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There is a looming renewable energy crisis, but it's probably not the one you think. While national headlines over the past few months have focused on controversial federal loan guarantees, or the approaching expiration of key tax credits, the threat to renewable energy is much deeper than just these two areas. Through Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), 29 states and the District of Columbia require electric utilities that supply power to their residents to obtain a specified percentage of their electricity from renewable energy sources by a specified date. For the last decade, RPS has been a resounding bipartisan success story, popular in both "red" and "blue" states alike. Today, they are the linchpin of our country's investment in renewables, setting the requirement that a host of other public subsidies, including tax credits, are intended to support. A recent analysis by Booz Allen Hamilton has shown that RPS will drive over $400 billion in investment in renewable energy by the time they are fully implemented. For perspective, that's more investment than was generated by building the interstate highway system from 1956 to 1992 (adjusted for today's dollars). But RPS and the investment in renewables they generate face a perfect storm across multiple fronts: the emergence of inexpensive and plentiful natural gas, foreign dominance of wind and solar manufacturing, rising pressures on state budgets, and cost reductions in electricity distribution stemming from grid investments. Click headline to read more--
The internet has become much more than a communication system. Today, it is the backbone of modern society, a platform for businesses, governments and citizens to exchange news and views, as well as to provide services, whether essential or trivial. EU policies aim to extend access to high-speed broadband internet and increase investment in fibre-optic infrastructure, while its support for research efforts ensure that the EU will have the technology available to meet the strain of constantly rising demands. If you think of the internet as billions of pipes that carry bits of information around the world, it stands to reason that the more data we try to pump through them, the higher the chances of backlogs or (data) traffic jams forming. And as the internet expands from a simple network of documents to an 'exchange' joining billions of tiny computers, sensors and objects - the so-called 'future internet' of things - we are going to need bigger pipes to handle all this flow. Broadband internet is the 'information and communications technologies' (ICT) equivalent of these big pipes. In order to tap the full potential of the web, Europe is investing in digital technology to connect people - transcending boundaries and bringing communities together for a range of mutual benefits. The Digital Agenda for Europe seeks to have broadband of at least 30 megabits per second (Mbps) for everyone by 2013, with half of European households accessing connections of 100Mbps or higher by 2020. Click headline to read more--
EdX is a not-for-profit joint venture between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to offer online versions of their classes and those of other universities. At the same time, edX will support Harvard and MIT faculty in conducting research on teaching and learning on campus through tools that enrich classroom and laboratory experiences. The goal of this initiative is to create a global community of online learners while improving education for everyone. Click headline to watch the press conference--
Via Digital Arizona Project
An almost 20-megawatt solar installation at the Dos Rios Water Recycling Center has catapulted San Antonio, Texas to the no.1 spot in the state for solar. The city is ahead of the rest of Texaswith a total of 34.2 megawatts of installed solar, said CPS Energy spokesman John Moreno. But the utility isn’t stopping there. Moreno said CPS has a goal of reaching 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020. That’s a bold goal, but one CPS is looking to meet early. Moreno said CPS will probably announce the completion for another 10-megawatt solar installation within the next week or two. That’s in addition to 1,059 megawatts of wind generation. The utility is also in negotiations with SunEdison to install another 400 megawatts of solar. That will land CPS at its goal. Moreno said the 400 megawatts on the drawing board will not all go in one space, but will be spread out across multiple locations. The reasons for the strong push toward renewable energy sources are many. “We want to maintain a diversified portfolio,” Moreno said. “It’s a cliché, but we just don’t want to put all of our eggs in one basket. This is a hedge against changing EPA regulations and fines.” CPS has shifted its focus from wind energy generation to solar photovoltaics because they are becoming more reasonable and because they add to the diversity of the utility’s portfolio. Click headline to read more--
A study from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has found that today’s renewable energy technologies could supply up to 80 percent of US electricity by the year 2050. The NREL’s study explored various scenarios, concluding that onshore wind power will have the most significant impact while offshore wind power continues to grow. Solar power and biomass were also projected to play an important role, with geothermal and hydropower contributing significantly less due to resource and cost limitations. Reaching the projected 80 percent would obviously require significant amounts of funding and political will. The bright side is that the DOE claims most of the other barriers could be resolved, saying “no insurmountable long-term constraints to renewable electricity technology manufacturing capacity, materials supply, or labor availability were identified.” Also, the study fails to take into account the potential environmental effects of these technologies. Click headline to access hot links to more coverage and to the study--
Ministers from 26 EU member nations backed a resolution calling for the European Commission to create an energy policy strategy framework to 2030, ahead of Rio+20. On June 15th, 2012, ministers from 26 EU member nations backed a resolution calling for the European Commission (EC) to create an energy policy strategy framework to 2030, ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio di Janeiro June 20th-22nd, 2012. Poland was the only nation to not support the proposal, which calls for a greater share or renewable energy in EU consumption to 2030. The EU’s statistics office has also released data finding that renewable energy use rose to 12.4% of total energy consumption in 2010. Click headline to read more--
