Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

Congress must extend renewable energy tax incentives

eblume — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:48:07 -0700

An Open Letter to Congress
By Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin
July 10, 2008

If you want to know more about the economic, environmental and security benefits from renewable energy development, look no further than my house in Madison, Wisconsin. A crew from a local solar contractor just finished installing a solar electric system that will, when activated, produce about one-half of the electricity used in our household. . .

As you very well know, federal tax credits have been the principal policy tool for accelerating renewable energy development in this country. Right now, most renewable energy technologies are more expensive than fossil fuels, but the federal incentives level the economic playing field, providing breathing room for solar, wind and biogas to mature and become cost-competitive with more established energy resources. This has been especially true with wind generation, which has expanded from 6,500 megawatts in January 2005 to over 19,000 today. This tripling of windpower capacity in less than four years could not have happened without the production tax credit being in place during that time.

How critical is the solar tax credit in driving solar’s growth in the United States? If our middle-class household is at all representative of the solar-installing customer base, I can honestly say that the federal incentive was a necessary component to making that investment work for us. Had federal incentives not been available this year, our budget would have been insufficient to absorb the substantial up-front expense that comes with owning a solar energy system.
Indeed, when I compare the flurry of installation activity now with the near-dormant conditions that prevailed just three years ago, it’s clear that the federal tax credit has greatly expanded the size of the domestic solar energy market. . . .

The U.S. economy is on the ropes, and a lot of unpleasant policy trade-offs lie ahead. As the cost of fossil fuels escalate, and the housing sector and the automobile industry contract further, the U.S. can ill afford to skimp on the one energy pathway that can, with the proper policy support, create jobs by the thousands and convert capital into socially productive and sustainable enterprises. If Congress is truly serious about turning the economy around, reducing the trade deficit, making progress on climate change, and creating a more energy-secure America, it must extend the renewable energy tax incentives, preferably this month. No other action will accomplish so much, or cost so little.

Read the full letter on RENEW Wisconsin's blog.

Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

Permaculture & Regenerative Design News: News about Permaculture & the Design of Sustainable Ecologies & Economies

Keith Johnson — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:29:07 -0800

I haven't posted much to this blog lately but I've been very active on my other blog at http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/

Here's a few of the topics considered:

+ WHEN PEAK OIL MEETS GODZILLA ...
+ Seriously folks, you all need to think about growing some food and getting good at it.
+ What the World Eats, again
+ They Rule
+ Good and Evil at the Center of the Earth: A Quechua Christmas Carol
+ Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson
+ 101 things you can do about peak oil & climate change
+ Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See
+ Potenco’s Pull-Cord Generator
+ Bioneers: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the Earth
+ Science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson and Permaculture
+ Downloadable Audio and Video recordings from the 8th International Permaculture Convergence in Brazil
+ The Biorock® Process Accelerates Coral Growth
+ Farming the Future By Kenny Ausubel
+ Our Decrepit Food Factories
+ Tools, Books, and Equipment at Permaculture Trading Post
+ The Story of Stuff
+ Two new photo albums at Picasa

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy (APPLE) - Elgin, Illinois

6th Annual Two-Week Design Course in Paoli, IN

Keith Johnson — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:14:07 -0800

Start: 2008-06-01 12:30

End: 2008-06-15 17:00

Sustainable Cincinnati

Weekend Series Permaculture Design Course in Columbus, Ohio

Keith Johnson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:01:28 -0800

Start: 2008-02-22 09:00

End: 2008-04-13 19:00

Sustainable Cincinnati

Homebuilders going green

tomcatino — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:39:47 -0700

Homebuilders going green
Housing market sees shift toward environment-friendly, energy-saving
materials

March 11, 2007
By Vinnee Tong the associated press
NEW YORK -- Green building as a cause has united disparate parties
from environmental groups to big business to policymakers, but one
key industry has struggled to react to the change in public
sentiment.

The major homebuilders, who account for 80 percent of all
homebuilding activity in the nation, face a unique challenge in
implementing green building on a widespread scale. Many have added
energy-saving features and experimented with environmentally
friendly materials but have not yet been able to sign on a critical
mass of buyers willing to pay more for them.

Increase expected

» Click to enlarge image

A San Diego "green home" by Pardee uses a solar electric power
system with photovoltaic cells integrated in the roof. The major
homebuilders, who account for 80 percent of all homebuilding
activity in the nation, face a unique challenge in implementing
green building on a widespread scale.
Lenny Ignelzi / The Associated Press
Increase expected

The National Association of Home Builders and McGraw-Hill
Construction predict a rise in green building to 10 percent of homes
by 2010 from 2 percent today, but experts say the large-scale
residential builders have been slower to respond because of the
extra costs and availability of materials.
"The residential market as I see it is the last one to take off,"
said Mary Ann Lazarus, sustainable design director of the
architectural firm HOK.

Global warming a factor

Homebuilders are crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
believed to cause global warming, according to Ed Mazria, founder of
environmental activist group Architecture 2030. He estimates that
buildings - their construction and operation - contribute 48 percent
of overall emissions while transportation adds 27 percent and
industrial activity 25 percent.
Certainly, there has been frustration among some of the largest
homebuilders about finding the right cost formula. Estimates vary
widely for how much green building can add to the final price, with
the lower estimates at 3 percent to 5 percent versus higher
predictions of 10 percent to 15 percent.

Efforts disappointing

Ara Hovnanian, head of one of the nation's biggest homebuilders,
said that all other things being equal, consumers would choose
green. But, he said, all is not equal.
"Consumers have not been willing to make the investment," said the
CEO and president of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc.

Hovnanian was one of 10 homebuilders that developed an all-green
community called Terramor in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. He
said the results of that venture were frustrating; consumers were
unwilling to pay extra for green features such as solar panels to
generate electricity.

"The disappointing thing is we were all hoping consumers would
embrace it and at least be willing to pay a substantial part of the
premium," he said. "I can't say we were overwhelmed by the results
financially."

Recouping that premium is more of a problem for developers who build
properties for sale, as opposed to those who can benefit later from
lower electricity bills or being able to charge higher rents.
Investing in green features ultimately benefits the home buyer, so
if the consumer is unwilling to pay more, the cost-benefit formula
makes no sense, in Hovnanian's view.

Suburban building

Bill Valentine, chairman of architecture firm HOK, said the main
goal for architects who support green building is to get
sustainability into the common man's budget.
"The real action is in suburbia, in reconstructing suburbia," he
said.

Mazria of Architecture 2030 and others say that's about to happen.

"I think we're just seeing the beginning of a total transformation
of the building sector," Mazria said.

