NewEnergyNews: QUICK NEWS, 1-4: WHO WILL REGULATE GASES?; CAPE WIND’S WAVES OF IMPACT; A MAP TO MORE SUN; 2011 NEW ENERGY STOCK PICKS/

NewEnergyNews

Gleanings from the web and the world, condensed for convenience, illustrated for enlightenment, arranged for impact...

The challenge now: To make every day Earth Day.

YESTERDAY

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT WEDNESDAY, August 23:

  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And The New Energy Boom
  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And the EV Revolution
  • THE DAY BEFORE

  • Weekend Video: Coming Ocean Current Collapse Could Up Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Impacts Of The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current Collapse
  • Weekend Video: More Facts On The AMOC
  • THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 15-16:

  • Weekend Video: The Truth About China And The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Florida Insurance At The Climate Crisis Storm’s Eye
  • Weekend Video: The 9-1-1 On Rooftop Solar
  • THE DAY BEFORE THAT

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 8-9:

  • Weekend Video: Bill Nye Science Guy On The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: The Changes Causing The Crisis
  • Weekend Video: A “Massive Global Solar Boom” Now
  • THE LAST DAY UP HERE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 1-2:

  • The Global New Energy Boom Accelerates
  • Ukraine Faces The Climate Crisis While Fighting To Survive
  • Texas Heat And Politics Of Denial
  • --------------------------

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    Founding Editor Herman K. Trabish

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    WEEKEND VIDEOS, June 17-18

  • Fixing The Power System
  • The Energy Storage Solution
  • New Energy Equity With Community Solar
  • Weekend Video: The Way Wind Can Help Win Wars
  • Weekend Video: New Support For Hydropower
  • Some details about NewEnergyNews and the man behind the curtain: Herman K. Trabish, Agua Dulce, CA., Doctor with my hands, Writer with my head, Student of New Energy and Human Experience with my heart

    email: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

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      A tip of the NewEnergyNews cap to Phillip Garcia for crucial assistance in the design implementation of this site. Thanks, Phillip.

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    Pay a visit to the HARRY BOYKOFF page at Basketball Reference, sponsored by NewEnergyNews and Oil In Their Blood.

  • ---------------
  • WEEKEND VIDEOS, August 24-26:
  • Happy One-Year Birthday, Inflation Reduction Act
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 1
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 2

    Tuesday, January 04, 2011

    QUICK NEWS, 1-4: WHO WILL REGULATE GASES?; CAPE WIND’S WAVES OF IMPACT; A MAP TO MORE SUN; 2011 NEW ENERGY STOCK PICKS

    WHO WILL REGULATE GASES?
    E.P.A. Limit on Gases to Pose Risk to Obama and Congress
    John M. Broder (w/Matthew L. Wald), December 30, 2010 (NY Times)

    "With the federal government set to regulate climate-altering gases from factories and power plants for the first time, the Obama administration and the new Congress are headed for a clash that carries substantial risks for both sides…While only the first phase of regulation [took] effect on Sunday, the administration is on notice that if it moves too far and too fast in trying to curtail the ubiquitous gases that are heating the planet it risks a Congressional backlash that could set back the effort for years.

    "But the newly muscular Republicans in Congress could also stumble by moving too aggressively to handcuff the Environmental Protection Agency, provoking a popular outcry that they are endangering public health in the service of their well-heeled patrons in industry…[EPA is] wedged between a hostile Congress and the mandates of the law, with little room to maneuver…[but] anti-E.P.A. zealots in Congress should realize…the agency [is] acting on laws that Congress itself passed, many of them by overwhelming bipartisan margins."


    The old Congress (click to enlarge)

    "President Obama vowed as a candidate that he would put the United States on a path to addressing climate change by reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollutants. He offered Congress wide latitude to pass climate change legislation, but held in reserve the threat of E.P.A. regulation if it failed to act. The deeply polarized Senate’s refusal to enact climate change legislation essentially called his bluff.

    "With Mr. Obama’s hand forced by the mandates of the Clean Air Act and a 2007 Supreme Court decision, his E.P.A. [imposed] the first regulation of major stationary sources of greenhouse gases [as of Jan. 2]…[but the administration is] not seeking a major confrontation over carbon regulation, which offers formidable challenges even in a less stressed economic and political climate…[It could be] too big a challenge, too complex a legal, scientific, political and regulatory puzzle…"


    Will he get there? (click to enlarge)

    "The immediate effect on utilities, refiners and major manufacturers will be small, with the new rules applying only to [400 facilities yearly]…in each of the first few years of the program. Over the next decade, however, the agency plans to regulate virtually all sources of greenhouse gases, imposing efficiency and emissions requirements on nearly every industry and every region…A dozen states have filed suit…Two federal courts…have refused to issue restraining orders…[But] a federal appeals court in Washington [last week] temporarily blocked the E.P.A. from enforcing its rules in Texas…[though] courts have not yet ruled on the legality…

    "Representative Fred Upton, the Michigan Republican who is set to become chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee…has proposed a moratorium on all global warming regulation until the courts have ruled…decisions that are probably years away…Others in Congress…have proposed a two-year delay in regulation by the E.P.A. while Congress comes up with its own rules. Virtually no one expects action on climate change legislation in the next Congressional session…White House officials have said that they will recommend that Mr. Obama veto any measure that restricts the administration’s power to enforce clean air laws…"



    CAPE WIND’S WAVES OF IMPACT
    The Trickle-Down Effect Of Cape Wind
    Mark Rodgers, January 3, 2011 (Worcester Business Journal)

