Regan Global Capital

2012-02-21T17:05:00.001-08:00

Obama budget plan ups renewables funding by 29 percent

By Anna Austin | February 14, 2012

Obama plans to increase the budget for renewables in 2013.
PHOTO: OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY PETE SOUZA

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent to Congress his federal budget for fiscal year 2013 and has seemingly followed through on his verbal commitments to renewable energy delivered in his Jan. 24 State of the Union Address.
Also as promised, Obama has begun attempts to pull the rug from beneath the feet of big fossil fuel, with a repeal of 12 tax breaks to oil, gas, and coal companies to raise $41 billion over 10 years. At the same time, the $3.8 trillion budget proposal increases 2013 renewable energy funds by 29 percent compared to 2012.
In the budget proposal, the U.S. DOE is allotted $27.2 billion, $2.3 billion of which is slated for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for energy efficient research and development, biofuels, advanced vehicles and renewable electricity generation. While the DOE budget increases by more than 3 percent from 2012, the USDA budget decreases by 3 percent, to $23 billion in discretionary funding. Out of that, Obama has proposed $6.1 billion in loans to rural electric cooperatives and utilities that will support clean energy, and to promote renewable energy at electric generation, transmission, and distribution sites in rural communities.
In addition, through the Rural Energy for America Program, the plan provides $19 million in assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete a variety of projects, including renewable energy systems, energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy development. More than $200 million is proposed to continue support for the development of domestically produced advanced biofuels.
To access budget documents, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget.

U.S. investment market for woody biomass looks strong for 2012 as demand for wood pellets rises; regulatory changes expected to enhance picture

2012-02-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

U.S. investment market for woody biomass looks strong for 2012 as demand for wood pellets rises; regulatory changes expected to enhance picture: U.S. investment market for woody biomass looks strong for 2012 as demand for wood pellets rises; regulatory changes expected to enhance picture

2012-02-03T12:28:00.001-08:00

Senator calls on US to help biofuels’ development
2 February 2012

A US senator has called for congress to do more to support development in technology and biofuels incentives during a briefing at the White House.
Senator Chris Coons spoke at an American Chemical Society briefing, saying that biofuels production was essential for the future of the US economy.
‘This was a great starting point as a concrete forum to look at how we begin to move forward towards workable solutions that will require cooperation from many public and private interests to be able to move from the field to the filling station in the future,’ he said.
Coons listed the advantages that investment in biofuels could have for the US, such as job creation, economic development in rural areas and employment in all different types of sectors from growing the biomass to distributing the fuel.
He also discussed what individual companies in the country were doing to improve the production of biofuels and its development.
‘DuPont is deeply committed in investments to a diversified mix of next generation biomass and biofuels, those building blocks and the facilities necessary, those cellulosic production facilities as well as the development of bio-butanol and other drop-in biofuels,’ said Coons.
‘CMS is licensing what were formerly DuPont fluoropolymers selected impermeable memory technologies for the dehydration of biodiesel and other biofuels, a small plucky start-up the recipient of a number of critical SBIR and CDR grants that I think can play a key role in solving some of the production and delivery challenges,’ he continued.
He called for the Department of Energy and the USDA R&D programmes to extend tax credits for advanced biofuels and for the industry to work together on the Renewable Fuels Standard.

Buffet Ivest in Solar

2012-01-30T15:19:00.000-08:00

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway utility subsidiary, MidAmerican Energy, has purchased First Solar’s Topaz Solar Farm project.

2012-01-27T13:17:00.001-08:00

Bernie Sanders Pledges Legislation Ending 'Absurdity' of Federal Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Mat McDermott
Business / Economics
January 25, 2012

Mark van Laere/CC BY-ND 2.0
We just learned, based on IEA calculations, if all fossil fuel subsidies were eliminated it would result in greenhouse gas emission cuts deep enough to get us halfway to preventing dangerous climate change. Indeed, cutting fossil fuel subsidies has been publicly mulled over for some time, with scant little progress made.
Now, at a rally in Washington DC organized by 350.org, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has pledged to do something about that.
Sanders said:

One of the absurdities that foes on right here in Washington DC is that Congress keeps voting not for the interest of our children, not in the interest of our future, but for the profits of the huge oil and coal companies. ... The most profitable corporations in the world do not need subsidies from the American people.

Sanders pledged to introduce legislation repealing federal tax breaks to fossil fuel companies, saying that doing so would reduce the federal deficit by over $40 billion over the next ten years. (International Business Times)
Ending fossil fuel subsidies also made it into President Obama's State of the Union speech yesterday. Obama said:

We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That's long enough. It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that's rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that's never been more promising.

Given the chronic Congressional constipation of late, any legislation by Sanders or the President likely has an tough fight, despite the obvious climate, energy security, public health, and long-term jobs benefits of rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels, facilitated by taking away support for polluting non-renewable energy sources and promoting non-polluting renewable ones.
But nevertheless ending fossil fuel subsidies in a rapid yet planned and measured manner, structured in such a way that the poor don't continue to get the sharp end of the stick, is absolutely what must happen.

Lufthansa: Biofuels Could Be Aviation’s Standard in Five Years

2012-01-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

Lufthansa: Biofuels Could Be Aviation’s Standard in Five Years

Published on January 18th, 2012 by EnergyRefuge.com

Posted in Aviation, Biofuel

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Joachim Buse, Lufthansa airline’s head of aviation biofuel, last week said at an industry event in Washington, D.C. that biofuels could be the industry’s standard fuel in five to seven years.
According to Air Transport World, the airline executive said his company’s burnFAIR project has shown that biofuels are a feasible proposition for commercial flights from a technological point of view. What needs to be done now is to make sure there is enough production and from sustainable feedstocks. He told ATW that “from now on, it’s purely a commercial issue.”
One day before Joachim’s talk, a flight between Frankfurt and Washington using a Boeing 747 400 carried 40 tons of a biosynthetic fuel mix. Between mid-July and late December, Lufthansa had four daily roundtrip flights between Hamburg and Frankfurt as part of burnFAIR.
Joachim said that in order for biofuels to become a routine within the aviation industry, government assistance and commercial practices will be necessary. burnFAIR cost Lufthansa €6.6 million ($8.4 million). Out of the total, €2.5 million were covered with subsidies from the German government.
The use of biofuels by airlines is likely to revive the ‘food versus fuel’ debate. What do you think? Are biofuels a green solution for airlines, who account for an estimated two percent of the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions?
Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

EPA Utility MACT Rule Released: Coal Plants Set For Closure As Blackout Risks Cited

2012-01-16T00:42:00.000-08:00

Regulation

EPA Utility MACT Rule Released: Coal Plants Set For Closure As Blackout Risks Cited

By Margaret Ryan

Published: December 21, 2011

Santa arrived a few days early for environmentalists, but the coal industry is getting Scrooge.

The Environmental Protection Agency released its Utility MACT rule on Wednesday, issuing a controversial order to slash mercury and other hazardous emissions from coal-fired power plants. By 2016, all plants must emit as little mercury as the best 12% do today, lowering national emissions 90%.

EPA estimates compliance will annually cost the industry $9.6 billion and provide health benefits of at least $37 billion – figures that rule opponents dispute.

The rule, first authorized in the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, is a win for environmentalists who were furious with the White House for dropping EPA's review of ozone limits in September.

For coal, the rule essentially ends the Clean Air Act grandfathering that has made it economic to keep running aging coal plants. The expected rule has already been cited in utility decisions to shut old units. Oil-fired plants are also affected, but they produce less than 1% of US electricity while coal produces 43%.

Here Come The Lawyers

The rule is expected to give lawyers a busy holiday as they digest the final text and, probably, head to the federal courthouse. Opponents including 27 states were already asking a court to delay the rule, charging EPA did not take needed time to consider its real-world impacts.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson stressed, as she rolled out the rule at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, that EPA will be reasonable in setting compliance schedules but is firmly behind a rule EPA believes will prevent more than 11,000 premature deaths annually and prevent 130,000 cases of childhood asthma.

