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More Coal, Less Sun

December 21, 2009

The Pennsylvania story brings into focus the coal debate, and asks how much effort should be devoted to research into, and development of, clean coal. But is Solar Nation the place to be doing it?

It most certainly is, because the way we as a nation treat our future usage of coal impinges directly on solar energy’s development and deployment prospects. We currently use coal for nearly half of our electricity needs, mainly because of its low cost; this cost is, however, artificially low, thanks to government subsidies* and our failure to include harmful externalities in its price. To be charitable, let us assume that Seth Grove, the state representative referenced by Annalise Gojmerac in the above story, is not aware of those externalities. He would do well, then, to read Dexter Gauntlett’s article in Clean Edge, Inc. (jobs.cleanedge.com):

We can no longer ignore the not-so-hidden financial and human costs of coal.

To Capture or Not to Capture

If we continue to use coal without regard to its harmful effects, we mortgage our collective futures for the price of a kilowatt-hour. If we attempt to capture and neutralize its carbon emissions, it changes from one of the cheapest to one of the most expensive fuels available**—and it’s by no means certain that those emissions can be effectively neutralized or sequestered.*** More to the point, the first of these options excludes solar from a pricing perspective, while the second would soak up invaluable resources that could be used to fund R&D in clean energy and energy efficiency. (more…)

Something is (About to be) Rotten in the State of Denmark

November 29, 2009

With the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen only days away, observers a coat of arms round the world are talking less about seeing a firm emissions control treaty, with targets, come out of the meeting than a political agreement to aim for hefty reductions in the future.

This is, to say the least, disappointing. An international agreement on GHG emission reductions would, at long last, force governments to put a price on carbon, which would lead to more robust investment in clean energy solutions. These could include both utility-scale and distributed solar, as well as passive solar and energy efficiency measures. But to kick the problem down the road for another year or more would be to waste a rare opportunity, in which no fewer than 192 countries—more than 60 of which will be represented by their leaders—could have made tangible progress on international climate policy. Some twelve years after launching the Kyoto Protocol, the world’s leaders might have given us more. (more…)

Taking Our Ball and Going Home

November 12, 2009

In the first week of November, it was not just bipartisanship but basic, honest debate that took a hit in the U.S. Senate. We’re trying to restore some sanity — and adult behavior — on the Hill.

The minority members of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, seeing that the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Bill was likely to pass successfully out of committee, decided en masse to boycott the planned mark-up session. As a reminder, this bill, S1733, is the Senate’s version of the energy/climate bill that passed the House in the Spring. And despite its weaknesses, it represents the one chance the country has this year of passing legislation vital to the growth of clean energy and the control of climate change.

Notwithstanding this unprecedented show of petulance, Committee Chair Barbara Boxer passed the bill out of committee, but the action of the minority, led by Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma, will make it that much more difficult to get the votes needed when the bill reaches the floor of the Senate. (more…)

New ASES Report Sees 4.5 Million Net Jobs Created by Clean Energy

October 27, 2009

So exactly how many jobs will be lost in this country, should we embrace the kind of energy and climate legislation that’s been tossed around in Congress since this spring? We’ve heard all kinds of projections of catastrophic job losses from bill opponents, should we actually see these bills become law, not to mention the mythical $1761 per household that the Administration’s climate policies would cost, according to a certain Mr. Glenn Beck.

As these words are being typed, the first of three hearings conducted by the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee this week is taking place. The first witness, Senator John Kerry (D-MA), cited several studies indicating that jobs will proliferate in a clean energy economy. He was followed by committee member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who used his opening statement to describe his vision of a flood of jobs exiting the United States.

Congresspersons from states heavily dependent on fossil fuel production, like Tennessee, are understandably under pressure from constituents who see a swing toward clean energy as a threat to their jobs. But in wilfully seeing the employment glass as half-empty rather than half-full, these voters’ congressional legislators are doing them a disservice. They must know that when the buggy-whip business died it was because a new industry, promising large-scale employment, was growing fast. (more…)

So the Solar Decathlon’s over. What Lessons did Congress Learn?

October 27, 2009

By the time you read this, the area of the National Mall set aside for the Solar Decathlon will have been returned to its normal state, and perhaps those congresspersons and congressional staffers who visited the solar village will have reflected soberly on the event’s outcome. So they should, for while we highlighted in our coverage the different approaches taken by the teams rather than the scoring, we’re also aware that a single team from Europe bested no fewer than fifteen U.S. university teams in the practical application of clean energy technology.

Taken together with the extraordinary difficulty Congress is having in passing an energy/climate bill sporting any real teeth, this should seriously alarm anyone already concerned that we are falling behind in the race to lead the global clean energy industry. (more…)

Great Solar Decathlon! Let’s Start Building!

