senate Democrats twice failed to get support for broader legislation, first dropping plans to impose new renewable-energy requirements on utilities, and then scaling back their efforts even further by dropping plans to repeal tax breaks on oil companies.

Oil companies said the Senate "did the right thing" by dropping its tax plans, but was otherwise more guarded. "There are provisions promoting energy efficiency in the legislation that will enhance our nation's energy security," the American Petroleum Institute, which represents oil companies, said in a statement. "However, we remain concerned by the unrealistic biofuels mandate. Source: By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 12/13/2007.

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State Activities, Marketing & Market Research

Michigan Among the Top States in Eco-Friendly Building

The walls are splashed with milk-based paint. The floors derive from bamboo. Fibers made from recycled water bottles form the carpet. And an underground rain-harvesting center is used for sprinkling flower beds.
This 2,800-square-foot house isn't on the West Coast, where many conjure images of environmentally friendly, so-called green homes.

It's right here in metro Detroit, discreetly fitting into the suburban landscape of the Cedar Pine subdivision in Troy, where 30 brick homes are outfitted with Energy Star Appliances, recycling centers and thicker-than-normal insulation to keep out winter's cold.

Michigan is one of the leaders in the national green building effort. It trails only Oregon and California in the total number of certified green housing units. The state has 57 of them, compared with 86 in Oregon and 78 in California, according to statistics from the U.S. Green Building Council. Not included in the data is a slew of other local projects overseen by other green building organizations.

And thanks to a mass training effort of at least 1,000 builders and increasing awareness of the structures' reasonable costs and energy-saving features, southeastern Michigan is gearing up to go even greener, according to environmental groups and the state Department of Environmental Quality.

The cost to build green can be as little as 2 percent more than regular construction, depending on the features. Many homeowners say the increased price is worth it because they save money on utilities in the long run. And industry experts say homeowners who toss about $3,000 extra into building green can expect to make up for that in a few years with lower utility bills.

Sue Lane, 48, owns a Bloomfield Hills home with a geothermal heating system, also called a ground-source heat pump. The system contains underground pipes that utilize the constant temperature of the Earth's soil to maintain the home's warmth in the winter or coolness in the summer.

She has spent one-third less on energy bills since moving in last June. "I'm using something that the Earth has to offer and using that to heat and cool my home," Lane said.

Across the country, green homes showcase anything from thicker insulation to quirky features, such as walls made of recycled tires or cans.

Some houses are solar powered while others contain planter systems that recycle bath, dish and laundry water.

There are more than 200 Michigan development projects that are certified by or are seeking certification by Washington, D.C.-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a national benchmark for the design, construction and operation of green buildings
.
Among ones in the area that made the list: the Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park; Cass Technical High School in Detroit, and Macomb County's Lenox Township Hall, which is expected to be the first green municipal building in the state once construction is completed in a couple of months.

Additionally, there are about 150 individual houses certified by the Grand Rapids-based nonprofit Green Built Michigan, which is endorsed by the Michigan Association of Home Builders. "The builders are all looking for something that will set them apart. The general public now gets it, now understands that green-built homes are better for the environment, better for the world, better for themselves," said Jeannine Reynolds, executive director of the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability of Grand Rapids.

In the recent housing slump, green houses may be the incentive for potential home buyers, said Woody Gontina, co-owner of Gontina Building and Design of Clawson. "It's just kind of the right thing to do," he said.

For builders who don't know how to construct green structures, Green Built Michigan has an educational program that has seen about 1,000 trainees. Last fall, the organization established a Detroit chapter.

Christopher Pratt, who designed and constructed the Cedar Pine subdivision off Crooks in Troy, has pledged to train 200 developers in the next year. "The objective of this group is to raise the educational level and skill level of green builders across the state," said Green Built Michigan President Arn McIntyre, who sits on the Washington-based American National Standard Institute Consensus Committee to develop standards for national green building.

And in Lenox Township, officials are doing their part. With 400 trucks, mostly from Canada, hauling waste daily to Macomb County's only active landfill and politicians unable to stop the garbage from piling up, township Supervisor John Gardner said he was motivated to push for the first completely green town hall. It will overlook the mountain of trash at the landfill across Gratiot Road.

Rainwater cascades off the structure's slanted roof into a basin for sprinkling plants. Thirty-six wells are positioned 300 feet beneath the ground, forming a geothermal heating system. High windows throughout the building will help warm it naturally.