The renewable energy industry is making an election-season push to improve its image after a year in which several high-profile bankruptcies dominated press coverage. A new informational website called energyfactcheck.org and launched Wednesday by one of the industry's top Washington boosters will target reporters, political decision-makers, and anyone else willing to listen to the pitch that the industry is viable, despite some failures. "The perception, because of the lack of fact-based information out there, is that we're some fleeting, fly-by-night, government-dependent entity," said Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, a retired Navy officer and chief executive of the American Council on Renewable Energy, the nonprofit that is maintaining the new website. "The fact is that we have real companies making real profits and making investments in renewable energy for all the right reasons." The council, which is funded by renewable energy companies and investors, announced the website Wednesday at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum it hosted here amid simmering frustration about how the some in the media and politics have portrayed renewable energy following the bankruptcy last year of Solyndra LLC. and other U.S. solar-energy firms. Click headline to read more--
Waze, the crowdsourced traffic app, isn’t just trying to save people some time. It’s now in the business of saving people money too. The company is unveiling a discount fuel service that lets users receive five to 10 cents off each gallon they buy from more than 200,000 gas stations across the country. It’s part of a new live gas prices functionality that allows users to update each other on the latest gas prices at various stations they spot while on the road. The new real-time gas prices features adds more utility to the Waze app, which is nice, but there are other apps that surface this information. Waze’s appeal is that it has crowd-sourced data, so it might be more accurate in some cases, but it also means the prices might be out of date until someone updates it. The discount component, however, is more interesting because it really brings a new dimension to the Waze service, letting people not just navigate to the lowest priced option but actually find places that have offers only for Waze users. And it also demonstrates how Waze will make revenue off the free app. Click headline to read more--
The other shoe has dropped. When Hewlett-Packard unveiled plans for ARM-based low-energy serverslast November, it said to expect versions based on Intel’s Atom processors. Well, they’re still coming. The server giant today promised new low-energy servers — under the Project Gemini code name — that will use brand-new Intel 64-bit Atom Centerton chips, which are actually systems on a chip or SoC. There were big promises about energy efficiency. “A standard [comparable] server today would use 150W. The new servers will do the same load in a 12 to 14W envelope,” said Paul Santeler, VP and GM of HP’s Hyperscale Business Unit. These new servers, due by year’s end, will allow the use of “pop-in” server cartridges to let users update or modify the system for different workloads within the same system. “This will be one server we can change to address workloads depending on need,” Santeler said. ”We are doing this in processor neutral standpoint starting with Intel’s new Centerton chip,” he said. Click headline to read more--
We already know that cloud computing can be more energy efficient in many cases, but how much energy can it save (and in what cases)? Google writes in a blog postthat a company can see energy savings of 65 to 85 percent from moving their internal hosted IT services — from email to documents to spreadsheets — over to Google Apps. The idea is that organizations that host their own IT services commonly have more servers than they need and that are often times running inefficiently. But Google, on the other hand, has streamlined its servers and data centers to run as efficiently as possible and small companies can tap into this. Because efficiency is at the heart of cutting costs for Google, it’s been willing to invest in this type of infrastructure that many small organizations can’t afford or don’t have time or interest in maintaining. Click headline to read more--
The VC exodus away from cleantech startup investing continues. One of Europe’s most well-known venture firms, Index Ventures, has closed a new €350 million fund for early stage companies and Index partner Mike Volpi tells Fortune that the firm is no longer focusing on cleantech investments. When Index launched its first early stage fund back in early 2009, cleantech was one of the three sectors it said it would focus on, as well as IT and life sciences. Volpi is quoted as saying: Click headline to read more--
Over the 40 years of UNEP's existence, it has become apparent that it suffers from inadequate authority and a lack of resources. These deficiencies have constrained UNEP from inspiring the broad, catalytic environmental policies its creators envisaged. In order to increase UNEP's efficacy in addressing environmental concerns and improving partnerships, governments are discussing several reform options. One suggestion is to transform UNEP from a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly into a specialized agency. The other option is to improve UNEP's ability to deliver on its ambitious original mandate and enable it to perform additional functions as necessary without changing its current institutional form. "No one institutional structure can guarantee effective resolution of environmental problems, especially at the global level," writes Ivanova. She argues that a systemic approach is necessary for success, where solutions begin at the source of challenges, instead of focusing on their symptoms. Click headline to read more--
According to the just-released 2012 Renewable Energy Scorecard from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), global renewable energy production has shot up by nearly 275 percent in the past ten years. Global renewable energy investment soared to $257 billion in 2011. In 2002 countries meeting in Johannesburg for the tenth anniversary of the first United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro committed to “substantially increase” the share of renewable sources to the global supply of energy. Reporting a 275 percent increase is good news as representatives prepare for the start of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development next week, but the stark fact is that it is only the beginning of a long road toward sustainability. Jake Schmidt, NRDC’s director of international climate policy, says nations must “step up their game” in order to hit a target of 15 percent global production from renewable energy sources by 2020, a goal many clean energy economists and advocates say is required to get the world on the right path toward sustainability. Click headline to read more and hot links to the report--
