Renewable Energy Law Blog

President Bush Signs Energy Bill into Law; EPA Immeidately Uses New Legislation to Reject California's Clean Air Act Wavier Request

2007-12-19T20:42:00.001-05:00

President Bush signed the 2007 federal energy bill into law today. The new legislation will boost fuel economy standards for vehicles and increase renewable fuel production, but is actually a major step backward for the renewable electricity industry, particularly solar and wind.

National Public Radio takes an in-depth look at the provisions of the new legislation, including an interview with Tom Carnahan (mp3), president of the Wind Capital Group. Mr. Carnahan discusses the likely impact of the failure to extend the production tax credit for renewable projects.

Meanwhile, on a related issue, EPA has just rejected California's request for a Clean Air Act waiver to implement tighter carbon dioxide emissions standards for vehicles. EPA's justification? We like the fuel economy standards in the new energy legislation better:

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday slapped down California's bid for first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs, denying a request for a waiver that would have allowed those restrictions to take effect.

``The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution - not a confusing patchwork of state rules,'' EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson told reporters on a conference call. ``I believe this is a better approach than if individual states were to act alone.''

***

In explaining his decision, Johnson cited energy legislation approved by Congress and signed into law Wednesday by President Bush. The law requires automakers to achieve an industrywide average fuel efficiency for cars, SUVs and small trucks of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 - the first increase in the federal requirement in 32 years. That law``achieves the greatest greenhouse reductions in the history of the United States,'' Johnson said, and is preferable to a state-by-state approach.

Governor Schwarzenegger has already indicated that California will appeal the determination.

UPDATE: The L.A. Times has more on EPA's waiver request denial as does Green Car Congress. EPA's explanation of its decision is here.

House Passes Revised Energy Bill; President Bush Expected to Sign Wednesday

2007-12-18T18:42:00.000-05:00

The U.S. House approved a revised version of the federal energy bill today on a vote of 314-100. The legislation returned to the House for final approval last week after the Senate dropped key renewable energy provisions from the bill.

President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law tomorrow.

The AP has more.

Senate Passes Energy Bill; Key Renewable Energy Provisions Axed

2007-12-14T10:28:00.000-05:00

The U.S. Senate passed a watered-down version of the federal energy bill yesterday 86-8. Democratic leaders dropped key renewable energy provisions from the legislation after a cloture vote failed by one vote.

That move leaves federal support for the renewable energy industry in limbo. The vast majority of federal renewable energy tax credits where last renewed in 2006, and are due to expire at the end of 2008.

The House version of the bill originally included an extension of important credits, including the production tax credit (PTC) for renewable electricity generation and a solar investment tax credit. The Senate version that failed yesterday morning included a 2-year extension for many of these credits, but even that limited extension was axed in the final bill that passed last night.

Loss of federal tax credits could be devastating for the renewable energy sector, particularly for the wind energy and solar energy industries, which are just starting to hit their stride.

We've previously discussed the importance of these programs to the long-term stability of the industry. As other observers have noted, wind project development often grinds to a halt 6-8 months before the expiration of the PTC. Projects that haven't started construction by then risk not coming on-line in time to take advantage of the credit. If that trend holds true the wind industry could be looking at a slow-down in the next six months.

The lack of tax credits will have a similar impact on commercial solar investments outside California, according Barry Cinnamon, CEO of Akeena Solar, who was interviewed today by the San Jose Mercury News.

Senator Reid says the Senate will try to pass a tax credit extension in a separate legislative package in January. In the meantime, the oil & gas industry has walked away holding the tax bag - and the renewable energy industry is left holding its breath (again).

One Vote Short; Senate Fails to Proceed With Federal Energy Bill

2007-12-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

The Hill is reporting that the Senate vote to proceed with the energy bill fell short by one vote, 59-40. According to the article, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to strip out the renewable energy tax package and try to pass the remainder of the bill this afternoon.

CNN also has a report on the vote.

