QUICK NEWS, 2-8: BANKS COME BACK TO NEW ENERGY; CA 2ND THOUGHTS ON NEW ENERGY; EPA APPROVES ETHANOL; OYSTER TO RIDE UK WAVES

BANKS COME BACK TO NEW ENERGY
Banks Lured By ‘Sexy’ Solar, Wind Energy Projects
Jim Efstathiou, Jr., and Christopher Martin (w/Romaine Bostick and Joe Winski), February 5, 2010 (Bloomberg News via BusinessWeek)

"About 30 banks including BNP Paribas SA and Rabobank Nederland NV are being lured back into financing “sexy” U.S. renewable energy projects following an $80 billion government investment in the industry…Debt financing may return to the 2008 level of about $6 billion in 2010, after falling to $3.2 billion last year, as banks lend more to wind and solar energy projects in the U.S…"

[Bruno Mejean, NY managing director, Germany’s Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale AG:] “Most banks shut down in the first half of last year…This year they realize that they have to make money after all, so they are opening the spigots and deploying capital primarily to this sexy space.”

Preferences are shifting this year. (click to enlarge)

"With some of the [2009 recovery act] government aid set to expire at the end of this year, project developers say more taxpayer subsidies are needed to keep pace with investments in Europe and China…[The economic stimulus package] included about $80 billion for energy programs. Renewable energy incentives include $2.3 billion in tax credits for solar panels and wind turbine manufacturers and a grant program for renewable projects that has so far paid out about $2.3 billion…

"The subsidies helped FPL Group Inc. and BP Plc lead a record 9,900 megawatts of wind-power installations last year…U.S. developers may double solar panel installations this year to cover 1,000 megawatts of energy from about 500 megawatts in 2009…[but bank] lending rates remain higher than many developers can get with federal loan guarantees, and government support is still needed to make some projects profitable…European banks are more likely to finance U.S. renewable projects…"

Investing in New Energy is smart investing. (click to enlarge)

"[President] Obama has proposed an additional $5 billion in tax credits for companies that make solar panels and wind turbines in the U.S…[but the] outline of a Senate jobs bill… didn’t include an extension of the credit…The administration hasn’t taken a position on whether a tax grant program for renewable projects should be included in the jobs bill…

"A two-year extension to the renewable energy tax grants was introduced in the House…Passage may be delayed until the fourth quarter, so that developers seeking to benefit from the incentives hire workers to complete projects this year…"


CA 2ND THOUGHTS ON NEW ENERGY
Effort underway to suspend California's global-warming law; Conservatives propose an initiative that would delay curbs on greenhouse gas emissions until the state's unemployment rate drops to 5.5%, a level not seen since 2007.
Margot Roosevelt, February 6, 2010 (LA Times)

"Republican politicians and conservative activists are launching a ballot campaign to suspend California's landmark global-warming law, in what they hope will serve as a showcase for a national backlash against climate regulations…[They] say they have "solid commitments" of nearly $600,000 to pay signature gatherers for a November initiative aimed at delaying curbs on the greenhouse gas emissions…

"GOP gubernatorial candidates and Tea Party organizers paint the 2006 law, considered a model for other state and federal efforts, as a job-killing interference in the economy…The measure would halt proposed regulations until the state's jobless rate dips to 5.5% or below for a year. That's a level that California has not seen since 2007. California has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates: 12.4%."

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"The effort to ignite a revolt in the Golden State comes as years of industry-backed campaigns have sown doubts about the scientific consensus behind global warming and as the public has become more concerned about the economy…No major California company has endorsed the initiative…But…the California Manufacturers and Technology Assn…[objects to the law’s costs]…Sponsors of the California initiative…have dubbed the measure the California Jobs Initiative.

"The official wording of the initiative, however, lies in the hands of Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, an outspoken advocate of AB 32 and a presumptive Democratic candidate for governor…[His office picked] the unwieldy: 'Suspends Air Pollution Control Laws Requiring Major Polluters to Report and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions That Cause Global Warming Until Unemployment Drops Below Specified Level for Full Year.' [A crowded ballot in November could work against the measure]…"

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"…[M]oney pledged to the effort is not yet in hand. At least twice as much would have to be raised to guarantee enough valid signatures…[With] the Wall Street Journal's recent endorsement…environmentalists worry that money from around the country will pour into the effort…Industries have lobbied intensely [and brought suits] against proposed regulations…Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has made climate change one of his signature issues, is reportedly asking major companies to remain on the sidelines. The governor 'absolutely opposes' the initiative…

"Businesses that benefit from greenhouse gas curbs [including Silicon Valley deep pockets] are meeting with environmentalists to mobilize against the initiative…[T]he state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office …said that the measure could lead to greater short-term profits for some businesses, but would dampen investments in clean technology and green jobs…[The] initiative would invalidate a Schwarzenegger executive order requiring that a third of all retail electricity sellers get their power from renewable sources by 2020…[and] suspend the regulation to slash carbon intensity of fuels by 10%…[but] half of the state's measures to bring greenhouse gases down to 1990 levels by 2010 would survive…because they were enacted under different statutes."


