QUICK NEWS, January 7: THE SHIFT TO NEW ENERGY GOES ON; A HISTORY OF NAT GAS SUBSIDIES; LOOKING FOR THE BEST USE FOR FUEL CELLS

THE SHIFT TO NEW ENERGY GOES ON Renewables are Winning, Nukes are Dead and Coal is Crashing

Kathleen Rogers and Danny Kennedy, December 14, 2013 (EcoWatch)

“…[A] n enormous shift has begun in the ways in which the U.S. and the world will power itself with clean energy…All new electricity capacity built in the U.S. in September was renewable…[T]here was no new fossil fuel capacity added to our grid in September 2012, and 443 megawatts of wind and solar were installed…

“…Clean tech companies are growing faster than the fossil fuel industries as employers…More people are now getting work in clean energy and related clean technology business than oil, gas and coal…[The solar industry] is 119,000 strong in 5,600 companies in all 50 states…[U.S. coal mining employs] about 80,000 and [is] declining. The solar industry grew at a rate of about 13 percent for the last year, while reducing costs 19 percent and growing…The broader economy barely grew in the same period in terms of new job creation…”

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“…Nuclear power post-Fukushima is all but dead, and coal is crashing. U.S. coal supply declined by 100 million tons in 2012. In terms of coal fired electricity, it was 52 percent of the mix in 2000; last year, it was 42 percent—and this year, some reports have it at less than 33 percent…That is a sea change.

“…[The] new, cheap gas that the frackers are creating…won’t last because, regardless of the hype, a finite fuel under increasing demand will go up in price. So, gas is creating the space and understanding that we don’t need to be dependent on coal, that we can shift the mix and keep the lights on. And in time, the “no-fuel” solutions will come to dominate…Nine out of 10 Americans want more solar in the mix…[and, because more clean energy jobs are in red states than blue, elected] officials will follow…”

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A HISTORY OF NAT GAS SUBSIDIES Where the Shale Gas Revolution Came From: Government’s Role in the Development of Hydraulic Fracturing in Shale

Alex Trembath, Jesse Jenkins, Ted Nordhaus, and Michael Shellenberger, May 2012 (Breakthrough Institute)

“…In summary, federal investments and involvement in the development of shale gas extraction technologies spanned three decades and were comprised of:

“• The Eastern Gas Shales Project, a series of public-private shale drilling demonstration projects in the 1970s…• Collaboration with the Gas Research Institute (GRI), an industry research consortia that received partial funding and R&D oversight from the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC)…”

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“• Early shale fracturing and directional drilling technologies developed by the Energy Research & Development Administration (later the Department of Energy), the Bureau of Mines, and the Morgantown Energy Research Center (later the National Energy Technology Laboratory)…• The Section 29 production tax credit for unconventional gas, in effect from 1980-2002…

“• Public subsidization and cost-sharing for demonstration projects, including the first successful multifracture horizontal drilling play in Wayne County, West Virginia in 1986, and Mitchell Energy’s first horizontal well in the Texas Barnett shale in 1991…• Three-dimensional microseismic imaging, a geologic mapping technology developed for applications in coal mines by Sandia National Laboratories…”

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THE BEST USES FOR FUEL CELLS Stationary Fuel Cells; Fuel Cells for Combined Heat and Power, Prime Power, and Backup Power/UPS Applications: Global Market Analysis and Forecasts

4Q 2012 (Pike Research/Navigant)

“The stationary fuel cell industry is growing in terms of megawatts and systems shipped. At the same time, it is going through a deep restructuring, with a number of companies exiting the space and a handful of new entrants appearing…

“The most notable shift from 2011 to 2012 has been a meaningful set of developments in government policy that will directly influence the future of the fuel cell industry.”

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“The uninterruptible power supply (UPS) application segment is marked by collaboration, limited market expansion, and new fuel options. In the combined heat and power (CHP) segment, the key development has been a comprehensive, and painful, restructuring, while for prime power it has been the demand for systems with islanding capability…

“…Pike Research estimates that these trends, along with external factors such as concern about power grid stability in the wake of natural disasters, will drive a significant uptick in the rate of fuel cell adoption that could reach 4.5 gigawatts (GW) by 2017…”

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