Mazria said a number of different parties are working on proposals
to extend the tax benefits in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that
could encourage growth in green building. He said two New Mexico
Democrats, Rep. Tom Udall and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, are working on one
version that could extend the act to 2013, and in some cases double
the level of tax credits allowed for energy-saving measures such as
using solar or photovoltaic panels.

"It is a very small price to pay for mitigating the potential impact
of climate change," Mazria said.

Green building laws

To date, 11 federal agencies, 17 states and 53 municipalities
require buildings to meet either local green standards or those set
by the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit group.
Among the early adopters are two smaller homebuilders, Los Angeles-
based Pardee Homes and Florida-based WCI Communities Inc. While they
are much smaller than homebuilders like Hovnanian, KB Home and
others, they also build mainly where consumers have been more
receptive to green building practices.

Pardee marketing Vice President Joyce Mason said one-third of about
10,000 homes it has built since 2001 are in its Living Smart line of
homes, which come with carpet made from recycled soda bottles and
wood from managed forests. She said consumers had always appreciated
the green features, but buyers have started specifically asking for
them in recent months.

"We saw it first happen in hybrid cars," Mason said. "I think it's
probably going to shift over to houses."

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/business/291989,6_3_
NA11_GREENBUILD_S1.article
**********************************************************************
Join The Solar Solution
Homeowners: Switch to Solar Power the EASY Way
http://www.JoinTheSolution.com/MadiSUN

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& You Can Earn a Significant Income Stream
http://www.PowUR.com/MadiSUN

Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

Clean energy bill takes first step, 25% of electricity would come from renewable sources

tomcatino — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:53:36 -0800

Clean energy bill takes first step
25% of electricity would come from renewable sources
Source: Pioneer Press
February 2, 2007

Minnesota's electric utilities would take a potentially historic step toward providing clean energy under a bill that cleared its first major legislative hurdle Thursday.

The compromise, reached after lengthy behind-the-scenes negotiations involving utilities, environmentalists and some state senators, would require utilities to generate a quarter of their electricity from such renewable-energy sources as wind within two decades.

It passed the Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Committee on a 15-0 vote and was sent to the Senate floor, where a vote is expected next week. The House just began hearings on a similar bill. If the Legislature ultimately passes the measure, utilities would be required to invest much more heavily in new energy sources that don't pollute or spew heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide.

The state's largest utility, Xcel Energy, would have to generate 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and other, smaller utilities would have to reach 25 percent by 2025. That would roughly equal the 25 percent goal by 2020 sought by state Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul, and would exceed a pace recommended by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose representatives agreed to the deal.

"I'm rather in shock,'' said Anderson, who has led the push for renewable energy standards in the Senate. "This is a very, very strong bill that will lead the nation in new, renewable energy. I think we have just witnessed a revolution in Minnesota.''

Michael Noble, executive director of St. Paul-based Fresh Energy, praised Xcel Energy, which had just announced a large wind-farm project on Wednesday. "Xcel stepped up to do more than its share,'' Noble said.

Xcel Energy CEO Dick Kelly told the Pioneer Press on Wednesday that Xcel is committed to doing what the Legislature decides, but favors certain regulatory accommodations.

Mike Franklin, director of energy policy for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, called the deal the most aggressive renewable-energy bill in the nation. "We're glad senators Anderson and (Yvonne Prettner) Solon recognized the need to do this in a way that recognizes the competitive nature of the Minnesota economy,'' Franklin said.

Solon is the committee chairwoman and led the behind-the-scenes talks.

Missouri River Energy Services, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., objected to the bill, saying the new standards would be difficult to meet without transmission reforms.

The bill defines eligible renewable energy technology as wind, solar, smaller hydropower, hydrogen and biomass, which can include landfill gas and anaerobic digesters. Most of the new electricity, however, is expected to come from wind, an increasingly popular energy source in states such as Minnesota.

Instead of simply meeting the long-range goals, utilities would have to make steady progress along the way.
**********************************

Join The Solar Solution
Homeowners: Switch to Solar Power the EASY Way
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Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

Global Warming Shock Wave Awakens World Leaders

tomcatino — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 08:25:34 -0800

Global Warming Shock Wave Awakens World Leaders

WASHINGTON, DC, February 2, 2007 (ENS) - This morning in Paris,
hundreds of scientists from around the world released a report
showing that global warming is accelerating, that human activity is
responsible for this warming, and that it is likely irreversible for
centuries, even if greenhouse gas emissions are stabilized.

The report, entitled "The Physical Science Basis: a Summary for
Policymakers," was adopted in a line-by line review by the
governments of 113 countries, including the United States,

The new report says that warming during the last 100 years was 0.74 °
C (1.3 °F), with most of the warming occurring during the past 50
years. The warming for the next 20 years is projected to be 0.2°C
(1.3°F) per decade.

Flooded homes in a subdivision in Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish
following Hurricane Katrina. September 19, 2005. (Photo by Andrea
Booher courtesy FEMA)
Mid-range scenarios predict severe droughts and floods, more intense
hurricanes and cyclones, pressure on fresh water and food supplies,
increased spread of diseases, and rising sea levels that could
displace hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Reaction to the first report in six years from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, has ranged across the spectrum.

Dr. Sharon Hays, leader of the U.S. delegation at the Paris meeting
and chief science official in the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy, said the IPCC report "reflects the sizeable and
robust body of knowledge regarding the physical science of climate
change, including the finding that the Earth is warming and that
human activities have very likely caused most of the warming of the
last 50 years."

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the United States embraces
the findings of the IPCC report. "We agree with it, and the science
behind it is something that our country has played a very important
role in," he told journalists today in Washington.

The Bush administration continues to rely on technology to counter
global warming rather than the limits on emissions adopted by other
industrialized nations under the Kyoto Protocol. Bodman said the
United States has invested nearly $29 billion since 2001 in climate-
related science and technology programs.

"We estimate that the U.S. has invested more in climate change
science than the rest of the world combined," Bodman said.

Abandoned agricultural field in the drought-stricken Fremont Valley,
California. (Photo courtesy USGS)
In Congress, Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee Jeff Bingaman,
a New Mexico Democrat said, "This U.N. report is only the latest in
a series of signals that increase the urgency of our efforts to deal
with global warming," Bingaman said. "Today I am again urging the
President to show leadership and work with Congress to implement a
mandatory, market-based cap and trade program to address this
challenge."
Bingaman said he and Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania
Republican, are developing bipartisan consensus on legislation that
Congress can pass this year. "The consequences so clearly spelled
out in this report, and many others, compel us to act now," he said.

Environmental groups generally welcomed the IPCC's information in
hopes that it may prompt swift action to limit global warming.

