Credits from Cows
Cows give Point Carbon their One Thousandth Offset Project. Offset projects, which provide carbon credits for companies so that they can reduce their carbon footprint, have had success in Europe. In the EU, carbon reduction is mandated by the Kyoto protocol. Europe has also faced fuel and energy prices that outweigh those in the US. As a result, lowering carbon through energy efficiency and renewables, as well as incenting new projects and meeting strict caps with offsets has had a value that has not existed in the US. Passing 1,000 In spite of this, Point Carbon's database of carbon offset projects in the ...
Integrating Renewables Into The Grid
FERC seeks to break down barriers to the integration of renewable energy resources Although there is tremendous excitement about renewable energy, to an existing grid, new sources of energy can be difficult to manage and integrate. Variable energy resources (VERs to the transmission grid operators) have experienced some bumps on the road to integration. As the map on the left shows, there is both a regional and time dimension as to when and how much wind, solar and other renewables are available. As a result, FERC, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on whether existing rules, regulations, tariffs, and ...
Utilities: the Sound of One Hand Clapping
The way utilities are forced to make decisions about capacity is like The Pottery Barn making daily staffing and inventory decisions based on the busiest shopping day of the year. How much easier for retail if customers spread themselves evenly throughout the year. It's the sound of one hand--the utilities--making decisions without any control over when customers will need power or how much. Demand Response Managing capacity is possibly the "holy grail" of future energy security, as it provides the ability for the utility and the user to manage how energy is used. A report published last year by FERC, (Federal Energy Regulatory ...
Recovery Funds Make PA leader In Solar
$9.5 Million for eight projects will leverage $46 Million Eight large-scale solar projects in Pennsylvania that will create jobs while generating clean energy is receiving a substantial boost of $9.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. According to Governor Edward G. Rendell, this investment is critically important to strengthening Pennsylvania's economy. Not only will the private capital attract and create jobs, but it has great economic potential in the renewable energy industry for the state. "Solar power is an increasingly important part of our electricity generation capability and, consequently, our economy. That's why we've made an earnest commitment to ensuring ...
Ghost Busters style of fiscal responsibility.
The partisan slingshots that ricochet around the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission--amplified by media pundits on all sides--brings to mind a scene from the film "Ghost Busters". Our heroes, armed with super duper atomic weapons, try them out for the first time in hotel in midtown Manhattan. Out of control, they destroy everything around them. When Bill Murray finally yells, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nice shooting Tex!", the walls are blackened with streaks of soot and fire, the furniture lies crumbled and burning, and the intended target--the ghost--sits in the shredded chandelier laughing. Too much regulation? Not enough? Regulation breeds loopholes, which in ...
Driving Down Solar Costs with Beans and Cotton
BioSolar has a new idea for making solar even more sustainable: Make the back sheets, that support silicon solar cells, from organic materials. Economical As David Lee, PhD, President and CEO of BioSolar said, their mission is to make solar energy truly sustainable. "We cannot depend on government incentives for ever," he said. "We need to make solar production economically viable. This product makes it cleaner and cheaper." Dr. Lee pointed out that the solar cells themselves are unlikely to see dramatic cost reductions, while the "non-active materials" that support the cells, making it possible to mount them and to connect them to the ...
