Archive for the ‘green energy’ Category

President-elect Obama has identified clear goals for green energy and climate change policy. In addition to the information on his transition website, he recently released a video address, in which he outlined specific benchmarks:

• Investment of $15 billion per year to catalyze private sector efforts toward clean energy

• Investment in solar, wind and next generation bio-fuels.

• Reduction of emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, an additional 80% by 2050

• Investment in and development of nuclear and clean coal technologies

With Detroit’s Big 3 trying again this month to persuade Congress for a loan, the President-elect has also made clear his intention to use the possible auto-industry bailout as a vehicle to promote clean energy.

In addition to specific legislation, an interesting possibility would be for Obama to create a National Energy Council, as recommended by the Center for American Progress (CAP). Last year, CAP laid out a plan for the next president, which includes (in addition to specific energy and climate change initiatives) a proposal to create a National Energy Council headed by a National Energy Advisor at the Cabinet level.

By Grant Draper, Partner at The Element Agency in New York

The campaign might be over, but one debate still rages on: will aggressive investment in green energy really add the millions of jobs that President-elect Barack Obama and many others have promised? Of course, the naysayers will continue to say nay, but others are taking more thoughtful approaches to this question.
In September, the Center for American Progress released a new report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists which directly investigated this question. According to the report, a swift initial investment of $100 billion in renewable energy strategies would, in just two years, create two million new jobs, reduce unemployment to 4.4 percent (from about 5.7 percent), reinvigorate the construction and manufacturing sectors, and help lower oil prices.

We all know that green investment is as inevitable as it is intelligent, so let’s put our differences aside and embrace this incredible job-generating opportunity.

By Dan Giacomini, at The Element Agency in New York.

Congress’ move to turn the economic bailout green by extending the renewable energy tax credits has been a saving grace to the industry. Though the extensions will greatly benefit the green economy, the clean tech industry is not clear of financial turmoil yet.

The renewable energy tax credit extensions will no doubt have a positive affect on the industry. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated that the extensions could have saved and created nearly half a million jobs while solar and wind industries argued that the had the credits expired the tax credits could have cost the industries a combined $19 billion.

However, the new legislation far from a long-term renewable energy plan. The legislation affords an 8-year extension to the solar energy industry’s investment tax credit but only 1-year extension to the wind energy industry’s production tax credit.

The lack of a long-term energy plan hinders investment in the renewable energy sector. Next year, the U.S. could face a similar battle to get the renewable tax credits renewed, and the foundation on which the wind industry is built could again become fragile.

As well, with the loss of major investment banks such as Lehman Brothers, smaller companies will have a harder time finding start-up capital. This lack of capital could weed out smaller companies, or as Forbes’ William Pentland speculates, it could cause smaller companies to build alliances with larger energy companies. A long-term energy plan will provide stability to the renewable energy market and help investors plan when they might see a return.

By Don Miller at The Element Agency in New York.

This week the blogging world saw much speculation of the green energy’s economic state.

While the San Francisco Chronicle sounded the warning bell that the economic crisis could threaten green tax credits, Thomas Friedman argued that now is the time to build a green infrastructure and to start by “greening the bailout.”

Later in the week, the Senate did just that, as Forbes reported, by sneaking an extension of renewable energy tax credits into the $700 billion economic bailout plan. However, Forbes suggested that the economic crisis would still negatively affect the clean tech sector.

Earth2Tech updated its “ethanol death watch map”.

TheStreet reported that renewable energy production is up 5% and CleanTech highlighted 19 solar deals this week.

TriplePundit underscored that cutting greenhouse gases is good for the economy.

Greenbiz published the UN report that clean energy could create 20 million jobs by 2030.

By Teresa Herrmann, The Element Agency

SMA America, Inc., part of a solar technology giant, has just launched an interactive educational website that teaches users how solar energy works. The site uses animation, illustration and easy to understand descriptions including a glossary of the most commonly used terms in the industry to educate its visitors.

Although the practicality for consumers to own and benefit from solar energy units in their own homes is still a far reach, it is a huge step to begin educating the general public on all there is to know about solar energy.

Now, hopefully when home solar units become available for practical use to a broader population, consumers will already be ready and willing to catch some rays.

By Brian Geraghty at The Element Agency in New York

Climate clairvoyant Al Gore has laid out some ambitious new plans in a interview to the Associated Press yesterday previewing an upcoming speech.Gore, after giving both Obama and McCain their due, presented the energy crisis as an opportunity to turn every kilowatt of energy used in the US into green power.

Gore presented the investment in terms of the opportunity cost. The Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan group that Gore chairs, estimates the cost of transforming the nation to green electricity at $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion over 30 years. But a roughly equal amount would be needed to build coal plants to satisfy demand.While noting that electricity itself does not account for the entirety of the emissions contributing to climate change, Gore sees this challenge as good first step: “If we meet this challenge we will solve the rest of it.”

By Robert Anton at The Element Agency in Vancouver

Every once in awhile on the internet you get these too good to be true stories. But sometimes you gotta post it in the off chance there is something too this, then you can be the person that let everyone else know.

This time it is a story about an Israeli Scientist who has invented a process to turn CO2 emissions into a fuel using algae.

Do I understand what algae is and how it works? yes. Do I understand this? no.

But here is a link, educate me, let us know what you think.

By Robert Anton at The Element Agency in Vancouver