Although the township is to spend about 10 percent more to build the green-certified town hall, officials expect the savings in energy costs will allow them to recoup the full $4-million construction by 2015, the seventh year in the building.

People involved in the effort hope it serves as an example for eco-friendly government buildings in the future. In Grand Rapids, Genesis Nonprofit Housing had a 44-unit green housing complex for people with mental, emotional and physical disabilities built last year.

Tenant Cheryl Filkins, 41, said she saves about $120 a month in utilities with the amenities in her apartment. Her favorite feature? "If you walk into a closet and, if you forget to turn off the light, it automatically goes off," she said.

It cost 2 percent-5 percent more to build the $7.2-million complex that way, but it's more operationally effective for the tenants and Genesis -- so much so that there are plans in the works for a green senior housing complex, Executive Director Harold Mast said. Source: BY Christy Arboscello, Free Press Staff Writer, 12/10/2007.

Churchill County Approves Tax Break for Geothermal Development

Churchill County commissioners have approved a tax break in an effort to lure geothermal companies to their rural county.

Commissioners decided Thursday to abate 2.75 percent of sales and use taxes to encourage geothermal development, making Churchill the first Nevada county to enact such a policy.

Commissioners said they not only want to attract geothermal companies, but they want to boost the county's tax base. Property taxes from geothermal companies contribute to county coffers.

"We do provide services for geothermal activity and we support geothermal, but we have an entire county to support," Commissioner Norm Frey said. "By keeping the tax base up, it keeps Churchill County well staffed and keeps this process (of geothermal development) streamlined."

Under state law, some businesses may apply to the Nevada Commission on Economic Development for an abatement of taxes on certain machinery or equipment.

Of Churchill's 7.25 percent sales tax rate, 2 percent is automatically sent to the state. Commissioners decided to abate just more than half of the remaining 5.25 percent for geothermal expansion - 2.75 percent.

Churchill officials said they're worried geothermal companies will go elsewhere in Nevada without the tax break.

"The typical thing with incentives is if they don't put the project here, then someone will lure you to do it somewhere else," Joe Reel of the economic development commission told the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard newspaper. "That's typical with economic development - they'll go to the place with the best deal."

Like the rest of the state, Churchill is rich in geothermal energy that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and others are seeking to develop in an effort to cut down on greenhouse gases. 12/09/07.

Xcel Energy Announces 1,000th Megawatt of Wind Power in Minnesota

This month, Xcel Energy will reach 1,000 megawatts of wind power capacity on its Minnesota system. The energy milestone will move Minnesota into third place nationally in wind power production?only Texas and California produce more.

Xcel Energy CEO Dick Kelly said that 1,000 megawatts of wind can provide enough electricity to power 270,000 homes.

In 2007, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill requiring public utilities to get 25 percent of their electrical energy from renewable resources. Leading up to his signing of the renewable energy bill, Gov. Pawlenty stressed the need to "break our addiction of fossil fuels." Xcel Energy, which supplies half the state's energy, has to provide 30 percent from renewables by 2020.

This 1,000 megawatt renewable energy milestone will be reached by the end of the year when the MinnDakota Wind Power project goes on-line. The 150-megawatt development is located on the Minnesota-South Dakota border.

"Wind power holds great potential for clean renewable energy for our country and is an important part of diversifying and improving our energy sources," Pawlenty said.

Xcel Energy started researching wind power in 1986 with three 65-kilowatt turbines on Buffalo Ridge in southwestern Minnesota.

In Minnesota, there are loopholes for utilities having a hard time to meet the standard. These include an energy credit trading system and a possibility to modify the timeline if the cost for meeting the goals would significantly increase the customer's cost.

Will Taxes Halt Calif.'s Solar Thermal Ambitions?

California has been on the forefront in the U.S. for promoting alternative energy, but a tax code provision could put the brakes on a big part of the solar push.

The state gives real estate tax exemptions to companies developing solar thermal power plants, sprawling power plants in the desert that can occupy hundreds of acres. The exemptions end in 2009.

The assembly has already introduced a bill that would extend the exemption through 2016. It is expected to go through the senate and reach the governor's desk next year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has packaged himself as a green politician--he's even converted one of his Hummers to run on biodiesel.
 
Eventual approval looks feasible, but the state is stuck in a budget morass and is debating a number of proposals along with the solar property tax exemption. Thus, solar thermal companies are holding their breath.

If the exemption isn't extended, solar thermal companies say they will have to raise the price of electricity they sell to utilities or postpone construction projects. A failure to extend an exemption in the early 1990s killed a budding solar thermal industry in the state.

"For any solar thermal plant, the property tax is in the millions of dollars per year. It could put a project underwater," said John Woolard, CEO of Oakland's BrightSource Energy, a solar thermal company. "It could make a lot of projects unfundable. It could stop everything--or utilities could end up paying different prices. Ratepayers might pay more. Who knows?"

Robert Fishman, CEO of competitor Ausra, estimated that the end of the exemption could add $5 million to $6 million to the company's operating costs.  "It would add to the price of the power we are going to sell," he said.

An even bigger problem lies at the federal level, Fishman added. The House of Representatives passed a bill that would provide $21 billion in tax credits to the renewable industry and require utilities to increase their renewable portfolios to 15 percent. The Senate, however, rejected it, putting the credits in limbo. Ausra is also building a large power plant in Florida.

The controversy comes at a time when California and private investors are actively encouraging solar thermal technology. BrightSource, for instance, is currently in the planning stages for building a 400-megawatt solar thermal plant in central California, while Ausra is building a 177-megawatt solar thermal plant in the state and will expand beyond that. Ausra's 177-megawatt plant will occupy 640 acres. The company wants to build a gigawatt worth of plants across the U.S.

Stirling Energy Systems is also building a solar thermal plant in California. And Solel generates power out of a 354-megawatt solar thermal plant that was installed several years ago in the Mojave Desert and has plans to expand.

Google recently said it will plow money into eSolar, a company founded by Internet entrepreneurs that plans to build a solar plant.

Solar thermal power plants collect heat from the sun with mirrors and channel that heat so that it will ultimately generate electricity. Many venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and scientists from the national labs believe that solar thermal can generate electricity more economically than solar panels or other alternative energy concepts. In fact, if the solar plants are large enough, the plants can compete with traditional natural gas plants and possibly even coal.

Utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric are interested in solar thermal because California has mandated that they must get 20 percent of their power from renewable resources (not including hydroelectric). PG&E currently gets 12 percent of its power from renewable resources and has signed contracts to bring the total up to 18 percent. A lot of that power under contract, however, comes from solar thermal. Ausra signed a contract with PG&E, for example.

Although solar thermal is close in cost to some forms of conventional electricity, a bobble in operating expenses could send it the other way. Property taxes would probably add about a penny per kilowatt hour to the cost of solar thermal electricity. Conventionally generated electricity ranges between 5 cents and 18 cents per kilowatt hour (the amount of money to get a kilowatt of power for an hour) but in most places it's below 10 cents, according to the Energy Information Agency. Solar thermal costs around 15 cents to 17 cents per kilowatt hour.

More importantly, the status of the subsidy clouds the economic picture. These plants cost millions of dollars and will run for more than two decades.

"If people aren't sure the exemption is going to be there, they won't finance the plant," BrightSource's Woolard said. "The one thing that is certain is that it would introduce rampant confusion and stop every project for a while."

It's happened in the past. In the '80s and '90s, California was a leader in solar thermal technology. Luz, an Israeli company, was building the existing plants in the Mojave Desert under a state program that granted real estate exemptions. The Senate and Assembly passed an extension in the early '90s, but then-Gov. George Deukmejian vetoed it on his last day in office. Construction halted.

Luz continued to work while the next governor, Pete Wilson, worked on an extension. Luz ran out of money before Wilson's exemptions went into effect. Luz has now been reborn as BrightSource.

Most investors and alternative energy advocates admit that subsidies and exemptions eventually do have to end. "I don't think any one of us has plans for investing in companies that need subsides long term," said Ira Ehrenpreis, a partner at Technology Partners.

Nonetheless, they do help jump-start an industry. Government incentives in Germany, Japan, and some states in the U.S. effectively caused the boom in the solar panel market. (Solar panels also generate electricity from the sun, but in a different way than solar thermal plants.) Oil companies also benefited enormously from credits issued to them in the early 1990s. Source: Cnet.com, 12/11/07.

Interstate Power Boosting Wind Energy Plans

Interstate Power and Light Co, an Alliant Energy subsidiary, announced Friday it plans to place 130 wind turbines on leased farm sites in Franklin County capable of generating up to 200 megawatts of company-owned power in Iowa by 2010.

The projected investment of up to $400 million represents Interstate Power's first company-owned wind generation site, with construction of towers to generate the first 100 megawatts expected to begin in 2009, said Interstate Power and Light President Tom Aller. Overall, the project will create up to 40 jobs and involves 80 different landowners and 135 sites near Hampton.