October 27, 2009

Yes, finally it’s over, and the trophy remains in German hands. The 2009 Solar Decathlon brought twenty teams of students from the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany and Spain together on the National Mall in Washington DC for most of October. They came to show how solar energy, geothermal energy, energy efficiency and plain ingenuity can produce energy net-zero houses, and to be judged in ten separate contests.
Team Germany celebrating their win

The contests and their winners were:

Appliances (operation of refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, dryer and dishwasher): University of Illinois;
Architecture: Team California;
Comfort Zone (maintaining indoor temperatures and relative humidity with a set range): Team Germany;
Communications: Team California;
Engineering (energy systems design, energy efficiency savings, creativity and reliability): University of Minnesota
Home Entertainment (operation of lights, a TV, computer and kitchen appliances): University of Illinois
Hot Water (ability to deliver 15 gallons of hot water within 10 minutes): University of Illinois;
Lighting Design: University of Minnesota;
Market Viability University of Louisiana;
Net Metering: Team Germany.

It was the net metering contest, worth more in points than any other single contest, that put the Technische Universitat Darmstadt at the top of the leader board, outscoring U. Illinois by just ten points out of a total of some 900. (more…)

Renewables’ Growth Rate Beats out Nuclear and Fossil Fuels

September 25, 2009

The following news advisory was issued by the Sustainable Energy Coalition.

According to the latest issue of the “Monthly Energy Review” by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, renewable energy sources, e.g., biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, and wind, provided 11.37 percent of domestic U.S. energy production in June 2009 – the latest month for which data has been published. In both April and May, renewables accounted for more domestic energy production than nuclear, and in the first six months of 2009 provided 11.18 percent of net U.S. electrical generation.

For the first six months of 2009, renewable energy production accounted for 10.67 percent of domestic production, rising to 11.32 percent for the second quarter. This compares to 10.2 percent for the first half of 2008 and 9.89 percent for the first half of 2007. In terms of electrical generation, renewables provided 11.18 percent in the first half of 2009, an increase of 1.28 percent over the previous year’s figure. (more…)

Solar Decathlon returns to Washington

August 18, 2009

This October, for the fourth time, the Solar Decathlon will fill the National Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, putting Solar front and center at a time when those in the Capitol building ought to be passing a major bill to benefit the technology.

For both those reasons, it would be an excellent time for you to visit Washington DC: a time when you can see how some of the best and brightest young minds can integrate solar power with real living environments, and a time when you can visit your Congresspersons and insist on a bill that enables that very thing to happen in the nation at large. (You can find tips on making personal visits to your Congresspersons here). (more…)

No Respect for Clean Energy Money

August 18, 2009

“I don’t get no respect” was comic Rodney Dangerfield’s most famous line. And if the great stand-up guy were alive today, he could be delivering that line while playing the role of renewable energy. Because in some areas of government, funding for clean energy is being used as a handy pot of ‘mad money’ to bail out other funds. No respect there.

The Obama Administration has diverted one-third of the $6 billion allocated to the DOE Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program to the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program, which has proved so popular that it was in danger of running out of money. The rationale of the Administration and Congress is that DOE will not be able to spend that part of its funds before the end of the year, so will not miss it in the short term. And White House staffers have assured concerned clean energy supporters that the Loan Guarantee Program fund will be replenished by that time.

Even so, the action bespeaks a certain lack of respect for an issue that was described as vitally important by Obama this time last year. It reminds this writer of the time, years ago, when he found a shortfall of several hundred dollars in the cash register of his retail operation. As he discovered the discrepancy one of his employees explained, quite ingenuously, that since he was short of mortgage money that month he had, naturally, used his employer’s money to make up the difference. There did not seem to be, with him, an ethical dilemma at work over the issue of respect. (more…)

And you thought the town hall meetings on health care reform were bad…

August 18, 2009

We’re used to railing against the use of corporate cash as a determinant of Congressional behavior, but we think the use of faux-grassroots groups (now being known, appropriately enough, as ‘astroturf’ groups) to sway politicians may be equally disruptive to the democratic process.

This somewhat cynical* phenomenon is being enthusiastically copied by the oil & gas industry from the playbook of Big Health, as an American Petroleum Institute (API) memo recently leaked to Greenpeace USA showed. According to Greenpeace, the memo asks member companies to round up current and former employees, among others, to attend ‘Energy Citizen’ rallies across the country posing as unaffiliated citizens. Companies will, in many cases, provide transportation and food for attendees from their labor force, who, we anticipate, are expected to speak out against the Congressional energy bill.

And why, exactly, do we find this trend so offensive? Aren’t corporations entitled to express the concerns and opinions of management to members of Congress, just as citizens and voters are? (more…)

More Coal, Less Sun

Something is (About to be) Rotten in the State of Denmark

Taking Our Ball and Going Home

New ASES Report Sees 4.5 Million Net Jobs Created by Clean Energy

So the Solar Decathlon’s over. What Lessons did Congress Learn?

Great Solar Decathlon! Let’s Start Building!

Renewables’ Growth Rate Beats out Nuclear and Fossil Fuels

Solar Decathlon returns to Washington

No Respect for Clean Energy Money

And you thought the town hall meetings on health care reform were bad…

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