IKEA comes to us wind market with largest renewable energy investment so far

New Hampshire, USA-IKEA is at it again. In an effort, their goal to produce more renewable energy than it, until 2020 to reach consumed the retail giant announced yesterday that it has acquired the 98-MW-Hoopeston-wind farm in Illinois. Its first wind-project investment in the United States and the largest investment in renewable energy around the world marked this purchase. IKEA will have the wind park and American developers Apex clean energy will manage the project.

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Renewable energy brings some extreme Nimbyism

You may have heard of extreme Preppers. These are the people spend much of their time preparing themselves, their homes and their families for what they believe an inevitable disaster due to an economic meltdown, the spread of a deadly virus, climate change or other disaster is. And, hey, you never know the heroes of our time, at the end of this Preppers may.

But did you know about extreme not in-my backyard ISTS? Did you probably not, because this isn't a real phenomenon. At least not yet. But we're here to tell you that it pretty good examples out there of people who are apparently ready, stop extreme to a renewable energy project from coming to go about.

With this in mind, and in the interest of the developer training about what could tell some people about their projects here are a few examples are. Do not hesitate your own NIMBY falls in comment listed below.

Solar is so ugly

Take the example of Jim and Frances Babb, spent years fought its municipal zoning Board in a West St. Louis county, Missouri.

The couple just installing solar panels on their Victorian home and although their house and apartment owners Association a quick approval gave them to do as soon as she fully tries the city for a permit, a regulation prohibition passed solar on the front or sides of a roof, which would have made impossible their project. Protested the small solar industry in the city and the regulation, which finally passed increases allowed ground mounts and all roof until they were parallel to the plane of the roof, as long as the homeowner walked planning and zoning and reached a majority of the Executive Committee of the City Council. The BABB managed by the P - & Z-process and received approval, but the City Council selected 6-0, to deny them, without offering them a reason. So they were forced to lodge a complaint.

A neighbor, who said in contrast to the Babbs request was, she thought "trashy." saw the panels Other neighbors felt that the ugly plates at home would lower their own values.

Although the BABB ultimately prevailed, it took several hearings and a lawsuit and substantial additional costs before the plates were finally installed. You can see a clip of one of the hearings in the video at this link.

The saga is not over yet, either. Although now the city about the permits is the courts that the BABB, is allowed to install the plates, carries it to the issue and never did, according to Frances Babb outraged. Although the system for 17 months, wants to apply for the city the Babbs, a new permit and can your system must be checked. The BABB have with their own movement, to keep the city routes neutralized contempt of court and seek damages and attorney fees to.

Wind turbines ruin of views

Look no further than Cape wind on a much larger scale of extreme Nimbyism, a planned offshore wind farm in the vicinity of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The project has been more considered has 10 years in the works, and claim, according to lawsuit against them are asserted. Under the dash and the presumed reason for all this rejection is that inhabitants of the Cape, including the very famous Kennedys, worry that the sight of 130 turbines about 5 miles out will destroy their sea views to the sea.

Announced in a press release that Cape has again prevailed wind in his legal battles the company stated, that "judge Walton had raised a long list of legal claims, the project opponents rejected including arguments about navigational safety, alternate locations, alternative technologies, conservation, Native American artifacts, sea turtles and the adequacy of the environmental impact statement and biological opinions of the project."

It remains yet to be seen whether the wind farm will be built and their opponents have vowed, file lawsuit after lawsuit in the hope that the developers eventually will give up.

Even horses hate wind farms

While most of the NIMBY claims of people come, keep in mind that horses, also serious problems with wind farms. According to a story in the Irish Times last month is the Bloodstock industry, which is the industry, which breeds thoroughbred horses, worried that Ireland is lenient towards where wind turbines can be placed and asks that the wind-energy development policies are changed.

The article according to a group of four horse organizations - Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, the Irish jockeys' Association, the Irish racehorse trainers Association and the Association of Irish racehorse owners - a template stating that Thoroughbreds have had filed "is a highly evolved flight response and were particularly sensitive to perceived Visual or auditory threats."

The filing also claimed that the "safety of the horses and their riders and handlers could be in danger because of a turbine is located in their series of TV or hearing."

These are just a few examples in an ocean of complaints about renewable energy projects. List your favorite (or the most aggravating) in the section comments.

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The US Department of Energy’s 2014 Budget Request: Implications for Renewable Energy Funding

U.S. President Obama signed the $1.1 trillion compromise spending bill that funds the government through September 2014 on January 17, 2014. The bipartisan budget temporarily brought an end to forced budget cuts and constant infighting over funding in Congress. The new budget eases many of the sequester-imposed spending cuts while reducing the federal deficit by about a trillion dollars over the next ten years.

While not all federal agencies were happy with the outcome, the budget is mostly good news for those in the renewable energy sector. For example, the National Science Foundation, which supports a number of renewable energy initiatives, received a 4.2 percent boost in funding. Similarly, with funding of $5.07 billion, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science saw an increase of 9.7 percent over 2013 levels. Overall, many of the DOE’s renewable energy-focused programs saw at least a slight increase in funding over 2013 levels.

The increase in funding for energy projects is in part driven by President Obama’s updated “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future,” which outlines out an investment strategy for his “all-of-the-above” approach to develop American energy sources in a safe and responsible way. This includes investing in new clean energy technologies while also expanding oil and gas production. The goals of the blueprint include:

Reducing our overall dependence on oil by more than 2 million barrels a day by 2025, and reducing oil imports by half by 2020 Doubling renewable electricity production from wind, solar and geothermal by 2020 Doubling energy productivity by 2030

In total, the White House says that $2.4 billion in DOE funds will be appropriated for energy-related research and development activities. This is 21.3 percent lower than what the President had requested but 29.9 percent higher than 2013 figures and 16.9 percent higher than the 2012 budget. The majority of renewable energy research and development activities are funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The EERE program receives a total of $1.9 billion in 2014, which is significantly lower (by 31.5 percent) than what the President had outlined in his budget request. While not as much as hoped for, the 2014 allocation is 10.3 percent higher than what was available in 2013 and 6.8 percent higher than 2012 figures.

Through its funding and support efforts, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy seeks to help ensure an American leadership position in the transition to a global clean energy economy. EERE funding supports research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) through partnerships with United States businesses and research institutions. The program has the explicit goal of making a wide array of clean energy technologies directly cost-competitive (without subsidies) with conventional energy technologies in use today.

Toward that end, EERE investments are directed towards high-impact activities in the areas of sustainable transportation, renewable electricity, and end-use energy efficiency in buildings and factories. In prioritizing its RDD&D efforts, EERE utilizes the framework of its “5 Core Questions,” which include:

High Impact: Is this a high-impact problem? Additionality: Will the EERE funding make a large difference relative to what the private sector (and other funding entities) is already doing?Openness: Has EERE made sure to focus on the broad problem that is being solved and is EERE open to new ideas, new approaches, and new performers?Enduring Economic Benefit: How will the EERE funding result in enduring economic benefit to the United States?Proper Role of Government: Why is what you are doing a proper high-impact role of government versus something best left to the private sector to address on its own?
Within EERE funds are directed towards specific technologies and project focuses. A breakdown of the EERE’s total budget by program area is as follows:

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies: $93 million (7 percent lower than the budget request)Bioenergy Technologies: $232 million (17.6 percent lower than the budget request)Solar Energy: $257 million (27.9 percent lower than the budget request)Wind Energy: $88 million (38.8 percent lower than the budget request)Geothermal Technology: $46 million (23.7 percent lower than the budget request)Water Power: $59 million (6.5 percent higher than the budget request)Vehicle Technologies: $290 million (49.6 percent lower than the budget request)Building Technologies: $178 million (40.7 percent lower than the budget request)Advanced Manufacturing : $181 million (50.5 percent lower than the budget request)Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability: $147 million (12.8 percent lower than the budget request)Nuclear Energy: $889 million (20.9 percent higher than the budget request)Fossil Energy Research and Development: $562 million (30.9 percent higher than the budget request)Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E): $280 million (26.1 percent lower than the budget request)Race to the Top for Energy Efficiency and Grid Modernization: $0 (the President had requested $200 million for this program)

For the renewable energy sector, the news is both good and bad. On the positive front, the news is good because EERE received more money in 2014 than it did in 2013 ($1.7 billion) and 2012 ($1.8 billion). But on the downside, nearly all of the renewable energy-focused programs received less funding than what was requested in the President’s budget. Furthermore, both Nuclear Energy and Fossil Energy Research and Development received significantly more funding than what the President included in his budget request. The President had requested $735 million for Nuclear Energy ($889 million received) and $429 million for Fossil Energy R&D ($562 million received).

The Race to the Top for Energy Efficiency and Grid Modernization initiative did not receive any funding for 2014. The idea behind this program was to challenge states to cut energy waste, support energy efficiency and modernize the nation’s grid. The program would have provided funding to encourage states, tribes, local governments with public power authorizes, and cooperatives to implement effective policies to cut energy waste and modernize the grade. While this initiative was not specifically directed towards renewable energy, it could have support some degree of renewable-focused policy development or deployment.

