Maria Energia

Scientific American Podcast: Wind Power Potential Quantified

2009-07-01T14:02:00.005-05:00

From Scientific American's handy "60-second science" podcast comes data from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Click the link to hear about calculations that U.S. wind turbines could produce 16 times the electricity we now use.

Hat tip to Dave Erickson again for this one!

Details on Climate Change Bill

2009-06-30T11:31:00.005-05:00

By now, I'm sure you've heard that sweeping climate change legislation (the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES)) passed the House last Friday 219-212. Eight Republicans voted in favor of it and 44 Democrats voted against. The bill will gradually lower climate change emissions to 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.

For more detail on how members voted and the compromises made, here are some helpful resources I've found:

See how your Rep voted (via Grist)

Details on the compromises made to pass ACES (via VanNess Feldman Law Firm)

A state-by-state impact of cap-and-trade's cost (via FiveThirtyEight)

Video: Nonprofits Partnering with Business on Conservation

2009-06-29T16:36:00.001-05:00

This is an interesting video featuring one way nonprofits are partnering with big companies on energy/conservation issues (via Fora.TV).

Hat tip to Dave Erickson for the link.

House to Vote on Climate Change Bill this Week

2009-06-23T14:08:00.003-05:00

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (aka "ACES" aka the "Waxman-Markey bill") may get a vote on the House floor this week, surprising many of us who thought the road from committees to the floor would be a much longer one.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the vote will likely happen Friday. Meanwhile, supporters are still working out deals with detractors like Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN), who opposes parts of the bill that he says put a disproportionate burden on farmers.

One of the most significant details so far, reports Climate Progress, is a concession to Rep. Peterson that gives the country's electric co-ops that have under 4 million MW of capacity (so some of the smallest electricity producers) a free 0.5 percent of the cap-and-trade program's valuable emission allowances. Thanks to this, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said they are "not going to stand in the way of the passage of the bill."

More negotiations are happening throughout the week, including around issues like the definition of "renewable biomass" and the EPA's authority to consider indirect emissions (such as land-use changes) when calculating biofuels' impact.

Pelosi and others seem confident they'll have the votes they need by Friday. Stay tuned...

via Politico and Climate Progress

Duke Energy CEO on Colbert Report

2009-06-17T11:48:00.005-05:00

Duke Energy's CEO, Jim Rogers, was on the Colbert Report yesterday to talk about "clean" coal technologies. He didn't directly answer Colbert's question as to how many clean coal plants Duke Energy currently has (answer: they don't exist yet), but he did explained how carbon sequestration works and why it is an important part of cutting climate change emissions.

As President Obama and Congress get closer to an agreement on regulating carbon, look for more utility CEOs and others from the fossil fuel industry in the media, positioning themselves as part of the solution to the climate problem. Which is fine - we need everyone at the table and coal is certainly going to be a part of the energy mix for years to come - but let's not forget about the proven technologies we already have in front of us: energy efficiency and renewables.

Wind power companies investing heavily in America, like Vestas, and associations like the American Wind Energy Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association had better be positioning their experts and solutions in the media as well: One fight is in Congress to get climate legislation passed, but the other is with the mainstream public to support that change; educating us that renewable energy is not "alternative" or hippie, but is already a viable and reliable industry.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Jim Rogers

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Stephen Colbert in Iraq

Americans' Six Views on Climate Change

2009-06-15T07:11:00.000-05:00

Yale University and George Mason University recently released a study of 2,129 Americans ("Global Warming's Six Americas 2009") that categorizes the country's view on climate change into six categories:

The Alarmed (about 18% of the population): Fully convinced of the reality and seriousness of climate change and are already taking individual, consumer, and political action to address it.
The Concerned (33% and the largest group): Also convinced that global warming is happening and a serious problem, but have not yet engaged in the issue personally.
The Cautious (19%): Global warming is indeed a problem, but are unsure whether the problem merits immediate attention, or whether it is as widespread as stated. They don't see it as a personal threat at all.
The Disengaged (12%): Do not know too much about the issue and have never taken any kind of interest in it. Relatively oblivious to the debate.
The Doubtful (11%): Not exactly sure that global warming is happening, but if it is, it certainly isn't caused by humans (i.e. it is a natural occurrence).
The Dismissive (7%): Very sure climate change is not happening and are actively involved as opponents of a national effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Interestingly but not surprisingly, these groups tend to behave in similar ways when climate change solutions are presented that also have personal financial benefits. For example, all categories of those surveyed support actions that save them money; the Dismissive group is just as likely to make energy efficiency improvements on their home as the Alarmed group. All six groups also support rebates for the purchase of energy technologies like solar panels and fuel-efficient cars.