Aller said the company continues to explore various sites across its Iowa and Minnesota service areas for wind development opportunities.

Friday's announcement follows Interstate Power and Light's plans with up to four other partners to construct a $1 billion coal-fired generation plant at Marshalltown.

"We are pleased to play a role in expanding Iowa's role as the leader in renewable energy," Aller said. "The acquisition of this site located in the heartland of Iowa provides a significant economic development opportunity for our company and the state of Iowa.

"Wind generation is critical to our company's long-term generation growth strategy and continues to serve as the centerpiece of Iowa's growing renewable energy economy," he added.

Aller said the proposed projects awaiting approval by state regulators will leave the company well positioned to meet future generation needs of Interstate Power and Light's customers. He declined to predict what the overall rate outcome might be for Interstate Power and Light customers given that the company last brought a rate case to the Iowa Utilities Board in 2003 and took a financial hit of up to $70 million in last winter's ice storms.

Gov. Chet Culver applauded Friday's announcement, saying it fits well within the state's goal of becoming the renewable energy capital and expanding on an already burgeoning wind turbine manufacturing sector in Iowa.

"We're talking about potentially billions (of dollars) more just tied to wind," he told a Statehouse news conference where the proposed wind farm project was announced. The governor noted that only Iowa and Texas currently manufacture all the wind turbine components.

Culver declined to take a position on the proposed coal-powered plant near Marshalltown that awaits consideration by state regulators and has drawn criticism from some environmental groups.

The governor said he is in the process of gathering more information about Iowa's future energy needs and has instructed the state's new energy czar to "quickly get a handle" on Iowa's potential energy demand--information that will impact future decisions. Source: The Gazette, 12/10/07.

Pennsylvania Senate Approves $210,000,000 US Alternative Energy Bill

The Pennsylvania State Senate has approved a $210,000,000 US Alternative Energy bill that includes the following provisions:

$130,000,000 US in tax credits to help finance wind farms, waste coal power plants, solar power installations and other facilities; the research, development and manufacture of energy sources and equipment; and rail systems to transport alternative or renewable fuels.

$100,000,000 US in grants, reimbursements and rebates to residents to help pay for home conservation projects, such as the installation of energy-efficient windows, doors, furnaces and air conditioners.

$50,000,000 US in rebates to businesses and residents to help pay for the purchase and installation of solar and solar photovoltaic panels.

$15,000,000 US to the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority to invest in research and startup companies.

The bill still needs to be passed by the State House of Representatives. (Source: Pennsylvania Wire, Dec. 12, '07)

Contact Edward G. Rendell, Governor, Pennsylvania, 717-787-2500. Grant information. Source: ep Overviews, 12/13/2007.

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Grants, RFPs & Other Funding News

Technology Commercialization Development Fund Provides $7,200,000 to Three U.S. DOE Labs for Clean Energy Technology Commercialization (Funding)

The U.S. DOE is making available a Technology Commercialization Development Fund (TCDF) of up to $7,200,000 US to three of DOE's National Laboratories to support commercialization of clean energy technologies. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory will receive up to $4,000,000 US, Oak Ridge National Laboratory up to $2,500,000 US, and Sandia National Laboratories up to $700,000 US. The laboratories will use the funds for clean energy technologies that have advanced beyond the research stage, are moving the technologies toward commercial viability though prototype development, demonstration projects, market research and other deployment activities. (Source: U.S. DOE, Nov. 29, '07)

Contact Julie Ruggiero, DOE, 202-586-4940; Martha Symko-Davies, NREL, 303-384-6528; Jeffrey S. Nelson, Sandia National Laboratories, 505-284-1715; Thom Mason, Director, ORNL, 865-574-0558. Source: ep Overview, 12/4/2007.  

$5,200,000 US investment towards $6,600,000 US in Concentrating Solar Power Development (Funding - R&D)

The U.S. DOE is investing $5,200,000 US in funding to support the development of low-cost Concentrating Solar Power (CSP). With cost-sharing, the total public-private investment will be up to $6,600,000 US.

Projects were selected from three categories: 1) thermal storage; 2) trough component manufacturing; and 3) advanced CSP systems and components. The following projects were chosen:

Infinia (Kennewick, Wash.)--$321,000 US Infinia Corporation will develop a 30-kW, maintenance-free, multi-cylinder, free-piston, Stirling engine for high-performance dish CSP to overcome engine reliability, lifetime, and O&M barriers related to dish-Stirling engine CSP systems. Total project cost: $408,000 US. Contact : Infinia, 509-735-4700 ext. 112.