Despite these setbacks, the EERE program holds tremendous promise for advancing renewable energy technologies. A recent assessment on the impact of six EERE programs showed that these efforts have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in net economic benefits over the last few decades, including:

20-year EERE investments in combustion efficiency R&D brought about $70.2 billion dollars in total economic benefits According to the DOE, virtually every one of the 2.5 million hybrid elective vehicles on the road today has EERE-developed technology inside. This technology is an improved nickel-metal hydride battery that provides up to a 50 percent increase in fuel economy as compared to non-hybrid vehicles. Thanks to EERE-funded R&D, the estimated production cost of electric vehicle batteries has been reduced by 50% in just the last four years. This has helped push Plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales to more than 50,000 units last year.Back in 2012, EERE achieved its 10-year goal of demonstrating cellulosic ethanol at the pilot scale at an estimated production-scale cost of just $2.15 per gallon.EERE’s R&D solar-focused investments are estimated to have accelerated the solar industry’s technological progress by about 12 years.

Continued successful demonstrations of EERE-funded projects will hopefully spur additional funding of the DOE’s renewable energy-focused research and development programs. But with little hope of intensive political infighting ending soon, the struggle to secure funding to support renewable energy research and development will likely continue for at least a few more years.

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Readers Respond Day 6: Can We Reach 100 Percent Renewable Energy?

Several countries have announced ambitious goals to be powered completely by renewable energy, while other nations set smaller, incremental goals. These high aspirations have sparked quite a debate amongst industry experts, and we here at Renewable Energy World are curious to hear what you, our readers, have to say.

So we aksed you to add your own voices to this imporant discussion:

What are the major barriers that countries face in order to reach 100 percent renewable energy — is this goal always achievable or desirable?

We received an overwhelming number of responses (thank you!), which will be updated here daily. If you didn't get a chance to share your opinion, let your voice be heard in the comments below and submit your answer to our poll.

Dr. Carl Kukkonen
VIASPACE

Is 100 percent renewable energy achievable?

Yes, but it is easier in the Philippines than in Scotland.

100 percent renewable electricity can be economically achieved using a combination of biomass, geothermal and hydro electricity for reliable 24/7 base power (~60 percent), and intermittent sources such as solar and wind, backed up by bio diesel or biogas generators.

Dedicated biomass energy crops will play an enabling role. Biomass can also replace oil by producing biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials.

Is there enough land to grow energy crops? This key question was answered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations which determined on a global scale that sufficient “additional agricultural land could be brought into production without encroaching upon areas of high ecological or social value, once forest, protected areas and the land required to meet increased demand for food crops and livestock is excluded”.

The tropical climate in Southeast Asia, Central and South America and Africa is much better for growing biomass than in Scotland. These areas can use their natural resources of sunshine, warm weather and rainfall to grow biomass for themselves, and to export pellets or biofuels to colder regions. Many of these tropical countries are underdeveloped, and growing and processing biomass will provide employment for their people and provide electricity for their economic and social development. The monies spent will stay in their country rather than going overseas to pay for imported oil.

Colder countries like Scotland will need to obtain their extra biomass and biofuels from the warmer countries, but will benefit by having a diverse set of suppliers, and will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping the developing world without the need for charity.

Because biomass can be stored and used at any time, it plays a unique role in renewable energy.

Dr. Carl Kukkonen is CEO of VIASPACE, a U.S. renewable energy company. VIASPACE grows Giant King Grass, a high yield dedicated energy crop for electricity production and bioenergy. Previously, Dr. Kukkonen directed a research center at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University.

Stanley Pruss
5 Lakes Energy LLC

Not only is a complete global transition to a global clean energy economy feasible, a strong consensus is emerging that the transition is inevitable. Investment in advanced energy technologies, now over $250 billion per year, is on a trillion dollar trajectory — commensurate with the magnitude of investment necessary to enable the transition — while creating robust, sustained, market opportunities for decades to come.

New economic efficiencies for distributed generation resources, energy efficiency implementations, aggregated demand management capacity, energy storage and transactive energy will combine to largely supplant investment in baseload infrastructure.

The cost disparities between clean technologies and fossil fuel combustion, already trending sharply in opposite directions, will deepen with fuller future accounting of health and environmental externalities.

Market surveys are identifying a growing inclination for self-generation. Already over 700 U.S. businesses derive 100 percent of their energy from “green” power sources, including Intel, Kohl’s and Staples. Walmart, the largest commercial deployer of solar energy in the world, has a 100 percent clean energy target. Greater future focus on resiliency and adaptation will only yield greater interest in achieving similar goals by others. The urgency of climate change is likely to accelerate these trends.

The confluence of investment and market opportunities, technological innovation, the sheer force of economic trends and the exigencies of climate concerns constitutes a powerful impetus for high penetration of advanced energy systems.

Can it be done?

In the last two years numerous analyses of the feasibility of transitioning to clean energy have been undertaken by NREL, the International Energy Agency, the United Nations, the Rocky Mountain Institute, Stanford University, the University of Delaware, Google and others. These studies explore the requirements, barriers, resource availability, materials availability, logistics, and costs through a variety of analytical frameworks. Remarkably, they generally yield the same conclusion: A complete global transition to clean energy is both technically and economically feasible; the barriers that exist are social and political.

Stanley Pruss is a principal in 5 Lakes Energy LLC. Until August 2010, Mr. Pruss was the Director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Michigan’s Chief Energy Officer, and Special Advisor on Renewable Energy and the Environment under Governor Jennifer Granholm.

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Supply the United States with renewable energy: A stand-by-State road map

New Hampshire, USA-what it takes to a city, a State, a nation, to convert to 100 percent renewable energy sources? There are many countries with very ambitious targets for 100% powered by renewable energy, type (Islands seem to have a leg). But what about here in the United States, how can this be accomplished for this nation? And since all politics is local (and particularly applies to directives on renewable energy), how could that happen by individual States?

Back in the year 2011 Stanford professor Mark Jacobsen presented, which require that, and followed that with an analysis of how to achieve it in the State of New York. (Our coverage was by the way, is by far the most commented story in recent memory.) Now he extends his analysis in all 50 US States, laying out a resource roadmap, as each of them meet 100 percent of their energy needs (electricity, heating and transport) could through renewable sources of energy to 2050 - except nuclear, ethanol and other biofuels. Keep in mind that none of these calculations are aligned to optimize use of renewable energies for the least cost mix 100 percent. Levelized electricity costs of this mixture renewable energy by the year 2030 expected 11 cents/kWh (including local transfer), fossil energy with additional costs for health and climate will be compared with 20-25 cents / kWh.

Its latest results include two more deep dives for New York, show how they all new energy capacity powered by renewable energy (see the definition above) by 2020, 2030 converted 80-85% of the existing energy and could reach 100 percent by the year 2050. He takes California, percentage renewable energy footprint achieve a 100 with the following portfolio: 55 percent solar (distributed and large-scale, including many CSP), 35 percent wind (on - and offshore), geothermal energy, 5 percent and 4 percent hydroelectric power, a large contribution of energy efficiency. (Mixing with solar wind and combines that with hydro, CSP with storage, largely to smooth frequency issues, he concludes.) Ultimately, that is a net 178,000 permanent jobs avoid $131 billion in annual health-care costs and pay the 631 GW newly installed capacity within six years.

In the U.S. State of Washington, Jacobson et al. calculate how a 2050 fully renewable energy mix: 43 percent wind, 28 percent solar PV, 26 percent hydro, 2% geothermal and half a percent each wave and tidal. New capacity expansions by 137 GW $228 billion cost would be paid but in 13 years. Note that Washington has an abundance of hydroelectric power and has thus an advantage for integrated storage energy consumption match; No new Hydro are necessary (more on that later), but he assumes capacity of existing hydroelectric power stations is updated to improve efficiency.

Proposed change of the percentage distribution of California energy supply for all purposes (power, transport, heating and cooling, industrial) between the conventional fuels and WWS power in the course of time on the basis of the roadmap. Credit: Stanford/Jacobson

Overall, the methods were quite similar: "look at the footprints and areas and how many devices of any kind of that we need," Jacobson explained. Compared to his previous calculations, these new findings extend the time frame, until 2050, instead of only by 2030. Also more are energy buildout to account for installations, like for example an extensive wind since its 2011 study and updated the latest insight into job creation.

He is also posted by the addition of mortality on the basis of air quality data for each State look back calculations, the three years in each district and illustrate how air pollution and its direct connection to mortality reduce renewable energy. He goes into the health-care costs due to air pollution around three per cent of the GDP of the United States says (quick math: the U.S. GDP is about $17 trillion, so the $500 billion in health-care costs). Address could quantify at the subnational level with concrete figures such as renewable energy proves and reduce "a significant burden for the company."