    "…[Being the first in the nation to move forward with offshore wind power will give Massachusetts a leg up in the significant job creation that is going to come from this important new energy sector.]…In October, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued Cape Wind the nation’s first offshore wind power lease and in November, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved the long-term power purchase contract between Cape Wind and National Grid…

    "For National Grid, Cape Wind provides a bundle of products including energy, renewable energy credits, capacity and a stable priced hedge against the volatility of fossil fuel energy prices. Under the terms of the contract, National Grid also receives any future environmental attributes of Cape Wind — including carbon credits — as national and state energy policies continue to push in a greener direction. National Grid also has the option of extending the contract with Cape Wind on a cost-plus basis, which may be significantly below market at that point in time."


    click to enlarge

    "For National Grid’s customers, if fossil fuel energy prices stay fairly stable over the next few years, the bill impact from Cape Wind in 2013 is forecast to be an increase of about 1.5 percent for residential customers and 2 percent for commercial customers. For comparison, these same customers saw their electric bills increase 300 percent between the years 2001 and 2008 from rising fossil fuel prices.

    "Two Massachusetts energy boards found that Cape Wind would exert downward pressure on wholesale electric prices through price suppression…[A Charles River Associates study] concluded it would result in $4.6 billion dollars in reduced energy prices over the life of the project…Clean renewable energy also doesn’t impose the external costs of traditional energy sources such as polluted air and environmental degradation…"


    click to enlarge

    "The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that over the next 20 years the United States can build 100 Cape Wind-sized offshore wind projects that will help the country attain a goal of meeting 20 percent of its electricity needs from wind power (offshore and onshore) by 2030. According to the DOE, such a buildout of offshore wind power would create more than 40,000 American jobs.

    "The construction and operations of Cape Wind will create the first thousand of these jobs…[at] a new Marine Commerce Terminal in the port of New Bedford that will be the first site in North America specifically designed for the staging and assembly of offshore wind turbines…[and] with Mass Tank, a Massachusetts-based steel company that is partnering with Germany-based EEW to open a new facility to manufacture some of Cape Wind’s components…"



    A MAP TO MORE SUN
    Online solar map provides data on 800,000 Colorado buildings
    Heath Urie, January 1, 2011 (Boulder Daily Camera)

    "Plans to develop a free online service to give large businesses the ability to calculate how much solar energy they could harvest from their rooftops has gone better than expected…The Denver Regional Solar Map, a product of the Denver Regional Council of Governments, or DRCOG, is now live…

    "The tool allows anyone to plug in an address and find out the estimated solar potential of that building. The calculator gives an aerial view of a property, the total amount of electricity that a rooftop solar system could produce and the estimated annual savings on traditional electric bills."


    The map (click to enlarge)

    "While the project was originally intended to include information on only about 2,000 commercial properties, DRCOG was able to expand the study to include estimates for nearly 800,000 residential and commercial properties throughout the Denver metro area -- including the vast majority of single-family homes…

    "The solar map was developed through a $180,000 federal grant through the Governor's Energy Office, and utilized aerial photography, laser measurements and property records to figure out the size and solar capacity of individual rooftops…[Originally] intended to account for variables like shadows, trees and other obstructions in calculating true solar potential, officials at DRCOG decided it would be money better spent to broaden the program to include more properties, with a simpler estimate of solar potential based on property size…"


    The calculation (click to enlarge)

    "A search of some notable rooftops in Boulder found astounding solar potential…The Home Depot…[could] generate more than 6,000 kilowatt hours during summer months. A full-scale system could save about $65,000 a year off the company's utility bill, according to the calculator…Macy's…has almost identical capacity…Boulder's Municipal Building…already has a solar system that's rated at about 10 kilowatts and saves the city about $1,225 annually. But the solar calculator says the building has the capacity for a system 10 times that size, which could save taxpayers more than $13,000 a year…[T]he optimum size of a large system is about 100 kilowatts.

    "The online program also offers links to solar rebate centers, as well as the option to fill out a contact card that is sent to local solar installers. The installers then contact the user to offer estimates and on-site inspections…"



    2011 NEW ENERGY STOCK PICKS
    5 Alternative Energy Stocks for 2011
    Karvy Global, January 3, 2011 (TheStreet)

    "Analysts anticipate ReneSola(SOL), Suntech Power(STP), Trina Solar(TSL), Yingli Green Energy Holding Company(YGE), and JA Solar Holdings(JASO) to see upsides in the range of 20%-99% during 2011.

    "In comparison, integrated oil and gas majors Exxon Mobil(XOM_), Total(TOT_), BP(BP_), ConocoPhillips(COP_), and Chevron(CVX_) have upsides in the range of -4% to 16% according to the consensus estimates of 12-month target prices."




    "The U.S. administration recently extended subsidies for solar and wind projects under the Treasury Grant Program, a popular incentive for renewable energy projects. The program, scheduled to expire on December 31, was considered an important buffer for the alternative energy industry during the recession. The U.S. government's move will fortify the global renewable energy market, say analysts.

    "Industry analysts believe that the sector's long-term prospects are intact. According to Clean Edge, a research and advisory firm dedicated to the clean energy sector, annual revenues for the global solar, wind, and biofuels sectors were around $125 billion during 2008 and grew to around $145 billion in 2009, despite the global economic slowdown."




    "Clean Edge estimates revenues from the three sectors at around $343.4 billion within the next decade with solar photovoltaic revenues growing from the current $36 billion to $117 billion, while the biofuels segment could surge from $45 billion to $113 billion, and wind power from $64 billion to $114 billion.

    "Analysts are positive on the prospects for solar energy…[There is] concern bedeviling the EU…[but] 2011 global solar demand will… be around 18GW in 2011 and around 15GW in 2010…[Click thru for much more detail]..."

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