Google and Green Energy

Posted on July 22, 2010 by nikitaob

This week, a blog post by Google announced that the company plans to enact a power purchase agreement to get enough energy to power several of its facilities. The deal will include a purchase of 114 megawatts of power from the NextEra Energy Resources wind farm in Iowa. According to Google, the decision will help to promote the expansion of alternative energy in general as well as specifically for the Iowa wind farm. According to the post, the deal will allow NextEra enough financial security to expand and build new wind turbine installations. In addition, removing 114 megawatts from the market will stimulate other companies to expand their own investments.

This is a good step for Google, yet it isn’t out of step for their company strategy. Since 2007, the company has pledged itself to becoming carbon neutral by constructing energy efficient data centers, powering individual buildings with solar power and purchasing carbon offsets. Google has repeatedly stated that its decisions to “go green” have long term financial assets as well. “While we are happy to be purchasing renewable energy as part of our environmental commitment, this is also a structure that makes long term financial sense for Google. Through the long term purchase of renewable energy at a predetermined price, we’re partially protecting ourselves against future increases in power prices.”

Mass Renewables Redux

Posted on July 21, 2010 by JPierce

This time last year we reported that a state law requiring heating oil to contain a paltry 2% biodiesel was finally being enforced. Alas, once again, implementation has been delayed.

Although Cape Wind gets most of the press, it is not the only contentious wind project in the Bay State. Last week the SJC ruled that a planned project in Western Mass. was legitimately permitted and could proceed.

Finally, the state has also announced that it will be reviewing emissions regulations for biomass-fueled power plants. Variously characterized as perplexing, raising the bar, and a win for biomass opponents

Obama pushes new tax credits for Green Companies

Posted on July 12, 2010 by nikitaob

Speaking at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, President Obama issued new proposals for issuing tax credits to renewable energy companies as a means of stimulating job creation. The President urged increasing the current funds already approved by the Congress totaling some 2.3 billion dollars. The problem is, there aren’t enough tax credits to go around,” Obama told the crowd at the university. “When we announced the program last year, it was such a success that we received 500 applications requesting over $8 billion in tax credits. But we only had $2.3 billion to invest. In other words, we had almost four times as many worthy requests as we had tax credits.”

President Obama’s trip to promote alternative fuels was also part of a larger effort to help push Senate elections this November back towards the Democrats, who have been consistently losing ground to the political right over the past several months. Indeed, Obama wasted no time criticizing top GOP leaders for being critical of his administration rather than offering up original solutions. “At every turn, we’ve met opposition and obstruction from leaders across the aisle,” said the president. “That’s why I’m glad I’ve got a boxer in the Senate, who’s not afraid to fight for what he believes in. The boxer, according to the President was none other than majority leader Harry Reid, who has been a key ally of the administration’s efforts across the board, including climate change and the move towards renewable energy products.

However, for Obama to even consider enacting massive initiatives such as removing national dependence on foreign petroleum, the President has recognized that he must first secure a firm majority in both houses of Congress. Indeed, the November Elections will truly be a referendum on the policies of Obama and Congressional Democrats.

Need to Know: It’s not impossible to ween ourselves off of coal & oil

Posted on June 12, 2010 by JPierce

PBS’ new weekly news magazine—Need to Know—has been covering some interesting stories. The fifth episode aired last week, and included the piece below on the Danish isle of Samso’s effective elimination of fossil fuels within the past decade. FYI: rapeseed is what most of the planet calls canola, and the Danish subsidies for wind appear to be less than those in the U.S. ¹.

They’ve also had some compelling coverage of the gulf spoil including Big Oil’s Chernobyl and A chance encounter on the Gulf Coast with a BP engineer

^{1. Wind is subsidized at 30% of capital cost in Denmark. Ignoring any state incentives, there is a 2.2¢/kWh federal tax-credit. At typical costs and an average operating capacity of 50%, this amounts to a subsidy of up to: 2.2¢/kWh × 10yr × 8,760 hr/yr × 50% × 2.5MW × 1,000 kW/MW ÷ 100¢/$ = $2.4 million / $3.5 million = 68% (not accounting for erosion by inflation)}

A Victory for Cape Wind

Posted on May 13, 2010 by nikitaob

In a game-changing move for the financing of offshore wind farms across the United States, National Grid has agreed to buy power from the Cape Wind project after a nine year court struggle. The announcement comes in a period of success for the project, falling one week after the federal government officially approved of the project over the defiance of some Cape residents. Under the new 15 year PPA agreement, the UK based National Grid would begin purchasing up to one half of the total generated kilowatt hours starting in 2013 for the sum of 20.7 cents per every kilowatt hour.

The deal is estimated to raise the average cost of National Grid’s electricity customers by approximately 2 percent in the coming years after the launch of the wind farm , however, in the long run experts say that the consistency of wind power as an alternative power source would keep rates under control, especially if the prices for oil and natural gas skyrocket. The additional 2 percent increase would add about $1.59 to every 500 kwh. Recently however, these statistics have been disputed by the Alliance for the protection of Nantucket Sound, longtime opponent of the Cape Wind project, have recently argued that rates for consumers would increase by 442 million over the next 15 years. Cape Wind’s Mark Rogers fired back when he told Reuters, “I have no idea where they [The Alliance] are getting their numbers from—maybe they are assuming there will be no fossil fuel price increases. Their predictions about rate increases lack credibility.”

The opposition to the project has now begun to seek legal measures to prevent the construction of the wind farm, piling up a stack of lawsuits supported by a variety of different organizations from the Earth Land Institute to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe; the Pocasett Wampanoag recently spoke out in favor of the project. However, in a recent meeting with Siemens Energy, President Obama told workers in a blade manufacturing plant that his administration’s investments in clean energy would be the largest in US history. “One study suggests that if we pursue our full potential for wind energy, and everything else goes right, wind could generate as much as 20 percent of America’s electricity 20 years from now.”

Clever caloric comics & contamination clean-up compendium

Posted on May 5, 2010 by JPierce

Continue reading →

Hot air

Posted on January 15, 2010 by JPierce

Back in July T. Boone Pickens announced a quartering of his mega-wind farm project. The project has essentially been scrapped due to continuing issues with access to transmission lines, as Mr. Pickens downplays wind in his wind+natural gas “plan.” The remaining order with GE has been halved to three hundred odd turbines, whose future home is expected to be relocated from the Texas panhandle to Canada or Montana. Continue reading →

Further Complications for Cape Wind

Posted on January 5, 2010 by JPierce

The New York Times published story today on the National Parks Service’s response to an inquiry about Nantucket Sound, finding that is is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The site has not yet been listed, and if it were it could further hinder the beleaguered renewable energy development, but it would not be an insurmountable impediment. Continue reading →

Wind Electricity in Denmark

Posted on November 13, 2009 by jrogers

In honor of the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen, I have decided to write a bit about the highly-evolved Danish wind-generation network. Danes – it’s OK if you thank me later.

The Danes generate a higher percentage of their electricity from wind than any other nation. Currently, wind supplies 20% of electricity in Denmark. Spain comes in second, and generates 12% of electricity from wind¹. The U.S. generates 1% of its electricity from wind.

So what’s the deal? Why do the Danes have such a large lead in wind? There are two main reasons:

Denmark is a small, geographically homogenous country with substantial wind resources and very limited solar and hydroelectric resources.
As the video below explains, the Danes have chosen to design an electricity system that favors wind generation.

Reason #1 isn’t too complicated… Denmark is small and flat. No location is further than 52 km (32 miles) from the coast .

Reason #2 is more complex. As the video explains, the Danish government subsidizes wind generation and allows wind turbines to connect to the grid for free. Additionally, the Danish Grid is connected to Europe, so Danish power companies have the ability to sell excess wind-generation during times of surplus into an expanded network.

Also, although the video states that wind is cheap, Danish residents pay among the highest prices for electricity in the World. So now the question is, can other countries use the Danish experience with wind as a template for their own plans?

And the answer: Yes… and No. Countries can’t choose their natural resources, but they can choose to incentivize wind-farms as the Danes have. Of course, that choice can and will have a financial cost at-least in the short term, which a majority of a country’s citizens will need to decide to bear. Danes, we salute you.

^{1. Although Spain momentarily surpassed 50% last week due to high winds, and the integration of weather forecasting data into grid operations.}

How much wind does your cape have?

Posted on November 3, 2009 by jrogers

On January 16, 2009, Governor Patrick announced his goal for 2,000 MW of wind-powered electricity generating capacity to be installed in Massachusetts by 2020. To put that number in perspective, the commonwealth currently houses about 13,500 MW of electricity generating capacity – of which wind makes-up a negligible amount. Assuming that the installation of 2,000 MW of wind-powered electricity would be completely additional, i.e., no plant was retired, wind-turbines would account for about 13% of total generating capacity in Massachusetts.

The installation of such a large amount of wind-power, in such a public and popular location, would attract substantial international attention. Currently, the world’s two largest wind farms, Denmark’s Horns Rev 2 and England’s Lynn and Inner Dowsing plant, are capable of generating 209 MW and 194 MW of electricity, respectively. The installation of so much wind-power by the Commonwealth would send a clear message that our state is serious about renewable energy.

That said, there are always two sides to an argument. The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound – the largest group opposing Cape Cod wind-power – states that potential adverse impacts on the economy, the environment, and Native-American heritage rights, outweigh the benefits of Cape Wind. Time will tell if Massachusetts will meet its renewable energy goals, but it appears that the pendulum is shifting… slowly. Governor Patrick’s announcement comes on the heals of legislation passed last year that encourages state-wide increases in renewable energy. Stay tuned.

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