Rule opponents protest those and other claimed health benefits actually come from a side effect, as mercury controls also lower fine particulates. Almost no benefits can be attributed to controlling mercury, they contend.

The final rule sticks with a three-year compliance schedule for most plants. Under the Clean Air Act, state air permitting authorities can allow up to one more year for technology installation, and EPA can tap separate authority to grant a fifth year to "reliability critical" installations. EPA said it expects little need for that provision.

The Edison Electric Institute negotiated till the final hours last week trying to get more compliance time. EPA estimates about 600 plants with 1,100 coal and 300 oil units are affected. The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) warned in November that EPA's three-year timeline means hundreds of units shutting at once – either for months for retrofits, or permanently.

NERC said that could endanger electric reliability in some coal-dependent regions, raising the spectre of blackouts.

Sue Tierney with Analysis Group, a former assistant energy secretary in the Clinton administration, said the rule provides flexibility in multiple ways: in compliance technologies, in how multiple units at a station are handled, and for grid reliability. She said ensuring reliability is the reason EPA took extra time to craft a roadmap for needed time extensions, including allowing units slated for shutdown to operate until other units can be backfit.

Bringing Down The Hammer

Estimates of plant shutdowns caused by the rule have varied wildly, from 10,000 to 110,000 megawatts of some 320,000-plus MW of coal capacity in the US. But analysts say many old coal plants are inefficient, and can't compete with low-cost natural gas anyway. That complicates distinguishing MACT's impacts.

The rule has split the utility industry. Companies such as PSEG, which has invested in anticipation of the rule, and Exelon, with heavy nuclear investment, have back the rule, while coal-dependent companies like Southern Co. and American Electric Power are fighting it.

Scott Segal, Director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, representing fossil-heavy companies, said neither the scope nor the timing of the rule is legally justified. He said the rule will force replacement of coal plants with less labor-intensive generation, costing the US 1.44 million jobs by 2020.

Mary Gade, EPA Region 5 head during the Bush administration, said where plants have been upgraded, the substantial investment has created jobs. She said the rule has been in the works 21 years and opposition is coming from "hell no we won't go" utility companies.

And there's another complication. The MACT rule is hitting utilities at the same time as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is tightening limits on sulfur and nitrogen oxides from coal plants. That rule was issued in July and takes effect next month unless opponents get the court stay they are seeking. Like MACT, CSAPR is an Obama administration rewrite of a Bush-era rule found legally defective by the courts.

Google invests $94m into solar PV

2012-01-16T00:21:00.001-08:00

Google invests $94m into solar PV

Filed under: Allen & York, Energy, Environmental — Leave a comment

December 22, 2011

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Search engine giant Google has put $94m into four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects currently under construction in California.
The sites, currently being built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, bring Google’s investment in renewables up to more than $915m.
But this investment, according to Google, represents its first investment in the US in larger scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid–instead of on individual rooftops.
These projects have a total capacity of 88MW, equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes.
A spokesman said: “We’ve had a busy year at Google, since January we’ve invested more than $880m in clean energy projects.
“We believe the world needs a wide range of solutions–from wind, to transmission, to solar PV and concentrated solar–and we look forward to new opportunities next year to further expand our portfolio of clean energy investments.”

Residential PV achieves grid parity

2012-01-16T00:16:00.000-08:00

Residential PV achieves grid parity

December 15, 2011

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Researchers at Queen's University recalculate the levelized cost of electricity, and find photovoltaics (PV) is the low-cost solution.

By Seth Masia
Editor, SOLAR TODAY

With increasing frequency, peer-reviewed academic papers are confirming things the market already knows. This month, it's this: residential PV has achieved grid parity for peaking loads in key North American markets, and is quickly gaining ground as the price of conventional power rises.
A team of researchers at Queen's University in Ontario has published "A Review of Solar Photovoltaic Levelized Cost of Electricity" in Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews.
Mechanical engineering professor Joshua Pearce, with his students Kadra Branker and M.J.M. Pathak, analyzed standard methods of calculating LCOE. Then they proposed a template for determining LCOE based on specific values for specific locations and specific equipment prices. Their method avoids sweeping generic assumptions and accommodates recently-acquired data - for instance, that real-world installations are degrading more slowly than predicted, and therefore have a significantly longer productive life cycle, and that both equipment costs and interest rates have come down quickly in recent months. Critically, the team modeled insolation and financing mechanisms current in Ontario, which are consistent with conditions across the northern tier of U.S. states, and a residential-scale installation instead of a more cost-efficient utility-scale array.
The study concludes, in part:

Given the state of the art in the technology and favorable financing terms it is clear that PV has already obtained grid parity in specific locations and as installed costs continue to decline, grid electricity prices continue to escalate, and industry experience increases, PV will become an increasingly economically advantageous source of electricity over expanding geographical regions.

The full report is available for purchase here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.07.104.
A draft version is posted here: http://qspace.library.queensu.ca/bitstream/1974/6879/1/LCOE%20of%20PV%20pre-print.pdf
In August, 2010, Pearce and Branker published a financial analysis in Energy Policy, finding that the Ontario government would realize more than 8 percent annual ROI for subsidizing development of thin-film manufacturing in the province. See http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.058

U.S. Military Tests Out Green Tech In Afghanistan

2012-01-16T00:05:00.001-08:00

U.S. Military Tests Out Green Tech In Afghanistan

Gunnery Sgt. William Price Small/AP In this photo released by the U.S. Marines and taken in December 2010, Lance Cpl. Dakota Hicks, from Laharpe, Ill., connects a radio battery to a portable solar panel communication system in Sangin District, in Afghanistan.The U.S. military is trying to wean itself off reliance on fossil fuels by employing solar energy and biofuels, among other measures.

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December 29, 2011

The heavy, mine-resistant vehicles that almost all U.S. military personnel use to move about Afghanistan are gas guzzlers. And even though the U.S. military buys that fuel at a reasonable price, the energy it takes to fly it and truck it to remote parts of Afghanistan drives the price into the stratosphere.
There's also a much greater cost, says Ray Mabus, secretary of the U.S. Navy.
"It's expensive in terms of getting us there financially. It's also expensive in the fact that for every 50 convoys, we lose a Marine, either killed or wounded, guarding that convoy," he says.
That cost, in both lives and dollars, is pushing the military to go green.
Practical Benefits Of Green Tech
The Navy has set the goal of using nonfossil fuels for 50 percent of its power by the year 2020. Mabus recently paid a visit to U.S. Marines in the remote Afghan province of Helmand, at the far end of the fuel supply chain, where some innovative green equipment is already in use.
Some of the solutions are incredibly simple: silvery tent liners that increase the efficiency of heaters or air conditioners. More novel are the portable solar-panel blankets, able to power communications gear for a patrol. That means carrying far fewer heavy batteries. There's also a small shipping container connected to a bank of solar panels that is powering flat screens and surveillance equipment.
Marine Capt. Brandon Newell says the troops don't have to be environmentalists to like the new gear.
"If the system works, they don't care. In fact, a Marine will love it if he has to refuel that generator less often. They'll love it. They don't care about the message or anything else; all they want is something that works whenever they need it," he says.
Newell admits that the measures so far are baby steps, and there are plenty of bugs in the system.

Enlarge Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images Afghan policemen and locals watch a burned-out fuel truck, supplying a U.S.-run base, after being targeted by a bomb near Bagram Air Field near Kabul on Oct. 26. Attacks on convoys carrying supplies to U.S. troops are costly — both in monetary terms and in human life.

