Demand High for Xcel's Solar Garden Program in Colorado

The appetite is huge for solar gardens in Colorado! Xcel's solar garden program has received a slew of applications to build solar arrays up to 500 kilowatts. What is a solar garden? The Solar Gardens website gives a great definition: "a solar garden is a community shared solar array with grid-connected subscribers. Homes and businesses, even if shaded by trees, receive a bill credit as if the panels were on their own roof using 'virtual net metering'." Another thing that's cool about a solar garden is that people that don't own their property can acquire clean, green power from the sun. This includes renters and folks who live in home owners associations (HOAs) that don't allow solar modules on the roofs. The solar gardens program was a result of the 2010 Colorado Community Solar Garden Act. Kudos to Xcel and the people of Colorado for realizing the importance of renewable energy.

5 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy Projects Fast-Tracked by Obama Admin

More good news from the Obama Administration. In addition to the solar energy zones that the Department of Interior designated at the end of July, the Obama Admin just fast-tracked seven wind and solar projects in four western states. This is all part of the We Can't Wait Initiative the Obama Admin created in response to Congress's inability to pass legislation that will move the country forward. It was also announced today that the Pentagon has open up its land, typically used for testing and training, for renewable energy projects. It's been a great day for the renewable energy industry. How's your day going?

Vestas CEO on the Renewable Energy Index and Wind Market

Via Colorado Energy News we have a quick article on the information the Vestas CEO recently told Bloomberg TV. Although the "Corporate Renewable Energy Index" he mentioned peaks my interest, I think this quote is the most powerful:

"90% of all consumers in the world would like to have more renewable energy, and 80% of those consumers actually believe that companies that have the right behavior in renewable energy are companies that they would like to support."

It's really a no brainer folks - governments and businesses need to invest in renewable energy simply because constituents/consumers want more renewable energy. Right?

Study: By 2030 World Can Run On Renewables

Headlines like this excite me to no end. Here are some scientists from Stanford and University of California who say that they have a detailed plan to power the planet with clean, renewable energy in just 20 years. Some of the highlights include implementing hydrogen fuels cells to generate electricity, using offshore and onshore wind turbines, implementing a smarter grid, accessing geothermal, and making sure we aren't wasting any energy in our buildings or transporting materials. This study (Part 1 and Part 2) published in  Energy Policy journal is comprehensive and stunning. Everything from the financial cost of implementing renewables globally by 2020 to the amount of mined rare earth materials is included. Converting from fossil fuels to renewable energy is completely doable, as long as we start thinking about building the future and not building a bridge to the past. I'm ready, are you?

U.S. Army Dips a Toe in Wind Powered Waters

Go Army strong in the clean energy direction! Looks like the U.S. Army is going to pull the trigger on a wind power project in Utah. They've always been hesitant before this moment because they thought the turbines would interfere with radar. Now it looks like the turbines have the green light. Excellent. More diversity on the clean energy production portfolio is a good thing.

Precursor to Copenhagen: EPA Says Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and the Environment

And so progress on climate change begins. When the world gets together this week in Copenhagen and tries to hammer out a climate change plan we have the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proclaim that greenhouse gases threaten public health, the environment AND that the high concentrations of these gases are caused by human activity. Wow. Basically the EPA is saying that greenhouse gases are pollutants and can be regulated. This is tremendous step forward and hopefully foreshadows the action the U.S. will take in Copenhagen this week. We'll be watching.

October Is Energy Awareness Month

Fire up kids, October is energy awareness month. Let's try and remember all that we do to consume and save energy. Consuming is the easy part. Saving is a bit harder. What are some of the ways we can save energy? Telecommuting once a week. Turning down the heat a couple of degrees. Weatherizing and insulating our homes. Turning off your computer at work and at home when not in use. Setting your lights on timers or placing your outdoor lights on motion detectors. Turning down the thermostat on your water heater (120 degrees is good enough). Taking public transportation. Put on a sweater! What else?

PG&E Corp Quits US Chamber Of Commerce Over Climate Views

Wow. Perhaps we are witnessing a sea change? Pacific Gas and Electric tells the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to cut the crap with respect to its anti-climate change stance. Refreshing. So it begins and I hope that this statement by PG&E encourages other utilities and oil, gas, and coal companies to change their viewpoints on global climate change for the better.

