MORE NEWS, 10-8: NEW ENERGY GOES TO WASHINGTON; CALIFORNIA FEED-IN OPTIONS; NEW ENERGY MAKES $$$ AND SENSE IN KC; ARMY WASTE TO ARMY POWER

NEW ENERGY GOES TO WASHINGTON
Clean-Energy Execs Take Pitch for Climate Bill to White House
Michael Burnham, October 7, 2009 (NY Times)

"Clean-energy company executives and investors met with White House officials…to make their case for a federal cap on emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases…

"Diplomats will attempt to broker a successor to the Kyoto Protocol at U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December. The internationally binding emissions cap expires in 2012…By signing the comprehensive climate and energy legislation in coming months, President Obama would help pressure China, India and other developing countries to agree to binding emissions reductions, the executives contend. Obama would also send a clear signal to U.S. clean-energy companies and investors to make long-term investments and create domestic jobs…"

click thru for the complete 821 page Senate bill

"The investor coalition Ceres and the Clean Economy Network organized this week's fly-in of executives from more than 100 companies, representing sectors as diverse as renewable energy, information technology and athletic apparel [including Entergy Corp., A123Systems Inc. and Cree Inc.]…The business leaders ate lunch [October 6] with the Senate's "Gang of 16," which includes industrial-state lawmakers whose support is seen as crucial to passing the emissions cap-and-trade bill (pdf) introduced last week by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)…[and met October 7] with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy Director Carol Browner.

"…Browner [recently] warned that it is "not likely" Congress would be able to send a climate and energy bill to Obama's desk before the U.N. climate negotiations in Copenhagen…[but] sounded slightly more optimistic…The Kerry-Boxer bill calls for a 20 percent reduction of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020; the House-passed bill (H.R. 2454 (pdf)) calls for a 17 percent reduction by 2020. Both bills call for long-term emissions reductions of 42 percent by 2030 and 83 percent by 2050."

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"Chu warned that if Congress fails to pass climate and energy legislation soon, the United States runs the risk of falling behind China as a global leader in producing wind turbines, photovoltaic panels and other clean-energy technologies…[because] China invests some $12.6 million in clean energy every hour…[and] aims to generate 100 gigawatts from wind turbines by 2030…

"…[Secretary Chu] used the occasion to announce that the Energy Department will provide up to $750 million from the stimulus law to accelerate the development of conventional renewable energy generation projects. The funding will cover the cost of loan guarantees, which could support as much as $4 billion to $8 billion in lending to eligible projects from the private sector…The DOE funding announcements cheered the roomful of executives, but some of them are holding out for Congress to place a cap -- and price -- on carbon dioxide to catalyze the nation's clean-energy economy…"


CALIFORNIA FEED-IN OPTIONS
RENEWED ENERGY: California Eyes Euro-Style Market For Solar
Cassandra Sweet, October 6, 2009 (Dow Jones Newswires via Wall Street Journal)

"California's solar-power market, the world's third largest, could be on the verge of [another] expansion…California's abundant sunshine, relatively high utility rates and solar subsidies have made rooftop solar [popular and]… the state's utilities have been signing contracts with large-scale solar farms…to meet stringent state requirements. What's been missing is a German-style market for small and medium-size solar generators to sell their output to utilities at above-market rates….in the form of feed-in tariffs.

"Two separate proposals aim to create a small-scale solar market in California that brings the benefits of the German market, such as distributed generation, which avoids the need for transmission because power is generated close to where it's used, minus the drawbacks, like excessively high payments that could become a burden on utility customers."

The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently weighed in on the feed in tariff. Click thru for complete KEMA presentation.

"The staff of the California Public Utilities Commission has proposed requiring the state's three large utilities, owned by PG&E Corp. (PCG), Edison International (EIX) and Sempra Energy (SRE) to collectively buy 1,000 megawatts of power from solar-panel generators sized between 1 and 20 megawatts, over four years. The utilities would accept bids for projects during periodic "reverse auctions" and pick the projects with the lowest bids…A separate proposal, in a bill the state legislature passed last month, would direct the CPUC to set a feed-in tariff that the state's utilities would have to pay for a total of 750 megawatts of solar power from facilities of 3 megawatts or less.

"Solar-panel makers are enthusiastic about the CPUC proposal, less so about the legislative measure. Allowing the solar market to set a competitive price, rather than requiring the government to set a price would attract more development and create a more robust market, said Julie Blunden, vice president of public policy and corporate communications at solar-panel maker SunPower Corp. (SPWRA)…Solar companies also say the pricing formula in the bill would set the feed-in tariff too low to attract development…[and] the bill's requirements might interfere with the CPUC's proposed program…"

The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently weighed in on the feed in tariff. Click thru for complete KEMA presentation.

"Supporters of the bill…said the legislative program wouldn't interfere with the CPUC's program and would complement it by focusing on smaller projects…Sue Kateley, executive director of the industry group California Solar Energy Industries Association, said the legislative program would capture lower-cost projects on rooftops of schools, local government buildings, farms and warehouses…[L]ocal governments aren't allowed to participate in competitive auctions and would be excluded from the CPUC program.

"Some companies are still leery of the legislation, which requires the governor's signature, and prefer the CPUC's market-based approach…"


NEW ENERGY MAKES $$$ AND SENSE IN KC
From a common-sense standpoint, green energy makes a lot of sense
Keith Chrostowski, October 5, 2009 (Kansas City Star)

"…The push for greener energy is just plain common sense…[1] Green energy will create jobs and economic development…workers to build wind farms, install solar panels, insulate homes and factories, and put in nuclear power plants…The Clean Energy Economy [Pew Charitable Trusts] found that from 1998 to 2007, clean jobs surged at a national rate of 9.1 percent. Traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent…

"…[2] It will spur technological progress…[It is] time to move on to electric, fuel-cell or even hydrogen-powered cars…better batteries and solar panels…[and] further advances in clean-coal technology and in nuclear power generation…[If the U.S. does develop them]…some other country will…Maybe China. And it will make a lot of money selling those advances to other countries…[3]It will clean the air and water…"

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"…[4] It’s a national security matter…The more self-sufficient we become in energy, the less vulnerable we are to blackmail over oil, and the less likely we are to get into a war…Iran armed with nuclear weapons could close the Strait of Hormuz…Are we willing to place that big a bet on the future because we didn’t develop our green energy resources?

"Gearing up our green energy supply will take time…[U]nless we want to slow down economic growth while we wait, or rely even more on relatively dirty coal-fired plants, we’ll need more nuclear generation and we’ll have to drill for more domestic oil…[M]ore-stable third-generation plants have been developed that “eat” their spent fuel, lessening the need for nuclear waste storage. And their zero-atmospheric emissions are a big plus."

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"…China is getting a lot of press…for a big push into wind and solar energy…[and is adding] nuclear plants…nearly tenfold…and just this year started building five plants.

"…[W]hile “drill, baby, drill” carries the push for domestic oil too far, we should allow some offshore drilling…Those who oppose any more drilling need to remember that if oil goes to $400 a barrel and gas to $10 a gallon, a lot of people, mostly those lower on the income ladder, will be the ones most hurt…[and] their sons and daughters…[would] fight any war over oil…[Therefore] some common-sense compromises might be in order…[C]aution over nuclear power and oil drilling…[should lead to taxes on carbon from oil and coal…\[to build wind and solar]…"


ARMY WASTE TO ARMY POWER
Energy-from-waste powers US army
Jason Palmer,5 October 2009 (BBC News)

"A system that generates energy from rubbish is being sent by defence firm Qinetiq to the US army.

"The PyTEC system heats mixed waste, releasing a gas that can be burned to produce five times more energy than is required to drive the system…[A]lready in use on British navy ship HMS Ocean, [the system] has been "containerised" for US army use."

PyTEC. click to enlarge)

"The approach could see use in urban areas, reducing municipal waste volume by 95% while producing energy.

"The process hinges on pyrolysis, in which waste subjected to high temperatures releases combustible gases…[In] the absence of oxygen…released gases are gathered and stored for later use…This is in contrast to simple incineration or gasification - another energy-from-waste approach that heats particular kinds of waste in the presence of oxygen to create combustible gases…"

PyTEC containerized. (click to enlarge)

"In the PyTEC system, a large screw-shaped column takes in up to 100kg per hour of untreated mixed waste - including glass and tin…The waste is heated, releasing gases that are removed and used to power a steam turbine…

"The systems will be deployed to one of 55 "forward operating bases" in Iraq and Afghanistan - temporary outposts of 600 front-line soldiers that, until now, had no formal arrangements for waste disposal…[T]he size and complexity reduction of the system for US army use means the approach could see application outside the military…"