These past few years have seen the pragmatic environmental community get more sophisticated in its messaging of climate change solutions, and this study supports those efforts to move away from "sky is falling" rhetoric and more towards commonsense actions and policies that are beneficial to the planet, the economy and people's wallets.

via Softpedia, Yale University and Global Warming's Six Americas 2009

Midwest Monday: Utility Uses Psychology to Save Energy

2009-06-01T07:37:00.000-05:00

Residents of the southern Minnesota city of Owatonna are playing keeping up with the Joneses...on their electric bills.

Owatonna is the fourth city in the United States to send its ratepayers something called a Conserve and Save Home Energy Use report with each gas, water and electric bill. The report not only shows how much energy the residence uses, but includes charts that compare the usage to the previous year and how the residence compares with the energy usage of 100 neighbors with the same sized home.

Sacramento was first city to test these "behavior reports" as a way to encourage energy efficiency. The city deemed the program "very successful" compared to other efforts to encourage efficiency and Owatonna is starting to see residents make changes too: Requests for home energy audits and meters that track appliances' energy use are both up.

via Fresh Energy and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. The home energy reports were developed by Positive Energy of Arlington, VA.

Climate Bill Voted Out of Energy Committee

2009-05-22T11:04:00.002-05:00

By a vote of 33 to 25, the House Energy Committee passed a climate bill last night that establishes a cap-and-trade program to cut emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% by 2050, sets new efficiency standards for buildings, lighting and industrial facilities, and sets a national renewable energy standard.

The bill still has a long road to travel - there a several more House committees that must review and vote on it before it hits the House floor later this year. If passed there, it then moves on to the Senate, where leaders say they lack the votes to pass the bill as it is now written.

More details at the New York Times

Maria Energia Talks Wind Power on Minnesota Public Radio

2009-05-22T08:40:00.004-05:00

Jeff and Sanden, the fab guys over at MPR's In the Loop produce a weekly podcast and invited me over to talk about what I saw and learned at the American Wind Energy Associaton's WINDPOWER conference earlier this month. My segment starts at about 35:30, but listen to the whole thing to hear "Are companies using the economy to take advantage of us?" "Is it time to go back to Sri Lanka?" and "Can old people learn to podcast?" - including some great user-generated content.

I Love EcoGeek's New YouTube Channel

2009-05-21T10:03:00.003-05:00

I've never subscribed to a YouTube channel, but I LOVE EcoGeek's new YouTube channel, staring EcoGeek founder Hank Green. It's pithy, relevant, informative and entertaining. Check out a show below.

WINDPOWER 2009: Recap of Posts

2009-05-21T08:52:00.003-05:00

For your reading ease and enjoyment, here are all the posts from the the American Wind Energy Association's WINDPOWER conference that I attended in Chicago earlier this month.

Heading to AWEA WindPower Conference Next Week

Opening Session

Best Quote from WINDPOWER So Far

Governors' Roundtable Discussion

Industry Discussion

Photos from WINDPOWER 2009

Exhibitors

Conversation with T. Boone Pickens

Small Wind Turbine Designs

What's Needed for Federal Policies

Best Swag for this Blogger

Waxman-Markey Bill Update

2009-05-19T12:58:00.004-05:00

Some environmental groups are coming out against the Waxman-Markey bill (aka American Clean Energy and Security Act), saying it's too weak to really do anything to address global warming and ramp up renewables (others, like Environmental Defense, still support it). President Obama also supports the bill, despite the fact that it doesn't reflect his original, more aggressive emissions and energy targets.