But the important thing, says Mabus, is that the U.S. military is starting to test some of the technology in the roughest conditions.
"When the military does something and shows that it works ... in the most critical circumstances, it makes it much easier to commercialize something," he says.
Environmental Impact A Side Benefit
That goes for solar panels, says Mabus, but also for biofuels. This fall, the Navy purchased half a million gallons of fuel made from algae or used cooking oil. In the spring, a huge exercise in the Pacific Rim intends to demonstrate that it works just as well as petroleum-based fuel.
Mabus says the strategic goal is to free the U.S. military from a product that comes from volatile places with unsavory regimes. He points out that during the NATO action in Libya, a spike in the price of oil cost the U.S. military about $1 billion. The environmental impact is a side benefit, he says.
"It really is a question of national security. It may be a side effect on climate change, being better stewards of the environment, but that's not the reason we're doing it," Mabus says.
Still, major environmental groups have reacted positively. And developers of biofuels and solar panels say having the Pentagon — the world's largest consumer of fossil fuel — trying to go green is providing a shot in the arm to their industry.
"It's a signal to investors that there is going to be stability. That is the game changer," says Sean O'Hanlon, president of the American Biofuels Council. "The bottom line is there has to be stable policy for them to invest hundreds of millions of dollars."

CFO Role Expands As Corporate Sustainability Increases

2011-08-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

CFO Role Expands As Corporate Sustainability Increases

Toys "R" Us Greens 44 Stores

2011-08-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Toys "R" Us Greens 44 Stores

Offshore Wind Market To Surge In Next Six Years, Report Says

2011-05-05T14:29:00.001-07:00

A new report forecasts that offshore wind capacity worldwide will increase by a factor of 17 over the next six years, rising from 4.1 gigawatts of installed capacity today to a projected 70.1 gigawatts in 2017.
While European nations, including the United Kingdom and Denmark, continue to be the leaders in the emerging industry, China’s offshore wind market is expected to pull even by 2017, according to the report by U.S.-based Pike Research.
Although the offshore wind industry faces significant challenges, including high costs, some of the world’s best wind resources are located offshore, often in shallow ocean waters near urban population centers, said Pike senior analyst Peter Asmus. “Interest in freshwater offshore wind is also picking up, especially in the Great Lakes in the United States and Canadian Midwest,” he said.
A key factor in the growth of offshore wind will be the industry’s ability to reduce costs closer to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2030 — less than half of current costs. Currently, offshore wind energy generation costs as much as two to three times more than land-based wind energy.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

Demand for Solar films used in panels surpases analysts' expectation

2011-04-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

3M Boosts Forecast as Renewable Energy Helps Top Earnings Estimates

By Will Daley - Apr 26, 2011 9:51 AM ET

3M Co. boosted its full-year earnings forecast after first-quarter profit rose 16 percent. Photographer: Andrew Burton/Bloomberg

3M Co. (MMM) boosted its full-year earnings forecast after first-quarter profit surpassed analysts’ estimates, fueled by demand for films used in solar panels and tablet computers.
Profit this year will be $6.27 to $6.47, excluding pension- related expenses, compared with a February forecast of $6.17 to $6.42 a share, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based maker of Scotch tape said today in a statement.
Sales increased about 20 percent at the industrial and transportation division, whose products include films for solar panels and windows, and at the electronics and communications unit, which makes films for smartphones. 3M said the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will curb 2011 profit by 10 cents to 13 cents a share, and favorable currency translation will help offset that.
“The year has started off better than we would have expected,” Stephen Tusa, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst in New York, wrote today in a note. Tusa has a “neutral” rating on the shares.
3M climbed $1.65, or 1.8 percent, to $95.77 at 9:50 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the highest intraday price since October 2007. The shares gained 9 percent this year before today.
First-quarter net income rose to $1.08 billion, or $1.49 a share, from $930 million, or $1.29, a year earlier. Analysts projected profit of $1.44, excluding some items, the average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Economic Bellwether

Revenue climbed 15 percent to $7.31 billion, compared with an average estimate of $6.95 billion, with sales gains at all six divisions. 3M is an economic bellwether because of its product range which spans health-care, consumer, automotive and energy markets.
3M’s full-year forecast tops analysts’ average estimate of $6.22 a share and last year’s adjusted profit of $5.75 a share.
3M has five manufacturing sites and about 2,700 workers in Japan, where its largest businesses are industrial and consumer-related.
3M today said favorable currency translation will increase sales this year by 2 percent to 3 percent, up from a previous forecast of 1 percent to 2 percent.

2011-04-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

North America Solar to Exceed Germany in 2012: Chart of the Day

By Alex Morales - Apr 14, 2011 6:00 PM ET

North America is set to overtake Germany for the first time in 13 years to become the biggest market for new photovoltaic installations, Barclays Capital estimates.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows 4,455 megawatts of solar panels will be hooked up on roofs and fields in the U.S. and Canada in 2012 and 3,500 megawatts in Germany, according to projections by the unit of Barclays Plc. North America last topped Germany in 1999, when the three nations together fitted less than 40 megawatts, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Germany, which led the world last year by adding 7,450 megawatts, will trim subsidies in July. Annual installations “have probably peaked because they have so much penetration already,” said Martin Simonek, a New Energy Finance analyst in London. In Canada, Ontario province improved subsidies in 2009 and is attracting developers from around the world.
“The growth in North America is sustainable,” Simonek said. “In the U.S., the mandated amounts of procured renewable energy are growing every year, meaning utilities have to source more electricity from renewable sources.”
Growth in the U.S., where there are more commercial solar farms, may benefit Chinese companies, while more expensive European panels do better in rooftop markets like Germany, said Simonek, whose research group forecasts the North American market to overtake Germany a year later than Barclays Capital.
Germany, with the biggest growth in photovoltaic capacity for six of the past seven years, also leads the world in total capacity, with 17,000 megawatts fitted by the end of 2010. The U.S. had 2,500 megawatts.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

GE ups the ante in solar

2011-04-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

GE antes up in solar power race with nation's largest panel manufacturing facility

By Associated Press
Thursday, Apr 7, 2011

NEW YORK — GE is taking aim at the world’s biggest solar company in a bid to expand into a fast-growing renewable energy market.

General Electric Co. announced Thursday that it would spend $600 million to build the nation’s biggest solar panel factory. It would build the same type of so-called thin film solar panels manufactured by First Solar Inc., the biggest producer of solar panels in the world.

GE also announced Thursday that testing by a government laboratory showed that its panels set an efficiency record for this type of thin film panel, made from the elements cadmium and tellurium.

“It’s demonstrated to be the cost leader in the marketplace and we think we can push costs lower, and faster,” said Vic Abate, vice president for GE’s renewable energy business.

The company did not say where the factory would be built. Abate said it would eventually employ 400 people and be producing panels by 2013. The plant would have the capacity to build 400 megawatts worth of panels per year, enough to power about 80,000 homes.

By comparison, First Solar will have 2,300 MW of capacity by the end of this year.

Still, analysts say GE’s size, manufacturing experience, and ability to invest heavily in technology and to finance projects is sure to eventually pressure First Solar and other solar makers.

“There’s no way to not look at this as a severe competitive threat,” said Aaron Chew, an analyst at Hapoalim Securities in New York.

Several large Korean companies — Samsung, Hyundai Heavy Industries, LG Display, and LG Electronics — have also indicated they plan to invest in solar.

“The big boys are entering the space and it doesn’t bode well for the smaller players,” Chew said.

First Solar shares dropped $2.94, or 2 percent, to $147.66 in midday trading. GE shares slipped 24 cents to $20.32.

GE, based in Fairfield, is the biggest maker of wind turbines in the U.S. and among the biggest in the world, but it has been slow to venture into solar. It first bought a minority stake in PrimeStar Solar, which developed the technology GE now plans to manufacture, in 2007. It recently acquired all of PrimeStar, which is based in Colorado.

Solar power is far more expensive than wind power, and contributes far less power to the nation’s grid.

But the growth in wind power was cut in half in 2010. Low electricity prices make wind look comparably more expensive. There’s a lack of transmission lines from remote, windy locations. And state and federal policymakers are reluctant to impose or increase renewable energy mandates.

Solar continues to grow quickly, a result of rapidly falling panel prices and state incentives. Also, solar panels produce power during the heat of the day, when power prices are high. Wind typically blows strongest at night, and has to compete with lower wholesale power rates.

Over the next five years, Abate estimates, the world will spend $20 billion to install 75,000 megawatts of solar panels.

Abate, who also runs GE’s wind business, expects wind to continue to provide the bulk of the world’s renewable power. He said GE had been studying solar, and waiting for the best technology to emerge.

GE has now made its choice: so-called cad-tel thin film panels.

Most solar panels are made from crystalline silicon, similar to the material that is used to make the brains of computers and electronics. These cells are more efficient at turning the sun’s rays into electricity, but they are more expensive to manufacture.

The promise of thin film cells is that they can be manufactured so cheaply that even if the cell itself is less efficient than a crystalline silicon cell, a solar power system based on thin films would produce cheaper solar power.

Only First Solar, though, has learned to make thin films efficient enough and cheap enough to win a big segment of the solar market. It is the only top solar panel maker that uses thin film.

GE now buys and re-sells another type of thin film panel, based on different chemistry, from Solar Frontier, a subsidiary of the Japanese energy giant and Royal Dutch Shell affiliate Showa Shell Sekiyu.

Abate said the cells from the new cad-tel plant will produce among the world’s cheapest solar power.

“For solar to have a big breakthrough, there has to be a breakthrough in cost and affordability,” Abate said. “That’s a technical problem and it’s something we are excited about.”

Solar gaining more ground

2011-04-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

Solar Power May Already Rival Coal, Prompting Installation Surge

By Ehren Goossens - Apr 6, 2011 12:00 AM ET

Mountains stand beyond solar modules at the Southern California Edison (SCE) solar array in Porterville, California. Photographer: Ken James/Bloomberg

Play Video

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Katrina Landis, chief executive officer of BP Plc's alternative-energy unit, discusses the outlook for the London-based company's investments in clean energy. Landis spoke yesterday with Erik Schatzker at the 2011 Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit. (Source: Bloomberg)

Solar panel installations may surge in the next two years as the cost of generating electricity from the sun rivals coal-fueled plants, industry executives and analysts said.
Large photovoltaic projects will cost $1.45 a watt to build by 2020, half the current price, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimated today. The London-based research company says solar is viable against fossil fuels on the electric grid in the most sunny regions such as the Middle East.
“We are already in this phase change and are very close to grid parity,” Shawn Qu, chief executive officer of Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ), said in an interview. “In many markets, solar is already competitive with peak electricity prices, such as in California and Japan.”
Chinese companies such as JA Solar Holdings Ltd., Canadian Solar and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. are making panels cheaper, fueled by better cell technology and more streamlined manufacturing processes. That’s making solar economical in more places and will put it in competition with coal, without subsidies, in the coming years, New Energy Finance said.
“The most powerful driver in our industry is the relentless reduction of cost,” Michael Liebreich, chief executive officer of New Energy Finance, said at the company’s annual conference in New York yesterday. “In a decade the cost of solar projects is going to halve again.”

Installation Boom

Installation of solar PV systems will almost double to 32.6 gigawatts by 2013 from 18.6 gigawatts last year, New Energy Finance estimates. Manufacturing capacity worldwide has almost quadrupled since 2008 to 27.5 gigawatts, and 12 gigawatts of production will be added this year. Canadian Solar has about 1.3 gigawatts of capacity and expects to reach 2 gigawatts next year, Qu said.
“You have to get better at it as well,” said Bill Gallo, CEO of Areva SA (CEI)’s solar unit. The French company could shave another 20 percent from the cost of making its concentrating solar thermal technology, and the same proportion from building and deploying plants, he said.
Electricity from coal costs about 7 cents a kilowatt hour compared with 6 cents for natural gas and 22.3 cents for solar photovoltaic energy in the final quarter of last year, according to New Energy Finance estimates.
Comparisons often overstate the costs of solar because they may take into account the prices paid by consumers and small businesses who install roof-top power systems, instead of the rates utilities charge each other, said Qu of Canadian Solar.
“Solar isn’t expensive,” he said “In many areas of the solar industry you’re competing with retail power, not wholesale power.”
Rooftop solar installations also will become cheaper, the executives said.
“System costs have declined 5 percent to 8 percent (a year), and we will continue to see that,” SolarCity Inc. CEO Lyndon Rive said in an interview. The Foster City, California- based company is a closely held installer and owner of rooftop power systems.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ehren Goossens at the BNEF Summit in New York at egoossens1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

Text of Obama speech on energy

2011-03-31T10:44:00.001-07:00

March 30, 2011, 11:37 a.m. EDT

Text of Obama speech on energy

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The following is President Barack Obama’s speech on a secure energy future, as prepared for delivery:

“We meet here at a tumultuous time for the world. In a matter of months, we’ve seen regimes toppled and democracy take root across North Africa and the Middle East. We’ve witnessed a terrible earthquake, catastrophic tsunami and nuclear emergency batter a strong ally and the world’s third largest economy. And we’ve led an international effort in Libya to prevent a massacre and maintain stability throughout the broader region.
As Americans, we are heartbroken by the lives that have been lost as a result of these events. We are moved by the thirst for freedom in many nations, as well as the strength and perseverance of the Japanese people. And of course, it’s natural to feel anxious about what all this means for us.

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One area of particular concern has been the cost and security of our energy. In an economy that relies on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody – workers and farmers; truck drivers and restaurant owners. Businesses see it hurt their bottom line. Families feel the pinch when they fill up their tank. For Americans already struggling to get by, it makes life that much harder.
But here’s the thing – we’ve been down this road before. Remember, it was just three years ago that gas prices topped $4 a gallon. Working folks haven’t forgotten that. It hit a lot of people pretty hard. But it was also the height of political season, so you had a lot of slogans and gimmicks and outraged politicians waving three-point-plans for two-dollar gas – when none of it would really do anything to solve the problem. Imagine that in Washington.
The truth is, of course, was that all these gimmicks didn’t make a bit of difference. When gas prices finally fell, it was mostly because the global recession led to less demand for oil. Now that the economy is recovering, demand is back up. Add the turmoil in the Middle East, and it’s not surprising oil prices are higher. And every time the price of a barrel of oil (NEW:CLK11) on the world market rises by $10, a gallon of gas goes up by about 25 cents.
The point is, the ups and downs in gas prices are usually temporary. When you look at the long-term trends, though, there will be more ups than downs. That’s because countries like India and China are growing at a rapid clip. And as two billion more people start consuming more goods, and driving more cars, and using more energy, it’s certain that demand will go up a lot faster than supply.
So here’s the bottom line – there are no quick fixes. And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy.
We’ve known about the dangers of our oil dependence for decades. Presidents and politicians of every stripe have promised energy independence, but that promise has so far gone unmet. I’ve pledged to reduce America’s dependence on oil too, and I’m proud of the historic progress we’ve made over the last two years towards that goal. But we’ve also run into the same political gridlock and inertia that’s held us back for decades.
That has to change.
We cannot keep going from shock to trance on the issue of energy security, rushing to propose action when gas prices rise, then hitting the snooze button when they fall again. The United States of America cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity and security on a resource that will eventually run out. Not anymore. Not when the cost to our economy, our country, and our planet is so high. Not when your generation needs us to get this right.
It is time to do what we can to secure our energy future.
So today, I’m setting a new goal: one that is reasonable, achievable, and necessary. When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third.
I set this goal knowing that imported oil will remain an important part of our energy portfolio for quite some time. And when it comes to the oil we import from other nations, we can partner with neighbors like Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, which recently discovered significant new oil reserves, and with whom we can share American technology and know-how.
But our best opportunities to enhance our energy security can be found in our own backyard. And we boast one critical, renewable resource the rest of the world cannot match: American ingenuity.
To make ourselves more secure – to control our energy future – we will need to harness that ingenuity. It is a task that won’t be finished by the end of my presidency, or even the next. But if we continue the work that we have already begun over the last two years, we won’t just spark new jobs, industries and innovations; we will leave your generation and future generations a country that is safer, healthier, and more prosperous.
Today, my Administration is releasing a Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future that outlines the comprehensive national energy policy we’ve pursued since the day I took office. And here at Georgetown, I’d like to talk in broad strokes about how we will secure that future.
Meeting this new goal of cutting our oil dependence depends largely on two things: finding and producing more oil at home, and reducing our dependence on oil with cleaner alternative fuels and greater efficiency.
This begins by continuing to increase America’s oil supply. Last year, American oil production reached its highest level since 2003. And for the first time in more than a decade, oil we imported accounted for less than half the liquid fuel we consumed.