The smoothest pathway, relatively speaking, to 100 percent renewable energy achieve what States have? The key, he says, knocking and improvement of existing large hydro, without coming to any new partner. "Each State with Hydro is inclined, this makes it easier", he says. United States Washington would lead this Pack because of the abundant hydropower resources - up to 30 percent of what they would - need plus a small but growing amount of wind and solar energy. He also finds that the State policy and leadership, "very supporting to change things." Other States, which could use the best Hydro include Idaho and New York. The growing influence of wind energy in some States (Iowa, South Dakota) also helps.

On the other hand it will be so easy a journey into the Southeastern States, to tap the less renewable energy and more about the interconnection. (Note that his estimates restrict non-States, receive renewable energies outside its borders, this brings things like Canadian Hydro in some Northern States.)

Perhaps the biggest takeaway Jacobson updates, is that roughly speaking none of this is new. "We have no new technology to invent it," he says. "We need to get more efficient from the perspective of costs."

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Global renewable energy-grid project: integration of renewable energies over HVDC and centralized storage

The global challenges of energy and environment can be handled through a local, regional or even a national approach. You need a global perspective and a much broader vision, a global grid for renewable energy [GREG]. A transmission system for high voltage DC [HVDC] must be created, storage facilities serve as the majority of electrical power transport medium, GREG needed with centralized energy installed. And perhaps most importantly, a group of socio political supervision institutions of all nations of the world must network and also seamlessly manage physical grid.

The obstacles to such a global shift to technical, economic and socio-political, socio-political challenges that will be used to categorize hardest. As those demonstrated researchers at the Stanford University, that appropriate renewable energy resources are available, to the planet makes, but still need a detailed and comprehensive proposal for a global energy grid shape at: regional planners need to combine their efforts before this can be achieved. Likewise must the full and clear rules as pay I produced for a global energy grid. This would require, brings together top energy administrators at each participating nation under an umbrella organization at the United Nations.

After a brief overview of the energy sector along with political obstacles, we offer technical suggestions on how a global grid could be implemented. HVDC transmission is recommended as a clear choice for the efficient and reliable long-distance delivery of electrical energy 24.07.52. And centralized storage mega plants are proposed for the balance of supply and demand in a network mostly intermittent sources.

Economy

If we want to tackle the rapidly deteriorating climate by fossil fuel power plants, creation is critical enough grid one globally for renewable energy, in order to justify our highest priority. The United States, for example, in its highway system, sensible investing from the 1950s. The rapid growth of the US economy, centred on road transport can after the second world war directly attributable to this motorway infrastructure. Also, you can associate the "dot-com" boom of the nineteen nineties directly to the wired and wireless global electronic highway. We need not be surprised, whether our economies can afford that with GREG. We must recognize that the world economy would actually expand and are therefore stronger.

With today's sluggish economy and massive public debt it can trust for all Nations to GREG with urgency be questionable. Therefore a mixture of public and private investment would be needed to implement the project. All Nations must create an environment for renewable raw materials to develop and their respective components of the transmission network to carry responsibility and commitment. As well as motorway networks for the transportation of people and products in the creation of the national and global economies are and belong to the public, so must be the power supply for the transmission of electrical energy in the public domain. While the war machines destroy economies, GREG would create economies around the world, requires only a fraction of households now reserved for sophisticated, expensive weapons of war.

Construction requires comprehensive analysis of its socio economic benefits of global, high-voltage, high-power-grid [GREG]. Increased electrical reliability and efficiency should be included as quantifiable benefits. However, if we are to global warming and CO2 emissions, the design alternatives to thermal emission units not in monetary units, which are evaluated by a handful of bankers manipulated should the challenges then. Since GREG Eventuallfy would reduce the energy costs for all Nations, which projected cost of electricity for all consumers would decline significantly in the long run.

Public funds for GREG must be hashed in the halls of national Governments and in the boardrooms of banks of developing world out. Remember that the US interstate highway system built by a special gasoline tax was financed by a trust fund. A similar approach would be at the level of the United Nations with a global "GREG Trust Fund" built on taxes for carbon rendered content of all fossil fuels produced. Furthermore, could a small [1-2 per cent] global tax on all weapons produced is collected.

Management and regulation

The most formidable obstacles to the creation of GREG lie in the socio political sphere. But company deeply invested in the fossil energy will vote against the amendment. Top energy administrators must give priority, social responsibility, not to maximise ROI, if you plan the transition to renewable energy. Policy makers need rules based on long-term goals in the short term while acknowledging potential conflicts between the regional operators and between producers and consumers. Right-of-ways, electricity markets and prices are the varied interests of the producers, utilities, network operators and prosumer [customers with own wind and solar generators] recognition takes into account.

All countries need to establish after a domestic RE-grid, be a balance between national and global interests. Power-sharing agreements, placing the transmission interconnects, security issues and reliability issues all are important. The extent at which rich countries, developing countries will support, must also be set up. Here the basis for supervision and dispute not biased is resolution by an international panel to a particular nation as an organization of the United Nations renewable energy.

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Appropriate transfer options better integration of renewable energy grid, says NREL

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Adequate transfer--is for example to record transfer to renewable energy, building - an important part like energy storage, with the integration of renewable energy sources to the grid after Lori Bird, senior analyst with the national renewable energy laboratory (NREL).

Some of the most important areas that should keep regulators concerns with regard to the integration of renewable energies are market rules and public relations, in particular for investments, transmission, bird, said during a Feb. 10 Panels as part of the NARUC Winter Committee meetings in Washington, D.C. held, it pointed out that the European countries had problems with the acceptance of the transfer, to accept more than with renewable targets.

When discussing the importance to consider system operations, noted bird Denmark, for example, has very high penetrations of wind energy on his system and could handle it very well located. Some of it is because it's in a pool great power and has a high degree of flexibility, for example the country has access to Norway's hydropower and power cogeneration, which can be used as a form of thermal storage are used and provides additional flexibility.

In contrast Germany said with renewable integration fought has, because it, to the system and less flexible to compensate for a smaller area, bird. Also Germany has pricing no locational marginal, "So there is no financial impact for the overloading of the system", she said.

Spain, a control center for renewable energy, which is a centralized system you mentioned, "where they have a central point of contact with the operator and follow all the output from the renewable generation and they are capable of, large amounts of wind energy on your system to manage."

On grid support, note that is is in the interest of Germany, when the country witnessed a rapid rise in photovoltaics (PVs) and had to change "their grid codes, to ensure that they don't have any small photovoltaic capacity on the system to lose, if gave it a small rate change on the system" she said.

Germany had to retroactively change the inverter on the square for the PV system, she said.

"[T] hat is a lesson for other regions - which is out [questions and] understand what is required on grid support through these renewable facilities" she said.

Is a challenge for the European public engagement around electrical transmission, she said, pointing out that it much concern in terms of aesthetics and interest "when attempting to do, everyone around to handle it."

To learn a lesson from Ireland, that the land transfer at national level to reduce the amount of the necessary local permits coordinated planning and site transmission, she said.

Renewable energy represent challenges to the electrical supply such as non-availability and insecurity, bird said.

"We had always these challenges with load - load different - but the introduction of renewable energy is constantly variability creates a new challenge as well as passing generation and this is so for the grid," she said.

PV systems are subject to, for example, variability of cloud cover, but once to increase the number of PV installations and they are out on the grid, which scattered variability, she said smoothes, adding that is the same thing with wind turbines.

There are a variety of solutions for the integration of renewable energy on the grid, and there is no one, single solution, taking over a grid as each grid can own institutional characteristics, market operations, generation mix and the like, is different, she said.

It is important to check which options are the least cost for a particular grid and that may vary in the course of time, said bird, added that some changes that can be made to help, are integrating renewable of energy faster, markets and balancing over a larger geographical areas

Advanced techniques reduce uncertainty as forecast "better in the handle to get how much wind you're going to have," she noted.

Other options include better use of existing transmission capacity, underused transmission capacity is available, as well as a more flexible generation fleet are sometimes "so it considerable variation over generation sources in relation to how long it takes is up to you to start up, ramp them, what their minimum generation level, and So on, are", she said.

In addition, demand response proved, a useful tool for the integration of renewable energies, as she can help, reduce the amount of the reserves, which are needed on your system.

This article appeared originally on the GenerationHub, released with permission.

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U.S. heed lessons from Europe should renewable integration or follow the face, says NARUC expert

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In integrating renewable energy to the electric grid, the United States has a unique opportunity to assess lessons learned in Europe and not replicate the disequilibrium that has occurred overseas to consumers, power producers and capital markets, according to Jeffrey Altman, senior advisor, Finadvice GmbH.

“A new transparent, ubiquitous, reliable regulatory framework needs to be established in order to correctly build and support the nation’s developing renewable power portfolio, which ensures a long-term responsibility for the whole power system, as well as the appropriate pricing to the American consumer,” he said during a Feb. 10 panel as part of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Winter Committee Meetings in Washington, D.C. “The net impact to the U.S. economy and its future strategic competitiveness can be significant. The U.S., therefore, needs to appropriately restructure its regulatory framework and prioritize this effort now, or face similar challenges as Europe in the future.”

Altman noted that there are several benefits of having high penetration levels of renewable energy on the grid, including the diversification of the power portfolio and lower wholesale prices.

Speaking of the European experience, he noted that due to massively subsidized feed-in tariffs, new additional capacity is driving down wholesale prices of power as renewables with lower marginal production costs than thermal plants get dispatched first.

Other benefits include reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, he said, noting that the European Union (EU) has set a target of a 20 percent reduction of greenhouse gases from 1990 levels, with a 20 percent renewable target and a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency for 2020. So far, he said, the EU is on target with most of its members.

Also a benefit is energy independence, which is critical for every country, Altman said. Employment gains, the development of more efficient renewable technologies and greater efficiency in scale and scope are also benefits stemming from higher levels of renewable energy, he said.

Unintended Consequences in Europe

Despite the benefits, there have been unintended consequences in Europe as it pertains to advancing renewable energy, including a misunderstanding of required subsidies and appropriate regulation, he said, adding that European regulators grossly underestimated the cost of subsidies and the necessary build-out requirements.

Some estimate that Germany’s feed-in tariff subsidy program, for instance, could exceed $1.3bn by the time it expires.

Many European regulatory regimes were inappropriately structured and there have been efforts to correct those by, for instance, initiating retroactive taxes or new regimes that resulted in significant value destruction to various renewable companies.

“This continued regulatory uncertainty across Europe is increasing the cost of capital for European renewable companies, which Fitch, the rating agency, recently highlighted as the most likely sector in the European energy markets to receive a downgrade in 2014,” Altman said.

The enormous amount of subsidies and the speed of build-up have created disruption to the power markets, he said, adding, “As the EU is a liberalized market, government actions regarding subsidies are currently being allowed by international law in favor of the perceived requirements of the consumer and the environment.”

For instance, wholesale prices in Germany have fallen from €90/MW to €95/MW in 2008 to €37/MW in 2013.

Altman also noted that the EU will be required to pay subsidies for the build-out and enhancements of power networks to manage the dynamic flows. Germany, he said, is planning to spend some €40bn, or around US$60bn, to reinforce the grid from where it was in 2012 to where it will be in 2023.

“You’re effectively taking all of the power … from the north and bringing it down to the south,” he said. “[That is] a huge effort and no one was ever considering those costs early on.”

In addition to that, the German government is also now — as others are starting to do — looking at ensuring capacity payments for thermal power stations that are being closed down to ensure the reliability of the grid and prevent blackouts and brownouts, he said.

Another challenge is that many European utilities underestimated the growth of renewables as well as the impact to wholesale prices in the entire system, leading to the continued build-out of thermal plants over the last decade, many of which were made obsolete, particularly with respect to natural gas-fired plants, by the end of the decade.

“As a result, the utilities had to shore up their balance sheets by undertaking large divestitures of some of their holdings, as well as reducing their operating costs,” Altman said.

Europe’s top 20 utilities that were worth around €1tr in 2008 are now less than half that amount due to the global financial crisis and other factors, including those involving renewable energy development, he said.

Another important matter that has occurred is that prices to energy users have increased significantly, as has the backlash against energy companies, he said.

In Germany, household prices have more than doubled from 18 cents/kWh in 2000 to more than 37 cents/kWh. In the United Kingdom, there has been a call to freeze prices for up to 20 months, Altman added.

Well-meaning European governments and regulators embarked upon an effort to reduce carbon emissions and “unintentional consequences resulted from those policies that were not ultimately fully vetted by industry [including] renewable companies and utilities and other stakeholders,” he said. “The results of these policies have required enormous subsidies, which have created disequilibrium and value destruction to both renewable companies and utilities via regulatory interventions.”

It is now envisioned that further subsidies will be required for emission targets, the support of thermal plants and storage, via capacity payments and a build-out of grids.

Accordingly, Altman added, those policies, combined with large subsidies “are destroying what was essentially a free market and, as such, the influence of government in the power sector will ultimately have no real market correction mechanisms as European governments capriciously determine the fuel mix, technology choice and capacity price levels with detrimental effect to the efficiency, investment and, most importantly, prices to consumers.”

Lessons Learned as the U.S. Moves Forward

In the U.S., Altman said, “now is the time to fully assess the implications of transitioning to a partial renewable portfolio and structure the appropriate regulation.”

The current U.S. net metering and regulation, which has allowed for renewables to come on the grid, does not take into consideration the future requirements of grid enhancements as well as what will be required to maintain a reliable power system, he said.

“There needs to be a well-coordinated assessment between federal and state regulators, regulated and non-regulated power producers, renewable companies, consumers and other important stakeholders to develop ubiquitous regulation,” he said. “Otherwise, the U.S. will ultimately face an analogous situation relative to Europe with balkanized energy markets.”

On whether regulators should wait for there to be overcapacity and strains on the systems to set new regulations, he said, “I suggest what we have learned from Europe, this would indeed be imprudent.”

Regulators should consider creating a new framework whereby a structure be agreed upon as to how much capacity will be allowed in each state/region over a 20-year period, looking into five-year increments with review every two years, he said. In parallel, there should also be an agreement as to how much thermal capacity will be retired during that time, whereby, collectively, an assessment will be made with respect to the mix of power production, the network upgrade costs, the overall reliability of the network and the ultimate price to consumers, he said.

Special attention should be paid to require flexibility in storage. Upon this analysis, he added, all new generation coming online should be bid at an auction to meet the lowest economic costs, highest reliability standards, as well as environmental standards, Altman said.

This article was originally published on GenerationHub and was republished with permission.

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Europe divided on security of supply, such as renewable energies is growing

Germany, France and the U.K. are following nations from Spain to Greece in developing programs called capacity mechanisms to pay utilities to keep plants on standby from as early as 2016. The European Commission instead plans a single market by the end of the year. Supply and demand in 15 markets was for the first time linked today through a daily auction.

Europe’s power market relied on intermittent wind and solar output for a record 7.4 percent of generation in 2012, a share poised to reach 18 percent by 2020, according to Energy Brainpool GmbH & Co. KG., a Berlin-based consultant. The renewable energy boom cut profitable hours at coal and gas-fired plants and IHS Inc. estimates that as much as 60 percent of the region’s gas capacity isn’t covering costs and may be at risk of closure by 2016.

“Capacity mechanisms are popping up like mushrooms all over Europe,” David Viduna, head of long-term origination at Prague-based utility CEZ AS, said in an interview in Vienna on Jan. 29. “The point is that all those efforts need to be harmonized” because payments in one country affect the competitiveness of plants in neighboring countries, he said.

Preventing Blackouts

Nations are seeking to prevent blackouts as utilities plan the biggest-ever wave of shutdowns of unprofitable power plants. As much as 110 gigawatts of gas-fired capacity probably will shut in the next three years, according to IHS, a researcher based in Englewood, Colorado. One gigawatt is enough to power about 2 million European homes.

U.K. utilities from Centrica Plc to SSE Plc will be able to bid in an auction this year to offer backup power plants from 2018 at the lowest possible cost, according to the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

“We need more generation,” Michael Fallon, U.K.’s energy minister, said Jan. 21 in an interview. “We’re losing a fifth of our capacity over the next 10 years.”

Even with 58 nuclear reactors designed to operate 24 hours a day, France doesn’t have enough capacity to meet peak winter demand. Europe’s second-biggest power user may have to import almost 3,600 megawatts during cold snaps this winter, according to RTE, Electricite de France SA’s grid unit. There’s a “moderate risk of supply shortages,” the network manager said in a Nov. 7 report.

Guaranteeing Supply

“France is convinced of the need” to take action to prevent blackouts, Robert Durdilly, president of the Union Francaise de l’Electricite, which represents power producers and distributors, said Jan. 29 in an interview.

From 2016, suppliers without enough capacity to meet the highest peak in demand from their customers must purchase certificates from generators guaranteeing backup supply, according to Commission de Regulation de l’Energie, the Paris- based regulator.

Germany, Europe’s biggest market, is paying plants deemed essential for power supply stability, including EON SE’s Irsching gas-fired plant in Bavaria, on an individual basis. Details have not yet been agreed to for a longer-term measure, according to a text adopted at a meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet in Meseberg that ended Jan. 23.

Gas-fired plants such as Irsching can’t operate for enough hours to cover their costs, Georg Oppermann, an EON spokesman in Dusseldorf, Germany, said by e-mail.

“This is why we believe that plants which are needed for the security of the power system should be rewarded adequately,” he said.

Increase Trading

Nations should instead ensure security of supply by building more cross-border connections and increase trading with neighbors, according to the commission.