U.S. Renewable Energy Use to Double by 2030

2007-12-13T10:36:00.001-05:00

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its annual long-term U.S. energy forecast yesterday (large pdf). The EIA's new analysis anticipates that renewable energy use will double by 2030. According to the Annual Energy Outlook 2008 Report:

The use of renewable technologies for electricity generation is stimulated by improved technology, higher fossil fuel prices, and extension of the tax credits in EPACT2005. The reference case also includes State RPS programs where the legislation is in place. Total renewable generation in the AEO2008 reference case, including combined heat and power (CHP) and end-use generation, grows by 2.1 percent per year, from 385 billion kilowatthours in 2006 to 631 billion kilowatthours in 2030. The projection for renewable generation in the AEO2008 reference case, which includes State and regional programs, is significantly higher than the comparable AEO2007 projection.

Reuters has a report on the new forecast. A summary of the AEO2008 report is available on the EIA's website.

Senate Energy Bill Showdown Expected Tomorrow

2007-12-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

According to reports, Senate Democrats plan to press ahead this week with an energy bill that maintains a substantial renewable energy tax package. Democratic leaders have dropped plans for a 15% renewable energy portfolio standard, but believe that they can pass a revised version of the bill which still includes portions of the $21 billion renewable energy tax package passed by the House last week.

The original House version of the bill stalled in the Senate on Friday when it failed to gain enough support to survive a Republican filibuster threat. E&E Daily reports (subscription required) that a cloture vote on the revised energy bill is expected tomorrow:

The Senate will vote as soon as tomorrow on a revised energy bill that Democrats have altered to win more support. They have jettisoned a controversial renewable electricity mandate and altered some tax provisions.

But the bill is expected to retain higher oil company taxes to help fund renewable energy incentives. Plans to push ahead with a tax plan -- which increases taxes on oil companies by more than $13 billion -- are prompting conflicting predictions about whether the bill can overcome a GOP-led filibuster. And if it does, a White House veto threat looms.

The central provisions of the energy bill, which enjoy wider support, are increased auto mileage standards, an expanded biofuels mandate, and a host of conservation measures such as phasing out inefficient light bulbs.

Over at Gristmill, Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, takes a closer look at the oil & gas industry's arguments against the renewable energy tax package:

One of the potholes the bill has encountered is its $13 billion take-back from Big Oil. The bill proposes to repeal tax breaks given to the industry by the Republican-controlled Congress in 2004-2005 and to close some tax loopholes that allow oil companies to game the system when they report income from foreign oil and gas extraction.

Predictably, the oil industry and the White House complained about a tax increase and warned of higher prices at the pump -- two time-tested themes to trigger knee-jerk opposition from the public.

Let's break it down.

First, rolling back a tax break isn't the same as raising a tax. It's the equivalent of having the oil industry return a gift it doesn't need or deserve, rather than picking its pockets.

Second, while oil companies might use the rollback as an excuse to raise gasoline prices, it wouldn't be the fault of the energy bill. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that subsidies in this range are "too small to have a significant effect on the overall level of energy prices and consumption in the United States." In other words, subsidies at this scale don't lower energy prices, and their repeal won't raise them.

Federal Energy Bill Stalls In Senate

2007-12-07T14:36:00.001-05:00

The Hill reports:

The Senate Friday voted against taking up the energy bill approved by the House earlier this week, making it likely that some provisions in the House bill will have to be stripped in order for Congress to complete a final energy package.

In a 53 to 42 vote, the Senate rejected a motion by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to invoke cloture on the House energy bill, which could have led to a vote on the package itself.

Immediately after the vote several senators rose to say they would work to seek a compromise, including Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He said Friday’s vote marked the beginning of a process to complete work on an energy package in this Congress.

The Washington Post has the AP report up.

Those tracking the legislation expect the Senate to dismantle or discard the renewable portfolio standard and renewable energy tax package in the House version.

U.S. House Approves 2007 Federal Energy Bill; Senate Cloture Vote Expected Saturday

2007-12-06T16:08:00.000-05:00

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the energy bill (H.R. 6) on a vote of 235-181.

The AP reports:

The House approved the first increase in federal automobile fuel efficiency requirements in three decades Thursday as part of an energy bill that also repeals billions of dollars oil company tax breaks and encourages use of renewable fuels. The bill, passed by a vote of 235-181, faces a certain filibuster in the Senate and a veto threat from the White House.

