QUICK NEWS, 8-23: EU BECOMES NEW ENERGY DEPENDENT; W/PLANT, BIG EASY THINKS OCEAN WIND; NEW JERSEY KNOWS, GROWS SOLAR; BLM MOVES NEW ENERGY AHEAD

EU BECOMES NEW ENERGY DEPENDENT
Europe’s Brisk Energy Transition
Elisabeth Rosenthal, August 20, 2010 (NY Times)

"Europe’s evolution toward a heavier reliance on renewable energy is nicely documented in [Statistical aspects of the energy economy in 2009] by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency…[It] provides a wealth of interesting detail without a lot of editorializing.

"From 2008 to 2009 alone, the use of renewable energy in the European Union increased 8.3 percent…Some countries have made particularly great strides in this arena. Portugal now gets nearly 45 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, up from 17 percent five years ago."

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"The Eurostat report found that the production of energy from hard coal and natural gas showed an ‘important decrease’ (9.2 and 10.1 percent, respectively). To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union is also aggressively pushing its members to cut back on their use of coal.

"Renewable energy now accounts for 18.4 percent of energy production in the European Union, just behind natural gas, which provides 19.3 percent."

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"Energy intensity – a measure of how much energy is used to make a unit of economic output – dropped for the sixth straight year. That means member nations are learning to use energy more efficiently…[through] decoupling of increasing economic activity from increasing energy consumption…Emerging economic giants like China have been loath to define binding greenhouse gas reduction targets but have instead set as their goal reducing their energy intensity.

"The report found that energy consumption across the European Union dropped 5.5 percent, to levels not seen since the 1990s – although at least some of the reduction is a result of the global recession."


W/PLANT, BIG EASY THINKS OCEAN WIND
Wind turbine plant may spur offshore wind energy development
Richard Thompson, August 22, 2010 (Times-Picayune via NOLA)

"Days after a British wind turbine company announced plans to begin manufacturing turbine blades and components in part of the Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans, local environmentalists expressed optimism that a strong industry presence in the region could spur interest in offshore wind energy development…

"State officials have long considered creating a portfolio standard that would require regulated electricity utilities to acquire a portion of their energy from generators that use renewable sources, but placing wind power at the front of the mix has never gained much traction in southeastern Louisiana."

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"Some environmentalists think the region's terrain does not lend itself to land-based wind power, though offshore turbines that use blades like the ones that will be manufactured at Michoud are widely thought to have greater potential. And news of the planned turbine blade manufacturing site has given new hope to renewable energy advocates who have been working to put Louisiana in the company of other states trying to move away from [fossil fuel electricity]…

"Blade Dynamics Ltd., a 3-year-old company based on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England that manufactures advanced blades designed to increase the efficiency and performance of very high power wind turbines, committed last week to creating at least 600 jobs in New Orleans by 2015…"

It can be uplifting work. (click to enlarge)

"Some utility providers, including Entergy Corp., do not think offshore wind power is promising because turbines would require laying underwater transmission lines and the windmills could be destroyed by hurricanes…David Dismukes, an associate executive director of the Center for Energy Studies at Louisiana State University, said renewed attention on wind energy from the arrival of Blade Dynamics could serve as a catalyst, prompting some to give turbines a second look…[though] clusters of turbines are [not] likely to start sprouting up all across the state…

"Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret is hopeful [other renewable energy manufacturers] will follow, which could drive down costs for the development of other renewable energy technologies, such as biomass, geothermal, hydro or solar…[Blade Dynamics] was offered performance-based financial assistance of $5.4 million to offset lease costs at Michoud and $6 million to offset equipment purchases…"


NEW JERSEY KNOWS, GROWS SOLAR
Clean energy laws, utility costs make New Jersey a solar hotbed
Abby Gruen, August 22, 2010 (Star-Ledger)

"…[A New Jersey homeowner] had been trying for nine years to figure out how to afford [a rooftop solar system when he read]…about a California company that had a better method for financing solar power…

