President Obama has released a budget plan for the 2014 fiscal year that increases funding for the development of clean energy. Before you break out the champagne, however, keep in mind that this is just a proposal by the President and must still be approved by Congress. The plan, which was released on April 10, would:… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Renewable Energy
Subscribe to Renewable Energy RSS FeedSequestration and Renewable Energy Financing
Posted in Clean Energy, Renewable EnergySequestration was not supposed to happen, but it did. We have heard the litany of horrors that will now be visited upon us: longer lines at airport security, the closing of airport runways causing flight delays, shorter operating hours at national parks and so on. Sequestration has resulted in indiscriminate across-the-board spending cuts that affect… Continue Reading
Why Electric Cars Require Us to Get Electric Rates Right Now
Posted in Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Renewable EnergyI got gas a couple of weeks ago. Ok – mostly that wouldn’t be worth reporting. But it was the first time for my new Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid. Kathleen Petrich reported on January 9 that I had bought a new car. I had been nursing my 13-year old VW Beetle, hoping that before… Continue Reading
Seattle Energy Code — Part Two
Posted in Energy Conservation, Green Building, Renewable EnergyPoint/Counterpoint on Requiring Upgrades When Buildings Undergo Major Renovation In an earlier post (Part One) I described the broad outlines of the new City of Seattle Energy Code that is under development. The new Seattle Energy Code seeks to go significantly beyond the newly approved 2012 Washington State Energy Code – which itself is light… Continue Reading
More Tax Stuff – Fiscal Cliff Agreement Winners
Posted in Renewable Energy, TaxThe agreement reached on the first day of the New Year between Democrats and Republicans that averted the country’s fall over the fiscal cliff produced both winners and losers. That agreement (H.R. 8) is now enshrined in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which President Obama signed into law on January 2. Businesses and… Continue Reading
The Seattle 2012 Energy Code – Part 1
Posted in Energy Conservation, Green Building, Renewable EnergyGrinding Out the Ground Game of Energy Efficiency Back in October of 2011 the Seattle City Council passed a resolution “committing” the City to become a zero-net greenhouse gas emitter by 2050. Although individuals, cities, and governments or organizations in general seldom achieve lofty goals without first setting lofty goals, we all know that lofty… Continue Reading
Production Tax Credit for Wind Energy — Is This the End?
Posted in Legislation, Renewable EnergyThe production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy is set to expire. Again! The PTC for wind energy is the only renewable energy source tax credit set to expire at the end of 2012. Wind energy facilities that are not placed in service by the end of the year will not be able to take… Continue Reading
FTC’s Green Guides Brown the Water for Eco-Friendly Companies
Posted in Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Renewable EnergyAs politicos debate the role of government regulation in this election season, clean technology companies have new reason to take notice. On October 1, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released its Guides for the Use of Environmental Market Claims, dubbed the “Green Guides.” The FTC is the federal government’s consumer watchdog organization, and its… Continue Reading
How About Nationalizing the Weather?
Posted in Natural Resources and Environment, Regulatory, Renewable EnergyHere’s a great idea for fixing the Federal budget deficit: Nationalize the weather. (I’m sure you’re now kicking yourself and asking, “Why didn’t I think of that?”) The Federal government can then require that a license first be obtained by those who want to use the sun to sunbathe or the wind to fly a… Continue Reading
Transportation is About to be Transformed in the Northwest – Part One
Posted in Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Energy Conservation, Entrepreneurs, Events, Fuel Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Technology, UncategorizedOn September 7, 2012, Steve Marshall, executive director of CATES (Center of Advanced Transportation and Energy Solutions), Next 50, and Washington Clean Cities hosted the Beyond Oil: Transforming Transportation in Century 21 conference at the Seattle Center. Amory Lovins, chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and Bob Lutz, former vice chairman of GM (North… Continue Reading
A Traveler’s Observations about Energy Consumption in Spain
Posted in Fuel Efficiency, Renewable Energy, TechnologyFor my first blog post of the fall, I’m starting with my favorite back-to-school essay topic from when I was a kid: “what did you do on your summer vacation?” It’s easy. It doesn’t make you really get serious yet. And it lets you think about what you actually might have learned from the time… Continue Reading
Don’t Miss It: Only 10 More Days Left—Register Now for the Beyond Oil: Transforming Transportation Conference on September 7, 2012!
Posted in Electric Vehicles, Energy Conservation, Entrepreneurs, Events, Fuel Efficiency, Renewable Energy, TechnologyA Conference About Transforming Transportation in Century 21 This full day conference and summit on September 7, 2012 is part of Seattle’s Next Fifty celebration that will look to the future of transportation with a conference focusing on the market and technological transformations that will move us beyond oil. Speakers and exhibits will discuss how… Continue Reading
What Does Data Show About the Economics of Regional Cap-and-Trade?
