Green Tech China and The New Arms Race

by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Chinese companies are now flooding the American market with cheap Chinese solar panels and devastating the American manufacturing sector that was gearing up to create tens of thousands of U.S. jobs for our own ailing economy. Hundreds of U.S. solar manufacturers now see their prospects as grim. BP Solar, Evergreen, and General Electric have already announced the closing of American-based solar panel factories and outsourcing, primarily to China.

Read full Huffington Post article..

Algae turned into high-temperature hydrogen source

A team of researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory showed that photosynthesis may function as a clean, sustainable source of hydrogen.

The team, led by Barry Bruce, a professor of biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology at UT Knoxville, found that the inner machinery of photosynthesis can be isolated from certain algae and, when coupled with a platinum catalyst, is able to produce a steady supply of hydrogen when exposed to light.

Read the full Science Daily article.

New Ways to Boost Solar Development

New Jersey is the number two U.S. state (after California) for solar power generation. In the hope that market efficiencies could help control costs over time, the state has turned not to a tariff-style guarantee, but to a complex approach that relies on a floating, market for tradable solar renewable energy credits (SRECs).

An oversimplified version: install a solar system on your roof or install a commercial system on a warehouse or in a field and each year you’ll earn SRECs based on how much power your system generates annually — one credit for each 1,000 kilowatt hours. You can then turn around and sell your credits back to companies that generate power for the state’s grid. The companies can use the SRECs to help them meet state renewable portfolio standards that steadily ramp up to a mandate requiring that 22.5 percent of their energy come from renewables by 2021.

The credits are actually sold by brokers on an electronic market, like stocks or bonds, at whatever price the market will bear. At the moment, the market is bearing a fabulous price. It takes a calculator to work through the complexities, but with SRECs currently selling for just under $700, and the federal tax credit as well as a reduced state rebate in play, a homeowner in the state can pay for a solar system in four years or less.

Read full article at WorldChanging.com.

Smart grid gets test in Wailea

General Electric Co. recently announced it would test its “smart grid” technology in Wailea, hoping to reduce peak electricity consumption there by 15 percent by 2012.

[details: San Francisco Chronicle].

Car Running on Algae Fuel to Cross Country on Just 25 Gallons of Fuel

Algaeus, the world’s first algae-powered plug-in hybrid car, was unveiled in San Francisco and the prototype traveled with a host of other ‘green’ vehicles to New York for the opening of the film “Fuel” to promote alternative fuel.

[read more]

Reports from County Renewable Energy Working Groups

At the Maui County Energy Expo, the Mayor’s Energy Alliance Working groups presented the reports they had been working on for two years.

Mayor Charmaine Tavares established the Maui County Energy Alliance in 2008 to address the formulation of policies and actions to break the cycle of fossil fuel dependence. Maui’s abundant natural resources, which include the sun, wind, ocean, fertile arable land, and geothermal potential, offer the real possibility of a broad portfolio of renewable energy sources. These will be harnessed to meet the Mayor’s goals for 2020 of meeting 95% of all energy needs in Maui Nui sustainably and achieving a
carbon‐neutral footprint.

The working groups are:
Working Group 1: Renewable Resource Development;
Working Group 2: Green Workforce Development and Education;
Working Group 3: Energy and Transportation Infrastructure;
Working Group 4: Energy Efficiency and Conservation in County facilities;
Working Group 5: Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Emissions.

Download the report.

Thin-Film Solar Startup Debuts With $4 Billion in Contracts

From the web via Wired Science
By Alexis Madrigal
September 9, 2009

A startup with a secret recipe for printing cheap solar cells on aluminum foil debuted today, in what could end up a milestone for the industry.

Nanosolar’s technology consists of sandwiches of copper, indium, gallium and selenide (CIGS) that are 100 times thinner than the silicon solar cells that dominate the solar photovoltaics market. Its potential convinced Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to back the company as angel investors in its early days.

Two big announcements marked its coming out party: The company has $4 billion in contracts and can make money selling its products for $1 per watt of a panel’s capacity. That’s cheap enough to compete with fossil fuels in markets across the world.

[read more...]

U.S. accepting applications for renewable energy funding

From the web via Emerging Energy News

WASHINGTON D.C.: With the goal of expanding development of renewable energy projects throughout the United States and creating new jobs, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury are now accepting applications for a program that will make direct payments in lieu of tax credits to companies that create and place in service renewable energy facilities.

