MORE NEWS, 10-12: UTILITY BUYS IN ON OFFSHORE WIND; BUSH ADMIN BUNGLED ENERGY LEASES; SOLAR SHINGLES; TO GROW GREEN, COMMIT

UTILITY BUYS IN ON OFFSHORE WIND
Duke Energy to fund offshore North Carolina wind project
(with Pascal Fletcher) October 6, 2009 (Reuters)

"Duke Energy Corp has agreed to fund a pilot study of commercial wind turbines in the waters offshore of North Carolina…[Duke has] contracted with the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill to place up to three wind turbines in Pamlico Sound.

"The project builds on a study, completed in June 2009 by the university for the North Carolina General Assembly, which found the state was well positioned to develop utility-scale wind energy production…The scope of Duke Energy's funding for the project [has] not been established yet…and the utility [is] now selecting a supplier for the turbines."

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"…[Duke Energy has 634 megawatts (MW) of land-based wind energy in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming, another 99 MW under construction and an additional 251 MW of wind projects scheduled to begin operation in 2010 and is]…interested in the cost of offshore projects to determine how commercially viable these might be…The goal [is] to have the project in operation in one year.

"…[The pilot turbine installation will facilitate utility-scale wind energy development by enabling studies to optimize measuring and predicting the wind resource, quantifying ecological impacts, and demonstrating turbine performance in tropical storm conditions]…"

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"…The pilot study would focus on Pamlico Sound, between North Carolina's Outer Banks and the mainland, rather than areas with more wind further offshore, because waters in the sound were under state control, [project manager for the UNC Coastal Wind Study presented to the state legislature and] University of North Carolina Vice Chancellor Carolyn Elfland said…

"In August, the U.S. Interior Department said it would be at least a year before it was ready to consider permits for wind farms in federal waters…The planned demonstration turbines could be the first turbines placed in U.S. offshore waters…[although] Rhode Island [is] also going ahead with a pilot offshore wind energy commercial project…Various European countries have been operating offshore wind farms since the early 1990s."


BUSH ADMIN BUNGLED ENERGY LEASES
Few Bush-era energy leases are valid, report finds; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says his agency will prevent further development on the problematic parcels on Utah's public land.
Nicolas Riccardi, October 9, 2009 (LA Times)

"Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said…only 17 of 77 oil and gas leases on Utah public lands that the Bush administration auctioned off in December were valid [according to Final BLM Review of 77 BLM Oil and Gas Lease Parcels…] and…[the Interior Department will] prevent development on the remaining parcels, at least in the near future.

"…[The parcels] became the subject of a fierce controversy during the waning days of George W. Bush's presidency…Environmentalists contended that the auction of drilling rights on 100,000 acres of federal land in southeastern Utah were a last-minute giveaway to the energy industry…[and] won a restraining order from a federal judge halting the sales."

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"Salazar revoked most of the leases upon entering office and said his staff would study which were appropriate…[T]he review found that few were…[E]ight of the parcels should never be leased and the remainder could be leased someday after additional review and regulations. The problematic parcels included lands within view of Arches and Canyonlands national parks. One lease was directly on the Colorado River, in a cliff face above a popular campground.

"The report, based on nine days of on-site investigation, found that people in the Bureau of Land Management's Utah office, which oversaw the sales, believed that energy concerns should override environmental or recreational ones…"

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"Energy groups said the findings continued a troubling trend -- a hesitancy in the Obama administration to foster American energy sources. Salazar has also reversed a Bush administration effort to open swathes of Western land to oil shale development…


"Environmental groups hailed the report's findings but cautioned that even if the Obama administration wanted to rebid the 17 leases it found appropriate, it would need to follow procedures laid down by the federal judge…"


SOLAR SHINGLES
Dow Chemical introduces solar roof shingles
October 5, 2009 (Boston Globe)

"Dow Chemical Co… introduced a solar roof shingle designed to be woven into a roofing system that uses standard asphalt shingles.

"…[The] chemical manufacturing giant said the shingles will be available in limited quantity by the middle of next year with plans for wider distribution in 2011."

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"The product has the potential to generate $5 billion in revenue by 2015 and $10 billion to $11 billion by 2020, [according to Dow Solar Solutions]...

"The shingle incorporates a low-cost, thin-film photovoltaic cell device for capturing solar energy. Roofing contractors do not need specialized skills to install the product…"

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"…[A]n array of solar shingles to offset 60 percent of a home's power consumption [is estimated by Dow at $27,000]…

"The company received $20 million in 2007 from the Energy Department to develop building solar arrays for both residential and consumer use. The shingle is the first product introduced from Dow's solar unit…"


TO GROW GREEN, COMMIT
Study: A green city needs deeper commitment
Diane Mastrull, October 10, 2009 (Philadelphia Inquirer)

"If Philadelphia is to fully capitalize on the business-growth and employment potential of the nascent green economy, a deeper commitment is needed from government, nonprofits, and the private sector…[especially] to train a workforce for these new jobs.

The Emerging Industries Project is a 93-page analysis of three areas of the green economy: sustainable manufacturing, construction and demolition waste recycling, and energy efficiency and building retrofits…Other sectors are planned for future study…to help guide funding that has begun to pour from Washington and Harrisburg to grow sustainable businesses and create jobs…"

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"The research was largely based on input from 40 local businesses looking to thrive in the green economy. The industry sectors highlighted in the study were selected for their growth potential and the likelihood they would create family-sustaining jobs, especially for those who have the most difficulty landing work…

"The report cited deregulation of electricity generation and the increasing affordability of energy-efficiency options as driving business growth in the energy-efficiency/retrofit sector…The city could play a big role in developing a vibrant construction and demolition-waste-recovery industry, the report said, by prioritizing bids for public projects from building contractors [who recycle and]… mandating such recycling for private-sector building and demolition projects."

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"…[Manufacturing] dominated the report…While the city has lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs over the last four decades…[its manufacturing] infrastructure [is among] the assets that position Philadelphia to catch "this wave of green manufacturing at the forefront."

"What the city lacks, the report found, is a workforce adequately prepared for green-economy manufacturing…[F]actories of the green economy will be required to produce highly specialized products for such things as solar panels and wind turbines requiring sophisticated equipment and processes and well-trained employees…In addition to calling for the creation of more workforce development programs, [the report calls for]…Changing city procurement policies…Growing and finding ways to connect local supply and demand markets…[and] Establishing a "green clearinghouse" of resources…"