"New Jersey is the hottest place in the United States for solar energy these days, and it is not because it is so sunny. The Garden State’s progressive clean energy laws and high electricity costs make it the best place to install solar power because systems can pay for themselves in less than five years — faster than any state in the nation…Mercury Solar Systems, one of the larger solar installers in New Jersey, built the array on [the homeowner’s] steep roof. But the financing, insurance and maintenance was handled by SunRun, the California-based company…"

Most Eastern states have enough sun to do what New Jersey is doing and they all have more sun than Germany, solar's world leader. (click to enlarge)

"The state’s burgeoning solar industry is attracting the attention of companies from around the country, especially from California, which has long been the nation’s largest solar market. Its 66,000 solar installations dwarf New Jersey’s 6,500 projects…[E]stablished San Francisco-area solar companies like SunRun, Tioga Energy and One Block off the Grid have been partnering with local installers and bringing new methods for financing solar to New Jersey…

"Since January, when SunRun started operating in New Jersey, the company has had a 60 percent growth rate each month, completing nearly 500 deals…The 3-year-old firm owns the solar panels, and sells the power back to the homeowners…In December, San Mateo-based Tioga Energy won a $22.3 million contract with its partner, SunDurance Energy of South Plainfield, to build a solar project at 19 municipal and school buildings…Tioga will own and maintain the equipment and sell the energy back to the county. The county will buy the power for less from Tioga than it would pay the local utility…"

click thru for more about New Jersey's policies

"…[The financing arrangement] combines power purchase agreements…and low-interest bonds…[and] allows the county to benefit from federal tax incentives and save $3.5 million in electricity costs over the next 15 years…New Jersey is a leader among states… using a solar renewable energy credit systems to encourage property owners to invest…[Its] solar renewable energy credits are the most generous in the nation, giving homeowners $655 for every megawatt of sun power they generate. That’s more than twice the amount for any other state…

"New Jersey’s solar credits can be traded on an exchange. One of the largest online marketplaces for New Jersey’s solar credits, SRECTrade, is based in San Francisco…SRECs from 15 states are sold through the auction site, but New Jersey’s make up the bulk of their business…While New Jersey is the second-largest solar market in the U.S. for installations after California, it lags behind the West Coast state considerably in solar product manufacturing. Petra Solar of South Plainfield is the only producer of solar panels…Recently [New Jersey’s] Kuran…opened an office in California…"


BLM MOVES NEW ENERGY AHEAD
Agency Issues Final Environmental Study for Huge Blythe Solar Power Plant
August 22, 2010 (The Solar Home & Business Journal via SunPluggers)

"The federal Bureau of Land Management has issued a final Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed giant solar power complex near the desert city of Blythe, Calif.

"It is the fifth completed environmental study the bureau has issued for a major solar power plant project in Southern California's Colorado and Mojave deserts in the past few weeks. Studies involving several more utility-scale solar proposals remain in the queue for possible release soon."

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"The proposed solar power plants have undergone expedited reviews under a ‘fast-track’ process for solar, wind and power transmission projects on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in California. The state is cooperating in the fast-track process…[The projects] may receive final approval by December 2010 and would then be eligible for economic stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"The Blythe Solar Power Project is jointly proposed by the companies Solar Millennium and Chevron Energy Solutions. The environmental study says the Blythe complex, consisting of four adjacent but independently operating solar thermal power plants, would have a peak nominal production capacity of 968 megawatts…[It] would use solar parabolic trough technology…[F]ields of curved mirrors would focus heat from the sun on fluid-filled receiver tubes located at the focal point of the parabola."

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"With this approach, already in use for about two decades in the Mojave Desert, a heat transfer fluid is heated to a very high temperature, as much as 750 degrees Fahrenheit, as it circulates through the receiver tubes. The heated fluid is piped through a series of heat exchangers, where the stored heat is released to generate high-pressure steam. The steam is then fed to a traditional steam turbine-generator, from which electricity is produced.

"The Blythe project would be about triple the capacity of the world's largest existing solar power development…[It] would require a new transmission line that would connect to a new substation, where the power could be fed into a major existing set of power lines…According to the Bureau of Land Management, the project, if approved, is expected to be completed in five to six years and would average about 600 employees during construction, including a range of laborers, craftsmen, supervisory personnel, support personnel and management employees. The power station's four plants would provide a total of about 220 permanent jobs when completed…"