Now an independent foundation released a report stating that Texas’s renewable energy future could include almost 23,000 jobs a year and $2.7 billion in local and state tax revenues.  Could clean tech follow high tech and biotech as Texas giants?

The report, announced earlier this week at the State Capitol in Austin, is the work of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation.  In sum, the study proposes the state could become a catalyst for the renewable energy industry, and envisions three scenarios:

• For an approximate $13 increase in residential energy bills, the state could gain a 20% growth in its renewable energy capacity, which in turn would create the best possible scenario, the presumed 22,900 additional clean energy jobs added annually.  State revenues would also reach the aforementioned $2.7 billion mark.  Many residents would probably balk at this—or would the “price of a postage stamp” daily argument work?
• In a baseline scenario, a statewide $4 utility bill increase would create about 6000 new jobs annually, and net a 15% percent increase in Texas’s renewable energy capacity.  Texas would also gain close to $1 billion in revenues, with the state and municipalities splitting that gain about 80-20%.
• If Texas stays the course, there would be some modest growth in job creation, economic growth and tax revenues, but nothing approaching the baseline or best-possible scenarios

Read the rest here:  http://tinyurl.com/2ubknlr 

Lew Hay, chairman and CEO of FPL Group, a top-five electric power company and No. 1 producer of renewable energy from wind and solar power, issued the following statement today on the energy and climate bill introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.):

“Senators Kerry and Lieberman deserve tremendous credit for crafting a proposal that would move the country in the right direction on energy and climate issues. After years of debate and half measures, the United States still lacks a long-term national energy strategy, leaving us behind other countries in building and exporting the clean energy economy of the future. If we are to continue to lead the world in technological advances, job creation and economic security, we need a new approach. The most essential step — which is at the heart of the American Power Act — is to set a price on carbon dioxide emissions. With a gradually escalating price on carbon that begins to reflect the full social costs of emitting greenhouse gases, the country will make a smooth transition from the high-carbon fuel sources of the past to the next generation of low- and zero-emitting domestic energy sources. No legislation is ever perfect, this bill included, but Sens. Kerry and Lieberman have shown true leadership in their efforts to reach a balanced solution that all parties to this debate should be able to support. We applaud their efforts and look forward to working with them to get a bill signed into law.”

Read the full article: http://tinyurl.com/2avojo2

Solar and Wind will continue to grow, but energy efficiency will be a strong focus in 2010.

Solar and wind power will get headlines and attention, but green-tech experts say 2010 will be dominated by energy efficiency, the mundane but critical process of cutting the amount of gas and electricity that homes and offices use.

There is no question that green energy is a coming force. Economic and environmental necessity have pushed such sources of energy to the very forefront of public, corporate and governmental concern, making such energies the growing and coming sector. In fact, during 2008 and 2009, green energy overtook fossil fuels in terms of power generating investment attraction-the first time that this has ever happened. Clean technologies, including wind and solar, drew more than $140bn of investment during this period, compared to $110bn for coal and gas meant for electrical power generation. More than one-third of this ‘green money’ ended up in Britain and the rest of Europe.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their starting points, the largest growth in renewable energy investments were seen in India and China-along with several other developing countries, as they look to match the West by switching from fossil fuels in order to improve energy security and address issues relating to climate change, which will directly and immediately impact developing world countries.

The Executive Director of the UN’s Environment Program, Ache Steiner, has postulated that such indicators suggest that a tipping point has been reached, where renewable energy is perhaps even more important than fossil fuels in the global energy mix. It is indeed encouraging that, up to the end of 2009, a wide variety of renewable energy sectors have attracted significant capital, and many different regions are entering the sector in a serious way. Up to the end of 2009, more than $155bn of new money had been invested in clean energy concerns and projects-despite the fact that the capital raised on public stock markets dropped by 51% to $11.4bn. Over this period, green firms also saw share prices drop dramatically by over 60%.

Wind energy is the current global leader of green energy sources, attracted the highest levels of investment globally at over $51bn. Next comes solar power at over $33bn. As of the end of 2009, however, the solar power sector saw Y-O-Y growth of 50%, whereas wind power only saw an annual growth of 1%. The next most-popular green energy source is biofuels, attracted an investment of almost $17bn, down 9% on 2007 levels. This was principally due to overcapacity issues and political opposition to the sector, with ethanol being squarely blamed for rocketing food prices.

Europe remains the principal center for investment in green energy and power, seeing over $50bn directed into continent-wide projects-an increase of 2% on 2008 figures. The figure for the US was $30bn-down a total of 8%.

Many countries have seen a number of “Green New Deals”, designed with the intention of re-igniting recession-depressed economies and tackle climate change-related problems. The first quarter of 2009 saw a slump in renewable investment globally, and this trend has troubled the UN. The second quarter of 2009 has shown recovery, but indications are that the year would end at least a quarter down on 2008 figures. Many analysts are encouraged by the green shoots, but insist that politicians and policy-makers should do more to ensure continued growth.

China currently receives only a tiny fraction of its electric power from renewable sources (other than hydroelectric). They will try to double their renewable energy production each year for the foreseeable future. It will take many years of doubling to reach an equilibrium point with an economy growing 10% per year. They talk about reducing the carbon output for each unit of production.

Why are the Chinese using this approach? Cap and trade just doesn’t work for them. They can’t put carbon limits on an economy that is growing 10% per year. If the caps really worked, their growth rate would decline substantially. They are not willing to give up the growth which provides jobs for the hundreds of millions of Chinese looking for work to move out of poverty.