Democrats characterized the legislation as ``a new direction'' in U.S. energy policy away from dependence on fossil fuels. But Republicans said the actions amount to government mandates that would lead to higher energy prices, while doing little to produce more domestic oil or natural gas - fuels they say will remain essential for decades to come.

The action now shifts over to the Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid apparently wants to move soon on the bill, according a report earlier today from E&E Daily (subscription required):

Reid wants the Senate to act quickly when and if the House passes the bill. He said on the Senate floor Wednesday that he plans to file for cloture -- which means cutting off debate -- on the bill today. A spokesman said a Saturday cloture vote is likely. The timing of a subsequent vote on the bill itself is not clear.

David Roberts over at Gristmill has a similar report.

House Floor Debate on Energy Bill

2007-12-05T22:27:00.001-05:00

The House is currently debating the new version of the energy bill (H.R. 6). Check out CSPAN for live coverage of the debate.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the bill "will be a shot heard round the world for energy independence for our country."

Renewable Energy Access has a good article on the current bill by Scott Sklar, of the Stella Group, Ltd.

A summary of the current legislation is available on Speaker Pelosi's website.

House Dems Push for RPS and Renewable Energy Tax Package; Energy Bill Showdown Expected in Senate; Veto Looms

2007-12-05T11:56:00.001-05:00

It's time to install wind turbines in the halls of Congress; you could power several thousand homes with the hot air blowing out of Washington this week on the federal energy bill, and things are only starting to heat-up.

Just when it looked like the House had abandoned plans for a federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and an important renewable energy tax package, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that both measures will be included in the final bill. According to the AP:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to push ahead with a $21 billion tax package, including repeal of tax breaks for major oil companies, as part of an energy bill, aides to the speaker said Tuesday. Democratic leaders circulated a summary of the legislation that includes the new taxes as well as a requirement for a 40 percent
increase in automobile fuel efficiency, a huge increase in the use of ethanol as a motor fuel, and a mandate for utilities to use renewable fuels.

***

The House draft bill, expected to come up for a vote as early as Thursday, calls for repealing $13.5 billion in tax breaks given to major oil companies in 2004 and 2005 and another $7.5 billion in various non-energy tax increases and adjustment to raise revenue needed for the new energy programs, aides said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because a final bill was still being crafted. ``We are repealing tax breaks for profit-rich oil companies so that we can invest in clean renewable energy'' a summary notice to Democratic lawmakers said. Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, confirmed that the energy package will include the sizable tax provision. ``It's in there,'' he said.

The Speaker's announcement has set off a new round of chest-thumping rhetoric from politicians opposed to both measures. E&E Daily reports that Republican Senators are threatening "war" (subscription required) if the legislation repeals tax subsidies previously handed-out to oil and gas companies or includes a federal RPS :

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee, said the auto mileage and biofuels provisions are "great for America," but he thinks the other two additions sully the bill. "If it comes over here, we have no alternative but to have war," he told reporters. "I believe the bill will not pass with those two provisions on it," Domenici added. "We will do everything we can to see that it doesn't." Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) predicted the bill would not pass with the tax and utility language, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also voiced opposition.

And the White House has taken several opportunities this week to re-emphasize the President's opposition to legislation with either measure. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman recently told reporters that "it is wrong to single out an industry, the oil industry or any industry'' for new taxes (although it's OK, apparently, to single out the oil industry for favorable tax subsidies). And earlier this week in a letter to Speaker Pelosi, Allan B. Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council, threatened a Presidential veto, saying that "it appears Congress may intend to produce a bill the President cannot sign."

At the very least, democrats' move on the tax measure will likely delay any action on the energy bill, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Hill Heat has the summary of the new energy bill circulated by democratic leaders.

More to come as negotiations on this bill continue. In the meantime, someone should look into the potential for siting one of these in D.C. - you won't even need the solar panels.

Federal Energy Bill Negotiations Continue; Fate of Renewable Energy Provisions Uncertain

2007-11-29T08:05:00.000-05:00

The Wall Street Journal reported late last week that chances for a comprehensive federal energy bill are improving (subscription required). Congressional negotiations over the compromise legislation continue, with renewed interest in federal fuel economy standards sparked by rising oil prices. According to the WSJ report: "lawmakers are moving toward adopting separate fuel-economy standards for cars and sport-utility vehicles as part of an accelerated effort to get a sweeping energy bill passed this year." The Detroit Free Press provided more details of the potential compromise on CAFE standards yesterday.