"This new IPCC report makes it clear that global warming is here
now, and we must take swift and effective action to stave off the
most severe consequences," said Dr. Dan Lashof, science director at
NRDC's Climate Center. "At this point, some warming is unavoidable,
but there is a world of difference between one degree and seven
degrees."

"The good news is that the political climate in Washington is
changing as well," Lashof said. "Congress needs to enact
comprehensive emission limits that will steadily reduce global
warming pollution. We have an opportunity to fix this problem, but
only if we act before it's too late."

On Tuesday, 44 Greenpeace activists scaled the Eiffel Tower in Paris
to hang banners proclaiming, "It's Not Too Late."

Greenpeace activists hung banners proclaiming hope from the Eiffel
Tower. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace)
"The more we know, the worse it is," said Greenpeace climate
campaigner Stephanie Tunmoore. "We're in Paris to urge the
governments of the world to act, while there's still time. To date,
the world's governments have done far too little to face up to the
reality of climate change and to coambat it."
Conservative U.S. think tanks brought out an arsenal of arguments to
counter the IPCC findings. The Center for Science and Public Policy
produced a report claiming that greenhouse gas emissions are rising
faster in European countries which are bound by the Kyoto Protocol
than in the United States, which has rejected the international
treaty under the Bush administration.

National Center for Policy Analysis Senior Fellow H. Sterling
Burnett said the new IPCC "shows less expected warming and lower
estimated sea level rise than previous reports."

"We can expect this news to be lost among dramatic claims of
impending disaster by politicians and environmental lobbyists
alike," said the conservative, whose main point is that the United
States must not join the Kyoto Protocol.

"You'd never know it from watching the news, but every time the IPCC
releases a new report, future warming is reduced and the impacts are
less severe and more distant," Burnett said.

The low-lying country of Bangladesh is subject to monsoon flooding
that may become worse as the planet warms. (Photo courtesy WFP)
But at the Center for Global Development in Washington, which works
to reduce global poverty and inequality, senior fellow David Wheeler
warned that a recent World Bank study of sea level rise to which he
contributed, found that "even a one meter rise will force 60 million
people to relocate."
"We confront a stark reality here," Wheeler said. "Millions of poor
people will be displaced by sea-level rise that has been caused by
the affluent West. When this happens, current international
turbulence may seem placid by comparison."

Corporate Reaction

The DuPont corporation, one of the 10 companies in the newly formed
U.S. Climate Action Partnership, called again today on the federal
government to enact climate change legislation to create a national
cap on carbon dioxide emissions and a market in carbon credits.

DuPont Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Linda Fisher
said, "Climate change is a serious global issue that must be
addressed through concerted global action. We believe that the
science on climate change is sufficiently strong and the risks
serious enough to merit a timely action."

"We believe that voluntary measures, while constructive, are not
sufficient to address an issue of this magnitude by themselves,"
Fisher said. "The challenge is global and requires broad and
coordinated action across all sectors of the economy."

Dupont sees economic opportunity in the need to combat climate
change. The company manufactures materials for photovoltaic solar
panels and fuel cells and a new breathable roofing membrane that
creates an energy saving seal around a home.

The world's largest and most profitable petroleum giant, ExxonMobil,
acknowledged today, "Many global ecosystems, especially the polar
areas, are showing signs of warming. CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions
have increased during this same time period - and emissions from
fossil fuels and land use changes are one source of these
emissions."

ExxonMobil said, "Because the risks to society and ecosystems could
prove to be significant, it is prudent now to develop and implement
strategies that address the risks, keeping in mind the central
importance of energy to the economies of the world."

The company said it is working to curb global warming
through "partnerships with auto and engine makers on programs that
could significantly reduce vehicle emissions, conducting internal
research on potential for hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, investing in
energy efficiency in our facilities, and working with organizations
such as the European Union and Stanford University on groundbreaking
research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

International Reaction

Newly appointed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said today that
climate change will be one of his "top priorities" over the next
five years of his term.

"The report highlights the scientific consensus regarding the
quickening and threatening pace of human-induced climate change,"
said Ban. "The global response therefore needs to move much more
rapidly as well, and with more determination."

"Protecting the global environment is largely beyond the capacity of
individual countries," Ban said in a video message to the Conference
for Global Ecological Governance in Paris. "The natural arena for
such action is the United Nations."

Drought struck Kenya in April 2006, affecting 3.5 million people,
including these children at the Wajir District Hospital. (Photo by
Peter Smerdon courtesy WFP)
Ban said the world is witnessing an "assault on the global
environment" that risks undermining the many advances human society
has made in recent decades. "It is undercutting our fight against
poverty. It could even come to jeopardize international peace and
security," he said.
Last month, Ban called for a special summit of heads of state to
address global warming.

"We need clear objectives and strong ecological governance at the
global level, a concept that continues to elude us," UN General
Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa told conference
delegates.

She asserted that the General Assembly is the best forum for the
international community to work to combat climate change.

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas called for "an
urgent start to international negotiations on a comprehensive new
global climate change agreement."

"I am deeply concerned at the accelerating pace and the increasing
extent of climate change," Commissioner Dimas said.

"To stabilize global emissions of greenhouse gases," he said, "the
next step must be for developed countries to cut their emissions to
30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, as the Commission proposed
last month."

"We are on the historic threshhold of the irreversible," warned
French President Jacques Chirac, who convened a meeting today to
plan for a new international body to protect the global climate.

"In the face of this urgency, it is no longer the time for half-
measures. It is time for a revolution," Chirac said as he opened the
conference.

"While climate changes run like a rabbit, world-wide politics move
like a snail: either we accelerate or we risk a disaster," said
Italy's environment minister, Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio.

The Italian minister called for urgent action to impose a global tax
on carbon emissions and create a United Nations organization to deal
with climate change.

Canadian Environment Minister John Baird said today that the
government accepts the IPCC's findings, and he called on
Canadians "to get ready for some tough decisions on reducing
greenhouse gas emissions."

Malcolm Turnbull, Australia's new minister of environment and water
resources, said the science in the IPCC report "is important, but
it's not new."

A bushfire races through forested land on the Australian island
state of Tasmania. 2004. (Photo courtesy Emergency Management
Australia)
"We know our Australian climate is volatile – we have always been
the land of droughts and flooding rains. But while it isn't possible
to say that any particular drought, or flood, is caused by global
warming, the overall warming trend means that we must assume that,
at least in Southern Australia, we will be living in drier and
hotter times," said Turnbull.
South Africa's Environmental Affairs Minister Arthinus van Schalkwyk
said failure to act would be "indefensible."

In particular, van Schalkwyk said in a statement, "the new IPCC
report is a wake-up call to the world's largest emitter, the United
States.