EPA APPROVES ETHANOL
New biofuels strategy unveiled
Jerry Hagstrom, February 8, 2010 (Ag Week)

"In what appears to be a boost for the renewable fuels industry and the campaign for green jobs, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson…finalized the rule for the National Renewable Fuel Standard program, saying that the agency has concluded corn-based ethanol is a low-carbon fuel that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 21 percent compared with the gasoline it will displace.

"Renewable fuels have to reduce emissions by 20 percent to meet EPA’s standards. Some environmentalists had charged that corn-based ethanol uses more energy than it produces and would cause environmental harm through the shift of land in other countries to food and feed production…"

There is much more than land-use to consider. (click to enlarge)

"…[Jackson said] new research indicated higher levels of productivity and crop yields…[Ethanol will] shift land use in some other countries, but…[EPA] increased the number of countries in the indirect land use analysis from 40 to 160, [and a] new study [showed] that the…[indirect land use impacts] were different and lesser…

"Jackson warned, however, that corn-based ethanol will qualify as an advanced biofuel only if the industry is “smart” and produces ethanol efficiently with the use of natural gas…[S]he said the rule should give investors confidence in both corn-based ethanol and soy-based diesel…"

Consider water. (click to enlarge)

"The rule fulfilled a 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requirement that EPA produce a plan to bring the level of renewable fuels to 36 billion gallons by 2022…EPA and the Agriculture, Energy and Interior departments [will] cooperate to increase production of biodiesel [and] many other renewable fuels to meet the goal…

"House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson said he was pleased by the decisions that ethanol and biodiesel will qualify fuels that reduce greenhouse gases…[but doubts the accuracy of international indirect land use estimates]…The House-passed climate change bill would prevent EPA from using the indirect land use analysis and [some Representatives] have introduced a separate bill to achieve the same objective…Farm group and the renewable fuel industry praised the classifications of corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel, but also were critical about the inclusion of the indirect land use analysis."


OYSTER TO RIDE UK WAVES
£5.1M Government Funding Secured To Develop Wave Energy Device, Oyster 2
February 2, 2010 (Aquamarine Power via Horizon Solutions Site)

"Wave energy developer Aquamarine Power received a major boost…when it secured £5.1 million of public funding to support the manufacture of its second generation wave energy device, Oyster 2, which will be manufactured later this year for testing at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney (EMEC) in 2011.

"Aquamarine Power received the grant from the Marine Renewables Proving Fund (MRPF), a £22 million initiative funded by the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and managed by the Carbon Trust…[to accelerate its qualification for the UK’s] Marine Renewables Deployment Fund support scheme and, ultimately, be deployed on a commercial scale. Aquamarine Power plans to deploy its first commercial Oyster devices in 2013."

Oyster schematic (from Aquamarine Power. click to enlarge)

"The first generation 315kW Oyster device was officially connected to the National Grid at EMEC…in November 2009 and is currently undergoing sea trials to gather data to finalize the Oyster 2 design, which will be deployed as a 2.5MW pod of three linked devices powering a single onshore hydro-electric generator. This follows a two year research programme including scale-model tank testing…"

Real-life Oyster (from Aquamarine Power. click to enlarge)

"The Oyster 2 device features a new shape designed for increased performance and efficiency – capturing more of the ocean’s energy and producing more power per tonne of steel. The device has also been designed for mass manufacture and will consist of a modular construction for ease of installation and maintenance. Multiple devices will share one pipeline and one onshore generator which will offer efficiencies of scale…

"Aquamarine Power has won numerous national and international awards for innovation in the renewable energy sector including ‘Innovator of the Year’ (British Renewable Energy Awards 2009), ‘Best Green Industry SME’ (Scottish Green Awards 2009) and The Engineer Award for Technology and Innovation in Energy’ (The Engineer Technology and Innovation Awards 2009)…"