Reuters

Smoke billows from a controlled burn of spilled oil off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico coast line in this June 13, 2010 file photo.

To keep reducing that reliance on imports, my Administration is encouraging offshore oil exploration and production – as long as it’s safe and responsible. I don’t think anyone’s forgotten that we’re not even a year removed from the largest oil spill in our history. I know the people of the Gulf Coast haven’t. What we learned from that disaster helped us put in place smarter standards of safety and responsibility – for example, if you’re going to drill in deepwater, you’ve got to prove that you can actually contain an underwater spill. That’s just common sense.
Today, we’re working to expedite new drilling permits for companies that meet these standards. Since they were put in place, we’ve approved 39 new shallow water permits; and we’ve approved an additional 7 deepwater permits in recent weeks. When it comes to drilling onshore, my Administration approved more than two permits last year for every new well that the industry started to drill. So any claim that my Administration is responsible for gas prices because we’ve “shut down” oil production might make for a useful political sound bite – but it doesn’t track with reality.
In fact, we are pushing the oil industry to take advantage of the opportunities they already have. Right now, the industry holds tens of millions of acres of leases where it’s not producing a drop – sitting on supplies of American energy just waiting to be tapped. That’s why part of our plan is to provide new and better incentives that promote rapid, responsible development of these resources. We’re also exploring and assessing new frontiers for oil and gas development from Alaska to the Mid- and South Atlantic. Because producing more oil in America can help lower oil prices, create jobs, and enhance our energy security.
But let’s be honest – it’s not the long-term solution to our energy challenge. America holds only about two percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. And even if we drilled every drop of oil out of every one of those reserves, it still wouldn’t be enough to meet our long-term needs.
All of this means one thing: the only way for America’s energy supply to be truly secure is by permanently reducing our dependence on oil. We have to find ways to boost our efficiency so that we use less oil. We have to discover and produce cleaner, renewable sources of energy with less of the carbon pollution that threatens our climate. And we have to do it quickly.
In terms of new sources of energy, we have a few different options. The first is natural gas. As I mentioned earlier, recent innovations have given us the opportunity to tap large reserves – perhaps a century’s worth – in the shale under our feet. Now, we have to make sure we’re doing it safely, without polluting our water supply. And that’s why I’m asking my Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, to work with other agencies, the natural gas industry, states, and environmental experts to improve the safety of this process. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but he’s got a Nobel Prize for physics, after all. He likes to tinker on this stuff in his garage on the weekend.
But the potential here is enormous. It’s actually an area of broad bipartisan agreement. Last year, more than 150 Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle proposed legislation providing incentives to use clean-burning natural gas in our vehicles instead of oil. They were even joined by T. Boone Pickens, a businessman who made his fortune on oil. So I ask them to keep at it and pass a bill that helps us achieve this goal.
Another substitute for oil that holds tremendous promise is renewable biofuels – not just ethanol, but biofuels made from things like switchgrass, wood chips, and biomass.
If anyone doubts the potential of these fuels, consider Brazil. Already, more than half – half – of Brazil’s vehicles can run on biofuels. And just last week, our Air Force used an advanced biofuel blend to fly an F-22 Raptor faster than the speed of sound. In fact, the Air Force is aiming to get half of its domestic jet fuel from alternative sources by 2016. And I’m directing the Navy and the Departments of Energy and Agriculture to work with the private sector to create advanced biofuels that can power not just fighter jets, but trucks and commercial airliners.
So there’s no reason we shouldn’t be using these renewable fuels throughout America. That’s why we’re investing in things like fueling stations and research into the next generation of biofuels. Over the next two years, we’ll help entrepreneurs break ground on four next-generation biorefineries – each with a capacity of more than 20 million gallons per year. And going forward, we should look for ways to reform biofuels incentives to make sure they meet today’s challenges and save taxpayers money.
As we replace oil with fuels like natural gas and biofuels, we can also reduce our dependence by making cars and trucks that use less oil in the first place. After all, 70 percent of our petroleum consumption goes to transportation. And so does the second biggest chunk of most families’ budgets. That’s why one of the best ways to make our economy less dependent on oil and save folks more money is simply to make our transportation more efficient.
Last year, we established a groundbreaking national fuel efficiency standard for cars and trucks. Our cars will get better gas mileage, saving 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of the program. Our consumers will save money from fewer trips to the pump – $3,000 on average over time. And our automakers will build more innovative products. Right now, there are even cars rolling off assembly lines in Detroit with combustion engines that can get more than 50 miles per gallon.
Going forward, we’ll continue working with automakers, autoworkers and states to ensure that the high-quality, fuel-efficient cars and trucks of tomorrow are built right here in America. This summer, we’ll propose the first-ever fuel efficiency standard for heavy-duty trucks. And this fall, we’ll announce the next round of fuel standards for cars that builds on what we’ve done.
To achieve our oil goal, the federal government will lead by example. The fleet of cars and trucks we use in the federal government is one of the largest in the country. That’s why we’ve already doubled the number of alternative vehicles in the federal fleet, and that’s why, today, I am directing agencies to purchase 100% alternative fuel, hybrid, or electric vehicles by 2015. And going forward, we’ll partner with private companies that want to upgrade their large fleets.
We’ve also made historic investments in high-speed rail and mass transit, because part of making our transportation sector cleaner and more efficient involves offering Americans – urban, suburban, and rural – the choice to be mobile without having to get in a car and pay for gas.
Still, there are few breakthroughs as promising for increasing fuel efficiency and reducing our dependence on oil as electric vehicles. Soon after I took office, I set a goal to have one million electric vehicles on our roads by 2015. We’ve created incentives for American companies to develop these vehicles, and for Americans who want to buy them. New manufacturing plants are opening over the next few years. And a modest, $2 billion investment in competitive grants for companies to develop the next generation of batteries for these cars has jumpstarted a big new American industry. Soon, America will be home to 40 percent of global manufacturing capacity for these batteries. And that means jobs. But to make sure we stay on the road to this goal, we need to do more – by offering more powerful incentives to consumers, and by rewarding the communities that pave the way for adoption of these vehicles.
Now, the thing about electric cars is that, well, they run on electricity. And even if we reduce our oil dependency, a smart, comprehensive energy policy requires that we change the way we generate electricity in America – so that it’s cleaner, safer, and healthier. And by the way – we also know that ushering in a clean energy economy has the potential to create an untold number of new jobs and new businesses – jobs that we want right here in America.
Part of this change comes from wasting less energy. Today, our homes and businesses consume 40 percent of the energy we use, costing us billions in energy bills. Manufacturers that require large amounts of energy to make their products are challenged by rising energy costs. That’s why we’ve proposed new programs to help Americans upgrade their homes and businesses and plants with new, energy-efficient building materials like lighting, windows, heating and cooling – investments that will save consumers and business owners tens of billions of dollars a year, free up money for investment and hiring, and create jobs for workers and contractors.
And just like the fuels we use, we also have to find cleaner, renewable sources of electricity. Today, about two-fifths of our electricity comes from clean energy sources. But I know that we can do better than that. In fact, I think that with the right incentives in place, we can double it. That’s why, in my State of the Union Address, I called for a new Clean Energy Standard for America: by 2035, 80 percent of our electricity will come from an array of clean energy sources, from renewables like wind and solar to efficient natural gas to clean coal and nuclear power.
Now, in light of ongoing events in Japan, I want to say another word about nuclear power. America gets one-fifth of our electricity from nuclear energy. It has important potential for increasing our electricity without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. But I’m determined to ensure that it’s safe. That’s why I’ve requested a comprehensive safety review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make sure that all of our existing nuclear energy facilities are safe. We’ll incorporate those conclusions and lessons from Japan in designing and building the next generation of plants. And my Administration is leading global discussions towards a new international framework in which all countries operate their nuclear plants without spreading dangerous nuclear materials and technology.
A Clean Energy Standard will broaden the scope of clean energy investment by giving cutting-edge companies the certainty they need to invest in America. In the 1980s, America was home to more than 80 percent of the world’s wind capacity, and 90 percent of its solar capacity. We owned the clean energy economy. But today, China has the most wind capacity. Germany has the most solar. Both invest more than we do in clean energy. Other countries are exporting technology we pioneered and chasing the jobs that come with it because they know that the countries that lead the 21st century clean energy economy will be the countries that lead the 21st century global economy.
I want America to be that nation. I want America to win the future.
A Clean Energy Standard will help drive private investment. But government funding will be critical too. Over the past two years, the historic investments we’ve made in clean and renewable energy research and technology have helped private sector companies grow and hire hundreds of thousands of new workers. I’ve visited gleaming new solar arrays among the largest in the world, tested an electric vehicle fresh off the assembly line, and toured once-shuttered factories where they’re building advanced wind blades as long as a 747 and the towers to support them. I’ve seen the scientists searching for that next big energy breakthrough. And none of this would have happened without government support.
Now, in light of our tight fiscal situation, it’s fair to ask how we’ll pay for all of it. As we debate our national priorities and our budget in Congress, we have to make tough choices. We’ll have to cut what we don’t need to invest in what we do need. Unfortunately, some want to cut these critical investments in clean energy. They want to cut our research and development into new technologies. They’re even shortchanging the resources necessary to promptly issue new permits for offshore drilling. These cuts would eliminate thousands of private sector jobs, terminate scientists and engineers, and end fellowships for researchers, graduate students and other talent we desperately need for the 21st century.
See, we are already paying a price for our inaction. Every time we fill up at the pump; every time we lose a job or a business to countries that invest more than we do in clean energy; when it comes to our air, our water, and the climate change that threatens the planet you’ll inherit – we are already paying that price. These are the costs we’re already bearing. And if we do nothing, that price will only go up.
At a moment like this, sacrificing these investments would weaken our energy security and make us more dependent on oil, not less. That’s not a game plan to win the future. That’s a vision to keep us mired in the past. And I will not accept that outcome for the United States of America.
I want to close by speaking directly to the people who will be writing America’s next great chapter – the students gathered here today.
The issue of energy independence is one that America has been talking about since before your parents were your age. On top of that, you go to school in a town that, for a long time, has suffered from a chronic unwillingness to come together and make tough choices. Because of all this, you’d be forgiven for thinking that maybe there isn’t much we can do to rise to our challenges.
But everything I have seen and experienced with your generation convinces me otherwise. I believe it is precisely because you have come of age in a time of rapid and sometimes unsettling change – born into a world with fewer walls, educated in an era of information, tempered by war and economic turmoil – that you believe, as deeply as any of our generations, that America can change for the better.
We need that. We need you to dream big. We need you to summon that same spirit of unbridled optimism, that bold willingness to tackle tough challenges and see those challenges through that led previous generations to rise to greatness – to save democracy, to touch the moon, to connect the world with our own science and imagination.
That is what America is capable of. And it is that very history that teaches us that all of our challenges – all of them – are within our power to solve.
I don’t want to leave this challenge for future presidents. I don’t want to leave it for my children. And I do not want to leave it for yours. Solving it will take time and effort. It will require our brightest scientists, our most creative companies, and, most importantly, all of us – Democrats, Republicans, and everyone in between – to do our part. But with confidence – in America, in ourselves, and in one another – I know it is a challenge we will solve.
Thank you. God Bless You, and God Bless the United States of America.”

