MORE NEWS, 5-29 (DAKOTA WIND BUILDING; PRES LIKES NEXT-GEN BIOFUELS; LONG ISLAND SOLAR INSTALLERS GET BUSY)

DAKOTA WIND BUILDING
Wind Project Moves Along
May 27, 2009 (KXMC-TV Minot)

"North Dakota wind continues to blow-and an industry relying on that wind continues to grow…The Public Service Commission estimates wind will be able to generate more than 16-hundred megawatts of power in the state by next year…That's more than 300 times the amount of wind power generated just seven years ago.

"…[For Basin Electric’s Prairie Winds ND1,] the latest wind project proposed in Ward County…the numbers are encouraging - 200 jobs created during construction, 8 permanent jobs, new rental revenue for farmers, and a new, clean power source…"

T. Boone Pickens calls the Great Plains “the Saudi Arabia of wind…” (click to enlarge)

"…Basin Electric says the wind farm will include 77 towers with a generating capacity of about 115 megawatts…[It says] federal energy policy is critical to developing projects like Prairie Winds. Those laws allow companies like Basin to quickly depreciate the cost of the equipment - and give them tax breaks for wind-produced energy…

"…[The power company] says wind power will be an increasing part of Basin's energy production mix - because it allows the company to meet requirements set by Congress…[E]xpect to hear more about projects to harness North Dakota's wind in the future…The 240-million dollar Prairie Winds project is scheduled to begin producing electricity this winter..."


PRES LIKES NEXT-GEN BIOFUELS
Obama seeks growth in biofuels beyond ethanol
Roberta Rampton (w/Gary Hill), May 27, 2009 (Reuters)

"President Barack Obama… wants to see new types of biofuels commercialized as quickly as possible, but the corn-based ethanol industry needs to remain viable in the meantime…"

[President Obama’s letter farm-state governors:] "My administration is committed to moving as quickly as possible to commercialize an array of emerging cellulosic technologies so that tomorrow's biofuels will be produced from sustainable biomass feedstocks and waste materials rather than corn… But this transition will be successful only if the first-generation biofuels industry remains viable in the near term…"

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"Most biofuel currently used in the United States is ethanol made from corn. The U.S. government wants to boost production of renewable fuels made from non-food crops like switchgrass and plant waste left over from harvesting grain…Biofuels help reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the need for importing oil while creating jobs, Obama wrote.

"The ethanol sector has been hit hard by high corn prices, lower oil prices, and overcapacity. New types of biofuels are currently more expensive to produce than corn-based ethanol…[But] regulators and lawmakers are debating how to measure the [cost] of land-use change…[as when] emissions [are] released when corn production displaces other crops, giving farmers the incentive to turn forests into cropland."

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"Poor market conditions have threatened the development of new types of biofuels, the Governors' Biofuels Coalition told Obama in a letter earlier this year, asking him to put forth a vision for biofuels and establish a task force on the debate over biofuels' greenhouse gas emissions…Obama established that task force earlier this month.

"The governors also asked Obama to increase the maximum allowed limit for blending ethanol with gasoline to 13 percent from the current 10 percent level to expand the market…The Environmental Protection Agency is slated to rule…by December 1…"


LONG ISLAND SOLAR INSTALLERS GET BUSY
Business picks up for solar energy system installers
Gary Dymski, May 28, 2009 (Newsday)

"Through late last year and into January, solar installer Gary Minnick was averaging about one job a month. Then in February, things began to heat up…Another installer, Marc Clejan, co-owner of GreenLogic in Southampton, said business for solar PV has doubled for his company since last year…GreenLogic is projecting 176 installations this year, up from 75 last year."

click thru to GreenLogic

"Long Island solar installers like Minnick and Clejan are benefiting from a part of the federal stimulus package that extended many consumer tax incentives for renewable energy projects, including solar PV, solar water heating and geothermal heat.

"The big winner on Long Island appears to be solar PV, which - in addition to a cap-free 30 percent federal tax credit - also is eligible for a Long Island Power Authority rebate and a 25 percent New York State tax credit. The stimulus package eliminated a $2,000 cap on the federal tax credit for solar PV…Michael Deering, LIPA's vice president of environmental affairs, said applications for the utility's solar PV rebate - $3.50 a watt - have tripled, to 180, from last year…"

click thru to Go Solar

"…[One L.I. homeowner] hired GreenLogic to install two systems - a 9,460-watt array of solar PV panels and a solar water-heating setup - at more than $80,000, before rebates and tax credits. After applying all the incentives - including an extra $10,135 because of the federal stimulus package - total cost for the two systems was slightly less than $25,000…the PV system (net cost $21,157) is projected to pay for itself in about eight years and will virtually eliminate [the homeowner’s] electric bill. The water-heating system (net cost $3,812) will reduce [the] natural gas consumption by about 25 percent and pay for itself in about three years."