Josh Marks, Environmental writer joins us live tomorrow at 1p EST

We found Josh through a series of article he had written, including one that reported on solar panels producing both heat (which is usually the bane of solar production) and electricity.  We found Josh had traveled extensively and reported frequently on many subjects we love to cover as well:  EV's, mass transient, clean energy, urban planning and, as a bonus, lots of reporting on sports.  We look forward to a great show.

Here's some background on Josh, his writings and blog (which we like a lot).  Listen in or catch it in a couple of months on our main site:  renewablenow.biz



His site:  http://joshuamarks.webs.com/

BIO:  

Environment/Sports/Travel/Showbiz/Politics

Environmental journalist and clean energy blogger Josh Marks writes about the transition to renewable power and the sustainable economy at Green Forward and guest blogs on Winning Progressive.

He also blogs about the business of professional hockey at The Hockey Stop on the website SportsFanLive and guest blogs on GetReal Hockey.

His two newest blogs are Josh's Travel Blog, where he posts stories, photos and videos from his trips around the world, and Federal City Film, about film shoots and entertainment industry connections in Washington, DC. 

Josh was a Web Production Editor at Variety.com in Los Angeles for over five years and contributed many entertainment industry articles and reviews to the "Hollywood Bible." 

Josh edited and wrote articles for Sea Technology Magazine, the ocean/marine industry's premiere trade publication covering marine business, science and engineering. 

As a freelance writer he has contributed to New Mexico-based arts and culture website Adobe Airstream with feature stories on electric cars and high speed rail. He has also contributed to sustainable urban transportation blog TheCityFix, interviewing US High Speed Rail Association President and CEO Andy Kunz about the future of high-speed rail in America and writing aboutthe five best high-speed rail networks in the world.

He also wrote a feature piece on socially responsible investing and shareholder dialogue for Green American Magazine. His previous article for Green American was on comprehensive home energy audits.

Josh also has written for the advice website eHow.com. His two most recent advice columns are on Green Mountain Energy's Effects on the Air and Facts About Air Pollution Caused by Smoking.

Josh most recently wrote for progressive political news site The National Memo and currently is a soccer and hockey writer for Rant Sports and a writer for sustainable design sites Inhabitatand Inhabitat NYC where he wrote a story about California breaking ground this summer on the nation's first high-speed rail line.

Just another great guest at Renewable Now Network, the business side of green.

DEP: Oil and gas operations damaged water supplies 209 times since end of ’07

This story is a good follow up to recent radio shows exploring the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing and domestic gas exploration in general.  We'd had some great experts come on and talk to us from both industry support and opposition.  

There's mixed data coming from both sides.  Proponents of fracking claim there's been no major contamination with over 10,000 sites drilled.  However, countering their claims are stories like this, and there's many of them, documenting at least low-level spills around sites.

We like domestic energy--the positive impact on our economy and jobs.  We see natural gas as a great bridge between dirtier fossil-fuel sources and a clean-energy driven economy.  We dislike fracking heavy use of unknown chemicals (that is soon to change, as you will learn listening in to some of our shows), and their pouring of millions of gallons of water, some of which is quite sparse, particularly out West, deep into the ground.

If you have information or expertise to add, feel free to send us material.

"Oil and gas operations have damaged Pennsylvania water supplies 209 times since the end of 2007, according to official determinations compiled by the Department of Environmental Protection that the agency is preparing to release for the first time.

State environmental regulators are planning to post the information on DEP’s website this month, but an early version of the spreadsheet was provided to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in response to an open records request.

The spreadsheet lists the 209 affected water supplies by county, municipality and the date regulators concluded that activities related to oil or gas extraction were to blame for contaminating or diminishing the flow to a water source.

The document does not disclose property owners’ names or addresses and it does not detail which companies that were deemed responsible for the damage, what caused the disruptions or what pollutants were found in the water.

DEP’s deputy secretary for oil and gas management, Scott Perry, said the agency intends to enhance the spreadsheet by adding links to the letters or orders related to each case at some point, which should reveal more information about how water was affected.

Environmental regulators are required by law to determine within 45 days of getting a drilling-related water complaint if oil and gas operations contaminated a water supply or reduced its flow. DEP reports its findings in letters to property owners. It also issues orders to companies to fix the damage in cases where oil and gas operations are found to be accountable or are presumed to be the cause because of the proximity between drilling activities and a disrupted groundwater source.

Those conclusions are public records.

After initially fighting news organizations’ requests for the determination letters and arguing it would be too difficult to find all of them in its files, DEP has increasingly provided access to the documents in the last year after courts required their release and as public interest in the information has grown.