One of the pillars of the European Union is a single market where people, goods, services and capital move freely between its 28 nations. The region’s plan for a joint energy market by the end of 2014 will save as much as 70 billion euros ($94 billion) a year by 2030, according to the commission. Coupling, a step on the way to achieving a single market, may save consumers as much as 4 billion euros a year.

Europe began linking day-ahead markets in November 2006 as France, Belgium and the Netherlands integrated allocation of transmission capacity on cables and power trading. Germany and Luxembourg joined in November 2010.

The link-up of next-day electricity trading from the U.K. to Finland is intended to make power flow more easily across borders to where it is most needed.

First Auction

Prices in the first next-day power auction held today by network operators and energy exchanges across countries that account for 75 percent of Europe’s electricity supply ranged from 35.98 euros a megawatt-hour in Germany to the equivalent of 53.88 euros in the U.K.

“A strong, interconnected electricity transmission grid is critical” to creating a Europe-wide energy market and ensuring security of supply, Ethel Horan, spokeswoman for Brussels-based grid group Entso-e, said by e-mail.

“If we allow national ways of fixing markets with capacity mechanisms, it undermines the internal market,” said Klaus- Dieter Borchardt, a director for internal market in the energy department of the regulator in Brussels.

Capacity mechanisms could have “unfavorable effects” on competition, French regulator CRE said in a report last year. If a plant in one country receives payments, it may be able to sell power at cheaper rates than generators in neighboring countries, CEZ’s Viduna said.

Spanish Plant

A typical idle 500-megawatt gas plant in Spain, where generators have been able to earn capacity payments since 2007, receives about 7.3 million euros a year, according to Endesa SA, the Madrid-based utility. The number isn’t based on an actual plant.

Tennet Holding BV, one of four German high-voltage grid managers, will pay a “middle double-digit million-euro sum” a year to the Irsching 4 and 5 power plants to prevent them closing, EON said in May.

Capacity mechanisms are designed to pay the most flexible plants to act as backup when renewable output drops. A gas-fed plant with the latest technology can produce power within minutes, while coal-fed stations can take as much as six hours to reach full capacity.

Germany’s five-fold increase in renewable energy in the decade through 2012 intensified the need for gas-fired plants. Wind and solar accounted for as much as 49 percent of Germany’s power on Dec. 23, falling to 4 percent two days later, data from the European Energy Exchange compiled by Bloomberg show.

Further Declines

Profit at gas plants plunged as German power prices slumped. The benchmark year-ahead contract in Europe’s largest economy fell 29 percent since 2010 and traded at 36.55 euros a megawatt-hour today, broker data show. Prices may slide as much as 10 euros with a capacity mechanism because of the reduced risk of supply disruption, according to Tom Tindall, a director at IHS in London.

Gas-fed plants have been losing money since 2012 and will remain unprofitable through 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Power plants in Germany lose 20.73 euros for every megawatt-hour of power they generate, a gauge known as the clean-spark spread, a calculation based on year-ahead power price, fuel and emissions costs, according to data on Bloomberg.

Capacity mechanisms may cost consumers as much as 20 percent of the value of wholesale power markets, according to the commission. That’s 13.2 billion euros a year across Germany, France and the U.K., the bloc’s three largest markets, based on average prices and 2012 consumption.

Household Bills

That would add to the 28 percent price increase in the six years through 2013, according to Eurostat data. German residential bills are more than twice the amount that utilities pay to deliver the power, according to Berlin-based lobby group BDEW, even as demand last year fell to the lowest in a decade.

Economic output in the 18-nation euro region probably rose 0.4 percent in the three months through December after sliding for seven quarters, according to the median of 30 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

Spain’s 14 million households paid more than 858 million euros last year in capacity payments, said Cesar Martinez Villar, a regulatory affairs expert at Endesa in Madrid.

There is a risk new investments will be discouraged by capacity payments, according to Ben Caldecott, the program director at Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.

“Capacity mechanisms are a band aid for a deeper, more structural market reform that’s required,” he said. “Poorly designed mechanisms paying out more than is needed will cost consumers more.”

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US State of the Union 2014: a backseat for renewable energy

New Hampshire, USA-broader domestic social issues and international policy, the by the "a permanent war Foundation" moves away took center stage in President Obama State of the nation (SOTUS) last night. National energy policy, renewable energy, including largely took a back seat of the President major topics of conversation: contractor, hiking the minimum wage for Federal Republic of pushing immigration reform final, strong drives in employment and training, education, pensions and health.

After a short first Leckerbissen--how more now is oil made at home as we buy-from the rest of the world for the first time for almost 20 years - domestic energy was mentioned, as President Obama on the success of his "all the above" not until the half hour mark energy strategy. One reason, he said, is due to natural gas, which he called "the bridge fuel, which makes our economy" with reduced CO2 pollution, and he promised to support what he described as almost $100 billion invested using the natural gas in new factories.

The other reason is that renewable energy and specifically the United States ' global leadership in solar, he said, indicate that a new home or business all four minute-Sol aryanised calls and each Panel proposed in lieu of a worker, whose job can be outsourced." (These jobs grow ten times national average, a just-released study found.)

President Obama calls to use attention to the tax reform specifically for renewable energy. "Let us continue that progress with a smarter tax policy that stops, the $4 billion per year to give fossil fuels industries, that do not require it, so that we can invest more in the fuels of the future," he said. This was probably an allusion to the proposed US energy tax reforms, but how much these proposals be modified or revised, and how quickly a Congress election year, probably not is known be for several months. Nevertheless, enough was a mainstay for different groups to urge more action in their post SOTUS reactions. Peter Kelley, AWEA's Vice President of public affairs, noted how far energy prices down come wind and their contribution to the electricity network has increased, and both should continue "as long as there are more policy support."

Finally, President Obama moved the discussion to the more general question of climate change again, pointed out, the nation that in the past eight years its total carbon pollution "more than any nation on Earth" has reduced the United States he underlines commitment to renewable energy, the President acknowledged that "This change and will not happen to a clean energy economy overnight" and vague pointed out, that "it requires some difficult decisions along the way." "" But he claimed that climate change is fact, and urged that when our children look us in the eye and I want questions whether we have done what we could that, all we can say, "Yes, we have."

Here is the official transcript of the President's speech.

The last two SOTUSes had a focus on renewable power generation, including further development on federal lands (which continues to happen) and a call to action against climate change (which is materialized by the middle of the year in new clean air and power plant proposals) emphasised. He proposed, with royalties from drilling on federal land for the financing of renewable energy development of biofuels, batteries, natural gas as fuel, but little happens there - although a version of this plan by solar energy industries Association (SEIA) as a possible solution for the trade case floated United States and China have been using to finance a piece of profits from products imported to domestic solar manufacturing.

Republican responses on the SOTUS talking energy points calls for further development of skills domestically, criticism of the Government regulations for drilling and exploration. Speaker John Boehner didn't hit energy production despite Obama's Government, because it has become. Republicans also pointed to the KeystoneXL pipeline, no mentions in the President's speech, as another example to get that could secure more America's energy independence.

And finally: in a cold war origin tradition, a member of the Cabinet is kept Capitol Hill during the SOTUS called"survivor" with unfathomable disaster, which eliminated the rest of the Government. This year the Department of Commerce was none other than Minister of energy Ernest Moniz, now created its place as 12th in line to the Oval Office.

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The farm bill and its impact on financing renewable energy

The first Farm Bill was introduced in 1933 for the overall purpose of ensuring that everyone had enough to eat, farmers earned a living, and that the soil and water stayed healthy. A new Farm Bill is written, debated and passed every five to seven years. Since 1933 15 different versions of the Farm Bill have passed. The 2008 Farm Bill, called the Food, Conservation and Energy Act, authorized $289 billion in spending over five years.

Every Farm Bill is comprised of different titles, each of which covers a different set of programs (e.g., Energy, Bioenergy programs, renewable energy systems). The Energy title was added in the 2002 incarnation of the Farm Bill. Since then, USDA renewable energy programs have been used to incentivize research, development, and adoption of renewable energy projects, including solar, wind, and anaerobic digesters. However, the most recent primary focus of USDA renewable energy programs has been to promote U.S. biofuels production and use.

