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by Rona Fried Lie, Smear, Obstruct, Win. That’s the new motto for American politics. Add to that pompous ignorance and you know what we’re up against in the 2011 Congress. After eight long years of the Bush Administration, we had a very brief period of support for cleantech and renewable energy with the Obama Administration. Now, that "hope for change" is gone. It’s bad news for science and the reality of climate change with climate deniers back in town. Bill Mayer joked on Real Time that Tea Partiers don’t "believe" in gravity. But it’s no joke. We’re about to have the most pro-dirty energy Congress we’ve seen. Thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, Big Oil and Dirty Coal spent a fortune to swing this election, and they got what they paid for. Renewable energy, clean technology, and the vital investments in education and research that underpin its spread are in jeopardy in the US. In fact, the new Republican majority will do their best to unwind all our environmental laws that protect our air and water and natural resources. Those laws put "undue burdens" on polluters – if we want jobs, we’ll have to get rid of them. […]
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VP Biden Launches DOE Home Energy Scoring Program 7th Large Solar Project on U.S. Public Lands Approved Big Boost for Building Energy Efficiency Codes 2011 Fuel Economy Guide Released $1B in Transportation Investment Voted In Online Retailers Fined for Not Posting EnergyGuide Information World Government Policies Inadequate to Address Climate Change Vice President Biden Launches DOE Home Energy Scoring Program On November 9, Vice President Biden launched DOE’s Home Energy Score pilot program, designed to offer homeowners reliable information about their homes’ energy efficiency. Under the voluntary program, a report provides consumers with a home energy score between 1 and 10, and shows them how their homes compare to others in their region. The report includes customized, cost-effective recommendations that help energy costs while improving comfort. The Home Energy Score program will empower trained and certified contractors to use a standardized assessment tool developed by DOE and DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. With the tool, contractors can quickly evaluate a home and generate useful, actionable information for homeowners and prospective homebuyers. With only about 40 required inputs, contractors can analyze a home’s energy assets, such as its heating and cooling systems and insulation levels, usually in less than an hour. […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable media player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer each week. In this week’s show… Environment, Energy Lose in Midterm Elections New Mexico Adopts Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program Building Codes Officials Deliver Historic Improvement in Energy Efficiency Plus, a summary of the week’s top cleantech headlines. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com
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California Approves 663MW Calico Solar Plant All New Fed Buildings Required LEED Gold $2.4B More for High-Speed Rail Projects Army Adopts New Sustainable Policy for Buildings, Lighting FTC Requires EnergyGuide Labels for Televisions Carbon Capture Project Seeks Carbon Storage Site State Commission Approves Fifth California Solar Plant On October 28, the California Energy Commission approved the 663.5 MW Calico Solar Project in San Bernardino County – the seventh California solar power plant in the past two months. Calico Solar, LLC, a subsidiary of Tessera Solar, is developing the project on 4,613 acres of land managed by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in the Mojave Desert. The project will use solar dish Stirling systems, or "SunCatchers." Construction will require a peak workforce of 700; project operation will require another 180 solar jobs. Since August, the Commission has licensed 3,492.5 MW of solar in the California desert. The Calico project is the fifth commercial solar project permitted on U.S. federal public land. It’s size was reduced from 850 MW on 8,230 acres to minimize its environmental impact, primarily on the desert tortoise. To qualify for federal stimulus funds, projects have to be approved by the Commission before December […]
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Largest Solar Project Approved for U.S. Public Lands Wind Could Provide 20% of World’s Electricity by 2030 EPA, DOT Seek First U.S. Truck Fuel Efficiency Standards USDA Readies Expanded Biofuels Initiatives, Including FAA Jet Fuel Project $5 Million Boost for Ocean Renewable Energy Research Green Power Leadership Awards Announced U.S. Grid to Feature Diverse Energy Sources, Slow Demand Growth Interior Dept Approves Largest Solar Project on U.S. Public Lands The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) approved on October 25 the largest solar project ever to be built on U.S. public lands. When completed, the Blythe Solar Power Project, the world’s largest concentrating solar facility, will produce up to 1000 MW of solar, enough to power 300,000 – 750,000 homes. The installation will cover 7025 acres of public lands eight miles west of Blythe in Riverside County, California. The developers, Palo Verde Solar I, a subsidiary of Solar Millennium, LLC, expect it to create 1,066 solar jobs at the peak of construction and 295 permanent jobs. A 230-kilovolt transmission line will be constructed to connect the power to the grid. The Bureau of Land Management will offer Solar Millennium a right-of-way grant to use the public lands for 30 years […]
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Proposition 23 would suspend implementation of California’s landmark Assembly Bill 32 (AB32): the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which goes into effect January 1, 2012. Call it the battle of "old vs new," "clean vs dirty," "visionary vs backward thinking," the vote on Proposition 23 in California has turned into a test of whether climate change/clean energy legislation can move forward in the US. California’s AB32 is the only economy-wide greenhouse gas law in the U.S. If it can’t take hold in California, our greenest state, what are the chances of enacting federal legislation? Polls show that Prop 23 is likely to be voted down, so polluters are funneling millions of dollars into Prop 26, which would eliminate its funding. Read page 2 of this article to learn about Prop 26. What’s AB32? It requires that California reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. To do that, AB 32 provides the authority to implement California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Renewable Portfolio Standard, both of which create immediate demand for large-scale, low-carbon transportation fuels and electric power. The bill also authorizes the creation of a cap and trade market for greenhouse gas reduction credits. As part of […]
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The Green Week in Review podcast will return on Friday, November 5.
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DOE Loan Guarantee for New Southwest Transmission Project Major Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Project Announced DOI Approves First Solar Project on Nevada Public Lands ACEEE Energy Efficiency Scorecard Cites State Leaders U.S. Mayors Attend Swedish Green Conference EPA Grants E15 Fuel Waiver for Newer Vehicles EIA: Home Heating Costs to Increase Slightly This Winter DOE Offers Loan Guarantee for Southwest Transmission Project DOE announced on October 19 its offer of a conditional commitment for a $350 million loan guarantee to develop the One Nevada Transmission Line (ON Line). ON Line is a new 500-kilovolt transmission line that will run 235 miles from Ely, Nevada to just north of Las Vegas. The project will carry approximately 600 MW of electricity, including renewable energy, in northern Nevada. It will also integrate existing transmission systems in northern and southern Nevada, improving grid reliability and efficiency, and reducing power costs. This is the first transmission line project to be offered a commitment by DOE’s Loan Programs Office. The ON Line project will be the first phase of the Southwest Intertie Project which, when fully completed, will carry approximately 2,000 MW of electricity and will enable wind and solar resources in Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada […]
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How have U.S. renewable energy companies fared in the public markets and in private finance this year? ACORE just released a report on conditions in the US and China, and on their efforts to help both countries move renewable energy forward. Following a successful first quarter, public equity markets have recently exhibited considerable volatility, largely due to the European credit crisis and policy uncertainty, resulting in many clean energy IPOs being delayed and leading to a large IPO pipeline. Private equity and venture capital investments, however, are increasing substantially quarter-on-quarter, with a particular focus on energy smart technologies, solar and wind, and investment still overwhelmingly concentrated in California. Asset and corporate financings are recovering from the lows of 2009, but still lag behind Europe and, increasingly, China. Public Markets Given current market conditions where investors are unsure about where the economy and energy policy is headed, investors in clean energy stocks have become increasingly selective. U.S. and European investors are favoring companies with differentiated products or business models and are increasingly shying away from markets they perceive as commoditized, such as the wind and solar supply chain. Given the general capital shortage and market uncertainty, combined with an abundance of […]
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