QUICK NEWS, February 8: EV NAMED GREENEST CAR; UTILITIES AND NEW ENERGY; CA BIG SUN GETS SMART

EV NAMED GREENEST CAR
Electric Car Tops Greenest Vehicle List for First Time in 12 Years; New Mitsubishi i-MIEV Unseats Honda Civic Natural Gas after 8 Consecutive Years at the Top
February 7, 2012 (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy)

"…[In the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)] 14th annual comprehensive environmental rankings…[the] “Greenest” list saw a considerable shake-up this year, with the Mitsubishi i-MIEV battery electric vehicle claiming the top spot from the Honda Civic Natural Gas, which has held on to first place for eight years in a row…

"…Making its model year 2012 debut on the American market, the i-MIEV earns a score of 58, the highest Green Score awarded since the rankings began in 1998. With a combined city and highway fuel economy of 112 miles per gallon equivalent, the i-MIEV outpaces all other vehicles currently sold in United States…"

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"The Honda Civic Natural Gas, despite its improved fuel economy this year, appears in second place, tied with the Nissan Leaf. Rounding out the top six are the Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight, and the Smart ForTwo. This year, hybrids dominate the “Greenest” list occupying half of all spots. Highly efficient conventional gasoline vehicles also continue to have a presence on the “Greenest” list, claiming three of the top twelve spots…This year saw the arrival of a number of new hybrid options for drivers from Hyundai, Kia, and Infiniti, but none broke into the top twelve.

"…[The listing] provides the facts necessary to examine the eco-performance of any 2012 model…Vehicles are analyzed on the basis of a “Green Score,” a singular measure that incorporates unhealthy tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption, and emissions of gases that contribute to climate change…[Thids year’s updates] include improved emissions estimates for the vehicle manufacturing process, changes reflecting current natural gas extraction practices, and consideration of upcoming shifts in the generation mix for the electricity used to power electric cars…"


UTILITIES AND NEW ENERGY
The power to transform; U.S. power and utilities sector's role in cleantech deployment
February 2012 (Deloitte)

"Beyond the attention of many observers, America’s clean energy transformation is already well underway, thanks in large part to massive investments by the electric power industry. Utilities have picked up where many venture firms and other investors left off — at the point where technologies already proven in a laboratory setting are ready to be deployed in the market. In 2010, regulated utilities generated an estimated 16.9 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable-based power generation, while unregulated utility-owned generation assets and independently owned generation assets contributed another 122.3 TWh to the U.S. electricity supply…"

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"…Utilities are the largest investors in smart grid infrastructure, with more than $8 billion in projects in the works, and the industry has contributed both directly and indirectly to the adoption of energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and energy storage technologies…These investments, which have all transpired in the absence of a federal price on carbon, have helped push clean technologies into new territory…"


CA BIG SUN GETS SMART
Some good news: Fewer solar projects in Cali will fail in the future
Ucilia Wang, February 3, 2012 (GigaOm)

"All of those wind and solar power projects you hear about being built in California actually have a pretty high failure rate of around 30-40 percent, according to regulators and utilities…[but] that failure rate is expected to come down significantly now that the these markets are maturing and utilities are seeing better prepared and managed projects…

"Developers these days tend to already have secured land and are often times far further along in the permitting process…[T]he utility also is seeing more developers bidding for projects…[T]he failure rate [is expected] to drop based on the various recent analyses…[but] those analyses don’t add up to one number that characterizes the overall decline…"

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"…[O]verall the state’s utilities are more confident that they can meet the state’s renewable energy mandate. But at the same time it also means that the clean power developers could see less deals coming their way — another hurdle for the battered solar and wind industries this year...First Solar’s interim CEO, Michael Ahearn, cited the dropping amount of new deals in California as one of the reasons that the company must seek opportunities elsewhere around the world in order to continue its growth.

"Thanks in part to the federal government’s now defunct loan guarantee program, companies such as First Solar, SunPower and BrightSource Energy are building solar power plants that are hundreds of megawatts each…PG&E, for one, has lined up enough power purchase contracts to meet its goal through 2016…[D]evelopers like First Solar, which also makes solar panels and other equipment, now expects much fewer opportunities to develop mega projects like the two projects of 550 MW each that First Solar is building in California now…"