July 17, 2008
We’ve been hearing since February about the number of lost job opportunities (some 116,000) and lost investment (approx. $19 billion) that would be suffered by the PV and wind industries in the event of production and investment tax credits not being extended past the end of this year (see Navigant Consulting report here).
We’ve also been spectators at the many rounds of the Capitol Hill egg-throwing contest that have passed for debate on this very issue for most of the 110th Congress. Perhaps it’s time, now, to put some meat on the bones of that economic study, and give our Congresspersons some focus. Or, at least, ask them some pointed questions.
Let’s take a tour of the country, and see what it will mean in real terms in just a dozen states, if the ITC is not extended.
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June 23, 2008
A new study released this month has projected that solar power could provide 10% of US electricity generation by the year 2025, with the active participation of electric utilities.
The study, the Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study, was jointly produced by research firm Clean Edge and the non-profit organization Co-op America. It also found that solar power is likely to reach cost parity with fossil fuel-based electricity in most of the USA within a decade.
The study, based on interviews with more than 30 solar, utility, financial and policy experts, can be downloaded at www.cleanedge.com and www.solarcatalyst.org.
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June 23, 2008
Last month, in connection with an article about skyrocketing cost estimates for nuclear plant construction, we raised the topic of nuclear energy’s place in the world of renewables (as in, does it have one?) and in a low-carbon future. You sent us a wide range of responses, of which only about 15% stood up for the technology. Given the focus of Solar Nation, this can’t be called surprising.
It’s worth reiterating here that our emphasis at Solar Nation is on supporting solar power development, not on disparaging other power sources. There are plenty of groups and web sites who take that latter tack, and we’ll let them do that. Our complaint only comes when Government policy (and subsidies) favor other sources to the detriment of solar. With that said, let’s look at your arguments.
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June 23, 2008
We’ve come to the conclusion that while there’s a lot of talk going on in Congress, the closest it will come, in the immediate future, to bringing us renewable energy is if those magnificent high ceilings designed by Thomas Walter are replaced by hot air capture devices, perhaps linked to a Stirling engine.
Yes, there’s a lot of superheated air rising from the chamber floors these days—not an unusual occurrence in itself, but now it seems to be taking the place of real debate on issues of vital importance to our energy future. When Senate Majority Leader Reid resurrected the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008 (HR6049) for another cloture vote last week we assumed, not unnaturally, that this would lead to some serious back-room bargaining between individuals from House and Senate, so that agreement could be reached before taking up Senate floor time with a nugatory vote.
Silly us. (more…)
May 30, 2008
That’s what it’s felt like, as we’ve seen Congress try time and again to pass legislation that will rationalize our use of energy and promote development of solar and other clean technologies. Each number represents a different attempt over the last few months to kick-start the process. Each number represents a bill put together by House or Senate, brought to the appropriate floor, debated, passed, then torn to shreds by the other chamber.
Let’s start, arbitrarily, with HR6—last year’s energy bill—that eked out money for corn ethanol and improved the CAFE standards without doing more than token funding for solar power. In February of this year, those measures stripped out from HR6 resurfaced in the economic stimulus bill, HR5140, only to be pushed back down underwater; Congress must have felt the government checks to be sent to taxpayers under this bill were stimulating enough. In the same month we saw HR5351, a stand-alone bill worth some $20 billion in clean energy tax credits. The Senate shook its head.
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May 30, 2008
You haven’t heard much from Solar Nation on the subject of nuclear power—pro, con, or impartial. That’s not because we don’t harbor our own views on the use of the technology, but because our focus here is on promoting the positive aspects of solar power, not publicizing the negative aspects of any competitors. Besides, we’re aware that many solar citizens out there may also be strong supporters of nuclear energy as a relatively carbon-free power source.
But we felt it was worth bringing to your attention a report in the May/June issue of EnergyBiz magazine by Pam Radtke Russell, which strongly suggests that the economic underpinnings of the pro-nuclear argument are sagging. Recent cost estimates for two separate nuclear plant proposals in Florida have shown an increase of more than 100% over industry figures that are just two years old. Combined with similar estimates from such sources as Moody’s Investor Service, these figures—attributable largely to rising costs of metals, forgings and labor—represent a significant threat to the viability of the form of power once touted as “too cheap too meter.”
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April 22, 2008
Proverbs 29:18
In the Massachusetts vacation spot known as Cape Cod there’s a grass roots group by the name of Clean Power Now, which sprang up five years ago to support a developer’s plans to build the country’s first offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The group came into existence to counter the increasingly hysterical propaganda of groups opposed to the proposed wind farm, which Clean Power Now founders suspected was rooted in the desire of well-heeled washashores to protect their ocean views. Seeing the value of a utility-scale clean energy facility so close to a population center, those founders quickly developed a slogan for their organization, which can still be seen today on tee shirts and bumper stickers in the Bay State:
It’s Not the View, It’s the Vision.
Vision. It’s a word and a concept well worth considering in this time of stumbling starts for the renewable energy revolution. Since a reasonable dictionary definition of the word is ‘the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination and wisdom’, why is it that true vision seems to elude those in our society charged with that task—our leaders in government? Why does an average citizen with a little understanding of energy and environmental issues seem to have a firmer grasp of the imperatives of clean energy development than half of the U.S. Senate? (more…)
April 2, 2008
Southern California Edison (SCE) has launched an $875M project to install 250 megawatts of advanced PV hardware atop 65 million square feet of commercial buildings in Southern California. The project, which will represent the nation’s largest PV installation, will generate enough power to serve approximately 162,000 homes.
“This project will turn two square miles of unused commercial rooftops into advanced solar generating stations,” said John E. Bryson, Edison International Chairman and CEO. “We hope to have the first solar rooftops in service by August. The sunlight power will be available to meet our largest challenge – peak load demands on the hottest days.”
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April 2, 2008
The U.S. Department of Energy has released the names of the twelve cities that will receive 2008 Solar America City awards.
The Solar America Cities program is part of the Bush Administration’s Solar America Initiative, an effort managed by the Department of Energy to make PV-based solar power cost-competitive with electricity generated from more conventional grid-connected sources by 2015. Including this year’s awardees, twenty-five U.S. cities are involved in the program, committing themselves to accelerating the adoption of solar energy technologies at the local level.
The 2008 Solar America Cities are:
- Denver, CO
- Houston, TX
- Knoxville, TN
- Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN
- Orlando, FL
- Philadelphia, PA
- Sacramento, CA
- San Antonio, TX
- San Jose, CA
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Seattle, WA
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March 24, 2008
At an increasing rate, large-scale renewables plants and installations are appearing in America. Last month we reported on plans for a 280-megawatt concentrating solar power (CSP) plant to be built in Arizona by Abengoa Solar of Spain. And earlier this month, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson helped break ground near Albuquerque for a CSP and PV equipment manufacturing plant to be built by Schott AG of Germany.
image courtesy of Schott Solar
The activity is not limited to solar. Vestas of Denmark, the world’s leading supplier of wind power solutions, is building a turbine blade plant in Windsor, Colorado. With this activity, it is in the company of such players as Gamesa of Spain (Pennsylvania), Suzlon of India (Minnesota), Siemens of Germany and U.S.-based Clipper (Iowa). And behind this group in the U.S. market are coming companies with names like Acciona, Ecotechnia and Fuhrlander. (more…)