Xcel Submits Plan to Rev Up Renewables

Excellent news from Xcel Energy via Colorado Energy News. The utility wants to, "add roughly 980 megawatts of solar and wind power by 2015 and cut carbon emissions by 10 percent." I am glad that Xcel is getting aggressive. The writing is on the wall folks, we need to start reducing our dependence on fossil fuels as an energy source. In addition, we can't keep hiding behind the tired arguments that it is going to cost too much. The cost of keeping the status quo is too great.

White Rooftops May Help Slow Warming

Last year, I had my roof redone in a light tan color and I've noticed a substantial decrease in heat gain (I also had solar shades put up on the west side windows). So although it wasn't a scientific study, I think there is some validity to the "white roof" theory. Would you wear a black t-shirt on a sunny day? Only if you were always cold. So the next time you need to redo your roof, why not invest in lighter color materials? It'll save you some dollars on your cooling bill.

Intel vs. Dell: Friends in the Field, Competitors on Sustainability?

Interesting post on sustainability fever! I really like the way this is progressing - two very large companies, Intel and Dell competing against each other to see who can be more sustainable throughout their companies. It's really quite refreshing and hopefully other companies (public and private) will begin to take sustainability seriously.

Australia to Build World's Largest Solar Energy Plant

Put another shrimp on the barbie! The Aussies are about to rock and roll on a new solar power plant (article doesn't say if it is concentrated solar thermal or PV). 1000 megawatts of, "Australia's biggest natural resource." I wonder why the U.S. doesn't do this?

DOE Budget Lifts Renewables, Cuts Nuclear and Coal

Actions speak louder than words. Earlier I had suspicions that our Secretary of Energy was giving just a little too much love to the coal industry. Perhaps, I am not a savvy enough politician to recognize lip service when I see it. Now since then I've learned, from people like Dr. Kutscher at NREL, that it is unwise to take anything off the table, including carbon capture and sequestration or nuclear, because the reality is that after permits and legal wrangling a new nuclear plant won't be up and running for about 10-15 years from today. In addition, carbon capture and sequestration technology is 10 years away. However, renewable energies like concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal, and wind are ready to be implemented today on homes and on land throughout this country (remember we need just 2% of the land mass in the San Luis Valley, Colorado for CSP plants to generate all of Colorado's electricity needs!). They are clean and the energy source is free for the foreseeable future (who knows what the price of coal will be in ten years?) And what's the most important thing we can do to reduce all of our demand-side energy consumption while we try to get these supply-side energy sources online? Weatherize our homes to make them more energy efficient (I just had an energy audit on mine this week!).

Well, now we see that the Secretary of Energy is gradually shifting money to renewable energy in next year's Department of Energy budget. The momentum is shifting. We can do this with some education and some effort. Are you on board?

There Is No Such Thing as Clean Coal

I saw an ad on the television the other day, using a clip of President Barack Obama (presidential candidate at the time) on the campaign trail saying to the crowd that clean coal (scrubbing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other particulate emissions from the coal-burning process) could be a reality some day soon. I've also seen and heard Barry Schweitzer, governor of Montana, speak to the benefits of carbon sequestration (burying carbon dioxide underground) from coal-fired power plants. The latter is unproven on a large-sale and is cost prohibitive. The former is to me an oxymoron. Even if you capture all of the particulate matter and toxic chemicals from the coal-burning process where do you put it? We've seen what happened in Tennessee when we put another by-product of the coal burning process, fly-ash (aka "slurry"), into large storage ponds or landfills. There's a chance that it will spill, flood, or completely leach into the water supply as we saw in Tennessee in December 2008.

If you hadn't already noticed from the masthead above, I am a proponent of renewable energy. The reasons are simple. For one, the current rate at which the U.S. and other emerging economies (China and India) burn coal for their electricity and/or use oil in the combustion engine is unsustainable. These fossil fuels are both finite and hazardous to humans, animals and the planet itself. Second, I am a much happier person (and I think it's safe to say for all Earthly people) with clean air, water, and land. Burning coal or oil doesn't contribute to clean air, water, or land. Using renewable energy sources does. Third, finding renewable resources to assist with our energy needs is the right thing to do for the living and future generations.