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Digital information comes in myriad forms and formats, so how can we make sure that today's data is not lost forever in inaccessible legacy forms? An EU-funded project has developed a framework that ensures we will always be able to use data, however and wherever it is saved and stored. Do you hate it when you try to open a computer file and up pops a box which says 'Invalid file format'? Or when vendors of software and operating systems announce they will no longer support and update legacy systems? Data formats, ICT hardware, software and protocols are constantly evolving. But even as we gather and manipulate so much data, could it be lost just because its format is old or hardware has changed? The prosperity of future generations relies on their access to the information of the past. Are our descendants at risk of knowing nothing because everything we know today is locked in computer systems and codes that one day may be impossible to crack? Click headline to read more--
Siemens and British Gas have stepped up their presence in the fast-expanding European smart grid market, after this week joining a €12m funding round for Germany-based Power Plus Communications (PPC) AG. The two companies joined the funding round alongside existing investor Climate Change Capital Private Equity, which previously invested €10m in the company in November 2008. Precise details of the funding round were not disclosed, but BusinessGreen understands that British Gas and Siemens Financial Services' Venture Capital unit each stumped up around €4.5m with the balance provided by Climate Change Capital. The investment strengthens both companies position in the smart grid market at a time when governments across Europe are enacting plans to roll out smart meters and upgrade grid infrastructure to better utilise energy use information. Click headline to read more--
Right now, renewable energy sources like solar and wind still provide just a small fraction of the world’s electricity. But they’re growing fast. Very fast. Three new pieces of evidence suggest that many policymakers may be drastically underestimating just how quickly wind and solar are expanding. Click headline to read more----
Alaska passed a law that will make it easier to achieve its goal of 50% renewable energy by 2025, by making low interest loans available to projects. The Alaska Sustainable Strategy for Energy Transmission and Supply bill (SB 25), signed this week by Gov. Sean Parnell, creates a $125 million state-administered fund to finance energy projects. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority will administer the fund, and will be able to either directly give loans or participate in loans made through banks or credit unions. The law requires legislative approval for loan guaranteess over $20 million and also mandates participation of other investors besides the government to bring in outside capital to the state. Effective September 10, the bill includes a provision specifically for renewable energy development that keeps interest rates low. On the other side of the equation, Shell won the right to drill in the Arctic's Beaufort and Chukchi Seas last month in an appeals court ruling against environmental and indigenous groups. Environmental groups delivered over a million signatures to the White House imploring President Obama to halt Shell permits to drill there. In a startling break from decades of US policy to stay clear of the fragile Arctic, President Obama personally helped Shell get authorization to drill off the coast of Alaska, says the NY Times, by creating an interagency group to clear Shell's path. It's part of his 5-year offshore oil and gas plan announced last year. Click headline to read more--
The commitment of the US military to renewable energy is serious, long-term and about guaranteeing energy security for missions, and it is not a short-term environmental program, the US Army's energy and installations chief stressed today. "I'm here to tell you that the Army is serious about this; this is not about environmentalism," US Army Assistant Secretary for Installations, Energy and Environment Katherine Hammack said at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum – Wall Street in New York City today. Military installations need to be highly energy efficient, include smart grid networks that can prioritize and match loads and have sufficient baseload power to meet "critical mission sets," Hammack stressed. Click headline to read more--
With 25 percent of the offshore and tidal resources in Europe, Scotland is on pace to become the regional hub for renewables, the Scottish first minister said. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond addressed delegates at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco during a trade mission to the United States. Scotland, he said, was making a significant contribution to the emerging renewable energy sector. "We are ambitious for the future, both for ourselves and what we can contribute to the rest of the world," he said. Scotland aims to derive 100 percent of its electricity demand through renewable energy projects by 2020. The government estimates it met 35 percent of its electricity demand last year through renewable energy resources. All universities in Scotland have energy technology partnerships with third parties and Scotland this year signed a collaborative deal with the Masdar Energy Institute in Abu Dhabi. Glasgow, meanwhile, serves as a major research center for offshore wind energy generation. Click headline to read more--
The U.S. military is — perhaps unsurprisingly — one of the driving forces behind alternative fuel sources; after all, not being dependent on potentially hostile foreign countries for vital fuel is a matter of national security. However, in the short term, said alternative fuels are more expensive than standard fossil fuels, and that creates a few problems. A recent study done for the U.S. Air Force by the RAND Corporation concluded that higher prices for alternative fuels are unlikely to drop any time soon; as massive a consumer of fuel as the U.S. Defense Department is, it’s only a fraction of the worldwide market and can’t significantly influence price. In other words, the production scale needed to make alternative fuel competitive with fossil fuels just isn’t there, and the Defense Department can’t make that happen on its own. The study is a response to a measure recently proposed that would block the purchase of biofuels unless said biofuels are comparatively priced with petroleum-based products. (The matter of subsidies is, at this point, irrelevant; while the subsidies do artificially drive the cost of fossil fuels way down, they do exist and it is uncertain what the price of fossil fuels would be without them in any case.) The measure itself is a response to U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and several million spent on biofuel for a green fleet exhibition.