I think there's definitely an element of perfect being the enemy of good in this debate. It's certainly not a perfect climate bill (with the weakened renewable energy standard and giving away CO2 allowances to industries instead of making them pay) but at this point, we need to take action and do something, without further delay. Paul Krugman put it this way:

"The legislation now on the table isn’t the bill we’d ideally want, but it’s the bill we can get — and it’s vastly better than no bill at all...After all the years of denial, after all the years of inaction, we finally have a chance to do something major about climate change. Waxman-Markey is imperfect, it’s disappointing in some respects, but it’s action we can take now."

I'd recommend reading his full column and thoughtful discussion on the bill here.

Terminology Tuesday: "Smart Grid"

2009-05-19T07:04:00.000-05:00

A "smart grid" refers to the transmission grid - the highway that delivers our electricity. Making it "smarter" means a total modernization of the transmission and distribution of our energy, from using cleaner sources like renewables to energy efficiency upgrades like meters that tell homeowners their real-time energy use.

Eventually, the hope is that we energy users will be able to interact with the smart grid like we do with the internet - getting the most up-to-date information to make informed choices about when and how we use electricity.

Some utilities and cities have already begun experimenting with smart grids. For example, Xcel Energy is working with the city of Boulder, Colorado to construct more than 100 miles of fiber optic cables and install 15,000 smart meters. Once the system is in place, 10,000 Boulder residents will be able to track their energy use online. They will even be able to time the use of their electricity for when the power is the least expensive (typically at night).

via Inhabitat

Energy Committee May Vote on Climate LegislationThis Week

2009-05-18T16:55:00.019-05:00

The climate change legislation being debated on Capitol Hill is shifting every day, but here's the latest:

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D), is considering a climate change bill called the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which includes a cap-and-trade system to reduce emissions and a renewable energy standard that would require the U.S. to get a certain percentage of its energy from renewable sources.

The 932-page bill has been debated up and down by Democrats and Republicans. Unfortunately, taking action to cut climate change emissions, get us off foreign oil and further spur a renewable energy market has turned into a bitter partisan debate, with Republicans arguing that it will hurt the economy and Democrats arguing that standing still will hurt the economy further. Chairman Waxman - who believes he has enough votes to pass it out of his committee - put it this way:

"Our economy is suffering, we are squandering billions of dollars to feed our addiction on foreign oil and our environment is overheating...I believe we'll have a majority to report the bill out."

The bill has had many makeovers, but today its details include a requirement to cut climate change emissions 17 percent from 2005 level by 2020 by using a cap-and-trade system. It also includes a renewable energy standard that would require large electric utilities to get 15% of their energy from renewables by 2020 and save 5% of their energy via energy efficiency improvements by 2020.

If a state governor determines that the state’s utilities cannot meet the 15% renewable mandate, the governor may decrease it to 12% and increase the energy efficiency improvement mandate to 8%.

This renewable energy standard has been cut way back from the original requirement of 25% renewables by 2025 (which President Obama called for). In fact, wind power interests like GE Energy, Vestas Americas, Gamesa and the American Wind Energy Association sent a letter to the Energy and Commerce Committee that stated:

“We are concerned that the significantly lower renewable targets currently being discussed, as compared to proposals from President Obama, Chairman Bingaman and Chairman Markey, will severely blunt the signal for companies like ours that manufacture turbines and components to invest billions of dollars to expand production and our workforces in the U.S. America is on the verge of losing the wind manufacturing industry to Asia and Europe. There is significant international trade in wind turbines and the competition to host this industry is intense. America trails its competition in passing stable renewable energy policy commitments.”

If the bill is voted out of Waxman's committee this week, it would move on to various other House committees. Democrats want a full House vote on the bill by August, after which the bill would move on to the Senate, where it would face another fight. President Obama wants to see progress on climate legislation by December, when he will meet with other world leaders in Copenhagen to discuss global agreements on climate change.

via Reuters, Van Ness Feldman Law Firm and the American Wind Energy Association

WINDPOWER 2009: Best Swag for this Blogger

2009-05-12T09:03:00.000-05:00

There was a lot of free stuff at a conference and tradeshow as enormous as WINDPOWER 2009, and a lot of it was the typical pens, paper pads and candy. But the coolest and most useful swag I got is this wood-looking jump drive (well, the neatest swag probably would've been the free booze that appeared at all the booths at 3PM, if I weren't pregnant).