The two Departments estimate distributing at least US$3 billion in financial support to approximately 5,000 biomass, solar, wind, and other types of renewable energy production facilities. The funding for this effort is made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said, “This program will play a major role in encouraging private sector capital to invest in clean energy development, creating new jobs that can’t be outsourced. It is an investment that will continue to help our economy grow and ensure advancement in clean and renewable energy development.”

“As we move quickly to get our economy back on track and to repair the financial system, we must make investments that lay the foundation for a stronger economic future,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

“Too many renewable energy projects have stalled due to a lack of financing. The Recovery Act program will lead to investment in our long-term energy needs, move us towards energy independence, increase jobs at energy-specific businesses, and protect our environment.”

The Recovery Act authorized the U.S. Treasury to make direct payments to companies that create and place in service renewable energy facilities beginning Jan. 1, 2009. Previously, these companies could file for a tax credit to cover a portion of the renewable energy project’s cost; under the new program, applicants would agree to forgo future tax credits in favor of an immediate reimbursement of a portion of the property expense. The DOE will assist the Treasury in implementing this program by reviewing the technical merits of the applications.

According to the DOE, the tax credit was more widely used in previous years but the rate of new renewable energy installations has fallen since the economic downturn began, as projects had a more difficult time obtaining financing. The Departments of the Treasury and Energy expect a fast acceleration of businesses applying for the direct cash payment in lieu of the tax credit, allowing for an immediate stimulus in local economies.

U.S. government awards funds for clean energy projects

From the web via Emerging Energy News.

WASHINGTON: U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu have announced US$502 million in the first round of awards from an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) program that provides cash assistance to companies for clean energy projects in place of earned tax credits.

The new funding creates additional upfront capital, enabling companies to create jobs and begin construction that may have been stalled until now due to slow economic conditions.

Geithner said, “This renewable energy program will spur the manufacture and development of clean energy in urban and rural America, allowing us to protect our environment, create good jobs and revitalize our nation’s economy.”

Chu commented, “These grants will help America’s businesses launch clean energy projects, putting Americans back to work in good construction and manufacturing jobs. The initiative will help double our renewable energy capacity over the next few years and make sure America leads the world in creating the clean energy economy of the future.”

Created under Section 1603 of the Recovery Act, the program is expected to provide more than US$3 billion in financial support for clean energy projects by providing direct payments in lieu of tax credits. These payments will support around 5,000 biomass, solar, wind, and other types of renewable energy production facilities in all regions of the country over the life of the program.

Around 2,000 jobs are estimated to have been created as a result of this first round of funding, primarily in construction and manufacturing related to the renewable energy industry.

The Treasury Department opened the application process for the 1603 program on July 31. Additional awards under the program will be announced in the coming weeks.

Projects that received funding include the following (please note that none are located in Hawai’i):.

• US$157,809 for Movement Gym PV System in Boulder, CO, for a solar project

• US$2,578,717 for Solaire Development in Danbury, CT
• US$40,441,471 for Evergreen Wind Power V in Danforth, ME
• US$28,019,520 for the Moraine II Wind Farm in Woodstock, MN
• US$52,352,334 for Canadaigua Power Partners, LLC in Cohocton, NY for a wind project
• US$22,296,494 for Canadaigua Power Partners II, LLC in Cohocton, NY for a wind project
• US$47,717,155 for the Wheat Field Wind Farm in Arlington, OR
• US$47,092,555 for the Hay Canyon Wind Farm in Moro, OR
• US$46,543,219 for the Pebble Springs Wind Farm in Arlington, OR
• US$42,204,562 for the Highland Wind Farm in Salix, PA
• US$59,162,064 for Locust Ridge II, LLC for a wind project in Shenandoah, PA
• US$114,071,646 for the Penascal Wind Farm in Sarita, TX
  

Innovative new project taps energy from feedstock waste

Brendle Group is performing technical and economic due diligence for a dry anaerobic digestion system for Mass Natural Fertilizer (MNF), an established composting operation in north-central Massachusetts. Anaerobic digestion is the biological decomposition of organic feedstocks in an oxygen-free environment. A combination of enzymes and bacteria convert the feedstocks into biogas, which is typically 65% methane, and stabilized pulp that is ideally suited for composting into commercial soil amendment. While anaerobic digestion has been used in the U.S. for many years in wastewater treatment plants and on dairies, MNF asked Brendle Group to investigate dry digestion technologies gaining favor in Europe. MNF will digest materials that would normally go to a landfill, such as byproducts from grocery stores, food processors, and waste haulers. Biogas will then be combusted in an engine generator to produce renewable, carbon-neutral electricity. It’s a project that creates wins all around