I am not an environmentalist or a moral crusader. I am realist. That having been said, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that there is no such thing as clean coal and burying carbon dioxide underground is a fool's errand. Utilizing renewable, clean energy technologies to offset some of our coal-burning is a step in the right direction. And let it be known that I completely understand that the road ahead involves a partnership with coal, because the base electricity load cannot be supported by solar or wind technologies alone. Coal still needs to be used for the foreseeable future. But we can't continue to use coal as our primary means to electricity because it is the cheapest source out there. When our skies are polluted and our coastal cities are flooded and our droughts get worse, and the forest fires become more intense and prevalent, and the food supply dwindles, and people begin to starve, I dare say that we aren't going to care whether things are "cheaper."

So let's lose the myopia, and the feeble attempts at placating the coal and oil lobbies who scream that the sky will fall and jobs will be lost if we take away the lush subsidies that they receive today. We need to roll up our sleeves and figure out a way to transfer most of our energy production to renewable sources as soon as possible. This isn't a time for politics as usual or business as usual. This isn't time for outta sight outta mind and back to our SUVs and driving 10 miles to the grocery store just because gas prices are low. This is time to plan for the future with innovation and research and investment into renewable energy, alternative public transportation sources, localization (food, energy, and commerce), smart grids, and urban renewal. What do you think?

Salazar Rejects Bush Drilling Plan

"Rejects Bush" has a nice ring to it, no? It seems as though Salazar is starting to hit his stride as Secretary of the Interior. Good for him and good for us as a country. He was instrumental in trying to make Colorado a renewable energy hub of the world while he was our Senator, so I anticipate that he will be more RE friendly, in addition to understanding that we still have to use coal, oil, and gas for the foreseeable future. But a pragmatic and balanced approach is refreshing after the last eight years of blind fealty to the oil and gas industry.

Coffee Grounds as Biodiesel?

Seriously this is great. Speaking for myself, I have a pot of coffee 6-7 days a week. Most of the grounds go into the trash. It would be nice if we could figure out a way to save those used grounds for a biofuel producer. What other waste products can be converted to biofuel?

Franken Touts Energy Proposals

Al Franken is running for Senate in Minnesota. This article on Franken's energy proposals from the Bemidji Pioneer has a bit more information than the article I posted on Rep. Mark Udall Saturday. But I think that it shows how a campaign for a Senate seat doesn't have to move to the middle. With respect to drilling (and to be fair to my prior criticism of Udall), Franken does say that he thinks we should drill now and is pushing for drilling on areas where oil companies already have leases. However he follows up right away with the following bit of common sense:

“But we need to get off of this technology (oil), because we know that we’ve either reached or about to reach peak oil.”

Then towards the end of the article he says something that I believe every politican should have the integrity and strength to say to the face of all the oil executives and to all of those "drill now and drill often folks" that believe that the United States should continue to stay on this oil bender:

“We’re not going to drill our way out of this. … It won’t bring down oil prices, it simply won’t.”

Billionaire Oilman Backs Wind Power

Wow. Just wow. An oil billionaire, T Boone Pickens, is buying 600 windmills from GE and is then going to essentially pay people to have them on their land. I think the money quote, which also falls in the category of sudden outbreak of common sense, is this:

"But we are going to have to do something different in America. You can't keep paying out $600 billion a year for oil."

You go T Boone!

Oil Firms No Longer Need Tax Breaks, but Renewable Energy Does

An editorial from the Orlando Sentinel states the obvious: renewable energy, a budding industry, now needs tax breaks to jump start it. The oil industry, an established industry and which brings home gigantic profits for their shareholders, do not need tax breaks any longer. Therefore, take some of the tax breaks away from the oil industry to help the renewable energy industry get off the ground. It really is that simple. I'll let some of the editorial highlight some of the nitty gritty:

"But with oil company profits and the price of crude at all-time highs, a strong case also can be made to rescind tax breaks for the industry to finance the extension on breaks for renewable energy. That's what the House did in February, voting to take back $18 billion in tax breaks over a decade, or $1.8 billion a year, from the five largest publicly traded oil companies. The annual figure is less than 2 percent of the $123 billion in profits that those companies banked last year."

Wow.

Hazardous Waste Site May House Solar Energy Farm

Ingenious! Instead of putting people on hazardous waste sites or Superfund sites after clean-up (are they ever really clean?) put in a renewable energy farm. What a great idea. A nugget from the article:

“We’ve got a piece of property that is a wasteland,” he said. With the Allco agreement, the property will now generate revenue for the town.

It's as simple as that. Deriving revenue from a dead zone.