RenCon Energy combines LED and solar technology - Interior 'skylight' offers homeowners affordable renewable energy

www.northbaybusinessjournal.com
September 7th, 2009

HEALDSBURG - Andy Smith and his team at RenCon Energy have developed a solution for those that want to bring sunlight into a windowless room but are reluctant to cut a hole in their roof: the Solectric Skylight system. The former design engineer for Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies has combined LED and solar technology to produce an interior "skylight" that homeowners can install themselves. It will debut at the Friedman's Home Improvement Home & Garden Show later this month.

"For a long time I've wanted to design a product that would utilise renewable energy while promoting conservation and one that would be affordable by the average resident," said Mr. Smith. Hence RenCon Energy: renewable solar plus energy-saving LEDs. Current LED lighting fixtures are generally designer pieces and run upwards of $200, he said. And solar installations are beyond the scope of many homeowners both in price and complexity.

"Lots of people would like to utilise solar energy. My idea was to give them a product they can buy and install without hiring an electrical contractor," said Mr. Smith. His systems, including one photovoltaic panel, two 10-and-a-half-inch wide LED lights, wires and brackets, will cost $299, slightly more than a tubular skylight but much cheaper and easier to install.

In the early morning when the sun is low, the PV panel produces a low current, which corresponds to a low light level from the LED fixtures. As the sun moves higher in the sky the current increases and so does the LED output. RenCon Energy will sell a battery storage kit to homeowners who want to store solar electricity to use the lights after dark, but since the LEDs burn only seven watts per light it makes more sense to run them off the house current, he said.

He'll offer a $30 kit to make the connection. "Initially we'll supply a list of recommended local handypeople if purchasers don't feel they can make the installations, but this was always intended to be a consumer product for people who want to make small improvements to their homes," he said. Once Mr. Smith had a prototype working and a patent pending, he set about to build a company.

Another former Agilent engineer, who graduated from and is now teaching for Dominican University's Green MBA program, put him on to a couple of talented recent graduates, Jonathan Mooney and Allison Shrier. Mr. Mooney is now RenCon Energy's vice president of marketing and Ms. Shrier its vice president of operations.

The company currently operates out of Mr. Smith's Healdsburg garage, capitalised by about $55,000 from friends and family. He'd like to raise $100,000 to set up manufacturing and distribution channels, perhaps with a small business loan. "Right now the local angel groups are concentrating on companies they've already funded, rather than putting money into a new startup," he said. Meanwhile, he's taking advantage of local resources, including the Santa Rosa Junior College's Sawyer Center for marketing expertise.

RenCon Energy will have a chance to judge customer response at the Home & Garden Show, which runs Sept. 18, 19 and 20. According to Friedman's Home Improvement Vice President of Merchandise and Marketing Tony Corsberg, the RenCon Energy Solectric Skylight system was chosen because it's energy-saving and locally produced. "We carry flush-mounted LED lights and tubular skylights, but we've never had a product like RenCon Energy's. At $299 I'm not sure how it will resonate with customers. The price is comparable to a skylight, but it might cause sticker shock," he said.

The team at RenCon Energy is in the process of developing lower-cost products, including recessed LED fixtures for $40 to $50, said Mr. Smith. "We don't want to be a one-product company," he said. Florescent tube replacement with LED and recessed LED lights show lots of potential, and Mr. Smith is eager to develop a solar thermal system that can be purchased and installed for less than $2,000. "Current systems run about $4,000 to $5,000. There's a huge opportunity there that hasn't been tapped into," he said.

For more information, visit www.renconenergy.com.

Kenya to benefit from Sh1.7 billion EU power project

www.businessdailyafrica.com
September 8, 2009

Kenya is set to benefit from a Sh1.7 billion geothermal power project to be set up by the European Union in the Rift Valley. Executives in the energy sector say the funds will be used for feasibility studies and exploration work in an effort aimed at laying the ground work for the entry of private investors into geothermal generation. Private investors have preferred to invest in thermal power (diesel-driven) since they are cheaper to develop compared to geothermal but get expensive in the long run when its impact on power bills inflation and environmental damage are factored in.

Now, the EU seeks to reverse this trend by providing investor information such as maps of potential drilling points and helping the government to formulate policies that would help investors put their money in geothermal power generation. This comes at a time when the country is faced with a power shortfall that forced power managers to turn to rationing and to the more expensive thermal production to meet the ever rising consumers demand.

"Geothermal energy covers one of the four interdisciplinary core programmes of our centre and is part of its strategic priority in developing eco-friendly renewable energy," says Giorgio Rosso Cicogna, the managing director of International Centre for Science and High Technology — United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

The project will be implemented by UNDO at the request of the Africa Union which has already submitted the project's proposal to the European Union — the financiers of the project. Kenya derives 130 MWs of power or about 10 per cent of its installed power capacity from geothermal sources despite the potential of about 7, 000 MWs. The country's peak demand stands at 1,070 MWs.

Kenya requires an additional 1,500 MWs in the coming 10 years to stabilise supply, and the government is keen to tap into the least cost generation. The government has already established a state-owned Geothermal Development Company (GDC) to rev up the contribution of geothermal production. This will allow the government to facilitate the huge funding required for geothermal projects, which has acted as a deterrent for private firms to explore that segment.

For instance, an 80-MW geothermal would cost about Sh28 billion compared to only Sh8 billion for same thermal plant. Figures from the Energy ministry indicate that geothermal power can be delivered to consumers at less than Sh4.20 per kW hour, which is far much lower than the Sh15 per kW hour that power consumers are now paying. The government has unveiled tax concessions and a tariff policy to encourage private investors to enter geothermal generation.

The country's reliance on the weather-dependent hydro-power and the more expensive thermal sources to meet its energy needs has come with a price. The country is faced with a power rationing, which the government has announced will end this month. Secondly, power consumers are faced with expensive electricity in the form of increased fuel costs due to heavy reliance of thermal power to bridge the gap. Power consumers are now paying over Sh6 from Sh4.10 in March.

Kenya relies on hydro sources to generate 700 MW of power but electricity generator KenGen says this has reduced by 12 per cent due to drought which has forced a countrywide power rationing following the recent closure of Masinga dam station. The country has an installed capacity of 1,200 MW and hydro sources produce about 56 per cent of the total electricity while thermal and geothermal contributes 36 and eight per cent respectively to the national grid. The government expects the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) could deliver at least 700 MW in the next 10 years.

Solar power surge in south-east Queensland

www.abc.net.au
Tue, 8 Sep 09

Energex says Queenslanders should be realistic about energy savings when purchasing solar panels for the home. It follows complaints from consumers their electricity bills did not change or in some cases increased after installing the panels. Under the Queensland Government's feed-in tariff scheme, extra power generated by solar panels is taken off an electricity bill. Energex spokesman Mike Swanston says solar panels will save electricity but they will not cut a bill in half.

