QUICK NEWS, May 13: HOW BIG OIL USES REPUBLICANS; WIND SAVES MONEY FOR RATEPAYERS – STUDY; BRIGHTSOURCE EXEC TALKS SOLAR TOWER TECH & BIZ

HOW BIG OIL USES REPUBLICANS How Big Oil Uses the Republican Party to Subvert American Democracy

Robert F.Kennedy, Jr., May 10, 2013 (EcoWatch)

“…The perversity of the modern conservative mind is displayed in…the extent to which the right wing has become the ideological sock puppet of Big Oil and the GOP’s army of right wing Christian fundamentalists oil industry foot soldiers…Big Oil’s Orwellian skill at employing the rhetoric of patriotism and emblazoning its enterprises with stars and stripes, has stitched the notion that conservation is synonymous with “anti-American” into the fabric of GOP talking points…

“After a decade of this brand of oily claptrap from the industry’s political toadies and its talking heads on Fox News and hate radio, many conservative Americans now embrace the farcical presumption that buying and burning gas is a patriotic act…[T]here is nothing patriotic, moral or religious about Big Oil. A storied history of perfidy and greed has distinguished these companies among the most treasonous and piratical of all American business enterprises…Not satiated with simply destroying the planet, the oil industry’s relentless greed has eroded America’s economic independence, imperiled our national security, and ruined our global economic leadership and moral authority…”

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“Big Oil has embroiled us in foreign wars supporting petty dictators who despise democracy and who are hated by their own people. The export of $700 billion dollars annually of American wealth has beggared our nation…Add to these cataclysmic numbers, the $100 billion annual military cost of protecting oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, trillions spent on various oil wars over the past decade, billions more in economic injury from oil spills…

“If the oil industry had to pay the true costs of bringing its product to market, gas prices would be upwards of $12 per gallon at the pump…and most Americans would be running to buy electric cars…With low cost disruptive technologies like cheap, fast and efficient electric vehicles, and solar and wind technologies poised to displace Big Oil, the industry is using its hold on the Republican Party to permanently embed itselfin our economy while subverting science, American democracy, free market capitalism and our sacred beliefin an ethical God.”

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WIND SAVES MONEY FOR RATEPAYERS – STUDY With more wind energy, PJM could save customers $7 billion per year

Jeff Postelwaite, May 9, 2013 (Electric Light & Power)

“The PJM Interconnection could save its customers $6.9 billion ifit more than doubled the amount of wind energy it currently plans to build…according to a [new] study…By the end of 2012, about 3.4 percent of PJM's total installed capacity was generated from wind. Over the next 13 years, with the advent of renewable portfolio standards, states within the PJM system will expand their wind energy capacity to 11 percent of their total installed capacity…

“…Production cost efficiency gains from improved average wind resource performance (from a portion of wind resources sourced from the higher-performing MISO region) are roughly offset by the increased transmission costs to deliver those resources to PJM…PJM carbon emissions in the wind scenarios are 14 percent lower than base case emissions…[which] include the effect associated with retiring roughly 58 GW of coal-fired plants in PJM.”

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“Load-weighted average annual energy market prices…for the PJM zones in aggregate are roughly $1.74/MWh lower for the wind cases, relative to base case prices. The price differences are greatest in the non-summer months, when wind output is highest, load is lowest and supply margins are greatest…The wind cases see more summer peak period energy from "peaking" fossil resources…[from] using economically optimal unit commitment and dispatch while respecting fossil-fuel plant operating constraints and the time profiles of wind output.

“If all production cost efficiency gains flow to consumers based on consumers paying the annual revenue requirements for incremental wind installed in the PJM region, then consumers are clearly much better off economically with increased wind resources, relative to a base case with less wind and more gas…Increasing the amount of "PJM wind" that is sourced from further west regions…leads to incrementally greater wind performance and higher production cost efficiencies. These savings are roughly offset by increased transmission costs…[and would further reduce] PJM carbon emissions…”

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BRIGHTSOURCE EXEC TALKS SOLAR TOWER TECH & BIZ Future CSP growth in the United States - CSP Today interview with Joe Desmond of BrightSource Energy

May 9, 2013 (CSP Today)

[Joe Desmond, BrightSource Energy:] “…[In 2013-14, U.S. CSP capacity will increase by 120%, with a total of 1318MW coming online, including BrightSource Energy’s 392MW (gross) Ivanpah project]…Demonstrating CSP technologies at scale is very important…[T]here are real benefits that CSP technologies provide to grid operators and…[CSP] adds diversity to utilities’ energy portfolios…Ivanpah will demonstrate how large scale CSP systems operate…[prove] the technology…de-risk some of the technology perceptions…[and] demonstrate that you can have development whilst having a positive [environmental] impact…”

[Joe Desmond, BrightSource Energy:] “…[L]arge infrastructure investments…[have to balance] new technology that drives down cost and increases performance…against the requirements of lenders who want to ensure that they have an acceptable risk profile…[Ivanpah will demonstrate] the performance and bankability of our technology to those interested in financing CSP power tower projects…DOE has proposed allocating $90 million to CSP within the SunShot Initiative Solar Program for fiscal year 2014, which is double last year’s allocation of $45 million…[indicating a significant] commitment…They are also focusing on grid integration issues…[and] you will see [streamlined permitting and] a progression and advancements within the major components…”

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[Joe Desmond, BrightSource Energy:] “…[T]he Palen site…was originally developed and permitted as a concentrating solar parabolic trough project…[Following Solar Millennium's bankruptcy], BrightSource is converting the project to the company’s proprietary solar thermal power tower technology. We are working with the California Energy Commission and Bureau of Land Management…The partnership with Abengoa is a great opportunity to bring together two companies with vast experience in CSP. Abengoa will carry out the engineering, procurement and construction, and BrightSource Energy will provide the solar field technology…”

[Joe Desmond, BrightSource Energy:] “…The ability of CSP to provide grid reliability services, reactive power, frequency control and inertia response are essential to having a grid operating in a reliable and cost effective way. Thermal storage and the flexibility it offers will help utilities and grid operators address integration challenges…by delivering a firmer, reliable and more controllable renewable power source…[thereby] promoting broader integration of other renewable technologies including photovoltaics and wind…[T]hermal storage helps to drive down costs on a levelized cost of energy basis and increases a plant’s capacity factor. Furthermore, storage can provide increased capacity value…”

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