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Last year investor Peter Thiel surprised a lot of people in the energy sector by calling cleantech investing “a disaster” and saying clean energy innovation has been a failure. However, fast forward about nine months, and Thiel just announced that he’s the largest investor in a new potentially $1 billion growth fund that will back companies across sectors including in energy and those tackling resource constraints. The new fund, which already closed on $402 million, is called Mithril Capital Management after a type of metal described in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of Rings. Investors Ajay Royan and Jim O’Neill will help co-manage the fund. Best of luck to them. Backing companies that are looking to solve large problems in slow-moving industries like energy has tended to take longer, need more money, and just prove more difficult to fund than backing, say, web and mobile software startups. That’s why investors like Kleiner Perkins, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Index Ventures have grown increasingly cold on cleantech. Click headline to read more--
Thin film solar maker Nanosolar surprised many when it was able to raise $70 million in a new funding round earlier this month. But the devil’s in the details. According to DowJones VentureWire, Nanosolar raised that funding at a pre-money valuation of $50 million, which was a massive drop from a valuation of over $2 billion years earlier. The report says that Aeris Capital, a fund that manages finances for SAP founder Klaus Tschira, made a significant investment in Nanosolar as a way to pick up solar assets on the cheap, and to basically zig, when many investors are zagging out of solar manufacturing. The fund thought that they were undervalued over the long term. In addition, DowJones reports that many of Nanosolar’s original preferred-share investors that didn’t reinvest in the round were wiped out. And at the same time, common shareholders were offered an unusual deal to keep them incentivized: “sign a legal waiver agreeing to not sue the company and, in return, were able to multiply their common shares several times,” according to the report. Click headline to read more--
If just one percent of retail investments in savings accounts, money markets and U.S Treasuries was put into crowdfunding of solar projects — that can provide a 5 to 9 percent return to the investor — then that would deliver more than $90 billion for the creation of clean energy projects, according to a new white paper from Bloomberg. The idea behind this emerging sector is that investing in the construction of putting solar panels on rooftops can provide a relatively low risk return on the upfront investment. Building owners generally lease solar equipment and enter into a contract to pay a fixed, low, electricity rate, commonly over about two decades. Over the past several years solar financing companies — like Clean Power Finance, Sungevity and Solar City — have emerged to provide the upfront capital, which can generally deliver around a 12 percent return. Click headline to read more and access hot link to the white paper--
Japan approved on Monday incentives for renewable energy that could unleash billions of dollars in clean-energy investment and help the world's third-biggest economy shift away from a reliance on nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster. Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved the introduction of feed-in tariffs (FIT), which means higher rates will be paid for renewable energy. The move could expand revenue from renewable generation and related equipment to more than $30 billion by 2016, brokerage CLSA estimates. The subsidies from July 1 are one of the few certainties in Japan's energy landscape, where the government has gone back to the drawing board to write a power policy after the Fukushima radiation crisis, the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The push for renewables is aimed at cutting reliance on not only nuclear, but pricey oil and liquefied natural gas for energy needs. The scheme requires Japanese utilities to buy electricity from renewable sources such as solar, wind and geothermal at pre-set premiums for up to 20 years. Costs will be passed on to consumers through higher bills. Click headline to read more--
The next generation of low-cost fuel cells could take your home off the grid and free your car from the gas pump with clean, renewable energy, and researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have brought us one step closer to that future. The team has deployed a biomimicry-based hydrogen production process that combines high speed with high energy efficiency, thanks to a catalyst that “lights up like a rocket.” Click headline to read more--
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