"Generally a small system will reduce a household electricity bill by about $100 a quarter," Mr Swanston said. "That's with everything else being held steady. "When we see the amount of power that gets used in households through plasma TV and things unfortunately some people aren't seeing the benefits of solar they had hoped to see but it really does make a difference if you use them in your home intelligently."

Mr Swanston says there has been a big surge in people buying solar panels. "We have seen an incredible increase in the solar electricity going into homes in the south-east Queensland," he said. "In fact only 12 months ago we received around 200 connection requests in a month but last month we topped 2,000 and we are expecting that will continue to increase."

A Brisbane businessman who specialises in energy saving devices is warning consumers to be very careful about companies over-stating the dollar savings of solar panels. Bryan Springer says anyone suggesting a solar panel can dramatically reduce a quarterly electricity bill should not be trusted.

Mr Springer says power bills will go down but not by half. He says new companies with little or no expertise in energy saving are trying to cash in on the government's push to go solar. "You recall what happened with water tanks companies are buying directly in from China and selling to the public: The public have a problem and go back to the company and the company is not there," Mr Springer said.

China, green? In the case of solar water heating, yes

www.latimes.com
September 6, 2009

In a nation known more for its belching smokestacks, solar water heaters are on nearly every roof in some cities. Manufacturers are eyeing foreign markets, including Southern California. Reporting from Rizhao, China - Before her family bought a solar water heater, Liu Yan would bathe the way many working-class Chinese have for generations: boil water, dampen a rag and wipe away the dirt.

Today, the 40-year-old mother and her family shower every day and wash their dishes with hot water. The stainless steel heater affixed to her red-tiled roof cost about $220. The device has become a symbol of China's rising standard of living and its leap into the era of clean energy. In the seaside city of 2.8 million where Liu lives in Shandong province, 99% of households use solar water heaters. The mattress-sized contraptions dominate Rizhao's skyline, resting haphazardly on almost every residential rooftop.

In the global race to develop green technology and stem climate change, China has quickly become a leading producer of solar panels and wind turbines. It also dominates the lesser-known technology of solar water heaters. Using principles of solar heating more than a century old, the humble, low-cost devices consist of an angled row of cola-colored glass tubes that absorb heat from the sun. The most common models fill the tubes with cold water. As it heats, the water rises into an insulated tank where it can remain hot for days.

The devices have improved so much over the years that some don't need direct sunlight - - all the more valuable in China's often hazy and smoggy cities. Newer models have electrical heaters inside the water tanks that switch on if the water gets too cold on frigid days.

Popular in some parts of the United States around the turn of the 20th century before being made obsolete by cheap natural gas, solar heaters are now hailed as one of China's greatest environmental success stories. More than 30 million homes have the devices, accounting for two-thirds of the world's solar water heating energy.

Manufacturers are eyeing foreign markets, including customers in Southern California. "China absolutely dominates the global market and they've done it relatively quietly and without a lot of fanfare," said Christopher Flavin, president of the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute. "It's an interesting example of their ability to take technology that was developed elsewhere and adapt it to their market on a scale no one had conceived of."

The widespread development of solar heaters in China can appear paradoxical in a country that leads the world in carbon dioxide emissions and where two-thirds of the rivers and lakes are contaminated. Such is the nature of China's push to tackle climate change. In this rapidly developing economy, some of the nation's biggest polluters reside alongside the biggest renewable energy projects.

Scenes like Rizhao's crowded, energy-efficient rooftops are repeated all over China, often in the shadows of carbon spewing smokestacks and noxious chemical plants. Rizhao is one of a small but growing number of Chinese cities requiring solar heaters to be installed or subsidised. "There are two different stories in China," said Barbara Finamore, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's China Program. "There's dramatic progress. There's no denying that. At the same time, they're still building, on average, a new coal-fired [power] plant every week."

The heating of water accounts for a quarter of a typical building's energy usage. The Chinese solar heaters are estimated to have prevented more than 20 million tons of carbon dioxide that would have been emitted annually using electrical units.

The heaters will be much needed if Beijing is to meet its goal of reducing its reliance on coal, which supplies 80% of the country's energy. The central government aims to meet 15% of its energy needs through renewable sources by 2020. Beijing hopes to triple its solar heater capacity by the same year, according to Greenpeace China.

The technology's gains here lie in its affordability, the dearth of residential natural gas service and the modest expectations of consumers, many of whom had never enjoyed hot water at home before. The starting price for one of the clunky devices is around $220, about the same as an electric heater in China. In the United States, where labor costs are higher and systems tend to be larger and more elaborate, solar water heaters can easily cost $1,500 or more.

"The key to the success in China is that the low price enables people to have an instantaneous payback," said John Perlin, a solar energy historian and author of "From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity." A thriving, hyper-competitive industry of 5,000 manufacturers has grown up in the last decade or more, driving costs down and widening the range of quality. "The market is huge, but the competition is fearsome," said Bi Bangquan, president of Ri- zhao Gold Giant Solar Power, one of 150 manufacturers based in the city.

To find new customers, he's turned to rural areas. That can mean sending sales teams to villages, where stages are erected for singing and dancing performers to promote the virtues of his solar heaters. Each manufacturer touts its product's ability to heat water within hours and insulate that heat for days. "I guarantee my water's hot enough to take the feathers off a chicken," said one of Bi's rivals, Zhang Shouqin, founder of Rizhao Qin Naier Solar Power.

Some Chinese companies hoping to boost sales are looking to other countries, including the United States. Only about 1% of the world's solar water heating energy is produced in the U.S., but climate change is spurring interest in the technology. The California Public Utilities Commission has recommended the establishment of a $300-million incentive program to encourage homeowners to install units.

Bi dreams of exporting, but he's concerned that his heaters would be no match for Western habits. A typical American uses 100 gallons of water daily, both hot and cold, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In China, an urban resident uses half that, and a rural dweller about a fifth. Many of the older or cheaper Chinese models are far from perfect, lacking auxiliary heating elements to warm the water on cloudy days.

"I have to look outside and make sure it's been sunny before I decide to take a shower," said a 53-year-old retiree in Rizhao who gave only his surname, Xiao. "Otherwise you'll get a cold surprise." About 225 miles northwest of Rizhao is the headquarters of Himin Solar Energy Group, China's largest and most advanced solar water heater maker, which recently garnered a $50-million investment from Goldman Sachs. Himin's influence runs deep in its hometown, Dezhou. The streets of the city of 5.5 million are illuminated with solar energyed lights; 90% of its households have solar water heaters.

Company founder Huang Ming is building an expansive residential development in Dezhou called Utopia Garden to showcase the potential of solar technology. Scheduled for completion in 2013, the row of high-rise buildings will be crowned with a ribbon of solar thermal tubing and photovoltaic panels that will supply much of the complex's energy needs. "We're only at the bottom of a big mountain," Huang said. Solar "can push a change in lifestyle."