PPG Industries (Pittsburgh, Penn.)--$323,000 US PPG Industries will develop and commercialize large-area, low-cost, high performance mirrors, through alternate materials, structures, and fabrication processes for reflector components, to enable lower cost CSP parabolic trough technology. Total project cost: $403,000 US. Contact PPG Industries, 412-434-3131.

Skyfuel (New York, N.Y.)--$435,000 US SkyFuel, Incorporated will develop a high-temperature CSP system using linear Fresnel reflective technology designed to use molten salt heat transfer fluids and direct thermal storage to lower delivered electricity costs from utility-scale power plants. Total project cost: $589,000 US. Contact Arnold Leitner, President & CEO, Skyfuel, 505-293-1023.

Solar Millennium (Berkeley, Calif.)--$376,000 US Solar Millennium will develop a high-performance, low-cost parabolic trough collector with the potential to operate with a molten salt heat transfer fluid. Total project cost: $470,000 US. Contact Solar Millenium,

Solucar (Lakewood, Colo.)--3 projects
The development of an advanced parabolic trough collector and components to lower the cost of CSP thermal power plants. DOE will provide up to $499,000 US of the $624,000 US project.

The development of a low-cost, advanced polymeric reflector for CSP applications to lower the cost of CSP parabolic trough power plants. DOE will provide up to $448,000 US for $560,000 US project.

Development of technology for direct use of molten-salt heat transfer fluids in parabolic trough solar power plants to lower the cost of energy storage for CSP thermal power plants. DOE will provide up to $1,090,000 US of the $1,390,000 US project. Solucar Power is a subsidiary of Abengoa, Solucar,

Editor's Note: Previous project details were provided in our Dec. 03, '07 publication.

Contact Frank Wilkins, Solar Thermal Lead, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. DOE, 202-586-1684. Source: ep Overviews, 12/3/2007.

USDA Rural Development Funds Energy Efficiency

Energy-efficiency programs can help rural communities survive and succeed, and USDA Rural Development offers the financial products to fund those programs. Source: Western Area Power Administration, 12/4/2007.

Applications sought for Large Onsite Renewable Intiatives in Mass. (Funding)

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative is seeking grant applications for their Large Onsite Renewables Initiative. Grants will be awarded for feasibility studies as well as design and construction projects of systems greater than 10 kW. To be eligible for funding, a project must be located at a commercial, industrial, institutional or public site and the electric system must be served by a Massachusetts investor-owned electric utility company. Qualifying renewable energy technologies include solar photovoltaic, wind energy, fuel cells, hydroelectric, landfill gas, and advanced biomass power conversion technologies. The deadline for applications is Feb. 21, '08. (Source: Masstech, Dec. 10, '07)

Contact Jon Abe, Project Manager, 508-870-0312 ext. 216. Source: EP Overviews, 12/11/2007.

$23,000,000 US Ggranted from Xcel Renewable Energy Development Fund (Funding)

Twenty-two proposed renewable energy projects featuring wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass and biofuel technologies have been selected to receive nearly $23,000,000 US from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund. Project awards of $8,223,922 US for energy production and $14,397,817 US for R&D have been submitted to the Minnesota Public Utlities Commission for approval. The following projects were selected:

Freenerg, Minneapolis, Minn., $1,488,922.US for demonstration of the commercial viability of providing solar-generated electricity for homes based on a leasing and service package of rooftop solar panels connected to the grid. The program will use 50 solar generating systems at 5.6 kilowatts each. Contact Gerardo Ruiz, President, Freenerg, 612-605-5228.

City of Minneapolis and EyeOn Energy Ltd., Minneapolis, Minn - $2,000,000 US for the installation of up to 600 kilowatts in direct current of photovoltaic PV panels on the roof of the city's Currie Equipment Facility. The system is projected to include at least 3,000, 200-watt panels. Contact Director, Public Works & Engineering, City of Minneapolis, 612-673-2443.

Merrick Inc., Vadnais Heights, Minn., $735,000 US for connection of a 100-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array capable of generating 125,000 kilowatt-hours annually to an existing geothermalheating and cooling system. Contact Merrick Inc., 651-789-6200.