The $288 billion 2008 Farm Bill (aka the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008) was a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill and provided funding for the following renewable energy programs:

Biobased Markets Program: Continues the federal preference for procurement of biobased products and the biobased products labeling program
Biorefinery Assistance: Loan guarantees to produce advanced biofuels
Repowering Assistance: Encourage existing biorefineries to install new energy systems to use biomass for heat and power
Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels: Incentives for next generation biofuel production
Biodiesel Fuel Education Program: Education and outreach on biodiesel use
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP): Grants and loan guarantees for energy efficiency and renewable energy
Biomass Research and Development: Supports advanced research to improve bioenergy
Rural Self-Sufficiency Initiative: Cost-share grants for rural communities to develop and implement energy self-sufficiency initiatives
Feedstock Flexibility Program: Sugar import management program
Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP): Assistance to stimulate energy crop plantings
Forest Biomass for Energy: Research on use of low-value forest biomass
Community Wood Energy Program: Grants for rural communities to install wood energy systems in community facilities
Biofuels Infrastructure Study: Study of the infrastructure needs associated with the production and use of biofuels
Renewable Fertilizer Study: Study potential to produce fertilizer from renewable energy
Parts of the 2008 Farm Bill expired September 30, 2012 but the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (January 2, 2013) extended most aspects of the 2008 farm bill for one additional year until September 30, 2013. This date has of course since passed and expiration has become an issue again since Congress has not yet agreed to a new farm bill or extended the current one beyond 2013. All of the major farm bill energy programs lack baseline funding going forward.

A bicameral team of 41 lawmakers is charged with merging farm bills passed this summer by the House and Senate into one piece of legislation to create the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013. However, negotiations are currently hung up on a number of points, including a $35 billion gap between the two sides on food stamp spending and the apparent reluctance of each side to budge from its position.

For those involved in renewable energy, the Farm Bill Energy Title programs are of particular interest. The Farm Bill Energy Title programs help rural communities access investment capital to build new markets and create new jobs and other economic opportunities. For example, the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels program provides funding to support research, investment and infrastructure necessary to build a biofuels industry that creates jobs and produces renewable fuel. Since 2009, more than 275 eligible producers in 44 states have received payments. Similarly, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) enables farmers to develop next-generation energy crops from non-food sources, thus creating new farm income sources. According to the most recent USDA figures, BCAP supports more than 860 growers in 188 counties across 12 states, enabling them to convert approximately 59,000 underutilized acres to energy crops.

As another example, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) is a widely utilized program under the Energy Title. REAP provides financial assistance to agricultural producers and small businesses in rural communities to purchase, install, and construct renewable energy systems; make energy efficiency improvements to non-residential buildings and facilities; use renewable technologies that reduce energy consumption; and participate in energy audits, renewable energy development assistance, and feasibility studies. USDA says that the 7,600 projects REAP supports employ nearly 18,000 people and generate or save more than 7.3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.

The lack of a deal on the 2013 Farm Bill — combined with the spending cuts mandated by the sequester earlier this year — has cut into funding for renewable energy programs and created a state of uncertainty about the future. For instance, as a result of the sequester funding for the REAP program was reduced by about $1.4 million and the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program was reduced by about $3.3 million. These cuts represent a 5.1 percent reduction in funding over previous year figures. The impact of these reductions are fewer projects will be able to be funded under REAP and all 260 producers who have applied under the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program will see a proportional reduction in the amount of funding they receive. As of right now, most of the renewable energy programs that were authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill are currently unfunded as the funding provided in that Act has been exhausted.

The USDA says that a new Food, Farms and Jobs Bill is necessary in order to provide additional mandatory funding for these important programs. Secretary Vilsack has repeatedly expressed the need for a comprehensive Food, Farm and Jobs Bill to support renewable energy projects in rural communities, keep up momentum in American agriculture, grow the rural economy and create jobs. Without a new five-year bill, producers, rural America will suffer.

There are two different versions of the Farm Bill under consideration — the Senate-assed version (S.954) and the House-passed version (H.R. 2462). Both the Senate-passed and House-passed bills extend most of the renewable energy provisions of the farm bill, with the exception of the Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency Initiative, the Forest Biomass for Energy Program, the Biofuels Infrastructure Study, and the Renewable Fertilizer Study which are either omitted or explicitly repealed by both bills.

In addition, S. 954 omits the Repowering Assistance Program, while H.R. 2642 adds a new reporting requirement on energy use and efficiency at USDA facilities. Otherwise, the primary difference between the House and Senate bills is in the source of funding. Over the five-year reauthorization period (FY2014-2018), the Senate bill contains a total of $880 million in new mandatory funding and authorizes $1.140 billion to be appropriated for the various farm bill renewable energy programs. In contrast, H.R. 2642 contains no mandatory funding for these programs, while authorizing $1.405 billion over the five years, subject to annual appropriations. In addition, the House bill eliminates all support for the collection, harvest, storage, and transportation (CHST) component of Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), severely limiting its potential effectiveness as an incentive to produce cellulosic feedstocks.

The House and Senate recently came together in a rare show of bipartisanship and approved a new overall spending budget. For those of us keeping on eye on renewable energy funding, this is a small sign of hope that a new Farm Bill is on the horizon.

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Renewable Energy Black Eyes Are Contagious and Avoidable

The margin for error is slim when an industry is relatively new. It's susceptible to strict scrutiny and heightened consumer and stakeholder expectations. The renewable energy and energy efficiency industry illustrates a particularly challenging example, as the market presents not only new products and services, but a cultural and political shift to a new way we conserve and generate energy.

This insight prompted the fall launch of the Clean Energy Credentialing Coalition (CECC). Five organizations, committed to raising the bar for product, services and workmanship, have joined forces to get the word out about the value that credentialing brings to our broadening young industry.

Word of a failed installation, or a newly insulated but leaky attic, an expensive but inferior training course, or an underperforming product can spread quickly by word of mouth, traditional media or faster than a speeding bullet by social media. All "green" can get wrongly branded by one mistake, one black eye.

Enter a protective screen — a collective, industry-wide commitment to quality through credentialing. CECC was created with a single message — that quality and legitimate assurances matter to the clean energy industry.

Most of you are familiar with the five founding members of the CECC: the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, the Building Performance Institute, the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation and the Small Wind Certification Council. Jointly, the coalition covers the credentialing assessment triangle for renewable energy and energy efficiency practitioners, products and training.

You know us, but did you know that each of us practice what we preach by making sure that our operations and systems meet standards for credentialing bodies? We too go through painstaking application and assessment processes with ongoing maintenance requirements and commitment to improvements. Each CECC organization has received third-party accreditation to national and international standards or guides.

Proof of credible credentials does matter.

A 2012 report from McGraw-Hill Construction, titled Construction Industry Workforce Shortages: Role of Certification, Training and Green Jobs in Filling the Gaps, finds that by requiring professional certifications of employees for different skills, firms are more apt to maintain a competitive advantage while also benefiting individual workers. A 2008 study for New York State found that nationally certified photovoltaic installers had fewer problems during a post installation inspection than non-certified installers.

You can play an influential role in providing quality shields for your specific industry and for the entire green market. Help us get the word out to consumers, government agencies, the media, educators, professional organizations and others to recognize credible credentials. Point to the Clean Energy Credentialing Coalition as a collective badge of excellence for an industry that embraces public safety, consumer protection and high standards.

The information and views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on this Web site and other publications. This blog was posted directly by the author and was not reviewed for accuracy, spelling or grammar.

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European Commission To Member States: Follow Our Lead for Renewable Energy Policy

New Hampshire, USA -- The European Commission has offered up some new guidelines about managing electricity markets among its Member States, offering direction for design and support schemes for renewable energy, managing capacity, and addressing demand at the consumer level to mitigate new generation investments -- which, while technically not binding, likely will inform future regional environmental and aid policies.

Renewable power generation is fast approaching parity with non-renewables, though in general any new generation type is more costly than market prices for electricity, according to recent analysis from the International Energy Agency. But those IEA studies are "not comparable [nor] fully applicable" to future energy policy directions, says the EC, so it is undertaking its own analysis of cost comparisons and subsidies of various technologies, pledging to issue its report next June.

While supportive of Member States' efforts to establish an internal electricity market for Europe by 2014, the EC underscores the needs to adhere to European Union policies about secure and competitively priced supplies, renewable energy and climate change objectives, and energy efficiency improvements. Thus, it is stepping forward to "define the role, level and nature of public intervention, in line with the principle of subsidiarity, at Union, regional, national or local level." (Here's the PDF of the EC's proposals and explanations.)

Specifically for renewable energy (admittedly focused on solar and wind), the EC suggests adapting policies and rules for state intervention to recognize future market needs. That means letting the market dictate investment and production decisions, and thus gradually phasing out feed-in tariffs (FIT) and moving towards other "supportive instruments" more tied to market pricing, such as auctions and tenders, feed-in premiums, and quota obligations. (Other types of support such as domestic content requirements, the EC advises, "might not be in line with the EU acquis.") Cooperation mechanisms also should be pursued, seeking to leverage renewable energy opportunities across Member State borders, including joint projects and support schemes. Unannounced or retroactive scheme changes should be avoided to preserve investor confidence, says the EC -- quite likely a memo to Spain about its recent legislative about-face. Renewable energy support and goals ought to align more closely with Europe's carbon emissions trading schemes, says the EC, and these principles and directions it is laying out for public intervention in electricity markets could also be applied in other sectors, such as heating and transportation. All the EC's recommendations and discussions, including examples of standardized forms, are listed here within individual working documents.

