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Posts Tagged ‘solar’

Make Every Day Solar Day in Texas

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , on March 23, 2009 |

txsunsetHey folks, tomorrow a whole host of solar bills are going into be heard in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.  Our friends over at Environment Texas have a petition up where you can show legislators your support for solar.  The sun’s setting on this petition, so sign up today!

From the horse’s mouth, here’s the email from Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas.  Poetic, ain’t it?

With the first day of spring upon us, we’re already experiencing the warmth and life that the Texas sun provides.

For the first time, the Legislature is taking a serious look at using the sun to solve our energy problems by investing in solar power. With the right support, Texas could become a world leader in solar power, helping protect our environment and putting people back to work in good green jobs.

We can make it happen, but we need your help. Please sign our petition asking the Legislature to Go Solar!

Decisions made by policy makers in the next year will determine whether Texas can ride the solar wave, capturing the vast potential of solar power for our state. Texas has the best solar potential in the nation and we could power the entire state many times over with our abundant sunshine.

Texas should spur the development of solar power within the state by creating rebates and incentives to make it easier for homeowners and businesses to install solar on their rooftop, investing in solar for schools and large-scale solar farms, requiring utilities to pay consumers a fair price for surplus electricity generated, and prohibiting homeowners associations from blocking solar.

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Week of March 18: Recap

Posted in Energy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 23, 2009 |

Last week was pretty crazy for Austin — SXSW came in like a lion, and I’ll admit I am quite pleased that the city is laying quietly like a lamb once again.  But though Sixth Street may be back to its sleepy Monday morning self, Public Citizen’s office is back in full swing.  We’ve got a lot coming up this week: Solar Day in the Senate, Energy Efficiency hearings galore, a press conference and hearing on Sen. Ellis’ coal moratorium bill… and that just brings us to Tuesday.  But before we launch headfirst into the environmentalist’s version of March Madness, let’s take a moment to regroup from last week.

From the good folks at Alliance for a Clean Texas, check out this mid-week review.  A taste:

With meetings of the House and Senate State Affairs committees, House Energy Resources, House Environmental Regulation and not one but two meetings of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, the environmental agenda is in full swing in the 81st Session. This morning, Senator Lucio and Representative Gallego led a press conference highlighting legislation filed that supports investment in emerging renewable energy such as solar and geothermal. (The entire press packet is available here.) Among the benefits to investment in renewable energy? Green jobs, for one. (Stay on the lookout for green hardhats in the Capitol. You never know who’ll turn up wearing one.)

For more information on our St. Patty’s Day press conference with Sierra Club, check out Floor Pass’ Luck O’ the Lege post.  You heard right, the number of renewable energy bills this session has doubled compared to last.  As Mark Strama noted at the conference, “if you can just get everyone that filed a renewable energy bill to vote for a renewable energy bill, you’ll pass them all.”  We should be so lucky!

Legislators who have authored Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) bills held a press conference this morning to announce that the number of renewable energy bills filed has doubled from last session to this session. For those yet unfamiliar with the jargon, RPS is a policy tool that sets a goal for providing a certain percentage of total energy used from renewable sources like wind and biomass. You can find descriptions of the RPS bills here.

Check our Flickr photostream for photos from the press conference, and stay tuned to stay in the loop this week!

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Wildcatting the Sun – Solar Energy and You!

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 12, 2009 |

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dfv2yoCtjU]

Ever wondered why Texas should invest in solar energy?  Ever wanted it explained to you in 5 minutes in a way reminiscent of a 1940s newsreel?  Or just tired of The Sham-wow Song and want a new viral video to watch?

Written, produced, and starring members of the Public Citizen Texas staff, “Wildcatting the Sun” talks about Texas’ solar potential, the green jobs that would come to Texas from investing in solar now, and how solar can replace dirty coal and expensive nuclear.

This video was produced as part of Environment Texas’s solar video contest.  You can see all of the other submissions here.

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Van Jones Officially “Green Jobs” Special Advisor to Obama Administration

Posted in Consumers, Efficiency, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 10, 2009 |

This just in from the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON – Author and activist Van Jones will be a special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation in the Obama administration.

Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a release Monday that Jones will start work next week to help direct the administration’s efforts to create jobs and help the environment. Sutley said Jones will work on “vulnerable communities.”

Jones founded Green for All, a national organization that promises environmentally friendly jobs to help lift people out of poverty. He wrote the New York Times best-seller “The Green Collar Economy.”

