MORE NEWS, 3-10 (STIM STIMS SMALL WIND; CCS – JUST TOO EXPENSIVE; THE BIOFUEL BOTTOM; ANOTHER OIL MAN AGAINST CAP-AND-TRADE?)

STIM STIMS SMALL WIND
Stimulus may get small wind turbines spinning
William Armsby, March 9, 2009 (CNN)

"The gale force of President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package could breathe new life into an emerging industry: small wind turbines.

"The bill provides a 30 percent investment tax credit to consumers who buy these turbines, which are typically used to help power homes or small businesses."

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"Even amid a recession, this tax credit…could help the small-turbine market grow by 40 to 50 percent annually, a boost that would parallel the growth of the U.S. solar photovoltaic industry after a similar 2005 initiative.

"Unlike the towering windmills sprouting en masse from the Western Plains, small wind turbines have a capacity of 100 kilowatts or less and are designed to operate on the consumer side of the power grid, often in combination with solar panels…"

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"According to the American Wind Energy Association, the United States is already the world's leading manufacturer of small-wind technologies, holding roughly two-thirds of the world's market share. Last year, American companies made 98 percent of the small wind turbines sold in the United States.

"To conservation-minded home or business owners, the turbines are an investment in clean energy and one way to ease America's dependence on foreign oil. In the right location, a 10-kilowatt turbine could supply the entire electricity needs of an average American household. The newly subsidized larger models can help power small businesses, farms and schools…"


CCS – JUST TOO EXPENSIVE
Cost Is Chief Barrier to ‘Clean Coal’
Kate Galbraith, March 9, 2009 (NY Times)

"At a forum in New York last week on carbon capture and sequestration — or C.C.S. — experts largely agreed that the technology was already available, but that the main obstacle was cost…

"Oil companies have been sequestering carbon dioxide in oil fields for several decades, in areas such as the Permian Basin in west Texas. The carbon dioxide, injected into the ground…helped to produce just over 10 percent of the barrels produced in the United States, and…more than 100 such projects across the country…produce oil with carbon dioxide."

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"The most expensive part of the carbon capture and storage process is not the storage, but the capturing…given certain technological assumptions, “Carbon prices must reach $100/tC [metric ton of carbon] in order for C.C.S. technologies to start being adopted by the power industry on a significant [five percent market penetration] scale…”

"By way of reference, at the Northeast’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the only governmental group to put a price on carbon dioxide in this country, carbon dioxide emissions were sold for $3.38 a ton in December…"

Dirty is clean. Now you know the science. From CoalIsDirty via YouTube.

"The government is signaling that it may move forward in aiding the development of “clean coal” projects, as sequestration is known. Energy Secretary Steven Chu suggested recently that the FutureGen project — a demonstration plant for carbon capture and storage that was scuttled by the Bush administration due to high costs — could be revived.

"And the Environmental Protection Agency continues to work on its draft rule on regulating carbon capture and storage under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Though the E.P.A.’s scope is narrow (these regulations do not include liability, for example), a rule may be in place by early 2011…Environmental groups at the forum emphasized that while they’d like to see progress made on carbon sequestration, their general wish is to reduce and eventually eliminate dependence on coal."


THE BIOFUEL BOTTOM
Can Biofuels Bottom?
Kirk Shinkle, March 6, 2009 (U.S. News & World Report)

"In the universe of absolutely battered "green" stocks…biofuels have been among the worst. Falling prices and oversupply led to an industry-wide slump as ethanol prices sank along with other fuels, while being squeezed at the same time by a smaller drop in prices for crops used to make the stuff."

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"The damaged caused a few analysts to question the future of the entire ethanol industry. Happily…Merrill Lynch is out with a report predicting a possible surge in ethanol prices next year as demand continues, oil prices rise and grain prices soften under the weight of a global recession.

"Oversupply worries are improving as well. Merrill now says biofuel output will fall to 1.9 million barrels per day, lower than earlier estimates of 2.1 million as refiners cut back... VeraSun [went] into bankruptcy, closing 12 of its 16 ethanol plants. Northeast Biofuels and Renew Energy filed as well, and Pacific Ethanol is only running one of its four plants…Also, the credit crunch has crimped second-generation biofuel projects that might skew prices at a time when more capacity is the last thing the industry needs…Merrill estimates crude needs to head back above $60 a barrel from around $45 today for most [ethanol] refiners to break even without help from government subsidies…"

The reality. (click to enlarge)

"Also today… Brazil (the world's ethanol capital) is earmarking $1 billion for ethanol storage that could help smooth out at least a bit of the volatility that continues to plague the industry. And in Washington, the ethanol [industry] is prepping for a "slugfest" to get more ethanol into the gasoline mix…"


ANOTHER OIL MAN AGAINST CAP-AND-TRADE?
Carbon trade wrong, says Lord Browne
Tim Webb and Terry Macalister, 8 March 2009 (UK Guardian)

"Lord Browne, the former chief executive of BP and one of the earliest proponents of carbon trading to tackle climate change, has conceded his enthusiasm was misplaced…

"[Lord Browne:] "My view has shifted over time. Pinning all your hopes on the European Union ETS [emissions trading scheme] and carbon trading is wrong."

"Until recently, energy companies and governments all around the world - particularly Britain's - argued that carbon trading was the best way of reducing global emissions. Under the EU scheme - the first of its kind in the world - companies are awarded carbon credits. If they pollute more than their allocation allows, they have to buy extra credits on the market."

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"But the scheme has been dogged by controversy. In the first phase, starting in 2005, companies were given too many credits, allowing them to bank billions of pounds of credits without having to clean up their act. Now, the price of carbon is so low that it provides little incentive for companies to cut their emissions. In the next phase, companies will have to buy more of their credits, rather than receive them all for free.

"In the late 1990s, Browne started BP's internal carbon trading scheme and executives helped the British government design its own experimental scheme, which predated that of the EU.

"Browne said last week that carbon trading could play a part, but only alongside legislation and government targets…"