Keeping it simple opens the path to success

Sydney Morning Herald
Monday 7/9/2009 Page: 20

Windmills area low-technology way to pump water and can be fixed on the spot. That is why the export business is ready to take off. Its straightforward design, the ease of installation and uncomplicated mechanics have made the Australian bush windmill a must-have water pumping solution in places such as Afghanistan, Malaysia and even Peru.

Water technology is expected to become the next big export industry for Australian companies but as Comet Windmills has proved, innovation in this area does not have to be space-age or high-tech. Darren Fitzgerald bought Comet Windmills about 12 years ago, although the business has been around for more than 120. It is the only windmill manufacturer in NSW.

"Windmills are still the main method of pumping water in Australia," says Fitzgerald. "They are a magnificent piece of structural engineering and there are very few things needed to set them up properly. They are designed so you don't need a highly skilled technician and they can be fixed on the spot.

That's why bushmen love them." It is also why the rest of the world loves them. Comet Windmills started exporting about three years ago after winning a tender with the Australian Defence Forces to manufacture windmills and train array personnel on installation and maintenance for their use in Afghanistan. "Islands and villages and remote places like the windmill because they want something that is low technology," says Fitzgerald.

Austrade has identified water technology as one of the strongest export opportunities for manufacturers and engineers and one which both the state and federal governments are supporting with assistance to anew specialist water technology and services exporters' group called waterAustralia.

Rob Sutton, the national manager of agribusiness at Austrade, says water security for agriculture, industry and the community will be one of the strongest emerging export sectors in the next 12 to 24 months. We see a tremendous opportunity in water technology like windmills, and management technology linked to agriculture, as well as the security of potable water for human consumption-all this specialised technology that manages recycled water and waste water," says Sutton.

'At the moment this industry is dominated by the public sector in Australia and most other countries around the world, and there is very little privatisation. But the opportunities are there in infrastructure and local councils. "International markets like the US and countries with climates like Australia's are facing similar problems to us and we estimate the sector could be worth $1 trillion in a few years. "There are many opportunities in areas like water flow management systems, membrane filters, gate control systems, and infrastructure.

Australia now leads the way in this area because we had an early indication of national water shortage. "One interesting aspect of water technology is that if you can improve the accuracy of where a cubic metre of water is and when it will arrive to a customer, there will be less waste in that process. So with accurate pricing, timing and delivery you don't have to turn on the tap too early or late. Austrade has identified these services are required in the international market."

Delivering the right quantity of water at the right time is what Comet Windmills prides itself on. "We snake the largest windmills in the world. We are looking at a project in Peru with a windmill wheel that has a diameter of 10 metres and is capable of pumping 500,000 litres of water a day for irrigation to a cotton farm. We are also negotiating with people in China and India," Fitzgerald says.

"I always had the vision that the windmill was a good product for the developing world. There are only a few ways to pump water-diesel, electricity, solar and the windmill, and only solar and the windmill use renewable energy. "The trouble with solar technology in more remote places is that they get stolen or they break. Now that global warming is really on the agenda in a big way, more companies and big corporations are looking at windmills."

Austrade is meeting Australian water technology companies in September to introduce waterAustralia and outline the international trade opportunities in this sector.

The planet-saver that's still just a pipe dream

Sydney Morning Herald
Monday 7/9/2009 Page: 17

Carbon capture and storage is expensive, risky and may not work, writes Paddy Manning.

THERE may be a few forced smiles when Martin Ferguson dishes out $2.4 billion in funding for a handful of "flagship" carbon capture and storage projects (CCS), intended to clean up carbon dioxide emissions from coalfired power stations. As the Energy and Resources Minister knows, these CCS projects have taken one helluva time to get tip and running- and it will be a long while yet before they make any significant contribution to Australia's CO2, emission reductions.

For at least a decade, the coal industry has promoted a range of clean coal technologies, including CCS, as an alternative to renewable energy. But as necessary emission reduction trajectories get deeper and steeper, the industry has been tardy - stubborn, even - about paying for it. Instead the public will foot most of the bill for CCS, and will wear the liability if it goes wrong.

CCS projects have a conspicuous history of failure - here and overseas. Put simply, nobody has yet integrated power generation with carbon capture and storage at scale to create clean electricity, anywhere in the world. And many experts, including from within the energy industry, believe CCS will remain prohibitively expensive and risky compared with known baseload power sources such as nuclear, or renewable sources such as geothermal or concentrating solar thermal which do not leave vast underground stores of carbon dioxide for future generations to worry about.

In April the CSIRO's energy chief, David Brockway, told a federal parliamentary inquiry on climate change that while he did not have a crystal ball, over the next 15 years wholesale electricity costs would roughly triple from the present $40/MWh, as CCS is incorporated into coalfired power generation. That would bring it, he said, roughly into line with solar thermal - about $160-$200/MWh but falling fast - and wind energy, likely to remain stable at $100-$110/Mwh (other estimates are lower) because it is a mature technology.

It's not a reasonable comparison, though, because solar thermal and wind energy actually exist, lain MacGill, the joint director of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets at the University of New South Wales, says, "all prices for CCS are projections right now, because they haven't actually done it yet. Until they can make CCS work, they're on a different planet."

The executive director of the Australia Institute, Richard Denniss, says he would love to see CCS work. But if it doesn't, he asks, "What's plan B?" Federal and state governments are keen to support the coal industry, which provides cheap power, claims to employ 30,000 Australians directly and was our biggest export earner in 2008-09, with about $50 billion in combined overseas sales of metallurgical and thermal coal.

Especially vulnerable are the coal-reliant communities of the Hunter Valley and Victoria's Latrobe Valley. In both regions, local councils, environment groups and sections of the union movement are working to develop "just transition" plans to create green collar jobs - and avoid job losses - as part of an orderly switch to gasfired or renewable power. Not even the Greens are proposing, in Kevin Rudd's parlance, to "shut down the coal industry by Thursday" and abandon these communities.

The Institute for Sustainable Futures estimated annual national financial assistance for coal was more than $1.2 billion in 2005-06, in terms of direct subsidies, cheap fuel and accelerated depreciation. The industry pays cheap royalties to the states under a regime which is the envy of the gas lobby. There is also infrastructure funding designed to ease years of capacity constraints - for example, last year's $1 billion plus in federal rail funding to help double export capacity from the Hunter Valley coal chain by 2014, and the NSW budget's $205 million to expand Eraring power station on the Central Coast.

The Federal Government is proposing to issue $3.9 billion worth of free permits to coalfired power generators under its carbon pollution reduction scheme, and is being urged to compensate power station owners for the anticipated loss in the value of their assets if or when such a scheme is introduced. On top of that, in May the Federal Government announced $2.8 billion would be set aside to fund clean coal initiatives, including $2.4 billion to fund between two and four "flagship" coal-or gas-fired power stations with CCS over the next nine years.