According to sources close to the negotiation, the Senate's renewable fuels provision may also be included in the comprehensive bill, although the final package is likely to be less aggressive than the Senate's mandate for 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022.

Unfortunately, the fate of other key renewable energy provisions is still uncertain. President Bush opposes the renewable energy tax provisions in the House bill because those provisions are funded by repealing more than $15 billion in subsidies for the oil and gas industry. The Federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) provision in the House bill also faces stiff opposition from the utility industry and from President Bush. Speaker Pelosi has expressed her continued support for these two critical portions of the House bill but both provisions may be sacrificed in the final bill to gain 60 votes in the Senate. There are indications that House and Senate leaders may try to move these provisions into a separate legislative package, which would effectively kill both proposals.

It would be unfortunate if congressional leaders abandoned these progressive renewable energy provisions now. A recent report (pdf) from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) emphasizes the current imbalance in federal support for different energy sources. Between 2002 and 2007, the fossil fuel industry received $13.7 billion in direct federal subsidies, while renewable energy sources received less than $2.8 billion. No surprise there. And that's just direct subsidies over the past five years; consider the myriad indirect subsidies over the long term, and you can bet that the divide is exponentially greater. The tax provisions in the House bill would go a long way towards reversing this divide at a critical time in the development of our domestic renewable energy sector. With the costs of generating renewable energy falling, and public interest in alternative energy sources rising, this is the time to focus our resources on advancing the industry. Unfortunately looks like the current energy bill compromise will only further perpetuate the historical imbalance in federal support for different energy sources; if current production and investment tax credits for renewable resources aren't extended it will actually be a dramatic step backward for the renewable energy industry.

Google's New Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal

2007-11-28T07:04:00.001-05:00

The Washington Post reports on Google's new renewable energy R&D efforts:

Google Inc (GOOG.O) said on Tuesday it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help drive down the cost of electricity made from renewable energy below the price of coal.

The project, dubbed Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, is hiring dozens of engineers and targeting investment financing at advanced solar thermal power, wind power, enhanced geothermal systems and other new technologies, Google said.

The Web services and online advertising group will be a big customer for the project, running computers and networks on the electricity and selling back what's left to the power grid.

"Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades," Larry Page, Google's co-founder and president of products, said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal has more on Google's renewable electricity initiative:

The company is primarily looking at solar, geothermal and wind technologies that show potential for making electricity so cheaply they can displace fossil-fuel plants. "We're optimistic we can do this in years, not decades," Mr. Page said, adding that even though lots of venture capital is flowing to renewable-energy start-ups and the government funds research through its national energy labs, "we don't see a lot of investment in very aggressive, low-cost things" that could reshape the coal-heavy generation mix and reduce power-industry emissions.

One firm Google already is supporting is Makani Power, a company based in Alameda, Calif., working on high-altitude, wind-power systems. Mr. Page said he believes most of Google's investments will be in technologies capable of producing grid-scale quantities of electricity that would use existing infrastructure like the high-voltage transmission system.

Federal Energy Bill in Legislative Limbo

2007-11-14T10:29:00.001-05:00

The New York Times editorial this morning asks: Where’s That Energy Bill?

Two months ago, Washington was filled with hope that Congress would produce an energy bill that would begin to address the two great challenges of oil dependency and climate change. Each chamber had approved respectable if incomplete measures that could be combined in one outstanding bill. Then the bills disappeared into the back rooms as Democratic leaders tried to negotiate a final product.

These talks have now reached a dangerous point. With both houses feeling pressure to do something — anything — to deal with high oil prices, there’s a real danger that one or more essential provisions could be dropped just for the sake of producing a bill.

According to the NYT, a number of important provisions in the competing House and Senate bills may be on the chopping-block, including the CAFE fuel efficiency provision, the renewable portifolio standard provision, and the production tax credit provisions. There's also talk of moving the Renewable Fuels Standard to the Senate agriculture bill.

National Public Radio interviewed several key legislators on the status of the energy bill yesterday. Republican leadership in the Senate is blocking appointment of a conference committee to resolve differences in the House and Senate energy bills, but informal negotations are on-going. Speaker Pelosi hopes to have a compormise bill before Thanksgiving; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid thinks they'll be lucky to have a bill by Chirstmas break.

WattHead and Gristmill have more on what may be going on behind closed Capitol doors.

Stage Set for Conference Committee Negotiations on Federal Energy Legislation

2007-10-05T10:30:00.000-04:00

Congressional staffers have started preliminary talks in an effort to reconcile the separate energy bills passed by the House and Senate this summer. The discussions set the stage for conference committee negotiations later this fall, with the goal of producing a final federal energy bill before the end of the year.

Both the House and Senate passed competing versions of energy legislation earlier this summer.

The Senate bill, H.R. 6, was passed on June 21, 2007.

the House bill, H.R. 3221, was passed on August 4, 2007.

There are a number of major substantive differences between the two bills, and it remains to be seen whether a conference committee can reach a compromise that will meet with approval in both the House and Senate.

Some of the major issues to be resolved in committee include:

Federal Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS): The House bill requires utilities to produce 15% of their energy from renewable resources. A similar amendment to add a federal RPS to the Senate bill was blocked in the Senate.
CAFE Standards: The Senate bill requires CAFE regulations that achieve a combined standard for passenger cars and light trucks of at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Efforts to improve CAFE standards were blocked in the House.

Tax Provisions: The House bill provides $15B in new and extended renewable energy and energy efficiency tax credits, paid for primarily through repeal of tax-breaks and other subsidies for the oil & gas industry. Similar proposals were defeated in the Senate.
Biofuels Mandate: The Senate bill includes mandates for renewable fuel use (36 billion gallons by 2022) and advanced biofuels (21 billion gallons by 2022). The House bill does not contain mandates for biofuels.

President Bush has already threatened to veto the current Senate legislation and has also indicated that he would veto any legislation that includes a federal RPS.

DOE Announces Final Rule for Advanced Energy Technology Loan Guarantee Program

2007-10-05T07:32:00.001-04:00

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced yesterday that is has published final rules for the Advanced Energy Technology loan guarantee program authorized by Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct). The loan guarantee program is designed to stimulate investment in and development of clean energy technologies. DOE has requested congressional approval for authority to issue $9B in loan guarantees in FY2008.

In conjunction with the publication of the program's new rules, DOE also invited 16 project sponsors, who submitted pre-applications last fall, to submit full applications for loan guarantees.

Green Car Congress has a full list of the 16 invitees and the projects they have proposed. The applications cover a range of clean energy projects, including: biomass, fossil energy, solar, industrial energy efficiency, electricity delivery and energy reliability, hydrogen, and alternative fuel vehicles.

House Committee on Energy Publishes White Paper on Climate Change Legislation Policy Options

2007-10-03T18:32:00.001-04:00

The House Committee on Energy has released the first of several planned white papers on potential climate change legislation. The Committee's first white paper provides background information on the potential scope of a national carbon cap-and-trade program.

Future white papers will address "a number of other cap-and-trade design elements and additional topics, including: cap levels and timetables, measures for containing costs in a cap-and-trade program, carbon sequestration, offsets and credits, developing countries, distribution of allowances, and additional measures to implement the cap-and-trade program."

via Green Car Congress

Wired Magazine on the Future of Cellulosic Ethanol

2007-10-02T11:24:00.000-04:00

This month's cover story in Wired magazine focuses the growing cellulosic ethanol industry. The article provides a nice background on the basic chemistry of producing ethanol from plant cellulose and looks at the technical challenges facing the industry.

While the chemistry of converting cellulose to ethanol is conceptually simple, the cost of the process is still too high to support production at an industrial scale.

The article highlights three companies working on innovations that may lead to an economically-viable cellulosic ethanol industry:

Mascoma Corporation: working to create new microbes that can both breakdown cellulose into sugars, and then ferment the sugars into alcohol - thereby combining the two basic parts of ethanol production into a single step.

Novozymes: using genetic manipulation and "directed evolution" to make cheaper more effective cellulase enzymes (the enzyme that break s cellulose down into usable sugars).

