The state best known for its sunshine is laying the groundwork to put that tremendous resource to use making cleaner energy. Recent policy changes in Florida put the state at the forefront of incentives for solar power technology and establish a strong market for ethanol–encouraging companies to begin producing the fuel from biomass sources like orange peels that sequester energy from the sun.
The Florida Public Service Commission recently created a net-metering standard to allow solar system owners in the state to feed unused electricity back into the grid for others to use, and in return, have their meter roll backwards, banking credits for their next bill.
The Solar Alliance, (a group of the world’s leading solar manufacturers)said the net-metering ruling is perhaps one of the best in the country. It allows for net metering up to 2 megawatts (MW), which, according to the Solar Alliance, meets best-in-class standards and accommodates for residential, as well as large, commercial systems.
"Freeing the Grid", a report released last month by a coalition of renewable energy policy experts, ranks and grades the 40 states with net metering and interconnection standards.
Florida also published new proposed motor fuel rules last month that could lead to wider ethanol use in the nation’s third-largest gasoline market.
The new motor-fuel rules follow a hearing held last October, during which representatives from the ethanol industry and several oil companies urged the state to loosen rules they said discouraged refiners from adding ethanol to gasoline sold in the region.
Many believe the new, broader rules on gasoline-ethanol blending will open up the states vast market to the burgeoning U.S. ethanol industry.
"We view it as a very positive development and a step in the right direction in terms of creating the flexibility that Florida petroleum marketers need to blend more ethanol," Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for ethanol industry group the Renewable Fuels Association, said in an interview.
According to reports, at least four other states in the U.S. Southeast are considering new gasoline rules similar to those published in Florida.
Loading...