The drive comes courtesy of Green Energy Technologies, an Ohio company that unveiled a new type of urban wind turbine called the WindCube.

The WindCube kind of looks like a giant box fan. Green Energy Technologies says because of their product's shape, it can be set up in more diverse types of urban areas (like large buildings), compared to a traditional small wind turbine.

Source: Port Clinton Town Herald

WINDPOWER 2009: What's Needed for Federal Policies

2009-05-12T07:34:00.001-05:00

AWEA's WINDPOWER conference included a great breakout session on federal wind policy. Kevin Lynch of Iberdrola moderated the panel of Ryan Wiser of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Walter Short of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, William Massey of Covington and Burling LLP (I'm not linking to the site because it's frozen my computer twice) (and former FERC commissioner) and Seth Dunn of GE Energy.

The stimulus package has some great things for wind. But as Dunn of GE put it, think of the remaining policy items needed as a trip around a baseball diamond; wind power’s own “Field of Dreams:”

1st Base: Financing. Restore the flow of project financing. The PTC’s been renewed for several years and that will be good when the capital returns, but we have to get financing right before any other policies can be effective.

2nd Base: A national renewable energy standard (RES): 80% of wind manufacturing facilities that were expanded or announced in 2008 happened in a state with an RES. Now that the PTC is taken care of for a few years, the wind industry’s focus is on getting an RES. Dunn added than an RES shouldn’t weaken or get in the way of existing state regulations and should include bankable renewable energy credits (RECs) to reward companies who are ahead of the game (like GE).

3rd base: Transmission. Infrastructure is needed to support and move the power.

Home plate: Climate policy. A price on carbon will send a signal to the markets that it’s time to invest in renewables.

Dunn saw two possible scenarios with his Field of Dreams:

In 2009, the financing programs are up and running. A national RES, transmission and climate legislation passes.
In 2010, financing programs begin a slow implementation. A national RES, transmission and climate legislation are delayed until 2010.

When the panel was asked whether the wind industry would favor a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade policy, most agreed that the effect on wind would be effectively equivalent. Massey preferred a cap-and-trade policy because it lets the markets decide the price and, he believes, is the best long-term route to take. But the biggest detail is what the price of carbon will be. This distinction will drive the wind market, regardless of the specific policy implemented.

WINDPOWER 2009: Small Wind Turbine Designs

2009-05-11T12:32:00.007-05:00

There wasn't a shortage of unique small wind turbine designs at AWEA's WINDPOWER conference last week in Chicago. Here are a few I came across - some are from what appears to be newer wind companies, while others are more established (to learn about more conventional turbine designs, see Tim Hurst's Top 5 Micro Wind Turbines).

HelixWind's vertical access turbine:

A company called Mecaro created this Spiral Magnus wind turbine:

Chicago's own Aerotecure International created this turbine style, which has been installed on buildings in the Chicago area, as well as in California, New Jersey and New York.

A company called Tangarie designs this patriotic turbine:

WINDPOWER 2009: Conversation with T. Boone Pickens

2009-05-07T06:52:00.002-05:00

T. Boone Pickens was the clear star of yesterday's morning session. The 80-year-old Texas oilman/billionaire-turned-wind power-advocate was funny, sharp, and clearly had the crowd's attention.

Pickens discussed his support of wind power, which is a pillar of his Pickens Plan. The Plan calls on the U.S. to generate at least 20% of its electricity from wind power, build a "21st century backbone electrical grid," provide incentives for homeowners and owners of commercial buildings to implement energy efficiency upgrades and use America's natural gas to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel (this is an apparent expansion of his original Plan launched last year, which only included the wind and natural gas pieces).

The thrust behind Pickens' mission is national security - getting us off foreign oil and onto homegrown energy. He sees wind as critical to that effort and will do whatever it takes to get us there. When his interviewer - famed A&E documentary host and former CBS news anchor Bill Kurtis - asked him about controversial wind projects, like Cape Wind out East, he replied:

"If they don't want it, don't build it. I'm interested in building wind where people want it...millions of jobs will be created with the wind corridor from Texas to Canada...and I’m convinced the Obama Administration wants all of this, and that’s good."