Verenium: a bio-prospective firm looking for new bugs and microbes that might offer a more efficient method for converting cellulose into sugar.

Climate Week: Review of U.S. State Department & U.N. Climate Change Meetings

2007-10-01T14:42:00.000-04:00

On E&E TV today Eileen Claussen of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change discusses last week's dueling climate change meetings, one hosted by the U.S. State Department and the other by the U.N.

Wind Energy On Demand? A Closer Look at Compressed Air Energy Storage

2007-09-30T13:40:00.000-04:00

David Marcus, of General Compression, discusses the benefits of compressed air energy storage systems (CAES) over at Renewable Energy Access.com. The technology is designed to store wind energy by using electricity generated during periods of high wind speeds and low electricity demand to pressurize air in storage tanks. When electricity demand increases the compressed air can be used to generate power even if the wind isn't blowing. General Compression hopes to market a "wind energy on demand" system and believes the CAES technology will deliver economic value and make renewable wind power more cost-effective and grid-friendly.

Renewable Energy News for June 29, 2007

2007-06-29T09:49:00.001-04:00

New Report on Opportunities in the "Low Carbon Economy": The Climate Group has just published a new report on the boom of businesses in the new "low-carbon economy." The report - In the Black, The Growth of the Low-Carbon Economy (zip file) - covers "the rapid growth experienced by companies providing innovative low carbon products and services." It includes an informative analysis on the expansion of this new business sector and includes chapters on low carbon power sources, energy-smart products, low carbon vehicle technologies, and methods for financing "the solutions." It's well worth a read for those in the renewable energy industry (via Climate Action).

Lempster New Hampshire Wind Farm Gets State Approval: New Hampshire state regulators have approved a permit for the Lempster Wind Farm Project. The 12-turbine project will be the first utility-scale wind project in New Hampshire

Enforcement of CAFE Standards? Geoffrey Styles, over at Energy Outlook, wonders why there hasn't been more debate about how to enforce the new CAFE standards now being considered by Congress. Under the current system a car manufacturer pays a small fine when its fleet of vehicles does not meet the 27.5 mpg CAFE standard (federal law imposes approximately $55 in fines for each mpg the fleet average is below the standard, multiplied by the number of vehicles produced in the model year. According to the most recent report from the National Highway Safety Administration - which enforces CAFE - the government collected approximately $21 million in fines between 2001 and 2003 from five companies: BMW, Lotus, Fiat, Porsche & Ferrari). As Mr. Styles notes, the current system really isn't much of a disincentive for companies to comply with CAFE. Even if the CAFE standards were raised to 35 mpg, a company that only reached 30 mpg would pay fines on the order of $275 per car - certainly not the doom-and-gloom scenario forecast by automakers. Mr. Styles comments that:
if the new targets are implemented under the existing system of penalties, then there's little need for additional "offramps" to shelter manufacturers. However, if the penalties are strengthened, US carmakers could find themselves caught between the vise jaws of consumer inertia and regulatory pressure, despite having designed cars that would meet the target.
The final version of the bill (large pdf) passed by the Senate last week was silent on the question of enforcement. Its time to take a closer look at the issue of enforcement if the House ever actually gets around to considering CAFE amendments.

Dean of Columbia Business School Argues for a Carbon Tax: The Energy Roundup Blog has video of an interesting interview with Glenn Hubbard, Dean of the Columbia Business School. At a recent conference in New York City, the former Bush economic adviser said its time to consider putting a price on carbon emissions. Dean Hubbard expressed the opinion that business and technological innovation is critical to "fixing the problems of climate change" but said he doesn't think that the necessary innovation will occur until we actually put a price on carbon.

The promise and perils of public investment in energy: David Roberts has an interesting post up over at the Gristmill Blog on the potential negative public reaction to increased regulation of carbon emissions and the potential resulting increase in energy costs. He cites an article in American Prospect by Peter Teague and Jeff Navin which argues that given the public anxiety over current energy costs its important to consider the potential benefits of public investments in climate change solutions as an alternative to regulatory approaches.

