Renew On Line (UK) 34

Extracts from the November-December 2001 edition of Renew
These extracts only represent about 25% of it

13. US Developments

US to review renewables

In a move reminiscent of the cull of renewables that occurred in the UK in response to the ACORD review in 1982, following the Conservatives election victory in 1979, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has ordered a review of the US Dept. of Energy’s renewable energy R&D programme - to find out which research programmes are most effective and compatible with public-private financial arrangements, so as to guide funding plans. The review, called for under the Bush’s new national energy plan, will be conducted concurrently with a review of the department's energy efficiency programmes.

As we noted in Renew 133, the Bush administration has already proposed budget cuts of more than 50% for some of the Department's research programmes for energy efficiency and renewables, and the new review will presumably identify exactly where the cuts will fall. But with the Senate now under Democrat control, following the defection of a Republican Senator, Bush may find it harder to get his way.

It doesn’t have to be this way...

A California research group says that given proper support, renewable and other clean energy technologies could in fact grow rapidly. Clean Edge predicts markets for clean energy technologies will grow from today’s US$7bn to approximately $82bn by 2010. Clean Edge believes the sector, which includes technologies such as wind power, solar photovoltaics, and fuel cells, will experience annual growth of 28 % through this decade. “A real, sustainable new economy is emerging around clean technologies,” said report co-author Ron Pernick. “It is focused not on ‘saving the earth’ but on the real business and economic opportunities from providing clean energy, transportation, water, and materials on a global scale.” But the group admits that the market is nascent and in need of help via international governments’ support, steady economic growth, customer acceptance and continued activist pressure on companies to pursue clean tech. Seewww.cleanedge.com

* Going against the Bush line, George Pataki, Republican governor of New York State has mandated that state facilities purchase at least 10 % of their power needs from renewable sources by 2005, and 20 % by 2010. He said that the state was ‘setting an example for the rest of the nation’.

EU / US co-operation

Just in case you thought that the US and the EU are always at loggerhead on the energy issue, it’s worth noting that scientists from both sides of the Atlantic are expected to work together on securing safe, clean energy, following the signing of a co-operation agreement between Brussels and Washington for research into non-nuclear energy. The main fields for collaboration are likely to concern hydrogen, solar power, energy efficiency and the cleaner use of fossil fuels. Less welcome, a co-operation agreement was also signed on nuclear fusion. “The global challenges in the field of energy are such that a more systematic collaboration, as well as learning from each other, is becoming highly desirable, if not indispensible, for the sustainable development of our economies,” said Mr Busquin for the EU. The EU sees its own strengths in the areas of thermonuclear fusion and energy efficiency, while the US is advanced in fossil fuel and CO2 emissions research. The main spheres of interest for the EC are fuel cell technology, hydrogen production technologies, solar energy and biomass.

US tries to sort mess

It’s not all bad news from the USA. The US Department of Energy is planning to invests over $85m in energy efficient science and technology, with research awards being given to 18 organizations and five universities for R&D on cutting-edge energy efficiency and clean energy science and technology, including hydrogen related technologies. And, Bush has agreed a tax credit of 15% for the purchase of residential solar electric and solar thermal equipment- for up to $2,000 each.

Meanwhile, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs that Congress must act now to ensure the continued reliability of electricity transmission systems if the nation is to reap the benefits of competitive electricity markets. And the Electric Power Research Institute presented technical recommendations for solving the power crisis that began in California last year and now involves the 11-state Western power grid, with the potential for expanding further. EPRI say that allowing clean distributed generation to interconnect with the power grid in the western United States is one way to solve the energy and that expanding the use and effectiveness of small modular forms of distributed generation must be a priority by next year. They say that there has been ‘more than a decade of inadequate investment in power generation, transmission, distribution, and customer demand-response programs’.

More info at: http://www.epri.com

California Screaming

There seem to be as many explanations as to the reason for Californias ‘energy crisis’ as there are analysts. Here is one we felt was reasonable (and short!), from the Utility Reform Network: “Many outside California don’t understand why deregulation has failed. The generators (like Reliant, Dynegy, Mirant) and traders (like Enron and Williams), which control our electric supply, are manipulating and gaming the market in order to extract obscene profits. Last week, a megawatt, which costs less than $150 to produce, was being sold for $1,900. Several state agencies are investigating market abuse, including allegations that plants have been taken off line unnecessarily in order to drive prices up. Our primary problem is not a lack of supply, it's an excess of greed.”

Contact: turn@turn.org,

http://www.turn.org.

We’ve also seen a longer analysis, along similar lines, by one Jim Hightower, who notes that the states grid now cost more to repair than it costs to generate power for it, and recommends off- grid micro power instead. It was all nicely summed up by Home Power magazine with a quote from an anonymous off-grid renewable energy user ‘Blackout? What blackout ?’