Natural gas seems to invoke a win/win perspective as the solution to all problems in some discussions about energy policy and the best fuels for electricity generation and transportation. In these scenarios, the only downside is the pressure it puts on renewable energy technologies. Yes, natural gas is cleaner than coal. It exhausts about half Continue reading →
Progress aside, we still need a comprehensive national energy strategy insists the Business Roundtable (BRT), a group representing CEOs from major U.S. companies. BRT just released a report of its own – Taking Action on Energy: A CEO Vision for America’s Energy Future – which it says is the national energy strategy we need. In the report, BRT Continue reading →
Government agencies tasked with U.S. energy policy are “like an orchestra without a conductor,” says former North Dakota Senator Bryan Dorgan, now part of a panel of experts urging the second Obama administration to change the way it approaches energy. Dorgan, a Democrat, is part of a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) energy project that’s hammering Continue reading →
Now that the presidential election is over, perhaps we’ll see some reality injected into our energy policy. The existing energy policy professes to encourage “energy independence”. That policy in action embeds permanent subsidies, tax credits, and tax breaks in the US federal tax code for highly profitable fossil fuel industries. via Why A Realistic Energy Continue reading →
An A-list of the renewable energy industry will be assembling this week in Eilat for one of the world’s premier conferences on the subject — the Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference, a three-day showcase of the latest in international and Israeli-developed renewable energy technologies. No fewer than 194 speakers — arguably the world’s renewable energy “brain Continue reading →
In the next couple of months, Gov. Martin O’Malley and his advisers will decide whether offshore wind is going to be a legislative priority again, his spokeswoman said. “I definitely wouldn’t rule it out,” Raquel Guillory said. But O’Malley (D), who made offshore wind the central pillar of his energy policy — only to see Continue reading →
The production tax credit for wind energy is set to end in December of this year and whether it should be renewed has been a recent topic of debate. This begs the question; is wind energy a viable and important part of our energy policy? On December 31, 2012 the federal renewable electricity production tax Continue reading →
In a political season dominated by divisive electoral politics and obstructionist legislative strategies, the future of America’s energy policy has been a casualty, caught in the political crossfire. Whether debating drilling for oil on public lands, extending the production tax credit for wind energy, or the role of fossil fuel subsidies in an “all of Continue reading →
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has rejected claims of a coalition rift over the government’s energy policy, stating that all ministers are ” unreservedly committed” to a low-carbon economy. Mr Clegg has said that there has been discussions about the ” balancing and sequencing” of policy, and the Treasury and the Department of Energy Continue reading →
The scheduled expiration of a production tax credit for the wind industry has taken center stage in the energy policy debate between President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The credit, which allows taxpayers to claim 2.2 cents for every kilowatt hour of wind energy produced by a utility-scale wind farm, is due to Continue reading →
On the campaign trail in Colorado Thursday President Obama assailed Mitt Romney for opposing the tax break for wind energy production, saying the presumptive nominee would put tens of thousands of jobs at risk by letting them expire. “At a moment when homegrown energy, renewable energy, is creating new jobs in states like Colorado and Continue reading →
The United States of America is a big and complex country. In that context, public policies for renewable energy exist at the Federal, state and local levels. They include regulatory mandates, tax incentives, cash subsidies, financing guarantees, and research funding; and apply methods differently to each of a spectrum of technologies including wind, solar, hydro, Continue reading →
The anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, which claimed the lives of 19,000 and left another 325,000 without permanent housing, was observed on Sunday with a moment of silence and prayer at 2:46pm, the time at which the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck. In the wake of the disaster, Japan reassessed its energy policy, alongside many nations Continue reading →
The next ten and half months hold little promise of Congress producing a coherent national clean energy strategy. The same legislative gridlock over the federal budget that stalled debate on key issues last year looks to come back in force this year as well. But that doesn’t mean high-impact clean energy policy can’t be implemented. Continue reading →
The Grattan Institute has studied the potential of wind power, solar energy (photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power), geothermal energy, bioenergy, nuclear and CCS to generate near-zero emissions power. No easy choices: which way to Australia’s energy future? explores the acute intellectual and policy challenge Australia faces in energy policy. via REVE – Regulación Eólica Continue reading →
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted unanimously today to strengthen a key clean energy policy in California called the Loading Order. The Loading Order sets a priority list for electricity sources. California’s utilities must first employ energy efficiency and conservation to meet customer demand; then energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar and Continue reading →
When it comes to developing offshore renewable energy resources effectively, geography dictates that Ireland and the United Kingdom have to collaborate. But when it comes to integrating these resources into domestic energy portfolios, each country is on its own. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), Ireland‘s national energy authority, has released three “energy roadmaps,” Continue reading →
In a recent Insight on the Smart Grid, ARC concluded that: “What would help this market most would be a broad consensus around a few simple, elegant, and consistent policies.” The GridWise Global Forum is an annual event focused on energy policy. The most significant thing to emerge from this year’s Forum was just such Continue reading →
TREIA was fortunate to have the opportunity to hear from Chairman Wellinghoff. In addition to addressing the differences on renewable energy policy between the FERC and the State of Texas and areas where each could learn from the other Chairman Wellinghoff discussed Demand Response technology and the Smart Grid. via Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association Continue reading →
GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt has indicated that the US needs a national energy policy that puts a long-term price on carbon pollution as China and other nations surge ahead in green technology. GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, is the world’s biggest maker of power-generation equipment, GE power-generation equipment provides one-third of the world’s electricity. The Continue reading →