When someone argues against the Pickens Plan, Pickens asks them what their plan is to get off foreign oil. If they don't have one, he explained, "then their plan is foreign oil. If a congressman runs [for office] and doesn’t have an energy plan, he should be labeled 'foreign oil.' I don’t care if they’re a Democrat or a Republican."

Kurtis asked Pickens about some landowners' opposition to transmission lines, which are desperately needed to move the power from the windy plains to the city centers that need the power. As an owner of a huge amount of land himself, would Pickens oppose giant transmission lines crossing it?

"My friend, Ted Turner, and I talked about this recently and I asked Ted that same question. He said, 'If it’s good for the country, then it’s good for Ted Turner.' I have the same answer. I have a feeling that we’re going to have a lot of landowners in the U.S. who say that too. This is for the security of the country."

Press Conference
Later that morning, Pickens held a press conference on his Plan and the promise of wind power. One reporter asked Pickens what he thought about the oil companies' slow action on renewables. For example, BP and Shell have cut or are pulling out of wind power research. What can we do about that? Pickens response:

"We don’t need oil companies. Why do we need Shell and BP? I’m serious. This can all be done without them. Shell and BP are international oil companies and I don’t know what their agenda is, but I know my agenda and what the American people want and we’re in sync...This administration is clear they want an RES. Just give it a little bit of time...I’m very optimistic. We’ve cleared every other hurdle as we’ve gone down the track and this is all going to look very different six months from now."

On the likelihood of Congress and the President taking action on renewables this year, he was also optimistic:

"The challenges wind companies talk about now are going to get cleared up this year. You’re going to know by the end of this year what you’ve got. By the end of the year, legislation will be passed that’s beyond any sort of energy legislation you’ve seen to get us off foreign oil. People want this energy issue fixed and I believe this Congress is going to make that happen."

Photo credit: Joshua Lott

WINDPOWER 2009: Exhibitors

2009-05-06T20:14:00.002-05:00

Before my feet gave out from walking around the huge convention center, I took an initial jaunt through the tradeshow floor to learn about some of the companies exhibiting. I didn't notice as many flashy booths and set-ups as last year (like Acciona's full-sized nacelle you could tour in '08), but there was lots of good information and friendly people were ready to talk about what's next in the wind business.

Mariah Power designs and constructs residential wind turbines, but they're hardly conventional looking. Below is their WindSpire model. It's about 30 feet high and two feet in radius, and the company says it can produce up to 2,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of power per year. The average home uses uses 800-1000 kwH per month, so it's not going to eliminate your electric bill, but it may help reduce it a bit (as always, you should make sure your home is as energy efficient as possible before investing in a wind turbine or a solar panel).

In this pod, Vestas showed us a short, futuristic-style film of how its newest wind turbines was made (completely fictional, but it was supposed to give you a sense of the technological advantages of the new V112 3-MW turbine (click on the link to get a flavor of the type of video we saw).

I'd heard that one wind company had a 3-D movie going, and I found it at the Gamesa booth. I put on some big glasses and watched a 3-D movie that took us through the anatomy of a wind turbine. Very interesting, even if felt like you were on a rollercoaster at points.

There are a lot of companies here from my home state of Minnesota. I visited with one today, called Midwest Wind Finance (MWF). The Minneapolis company finances community wind projects all around the country, ranging from $5 million - $10 million in size. Judging by the number of project developers looking for financing at this convention, it was no wonder that MWF's booth was swamped with people. Their vice president, Jeff Wright, explained to me that MWF helps finance projects during the siting and permitting stages of a wind farm - a time at which many projects have a hard time finding financing (compared with when they're ready to put up the turbines, for example). So while it's easy to get excited about the newest turbine design, only sufficient and stable financing will make those blades turn.

Photos from WINDPOWER 2009

2009-05-06T19:08:00.002-05:00

View of the 1,200 exhibitors from above.

Entrance to the main ballroom, where the morning panel discussions are held.

WINDPOWER 2009: Industry Discussion

2009-05-06T18:04:00.001-05:00

This morning was a panel discussion on the industry outlook for wind power, with input from the top wind power companies and minds in the world:

Vic Abate, VP of renewables for General Electric
General Wesley Clark of Emergya Wind Technologies and Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Ditlev Engel, President and CEO of Vestas
Jim Walker of enXco and outgoing AWEA president
Michael Polsky – President and CEO of Invenergy
Declan Flanagan, CEO of E.On Climate and Renewables, the largest investor-owned utility in Europe.

