QUICK NEWS, 4-19: THE OBAMA ENERGY PLAN; THE MILITARY SEES ENERGY’S FUTURE; DETROIT SCHOOLS LIKE SMALL WIND; SUN’S 2009

THE OBAMA ENERGY PLAN
Obama's gambit to marry US policies on environment and energy; The president has integrated energy security goals with environment policy, focusing on renewable power. But his effort won't succeed, analysts say, unless Congress agrees to put a price on carbon emissions.
Mark Clayton, April 17, 2010 (Christian Science Monitor)

"…President Obama has quietly set the nation's energy policy on a new course…[E]nergy czar Carol Browner – working with the departments of Interior, Energy, and Transportation – has established a new, unified energy-and-environment policy. But whether this focus on renewable power and energy security can succeed depends largely on whether Congress approves climate-energy legislation that puts a price on carbon emissions…

"…[S]ignificant energy-related accomplishments to date…[1] Accelerating adoption of renewable energy – wind, solar, and geothermal power and battery-powered vehicles – and high-speed rail via $90 billion in new spending and tax incentives…[2] Defining greenhouse-gas emissions as a danger to human health and the environment, paving the way for the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate them – or for Congress to…[put a] price on them…[3] Unveiling a new "clean car" standard that, for the first time, regulates greenhouse-gas tailpipe emissions…"

Obama administration policies sustained wind's expansion in 2009. (click to enlarge)

"Now, however, the president faces his biggest energy test for his union of energy-environment policy: getting Congress to pass a comprehensive climate-energy bill that will put a price on carbon emissions…[if] legislation now stalled in the Senate [fails]…construction of coal and natural-gas power plants could surge, while wind and solar power construction dry up…Mr. Obama [therefore] seems likely [despite doubts about its political viability] to push now for a vote on a climate-energy bill…

"Obama has already taken two steps intended to make compromise easier (though they angered many environmentalists and Democrats)…[H]e opened parts of the Atlantic, Gulf, and north Alaska coasts to oil and natural-gas exploration…[and promised] $36 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear-power construction…[These concessions to Republicans] may enable Obama's Senate allies to craft a deal on carbon-emissions pricing…"

Solar grew somewhat despite the recession thanks to Obama administration policies. (click to enlarge)

"…Sens. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts, Joseph Lieberman (I) of Connecticut, and Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina are expected to unwrap a compromise energy-climate bill that puts a price on carbon emissions in exchange for nuclear and oil development…[L]ong-term questions remain…[including] Can [the Prsident] slash greenhouse-gas emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels, by 2020?

"The good news is that even aggressive policies to slow climate change will not necessarily slam the brakes on the economy…High fuel taxes and high prices on carbon emissions would curb US economic growth by no more than one percentage point…[Some say Obama can yet pull off an overall energy-climate bill…"


THE MILITARY SEES ENERGY’S FUTURE
The Joint Operating Environment [JOE] 2010
February 18, 2010 (U.S. Joint Forces Command)

"…[P]etroleum must continue to satisfy most of the demand for energy out to 2030. Assuming the most optimistic scenario for improved petroleum production through enhanced recovery means, the development of non-conventional oils (such as oil shales or tar sands) and new discoveries, petroleum production will be hard pressed to meet the expected future demand of 118 million barrels per day…

"Possible Future Energy Resources…Non-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil: New sources (Caspian Sea, Brazil, Colombia, and new portions of Alaska and the Continental shelf) could offset declining production in mature fields over the course of the next quarter century. However, without drilling in currently excluded areas, they will add little additional capacity…Oil Sands and Shale…limited…Natural Gas…Russia [and uncertainty]…"

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"Biofuels…unlikely to contribute more than 1% of global energy requirements by the 2030s…[and] even that modest achievement could curtail the supply of foodstuffs to the world’s growing population, which would add another National Security challenge…Renewable…Wind and Solar combined are unlikely to account for more than 1% of global energy by 2030. That figure assumes the energy from such sources will more than triple, which alone would require major investments…Nuclear…it could play a major role in replacing coal-fired plants…[but] the disposal of nuclear waste remains politically controversial…

"…[N]o OPEC nation, except perhaps Saudi Arabia, is investing sufficient sums in new
technologies and recovery methods to achieve [needed] growth. Some, like Venezuela and Russia, are actually exhausting their fields…[T]he “arc of instability” running from North Africa through to Southeast Asia easily could become an “arc of chaos,” involving the military…OPEC nations will find it difficult to invest much of the cash inflows that oil exports bring…[P]resuming the forces propelling radical extremism at present do not dissipate, a portion of OPEC’s windfall might well find its way into…the hands of movements with deeply anti-modern, anti-Western goals…[and] increasing numbers of unemployed young men eager to attack their perceived enemies…"