To implement this policy of displacement, the Chinese government had decreed that power companies must buy all of the renewable energy produced even if the price of that energy is higher than the price of energy produced from fossil fuels. Note that the price renewable energy producers can charge is regulated by the government but is typically set at a price that provides a decent return for the company. China will also provide fast approval for renewable projects and will work to build out their electric grid to connect new power sources.

The First Solar deal with China to build 20 GigaWatts of solar collectors by the year 2020 is a good example of this policy at work. China guaranteed First Solar a rate tariff on the electricity produced that would make them a profit if they would build a factory in China to produce the panels. China will build the transmission lines to get the power to market for them. In 2020 China will have 20 GigaWatts for solar power which will mean they will product 20 GigaWatts less power from fossil fuels when the sun shines.

The displacement policy means Chinese wind and solar system producers are gearing up to increase production dramatically. This high consistent demand is allowing them to use scale to drive down manufacturing costs. One day renewable may become cost effective as a power source compared to fossil fuels and China won’t have to subsidize their production. In the mean time China creates whole new industries with tremendous export potential and thousands (millions?) of new jobs. They also don’t have to be heavy handed with energy consumers. Consumers will pay a slightly higher price for electricity as the utility companies pass through the higher prices they pay for renewable power.

Read more at Examiner.com:  http://tinyurl.com/y85gcks

This sets Obama on track to create 5 million green (not just renewable energy) jobs over the next decade. Granted, he made this promise early in his campaign, all the way back in the spring of 2008. At that point he planned to spend $150 billion total to stimulate the green economy.

The estimates in the report depend on several conditions that could be a bit of a stretch — namely that all U.S. utilities will be able to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020 and that a carbon emissions cap and trade system becomes a reality. It also anticipates that billions of dollars will be invested in cleantech research and development.

Considering that most utilities aren’t approaching 20 percent renewables in their energy mix, and the climate bill that would establish cap and trade has stalled in the Senate, this may be a little far-fetched.

But if these criteria are fulfilled, all 50 states will have an opportunity benefit economically from the green stimulus packages being given out one industry at a time — so far solar, Smart Grid, biomass, wind and advanced batteries have each received up to billions of dollars, mostly through the U.S. Department of Energy.

The study was produced by the University of California, in tandem with Yale University and the University of Illinois.

Another study, presented earlier this week by Booz Allen Hamilton at Greenbuild 2009, predicted that the green building industry alone will generate or support 7.9 million jobs and infuse the U.S. GDP by $554 billion in just the next four years.

Round Rock Independent School District was a close second on the list.

The EPA looked at primary and secondary schools nationwide that use the most power from renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and low-impact hydropower.

The EPA said that together these top schools are buying nearly 113 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions from generating electricity for 11,000 American homes for one year.

“Our green-powered schools are giving kids a brighter future in more ways than one. They’re leading the way in protecting our health and environment, and moving the country into the clean energy economy of the 21st century,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said. “This is a great lesson on how we reduce harmful pollution in our skies and get America running on clean energy.”

The top five schools using the greenest power are:

• 1 — Austin Independent School District

• 2 — Round Rock Independent School District

• 3 — Rochester City School District, Rochester, N.Y.

• 4 — Bullis School, Potomac, Md.

• 5 — The Dalton School, New York, N.Y.

Info from Austin Business Journal.  Thanks, ABJ!

Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar was added to the S&P 500 after the market closed October 15. The company will be part of the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Electrical Components & Equipment Sub-Industry of the Industrials sector.

The addition of First Solar, which had $1.2 billion in sales last year, is a milestone not only for the company, but for renewable energy in general. Although non-hydroelectric renewables, including solar, wind and biomass, make up a minute fraction of overall energy generation worldwide, that percentage is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades.

Source: Triple Pundit

“Completing the world’s biggest wind farm took more than a billion dollar investment, coordination with more than 300 landowners and management of more than 500 workers,” North American CEO of EC&R Steve Trenholm stated. “Today is a great day for our company and the team that made this a reality.”

The project area spans parts of four Texas counties and the Roscoe wind complex covers nearly 100,000 acres, several times the size of Manhattan. The wind farm has a total of 627 wind turbines manufactured by Mitsubishi, General Electric and Siemens.

“Texas continues to lead the nation in the development of renewable energy and has more wind generation capacity than any other state and all but four countries,” Texas Governor Rick Perry said. “We are pleased that E. ON Climate & Renewables North America has chosen to open this facility in Roscoe that will further expand our state’s diverse energy portfolio.”

Read full article here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eon-climate–renewables-completes-worlds-largest-wind-farm-63064012.html

The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will provide technical assistance to selected recipients, including concepts, best practices, planning, financial approaches, policy guidance and recognition to help communities rapidly plan and deploy utility-scale renewable energy systems.

The projects will demonstrate how multiple renewable energy technologies, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal systems, can be deployed at scale to supply clean energy to communities.

The DOE anticipates that each project will leverage significant investment, including public- and private-sector investment in renewable energy systems.

Up to $22 million in DOE funding is available for these awards in fiscal year 2010. The DOE anticipates making up to four awards totaling up to $21.45 million, and expects matching funds from public and private investment of $22 million or more.

Successful applicants will be awarded financial assistance to support the implementation of an integrated renewable energy deployment plan for a community, and the construction of renewable energy systems.

Completed applications are due Sept. 3. The DOE will select the award-winners by the end of November.

For more information, visit recovery.gov.

SOURCE: Department of Energy via North American Windpower