"We applaud the unilateral climate actions taken by the State of
California and others and strongly encourage the federal government
of the USA to hear the growing groundswell of opinion in that
country, and act on their moral obligation to join the global effort
under the Kyoto Protocol and future negotiations to combat climate
change," he said.

Some of Indonesia's thousands of low-lying islands (Photo courtesy
Greenpeace)
Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar says that his
country could lose about 2,000 islands by 2030 due to climate
change.
"It is very, very serious," Witoelar told reporters Monday at a
press conference attended by Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Witoelar said the science presented by the IPCC shows that sea
levels are expected to rise about 89 centimeters, or 35 inches, by
2030, which means that about 2,000 mostly uninhabited islands would
be inundated.

Today, de Boer called for "speedy and decisive international action"
to combat global warming.

"The findings, which governments have agreed upon, leave no doubt as
to the dangers mankind is facing and must be acted upon without
delay," said de Boer. "Any notion that we do not know enough to move
decisively against climate change has been clearly dispelled."

To view the IPCC report, click here.

To read the Environment News Service article on the IPCC's
findings, "Evidence of Human-Caused Global Warming Unequivocal,"
click here.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2007/2007-02-02-01.asp
**********************************************************************
Join The Solar Solution
Homeowners: Switch to Solar Power the EASY Way
http://www.JoinTheSolution.com/MadiSUN
Help Homeowners Switch to Solar Power
& You Can Earn a Significant Income Stream
http://www.PowUR.com/MadiSUN

Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

What the PV Industry Can Learn from Google

tomcatino — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 05:02:49 -0800

What the PV Industry Can Learn from Google
January 31, 2007

Topline Strategy analyzes how short early adopter periods can lead to prompt mainstream adoption.
The founder of research firm, Topline Strategy Group of Newton, Massachusetts, Jonathan Klein, has coauthored a research paper, "What the Solar Power Industry can Learn from Google and Salesforce.com," which compares the solar power market with the technology market sectors for early adopters. Written in conjunction with Robert Erlichman of Sunlight Electric, the authors point out many steps solar power market players can take to bring this industry to the next level, which is the homes and businesses of mainstream America: Create industry standards, implement financing, develop minimally invasive and more attractive technologies, make warranties transferable, and remove any identified barriers preventing mainstream adoption in the U.S.

"Our goal for this paper is to kick off the discussion about what the industry needs to do beyond just lowering the $/watt of photovoltaic materials to accelerate its adoption by the mainstream."

-- Jonathan Klein, founder of Topline Strategy Group, and Robert Erlichman of Sunlight Electric

Introduction

It looks like the time has come for the solar power industry. Global warming, concerns about energy security and generous subsidy programs for photovoltaics in Japan, Germany and now California have combined to fuel 44% annual growth rate for the last 5 years (PV News). Forecasts for the future are rosy as well. One example -- the U.S. Photovoltaic Industry Roadmap, published by the Solar Energy Industry Association, envisions that the industry will grow from 340 megawatts of capacity capable of generating 650 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2005 to 200,000 megawatts of capacity capable of generating 380 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2030, a 58,000% increase!

Given the industry's recent performance, upbeat outlook, and the enormous investment going into creating new technologies to lower the cost of solar power equipment to make it more competitive with conventional electricity generation, it might seem that the future of solar power is well assured. However, history demonstrates that even hypergrowth industries are subject to ups and downs and concurrent shifts in market share as some market players successful navigate challenging times. The Semiconductor industry is a great example. Despite growing by 30,000% over the last forty-five years, the industry suffered several painful downturns including six separate years when revenues actually shrank. Furthermore, many of former market leaders are out of the market altogether. While we are very bullish on the long-term prospects for the solar power industry, we also believe that the industry will face challenges -- challenges which left unaddressed have the potential to lead to slowdowns or even downturns and tectonic shifts in market dynamics.

This paper addresses the fundamental challenge the photovoltaics industry faces -- achieving widespread, mainstream adoption. Unlike all other conventional and alternative electricity generation technologies whose scale and economics lead them to be sold to and operated by utilities, photovoltaics are most economical when purchased by smaller electricity purchasers who pay the highest rates. The net result is that for the industry to reach its potential, it will need to sell its equipment to tens of millions of individual home and business owners.

Today, with less than a fraction of 1% of US electricity generated by solar power, the solar power industry is selling to only a tiny group of early adopters. It is in the transition from serving a few thousand technology-loving, risk-tolerant early adopters to serving tens of millions of mainstream buyers where we see a challenge... and an opportunity.

It is a challenge because unless the solar power industry prepares itself to meet the needs of the mainstream, needs that are very different than those of the early adopters, it will face a slowdown and challenging shake-out as it struggles to adapt to the needs of the new mass market. It is an opportunity because those that successfully navigate the transition will grow market share and help grow the market as a whole grow even faster than anticipated.

So why is Google relevant here? Google is a prime illustration of what Topline Strategy considers a "Short Fuse" technology, that is a technology that has a shorter early adopter period and achieves widespread mainstream adoption far faster than traditionally thought possible. When mainstream buyers consider the cost-benefit of a new technology, they consider far more than just its price -- they see hidden costs and potential risks and build them into their purchase decision. Short Fuse technology solutions are ones whose developers anticipate these costs and risks and design them out right from the start. By doing so, they attract mainstream buyers far sooner than solutions created and deployed under the Long Fuse paradigm of slowly building credibility with the earliest adopters before bridging product and marketing efforts to the mainstream. Google's AdSense solution did exactly that for online advertising and rapidly brought millions of new customers into the market -- customers for whom the favorable economics of Internet advertising alone was not enough.

For the solar power industry, the implication is that driving down the per-watt cost of a photovoltaic system is necessary but not sufficient to achieve mainstream status. Our goal for this paper is to kick off the discussion about what the industry needs to do beyond just lowering the $/watt of photovoltaic materials to accelerate its adoption by the mainstream.

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/infocus/story?id=47280
***************************************************************************
This is exactly what CitizenRe has done:"Short Fuse technology solutions are ones whose developers anticipate these costs and risks and design them out right from the start. By doing so, they attract mainstream buyers far sooner than solutions created and deployed under the Long Fuse paradigm of slowly building credibility with the earliest adopters before bridging product and marketing efforts to the mainstream."

Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

Switch to Solar Power the EASY way

tomcatino — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:27:00 -0800

Is the Sun finally rising on Solar Power?

In 1931, Thomas Edison had a conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey
Firestone. He said, "I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy.
What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and
coal run out before we tackle that."

We have waited 76 years, but an innovative company may have finally
found a solution. The sun supplies enough energy to earth in one
hour to supply all of our energy needs for an entire year. But
currently solar power produces less than ½ of 1% of our residential
energy needs. Why?