While the EC acknowledges all these guidelines and recommendations are not legally binding to Member States, it urges that they will be applied when the EC assesses state interventions into renewable energy support schemes or capacity mechanisms, and will "guide the future enforcement of EU state aid rules and future proposals for EU energy legislation." The EC is currently prepping a draft for guidelines due next year on environmental and energy aid for 2014-2020.

Broadly speaking the EC's proposals are well-timed, encouraging Member States to take the lead on deployment of renewable energy while raising broader issues of generation, availability to the EC's level, notes the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). However, many of the EC's recommendations such as "competitive allocation mechanisms" and auction processes emphasize factors relevant to large-scale renewable energy efforts, and would tend to ignore or lock out smaller distributed-generation efforts and self-consumption, the EPIA notes. And adjusting renewable energy support schemes to be more market-based wrongly assumes that there's a level playing field in the market to begin with; "requesting market responsiveness from renewables would be putting the cart before the horse," says EPIA policy director Frauke Thies.

The EC also calls for Member States to assess and address "generation inadequacy" and whether and how to incorporate ancillary services into the equation particularly to balance renewable energy. This is especially important and needs to be "harmonized" across Europe as a whole, notes the EPIA, adding that the EC should emphasize it even more, particularly development of aggregation strategies. The group also thinks the EC must offer more direction in flexibility requirements such as demand response and energy storage, and rewarding more flexible generation assets.

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Microsoft vs. Apple Still Making Headlines — in Renewable Energy

New Hampshire, USA -- Microsoft vs. Apple wars have played out in the electronics industry for decades. That bitter competitive landscape, though, has changed significantly in this digital age with Apple's iUbiquity.

But they're still visibly competitive in another arena: both are among the top users of renewable energy according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And in the past few days they've been trading headlines again.

Microsoft Buys Into Wind Power for Data Center Ops

Microsoft buys more than 1.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy credits (RECs) annually, according to the EPA, and last year the computer giant pledged to become carbon-neutral. Part of that is reducing energy consumption in facilities and data centers — and powering them with renewable energy.

To that end, yesterday Microsoft announced its first long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), a 20-year contract to buy all the energy produced from RES Americas' 110-MW Keechi Wind project northwest of Fort Worth, Texas to be built next year and operational in 2015. That energy will go into the grid to help power the company's data center in nearby San Antonio, which already uses recycled wastewater for cooling. "We have a long-standing ambition to move in the direction of sourcing more clean energy as a company," stated Rob Bernard, Microsoft's chief environmental strategist, and "this is an opportunity to go to the next stage and invest directly in green energy."

Microsoft's demonstrating its support for renewable energy at other U.S. facilities as well. Its Silicon Valley campus has a solar power system that offsets 15 percent of its energy needs, a data center in Quincy, Washington gets 83 percent of its electricity from local hydropower, and another data center being built in Wyoming will house fuel cells powered by biogas from a nearby water treatment plant to be completely "zero-carbon."

Of course this isn't the first data center to embrace renewable energy. Naturally, Apple has been doing it for a while, too. And so has Google.

Apple Antes Up for Ex-First Solar Plant

Meanwhile, Apple is making a splash on another front, reportedly ponying up more than $500 million in a new supply deal for a key supplier. GT Advanced Technologies revealed yesterday that it's entered into a multi-year supply agreement with Apple to provide sapphire material, which is used to make the tougher, scratch-resistant camera lens on newer iPhones (and perhaps eventually the entire screen surface in the future, but that's still up for debate). The deal apparently involves production out of a "new" manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, to employ anywhere from 700 to 1,300 workers and an "investment in renewable energy," according to Gov. Jan Brewer.

Technically, though, it isn't a brand-new facility — it's First Solar's former plant, which the company built out but never used and then sold off last month on the cheap. The site includes a 3.3-MW (AC) rooftop PV array; reports indicate the plant will be entirely powered by renewable energy, through both solar and possibly geothermal. Apple and GT confirmed the news but wouldn't offer details about the site itself or plans to expand the solar power generation; nor would the utility they're working with, Salt River Project.

It's worth noting that on the EPA's renewable-energy radar both Microsoft and Apple trail well behind Intel, which buys 3.1 billion kWh annually in RECs sourced from wind, solar, geothermal, low impact hydro, and biomass, as well as a small amount of on-site solar (7 MW and growing). Google, meanwhile, hasn't been on the EPA's lists since mid-2012.

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Renewable Energy World LIVE is One Week Away

Next week, renewable energy stakeholders from all across the world, representing all facets of the industry, will head to Orlando, Florida for one of the best all-inclusive renewable energy events of the year. Renewable Energy World Conference and Expo North America, co-located with POWER-GEN International (celebrating its 25th anniversary), Nuclear Power International, and the Financial Forum will convene for Power Generation Week, an action-packed five days complete with educational sessions, technical tours, workshops, award ceremonies, compelling keynote addresses, networking breakfasts, parties and so much more.

I'll be there kicking off the week with a technical tour of the Stanton Solar Energy Center to see its 5.9-MW array owned by Duke Energy and powered by Yingli modules. If that doesn’t sound interesting, then there are multiple other tours offered in that day, including a visit to an algae facility and a trip to the roof of the Orange County Convention Center to learn about its 1-MW project powered by SolarWorld solar panels.

Monday evening, along with my colleague, Sharryn Dotson, I'll be announcing the winners of the 2013 Projects of the Year. If you haven't read about our fantastic finalists, you can do that here. Along with our projects of the year, well be announcing our Papers of the Year (which will be presented at conference sessions during the show) and our first Woman of the Year. As far as I’m concerned, the awards gala alone is worth the trip.

The official conference then kicks off on Tuesday at 9:30 AM with a keynote lineup that is sure to delight. After lunch on the huge exhibit hall, we’ll start digging into the hottest and most up to date information for the renewable energy industry during our conference sessions. This year our conference tracks include Biomass, Geothermal, Hydropower, Solar, Utility Integration and Wind Power.

Our Biomass Track will explore innovative uses of algae in power production, with a look at how waste CO2 from power plants or industrial operations can be transformed from a cost to revenue stream by using it as a feedstock to grow algae. The Biomass track will also look at the use of biomass to produce power and it will explore waste-to-energy projects.

The Geothermal Track examines new technologies, markets and applications for geothermal energy production. Of particular interest to POWER-GEN attendees might be the potential partnerships between the oil and gas industry and the geothermal industry on co-production technology.

Explore key hydro issues in the Hydropower Track. We have put together a fantastic conference lineup that includes how we can use hydropower as a large battery for energy storage. With more and more renewables on the grid, energy storage has taken on a life of its own and hydropower can play a key role. Other hydro sessions will examine how developers can “get the money” to finance new projects and review what’s trending in low-impact hydropower.

Because energy storage is such an important topic in this industry, we’re also exploring it in our Utility Integration Track in a session called “Successful Integration of Renewables and Energy Storage.” Other conference sessions in that track look at how the grid can accommodate more renewables and another emerging trend in the industry: microgrids. The first U.S. commercial-scale microgrid that includes solar was completed last month in Maryland. It is predicted that microgrids will spread across the country as a solution to energy security – think about military bases and critical care units as two examples of places that simply can’t afford to ever lose power.

And speaking of solar, our Solar Track is an excellent reflection of how the solar market is expanding into smaller-scale installations and emerging markets. We’ll look at opportunities for behind-the-meter solar installations, innovative sources of funding for solar projects and solar power’s value proposition in emerging markets and, again, microgrids.

Finally our Wind Track offers information, networking and education about the wind industry today. Attendees will be able to talk directly to wind turbine manufacturers in our vendor’s forum and learn about the locations that are ripe for wind power development. Finally, we’ll also explore new wind power technology particularly as it applies to small wind.

When conference attendees are done learning for the day, they can have drinks with 22,000 of their closest friends on the tradeshow floor both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and attend our networking party at the House of Blues on Tuesday night and/or the restaurant crawl on Wednesday night.

Our Thursday mega-session will put all of this knowledge together with a look at how North American utilities are supposed to weigh state and federal mandates and customer expectations against rising costs and existing power assets to create a “balanced portfolio.” Panel representatives from renewable, fossil, and nuclear technologies along with utility reps will discuss what a “balanced portfolio” should even look like and how utilities should go about trying to get it. This mega-session cuts across all power generation technologies and should make for a lively and informative discussion.

As the mega-session ends, the Women in Power Committee will host its first luncheon honoring the first recipient of the POWER-GEN 2013 Woman of the Year Award. The winner of the award will be giving a keynote during an elegant sit-down luncheon. Tickets are still available.

Renewable Energy World North America is like RenewableEnergyWorld.com LIVE focusing on the most important, relevant issues that affect the renewable energy industry today only instead of being online it's live and in person.

Hope to see you in Orlando!

The information and views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on this Web site and other publications. This blog was posted directly by the author and was not reviewed for accuracy, spelling or grammar.