The CCS flagships funding was part of a broader clean energy initiative, including $1.5 billion to part-fund a number of flagship solar energy stations under a separate process, and a $500 million fund to support emerging renewable technologies such as wave and geothermal. Australia, as the world's biggest coal exporter, wants to lead on clean coal with its Global CCS Institute, which won plaudits from the US President, Barack Obama, earlier this year.

The International Energy Association predicts CCS could deliver almost 20% of emissions reductions needed to cut annual emissions in half by 2050, globally, but last year said, "current spending and activity levels are nowhere near enough to achieve these deployment goals".

Under modelling linked to the proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme, and depending which emissions reduction trajectory is chosen, Australia will broadly get a third of its reduction in emissions from energy efficiency, a third from introduction of renewables spurred by the recently legislated "20% by 2020" target, and a third from CCS.

The modelling, by the energy consultants McLennan Magasanik Associates, predicts CCS will become commercially viable in about 2030. Walter Gerardi, its director, says: "I think the reason why CCS might have some legs here is we have a very low coal price compared with other countries, and very good potential storage opportunities. So the cost of CCS could be lower here than in other countries."

That would mean storing about 1.6 to 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2, from the electricity generation sector by 2050. Is that realistic? The biggest existing carbon sequestration project in the world, Norway's Sleipner Field, has taken about 1 million tonnes a year since 1996.

The $50 billion Chevron operated Gorgon LNG processing facility at Barrow Island, off WA's Pilbara coast, will pass Sleipner to become the world's biggest carbon sequestration project, with about 3 million tonnes a year of CO2, to be injected underground there. But the Gorgon CCS project will not reduce emissions in Australia, although the export of LNG could he expected to reduce emissions overseas as it replaces the burning of dirtier fuels such as coal.

The biggest existing carbon storage facility in Australia is at Victoria's Otway Basin, where more than 50,000 tonnes and rising are stored, so far safely. But it's tiny. The depleted oil and gas fields of the Gippsland Basin, off Victoria's east coast, are believed to have the capacity to store all of Australia's CO2, emissions-but the cost of CCS is typically considered prohibitive if the distance to injection of captured CO2, exceeds a hundred kilometers.

Most pilot projects capture less than 10,000 tonnes of CO2, a year. The biggest CCS facility attached to an existing coal-fired station, a $10 million demonstration plant at Victoria's Hazelwood in the Latrobe Valley, captures just 25 tonnes of CO2 a day - 0.05% of its total emissions - at a reported cost of at least $1100 per tonne captured. That does not include storage. At Lake Munmorah, in the Hunter Valley, a $5 million pilot facility can capture 3000 tonnes of CO2, a year. As one Delta Energy executive quipped the day I visited: "We're not going to save the planet with this one.

The next step there is a larger scale $150 million plant, capturing up to 100,000 tonnes a year of CO2. That would equate to a cost of $130 per tonne of CO2, captured, says the NSW Greens' energy spokesman, John Kaye - or between $119-$124/MWh before they work out where to put the CO2, or how to get it there. But it's not as though the coal industry has suddenly seen a need to get cracking. The Australian Coal Association has been weighing the merits of CCS since the 1980s.

A November 1989 position paper on the greenhouse effect noted CO2, removal and storage was "not regarded as a feasible option for fossil fuel power stations". "Technologically, the processes have been shown to be feasible; however, they would add substantially to plant, capital and operating costs, would consume a considerable portion of the plant's output and would increase fuel usage. Also, there are uncertainties about the practicability of [storing] collected CO1."

Ian Dunlop, a retired Shell executive who was the chairman of the Australian Coal Association in the late 1980s and headed the Howard government's Emissions Trading Taskforce in 1998, says the coal industry was aware there was a serious prospect that more research would need to be done on CCS - in fact, that it had some disadvantages. "Now, we're hanging our futures on it."

Other supporters of CCS have lambasted the coal industry's failure to back the technology. Last year the Government's climate change adviser, Professor Ross Garnaut, criticised investment by the industry group Coal2l as inadequate and said industry should be spending more like $250 million a year.

In 2007 the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's Tony Matter, now national president, told a meeting of Newcastle Council that - unlike renewables, where there was a clear need for government funding for pilot projects - the coal mining industry was "a very wealthy global private sector industry and it does not need one dollar of public support".

He said scepticism about CCS would "only be overcome once it's developed.., but there's no reason to oppose the use of the private sector's money to deploy those technologies. If it doesn't work, you've only wasted Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton's money, and I don't see that there's any need to cry about that." Nowadays he supports public funding for CCS and welcomed the Federal Government's flagships announcement.

In July WWF, the one conservation group consistently promoting CCS, ran out of patience. Its chief executive, Greg Bourne, a member of the key government and industry advisory bodies pushing for investment in CCS, noted the Government's almost $3 billion in finance for CCS shamed the meagre $1 billion commitment from the Coal2l fund in the wake of a tripling in coal prices.

"Should the public be prepared to spend $3 for every one dollar spent by big polluters?" he asked. "If these highly profitable organisations were serious about securing their future and reducing their emissions, they would be ploughing money into deploying CCS. What we're seeing instead is the Australian taxpayer doing all the heavy lifting, without any of the financial benefit."

Reforms stifle call for household solar

Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Monday 7/9/2009

Rebates of up to $8000 for installing photovoltaic panels that were introduced by the Howard government have been replaced by a new regime, enacted through the RET legislation, which 'allows households to claim five REC's for every MW hour of electricity their panels generate.'

Although the new regime is not subject to the $100,000 household income test the Rudd government imposed on the previous rebate, it is less generous, and the fact it has not yet come into force is discouraging households from installing the panels.

Danin Kahn, chief executive of green energy company Todae advised that, "A lower REC price is obviously going to affect demand, but not as much as not actually having a mechanism to get the solar credits." Ken Edwards, principal of energy broker Nextgen reports that there may be market power issues emerging if the NSW government sells its retailers.

Nick Brass, managing director of operations at green energy company EnergyMatters advised that the market dynamic should change once the new regime came into force. The REC market has been volatile since Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull sent the emissions trading legislation to a Senate Committee in May.

Dark days for Solar ambitions

Australian
Monday 7/9/2009 Page: 26

THE decision by TRUEnergy to write off its entire investment in Solar Systems has placed the development of what would be Australia's first large-scale solar energy project in doubt, along with ambitious plans for overseas expansion. Solar Systems' $420 million, 154-MW project near Mildura was touted as the world's largest and most efficient solar photovoltaic power station when TRUEnergy came on board last year. It signed a $285m development agreement for the Mildura project, as well as paying $40m for a 20% stake in Solar Systems.