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"During the next twenty-five years, coal, oil, and natural gas will remain indispensable…The discovery rate for new petroleum and gas fields over the past two decades (with the possible exception of Brazil) provides little reason for optimism that future efforts will find major new fields…By 2030, the world will require production of 118 MBD, but energy producers may only be producing 100 MBD…

"By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 MBD…Efficient hybrid, electric, and flex-fuel vehicles will likely dominate light-duty vehicle sales by 2035…Renewed interest in nuclear power and green energy sources such as solar power, wind, or geothermal may blunt rising prices for fossil fuels should business interest become actual investment…"


DETROIT SCHOOLS LIKE SMALL WIND
Home windmills spin debate; Cities are imposing restrictions, bans
Bill Laitner, April 18, 2010 (Detroit Free Press)

"…[S]mall wind turbines designed for urban homes, small businesses and schools -- which cost $15,000 to $30,000 -- are generating debate in some Detroit suburbs.

"Facing requests from homeowners, Royal Oak enacted a zoning ordinance last year to regulate home-based wind turbines, with Birmingham and Novi soon to do so…[The Birmingham Planning Board…voted 7-0 to ban wind turbines in residential areas, restricting them to commercial districts and to areas of mixed-use zoning where condos coexist with shops. The ban could get final approval…by the City Commission."

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"Among the concerns? The injury risk of turbines spinning near people, the threat of towers being residential eyesores and the quality-of-life fear of flicker -- the distraction of sunlight flashing off moving blades, like a strobe light that belongs in a nightclub…

"Royal Oak's ordinance, passed last year, is less restrictive, allowing wind turbines at twice the maximum permitted height for homes -- about 60 feet -- and up to 100 feet in other zoning districts…No residents have applied for a permit…Novi's new ordinance might get final approval in May…"

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"A single, $20,000 wind turbine could power a small home…[but requires 14 m.p.h. wind] which in Michigan puts ideal sites at high elevations or along lake shores…Turbines in southeast Michigan can work in tandem with solar power to provide much of a home's electricity…Schools are exempt from most local zoning, and some have installed turbines for energy classes…

"…A 60-foot tower with a single spinning blade was installed in 2001 at Seaholm High School in Birmingham. And a 30-foot Windspire -- made in Manistee -- is [soon to be operating] at the Birmingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills…Oakland Schools Technical Campus in Clarkston is to have a $35,000 system of wind and solar…Also getting turbines, as soon as this fall, are Cass Tech High School in Detroit, the Allen Park school district and Woodhaven-Brownstown public schools, paid for by grants from a statewide surcharge on utility bills…"


SUN’S 2009
Solar Growth Slows, With Homes a Glaring Exception
Kate Galbraith, April 15, 2010 (NY Times)

"…[US Solar Industry; Year in Review 2009 found that the pace of solar installations slowed last year amid the economic downturn.

"Total capacity installed for all types of solar energy grew by 5.2 percent in 2009, compared with 9.6 percent the previous year. But Rhone Resch, the chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association [SEIA], which released the report…[said] the residential market for photovoltaic panels (the type used on rooftops) grew at its fastest pace ever in 2009, and utilities’ demand for these panels also stayed strong…"

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"…[T]he large commercial market — companies putting solar panels on their rooftops — lagged. As a result, overall growth in capacity for photovoltaic panels stood at 38 percent last year, down significantly from 84 percent growth a year earlier…Demand for solar pool heating equipment fell last year…hit hardest by the recession…[U]nlike other types of solar energy, pool heating does not benefit from federal tax incentives.

"On a worldwide scale, the United States ranked fourth in solar-electric installations last year…after Germany, Italy and Japan. In overall capacity, the United States is also fourth, behind Germany, Spain and Japan. Solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of the electricity supply in the United States."

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"The solar industry has undergone significant changes in the past few years. The price of photovoltaic panels has fallen by over 40 percent since mid-2008, due to a combination of factors such as reduced demand in Spain and increased supply of the polysilicon material used to make the panels. However, homeowners have not reaped the full rewards of that price drop: the cost of panels and installation together fell by only 10 percent…[because] labor still accounts for a hefty part of the overall bill.

"The industry has also benefited from substantial new federal incentives…States have also helped. California is by far the leading state…followed by New Jersey…[and Florida] came in third…The industry is still hoping that Congress will approve further policies to aid solar. On its wish list is a national renewable electricity requirement, with special requirements for solar power…"