MORE NEWS, 7-13 (U.S. TAXPAYERS INVEST $3 BIL IN NEW ENERGY; WIND, WAVE & TIDAL REPLACE WHALING; BIOFUELS TRADE WAR BREWING)

U.S. TAXPAYERS INVEST $3 BIL IN NEW ENERGY
U.S. makes $3 billion available for renewable energy
Tom Doggett (w/David Gregorio), July 9, 2009 (Reuters)

"The Obama administration…[has] unveiled guidelines that will allow companies to apply for some $3 billion in government funds to boost development of renewable energy projects around the country, creating jobs.

"The funding will help meet the White House's goal to double U.S. renewable energy production over the next three years and also provide companies with easier financing than many can obtain in the private sector where credit remains tight."

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"The money, from the economic stimulus package, will provide direct payments to companies in lieu of tax credits to support an estimated 5,000 bio-mass, solar, wind and other renewable energy production facilities.

"The Treasury and Energy Departments announced the funding guidelines, which would provide each project with an average $600,000."

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"Previously energy companies could file for a tax credit to cover a portion of the costs of a renewable energy project. Under the new program, companies would forgo the tax credits in favor of an immediate reimbursement of a portion of the property expense, making funds available almost immediately…

"Energy companies will be able to apply for the money in coming weeks. Until then, the administration made available the program's terms and conditions, guidance and a sample application…"


WIND, WAVE & TIDAL REPLACE WHALING
A place off Massachusetts to test wind, wave and tidal energy
Beth Daley, July 6, 2009 (Boston Globe)

"…[T]he New England Marine Renewable Energy Center is busy getting ready for the next generation of energy from the sea by hoping to use a rectangular ocean swath south of Martha's Vineyard [where whaling ships once came and went] as a testing ground.

"The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth-based center just received $950,000 from the US Department of Energy to develop better technologies for offshore wind, waves and tides. The center is already working with the towns of Edgartown and Nantucket to develop a tidal energy project in Muskeget Channel between the two islands known for its fierce currents."

Governor Patrick's Oceans Act of 2008 turned Massachusetts into a potential New Energy powerhouse. (click to enlarge)

"But center researchers also hope to get permission to use a piece of ocean from the channel extending 30 miles south for energy entrepreneurs to use as an experiment center at the full mercy of deep waters and tough ocean conditions.

"Scientists are just in the research stages now but if the site pans out it will be wired to allow energy developers to test their systems at a fraction of what it would cost if they had to pay for it on their own."

More on the Oceans Act of 2008. (click to enlarge)

"Wave, tidal and deeper water wind farm technology is still fledging, center director Miller says, and many kinks need to be worked out. Yet he predicts some tidal energy projects could be operational within five years, with wave energy and wind turbines in deeper waters following soon after. The center, which links researchers from UMass, MIT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Rhode Island, is hoping to do what Europe has done - pool together resources so developers can research technology and get it to the market as soon as possible."


BIOFUELS TRADE WAR BREWING
EU slaps 5-year import duties on US biofuel
Aoife White, July 7, 2009 (AP via Forbes)

"The European Union [the world's biggest user and producer of crop-based fuels] extended import fees on U.S. biodiesel…to protect European producers from unfair American subsidies [to Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc. and several others] and below-cost selling…

"The EU's 27 nations said in a joint statement that they were extending for five years temporary fees they imposed in March… after a trade investigation said that U.S. producers sold biodiesel to Europe far below the real costs of production [even lower price than the vegetable oil raw materials purchased by the EU industry] and received federal tax credits and state subsidies."

They call it "splash and dash." (click to enlarge)

"EU officials said this helped U.S. exporters increase their share of the EU market for biodiesel from 0.4 percent in 2005 to more than 17 percent from April 2007 to March 2008…The United States is the EU's biggest foreign supplier of biodiesel, providing euro700 million ($976 million) worth of fuel to a total market worth euro5 billion.

"The European Biodiesel Board said the new import fees would help re-establish a level playing field for European producers, claiming unfair U.S. competition [for more than two years] has already caused some companies to go bankrupt or to quit biodiesel production…Biodiesel is usually mixed with mineral fuel to power diesel cars, trucks, buses and trains. It can also be used as a heating fuel."

But why? (click to enlarge)

"The EU plans to use far more biofuels in the coming years, setting a target to replace 10 percent of transport oil with biofuel by 2020 - or 33 million metric tons of oil…EU biofuel output in 2006 was 6 million metric tons and it will likely have to increase output rapidly and import far more to meet its goals…

"This biofuel target has come under fire from environmentalists and others who claim that it will see land taken away from food production and put pressure on natural reserves - especially in developing countries."