But TRUEnergy's Hong Kong-based parent, CLP Group, has decided to write off its entire $HK346m ($53m) investment in Solar Systems, which includes R&D spending since the original purchase, because of its failure to attract another strategic or financial equity partner. We do not believe that it is justifiable for CLP Group to continue funding a technology business without an additional strategic or financial partner to share the ongoing development risk," CLP Group said.

It is believed Solar Systems has blamed the tight credit and project development market for its failure to attract another significant investor as part of its latest fundraising program, which sought tens of million of dollars to help ease liquidity issues and help fund its overseas expansion, in both Asia and the US. CLP Group's agreement to provide $285m funding for the Mildura solar project destined to be a showcase of its solar dish technology remains in place, but it is subject to certain milestones being achieved.

This will include the success of a 2 MW pilot plant scheduled to be built within the next 15 months. The overall project has also attracted $129m in federal and state funding. However, CLP Group will not support any new projects undertaken by Solar Systems, even though it announced last year it had agreed to partner the company in developing up to 1 GW (1000 MW) of projects in the Asia-Pacific region. It said that while Solar Systems technology showed technical promise it was facing increased competition from established solar companies, who had reduced their margins in response to the recent demand slowdown.

We remain confident that good solar project opportunities will be realised when appropriate government policies are in place," CLP Group said. We will, however, take a very cautious approach towards future technology investment opportunities." Last year, TRUEnergy predicted $10 billion would be invested in 5GW of commercially viable solar energy plants in Australia by 2030. Solar Systems has effectively moved part of its head office to Dallas following the appointment of the Dallas-based Mike Childers as CEO. It is possibly destined, like the solar thermal developer Ausra, to move its headquarters to the US in pursuit of opportunities in a market that is growing rapidly because of strong federal and state subsidies.

Apart from TRUEnergy, the remaining shareholders in Solar Systems comprise a dozen private investors, including founder and director Dave Holland. A company spokesman said it was continuing to look for a strategic partner and for capital investment in the company. "We are working towards achieving a positive outcome," he said. CLP Group have made their own financial decision (but) that does not impact us right now."

Call for farmers to adapt dryland practices

Age
Monday 7/9/2009 Page: 3

IF AUSTRALIA'S severe dry spell has an upside, it is the number of engineering companies that have emerged with better ways to help people manage water. Black & Veatch, a big US group with expertise in urban water systems, set up in Australia this year. Water engineering companies are also active outside the main cities. Regional communities, particularly those in the Murray-Darling Basin, are directly in the line of fire. "The farmer is getting hammered," said Peter Fagan, who has a solution: "Farmers will have to change to dryland practices and diversify their income."

Mr Fagan is leader of sustainability in the Asia Pacific for MWH, a company based in Denver, Colorado, that has 450-500 employees in Australia - a substantial chunk of its 7000 staff in 35 countries. MWH brings together program managers, business consultants, engineers, geologists, operators, scientists, technologists and regulatory experts. In the Murray-Darling, MWH sees the future in various aspects of forestry, using native species, mainly different forms of Mallee eucalypt, for carbon negative biomass, and even carbon sinks.

Mr Fagan's vision is to plant native vegetation - the Mallee eucalypt - in wind rows that still allow traditional farming, and eventually create a chain of 50 smaller biomass power stations that could be easily integrated into the electricity grid. Farmers could also look at other product streams, such as Eucalyptus oil, from the trees. "You can take the oil out and still use the wood for biomass," he said.

Mr Fagan, who worked on the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area with the late Dick Pratt, said Australia was a net importer of eucalypt oil, with cheap, poor quality oil being imported from China. Niche markets with a better grade oil were possible, such as pharmaceutical grade Eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptus oil was also used as an industrial solvent for ethanol-based fuels. Mr Fagan said to produce Eucalyptus oil on its own in the face of cheap, price competition was not feasible. "You'll get done," he said. But combined with energy production, and even agrichar when it was burnt, it could create five or six income streams. "This changes the economics of the industry.

You can select the Mallee species for oil or biomass or a combination of both." Mr Fagan said the idea was not to plant large blocks of trees, which could have an impact on water run-off. Trees created windbreaks and shade, and helped the soil retain moisture. But establishment costs were high, so there was a need for scale, he said.

John Williams, adjunct professor of agriculture and natural resources at Charles Sturt University, Albury, said there already was a lot of knowledge about the Malice concept based on projects in Western Australia. The malice trees coppiced very well, said Professor Williams, who is also a former chief of CSIRO Land and Water, and a founding member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. They could produce a variety of products ranging from oil to charcoal and solvents that could be used in paints. "They are also more sustainable front a water use perspective," he said.

South Coast councillors stick fingers in the wind

Sunday Canberra Times
Sunday 6/9/2009 Page: 6

THE SOUTH Coast is stimulating public debate on the region's potential to develop renewable energy, particularly wind energy The Southern Councils Group, which represents the seven councils from Wollongong to the Victorian border, recently issued its wind-farming concept study for public discussion.

The study found there were high-potential sites for wind farms on the South Coast, and said grid capacity and location seethed to favour small-scale wind-power developments of six to 10 turbines that would deliver 20 MWs.

The group's chairwoman, Sandra McCarthy, said, "The study is an independent report put together at minimal cost by council representatives across the region. It will provide the community with information on wind farming should any of our member councils be required to consider a proposal for such a development in the future."

The study was prompted by a proposal to look at community ownership models for wind farms. But the councils believe a government-funded $1 million feasibility study would be needed to "wind map" the region's potential. NSW Premier Nathan Rees announced this month his Government would speed up the planning process for "significant" windfarm developments and waive fees.

The Government also lowered the minimum size of wind farms that would be treated as "significant" from 250 MW to 30 MW. The South Coast, Cooma Monaro and the NSW-ACT border areas are listed among NSW's clean-energy precincts. The ACT's commissioner for sustainability and the environment, Maxine Cooper, spoke in Moruya this week about the area's considerable potential for alternative-energy generation.

"You have the chance to actually claim some of the market of the 94% of the energy we use that's currently from coal and to actually turn that into renewable energy," she said. "You have the ocean, you have the wind, and you have the sun.

You have an enormous resource out there that's untapped and, by tapping it, it can only help us all. Dr Cooper was delivering the State of the Environment Report for 2004-08 for the capital region to the Eurobodalla Shire.

Funds short for solar ambition

Weekend Australian
Saturday 5/9/2009 Page: 2

Kevin Rudd's budget promise to produce 1000 MWs of solar energy by building the single-largest solar energy station in the world" cannot be met within the Rudd government's $1.6 billion budget, the renewable energy industry has warned. The "solar flagships" program unveiled as part of the budget's centrepiece $22bn infrastructure package promised to build two to four large-scale solar energy stations, generating 1000 MW of electricity. It said $2 of state or industry funding would match each dollar provided by the commonwealth providing $4.8bn to meet the ambitious generation target.