Renewable Energy News for June 28, 2007

2007-06-27T16:35:00.000-04:00

Full Text of Final U.S. Senate Energy Bill Available: The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has released the final text of the Senate energy bill, H.R. 6 (large pdf) as amended and passed by the Senate last week (via BlueClimate). Yesterday E & E TV aired a panel discussion of the Senate energy legislation and its prospects in the House. U.S. News and World Report says "the energy battle has barely begun."

Senate Begins Work on Carbon Cap and Trade Program: Senator Joesph Lieberman (I-CT) and Senator John Warner (R-VA) announced yesterday that they plan to collaborate on federal climate change legislation to be introduced in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee later this fall. According to the press release from Senator Lieberman's office, the proposed legislation will focus on establishing an "economy-wide" national cap-and-trade system. Gristmill has a run-down on this and other energy related legislative activity in D.C. yesterday.

Vermont Legislators Offer Compromise on Climate Change & Energy Efficiency Legislation, Governor Immediately Rejects Offer: Leaders of the Vermont House and Senate offered to remove a tax on the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant from the legislature's climate change bill yesterday in an effort to reach a compromise with Governor Jim Douglas (R) on the legislation. Governor Douglas vetoed the bill two weeks ago, citing the Yankee tax provision as his primary concern with the legislature's proposal. But the Governor immediately rejected the compromise legislation even without the tax, citing concerns over the "all-fuels" energy efficiency program included in the bill. The all-fuels efficiency program, which is modeled on the State's nationally-recognized Efficiency Vermont program, would be one of the nation's first energy programs to address heating fuel efficiency. The State of Connecticut recently passed legislation which establishes a similar program. Governor Douglas is still pushing his own last-minute energy efficiency plan, which would require homeowners to take out loans to pay for efficiency improvements. Under that program the state would pay banks to reduce the interest rates charged on loans for energy efficiency improvements. Leaders of the House and Senate were scheduled to meet with Governor Douglas today to discuss a compromise, but the Governor canceled the meeting last night. Legislators will return to Montpelier on July 11 to attempt to override the Governor's veto.

Renewable Energy News for June 27, 2007

2007-06-26T13:14:00.001-04:00

How Does the U.S. Ocean Energy Industry Compare with the Rest of the World? Carolyn Elefant, author of the Offshore Renewable Energy Law Blog, and Sean O'Neill, co-founder of the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition, discuss the state of the U.S. ocean energy sector in an article posted on renewableenergyaccess.com.

Goldman Sachs Outlines Top Five Drivers for Future Growth in Renewables (via maria energia): Investment bank Goldman Sachs recently outlined five key events that the company believes are critical for continued growth in the renewable energy sector. In short form, they are:

New state renewable portfolio standards (RPS);
Enforcement of existing state RPSs;
Enactment of national carbon cap-and-trade or carbon tax program;
A significant increase in fossil fuel prices; and
Election of a U.S. President that is not opposed to carbon regulation and renewable portfolio standards.

New System Will Certify Renewable Power Generation in the West: Earlier this week the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced the launch of the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS), a renewable energy registry and tracking system for electricity generation. The system will verify the credibility of renewable energy certificates (RECs) and will be used to help California meet its goal of generating 33% of the state's electricity needs from renewable sources. The system will also help implement RPS requirements in other western states. Check out the WREGIS website for more information.

China Surpasses U.S. in Total Carbon Dioxide Emissions: EERE News reports on new analysis from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency which indicates that China has finally surpassed the U.S. in total CO2 emissions. Of course, as the report indicates, the U.S. still produces approximately 4 times as much CO2 as China on a per-capita basis.

Congress May Delay Consideration of Climate Change Legislation: Dow Jones Newswire is reporting that the U.S. House of Representatives may put off consideration of legislation to address renewable energy development and climate change until next fall. According to the report, John Dingell (D. Mich), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says that the energy bill his committee is working on may not include some major provisions that some committee members hoped to have in the legislation, including mandates to increase motor vehicle efficiency and renewable energy generation. Chairman Dingell says that those initiatives will be taken up in the fall as part of a comprehensive climate change bill. The Dow Jones report comes via the WSJ Energy Roundup Blog.

