QUICK NEWS, 9-21: THE WIND-REVENUES LINK; GLOBAMA SUN; WAITING FOR GEOTHERMAL IN CANADA; AN OCEAN ENERGY LAB

THE WIND-REVENUES LINK
Manufacturers think state will diversify sources
Trent Johnson, September 20, 2010 (Traverse City Record-Eagle)

"Some Michigan businesses and organizations are banking on the state becoming more heavily reliant on wind energy to reduce energy costs."

"The Michigan Manufacturers Association in April launched a program — Wind Energy Community — to help push along the concept, said Chuck Hadden, the lobbying group's president…[He] cited some benefits of wind energy: It won't dirty the air or emit pollutants like other energy sources, which means less smog, less acid rain and fewer greenhouse gas emissions; wind energy is cost-competitive with other fuel sources such as natural gas, and it's the least expensive of all renewable energy sources."

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"Turbines convert wind's kinetic energy into mechanical or electrical power. Modern commercial turbines produce electricity by using rotational energy to drive a generator. Smaller wind turbines can provide power to individual homes…Wind energy can provide low cost and clean energy quicker due to low operating costs and short construction times, Hadden said."

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"Drawbacks for some may include location of turbines near residences and the impact they may have on animals…[ Norm Saari, chief of staff for state Sen. Jason Allen (R)] believes wind energy is an important component of the state's energy mix…[He] said the utilities will provide an incentive for marketers because wind projects keep more energy dollars in communities where projects are located and provide income through lease payments to the landowners…Wind projects also pay property taxes and state taxes and create local jobs, he said.

"Wind energy production is scattered throughout Michigan, mainly in the Lower Peninsula, including the Thumb and Traverse City area…"


GLOBAMA SUN
Go Solar, Mr. President
Jeremy Schere, September 20, 2010 (Matter Network via Reuters)

"Recently, outspoken environmentalist Bill McKibben tried and failed to convince the Obama administration to reinstall a solar panel on the White House roof that Jimmy Carter had originally put there in the late 1970s…[but] Carter's solar panels are more than 30 years old…[President Obama] should indeed install a solar system on the White House-a brand new one showcasing the latest and greatest in solar PV technology."

"That's the thrust of a citizen action campaign called Globama, led by the solar energy company Sungevity, which has offered to donate and install a photovoltaic array on the White house at no cost…Before deciding, Obama might consider what happened…in 1979 [when] Jimmy Carter unveiled a thermal hot water solar system bolted to the White House roof…"

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[President Carter, 1979:] "A generation from now…this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people-harnessing the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil."

"…Carter's solar panels have in fact become a museum piece. In 1986, then-president Ronald Reagan had the panels removed during routine White House roof maintenance and never bothered replacing them…[T]he system was donated to environmentally minded Unity College, in Maine…[One] is on display at the Carter Presidential Library…[It is] a cautionary tale. Any president who puts some attention-grabbing, trendy technology on the roof of one of the world's most famous buildings is merely providing his successor the opportunity to score political points by tearing the thing down."

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"But there's another side to the story…For Carter in 1979, the solar panels were a symbolic gesture meant to garner support for his proposed $100 million "solar energy bank" initiative, with a goal of generating 20 percent of U.S. power from alternative energy sources by 2000. To fund the plan, Carter urged Congress to pass a "windfall profits" tax on the domestic oil industry and approve subsidies to encourage [solar] developers…[It] worked. Stories and op/eds in the days following the rooftop press conference were largely supportive. The few dissenting voices criticized Carter for not doing enough…[which] was characteristic of mounting interest in clean, renewable energy technologies during the energy-panicked 70s.

"…[T]he Iran hostage crisis scuttled both Carter's bid for reelection and his plans for a solar-powered America. Reagan's landslide victory in 1980, his hands-off approach to energy policy (he tried, unsuccessfully, to dissolve the newly established Department of Energy) and falling oil and gas prices largely quashed public interest in solar energy…[S]hould Obama go that route? …[Y]es…[T]he time is ripe for Obama to throw the full weight of his support behind solar and other renewable energy technologies…[T]oday's energy challenges are all too real, and many people around the world seem ready to envision an energy future beyond fossil fuels…[P]utting a solar array on the White House won't solve our energy problems…But it would be a potent symbol…And given the fact that our many energy-related problems are here for the long haul, it won't be so easy for Obama's successor to rip the panels down."