For almost all of the questions, the panelists reiterated the importance of passing a federal renewable energy standard (RES) (reminding me of Governor Chet Culver's call yesterday for the wind industry to be on message).

Last year at WINDPOWER 2008, the industry discussion was very PTC-centered. But now, as Vic Abate of GE said:

"The PTC worked for its time, but the next phase of this industry needs to be built around a renewable energy standard...the market needs that signal. The US is the only major country without a long-term energy strategy."

General Clark pleaded with the audience to contact their members of Congress and tell them how important it is to create a long-term, federal policy. The PTC has caused a "Stop. Go." problem in the wind industry, meaning that projects are built quickly when the PTC is in place, die down when the PTC expires or gets close to expiring, then ramps back up again after it's renewed. That's not good financial planning.

To those who argue that the government should stay out of energy policy and that the "free market" should be allowed to determine the best energies, Michael Polsky of Invenergy replied:

“We need policies because the free market isn’t going to solve this. The free market can execute, but it doesn’t work on long-term strategy. That’s where policy comes in.”

Despite the roadblocks and challenges of unstable policies and an economic recession, all of the companies represented were very confident that the U.S. wind market would continue expanding and that goals like 25 percent wind by 2025 can be reached. As Abate of GE put it, "[with the right policies] there's not a technical challenge we can't solve."

Conversation continued
Later this morning, the panelists, along with AWEA President Don Furman (also of Iberdrola Renewables), held a press conference. Many of the same messages were repeated, but a few questions from the audience provided additional insight into the U.S. wind markets.

Answering the question of whether the wind industry can be competitive without government assistance, Abate of GE explained that his company and others are constantly researching how to make the manufacturing and operating processes more efficient. But as Engel of Vestas pointed out, it's hard to compare the government R&D money spent on wind with the other forms of energy that have received much larger amounts of money:

"...we're doing a lot with the little that's been given to us. We’re at the end of the beginning [of the wind industry]. The question is – how much further can we bring the cost per kilowatt hour down? CO2 also needs to be factored into the cost of energy and the cost of water associated with the generation [of other types of energy]. Wind is the only energy that doesn’t consume any water to make electricity."

When asked to respond to opponents who don't think a push for renewables is the right path to a better energy system, Polsky of Invenergy summed it up nicely:

"...with renewables, what you build produces energy forever. The fuel never runs out. When you have something [like renewable energy] that’s so good, plus so good for economic development, you have to do it."

WINDPOWER 2009: Governors' Roundtable Discussion

2009-05-05T15:41:00.000-05:00

Governors from around the Midwest participated in an energy roundtable this morning at AWEA's WINDPOWER conference.

From left to right: Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio, Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Governor Chet Culver of Iowa and AWEA's CEO, Denise Bode.

These governors and 22 others form the Governors' Wind Energy Coalition, which Governor Culver chairs. They're focused on creating green jobs and pushing Congress and the administration to move proactively on renewable energy policies, like a renewable energy standard (RES).

The governors discussed the great work their states are doing with renewables, from tax incentives to a technically trained workforce to outreach internationally. The biggest marketer by far was Governor Granholm of Michigan:

"We're playing offense in Michigan!"

"We have to go from a Rust Belt to a Green Belt!"

"I'm meeting with Obama administration officials this week and I'm going to talk to them about a Michigan company putting a wind turbine on the White House!"

"Go to MichiganAdvantage.org to learn how great it is to do business in Michigan - we are willing, ready and able to do business with you!"

I was about ready to do business there after this session.

The Governors agreed that good renewable energy policy is where the changes have to start, but transmission is universally critical. Culver has worked with the Upper Midwest Transmission Development Initiative (which includes the governors of MN, WI, SD and ND) to begin regional transmission planning.

There's also a need to move faster: there are 300,000 MW of wind projects waiting in queue to get permits. That amount alone could get the U.S. to 25% of its energy from wind. The red tape has to be trimmed.