When DEP posts the tally of damaged water supplies this month, it will mark the first time the agency has released its official accounting of drilling-related pollution and diminution cases on its website.

“This frequently requested information is being shared with the public in our continued effort to be as open and transparent as possible,” DEP spokeswoman Morgan Wagner wrote in an email. She said the department plans to update the list as more determinations are made.

The number of impacts is small relative to the number of new oil and gas wells drilled during the same time period – nearly 20,000, according to DEP records.

Patrick Creighton, a spokesman for the industry trade group the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said in a statement that “this data further demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of oil and natural gas wells in Pennsylvania – over 99 percent – have been developed without any impact on ground or well water.”

But people who have seen their water disrupted often describe the experience as uniquely unsettling..."

You will find the rest here:   http://powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/policy-powersource/2014/07/22/DEP-Oil-and-gas-endeavors-have-damaged-water-supply-209-times-since-07/stories/201407220069

Tesla confirms plans for 3rd, mainstream model

Good news for Tesla and consumers of EV's.  Let's keep the new, affordable models with great range coming.

"California battery-car start-upTesla Motors has shown it can take on established premium-luxury brands with its Model Sedan, but the real test will come when it launches an all-new mainstream electric vehicle it's planning to call the Model 3, or Model III, depending on which tweet you read.

CEO and founder Elon Musk has long made clear his plans to go down-market, and the new sedan is expected to come in somewhere around $35,000 — or between one-half and one-third of the price of the bigger Model S, depending on equipment and range. That would position the new offering as a direct competitor to the likes of, appropriately enough, the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans.

Model S, depending on equipment and range. That would position the new offering as a direct competitor to the likes of, appropriately enough, the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans.

The Model 3 actually would be Tesla's fourth model, following the original Roadster, the Model S and the upcoming Model X sport-utility vehicle set to debut next year. But it would, by Tesla's count, bring the debut of the brand's third-generation battery technology.

And it would allow the maker to come close to its original plans for a somewhat inside joke. The smaller model was originally scheduled to be called the Model E — until, that is, Tesla was reminded by rival Ford Motor Co. that the Michigan maker owned that trademark.

In one of his frequent Twitter posts, Musk noted he told a friend that since "we had the model S and X, we might as well have the E." Then Ford stepped in, Musk explained, and "I thought this is crazy, Ford's trying to kill sex! So we'll have to think of another name." And that's why it's going to be the Model 3, he went on, noting, "we'll have three bars to represent it and it'll be S III X!"

Whether buyers will be as passionate about the midrange model as Musk remains to be seen. While the Model S has been selling reasonably well in select, upscale markets, such as Beverly Hills and Silicon Valley's Palo Alto, it still is generating demand for barely 3,000 vehicles per month, little more than an asterisk on the industry sales charts.

Indeed, battery cars as a whole, including both plug-in hybrids and pure battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs (such as the Model S), have so far captured a fraction of one percent of total U.S. sales. And conventional hybrids saw demand slide by nearly 10% during the first half of 2014.

Industry analysts such as Dave Sullivan, of AutoPacific, Inc., caution that existing mid-range models have been plagued by limited range and long charging cycles, mediocre performance, and hefty premiums for their battery powertrains.

With the Model S — and for the upcoming Model X — Tesla has tried to overcome as many of those limitations as possible. The sedan, for one thing, can be ordered with an 85 kilowatt-hour battery that provides nearly 300 miles of range under optimum conditions. At the same time, the Model S can launch from 0 to 60 in barely 4 seconds, on a par with a Porsche 911. Using the most powerful home set-up, an owner can recharge in about 3 hours, while an expanding network of so-called Supercharger stations can yield an 80% "fill-up" in about 20 minutes.

Price is still an issue, and it remains to be seen where Tesla will have to cut back to meet the $35,000 target. At the current cost for lithium-ion batteries, an 85 kWh pack itself would cost the car maker about that much.

Read:  Tesla Model S Car of the Year

But Musk has set a goal of slashing the cost of lithium-ion technology, and with partner Panasonic is getting ready to set up a so-called Gigafactory, a $5 billion battery plant that will be the biggest lithium cell production center in the world. The goal is to both increase production volumes and sharply drive down costs.

The Model S has drawn strong praise. Consumer Reports, for one, has declared it the highest-scoring vehicle the magazine has ever tested. But it appeals to a rarified niche audience. Tesla has to rapidly expand its appeal if it is to consistently earn a profit — something it has only done through non-standard accounting practices.

Nonetheless, the maker has generated the sort of investor enthusiasm that more traditional automakers can only dream of, with its stock hitting a $265.00 peak earlier this year. Shareholders had a cautious reaction to word of the Model 3 — or III — with Tesla shares sliding just over 1% on Wednesday in the hours after the new model was confirmed."

Green’ Communities Awarded Nearly $8 Million

This is a nice investment by Mass Energy in their 43 municipalities.  We think this reflects the changing economic landscape and offers innovative ways of pumping money into green communities and sustainable cities and towns.

This award, over 7m, is a significant infusion of cash into sometimes cash-hungry cities and towns.  We applaud these Green Communities and the state of Ma for a wonderful program.

We have reached out to them for a radio interview.  

By ecoRI News staff

The Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs and Department of Energy Resources recently awarded $7.9 million in grants to fund dozens of clean-energy projects in 43 municipalities statewide.

Green Communities competitive grants are awarded to designated Green Communities that have successfully invested their previously awarded Green Communities grants. Awards are capped at $250,000 per municipality.

This round of grants, totaling $7,905,438, was funded through proceeds from carbon allowance auctions under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The goal of this Green Communities program is to support energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects.

There are 123 Green Communities, representing 48 percent of Massachusetts residents. 

“Green communities are setting the standard for other towns and cities across the commonwealth to follow, and are a major contributor to our state’s national standing as a leader in clean energy,” Senate President Therese Murray said.

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has ranked Massachusetts No. 1 for three straight years. Last year, Gov. Deval Patrick set a new solar goal after reaching the previous goal of 250 megawatts four years early. The state now aims to install 1,600 megawatts of solar capacity by 2020. Currently, there are 518 megawatts installed, capable of powering nearly 79,000 homes. The state’s clean-energy revolution is yielding economic benefits as well, with 11.8 percent job growth in the last year; nearly 80,000 people are employed in the clean-tech industry in Massachusetts, according to state officials.

Carbon Tax goes DOWN Under. Major Set Back For Australia

This is a very interesting story we carried on our main site today...http://www.renewablenow.biz/the-sustainable-community.html

We think a carbon tax can be an effective tool for government to use.  It can be a bridge to capture new revenue and pump those dollars into sustainable improvements.  It can be a new exchange for private buyers and sellers of credits.  It can force grid operators, transportation companies and others to invest more quickly in clean tech...leveraging a higher pain level for such organizations trying to maintain the status quo.

We are sorry to see the tax "go down under" in Australia.  Could it be tweaked or implemented over a longer period if it was dampening economic growth?  Yes, of course.  We see that as a better solution than repealing the legislation.

Also, here in the US we are expecting higher energy costs as well.  If that is the only factor in evaluating the value of the carbon tax, then there might be much disappointment in Australia as energy costs rises anyway, and there's no carbon reduction to at least compensate society.

See what you think:

 

"Some Australians are calling this a "perfect storm of stupidity," while others, like Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry head Kate Carnel are saying, "The carbon tax was a dead weight on the Australian economy and abolishing it is a win for consumers, a win for energy users and a win for business." Well, for Australians the carbon tax may be dead; but they don't expect to see a major difference in power bills - or for too long. It doesn't matter that many households were compensated for any impact of the scheme under the Household Assistance Package, or that the carbon tax prevented 11 to 17 million tonnes of carbon emissions. Nor does it matter higher it resulted in some filthy brown-coal fired power stations being mothballed. Like it or loathe it, it's kaput. Spin bettered substance and Thursday's passing of the repeal turned Australia from a leader to laggard. "The repeal of Australia’s carbon price is a tragedy, not a triumph,"said Michael Raupach, Director, Climate Change Institute, Australian National University. "It flies in the face of three giant realities: human-induced climate change, the proper role of government as a defender of the common good, and the emerging quiet energy-carbon revolution". According to the ABC, consumers can expect to save between 20 and 50 cents each day on their electricity bills now the carbon tax has been repealed. However, any financial benefit relating to power bills could quickly be eaten up by increases in other charges. For example, in New South Wales, Ausgrid wants increases of around 2 per cent a year over the next five years and TransGrid wants to raise prices by almost 4 per cent - this is just in relation to network charges. Other states including South Australia have just implemented more electricity price rises. The average South Australian household will pay around $85 a year more. In Queensland, households were recently hit with a 13.6 per cent increase, expected to cost the average household an extra $190 a year. Depending what end of the scale of carbon tax savings are to be had, any relief may have already been gobbled up before many will receive their post-carbon tax bill. Anyone planning to do something other than pay power bills with the perceived windfall may need to re-evaluate those plans."

Earthjustice.org

How do you like this quote: " Our mountains, rivers and wildlife belong to all and so too must the power of justice belong to all those who desire to protect our nation's natural treasures. Working together, we will continue holding accountable those who would harm the environment and our communities, and we will continue to ensure that the earth has a good lawyer.Our mountains, rivers and wildlife belong to all and so too must the power of justice belong to all those who desire to protect our nation's natural treasures. Working together, we will continue holding accountable those who would harm the environment and our communities, and we will continue to ensure that the earth has a good lawyer."

No bad, huh?  That from the front page of Earthjustice a group we will be talking about tomorrow on our live radio show (stream is still set to WARL, former call letters of the station:  http://www.1320warlradio.com/gs/)

Good to hear talk about lawyers doing good work.  We know there's great lawyers out there doing some fabulous work, in fact.  We have one who co-hosts with us monthly, Seth Handy.  At Renewable Now we very much appreciate their efforts and impact.

Tomorrow we talk with Michael Weller from Bracewell & Giulani LLC and get a lawyer's view of the Earthjustic petition to the EPA that they develop disclosure and more regulations around the chemicals pounded into the ground as part of hydraulic fracturing of gas, and better oversight/regulations regarding the health risks of fracking.  Certainly a controversial topic that evokes incredible passion on both sides.

Here's part of a blog Bracewell & Giulani posted concerning the petition.  We've included a link to this post which will get you on their site.  It appears to us that they do some very good work as well. 

Listen in live and, if you can't, we'll post the show on our main site--renewable now.biz--in a few weeks:

LINK:    http://www.energylegalblog.com/archives/2014/05/19/5538#more-5538

""The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken its first official step toward creating a federal regulatory program that would require disclosure and reporting concerning chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process.  On May 9, 2014, EPA released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that seeks public comment on the types of information that should be reported or disclosed for hydraulic fracturing substances or mixtures and the mechanism for obtaining this information.

While the ANPR is directed to the public in general, companies in the oil and gas industry, particularly those that manufacture, import, process or distribute chemical substances used in hydraulic fracturing treatments, should take note.

Background

In August 2011, Earthjustice and 114 other organizations petitioned EPA under section 21 of TSCA to adopt a rule that would require, among other things, mandatory disclosure and reporting of the chemicals used in oil and gas exploration and production (E&P). 

Specifically, the petition requested that EPA adopt a rule pursuant to TSCA section 8(a) requiring manufacturers and processors of E&P chemical substances and mixtures to maintain records and submit reports to EPA disclosing:

1. the identities, categories, and quantities of E&P chemical substances and mixtures,
2. descriptions of byproducts of E&P chemical substances and mixtures,
3. all existing data on potential or demonstrated environmental and health effects of E&P chemical substances and mixtures, and
4. the number of individuals potentially exposed to E&P chemical substances and mixtures.

In addition, Earthjustice petitioned EPA to adopt a rule pursuant to TSCA section 8(d) to require submittal of all existing, not previously reported health and safety studies related to the health and/or environmental effects of all E&P chemical substances and mixtures.

In November 2011,  the EPA granted in part the TSCA section 8(a) and 8(d) petitions for chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing but denied the petitions to the extent they addressed E&P chemicals not used in hydraulic fracturing, finding that the request was overly broad and petitioners had failed to demonstrate that such a broad rule was necessary.  EPA also rejected companion petitions under TSCA section 4 (for lack of foundation) and section 8(c) (which does not authorize petitions).

In July 2013, EPA released a document that set forth the Agency’s reasons for denying in part Earthjustice’s petition and announced its plans to move forward with an ANPR focused on the reporting of chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing, including submission of unpublished health and safety studies.

ANPR

In the ANPR published today, EPA seeks comment on the types of information  associated with hydraulic fracturing chemicals and mixtures that should be disclosed, in addition to the options for reporting related health and safety studies. 

The Agency has not yet decided whether disclosure should be mandatory, voluntary, or a combination of both.  EPA solicits views on this question and also asks whether best management practices should be disclosed, whether third-party certification and collection should be required, and whether EPA should employ incentives for disclosure of information..."

- See more at: http://www.energylegalblog.com/archives/2014/05/19/5538#more-5538

A Fine Line : New Program Predicts When Human Impact Becomes Too Much

This strikes at the heart of our mission--to convince others that we need a careful balance between the economy and environment, and we can't possibly sustain commerce without natural resources.

So, what is the tipping point on population growth and demands on our eco-infrastructure?  What would run out first...water, land, food, clean air?   Does it matter?   Have we already pulled back from the precipice with conservation, investments in clean energy, better EPA standards, closing down coal-fired plants, recycling, educating kids around sustainability?

We welcome your thoughts and comments:


From: Morgan Erickson-Davis, MONGABAY.COM, More from this Affiliate 
Published July 6, 2014

Indigenous groups control approximately half of the world’s vegetated areas. As globalization changes the ways in which traditional communities interact with the land on which they live, it is important to be able to predict how the surrounding environment will respond.

Scientists at Stanford University recently unveiled a new modeling program that can predict the response of the environment to the land-use changes of human communities. Using their model, they found that natural resources can support humanity — up to a certain point. They recently published their findings in the journal Environmental Modelling & Software.

Their model showed that in an area in which food is acquired through mostly hunting and with some cultivating, a human community can remain in-balance with the surrounding environment if it stays within a certain population range.

"Once indigenous populations move outside that [range], the land use rapidly shifts to another state characterized by a much lower forest cover, with negative impacts on both biodiversity and carbon stocks in the vegetation," said Eric Lambin, a professor and senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Lambin and his team developed the model by incorporating many different ecological factors that are known to affect native communities, such as vegetation diversity and deforestation rate. They then projected how changes in these factors would impact the growth rate of communities through food availability. While the actual dynamic between human communities and the environment is more multifaceted and also involves a complex of social factors like education and policy, the researchers believe this initial version of their model will still be useful in predicting land changes.

"This makes it more of a universal model, because all people need calories," said Jose Fragoso, a senior scientist at Stanford and co-developer of the model. "They must meet their daily caloric requirement. If they farm more to do that, then they hunt less, or vice versa. But that drives the system and causes all the changes to occur."

Continue Reading at Mongabay

Cell Phone Conservation/Environmental News Network

Interesting to see how technology continues shape our world in ways we never dreamed possible.

The cell phone is one of our century's incredible devices.  It has spawned whole new industries around it.  Now, we see a start up in CA, concerned, we are sure, with the waste of discarded phones, applying them to ground-breaking environmental work to protect endangered wildlife and habitat.  Phenomenal and very exciting.

This story, courtesy of Environmental News Network, hits on all business side of green keys--combining technology with waste reduction with innovation around start ups and new jobs to benefit the economy and environment.  Very sweet.

We will work on doing a radio show around this story.



From: Alex Kirby, The Ecologist, More from this Affiliate 
Published July 9, 2014 

A Californian technology startup, Rainforest Connection (RFCx), has developed a tool - made from recycled smartphones - that it says will pilot new ways to monitor and stop illegal logging and animal poaching throughout Africa's equatorial forests.

RFCx has formed a partnership with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), an international scientific charity that works for the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats.

The two organisations are planning to install the anti-deforestation, anti-poaching technology in Cameroon this year.

Randy Hayes, the founder of the Rainforest Action Network, said: "This is the most exciting critical new tool I've seen that I think can help us get the job done."

RFCx says it has developed the first real-time detection system for protecting the forests and deterring illegal logging, using discarded Android smartphones to send instant alerts to forest rangers, enabling them to intervene swiftly.

It says current monitoring methods often rely on aerial surveys or satellite surveillance, which usually detect deforestation days or even weeks after the event.

Topher White, RFCx's founder, believes the right tools have been developed at just the right moment to make a difference. He said: "It's clear that real-time awareness and intervention is a major missing piece in protecting the world's last remaining rainforests."

"By using old smartphones and existing telecommunications infrastructure, we have built a system that we think could scale quickly enough to make a real impact."

Continue reading at ENN affiliate The Ecologist.

Cell Phone image via Shutterstock.

Cooperative organic farming takes root in Kentucky

We are working on a similar project in RI and thought you might consider the same in your community.   Here's the link to the video as well:   http://grist.org/food/cooperative-organic-farming-takes-root-in-kentucky/

Thanks to Grist.org for the story:  

The ideas of cooperative work are central to many movements in Latin America. Nelson Escobar has brought those ideas from his home in El Salvador to Louisville, Ky., to a large urban farm named La Minga after a traditional South American form of collective organization. Now, in the heart of conservative America, the farmers plant, cultivate, and harvest their food together, sharing the bounty amongst themselves and supporting the greater local community as they go.

Daniel Klein is a chef, activist, and the filmmaker behind Perennial Plate. Follow him on Twitter at @perennialplate.

Risky Business. org

Do you know this group? This is the leading edge, in our opinion, on a global basis of insight into our prism--the business side of green. It is very gratifying to us to see world leaders put their time and money into helping us migrate to a clean-energy economy and bringing money and expertise into balancing the economy with our beautiful, enchanting environment.

We will have them on a future radio show.  If you have no listened to any episodes, please do so here.  If you have expertise and would like to join us on a show, contact us anytime:  http://www.renewablenow.biz/peter-arpin-remewable-now.html

Risky Business Report Finds That U.S. Regions and Business Sectors Face Significant Economic Risks From Climate Change

Ex-Treasury Secretaries Shultz, Rubin and Paulson Join Bloomberg, Steyer and other Leaders Urging Industry to Better Understand Risks to Economy

First-of-its-kind Risk Analysis Quantifies Potential for Economic Disruptions; Independent, Non-partisan Study Breaks New Ground in Climate Risk Assessment

New York, June 24 – The American economy could face significant and widespread disruptions from climate change unless U.S. businesses and policymakers take immediate action to reduce climate risk, according to a new report released today. The report, “Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States,” summarizes findings of an independent assessment of the impact of climate change at the county, state, and regional level, and shows that communities, industries, and properties across the U.S. face profound risks from climate change. The findings also show that the most severe risks can still be avoided through early investments in resilience, and through immediate action to reduce the pollution that causes global warming.

The Risky Business report shows that two of the primary impacts of climate change—extreme heat and sea level rise—will disproportionately affect certain regions of the U.S., and pose highly variable risks across the nation. In the U.S. Gulf Coast, Northeast, and Southeast, for example, sea level rise and increased damage from storm surge are likely to lead to an additional $2 to $3.5 billion in property losses each year by 2030, with escalating costs in future decades. In interior states in the Midwest and Southwest, extreme heat will threaten human health, reduce labor productivity and strain electricity grids.

Conversely, in northern latitudes such as North Dakota and Montana, winter temperatures will likely rise, reducing frost events and cold-related deaths, and lengthening the growing season for some crops.

The report is a product of The Risky Business Project, a joint, non-partisan initiative of former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Mayor of New York City from 2002-2013 Michael R. Bloomberg, and Thomas P. Steyer, former Senior Managing Member of Farallon Capital Management. They were joined by members of a high-level “Risk Committee” who helped scope the research and reviewed the research findings.

Risk Committee members include:

• Henry Cisneros - Founder & Chairman, CityView Capital; former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); former Mayor of San Antonio, TX
• Gregory Page - Executive Chairman, Cargill, Inc. and former Cargill Chief Executive Officer
• Robert Rubin - Co-chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
• Donna Shalala - President, University of Miami; former US Secretary of Health and Human Services; former Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• George Shultz - Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution; former US Secretary of State; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; former U.S. Secretary of Labor; former Director, Office of Management & Budget; former President, Bechtel Group
• Olympia Snowe - Former U.S. Senator representing Maine
• Dr. Al Sommer - Dean Emeritus, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

Wow, $5.1 Trillion on Renewables by 2030

It amazes us how quickly the clean energy sector is growing.  Today our guest felt too much of this is driven by government subsidies.  Is it?  Certainly the government investment in solar, tax credits and funding of R & D has been critical.  But, overall, we believe that the tidal wave of investment in renewables is signs of a maturing industry who is on top of their game in terms of product development and customer satisfaction.  We like the way clean energy is fast approaching parity with other forms of power and is harnessing better storage systems to deliver KW's when needed.

Hence, we see stories like this on a exploding market.  That means lots of job creating as well.  See this story and much more at our main site:  http://renewablenow.biz/investing-green.html



Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) expects USD $7.7 trillion to be invested in new electricity generation capacity by 2030, with 66% of that amount going towards renewable technologies.
   
The 2030 Market Outlook, BNEF’s long term view of the power sector to 2030, predicts out of the $5.1 trillion to be spent on renewables, Asia-Pacific will account for $2.5 trillion.
    
"The period to 2030 is going to see spectacular growth in solar in this region, with nearly 800 gigawatts of rooftop and utility-scale PV added," says Milo Sjardin, BNEF’s head of Asia Pacific.
   
"This will be driven by economics, not subsidies, as our analysis suggests that solar will be fully competitive with other power sources by 2020."
   
Of the 1,733GW of renewables added by that year in the Asia-Pacific region, 46% is expected to be solar PV and 29% wind. PV will be split almost equally between rooftop and utility-scale capacity. To achieve this level, PV will require $63bn of investment annually and wind $39bn a year on average – 7% and 11% more than their 2013 investments respectively says BNEF.
  
"By 2030 we anticipate that 47% of installed power capacity and 33% of electricity generated will be from renewable sources."
  
In addition to the Asia-Pacific's renewables splurge, the Americas will invest $816 billion, Europe $967 billion and the Middle East and Africa will invest another $818 billion. 
   
BNEF expects wind energy and solar power solar to increase their combined share of global generation to 16 percent in 2030 - a big jump from the 3 percent last year. 
   
Published annually, the Market Outlook sources the expertise of over 65 technology and country-level experts from 11 Bloomberg New Energy Finance offices worldwide and takes nine months to complete.
   
More from the 2030 Market Outlook can be viewed here.

The National Center for Public Policy Research/For tomorrow's show

We think tomorrow's show might be a bit controversial.   Here's some background on our guest and his group.  Listen in live on WRNP 1320 AM:   http://www.1320warlradio.com/gs/

Justin took on Tim Cook at an Apple shareholder meeting and asked for accountability on their heavy investments in renewable energy.  He chided Cook that Apple would not make those if not for government subsidies.

Tune in tomorrow as we meet The National Center for Public Policy and Justin Danhof, Esq.

About Us

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today's public policy problems. We believe that the principles of a free market, individual liberty and personal responsibility provide the greatest hope for meeting the challenges facing America in the 21st century.

In 1982, we started The National Center to provide the conservative movement with a versatile and energetic organization capable of responding quickly and decisively to fast-breaking issues. Today, we continue to fill this critical niche through a top-flight research and communications operation driven by results and the bottom line.

In the 1980s, The National Center helped change public opinion through vocal national campaigns aimed at supporting Reagan administration initiatives concerning the USSR, arms control, Central America and human rights. With the Cold War won, The National Center now trains its sights on other issues, including:

Environmental Policy: Firm in the belief that private owners are the best stewards of the environment, The National Center's Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs advocates private, free market solutions to today's environmental challenges. The Task Force highlights the perverse nature of many government-first environmental policies through the collection and promotion of regulatory horror stories, which attach human faces to very real problems caused by regulation.

JUSTIN DANHOF, Esq.

GENERAL COUNSEL & DIRECTOR OF THE FREE ENTERPRISE PROJECT

Justin Danhof is the General Counsel for the National Center for Public Policy Research, as well as Director of the Center's Free Enterprise Project. Mr. Danhof previously worked as a research associate with the National Center for Public Policy Research from 2008 to 2009. Prior to joining the National Center for Public Policy Research, Mr. Danhof worked in the Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office in the Economic Crimes and Cybercrimes Division, for the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development and at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Danhof’s work has been widely published and quoted in major newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register, Politico, Bergen County Record and the Canadian National Post, among others.

Mr. Danhof is a member of the Federalist Society and Christian Legal Society.

Mr. Danhof is a graduate of Bentley University (Waltham, MA), where he received a Bachelor of Science in economics and finance and pitched for three seasons on the school’s NCAA Division II baseball team. Mr. Danhof completed his graduate studies at the University of Miami School of Law where he received his Juris Doctor and Master of Laws in Taxation.

Mr. Danhof is licensed to practice law in New York and Washington, D.C.

Home grabs onto sun's rays in Irvine test/Orange County Register

As we reported yesterday, there's a growing trend towards powering bigger and bigger things with the sun, including, which is very exciting, whole houses.

Let's hope the combination of solar and batteries allows us to get off fossil fuels in running the electrical needs of our homes.

By Lily Leung / Staff writer
Orange County Register

"Many of life’s essentials, from cars to mobile phones, run on batteries.

Will our homes be next?

Two California companies are exploring that possibility in a pilot case out of Irvine that involves storing the sun’s energy for residential use.

San Jose-based solar manufacturer SunPower Corp. has outfitted a model home in the Orchard Hills community with a solar-panel system and battery that harnesses power from sun rays that can be used in the evening.

If the numbers make sense, SunPower and partner KB Home, a Los Angeles-based builder, could incorporate the systems into future construction to appeal to the environmentally conscious home buyer.

“It’s a real opportunity for customers in the future,” said Steve Ruffner, president and regional general manager of KB Home’s Southern California division. “Basically, the power they generate can be used when they get home from work, using it as a backup system during a power failure or natural disaster. But obviously the system is brand-new.”

The test case in Irvine, one of three in the nation, began about a month ago. The other locations are San Diego and El Dorado Hills, in Northern California.

Over time, the experiment will give company officials an idea of whether something like this could work on a grander scale.

Because the pilot case is still early, few details are available.

If a bigger roll-out does go forward, homeowners would own, not lease, the combined system of the solar panels and battery unit.

The cost is not yet available but would be rolled into the overall cost of the home. A solar-panel system at a KB community in Irvine could save homeowners more than $200 monthly on average. An attached battery unit would likely yield more savings.

SolarCity Corp. also offers solar-storage systems.

So far, the biggest barrier for the mass adoption of solar storage for homes is its high cost, energy experts say. The installation of solar panels could cost as much as $30,000, which makes leasing an attractive option for some homeowners.

Consumers should do the math before buying a home with such an energy system, said Dr. Alfredo Martinez-Morales, managing director of the Southern California Research Initiative for Solar Energy.

“What is the cost per energy unit?” Martinez-Morales said. “Is this significantly more than what you’re currently paying?”

Such systems could be a big hit among early adopters, especially those who are concerned about limiting their carbon footprint, he added."

Contact the writer: lleung@ocregister.com

SolarCity, Using Tesla Batteries, Aims to Bring Solar Power to the Masses

SolarCity’s new battery system might help solar become a significant source of electricity.

• By Kevin Bullis on December 5, 2013

This story first caught our attention late last year, but we waited till no to run it because of a constant flow of articles this month on solar firms--including SunEdison in CA, testing solar arrays with battery-back ups to power homes.  Clearly, Solar City saw the value of capturing high loads of electricity and holding if for on-demand use that would smooth out the fluctuations of renewables to the grid or to power homes/buildings.

This is a key evolution to the power and efficiency to renewables.  If these models prove out, clean energy truly starts to look as a 100% alternative to getting off the grid.  Hooray!!!!

"Today, SolarCity—a company that’s grown quickly by installing solar panels for free and charging customers for the solar power—announced a new business that will extend that model to providing batteries for free, too. SolarCity is a rare success story for investors in clean technology, and its business model has sped the adoption of solar panels.

The batteries could help businesses lower their utility bills by reducing the amount of power they draw from the grid. They could also help address solar power’s intermittency, which could prevent it from becoming a significant source of electricity. The batteries are being supplied by Tesla Motors, whose CEO, Elon Musk, is SolarCity’s chairman.

Other solar companies have failed in recent years. But SolarCity’s business model has helped it grow quickly. It had a successful IPO a year ago, and its stock price has risen from its IPO price of $8 to over $50 today (see “SolarCity IPO Tests Business Model Innovations in Energy”).

CEO Lyndon Rive says that eight years from now, the company might not be able to continue selling solar panel systems unless it packages them with batteries, because of the strain on the grid that solar power can cause. “It could be that, without storage, you won’t be able to connect solar systems to the grid,” he says.

Solar power intermittency isn’t currently a big problem for utilities, since solar panels generate just a tiny fraction of the total electricity supply. But solar power will become a strain on the power grid as it grows. Power from solar panels can drop in less than a second as clouds pass overhead, before surging back again just as fast. The tools that utilities use now to match supply and demand typically can’t respond that fast. Batteries could be a solution, but they’re too expensive to be used widely now. Rive thinks SolarCity can help drive down their costs by scaling up its use of batteries with the new business model

Utilities charge companies for their electricity based on two things. The first is the total amount of electricity they use (measured in kilowatt-hours). The second has to do with their peak demand—a company that needs to draw huge amounts of power for industrial equipment will pay more than one that only needs to charge a couple of laptops, since it will need bigger transformers and other equipment. The fee based on that peak electricity demand can be a big chunk of the total bill, typically between 20 and 60 percent, Rive says.

The battery systems—and the software that controls them—are designed to reduce the peak draw from the grid. Batteries charge up using power from solar panels and supplement with power from the grid when a company needs to draw its highest levels of power—such as during summer afternoons, when air conditioners are running hard.

SolarCity is also testing battery systems with residential customers, who typically don’t pay demand charges. The main draw for homeowners would be the batteries’ ability to provide backup power if the grid fails. But eventually regulators could adopt rules that allow homeowners to reap profits from allowing utilities to use their batteries to help manage electricity load on the grid.

Rive says SolarCity spent three and a half years developing the battery system and the last year testing it. Because batteries are expensive, it’s ideal to use ones as small as possible. Algorithms try to predict when to charge and discharge the batteries, a decision based partly on forecasts of how much solar power is going to be available and when demand will be greatest.

The batteries use the same technology Tesla uses in its electric cars. But the size of the packs could be far larger, depending on the size of the solar panel system it’s paired with.

SolarCity isn’t the only company looking to use batteries to reduce electricity costs (see “A Startup’s Smart Batteries Reduce Buildings’ Electricity Bills”).Nissan recently announced that it had used the batteries inside several plugged-in Nissan Leaf electric vehicles to reduce electricity costs for one building in Japan, as part of a test of a concept called vehicle to grid (see “Recharging the Grid with Electric Cars”).