Outland Renewable Energy LLC, Chaska, Minn., $2,000,000 US for the location of a 2-MW solar power plant in Cottonwood County in Southwestern Minnesota with its 50-MW wind energy production facility currently being developed. Contact Outland Renewable Energy, 952-442-5443, Editor's Note: Previous details were provided in our Dec. 10, '07 issue. We will continue to provide details of these projects in the following days. (Source: Reuters, Dec. 07, '07)

Contact Mark Ritter, RDF Grant Administrator, Renewable Development Fund, 612-330-7863. Source: ep Overviews, 12/11/2007. 

Southwestern Utilities Team Up on Massive Solar Power Project

A multi-state consortium of southwestern electric utilities joined forces last week to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a large-scale solar power plant. The consortium members hope to persuade a third party to build a 250-megawatt solar thermal power plant in either Arizona or Nevada by 2012, in which case the utilities would jointly buy all the power produced by the power plant. The solar facility must employ concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, which involves concentrating the sun's heat using either trough-shaped mirrors, dish-shaped mirrors, or a series of flat mirrors that track the sun in unison. If truly built to a 250-megawatt capacity, the facility will be the largest solar power plant in either state. The minimum project size that will be accepted under the RFP is 100 megawatts, and the consortium members will give preference to facilities with thermal energy storage. Learn more about CSP technology from DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Program.
 
The utility consortium, dubbed the Southwest Energy Service Provider's Consortium for Solar Development, includes the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Arizona Public Service (APS), the Southern California Public Power Authority, the Salt River Project (which provides power to Phoenix, Arizona), Tucson Electric Power, and Xcel Energy (which serves eight states in the West and Midwest), with APS coordinating the project. The consortium will hold a bidder's teleconference in January, and bids will be due on March 19th, 2008. Source: EERE Network News, 12/12/2007.

University of Minnesota Researchers Awarded More Than $4.5 Million for Renewable Energy Research

Five renewable energy projects led by University of Minnesota researchers have been selected to receive more than $4.5 million from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund.

An advisory board with representation from Xcel Energy and its customers, environmental groups and the Prairie Island Indian Community recommended to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission that a total of $8,223,922 be awarded to projects for energy production and $14,397,817 for research and development.

Nearly 100 renewable energy proposals were reviewed during the current funding cycle. The projects chosen from the University of Minnesota are:

• Evaluating and addressing of economic and technical issues related to biomass integrated gasification combined cycle technology in electricity generation at ethanol-producing plants. Led by professor Vance Morey, department of biosystems and bioproducts engineering, College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. Amount awarded: $819,159.

• Providing of biomass fuel stock suppliers with accurate guidelines for management of biomass harvesting and maintenance of soil quality. Led by Renewable Energy Coordinator Michael Reese, West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris. Amount awarded: $979,082.

• Development of an efficient system for the production, pre-processing and delivery of biomass feedstock for energy production that minimizes feedstock cost for energy facilities, while maximizing landowner income and the environmental benefits of biomass production. Led by research associate Dean Current, Center for Integrated Natural Resource and Agricultural Management, College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. Amount awarded: $992,989.

• Development of a new paradigm for controlling the microstructure of thin-film silicon, which will improve stability and efficiency and lower the cost of nanocrystal silicon photovoltaic cells. Led by professor Uwe Kortshagen, department of mechanical engineering, Institute of Technology. Amount awarded: $732,032.

• Development and testing of a high resolution virtual wind simulator for accurate prediction of local wind and turbulence with the purpose of optimizing the turbine siting design of wind energy projects. Led by associate professor Fernando Porte-Agel, department of civil engineering, Institute of Technology, and sponsored in part by the Prairie Island Indian Community. Amount awarded: $999,999.

In addition, University of Minnesota researchers are partnering with Xcel Energy on the following project:

• Testing of the hypothesis that battery storage technology will enable effective storage of wind energy, and therefore enable firming of wind energy to reduce impact from the variability and limited predictability of wind generation resources. Led by Xcel Energy. Amount awarded: $1 million.

Money for the Renewable Development Fund, which was created in 1999, comes from Xcel Energy customers. Each year the company transfers $16 million to the fund in accordance with state statute. All selected projects are subject to final approval by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Several of the awarded projects were initially established and supported by the University of Minnesota's Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE). A public/private partnership designed to promote sustainable energy in Minnesota, IREE has provided financial and administrative support for 135 renewable energy projects since its inception in 2003.

Contact Todd Reubold, Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment, 612-624-6140, or Luisa Badaracco, University News Service, 612-624-1690. 12/10/2007.

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