WAITING FOR GEOTHERMAL IN CANADA
Geothermal power waiting for its renaissance
Susan Taylor (w/Rob Wilson and Jeffrey Hodgson), September 20, 2010 (Reuters)

"For all the talk of a geothermal renaissance fueled by government incentives and the quest for clean energy, Canadian investors are cool on the sector, despite a list of compelling business advantages…[Claims] lauding the renewable, round-the-clock and profitable power source are more than just hot air, say analysts, who believe better times are ahead.

"All that's needed are more examples of companies with money-making power plants, a better investor understanding of the business and a dash of economic recovery…[F]or patient investors prepared to take a risk, now may be the time to buy these distressed stocks…Geothermal companies, which tap heat stored far below the earth's surface to generate electricity, are starting to attract serious interest from big, traditional power producers that are preparing carbon offset programs."

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"Enbridge Inc, Canada's second-biggest pipeline operator, said earlier this month that it would spend $23.8 million for a 20 percent stake in US Geothermal’s Neal Hot Springs project…"

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"Several analysts raised their stock targets for US Geothermal afterward. Wellington West Capital upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'speculative buy". Over the past 12 months, the stock has shed more than half its value…Enbridge's investment, one of many it has made in renewable power, but its first in geothermal energy, briefly lifted US Geothermal's stock by more than 18 percent…

"Despite depressed valuations, geothermal companies have successfully raised cash in recent months, sending a positive signal for future project development and internal growth…A consolidation jag that has gathered steam over the past year is seen as another catalyst to stock gains. A dwindling number of targets may help drive M&A premiums higher…The deal-making is driven by the hefty financial and human capital required to develop geothermal power…"


AN OCEAN ENERGY LAB
A ‘wetlab’ could put Mass. in the lead in ocean energy race
Scott Kirsner, September 19, 2010 (Boston Globe)

"…[I]f you want to drop a tidal generator into the briny deep, or plunk a prototype wind turbine onto the continental shelf, you will inevitably face a few years of permit wrangling with a half-dozen federal and state agencies. Testing new renewable energy technologies isn’t cheap, fast, or easy.

"John R. Miller…director of the Marine Renewable Energy Center at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth…[is] campaigning for the creation of a vast saltwater incubator in the channel between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and [south]…[His] project is being called the National Renewable Energy Innovation Zone…[It is a] Big Wetlab: a place where entrepreneurs and big energy companies can beta test the energy technologies of the future, sooner and with fewer hassles than they’d face anywhere else…"


Maine's head start comes from DeepCwind (click to enlarge)

"…[T]he project recently landed $1.5 million in new federal grants…[T]he Big Wetlab could be among the first test areas in the United States, positioning Massachusetts at the center of the emerging clean-tech economy…The race to establish test beds for ocean-based power generation technology is global. Britain, for instance, recently approved a site in the North Sea with 20 designated “pods’’ where companies can deploy prototype wind turbines…

"In the United States…all of the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states are vying [for ocean energy leadership]…Maine is in the lead now; legislation passed last year mandated the creation of several ocean energy test sites in state waters, and earlier this month the state put out a call for proposals for offshore wind and tidal energy projects that could actually start delivering [soon]…"

The sooner R&D gets started, the sooner it pays off. (click to enlarge)

"For marine energy companies, the appeal of the Big Wetlab is that it would cut down on the amount of time and money they have to spend navigating the permitting process…Connections to the electrical grid may also await companies that come to the Big Wetlab for testing…The project will cost tens of millions of dollars to develop…but companies using the test sites would pay rent, generating some revenue. Key to the project’s success will be getting it up and running quickly, and promoting it widely.

"Miller isn’t yet tossing out figures about the project’s potential economic benefits or the number of jobs it could create, but he…has been talking to Cape Cod Community College and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy about creating training programs…[Inevitably] it will attract opponents [over aesthetics, use conflicts and environmental impacts but]…Miller notes that Nantucket and the Vineyard were at the center of the global energy industry back when whale oil was a valuable commodity. This time around, he’s hoping the islands can play a more environmentally-friendly part."