In a submission to Boston Consulting Group, which the government has charged with setting the guidelines for grants from the fund, the Clean Energy Council says this level of funding will not be enough to build the targeted 1000 MW of capacity". Individual solar energy companies, in confidential submissions to BCG, have also questioned the 1000 MW target, estimating the funding could fall up to $1.7bn short of meeting the government's stated aim.

The renewable energy industry strongly supports the government's program, but wants to make sure it is delivered efficiently and in a way that meets its aims. Mr Rudd explained the program in a visit to a power station the weekend after the May budget, saying the government planned to "invest with industry in the biggest solar generation plant in the world.., in order to support a clean energy future". "A thousand MWs is a lot," the Prime Minister said. "Three times the size of that which exists in California... That's what its necessary to do."

The government's plan was always to build a number of separate power stations with its fund, using both solar thermal and photovoltaic technology, but to run them as an "integrated commercial enterprise" by a single project manager. The Clean Energy Council said that "a single program manager trying to manage the construction and operation of all projects with a mix of technologies is likely to be very inefficient" and recommended they be managed separately.

The industry is also concerned that, after the credit crunch, there is unlikely to be financing available for new technologies that involve some level of risk, saying the government will also need to help in ensuring a supply of credit. "A key role for the government must be to make funding available to facilitate the securing of additional private finance," the CEC said. Cabinet is expected to receive Boston Consulting's recommended guidelines by the end of the month and the successful projects are scheduled to be chosen early next year.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2012 with the power stations operating by 2015. The CEC warned "the proposed timeline.., is very tight," especially for technologies not yet fully developed. The solar flagships program was part of a $4.5bn clean energy initiative, which will also fund carbon capture and storage projects. About half the money in the clean energy fund came from an education investment fund set up under the Howard government.

Solar rebate cut

Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday 5/9/2009 Page: 2

The Federal Government rebate for heat pump systems, which capture heat from the air and use it to warm water, has been cut from $1600 to $1000. The Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, said the cut, which takes effect tomorrow, was made because the systems were now cheaper. The rebate for solar hot water systems will stay at $1600.

Uni lab focus on renewable power

Hobart Mercury
Saturday 5/9/2009 Page: 28

HARNESSING the energy of the elements will be the focus of a new renewable energy lab at the University of Tasmania. The Minister Assisting the Premier on Climate Change, Lisa Singh, opened the world class laboratory yesterday, saying it would help cement Tasmania's place as a renewable energy leader.

Aurora Energy has contributed $50,000 for installing solar panels and storage systems to assist in the development of new power systems and there are plans to install wind turbines on the School of Engineering's roof. Engineering professor Chris Letchford said the new lab would develop systems to better integrate wind and solar energy into the power grid.

"solar energy is clearly a fabulous renewable energy source but it is intermittent and of variable output so managing that through storage and integrating with other energy sources will be important for electricity suppliers," Prof Letchford said. "We will be developing systems to better control the integration of wind and solar, turning it into a stable energy source. "You don't want the lights to flicker when you switch from one energy source to another."

He said existing integration systems limited the amount of wind and solar energy that could be used in the grid to about 10%, though Denmark achieved 30%. Aurora Energy chief executive Peter Davis said his company invested in the lab because it recognised the commercial potential of renewable energy. We have a long way to go and a lot more opportunities for renewables to be connected to the Aurora Energy grid," Mr Davis said.

SunPower Cells to Power Catamaran for Trip Around the World

www.greentechmedia.com
September 2, 2009

A showcase project called PlanetSolar plans to build a solar energyed catamaran and sail it around the world, and it has chosen SunPower's cells to do the job. San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower said Wednesday that it plans to provide 38,000 solar cells with 124 kWs of generation capacity. The cells, which can convert 22% of the sunlight that hits them into electricity, will be embedded into the skin of the catamaran.

The selection of SunPower is not so surprising. The boat will have to rely on solar energy only. That calls for highly efficient solar cells, and SunPower is known for producing the most efficient silicon cells on the market today. The boat is supposed to come with a lithium-ion battery pack as well.

PlanetSolar wants the catamaran to be the first boat powered exclusively by solar energy to circumnavigate the world along the equator at a speed of 8 knots. The project is meant to demonstrate how the shipping industry could reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. We did a story about the project back in March. The boat will carry two crew members and make many stops including Hamburg, London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Shanghai and Abu Dhabi.

The Knierim Yacht Club in Kiel, Germany, is building the boat. Construction is set for completion in early 2010, and the boat will cruse around Europe next summer. Then, the 140-day worldwide voyage is set to take place in 2011, according to the project website.

PlanetSolar doesn't appear to have disclosed the cost of this project, which is relying on a host of sponsors. SunPower declined to disclose the financial terms of this deal. A project like this would offer tremendous publicity value, so the solar company could well be providing the cells at a good discount.

SunPower has participated in similar showcase projects before. In an interview last year, the company's co-founder Dick Swanson fondly recalled the company's involvement in Honda's efforts to build a solar energyed racecar back in the 1990s. The car, which could go 90 miles per hour, went on to win a race in Australia.

US awards $500m in grants to renewables projects

www.environmental-finance.com
3 September

In a quicker than expected turnaround, the US government has awarded more than $500 million in grants to 12 renewable energy projects whose developers chose to receive cash payments rather than tax credits. Iberdrola Renewables was the biggest beneficiary of the first-round awards, receiving five grants totalling $294.9 million for wind energy projects in four states. The grant programme is part of the government's effort to jumpstart renewable energy project development, which has been adversely affected by the credit crunch.

A change in the tax code passed by Congress in February allows biomass, wind and other renewable energy projects that could claim tax credits against energy production to temporarily choose to receive an up-front investment tax credit (ITC) normally reserved for solar projects. As part of the economic stimulus package, the US also allowed project developers who wish to receive cash payments in lieu of the tax credits to apply for a federal government programme that will provide an estimated $3 billion in payments to support $10 billion-14 billion in projects.

The Treasury Department opened the application process on 31 July, pledging to award grants within 60 days of receiving a completed application. But the quick turnaround on the first 12 projects surprised even Treasury and Department of Energy (DOE) officials. "What we're seeing here over the first 30 days is how effectively this is working," said Matt Rogers, senior advisor overseeing DOE investments from the economic stimulus package, based in Washington, DC. "On speed, I think we're doing very well."

The 12 wind and solar projects will provide 840MW of power, representing a 3% increase in total renewable generating capacity in the US, Rogers said. In the first round, the award amounts ranged from $157,809 for a solar PV project at a fitness facility in Colorado to $114.1 million for a windfarm in Texas. The average award was $40 million.