China's reaction to Japan's nuclear problem

2011-03-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

China may increase energy supply from solar energy in wake of nuke crisis

30 March 2011 460 views No Comment BY: BNO News

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- China is considering to raise its five-year goal for photovoltaics (PV) industry capacity from five gigawatts (GW) to 10 GW in wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan, state-run media reported on Wednesday.
Shi Lishan, deputy director of the renewable energy department at the National Energy Administration (NEA), told the state-run Xinhua news agency that it is discussing to lift its PV capacity.
China is the largest PV producer in the world and its PV production hit about 4000MW last year. But China had previously planned to set its nuclear capacity target for 2020 at 86 GW, accounting for about 4 percent of the country's energy consumption.
These numbers could now be revised in order to get more energy from PV instead of nuclear energy. Shi said the revision is 'very likely' to be approved, although it is still under discussion.
The ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan has prompted worldwide discussion about the safety of nuclear power plants. An enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a resulting tsunami heavily damaged power plants in northeastern Japan earlier this month.
(Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

Zoo to help offset $700,000 electric bill with large solar display

2011-03-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Largest Public Urban Solar Display Almost Complete

Visitors to the Cincinnati Zoo are marveling at the sight: Nearly four acres of solar panels over a vast span of concrete parking lot.

Billed as one of the largest public urban solar displays in the country, the $11 million solar canopy will do more than help control the zoo's $700,000 annual electric bill when it's turned on by the middle of next month.

Developers see the project as a model for clean energy use in big public spaces. Already, a dozen zoos from as far away as California and Oregon have called to learn more. Locally, advocates say the project's sheer size and visibility may inspire increased interest in solar.

Developers insist the hype isn't overdone. The technology "will help put Cincinnati on the map as a national leader in the adoption and promotion of clean energy," says developer Steve Melink, Clermont County businessman and renewable energy advocate.

Workers installed the last solar panels on Friday.

"Some people wonder what the heck it is, and those who have heard about it are surprised at how big it is," said Mark Fisher, the zoo's senior director of facilities, planning and sustainability.

The project consists of 6,400 photovoltaic solar collection panels assembled on more than 100 metal arrays, 15 to 18 feet high. They cover 800 of the 1,000 parking spaces at the zoo's main entrance. The solar canopy is designed to produce 1.56 megawatts of electricity, about 20 percent of the zoo's annual need, or enough to power 200 homes a year.

Nobody tracks the size and number of solar canopy projects nationwide, which have been popular for years in warmer climates such as Southern California and Arizona. But last year U.S. photovoltaic installations of all kinds more than doubled to 878 megawatts, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington D.C., trade group.

The zoo's project isn't the largest solar project in Ohio. The Wyandot Solar Farm, a utility-sponsored project near Upper Sandusky in north-central Ohio, covers about 80 acres and can produce more than 10 megawatts of electricity.

But because the zoo's parking canopies are so public, officials think it will dramatically spur interest in solar here.

"The education aspect is worth a lot," said Raju Yenamandra, vice president at SolarWorld, a German-based company that produced the zoo's solar panels at its plant in Hillsboro, Ore. He thought so highly of the zoo project that he accelerated delivery so the project would be ready this spring.

"When you think of the number of people who visit the zoo (about 1.3 million each year), particularly younger kids, the educational aspect will be fantastic," he said.

Local businesses are benefiting, too.

"We're bidding multiple projects all over the country," said Dana Rudolph, president of Protek Park Solar in St. Bernard, which fabricated and installed the metal structures holding the solar panels.

