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House Passes Energy Bill with Renewable Fuels Provisions

Domestic fuel John Davis September 16th, 2008The U.S. House has approved a measure that will renew some tax credits for wind and solar power that were set to expire at the end of this year, as well as allowing more drilling for offshore oil…..House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi hailed the 236-189 vote as a victory because the bill also included Democratic priorities such as stripping oil companies of $18 billion in tax breaks, renewing expiring tax credits for wind and solar, and requiring electric utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

The measure “will put us on the path toward energy independence” and make “Big Oil pay for its fair share of our transition to a clean, renewable energy future,” Pelosi said.

The measure is far from a done deal as it still needs to make it through the U.S. Senate where there are three other energy bills that are very different than the House bill. Plus, the White House has threatened to veto the measure.

What would our economy look like if we substituted the frenzied incineration of our finite energy base with the limitless and infinite flows of renewable energy?………………………………

This kind of Australia isn’t merely possible, it is coming into being right now by the sheer force of will of thousands of people in every town and city in the country. Some of the ideas are new, and some of them are very old. What keeps me optimistic is the collective vision held out by so many people working everywhere toward a renewable community, because that’s the place I want to live.

This isn’t the end of economic growth, but the beginning of a conversation about what kind of growth we need and what kind we can no longer afford. It’s about how to truly live as human beings on this fragile planet…………………..

One rather profound consequence of a renewable energy system is that once the infrastructure is in place, the fuel costs are largely free. No-one can own the sun, wind, and tides, and perhaps it is this which scares the fossil corporations more than anything.

I think it’s time we admitted that far from being an economic and social disaster, greening our communities is going to transform our society for the better……………………………Electrified light rail systems and electric vehicles hold out the promise of a transport network that runs on sunlight. Imagine if we could invent a zero carbon form of personal transport that had no fuel costs, emitted no toxic chemicals and improved the physical health of the passenger? Such an invention is already in wide use in parts of our community where planning policies favour bikes and pedestrians instead of cars………………………..An energy-efficient Australia can be renewably powered within a generation. With determination and a bit of foresight, we can now step past the desperate handful of fossil advocates who are scaremongering about the end of the economy as they know it and demanding that Australia not get too far in front of the rest of the world. The most damaging myth of all is the one which says this can’t be done.

Wind Turbines to Propel Renewable Energy in Finland
Uutiset 14.09.2008 Government has agreed to construct a number of wind power plants over the next decade. Information obtained by YLE indicates that the aim is to generate about 200 megawatts of wind power by the year 2020. In principle about 1,000 wind turbines would be needed to produce that much power.

Boosting wind power requires other supporting programmes, such as so-called input tariffs, which are expected to be approved in principle during the autumn……………………..The working group has failed to reach agreement on amping up nuclear-generated power in Finland

Emissions trading to bring ag opportunities: Rabobank
farmonline Stock journal 15/09/2008 Significant opportunities will emerge for Australian agriculture to benefit from moves to address climate change, according to a leading international expert in the field.

Head of policy at British-based carbon specialist investment banking house Climate Change Capital (CCC), Kate Hampton, says the potential commercial opportunities presented by the transition to a low-carbon economy were considerable for Australian farmers and agribusinesses.

But she says the sector must engage with government and participate in the policy debate to address climate change…………………………….

She said that although Australia’s contribution to overall global carbon emissions was relatively small, there was a clear potential for ‘first-mover’ advantage by being a world leader in addressing climate change.

This was especially the case for agriculture, where the combination of fundamental demand for food from a growing world population and the need to, at the same time, reduce carbon emissions from farming would bring clear commercial benefits for those who could achieve this in the longer term.

A Detailed Report Analyzing the Green Electricity Industry in Australia is Now Available: Gain a Valuable Insight into the Australian Market
Market Watch Sept. 14, 2008 DUBLIN, Ireland, Sep 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Research and Markets

San Antonio will turn sewage into energy
Methane gas emitted by biosolids expected to earn up to $250,000 a year
Associated Press Sept. 12, 2008 SAN ANTONIO – The city plans to turn the stench of its residents’ waste into sweet green cash and renewable energy.

The San Antonio Water System will sell captured methane gas generated from the utility’s treatment of 140,000 tons of biosolids, or sewage, from customers each year.

The city-owned utility’s board of trustees approved a contract Tuesday to provide at least 900,000 cubic feet of natural gas daily for the next 20 years to Ameresco Inc., a Framingham, Mass.-based energy services company.

Renewable, efficient energy touted to US lawmakers

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) 12 Sept 08 – Energy experts urged U.S. lawmakers on Friday to focus on efficiency and renewable energy, as well as increased domestic production, as they consider legislation to address volatile fuel prices.

Speaking at a bipartisan energy summit hosted by the U.S. Senate, experts encouraged lawmakers to invest in research and technology and make tax credits for renewable energy consistent.

“An on-again, off-again production tax credit is not a way to promote stable development of renewable energy,” Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, told lawmakers.

Isle of Man-based renewable energy group’s £1.1m profit

Mike Proffitt is in charge of the day-to-day operation and development of Isle of Man-based Renewable Energy Holdings plc (REH), which was listed on AIM in February 2005. The group’s stated aim is to reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases by ‘innovative technologies’ in renewables.
Announcing interim results for the six months ending June 30, 2008, Renewable Energy is reporting a profit before tax of £1.1million, an increase in revenue by 149 per cent to £4.6million and revenue of £2million from the sale of rights to use CETO technology in the southern hemisphere.

A National Electricity Grid For Australia
 The Oil Drum by Neil Howes.  an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. on September 9, 2008 –

Executive Summary

We are proposing that the Government of Australia facilitates the replacement of 50% of Australia’s base-load coal fired electricity generation by financing the building of a high capacity National Electricity Grid (NEG) by 2020. This will interconnect high value renewable energy sites for wind, solar and geothermal energy to enhanced hydro electricity pumped storage capacity enabling these low CO2e energy sources to provide base-load power to major retail and industry consumers…………………………………………………..

Summary

Australia needs to reduce its reliance on coal-fired electricity before 2020, by replacing a significant portion of the coal-fired base-load generation with renewable energy sources. While Australia has excellent wind, solar and geothermal resources they are dispersed and long distances from present electricity consumption. A truly Nation Electricity Grid connecting the CST resources and industry of the Pilbara region of WA, and the wind resources of the SW region of WA, with the SE and NE of Australia and Tasmania will allow these renewable energy resources to be developed to reliably provide 40% of Australia electricity production by 2020, reduce CO2e, and provide additional options to CCS to further reduce carbon dioxide pollution by >50% in 2050.

Renewable energy ‘is boom sector’
RTE News 9 September 2008  -Developing renewable energy technology constitutes the single greatest business opportunity for the Irish economy, the Minister for the Environment John Gormley has said.He said the global ‘clean tech’ sector is now worth $284bn and that figure is projected to rise to €1.3trillion in just a decade’s time.The minister said it would be an enormous lost opportunity if the ‘green tech’ solutions of the future were left to other countries to develop.