Posted in Alternative Fuels, Climate Change, Entrepreneurs, Legislation, Natural Resources and Environment, Renewable Energy, Sustainable BusinessBack before the recession, there was a major push in Washington State to adopt a state carbon cap-and-trade program as part of Washington’s membership in the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). The argument was heated, and like most things these days tended to split on party lines with a gulf between the two. Democrats generally argued… Continue Reading
In Defense(?) of the Initiative
Posted in Legislation, Renewable EnergyA few years ago I adopted a personal policy that I always vote “no” on any initiative. It is satisfying, and it saves me a fair amount of time with the voters pamphlet. I’m part of the demographic that always votes in every election – and thus gets the maximum amount of pre-election mail. (If… Continue Reading
Energy Subsidies – Et Tu
Posted in Clean Energy, Legislation, Natural Resources and Environment, Renewable Energy, SolarTremendous progress has been made in the development of renewable energy in recent years. Wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy, as well as biofuels, are providing an ever increasing share of the energy consumed in this county. Moreover, the cost of producing energy from renewable sources has come down rapidly. Yet it remains an inescapable… Continue Reading
How Long Will The Legislature Be Stuck In Neutral On Green Energy?
Posted in Alternative Fuels, Legislation, Renewable EnergyAs I do at the end of every session of the Washington State Legislature, last week I asked our librarian to pull all the natural resource and energy bills passed by the 2012 legislature in its regular session. Long session; short session, the list was as thin and inconsequential as I recall. There was one bill… Continue Reading
Energy in Iceland – Too Good To Be True?
Posted in Alternative Fuels, Clean Energy, Natural Resources and Environment, Renewable EnergyLast Wednesday I wrote about Iceland’s impressive development of renewable energy sources which provide 100% of electricity production from hydropower (80%) and geothermal (20%) sources. There is no doubt that Iceland is blessed with massive amounts of clean energy. While Iceland has garnered vast praise for its development of clean, renewable energy, some environmentalists question its… Continue Reading
Iceland — An Energy Superpower
Posted in Alternative Fuels, Natural Resources and Environment, Renewable EnergyLast week on a lark, I went to Iceland, courtesy of a fantastic Icelandic Air deal. I had two modest goals: first, I wanted to see the Northern Lights in February and second, I wanted to learn how to pronounce EyjafjallajÖkull, the volcano that erupted in 2010 to the dismay of European travelers. Cloud cover… Continue Reading
Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission Tackles the Conundrum of Distributed Energy, Part 2
Posted in Entrepreneurs, Legislation, Regulatory, Renewable EnergyAs I tried to describe in Part 1 of this article, Washington has some structural challenges that impair its ability to develop distributed energy as a significant alternative to fossil fuel-powered electrical power generation. The regulatory system that has been built up over the last 100 years has powerful constituencies that it must protect. Those are… Continue Reading
Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission Tackles the Conundrum of Distributed Energy, Part 1
Posted in Entrepreneurs, Renewable EnergyIn a two-part post, I’ll look first on what makes encouraging distributed energy such a conundrum, and then at the steps the WUTC is proposing to take. The Early 20th Century Bargain With Investor-Owned Utilities Electrical companies are natural monopolies within their service areas. It would make no sense at all for competing companies to… Continue Reading
Last Chance to Take Advantage of Cash Grants for Renewable Energy Projects
Posted in Capital and Funding, Legislation, Renewable EnergyThe Section 1603 cash grant program is coming to an end. If you have not already started construction on your renewable energy project, or you are not about ready to do so, then it is probably too late for you to take advantage of it. This blog posting is just a reminder that actual construction… Continue Reading
Seattle Resolves to Achieve Zero Net Green House Gas Emissions by 2050
Posted in Electric Vehicles, Energy Conservation, Legislation, Renewable EnergyDo you believe in magic? There is a certain sense that is what it takes for the Seattle City Council to do what it did on October 3, 2011, when it passed Resolution 31312, which puts the City on the path towards reducing Seattle’s net green house gas emissions level to zero by 2050. The… Continue Reading
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY – STAYING THE COURSE?
Posted in Capital and Funding, Renewable EnergyThe recent spectacular and very public failure of Solyndra has some observers questioning the current administration’s clean-energy stimulus program and, more generally, the wisdom of the government picking winners and losers of particular technologies and industries. For those who have not been following the news, Solyndra is a manufacturer of industrial solar panels that filed… Continue Reading
The “Greenest Building in the World” is Being Built Right Here in Seattle!
Posted in Green Building, Renewable Energy, Sustainable BusinessThe Bullitt Foundation broke ground on its new home/office building in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle yesterday. It is touted as the “Greenest Building in the World”—quite a claim. But people should take note of the attempt to be energy neutral, carbon neutral, harvest/reuse rain water in 50,000 gallon cisterns—that may be even used… Continue Reading