Protek Park, a sister company of greenhouse constructor Rough Brothers Inc., has been building parking canopies for a decade. Today, solar projects are the fastest-growing part of his business, Rudolph said. The company supplied metal canopies for solar projects at two community colleges in New Jersey and recently completed a canopy for a 3.2 megawatt system at a New Mexico veteran's hospital.

Financing was the biggest hurdle to making the project work. And in the end, it isn't costing the zoo a penny.

Financial details aren't disclosed. But PNC Bank, which has built a national reputation financing green energy projects, agreed to finance the project for Melink with the help of federal renewable energy and low-income economic development tax credits.

Initially, efforts to put the complex financial transaction together using just federal energy credits fell short. That's when Melink and the zoo approached the non-profit Uptown Consortium about contributing some of it federal economic development credits to help finance the project.

"I thought it was great when the zoo and Melink approached us about the project last summer," said Beth Robinson, president of the Uptown Consortium. As part of their agreement, Melink will fund 10 scholarships at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College for Uptown area residents to be trained as solar equipment installers.

The project includes a number of firsts for all the parties. It's the first time Pittsburgh-based PNC combined both federal economic development and energy tax credits on a renewable energy project. It's also the first time the National Development Council has invested in a project here, Robinson said. The council is the nation's oldest non-profit community development organization working to increase jobs and development in under-served urban and rural areas.

Benefits for the zoo include favorable terms for the solar power produced.

Melink will sell electricity generated by its solar panels to the zoo for about 8 cents a kilowatt hour. That's about what the zoo currently pays its electric supplier, Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., but the solar rate cannot increase for seven years.

Fisher expects the project eventually will save hundreds of thousands in electric costs. The deal also gives the zoo an option to buy the system after seven years.

Fisher said the zoo has used multiple strategies to hold down electric costs over the past several years. It has converted its annual Festival of Lights to more energy-efficient LED bulbs. Even after expanding the annual Christmas holiday display to more than 2 million lights, the use of LEDs has actually cut the festival energy bill in half, he said.

Lighting isn't the zoo's biggest electricity user. Pumping and moving water through various fish and animal tanks is. For example, Fisher said it costs $40,000 a year just to filter water through the 150,000-gallon Manatee tank exhibit.

"This shows that solar is proven and profitable technology right here in Cincinnati," Melink said. "The zoo hopefully will be the first of many larger scale projects in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the rest of the United States."

Fisher agrees: "Hopefully, we won't be the largest project a couple years from now."

SOURCE: http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110325/BIZ01/103260329/0/NEWS010701/Zoo-goes-solar-big-green-test?odyssey=nav|head

California 30% renewables bill closer to becoming law

2011-03-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

California 30% renewables bill closer to becoming law

Windpower Monthly, 30 March 2011, 10:58am

UNITED STATES: California’s state legislature has cleared an energy bill aiming to supply one third of its electricity from renewables by the end of 2020.

California governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign the 33% bill into law

The bill, which was introduced by state senator Joe Simitian, has been in the pipeline for the last four years. An earlier version of the bill was vetoed by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
The bill is now expected to be signed off by governor Jerry Brown.

Simitian said: "The legislation sends a signal to renewable energy providers that California wants them here. They will respond, as they have in the past, with billions of dollars in investments that will provide jobs and tax revenues."

According to the latest Windicator, California has a wind capacity of 2,814MW.

Worldwide Clean Energy grew 30% to $234 Billion

2011-03-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tech

U.S. Drops To Third Place in Clean Energy Investment

Mar. 29 2011 - 2:02 am | 490 views | 1 recommendation | 0 comments

By JEFF MCMAHON

(Brian Robert Marshall) / Creative Commons

The United States dropped to third place behind China and Germany in clean-energy investment last year, according to a report released at midnight by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Other key findings in the report:

Investment in clean energy rebounded from flat recessionary levels, growing 30 percent from 2009 to set a record at $243 billion worldwide;
The recovery was funded by increased investment from all three sources: government, corporate research and development, and private venture capital;
The recovery was fueled primarily by investment in small-scale projects, such as residential scale solar projects that generate less than one megawatt;
The solar sector grew fastest, at 53 percent, but wind remained the leader, seeing growth of 34 percent;
Growth occurred much faster in Asia than in the West.

“Overall, it is clear that the center of gravity for clean energy investment is shifting from the West (Europe and the United States) to the East (China, India and other Asian nations,” according to the report, “Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race?” (pdf).

Investment by Country and Sector, 2010 (click for larger image)

U.S. investment in clean energy technologies increased more than 50 percent, from $22.5 to $34 billion, but could not catch up with China, which invested $54.4 billion, and for the first time fell behind Germany, which doubled its annual investment to $41.2 billion.
The numbers suggest the U.S. is falling behind at a time when Administration rhetoric increasingly appeals to competition to justify investment in clean energy.
Earlier this month President Obama urged that “we keep pushing to find ways to free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, and make sure that America is the capital of clean energy for decades to come.”
And at a Pew Environment forum one week ago, Energy Secretary Steven Chu promoted wind, solar, and small modular nuclear technologies to “win the race” against China and other countries.
The Pew report tallies all investment, public and private, including research and development, and ranks the G-20 group of industrialized nations. In 2010, more than 90 percent of all clean energy investments were directed to companies and projects in the G-20, the report finds.

Florida's distributed energy industry faces risk of another shut-out as utilities plan for huge windfall. | Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy

2011-03-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Florida's distributed energy industry faces risk of another shut-out as utilities plan for huge windfall. | Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy

US Senate Approves Key Renewable Energy Tax Incentives

2010-12-17T06:02:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 15, 2010, 2:54 P.M. ET

US Senate Approves Key Renewable Energy Tax Incentives

By Cassandra Sweet

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a tax bill that, among other things, extends for another year key tax incentives for the renewable power and ethanol industries.

The $858 billion bill, which extends Bush-era tax cuts for two years, moves next to the House of Representatives.

U.S. wind, solar and other renewable energy industries have pressed lawmakers to continue a program that allows solar and wind power facilities to obtain federal grants equal to a tax credit worth 30% of the cost of building a new facility. The program was established in the 2009 economic stimulus package to rescue the U.S. renewable energy market from near collapse, after lenders that had previously provided financing in return for developers' tax credits abandoned the sector amid the financial crisis.

Developers have warned that U.S. renewable energy development will slow down, with massive layoffs to follow, if the tax grant program isn't extended, owing to continued weakness in the U.S. power market, the slow pace of the economic recovery and a still difficult financing environment.

The Solar Energy Industries Association hailed the Senate's passage of the tax bill, saying the grant program has created jobs in all 50 U.S. states for construction workers, electricians, plumbers and other tradespeople.

"An extension will help the solar industry remain one of the fastest growing industries in America and create thousands of new careers," the solar industry group said in a statement. "With passage now complete in the Senate, it is critical that the House moves swiftly to pass this bill and send to the President for his signature. Tens of thousands of jobs depend on it."

The tax bill also includes a one-year extension of a tax credit for the ethanol industry. The program provides a 45-cent subsidy for every gallon of ethanol blended into gasoline.

While the ethanol industry hailed the inclusion, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and a coalition of food industry, animal agricultural industry and environmental groups criticized the ethanol tax-credit extension, saying it wasn't necessary for an industry that enjoys other kinds of government support.

"The ethanol industry is the only one to ever receive the triple crown of government intervention," Feinstein said in a statement following the Senate's passage of the tax bill. "Ethanol use is mandated by law, its users receive federal subsidizes and domestic production is protected by tariffs. That policy is not sustainable."

Feinstein had made a last-minute push to lower the value of the ethanol credit by 20%. The extension still needs to win approval in the House of Representatives.

The tax bill also would cut payroll taxes for workers in 2011, extends jobless benefits for 13 months and extend a range of expired business tax breaks.