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Try again: A national US renewable energy standard will

James Montgomery, co-editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com

New Hampshire, USA-several U.S. Senators be resurrected legislation for a national renewable energy standard (RES), to create the search, while crop changes in some quieter markets more proposed RPS.

Senate S. 1595 by Mark Udall (D-Colorado) and Tom Udall (D - New Mexico) and days later "American renewable energy and efficiency Act" by Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), both demand demand a national RES policy proposes to introduce a short-term requirements 6 percent renewable energy adoption (2015 for the Udall Bill 2014 for Markey) gradually increase up to 25 percent by 2025. Both would complement (not override) individual State programs RPS; renewable, include both handed out for purchase (Markey's plan offers a bonus for distributed power generation and renewable energy projects on Indian countries and distributed brownfield sites.). Both quote billions in economic benefits in certain States and communities, energy independence and a cleaner future for all benefits for hundreds of thousands of jobs at the national level.

There was a communication between the Senators offices over these bills before they were started within two days of each other, noted Mike Saccone, Communications Director for Senator Mark Udall.

But there are some differences in the proposals:

Low-impact biomass. Markey's plan calls for use of biomass, that 50 percent greenhouse gas emissions vs. reduced yields a combined cycle natural gas plant (20-year life cycle). "" This distinction between perennial crops and grasses, wood waste and reclaimed wood and tree crowns and branches --vs. cut and burn whole Baume--Associate Director of Government Affairs for the natural resources Defense Council (NRDC) is important, because "All trees are anything but 'CO2-neutral', a major CO2 polluters as coal,", emphasizes Franz Matzner. Markey to track the bill charges of also the EPA, such emission reductions.

Energy efficiency. Markey's Bill also emphasizes energy-efficiency programs through combined heat/electricity, to switch fuel, reducing network losses, codes and standards, and end-use energy efficiency receives from equipment upgrades. Energy companies would have to implement energy efficiency programs that save 1 percent of sales by the year 2015 and cumulative 15 percent of sales by the year 2025 required. Natural gas plants have similar requirements to: half a percent to 2015 and cumulative 10% by the year 2025. U.S. households would such improvements to savings of $49 per year and cumulatively by 2030, adding $90 billion while reducing CO2 emissions by 480 million tons annually up to the year 2025, the corresponding output of 120 coal-fired power plants.

The Udall does not include energy efficiency legislation, but it is introduced as an amendment to the proposed Shaheen-Portman-energy efficiency law. The Bill has garnered welcome broad bipartisan support but has been bogged down in debates over some other changes and other political diversion.

The question of national RPS has come up often in recent years, but there were enough lasting impulses. Udall even hoisted the 25 x 25 banner before, in 2002, while members of the House and later repackaging and reintroduce it the Senate in 2009. Markey, offered in the meantime its own crack on energy efficiency in 2009 with the Waxman-Markey Bill in the House are there many echoes from this proposal in his latest one

It is hard to say, what will get traction a national RPS debate (let because two separate ones), much less in the Senate as the Republican House dominated already in direction to them, before you stopped the current status was unfriendly. In the meantime more than half of U.S. States have developed their own RPS standards and some are their objectives approaches now sooner than planned. RPS policies continue to work and at State levels, repeatedly attempting it in (ALEC et al.) rule fend off popular. But probably more direct accountability of fossil fuels costs and negative effects need always enough momentum behind any national RPS policy, and this should not happen in the current situation.

Senator Mark Udall wants to see that RES "Way present themselves," Saccone adopted, said, whether as an amendment to the Bill Shaheen Portman or as stand-alone legislation-means, or maybe even a combination with the Markey Bill. "We'll certainly be open."

Meanwhile arise some updates on renewable portfolio standards (RPS) at the level of the Federal States:

-Vermont 2011 comprehensive energy mandates plan (CEP) 90% renewable energy by 2050, but the State renewable companies want to push more short-term goals: 20% of total energy consumption from renewable energy sources and energy efficiency by 2020 (the State current renewable energy use lies at about 11 percent, according to renewable energy Vermont, the State non-profits renewable energies Association.) REV wants also an official State renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of Vermont "Goals" for provider dictate integration of renewable energies in their annual electricity retail sales. Other items on the wish list of the REV are Community-scale more solar and wind, a stronger net metering program and a CO2 tax. "This is a demanding and difficult challenge, but we have to start somewhere," said David Blittersdorf, President and CEO of AllEarth renewables.

-Introduced in 2008 in Ohio, SB-221, and in 2012, set changed 12.5 percent RPS by a half percentage point carve-out solar. A new law is now to chip away at the State RPS criteria. SB 58 would substantially rewrite, that these rules: eliminates the requirement of half of this hit in the State include Canadian Hydro and cost caps fit. It would also tweak the language to sanctions optional, if utilities not to make the RPS goals.

-Michigan established 2008 RPS policy is for 10 percent until 2015 under the more robust State, although at that time began to fair Michigan renewable energy its portfolio by a much smaller place. Last year Michigan tried unsuccessfully to expand its RPS, but approaching the target date 2015 a new report shows that a 30% RPS is economically feasible.

Wider political movements over State RPS arise in Midwest States of Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota.

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Making technology and renewable energy world name woman of the year finalists

Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Nashua, n.h., - the power - Gen 2013 women in power Committee is pleased the finalists for the first power-Gen woman of the year.

The finalists were from names of members of the community is selected and represent different facets of the industry.

The finalists are Ria Persad, founder and President of StatWeather, which provides for probabilistic weather forecast tools weather risk management for the energy industry; Jane Weissman, President and CEO of the Interstate renewable energy company, a non-profit organization that has worked, to the use of renewable energies since 1982 to accelerate; and Patty West with the Tennessee Valley Authority, a US-Government company, which provides electricity for 9 million people.

The women of the year were nominated in four categories with the most weight given to how they power generation advanced judged. In addition to promoting the energy industry as a judge the effect, that the candidates on their communities, their ability to lead and their success in mentoring others considered.

To encourage more women to enter of the energy industry, PennWell Corporation and female pioneers decided to recognize in energy technology, how this distributed power-Gen 2013 women of the year finalists. "If the achievements of the early adapter not recognized the growth of women in power could be endangered,", said Rich Baker, Senior Vice President with PennWell.

While these finalists both represent conventional and regenerative energy and each one works in a different facet of the energy industry (finance, policy, technology, respectively), a thread running through all of them is their commitment to promoting and improving the energy industry in North America. Every woman has devoted her life in the traditionally male-dominated field of energy, and issued every woman has to make determination where it is today. Estimates the proportion of women in the industry working, but in General, the number of moves to a 1:4 female share. And how you the series climbing, the percentage of women in leadership positions is small.

"We hope that these women as examples for young women considering career makes that amazing benefits can be achieved through hard work and dedication," said Jennifer Runyon, chairwoman of the women in the power Committee.

These three finalists will 2013-Power-Gen woman of the year at the annual awards banquet on Monday, November 11, at the Hard Rock Live at the universal resort in Orlando, Florida as part of the POWER-GEN International Conference and exhibition and co-located NUCLEAR POWER International Conference and exhibition, Renewable Energy World Conference & exhibition, North America, and the financial Forum named.

2013 The women power lunch will be during the 14th November at the Orange County Convention Center, also within the framework of the co-located conferences a keynote speech Power-Gen woman of the year on Thursday.

Registered participants of the conferences can attend either or both the feast and the lunch by buying tickets to the events. More information by visiting the Conference Web site: POWER-GEN International Conference and exhibition. which nuclear power International Conference and exhibition, Renewable Energy World Conference & exhibition, North America and the financial Forum.

Power engineering magazine is the voice of the generation energy. More than 70,000 power generation professionals read power engineering magazine for expert coverage of important news and current trends in the industry.

RenewableEnergyWorld.com is the site for renewable energy World magazine. With 190,000 registered users, more than 52,000 magazine subscribers and a global readership in 174 countries, the number is 1-renewable energy network for news and information, and the largest source of information for renewable energy.

Magazines, RenewableEnergyWorld.com, POWER-GEN international, NUCLEAR POWER international, Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America and the Forum, are all by PennWell Corp., a global media company headquartered in Tulsa, Okla.

The 2013 Power-Gen women in power Committee

Jennifer Runyon, PennWell Corporation

Karin Corfee, Navigant

Christina M. Swanson, GE

Mary Ann Bunn, Siemens Energy, Inc.

Linda Church Ciocci, national hydropower Association

Heather Manypenny, New Hampshire electric cooperative, Inc.

Bonnie Marini, Siemens Energy, Inc.

Meg Cichon, PennWell Corporation

Daryl Zeis, REC solar

Mary Noyes Joynt, WilkinsonShein communications

Elizabeth Ingram, PennWell Corporation

Lola Infante, generation fuels and market analysis

Heather Manganiello, project manager, HDR

MaryJo Rogers, strategic talent solutions

Henrietta Gurri McBee, HDR

Paula mints, SPV - market research

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