Top Stories
$200 Million for Smart Grid Ideas.—reliability
high.
"General Electric, in partnership with four prominent venture capital
firms, announced a $200 million competition for clean-energy innovation
funds on Tuesday. ... From now until Sept. 30, budding smart-grid
entrepreneurs will be able to submit their proposals in one of three
areas that the investors see as central to ramping up use of
renewables: Maximizing penetration of clean energy into the grid.
Improving the efficiency of the grid. Helping electricity customers use
energy more wisely." See New
York Times Green blog. See the Ecomagination Challenge site here.
Aligning the CDP and GRI Guidelines.—reliability
high.
"Because climate change reporting is becoming increasingly important,
and because considerable overlap exists between GRI’s indicators and
CDP’s questions relating to energy consumption and GHG emissions, the
two organizations have agreed to collaborate in an effort to
standardize the practice. To that end, the two organizations have
published a linkage document to coordinate a more efficient reporting
mechanism. The 17-page document consists of a table that 'compares the
relevant indicators and questions and reveals the similarities as well
as the disparities,' according to GRI. According to the linkage
document, 'This table includes the relevant GRI G3 Profile Disclosures
and Performance Indicators (plus Indicator Protocol Compilation
section) and relevant CDP questions from the 2010 questionnaire where
overlap between the two was found.'" From Greener
World Media. Access the document here.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Virtual power plants fill supply gaps in
heat wave.—reliability high.
"During a few hours of last week's East Coast heat wave, thousands of
megawatts worth of electricity--enough to power hundreds of thousands
of homes--were temporarily removed from the grid, a practice grid
operators expect to do more often to weather energy supply crunches on
the grid. PJM, which operates the wholesale electricity market in 13
states, on Monday reported that it put into effect an "emergency"
demand response program last week, tapping over 2,500 megawatts worth
of energy reductions, dispersed over thousands of sites, to ensure that
electricity flowed during times of peak demand. ... automated
efficiency technology, particularly dialing back electricity usage
during peak times, is becoming one of the most effective smart-grid
tools for maintaining the balance between electricity supply and
demand." From CNET News.
[Good overview of
how demand response works to help satisfy peak demand without building
more power plants.]
Analysis: Energy efficiency is new green for
U.S. homebuilders.—reliability high.
"U.S. homebuilders used to brandish their environmentalist bona fides
to lure customers. Now they are focusing less on green and more on
greenbacks, introducing energy efficient features they say will
convince customers to buy a new rather than a used home by saving them
money." Examples of approaches various homebuilders are trying to
entice buyers. See Reuters
story. [Some
people want to go green on principle, but perhaps most home buyers,
like companies, are more focused on the bottom line. And how much
motivation comes from wanting to be seen to be green? The question is,
how will the neighbors know your home is energy efficient? Maybe energy
efficiency is its own reward. (Of course the easiest way to make a home
energy efficient is to build it smaller, or as part of a multi-unit
building, and in a temperate climate, and where you don't need a car
for all trips.)]
Study: Cheap gas will hamper success of
electric vehicles in U.S.—reliability medium.
"a study from Pike Research suggests that the success of electric
vehicles (EVs) in the U.S. hinges on higher gas prices. As the research
indicates, Americans have little to gain by going electric if gas
prices stay low. To the contrary, countries with absurdly high gas
prices have a strong reason to consider switching over to battery
power. ... But we believe that few consumers will run all of the
numbers before sensibly choosing to go electric. Instead, the initial
choice to go electric will most likely be driven by the desire to be
different and environmentally responsible. These desires can overshadow
the power of money." From Autoblog
Green. [Nobody
buys a Prius or a Tesla to save money.]
Government and
Regulation
Lowest Gasoline Taxes Since the Beginning of
the Automobile.—reliability medium.
"People may complain about the price of gas going up because the raw
number is going up, but — adjusted for inflation — gasoline taxes are
at their lowest in decades. ... 'Drivers are on track to spend $55.7
billion on federal, state and local gas taxes in 2010’s first quarter,
the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That’s down from $68.5 billion
in 2000 after adjusting for inflation — even though Americans drive 7%
more miles annually.'" See CleanTechnica.
From underlying USA
Today story: "Holiday drivers will pay less than ever at the pump
for upkeep of the nation's roads — just $19 in gas taxes for every
1,000 miles driven, a USA TODAY analysis finds. That's a new low in
inflation-adjusted dollars, half what drivers paid in 1975." [Infrastructure is
increasingly maintained through borrowing--Let our
grandchildren pay for it.]
A Well-Designed Feed-In Tariff Can Drive
Renewables in California.—reliability high.
"According to the study "Economic Benefits of a Comprehensive Feed-In
Tariff: An Analysis of the REESA in California," conducted by Dan
Kammen and Max Wei of the University of California, Berkeley's
Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory Energy and Resources Group,
a well-designed feed-in tariff (FiT) like the one in pending state
legislation will bring California $2 billion in additional tax revenue
and $50 billion in new investment, while adding an average of 50,000
new jobs a year for a decade. ... the FIT Coalition's Lewis said their
REESA was conservatively crafted so that the utility's ratepayers will
not bear a significant burden." Story at Greentech
Media. PDF of report here.
[The main benefit
comes not from transferring money from ratepayers to investors, but by
providing assurance of a predictable stream of income from sale of
electricity to the grid, which makes it easier to get loans or private
financing to build capacity.]