-By Cassandra Sweet, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6468; cassandra.sweet@dowjones.com

--Tennille Tracy, Corey Boles, Martin Vaughan and Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article.

Obama To Use Solar Electric At White House

2010-11-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

Obama To Use Solar Electric At White House
(Bloomberg News) President Barack Obama will have solar panels put back on the roof of the White House to demonstrate that renewable-energy technology is practical for U.S. homeowners, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said.

“The White House will lead by example,” Chu said yesterday at a conference in Washington. A solar-water heater will be installed in addition to photovoltaic panels to generate electricity, which will be in place by the end of June, he said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had them up there.”

President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the White House’s West Wing 31 years ago. They were taken down under Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan. Solar-energy advocates have pressed Obama to return panels to the executive mansion as a symbol of his commitment to renewable energy. The panels and heater will be atop Obama’s private residence in the East Wing.

“Putting solar on the roof of the nation’s most important home is a powerful symbol calling on all Americans to rethink how we create energy,” Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington-based trade group, said in a statement.

The Energy Department said in a statement that it will hold competitive bidding to choose the company that will install the solar systems.

U.S.-Made Panels

Asked whether the panels on the White House roof must be made in the U.S., Stephanie Mueller, an Energy Department spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that the criteria for the winning bidder will include “how well it showcases American technology, products and know-how.”

The U.S. has fallen behind China and European countries such as Germany in renewable energy. Asia makes more than half the world’s wind and solar energy equipment and is widening its lead. China invested $34.5 billion in low-carbon energy technologies last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The U.S. spent $18.6 billion.

Chu said today that the U.S. is on course to meet Obama’s goal of doubling manufacturing capacity for renewable energy by 2012. Obama has failed to win passage in Congress of legislation to create a cap-and-trade system limiting carbon emissions or to establish national standards for the use of renewable energy.

Prudential Installs Solar Panels

2010-11-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

November 11, 2010

Prudential Installs Solar Panels

Prudential Financial Inc. expects to save 2.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 3.2 million pounds a year as a result of installing solar panels on three office buildings. The Newark, N.J.-based financial services company announced this week that it installed the panels on its office building in Scottsdale, Ariz., and on two buildings in its Roseland, N.J.-office complex.
"Over the next 10 years, we expect these solar panels to save us approximately $3 million in energy costs and help us further reduce our overall carbon footprint by around 14,300 metric tons," said Michael Perrette, vice president and head of corporate facilities for Prudential.
The 2,678 panels installed in the Roseland buildings will generate about 3% of the power use in that office campus, with a peak power output of 500 kilowatt hours. The solar project in Scottsdale is the largest solar photovoltaic system on a commercial office building in Arizona. It involved installing 4,508 panels that generate about 30% of the building's power use, with a peak output of 885 kilowatt hours.

NC Dorm Wins Energy Contest

2010-11-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

Dorm Wins Energy Contest

By GWENDOLYN BOUNDS

Ultimately, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels prevailed over rival North Carolina State Wolfpack—as well as trouncing Sears, J.C. Penney and Sheraton.

The playing field: a national competition sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency to see which commercial building could trim its energy use the most over 12 months. The EPA will report Tuesday that ranking first was a dorm at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Morrison Residence Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill installed solar panels to cut utility costs.

The strategy at UNC's Morrison Residence Hall wasn't as sexy as a winning three-point shot at the buzzer—but tweaks to its heating and cooling equipment, an expanded solar-powered hot water system, lighting upgrades and persistent coaxing of students to dial down hot water usage in the laundry room helped the dorm cut its energy consumption by almost 36% and shave more than $250,000 off its bills. Similar moves are being implemented campus-wide.

"The big lesson for us is that efforts need to include occupants as well as the maintenance personnel of buildings," says Chris Martin Jr., director of energy management for the university. "Otherwise, eventually the savings will be lost."

Indeed, for all participants who did well, change happened at a macro level, such as weather-stripping, better lighting and thermal-imaging cameras to identify heat leaks. But the real challenge was coaxing occupants to change ingrained behaviors, such as expecting offices chilled to 68 degrees in the summer. On average, 30% of the energy used in the nation's 4.8 million commercial buildings is wasted, the EPA says.

The contest's runners up included Sears Holdings Corp.'s Glen Burnie, Md., store and a J.C. Penney Co. Inc. store in Orange, Calif., with 32% and 28% energy-use reductions respectively. Bringing up the rear of the 14 participants with less than 2% drops were the Sheraton Austin Hotel in Texas and the Virginia Beach Convention Center, Virginia Beach, Va.

Sears, for instance, wielded thermal-imaging cameras to detect and minimize heat generated by equipment powering the store. It also replaced worn or missing weather-stripping and ensured heating/cooling appliances were clean and running properly.

Vigilance by store staffers played a role, too. "One of the biggest things that doesn't cost money and the reason we were successful was getting store teams to turn off lights and close doors," says Michael Brown, director of environmental sustainability for Sears, which operates some 3,900 stores, including Kmart.

At the J.C. Penney store, signs and stickers exhorting staffers—dubbed the "Orange Power Rangers"—to pay attention to energy consumption, including turning off curling irons and coffee makers in the salon. Aggressive measures with lighting paid off, including new occupancy sensors in back offices and stock rooms and replacing some 425 hot halogen bulbs with more efficient LEDs (light emitting diodes). The store saved about $44,000 in energy costs during the competition.

The EPA's contest was held at a juncture when the agency's well-known Energy Star program needs to buff its credibility after a government report found loose verifications standards for claims made by manufacturers of products bearing the Energy Star label. Rules are being tightened. To ensure contestants in the building competition didn't fudge, the EPA says it required 24 months of utility-bill statements for verification.

Write to Gwendolyn Bounds at wendy.bounds@wsj.com

Report: PV Industry Will Grow 92% in 2010

2010-11-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Staff: October 27, 2010

Report: PV Industry Will Grow 92% in 2010 to Surpass 15 GW

The latest data indicate 25 gigawatts by 2012 and sub-one-dollar-per-watt module pricing by 2012.

Read the full press release here.
Global solar photovoltaics (PV) panel production will eclipse 15 gigawatts this year, according to GTM Research’s latest report, PV Technology, Production and Cost Outlook: 2010–2015. While subsidy cuts in key markets will lead to slower growth in 2011 and beyond, panel production will still exceed 25 gigawatts by 2013. At the same time, increasing competition between suppliers will lead to panel prices of less than $1/watt by 2012 for select technologies.
The report explores current global PV supply chain environments, from polysilicon production to wafer, cell, and module manufacturing. In addition to forecasting production volumes and component prices, the report conducts an extensive examination of PV technology characteristics, producer-specific manufacturing costs, market dynamics, competitive positioning, and business model analysis .

Report Scope and Questions for Competitive Decision Making:

“Over the past 18 months, we have witnessed the global PV industry become more complex and dynamic than ever before,” said Shyam Mehta, the report’s author and a Senior Solar Analyst at GTM Research. “The supply chain has been bombarded with opportunities from scaling demand, and the industry has responded to this competitive dynamic with new, low-cost technologies and more sophisticated business models.”

The industry’s increase in production capacity is also spurring global price competition between PV technologies. While First Solar boasted thin film panel costs of less than $1/watt in early 2010, PV Technology, Production and Cost Outlook: 2010–2015 forecasts the industry will reach its next economic milestone by 2012 when panel prices for the retail market will themselves fall below $1/watt.

“Our global pricing analysis projects higher-cost panel producers to come under significantly more pressure in 2011 as PV continues to become more commoditized and low-cost manufacturers such as First Solar and top-tier Chinese firms add more capacity,” said Mehta. “Whether it be through product differentiation, contract manufacturing, technology innovation, or vertical integration, higher-cost producers will have to develop differentiated business models to stay alive in the long term.”

Energy Basics: Concentrating Solar Power

2010-11-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

Energy Basics: Concentrating Solar Power