The issue of siting is a big issue for transmission as well. As Governor Doyle pointed out, "This is a very difficult issue when you get to the ground and have to decide where the lines go." Regional and federal planning is needed, but it can't be a case where the federal government comes in and says, "These lines are going through your backyard." That will only harm the reputation of the wind industry. The balance, as Granholm added, is the need for community buy-in while also giving some certainty to the wind industry that projects will move forward.

The Governors also discussed the cost of renewables. Governor Culver believed the more renewables produced, the better deal it is for taxpayers, noting that Iowa is one of the top wind producers in the nation and its largest utility hasn't had to raise rates since 1995.

Governor Doyle: "If you compare wind to the cost of a old coal plant, the old plant does better. If you compare wind to a new coal plant it’s about a wash. And when you factor in the cost of carbon – we which we all know is going to come eventually – then there’s no contest and wind wins."

Strickland pointed out that we need to factor in externalities as well, like the cost of maintaining an oil pipeline or the cost of posting our armed forces overseas to protect our energy interests. "Those who are concerned about the cost of renewables should take the larger view of what it’s really costing us now to live as we’re living and to rely on our current energy sources."

Concluding the session, Governor Culver encouraged state and regional policymakers to be coordinated when communicating to the federal government: "...that's probably the most important thing for renewables, to have a coordinated ask and message. To make progress, we must be asking for the same thing from government agencies, the Congress, and the President."

Best Quote from WINDPOWER So Far

2009-05-05T12:51:00.002-05:00

Governor Doyle of Wisconsin, referring to wind power: "Wisconsin doesn't have oil, coal or natural gas. So we don't care when people say 'Drill, baby, drill.' But if it's 'Turn, baby, turn,' we're interested!"

Live Blogging from AWEA WINDPOWER: Opening session

2009-05-05T11:26:00.009-05:00

I was invited back to blog at the American Wind Energy Association’s WINDPOWER conference this year, this time in the Windy City itself, Chicago. The conference is almost twice as big it was in 2008, with 17,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors from 48 states and 46 countries. It looks to be a higher percentage of men this year, too (that’s my own unofficial stat).

Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), welcomed the thousands of us this morning at the McCormick Center. She's a huge force of energy and enthusiasm - even if most of the crowd this morning this wasn't quite ready to stomp and shout "YES RES!" like she asked (referring to a national renewable energy standard).

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley boasted about the great strides their state and city have made in renewables and pitched all the companies in the crowd to do business in their state.

The crowd seemed to get a bit more animated for the U.S. Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, who declared "For the first time, you have a friend in the Interior with respect to renewable energy." He assured us that it will not be business as usual in Washington; the backlog of getting projects permitted was "not acceptable" and President Obama's 2010 budget creates four renewable energy offices across the West specifically to get these projects moving and built.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair, Jon Wellinghoff, offered a frank and realistic assessment of balancing the nation's energy portfolio with more renewables:

"It takes time...I know we can pass a renewable energy standard in this country. But what happens once we get one? We can’t stop there; there’s more we have to consider.”

He then outlined the next steps the country needs to take:

Transmission: A renewable energy standard - which requires the nation to get a certain amount of its energy from renewables by a certain date - will not get us the transmission that is critical to making this happen. The highest-stressed areas of the grid are in the West and East, and we cannot continue to incrementally add renewables to that infrastructure. (for some great maps of the U.S. electrical grid and its power sources, check out National Public Radio)
Understand the use and integration of the demand side: We waste a tremendous amount of energy in this country. We need demand response, distributed generation and storage.
Smart grid: We have to enable consumers - and their plug-in electric vehicles and refrigerators - to communicate with the grid. This will make the grid more robust, efficient and allow more wind on the grid.

Thanks to AWEA and the friendly McCormick Center folks for a great start to the conference.

Heading to AWEA WindPower Conference Next Week

2009-05-01T13:20:00.003-05:00

I've been invited back to blog at the American Wind Energy Association's annual conference. This year it's in Chicago and they're expecting 15,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors, so it'll be massive.

If you're going to be there too, leave a comment and let me know your booth number and/or Twitter handle! I'll be live blogging and Tweeting May 5-7 (Twitter: @mariaenergia).