QUICK NEWS, 4-14: RYAN BUDGET SLAMS NEW ENERGY; JAPAN & U.S. DOE TO TEST SOLAR TOGETHER; BP TO PUT $2 BIL IN NEW ENERGY; SMART GRID COSTS & BENEFITS

RYAN BUDGET SLAMS NEW ENERGY
Clean Energy Is a Target of Ryan Budget Plan
John Collins Rudolf, April 6, 2011 (NY Times)

"A long-term Republican budget plan…by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin calls for drastic cuts in federal spending on energy research and development and for the outright elimination of subsidies and tax breaks for wind, solar power and other alternative energy technologies…

"Mr. Ryan’s plan has yet to be finalized or endorsed by the full House…[but] enjoys substantial support among Republicans…[Under it,] overall discretionary funding for energy programs would fall to about $1 billion per year. President Obama’s 2012 budget, meanwhile, would provide about $8 billion to support clean energy research and deployment."

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"Mr. Ryan’s proposal calls specifically for ‘eliminating welfare for energy companies.’ The proposal does not include details on which subsidies would be curtailed, but its references to ‘uncompetitive’ energy sources clearly point to wind and solar power…

"…Cuts proposed in a short-term spending bill provide further clues…The House-passed bill reduces research and development financing for electric car battery technology and charging infrastructure and eliminates loan guarantees meant to encourage clean energy manufacturing…Production and investment tax credits for wind and solar power, which will lapse in several years, are also probable targets…"

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"Other energy incentives may go unchallenged, however. Questioned on Fox News on Sunday by Chris Wallace on whether multibillion-dollar subsidies for oil and gas companies would also be eliminated, Mr. Ryan did not give a direct answer…[but said he did not favor] ‘raising taxes’…Mr. Ryan opposed efforts by President Obama and House Democrats in 2010 and 2011 to eliminate billions in annual tax breaks for oil companies, incentives that even some industry leaders said were unnecessary…

"Clean energy advocates criticized the Ryan proposal, calling it a short-sighted plan that would cede dominance in the fast-growing clean-tech market to countries like China and Germany…"


JAPAN & U.S. DOE TO TEST SOLAR TOGETHER
NREL and Partners to Compare High-Efficiency Solar Cells from Three Nations at Sites in Colorado and Yokohama, Japan
April 6, 2011 (World of Photovoltaics)

"The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is partnering with major international industrial technology and solar research organizations to test how solar cells from three manufacturers…from the United States, Japan and Germany…perform under different average lighting conditions characteristic of the study’s test sites in Aurora, Colo., and Okayama, Japan.

"Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar systems – which use lenses to multiply the sun’s intensity, reduce the area of the solar cells needed to convert sunlight to electricity and improve the efficiency of conventional photovoltaics – have been installed at sites in Aurora and Okayama…[to compare performance] in the high-altitude sunshine of Colorado in comparison with those in cloudier, lower-altitude Japan."

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"NREL…[and] Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) [installed] 25 kilowatts of CPV systems at the Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC) in Aurora, Colo. SolarTAC provides a venue for researching, demonstrating, testing, and validating a broad range of solar technologies at the early commercial or near-commercial stage of development. Concentrator Photovoltaic systems made by Daido Steel, a Japanese manufacturer, are installed at both sites…to compare solar cells made by Spectrolab of the United States, Sharp of Japan, and Azur Space of Germany.

"Daido’s CPV design uses a dome-shaped Fresnel lens and concentrator solar cells with efficiencies approaching 40 percent – meaning that 40 percent of the energy in the sunlight that hits the solar cells is converted into usable electricity – resulting in module efficiencies of about 30 percent. By contrast, most of the PV panels on rooftops today have an efficiency rating of 20 percent or less. The output of the CPV systems will be compared with conventional silicon PV modules."

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"The study will also test high efficiency, advanced versions of the Gallium-Indium-Phosphorous/Galium-Arsenic solar cells originally invented and developed at NREL, which are now widely used for space exploration applications, such as the Mars rovers. The high efficiencies of these cells, coupled with system designs that greatly reduce the area that needs to be covered by solar cells, have attracted growing interest in recent years. In the modules being tested, solar cells cover 1 one-thousandth of the space covered by similar conventional solar modules.

"The project is primarily funded by AIST as a part of the "R&D on Innovative Solar Cells” project, which in turn is funded by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)…"


BP TO PUT $2 BIL IN NEW ENERGY
BP to Invest Almost $2 Billion in 2011 on Alternative Energy, Landis Says
Sally Bakewell, April 5, 2011 (Bloomberg News)

"BP Plc will invest almost $2 billion this year in alternative energy, more than the London-based oil company has previously stated, said Katrina Landis, chief executive of the company’s low-carbon unit.

"BP had pledged to invest $8 billion over 10 years when it started its BP Alternative Energy plan in 2005, an average of $800 million a year. By the end of last year, it had invested $5 billion…[and it will now go] ‘well beyond that $8 billion in 10 years’ Landis said…"

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"Biofuels will have a ‘tremendous opportunity’ to expand in the next decade, and the company also is building businesses in wind…solar energy…[and] battery technology…Landis urged U.S. government officials to make clear what incentives will be available for renewable energy after tax credits expire in 2012…[to drive] large amounts of capital [investment]…

"The company had waited on some of its European solar projects until incentive policy became clear, Landis said…[then built] 50 megawatts of solar projects in Italy. The Italian government is curbing subsidies to undercut a boom in the industry and plans to issue new targets and reduce incentive rates from June."

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"The company is also unlikely to develop large solar projects in the U.K. after the Conservative-led government proposed cuts in above-market prices paid for solar projects that targeted bigger reductions at larger plants, Landis said…

"BP developed a number of projects in Spain last year that became subject to cuts to the so-called feed-in tariff in that country, Landis said…"


SMART GRID COSTS & BENEFITS
EPRI Estimates Costs, Benefits Of Full Smart Grid Deployment
7 April 2011 (Renew Grid)

"The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has released a broad assessment of the costs and benefits to modernize the U.S. electricity system and fully deploy the smart grid. Factoring in a wide range of new technologies, applications and consumer benefits, the investment needed to implement a fully functional smart grid ranges from $338 billion to $476 billion and can result in benefits between $1.3 trillion and $2 trillion…

"The estimate reflects new technologies related to the grid, information and communication technologies; market structures; demands of an increasingly digital society; more widespread deployment of renewable power production and its integration into the grid; expansion and maintenance of existing infrastructure; and technologies and systems to address grid security."

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"…[Estimating the Costs and Benefits of the Smart Grid; A Preliminary Estimate of the Investment Requirements and the Resultant Benefits of a Fully Functioning Smart Grid] updates EPRI's 2004 EPRI assessment, which estimated the cost of implementing a smart grid at $165 billion. The updated analysis assumes steady deployment of smart grid technologies beginning in 2010 and continuing through 2030.

"Mark McGranaghan, EPRI vice president of power delivery and utilization, says the increased costs of the current analysis reflect a more advanced and expansive vision for the smart grid…"

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"…[EPRI] analyzed projected costs over the next 20 years…[in four] core smart grid technologies…transmission, substation, distribution and customer interface. It then subdivided estimates into two segments: investment required to meet load growth and to correct deficiencies (e.g., power-flow bottlenecks and high-fault currents that damage critical equipment) through equipment installation, upgrades and replacement; and investment needed to develop and deploy advanced technologies to achieve ‘smart’ functionality…

"The assessment found that deploying a smarter grid will require careful policy formulation, accelerated infrastructure investment and a greater commitment to public-private research, development and demonstrations to overcome barriers and vulnerabilities."