Renewable Energy News for June 26, 2007

2007-06-26T11:16:00.001-04:00

A Closer Look at the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (H.R. 2776): U.S. House Ways and Means Committee recently reported H.R. 2776 out of committee on a 24 to 16 vote. The committee markup summary reviews the key provisions of the tax bill, which include, among other things, a long-term an extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for renewable energy sources to 2012, an expansion of the clean renewable energy bond (CREB) program, a long-term extension of the solar energy and fuel cell property credit to 2016, and an expansion of the residential energy-efficiency property program. The bill also includes provisions for a plug-in hybrid vehicle credit and tax incentives for cellulosic alcohol and biodiesel production.

Funding Available for Renewable Energy Projects in Massachusetts: Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), which administers the Renewable Energy Trust Fund, is seeking applications for the Large Onsite Renewables Initiative to expand production and use of distributed renewable energy in Massachusetts. Approximately $3.75 million in funding is available for feasibility studies and design and construction of new renewable projects. Applications are due August 21, 2007. On a related note, MTC has also recently started publishing a new blog on wind energy in Massachusetts.

Solar Power in New Hampshire? New Hampshire Public Radio takes a look at the Granite State's new Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) and in particular its requirement for solar energy investments.

Major Massachusetts Developments Must Estimate GHG Emissions and Offer Mitigation Plan: Democratic Energy discusses the new policy in Massachusetts that will require some developers to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by their projects and identify ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the emissions. The new guidelines apply to developments requiring an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that need an air quality permit, receive state funding or generate a significant number of new vehicle trips.

Spanish Iberdrola Reaches Deal to Purchase Energy East Corp (Wall Street Journal subscription required). The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola is making another play to expand its U.S. presence. Iberdrola has agreed to pay $4.5 billion for Energy East Corp of Portland, Maine, which serves approximately 3 million customers in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut. The purchase will be Iberdrola's fifth acquisition of a U.S. utility this year and reflects the company's aggressive efforts to move into the U.S renewable energy sector.

A Move to Pay Countries Not to Burn Forests: NPR's Morning Edition takes a look at carbon offset programs that seek to pay developing countries to not cut down and burn forests.

Renewable Energy News For June 25, 2007

2007-06-25T12:46:00.001-04:00

Which Climate Change Policies do Americans Support?: E & E TV reports on a study conducted by New Scientist magazine, Stanford University, and Resources for the Future that takes a look at which climate policies Americans will likely support when costs are taken into account. The New Scientist study finds that Americans are willing to accept some increases in energy costs in order to address global warming, and also indicates that Americans are generally skeptical of market-based mechanisms, such as cap-and-trade systems, as compared to traditional command-and-control regulatory approaches.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: the Washington Post reviews the provisions of the Clean Energy Act of 2007 recently approved by the U.S. Senate.

U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Approves Energy Tax Package.

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Says it Time to Focus on Energy Efficiency: Royal Dutch Shell’s CEO Jeroen van der Veer calls for a focus on energy efficiency in his editorial in today's Times of London (via The Wall Street Journal's Energy Roundup blog).

Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund Issues Request for Proposals: The Vermont Department of Public Service has published an RFP for projects for the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund. The Fund seeks to promote the development of cost effective and environmentally sustainable energy generation sources. The Department of Public Service is seeking grant applications for small-scale and large-scale energy projects, as well as special demonstration projects, and expects to award approximately $2.5 million in funding for projects around Vermont. The deadline for submitting applications is July9, 2007.

U.S. Senate Passes Clean Energy Act

2007-06-22T09:54:00.001-04:00

Late last night the U.S. Senate passed a version of the Clean Energy Act on a 65-27 vote, but key provisions of the bill didn't make the final cut. The bill does include an 40% increase in average fuel economy standards from 25 to 35 mpg by 2020, but the Senate did not include a national renewable portfolio standard in the legislation, and an amendment which would have provided $32 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy sources was blocked. There's plenty of coverage around the net:

CNN: Senate OKs Energy Bill.

Washington Post: Senate Energy Bill Passes; Democrats prevail, Mileage Standard Would Be Raised.

Wall Street Journal (subscription required): Senate Approves Energy Bill, Including Energy Efficiency Plan.

New York Times (registration required): Senate Adopts Energy Bill Raising Mileage for Cars.