"Switching from the production tax credit to the grant programme was made necessary by the collapse of US financial markets last fall," said Ralph Currey, president and chief executive officer of Iberdrola Renewables, the US arm of the Spanish energy firm. "This change will enable our company and others to keep investing in new renewable energy while the financial markets mend."

Currey expects Treasury to act on three additional grant applications from the company this month. Iberdrola Renewables has a further five wind projects under construction that would also be eligible for the grants. "The Treasury grant programme is serving its intended purposes," Currey said. "The staff at the Treasury Department has implemented the grant programme with speed and care."

In this first round, the government provided more than $500 million of the estimated $3 billion in awards because some of the largest projects completed the application process first. But that $3 billion is a projection not a cap, so the actual dollar amount distributed via the programme could be even higher.

The government expects that many future projects will be closer in total dollar amount to the smallest project in this round. "There is no competition for these payments," said Dan Tangherlini, assistant secretary for management at Treasury in Washington. "All eligible projects will receive financing." While the initial focus has been on wind and solar technologies, the breadth of projects, including geothermal projects, in the pipeline is "attractive", Rogers said. "The diversity of applications in terms of technology, size and geographic mix is something we're quite encouraged by," he added.

Wave hub firm turns to Europe

www.thisiscornwall.co.uk
September 03, 2009

A HOMEGROWN Cornish company is to manufacture and deploy its first pioneering wave energy device in Europe because support from the Government is so "poor". The move by Bodmin-based Orecon, a spin-off from the University of Plymouth, means the region has already missed out on a multi-million pound contract to build three wave-to-energy buoys which will now be constructed in Portugal.

Business leaders fear that Devon and Cornwall could miss the chance to reap the economic rewards from the emerging renewable sector, describing the situation as "unbelievable". Orecon said it had pursued manufacturing the devices – each capable of powering around 1,500 homes – in the Westcountry and in the North East. But chief executive David Crisp told the Western Morning News: "We have gone to Portugal because there are opportunities there, which there aren't in England. The reality is that in this country support for marine renewables is poor."

Mr Crisp said the Portuguese government had been "very aggressive" in their pursuit of wave energy companies, offering a package of capital grants and greater rewards for the energy they produced. In the UK, wave energy receives the same number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs), which fund clean energy through an industry levy, as established offshore wind technology, a situation Mr Crisp described as "ludicrous".

Despite having a berth on the Wave Hub project, a giant electrical "socket" on the seabed about 10 miles offshore of Hayle, and the region having the best wave energy resource in Europe, the company's first project in the UK is likely to be in Scotland where five ROCs are offered for every MW hour (MWh) of energy generated compared to the two given in England.

"We were looking to deploy our device somewhere in England and initially we were looking for a site off the Isles of Scilly," Mr Crisp explained. "That was where we wanted to go because of the very good wave climate and the helpfulness of the people locally. It was a pretty expensive proposition.

"Then we looked at Wave Hub as well and then we came across the opportunity in Portugal. We get about double the valuation for electricity we produce that we would in this country. On top of that, they have got substantial capital grants from Europe and the Portuguese government.

"Portugal is much more attractive to us and to our power company partners. We believe we can make a very modest profit. In England, if we deployed here we will make a loss." He went on: "I got quite keen in deploying off the Isles of Scilly and building in Falmouth and so did the rest of the team. "Part of the vision for Orecon was to help stimulate a whole new industry in Cornwall which would regenerate the region without damaging it. I guess my rose tinted glasses were ripped off my face by reality."

Tim Jones, chairman of Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said he was "flabbergasted" and pledged to raise the issue with South West Regional Minister Jim Knight. "It is just so disappointing, it's unbelievable," Mr Jones said. "Here's a great opportunity for the future, we have the best natural energy resources in the UK and is looks as though, yet again, we are going to be the Cinderella, in terms of benefiting from it.

"It almost defies belief. It is like grasping defeat from the jaws of victory. What we now need to do is make sure that it doesn't happen again. We have to make sure that this is the first and last time we lose the opportunity to capitalise on our natural resources. "The great hope for the new economy was to fill gaps left by traditional industry but we are losing out to other countries. These are our own assets and it seems we can't work out how to use them to our benefit."

Mr Crisp said there were the skills but not the infrastructure to manufacture in the Westcountry. And while he stressed that the region had not lost the business "forever" he admitted that the Portuguese shipyard now involved would have a "competitive edge" in the future. He warned the Government needed to "send the right signal" to the emerging industry by upping the value of ROCs and help those developing the technology with capital grants "up front".

Stephen Peacock, enterprise and innovation executive director at the South West Regional Development Agency, said the ROCs system "does need to be improved" to help England compete with other nations.

He said: "We have been working with industry to make that case to Government and officials are looking into the matter seriously. The RDA has supported Orecon with a £229,000 research and development grant with a view to them coming to Wave Hub in the future. The Government is now addressing the issue of capital grants with the recent announcement of a £22 million fund to help get early devices in to the water.

Our region has made huge advances in developing a marine renewable industry that could employ thousands of people. With the construction of Wave Hub next year we will have in our region the world's biggest and best wave energy test facility. "We expect total investment in marine energy in the South West to top £100 million in the next two years, and we have every confidence in forging a new marine energy industry in South West England that will bring long term benefits to the region."

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the Government was "committed to the development of the wave and tidal power energy sector in the UK". He saod: "With a rich natural resource and many of the leading technology developers based here, the UK continues to be seen across the world as a focus for the development, testing and deployment of marine energy devices.

"For this reason the Government has put in place a comprehensive range support mechanisms – from the earliest research and development phases through to commercial deployment under the Renewables Obligation, under which wave and tidal power energy devices receive an enhanced level of support."

In July, he said, the Government announced an additional £60 million of support for marine energy which included £9.5 million for Wave Hub and a further £10 million to support the South West's "significant potential for wave and tidal power energy deployment, research, demonstration and engineering".

Renewable Energy, Meet the New Nimbys

online.wsj.com
September 4, 2009

Solar and Wind-Power Proposals Draw Opposition From Residents Fearing Visual Blight; a Dilemma for Some Environmentalists

Technology changes, but human nature doesn't. Environmentally friendly energy projects are running into the same cries of "not in my backyard" that stymied a previous generation of alternative-power efforts.

Even as Americans tell pollsters they are eager for alternatives to fossil fuel, some are fighting proposals for solar and wind projects and for the thousands of miles of transmission lines that would be needed to carry the cleaner energy to market. The protests echo grass-roots opposition that has blocked nuclear plants and energy-producing trash incinerators for decades.

The new backlash is fueled by worries that renewable-energy projects would occupy vast amounts of land to produce significant amounts of power. Either renewable projects would have to be centralized and sprawling, covering many square miles apiece, or they would need to be distributed in pieces across millions of rooftops and lawns.