Anyone who heard Van Jones’ keynote address at our Texas Energy Future conference knows what fantastic news it is that this man now has the ear of the President and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.  At the conference Van Jones gave an amazing speech to a packed house on the potential of the new green economy.  For a taste of the kind of green jobs messaging the Obama Administration will hear from now on, check out this trailer — courtesy of Texas Impact.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvGRWZDShPc]

For the full speech, check out the streaming google video after the jump.  (more…)

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What’s in Store for the 81st Legislative Session

Posted in Efficiency, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2009 |

With the announcement of the Texas Legislature Committee rosters, I thought that some light should be shed on the 2009 Legislative Recommendations as posted by the Alliance for a Clean Texas. You can read the full reports here, but here’s a quick-read version for  renewable energy and energy efficiency issues:

  • Diversify our Renewable Energy Mix. Its no surprise to most of us that Texas is in first place for renewable energy resources. Legislation has historically supported wind energy, but so much of our potential has not been tapped. Studies have shown that that our potential for solar is even greater than that of wind.
  • Incentives for Solar Roofs and other On-site Renewables. Instead of relying on power plants to supply our energy, wouldn’t it be great if we could have our power sources closer to home? On-site renewable technologies would be cheaper considering the spike in energy costs during high-demand season, and of course would help to improve air quality. Solar power is especially efficient, with new technologies that can be installed directly on the roofs of buildings. However, the current cost of a home or commericial system is still not cost-effective without government incentives. Solar power is estimated to reach parity with traditional electricity sources within the next five years.  By getting a jump on it ahead of time, early investment will allow Texas to benefit economically as demand increases.
  • Raise the Energy Efficiency Goal. Texas should aim to decrease both energy demand and energy usage. ACT recommends that the Legislature should raise the goal to 1.0 percent of peak demand and energy use by 2015 (equivalent to 50 percent load growth by 2015). By contributing only a small percentage of revenue, utility companies can invest in energy efficiency programs that will decrease peak demand of energy usage. In 2007, the legislature unanimously approved a 20% decrease in load growth by 2009, and a research study required by the legislation also supported our ability to cut load growth by 50% by 2015. (more…)

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Another Reason to Support a 2,000 MW Distributed Solar Goal

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 19, 2009 |

solarpanelsWe’ve said before that if Texas adopts a policy goal of 2,000 MW of distributed solar by 2020 (the equivalent of solar on 500,000 homes), the state will be able to create as many as 21,500 jobs, stabilize energy prices, and avoid 29 million tons of climate change pollution.

But wait, there’s more!

At the Texas Energy Future conference yesterday, keynote speaker Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower Corporation (manufacturer of the world’s most efficient solar panels and cells) said that if Texas adopted a 2000 MW goal, that would be enough of a capacity commitment to justify the capital costs needed to build a new manufacturing plant here.

Roger Efird, President of Suntech America (the leading world manufacturer of solar panels and cells) also said that he wants Suntech to be the first company to export jobs out of China and into Texas.  He concurred that a 2,000 MW goal would be enough of a state commitment to locate new manufacturing facilities right here in the Lone Star State.  Suntech’s solar cells themselves are already produced in Pasadena, and the aluminum is locally made as well — but then shipped off to China, where the glass is made and final assembly occurs.  That’s a pretty inefficient process — shipping heavy containers out to China, and then shipping back every heavier and more fragile solar panels back again for installation in the United States.  Suntech would much rather be able to do all of their business in-state, but right now the economics just aren’t right for that to happen.  Time for the Texas Legislature to get cracking on an aggressive solar committment and incentive program!

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Green Jobs, Clean Power!

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 19, 2009 |

2_18_09-001Bright and early yesterday morning, US Representative Lloyd Doggett, State Senator Rodney Ellis, State Representative Mark Strama, and environmental and civil rights advocate Van Jones stood together to tout the Alliance for a Clean Texas’ Texas Energy Future: Clean Jobs, Green Power Conference.

Rodney Ellis opened up the press conference, stating that this year’s legislative session looks to be a very green session.  He also mentioned, as he has before, that the legislature is at a crucial moment in terms of climate change action. If the legislature doesn’t act this year, the federal government will likely pass and begin implementing comprehensive global warming legislation before the state legislature will have a chance to meet again.  If Texas is not prepared for this kind of drastic policy change, we may not have a chance to address these issues again until 2011.

Senator Ellis then gave the mic over to the group he termed the “Dapper Three” (swoon!).