In the past, solar power has been too expensive and too complicated.
To switch to solar, people had to invest their children's college
fund or sell their second car. The average consumer pays $40,000 to
convert their home to solar—plus you are responsible for the
installation, maintaining the equipment, getting permits—who has the
time (or the money)?

A company called Citizenre has a bold plan to remove all of the
traditional barriers to solar power. They offer: No system purchase.
No installation cost. No maintenance. No permit hassles. No
performance worries. No rate increases. No way!?

When we first heard about this from one of our readers, we were so
intrigued that we contacted the company. It seemed almost too good
to be true. Like most innovations, their model is so simple it makes
you wonder why no one thought of it before.

You simply pay Citizenre the same rate per kilowatt for power that
you used to pay your utility company—but it gets even better.
Citizenre will guarantee that your rate per kilowatt will not go up
for 25 years. With ever increasing electricity rates, this gives
consumers peace of mind and can add up to significant savings. They
even have a solar calculator on their website that shows exactly how
much you will save over 1, 5, and 25 years. I saved over $13,000 and
by using clean energy, it was the equivalent of taking 24 cars off
the road or planting 400 trees. Nice.

In the past, "going green" usually implied sacrifice. You get to
feel good about saving the planet but most "green" products are more
expensive than their "dirty" counterparts. With Citizenre, going
green can actually save you money.

This is all made possible by net metering laws that require the
utility companies to allow renewable energy to flow into the grid
and then allow the consumer to pull that same amount of energy off
of the grid at no cost to the consumer. Basically the grid becomes a
huge battery. The meter spins backwards during the day when the sun
is shining and forwards at night when the consumer pulls that power
back off the grid.

These laws were passed because residential energy production was the
number one cause of pollution in the US last year, but there are
still 9 states that have not joined the party. If you live in
Alaska, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri,
Kansas, Nebraska, or South Dakota, the Citizenre Solution is not an
option for you yet.

We were still a little skeptical, so we asked Rob Styler, the
president of their marketing division, some hard questions.

Q. How can Citizenre afford to install this complete solar system
with no upfront cost to the consumer?
A. Because we handle everything ourselves from the solar grade
silicon to the final installation, we create savings at each stage
of the production. Plus we are building the largest plant for solar
power in the world. When you combine our vertical integration with
our economies of scale, we are able to produce the final product at
half the cost of our competitors.

Q. This sounds like Citizenre required a large amount of money to
make all this happen?
A. $650 million.

Q. Now I know why no one did this before you guys. So the customer
does not have to give any money to have this complete solar system
installed on their house?
A. We require a security deposit, typically only $500, at the time
of installation. They get this deposit back, with interest, at the
end of the contract. If they don't pay their bill and walk away from
the contract, they lose their deposit and we come take the system
off their roof. They are also required to pay a monthly rental for
the solar energy system.

Q. And how is that rent calculated?
A. By the amount of energy that the system produces.

Q. But they are paying the same rate they were paying before, right?
A. Often it is actually less. We base our rates on the yearly
average for their utility. So we have to base our rates on the prior
year. Since rates tend to go up each year, many customers will save
money on their first bill, and this will only increase as the years
pass. We provide a calculator on our website that will tell
specifically what they will save with their particular utility and
their monthly usage. Many customers save over $10,000 just by
switching to the sun. Our whole mission is to help people join the
solution and stop being part of the problem.

Q. I like that. How long of a contract do they have to sign?
A. One year, five years, or 25 years. Over 70% of our customers sign
the 25-year contract because that locks in their rate for the entire
term of the contract. If they sign a shorter contract, their rate is
recalculated according to current energy rates at the end of their
term.

Q. What happens if I sign a 25-year contract and I want to sell my
house in 10 years?
A. You have three options. First, you can ask us to move the system
to your new house. We do that one time for free. Second, you can
transfer the contract to the new owner. This can potentially add
value to your house because if energy rates keep going up like they
are and they are 60% higher in 10 years, then your buyer would get a
60% decrease on their energy bill because of your foresight. The
final option is that you can contact us, tell us that you just want
to end the contract and we will remove the unit. With this third
option you do lose your security deposit.

Q. So is my security deposit the most I can lose?
A. Obviously if you don't pay your bill there will be late fees or
if one of our franchisees comes out to your house to remove the unit
and you greet him with a shot gun and pit bull, we will have to take
legal steps to recover our property. But if the customer is
cooperative they should have no worries.

Q. Say I want a system on my house. How does it work? What is the
process?
A. One of our Independent Ecopreneurs will help you each step of the
way. There are some simple questions to answer about your amount of
shade, the direction of your roofline, etc. After you sign the
contract, a solar engineer will come to the house to design your
system.

Q. What if I don't like the design? Am I still obligated to the
contract?
A. No. You can back out of the contract with no penalty. You don't
even pay the deposit until after you approve the design.

Q. Okay. I like the design. I want the system. What's next?
A. The installation usually takes about half a day. The permit
process can take as much as 90 days depending on how cooperative the
local utility is, but we handle everything. All you do is sit back
and feel good knowing you are using clean energy to power your home.

Q. What happens if something breaks or goes wrong?
A. We have a complete worry free performance guarantee. If the unit
ever stops working, one of our franchisees will rush out to fix it
for free. The customer has no rental charges until the system is
working again so we are motivated to get it fixed fast.

Q. What if my kid hits a baseball through one of the panels?
A. It is just like renting a car or a TV. You are responsible for
returning it in good condition. We recommend that customers contact
their homeowners insurance to double check that the unit will be
covered under their policy. Usually there is not a problem.

Q. Wouldn't I save money in the long run if I just bought the system?
A. Actually, no. Renting can save you a significant amount of money,
and it protects you from a large investment risk. We can help the
consumer evaluate their options so they can make a solid decision.
Our goal is to have solar power producing 25% of our residential
energy supply in the year 2025. To make that happen, we removed
every barrier we could find to solar entry. We make solar simple.

Q. I understand that your manufacturing plant is not completed yet,
is that right?
A. Correct. The first systems will be ready to install in September
of 2007.

Q. So why would someone sign up now?
A. First because they lock in their rate as soon as they sign up.
Second, they get in line so they can get their system sooner once
the plant is producing. Third, it also helps us show the market how
many people will go green if we provide an offer that makes sense on
every level, including economically. To quote Ghandi, "Be the change
that you want to see in the world."

Q. So how does someone sign up?
A. You just go to http://www.jointhesolution.com/MadiSUN and you can
sign up for free right now.

Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

Doerr firm invests in 'green technology'

tomcatino — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:34:36 -0800

Doerr firm invests in 'green technology'
Updated 4/10/2006 11:35 PM ET
By Terence Chea, The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Venture capitalist John Doerr made his name and fortune with early investments in Netscape Communications, Amazon.com (AMZN), Google (GOOG) and other pioneering tech firms that went from scrappy start-ups to household names.
Now Doerr and his firm, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, are placing big bets on an emerging sector he calls "green technology," one he believes could become as lucrative as information technology and biotechnology.

Menlo Park-based Kleiner Perkins plans to set aside $100 million of its latest $600 million fund for technologies that help provide cleaner energy, transportation, air and water. That's on top of more than $50 million Kleiner Perkins had already invested in seven greentech ventures.

"This field of greentech could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century," Doerr said. "There's never been a better time than now to start or accelerate a greentech venture."

As one of Silicon Valley's most respected investors, Doerr's decision to champion green technology as the next big thing is generating buzz in the venture capital community.

"When John Doerr talks, people listen," said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association. "John appears to have an innate ability to spot trends and execute a business plan that is actually able to take advantage of those trends."

Kleiner Perkins' plan to ramp up investment in green technology is just the latest sign of the sector's growth.

North American venture capitalists invested more than $1.6 billion in cleantech companies last year, a 35% increase over 2004, according to a report by the Cleantech Venture Network, a trade group.

"It's a strong area for venture capital," said Craig Cuddebach, the network's senior vice president, whose group expects venture capital investment in the sector to double over the next three years. "It's no longer a choice between whether you will be clean or profitable."

Also known as clean technology, the field includes technologies related to water purification, air quality, nanotechnology, alternative fuels, manufacturing, recycling and renewable energy.

As prices of more traditional energy sources continue to rise, the global market for clean energy sources such as biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells and solar and wind energy rose to $40 billion last year, according to a report released last month by Clean Edge Inc., a Bay Area marketing firm. The figure is expected to more than quadruple to $167 billion by 2015, the report said.

Past investments in renewable energy and other clean technologies often resulted in disappointing returns, largely because the technologies and market demand weren't strong enough, Heesen said. Alternative energy firms must fight for their share of a market that's tightly regulated and dominated by the oil, coal and natural gas industries.

"There are a lot of obstacles that stand in the way of creating a new way of creating energy," Heesen said.

But investors are seeing better prospects as technologies advance, more seasoned entrepreneurs enter the field and cleantech companies generate higher revenue. Successful initial public offerings by cleantech companies, such as Sunnyvale, Calif.-based SunPower Corp. and China's SunTech Power, have also stoked investor interest.

Besides investing in greentech ventures, Doerr said he and Kleiner Perkins plan to "advocate for policies that reduce the climate crisis and increase energy innovation."

Vinod Khosla, a Kleiner Perkins associate who recently started his own venture capital firm, is financing a California ballot initiative to fund alternative energy initiatives through tax hikes on oil companies.

Venture capitalists point to the global forces driving greentech investment: the rising cost of fuel, the economic expansion of China, India and other Asian nations; and growing worries over global warming.

"In my opinion, it's one of the most pressing global challenges we face," Doerr said. "It's causing the nations of the world to put an even higher priority than we have now on innovation."

Doerr sees another major trend: billions of people moving to cities in developing countries. Experts predict the number of people living in "megacities" with more than 10 million people will triple from 2 billion to 6 billion over the next 50 years, he said.

"This is the mother of all markets," Doerr said. "As those Asian economies rise, people will move from rural to urban settings. All those people will want the same things that you and I want — clean water, power and transportation."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
***************************************************************************
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Pond Scum Offers Promise for Biodiesel

tomcatino — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:42:15 -0800

Pond Scum Offers Promise for Biodiesel
January 11th, 2007 @ 8:54pm
Ed Yeates Reporting

A new fuel for your car - made not from oil that comes from the ground, but scum! That's what could happen as Utah researchers make plans to build what could be the most unusual refinery ever.

Oil refineries, we know what they look like and what they do, but this may not even fit the word "refinery" anymore.

Utah State University researchers are looking at biodiesel fuel made from pond scum. That's right, the green, slimy stuff that grows virtually anywhere appears to produce as good, if not a better, quality biodiesel fuel than soybeans.

Lance Seefeldt , USU Biofuels Program: "For soybeans, you get about 48 gallons per acre. And right now, the idea is for algae, we could get about 10-thousand gallons of oil per acre. So you can see it's about 200 times more oil per acre compared to soybeans."

Instead of prime agricultural land needed for soybeans or corn, pond scum can be grown rapidly on meshes or grids inside huge structures, fed by rooftop solar dishes. It's not a refinery, but a bioreactor.

Bright light comes through fiber optics from one single solar dish on the roof of the lab. Now, imagine what thousands of dishes could do in a massive bioreactor. Bioreactors built not on productive farmland, but on remote desert soils with thousands of grids inside growing the pond scum from solar energy.

"For every square meter of parabolic dish, we can illuminate 10 square meters of algae surface."

Byard Wood, USU Biofuels Program: "We're talking about thousands of acres with these kinds of bioreactors to produce in quantity the amount of liquid fuel that we need to make an impact."

From prototypes, to a fuel, to the pump, the technology appears so promising it's got the backing of the Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative to the tune of six million dollars in seed money.

The first large experimental facility would be built in Utah. USU expects pond scum biodiesel fuels could become cost competitive by 2009.
****************************************************************************
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Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

BP Alternative Energy Acquires Wind Energy Co.

tomcatino — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 06:37:26 -0800

BP Alternative Energy Acquires Wind Energy Co.
Oakland, California [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
January 8, 2007

Orion Energy, LLC was recently acquired by BP Alternative Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of BP established in 2005 to bring together BP's low-carbon electricity businesses.

With the acquisition of Orion Energy, BP's North American wind portfolio includes an opportunity to develop almost 100 projects with potential total generating capacity of some 15,000 MW.

Orion Energy, which has developed approximately 1,300 megawatts (MW) of wind projects, has more than 30 active development projects in 16 states with a potential generating capacity exceeding 6,000 MW.

"We have undertaken a rigorous process to find the right strategic partner for Orion," said Michael Haas, President, Orion Energy. "We chose BP because of the company's long-standing commitment to find practical solutions to climate change, its financial strength and proven ability to develop long-term energy projects."

With the acquisition of Orion Energy, BP's North American wind portfolio includes an opportunity to develop almost 100 projects with potential total generating capacity of some 15,000 MW. Earlier this year BP announced a strategic alliance with Clipper Windpower, based in Carpinteria, California, to supply up to 4,250 MW of wind turbines over the next five years.

"We are extremely pleased to bring Orion into BP Alternative Energy," said Robert Lukefahr, President of BP Alternative Energy North America. "Orion Energy has a strong track record as one of the leading wind energy companies in the USA and the Orion development team is among the very best in the industry."

BP Alternative Energy includes BP's wind power business, solar, hydrogen power with carbon capture and storage, and natural gas generation. The unit operates facilities in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America.

Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

It's Official

tomcatino — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:29:46 -0800

It's Official!
Thursday, January 04, 2007

Washington, DC -- As Vice-President Cheney completed the swearing in of newly elected and reelected Senators this afternoon, Senator Barbara Boxer's staff was huddling over last-minute details of Senator Boxer's first legislative initiatives as the new Chair of the Senate Environment Committee.

On the House side, HR 6 -- Speaker Pelosi's bill to repeal billions of dollars in subsidies and give-aways to Big Oil, and shift the funding to renewable energy -- was set for action as early as January 18th. Up to $16 billion could shift on that day -- a down payment on the smart energy solutions voters clearly hunger for and that many newly elected Senators and Representatives campaigned on behalf of.

But speaking to a group of our supporters this morning, I advised caution. I reminded them that the American people voted for a new way of doing business -- more openness, more honesty, more cooperation, more commitment to the public business. They are open to some new outcomes -- more emphasis on clean, modern energy, less on outmoded and dangerous fossil fuels -- but the real mandate is for the change in how business is done. "We need to remember what is says in Ecclesiastes," I said. "'To everything there is a season,' and this is a season to sow the seeds of new ideas, not the season to rush ahead to reap and harvest new policies."

The biggest risk we face is that in our understandable urgency, even panic, at how rapidly environmental problems, particularly global warming, are coming at us, we will rush our policy initiatives, and build the house of our new energy future so shoddily that it can't withstand the inevitable political storm to come. The oil industry is readying a $100-million PR campaign, one of whose thrusts will be to keep Congress committed to feeding subsidies to the past and starving the future. We need to be as careful and methodical as they are going to be, particularly since we obviously won't be as well-funded.

A new poll shows that 61% of American feel optimistic about the country's direction, a huge shift from just before the election, and 67% like the policies they expect the Democrats to support. At the same time, only 32% think Congress will be able to get much done. So, while expectations are low, the mood could sour very quickly if environmentalists or their allies in Congress don't carefully explain and methodically lay out a real agenda for the future -- one that will withstand the disappointments that will result from inevitable filibusters and Bush vetoes.

But it's official -- there is new leadership in Congress. And it is a very energizing moment here -- lots of smiles and hugs!

Carl Pope
Sierra Club
85 Second St. San Francisco, CA 94105
sierraclub.org/carlpope
*************************************************************************
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Madison Peak Oil Group (Madison, Wisconsin)

Democrats Hope to Take From Oil, Give To Green Energy

tomcatino — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:56:38 -0800

Democrats Hope to Take From Oil, Give To Green Energy

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 4, 2007; A01
green en
House Democrats are crafting an energy package that would roll back billions of dollars worth of oil drilling incentives, raise billions more by boosting federal royalties paid by oil and gas companies for offshore production, and plow the money into new tax breaks for renewable energy sources, congressional sources said yesterday.

Eager to paint themselves as different from the Bush administration and the past Republican majority, Democratic leaders are targeting a manufacturing tax cut in 2004 that they say gave unneeded incentives to the oil industry, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland said in a briefing yesterday. Hoyer said Democrats are also planning to force oil companies to pay royalties on deepwater Gulf of Mexico tracts leased in 1998 and 1999; the Interior Department has said that the leases inadvertently failed to include provisions for royalty payments once oil prices rose above certain thresholds.

The repeal of the 2004 tax cuts for the oil and gas industry would generate nearly $5 billion, Democratic lawmakers said, quoting estimates by the Joint Committee on Taxation. The royalty payments would yield between $9 billion and $11 billion, Hoyer said.

But energy industry and congressional sources said that the details of the package remain in flux, in part because of disagreements among Democrats over how the revenue would be used and whether to also roll back oil and gas industry incentives in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was supported by many Democrats.

Democratic leaders said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would introduce the energy package on Jan. 18, toward the end of the "100 hours" of legislative initiatives.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell want to be able to hold hearings before some of the key details of such a package are set. As a result, Pelosi will probably introduce the revenue-raising components first and set aside the money in a "fund" to be divvied up later.

Renewable energy lobbyists said that would set off a feeding frenzy among boosters of hydropower, nuclear, biofuel, geothermal and solar energy. Solar producers, for example, have a proposal to expand and extend tax credits for residential solar installations for eight years, which would cost $400 million.

"The Democrats are appropriately shifting money from the 20th-century technologies to the 21st-century industries," said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. "If we want to see solar, wind and biofuels, we have to make that investment today."

Figuring out how to distribute incentives for renewable energy could be controversial. Some Democratic House members want to exclude nuclear power. Some renewable-energy advocates fear that Congress will scramble to provide too many incentives for corn-based ethanol production.

Pelosi's staff has asked the Congressional Budget Office to estimate revenue from several proposals, most based on ones introduced last year by Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Maurice D. Hinchey (N.Y.), Edward J. Markey (Mass.), Jim McDermott (Wash.) and Brian Higgins (N.Y.).

McDermott's would alter the 2004 tax cut, which was adopted as a way to stimulate job growth by effectively trimming tax rates for a broad range of U.S. manufacturers, agriculture and extractive industries. Mark Kibbe, senior tax analyst for the American Petroleum Institute, said that when fully phased in by 2009 the provision would trim the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 32 percent. McDermott's bill would eliminate the break for the oil and gas industry.

"From the perspective of our industry, it helped make U.S. oil and gas exploration projects or refining projects more cost-competitive with those abroad," Kibbe said.

The most likely change in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 would be the repeal of a clause that allowed oil companies to deduct geological and geophysical exploration costs instead of treating them as capital expenditures to be amortized over a longer period of time, said congressional aides and environmental lobbyists. This change would generate less than $1 billion in revenue over 10 years, they estimated.

A variety of proposals would target the question of royalties on the 1998 and 1999 Gulf of Mexico leases. (The Justice Department is investigating possible relationships between Interior Department officials and oil companies that received the leases, said two sources briefed on the investigations last month.)

Five companies representing about a quarter of the leases in dispute agreed last month to insert price thresholds for future royalty payments, but another four dozen firms have not agreed to change the terms of those leases.

"There are a lot of issues with that, such as the sanctity of contracts," said API's Kibbe. "The API doesn't think it's a bad idea to renegotiate contracts, as long as both parties think it's a good idea. "

But Democratic and many Republican lawmakers are adamant on the issue. Markey and Hinchey would bar companies that refuse to renegotiate those leases from getting any future leases on federal lands or in federal waters. Pelosi's office has even discussed a proposal made last year by then-GOP congressman Richard W. Pombo, who wanted to impose a $9-a-barrel "conservation fee" on oil produced in federal waters by companies that refused to renegotiate the 1998 and '99 leases.

"It deprives the American people of the production they own," Hinchey said. "If they think it's too expensive, we should leave it there."

Many House Democrats also want to prod oil companies into making back payments on the disputed leases. Those back payments could amount to $900 million to $2 billion, according to the General Accounting Office.

Environmental groups were happy. "The oil and gas bill is a clear departure from the previous Congress's infatuation with oil and gas handouts," said Erich Pica of Friends of the Earth.

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Powered by Solar, Financed by Third-Party

tomcatino — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 01:48:37 -0800

Powered by Solar, Financed by Third-Party
How one California winery & a San Francisco-based investment company are setting a precedent in the renewable energy industry.
by Sara Parker, Staff Writer
January 4, 2007

Hopland, California [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
Installed atop a bottling plant at Fetzer Vineyards in California is a shiny new 901-kilowatt photovoltaic solar array. The entire cost of the recent solar project to the Mendocino County-based winery? $0.

"We get clean power from new solar at a cost that is 10% less than conventional power from the utility. It will stay below the cost of grid power for the length of the contract. It also reduces our peak demand power charges by 70%. All this at no capital expense and no increasing in the asset base."

-- Susanne Zechiel, Fetzer Vineyard, manager of facility resources

MMA Renewable Ventures, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC, coordinated the financial backing to own, operate and maintain the Fetzer Vineyard system, and sell the clean energy to Fetzer under a long-term Solar Services Agreement (SSA) contract that sets the electricity costs at a fixed rate.

Developed by 3 Phases Energy and installed by PowerLight, the Fetzer solar energy system was the first project in 2006 to be financed through MMA Renewable Ventures' solar fund, a vehicle for institutional investment in renewable energy projects nationwide. Deploying the proceeds through its proprietary third-party financing model, the venture company works with solar energy developers such as 3 Phases Energy to offer customers predictably priced clean energy while avoiding the costs of installation and ongoing system maintenance.

"While investment in clean energy projects is on the rise, solar projects, the largest of which tend to be small in comparison, only make sense to capital markets if they can be efficiently organized, which we have accomplished with this sponsorship and will in many more to come," said MMA Renewable Ventures CEO Matt Cheney.

Generating 1.1 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity annually, the Fetzer installation is positioned on the roofs of the winery's bottling facility and Red Wine Barrel Room in Hopland, California. The array will supply about 80 percent of the bottling plant's energy and about a third of the overall vineyard's power.

"Since 1998 [Fetzer Vineyards] has been committed to supporting renewable energy. We were the first and only winery to choose to purchase 'green' power when the California energy market deregulates and we maintain those direct access accounts currently. However, we also want to one, support the development of new renewable power sources and two, ensure our own access to clean power in the future," said Zeichel, who hopes other businesses will be able to take advantage of the proprietary third-party financing model.

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Watch Out ! Here Comes the Tsunami...

tomcatino — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:41:16 -0800

Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 12:06:52 -0600 (CST)
From: "Carl Pope, Sierra Club"
Subject: Taking the Initiative: A Shifting Tide, or a Tidal Wave?

A Shifting Tide, or a Tidal Wave?
San Francisco, CA

Preparing to take the red-eye back to DC for the swearing-in of the
new Congress, it's clearer and clearer that the country is not going
to wait for Washington to lead again. Nor will the Sierra Club.
Paula Carrell, who coordinates our state policy support efforts,
reports that in a completely unprecedented clustering of state
legislative interests, the 30 (out of 43) Sierra Club state lobbying
offices that have already sent her their preliminary agendas, say
they expect to actively lobby 90 state energy policy bills!

Luckily, there are many signs that the tide is making a momentous
shift in Washington. A new poll shows that both Republicans and
Democrats nationally want Congress to control U.S. emissions of
greenhouse gases (Republicans 61%, Democrats 82%). Furthermore,
majorities in both parties also favor requiring car makers to
increase fuel efficiency even if it increases the cost of owning a
car (Republicans 71%, Democrats, 86%).

Just before Christmas, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
told the press that his role in 2008 was going to be to make sure
that global warming was seriously addressed in the campaign. "There
is a whole new movement because of the change of people sent to
Washington," Schwarzenegger said in an interview this week. "We want
to put the spotlight on this issue in America. It has to become a
debate in the presidential election. It has to become an issue."

The Raleigh News and Observer featured Sierra Club organizer Tom
Jensen as one of seven local residents who will matter in 2007,
citing his Cool Cities work "to persuade North Carolina cities to
sign a commitment to reduce greenhouse gases.... based on a climate
protection agreement by the U.S. Conference of Mayors," ... "sort of
a local government version of the international Kyoto Protocol."

The New York Times just reported that while the new Democratic
leadership is making some significant steps towards reforming the
rules which encourage corruption, these steps pale by comparison
with what has become standard in many states.

John Hurson, a former Maryland legislator turned federal lobbyist,
told the Times that he was barred from letting a lobbyist buy him a
cup of coffee under rules enforced by the Maryland Ethics
Commission. Meanwhile, congressmen were flying across the country
for golf trips with lobbyists and enlisting them as major fund-
raisers for their re-election campaigns.

"It was amusing in a sad kind of way.... At the state level in
Maryland a lobbyist can't even have his name on a campaign flier.
And at the federal level some of these guys are basically running
campaigns."

And finally, to impart a sense of the tidal wave I sense coming,
imagine this scene: Bush has just finished his second term and
stepped down. His successor, however, is another Republican. But
here's what the newly elected executive says at his inaugural: "We
have a common vision ... Meaningful, secure work with good pay and
good benefits; Quality, affordable, accessible health care; A good
home on a safe street in a safe neighborhood; World-class schools
preparing our children for the jobs of the future; Clean rivers,
beautiful beaches and coastlines free of oil drilling. This is a
vision we can make a reality. If we come together, work together we
will succeed together. And to those of us entrusted with the public
confidence, our mission has never been more clear: Solve problems,
don't politicize them. Put the common good above partisan politics.
We will work together to do what is right."

Sound unreal? Well, it just happened. The Bush who was stepping
down, of course, was Gov. Jeb Bush, in Florida. The quotes are from
the new Governor, Republican Charlie Crist.

Is Washington going to rise again and become our capital? I'll be
interested to gauge the changing tides this week. But while I'm
hopeful, I think there is still some risk that our nation's capital
will fall victim to the bigotry of low expectations. After all, it
has been down for a long time.

Carl Pope
Sierra Club
85 Second St. San Francisco, CA 94105
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking the Initiative is the blog of Sierra Club Executive Director
Carl Pope.

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