Renewable-energy projects would reduce pollution and combat climate change. The trade-off is that many more people would have to see wind turbines, solar panels and other energy infrastructure near their homes in order to diminish the need for coal mines and other fossil fuel facilities.

"Anywhere I walked on this property, we'd be able to view them and we'd be able to hear them," says Tina FitzGerald, who lives with her family on a 12-acre Vermont farm near where a developer has proposed erecting five wind turbines, each about 400 feet tall. "There should be a place for these - - someplace that isn't going to impact families quite so much."

In California, which is considering a goal of producing a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, some residents are fighting proposals to build vast solar energy plants in the Mojave Desert, one of the most remote and reliably sunny spots in the U.S. Up and down the East Coast, meanwhile, residents are opposing plans for wind farms, fearing they will mar views and lower property values.

Americans aren't alone in their skittishness. In the U.K., which also aims to generate about one-third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, local opposition is holding up proposed wind projects. Resistance in Ontario led the Canadian province to pass legislation in May establishing a framework for locating renewable-energy sites; local opponents will be able to challenge projects on environmental or safety grounds, but not for aesthetic reasons. In a report last year, the Paris-based International Energy Agency cited "not in my backyard" sentiment as among the top five threats to the growth of renewable energy world-wide.

The U.S, has to make a tough choice, says Jason Grumet, president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank that supports giving the federal government more authority to push renewable-energy projects forward. That will be necessary, he says, to curb the country's dependence on foreign oil and its greenhouse-gas emissions. "You have to ask yourself: At what point do priority national interests need to override local goals?" The clash over whether it is more important to produce nonpolluting domestic energy or to protect environmentally valuable places poses a dilemma for some longtime activists.

Calvin French, a 72-year-old retired high school English teacher, has belonged to the Sierra Club all his adult life. Leaders of the environmental group are working with California officials to help pick sites for big renewable-energy transmission lines as a way to combat climate change. But many club members, including Mr. French, want to protect their favorite places. His battlefield is the Carrizo Plain, a 460-square-mile swath of grassland about 115 miles north of Los Angeles that is traversed by the San Andreas Fault.

The parched, rugged expanse is home to species including the endangered kit fox and the antelope-like pronghorn. It also is one of the most alluring spots for solar panels in the nation's most populous state. There is prolific sunlight. Much of the land has been subdivided into farms, meaning that acreage no longer can be defended as untouched. And there is a high-voltage line nearby, with capacity to carry solar energy to the public.

Amid local opposition, county and state officials for months have been mulling three big solar energy projects that together would amount to some of the biggest solar arrays in the world. "Big things like global warming" are difficult to understand, says Mr. French. "But you can go out into a beautiful place and say, 'This needs to be protected.' That's easy to understand."

Around the world, countries that have rolled out fossil fuel alternatives most aggressively have used heavy-handed government action to address such sentiment. France, for example, now produces about 80% of its electricity from nuclear energy. But France's national government manages the country's nuclear-construction program, and it has pushed ahead for decades despite sometimes-heated public protests.

Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress now are fighting over how much power the federal government should have in getting energy projects built. Many renewable-energy proponents say a massive network of new transmission wires would have to be built to bring large supplies of renewable power to population centers. A Senate committee passed a bill in June that would give the federal government authority to decide where to put new power lines if states, which now make those decisions, move too slowly.

The drive for more federal control has the support of many executives in the electric industry, who say the new transmission lines should be available for energy from all sources, including fossil fuel. But there is plenty of opposition to giving Washington that power. Some lawmakers from densely populated states don't want big new transmission lines running through their land. Many state utility regulators also object to an increased federal push.

Caught in the middle are states where renewable energy suddenly is big business. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal likens his state's wind boom to the coal rush that hit Wyoming three decades ago in the wake of an energy shock. At a wind-energy conference in Wyoming last month, Gov. Freudenthal, a Democrat, delivered a stern warning to wind-turbine developers, telling them to make sure their projects don't harm a small bird called the sage grouse. "What I have is an obsession with making sure that the economy of this state continues to function, and it won't if that bird gets listed," according to his office's transcript of his remarks.

Anything that nudges the sage grouse toward the federal government's list of endangered species, he explained, would trigger land-use restrictions that would jeopardize Wyoming's main economic engine: the production of coal, oil and natural gas. "Generally in this state, we support economic development," he told the wind developers. But "when all of a sudden it ends up in our backyard, our view changes a lot."

Google-backed geothermal company suspends test project

www.reuters.com
Sep 2, 2009

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Geothermal startup AltaRock Energy Inc on Wednesday said it has suspended its demonstration project in California due to geologic anomalies. The company, whose investors include Google Inc's philanthropic arm, Google.org, and top Silicon Valley venture capital firms Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said that despite the setback, it will keep developing its Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology and is evaluating alternative well locations.

EGS improves upon the century-old technology of tapping geothermal energy from geysers, hot springs or volcanoes to generate electricity. With EGS, engineers drill their own geothermal outlets and pump in water to create steam to power a turbine. This process allows projects to be built in a wider variety of locations.

AltaRock Energy's demonstration project at the Northern California Power Agency Geysers Power Facility was intended to test the company's technology advancements, which it has said will reduce the cost of clean, geothermal energy. A year ago, AltaRock Energy raised $26.25 million from Google, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Advanced Technology Ventures and Vulcan Capital. The company's demonstration project also received a U.S. Department of Energy grant of up to $6 million last year.

Solar credits add extra shine to birthday

Adelaide Advertiser
Thursday 3/9/2009 Page: 53

Adelaide-based Solar Shop Australia has celebrated its 10th anniversary - with extra cause to celebrate as the Federal Government resumed incentives for solar panels in the Renewable Energy Target. The company celebrated the milestone by opening its new $50,000 showroom redevelopment, which includes a 16sq in to-scale 1 kW solar system on an A-frame roof.

Solar Shop managing director Adrian Ferraretto said the government's solar credits under the RET scheme were a 'godsend' and would ensure the company continued its exponential growth. "We have always had rebates come and go over the past 10 years but, deep down, we know that solar panels will be on every Australian roof in the next 10 to 20 years," he said.

"It (the RET) gives us 21 years of solar rebate going forward, which is pretty exciting. It is also being ratcheted up over the next five years, which will fall in line with the panel price reduction we are expecting in the next few years."

Mr Ferraretto said the company's anniversary marked 10 years of domestic solar panel use, which was a milestone for the broader industry. "We have come a long way when you consider that in the 1960s it cost $2.5 million to install a 1 kW system and in 2009 dollars its costs about $4000 to $5000," he said.

"The first grid-connected system was installed only 10 years ago. It really only became domesticated in 1999 when our business started up, so it is not only a significant milestone for us but for the industry as a whole." In the past 10 years, Solar Shop has installed more than 10,000 solar systems on Australian homes, saving around 16,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 2240 megalitres of water.