Continue Reading and watch video of Van Jones after the jump! (more…)

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Live from City Hall, its Thuuuuuuuursday Morning!

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 12, 2009 |

austincityhall1

Good morning, folks!  I’m sitting in on the Austin City Council meeting this morning.  Here at Public Citizen, we are largely concerned with two important items on today’s agenda:

Item 3: Will the City of Austin invest in the South Texas Nuclear Power Plant?

Item 16: Will the City invest in 30 megawatts of solar power from the proposed solar plant near Webberville?

Word on the street (and by street, I mean city hall) is that some members of the Council would like to postpone the vote on the solar plant.  The big question here is how long the vote will be postponed.  If the vote is pushed back a few weeks to give everyone a little more time to look at the impacts of this new project, that’s not really a problem… but if we are talking months here, the delay may actually be long enough to kill the project.

The Council will listen to citizen testimony before they decide to postpone (or not — though it is highly unlikely that the council will deny a request to delay the vote) and for how long (waiting with baited breath!).

Stick around, I’ll keep you posted!

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More Clean Energy Headed Austin’s Way

Posted in Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2009 |

Remember last week, when solar power was ALL OVER THE NEWS?  Check out this video of News 8 Austin’s news story from Monday (and look for Smitty, our director, proclaiming that “Now is the time to Wildcat the Sun!”):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcDHE-PS594&feature=channel_page]

Also, check out KXAN’s news coverage.  The KXAN slant on the story was pretty interesting: they focused on how jobs lost in the semiconductor industry could be replaced by new solar manufacturing jobs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uojCK7PyIv8&feature=channel_page]

circuitAustin has long been a hub of the semiconductor industry because a generation ago, state legislators passed a package of incentives to lure silicon chip manufacturers to Texas.  This created a high tech boom that has enriched Texans for over 20 years.  But now thousands of those jobs are disappearing.  The technologies involved to manufacture semiconductor chips and solar installations are very close, and business leaders believe that the semiconductor industry can actually be repurposed to produce solar.  At the very least, the skill sets involved in one translate seamlessly into the other, so that individuals who lost semiconductor jobs are the perfect candidates for new solar jobs.

And in the Austin-American Statesman today, it turns out there really is credence to what we’ve been saying!  It never hurts to have backup.  A new solar energy start-up is moving to Austin, precisely because we’ve got all the ideal ingredients to be a solar power hub.

Said SmartSpark chief executive Ron Van Dell (former leader of semiconductor design company Legerity Inc. and chief executive of Primarion Corp., a mixed-signal semiconductor company),

[In Austin] You’ve got an excellent talent pool, a growing base of renewable energy companies and a local ecosystem that’s very supportive of high-tech startups.

…The skills mix in power electronics is very, very good in Austin, whether they’re technical people or marketing people.

…Clean energy is a sector that dovetails with the semiconductor industry, and we’ve got a lot of talented people with skills that are so well-suited for the next generation of technology innovation.

Public Citizen’s bet is that if the Texas Legislature can pass the right policies this session, we can attract even more solar manufacturing and installation companies like SmartSpark.  We don’t want to make the same mistake we did with wind, where we created a huge renewable energy boom and created thousands of installation jobs (yay!), but moved too slowly and cautiously to attract the big manufacturing companies (boo).  For more information on some of the solar legislation introduced this session, check out last week’s post “Could this be Texas’ Solar Session?”

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The Energy Collective Roadmaps Renewables

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 6, 2008 |

The Energy Collective, an online blogging group, hosted a webinar Wednesday about developing a roadmap for large-scale installation of renewable energy sources.  The online seminar’s expert participants described Texas as a world leader in wind energy, yet at the same time focused on the U.S. as lagging behind many countries in wide scale renewable installation.

“The audience is primarily American and you may not want to hear this, but you guys are lagging behind,” said Tom Raftery, a sustainable industry analyst for Redmonk and Energy Collective blogger who is Irish, but recently moved to Spain.

“All the markets are very different . . .Ireland is at about 7 percent (of renewable power sources), Spain is at 10 percent.  The U.S. is at about 1 percent.  The U.S. needs to (increase renewables), and do it fast,” Raftery said.

One attendee asked webinar participant Scott Sklar, who is president of the Stella Group and a chair of the Sustainable Energy Coalition’s steering committee, whether Sklar supported selection of an American “Energy Czar”.

“Yes,” replied Sklar.  “Because most of what the Department (of Energy) does are wonderful things but in the end have nothing to do with our energy policy.  Renewables don’t get due attention outside of photo opportunities because they are such a small part of the agency’s agenda.  It needs to be a cabinet post.”

Sklar said that converging interests demand fast development in the energy sector. He said that presidential candidate John McCain cited renewable development as a necessity for improving national security; Barack Obama cited it as a source of job creation, and environmentalists cite the need for the planet’s health.

“The U.S., by not having resolved our energy policy and letting our policy be driven by energy price has really harmed our own standing within these technologies,” Sklar said.

He added that the U.S. is now importing wind and solar (more…)

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Nuclear Misenergy

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , on October 10, 2008 |

Nuclear power is not an answer to our collective energy problem.  Essentially, turning to nuclear power as a primary solution to the current carbon-based system is like borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.  It is not an “alternative”.  Considering that, in resource-availability terms, we could already be powering most structures in this state with solar power, and that we have not done so out of adherence to constructs and public policies rooted in economic interests, it seems ridiculous to suggest that our power problem demands we dig up metal and devise ingenious was of containing and storing radioactive dust.  For me, there are three levels upon which nuclear power as a primary power source does not work.

1)     Forming a larger industry around the mining of uranium would recreate the oil-based market system that has contaminated the global markets, has instigated war, has tainted laws.  Wind is free.  Sunlight is free.  Yes, solar panels are built with silicon-but the silicon we use comes from sand and is the second-most common element on the earth (after oxygen).  If we want to progress as a planet, we must focus not only on outcomes, but the means of attaining them.  We need a new system that is not primarily driven by mining minerals-because that system can be too easily dominated by a relatively few people with the right land.   In a wind and solar-based system, opportunity to participate and regulate is inherently more accessible.  Wind is free.  Sunlight is everywhere.  So without even considering environmental impacts, a nuclear energy-based system is a repugnant proposition to me.   This is my number one reason for opposing nuclear energy.  We must question advocates of nuclear energy and consider whether they stand to benefit from mining, conversion of coal burning plants, or processing.

2)     We need to recognize and heed the signs (the glaring billboards!) that uranium mining and nuclear power are wrong at a deeper level.  At this point in our global evolution, we know what can lay ahead when indigenous people and “progress” meet.  In hindsight of world history, we now see how many of the worst aspects of contemporary society were foreshadowed in interactions with native peoples at the outset of a progressive undertaking.  So where indigenous people react adversely to something today, we should listen.  To ignore the response of native people to uranium mining would be a monumental failure-the prospect of so doing reminds me of the Zora Neale Hurston book Their Eyes were Watching God, when the workers watched the Native Americans leaving the land only to later find themselves in the worst hurricane in the nation’s history.  Culture is the heart of the planet.  How can we advocate what causes the heart to bleed?

(more…)

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Letting Go of Ethanol

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , on September 24, 2008 |

I’ve been wanting to write a piece arguing that just because ethanol isn’t a complete solution to global warming and oil prices, it is still an alternative to oil and therefore good. Unfortunately, I can’t honestly say that because ethanol isn’t even a partial solution; it’s just a bigger problem.

I really wanted to like ethanol because corn is good.  And I really wanted to quote Hardin from his 1968 article in Science magazine where he said: “. . .we can make a rational decision which will not involve the unworkable assumption that only perfect systems are tolerable.” I love the quotation, however, I sadly cannot honestly say that it applies to ethanol. In my mind I hear that blind Native American in the Oliver Stone film U-turn.

I’m generally wary of arguments purely rooted in economics, so I wanted to address some of those. But it turns out there’s pretty much no good argument in favor of ethanol and if there were one, I wouldn’t want to make it.  Turns out, according to Nobel prize winners and writers for Science and world news sources, ethanol has a pretty big carbon footprint when you take into account the carbon emissions released from burning forests to plant crops for use as diesel fuel. Turns out the amount of nitrogen needed to grow corn or switchgrass for fuel emits atmospheric nitrous oxide in levels that are worse for the planet than ozone. Turns out that the production of corn-based ethanol results in “dead zones” in our water sources, like a huge swath of the Mississippi. Turns out that people starve in-part because selling the crops for fuel rather than food reaps more profit. Turns out that hungry people are rioting around the world. Turns out that the nitrogen reaction used to grow the corn is produced using natural gas, which is not only a non-renewable carbon-based resource but which, in Texas, dictates prices on the energy markets. