AsCape Wind searches for buyers of its expensive energy, the Obama Administrationfast tracks more wind projects USAToday (2/7/11) reports: The Obama administration announced plans Monday tospend $50 million to speed the development of offshore wind farms, aiming tolease wind farms off four Mid-Atlantic states by the end of this year…TheInterior Department said it will expedite environmental reviews for four windprojects off the coasts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Thisspring, it expects to identify other wind energy areas off Massachusetts, RhodeIsland and the South Atlantic region, notably North Carolina…"This initiativewill spur the type of innovation that will help us create new jobs, build aclean energy future and compete and win in the technologies of the 21stcentury," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in the announcement, whichnotes President Obama’s goal of generating 80% of U.S. electricity from cleanenergy sources by 2035.
Docprescribes moderation for Obama Administration’s wind obsession; argues windshould only be one of many fuel sources, including oil and natural gas FuelFix (2/7/11) reports: A key Republican lawmaker today took aim at the Obamaadministration’s plan to speed up wind projects in the Atlantic Ocean, sayingthe White House is giving short shrift to important offshore oil and gasresources…“Offshore wind is an important part of a robustall-of-the-above-energy plan,” said House Natural Resources Committee ChairmanDoc Hastings, R-Wash. “However it’s unwise for the Obama administration toexclusively focus on developing offshore wind in the Atlantic while ignoringthe need for expanded oil and natural gas production.”..Interior Secretary KenSalazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced plans to fast trackenvironmental reviews of potential offshore wind development in four areasalong the Atlantic Coast, possibly paving the way to issue wind leases forthose regions later this year. Salazar telegraphed his plan to fast-trackoffshore renewable energy projects in November.
HeyObama, why don’t you ‘invest’ your own money in renewable energy? The markethas spoken — venture capitalists exit green energyWallStreet Journal (2/7/11) reports: The decline in energy efficiencyinvestments is especially surprising because the total clean-technology ventureinvestments were up. Both the amount invested and deal volume in all ofclean-tech companies rose about 8% last year over 2009, to a total of $3.98billion invested in 278 deals…But investors say that the figures aren’t anindication that people have lost faith in this sector…“Investors have short attentionspans and lots of bets were made in the space in 2007-09,” Steve Foster, apartner at venture firm Altira Group, said in an email. “I expect it to reboundin 2011.”…The energy efficiency category is broad and includes companies thatsupply products and services to utilities to make the electric grid moreefficient, those supplying commercial and residential customers with items suchas energy monitoring or efficient appliances. Efficient lighting, such aslight-emitting-diode products, also falls under the category. Informationtechnology plays, represented the majority of energy efficiency deals in both2009 and 2010
Translation: SecretaryLocke is upset that India’s rent seekers are out-maneuvering America’s rentseekers.WallStreet Journal (2/7/11) reports: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said he conveyed a"message of great concern" to Indian officials Monday about thecountry’s restrictions on imports of solar-power technology, rules that aremaking it difficult for U.S. firms to enter one of the world’s fastest-growingsolar-energy markets…The complaint highlights how an area targeted forcooperation between the two countries has instead turned into a source ofcontinuing frustration for the U.S…India is planning to add 20,000 megawatts ofsolar power to its grid by 2020 as it seeks to step up electricity capacity tomeet the demands of a growing economy while developing clean-energy sources.The program will disburse about $20 billion in subsidies to power plantdevelopers in coming years. But an Indian regulation that goes into effect inApril will bar those firms from importing any foreign-made solarpanels—the technology that converts sunlight into electricity.
More bad (read: good for free market) news for renewables;UK plans to cut money paid out to renewable sources and intends to review theirfeed-in tariff Bloomberg(2/7/11) reports: The U.K. government signaled today it may cut the prices paidfor electricity from renewable sources, saying it began a “comprehensivereview” of feed-in tariffs introduced last year…Evidence thatlarger-scale solar farms may “soak up” money meant for roof-top panels, smallwind turbines and smaller hydropower facilities prompted the study, theDepartment of Energy and Climate Change said in a statement. The move willallow officials to change above-market fees paid for renewable power by morethan what was already planned in April 2012…The department said it will speedup an analysis of solar projects bigger than 50 kilowatts, with new tariffsmandated “as soon as practical.” That threshold, which includes panels onbuildings, is a “huge step back” for the industry, which expected onlyinstallations in fields to be reviewed early, said Jeremy Leggett, chairman ofSolarcentury Holdings Ltd.
Bjorn Lomborg publishednew study saying green jobs: (pick one) crowd out private investment,misallocate capital, opportunity cost, etc… Reuters(2/7/11) reports: Investments to create new jobs in clean energies riskbackfiring by curbing employment in other parts of the economy, a studycommissioned by Danish "Skeptical Environmentalist" Bjorn Lomborgsaid on Monday…The report also said that jobs in green energies were oftenbased on over-optimistic projections of a fast shift from fossil fuels incoming decades toward cleaner sources such as wind, solar or hydropower…"You can create jobs in clean energies but unfortunately it ends upat the cost of competitiveness elsewhere," Lomborg, head of the CopenhagenConsensus Center, told Reuters of a 33-page study about "defining,measuring and predicting green jobs…The author of 1998 book "The SkepticalEnvironmentalist," Lomborg said many governments had stopped stressingthat climate change was a looming threat to the planet since a 2009 U.N. summitfailed to agree a treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions.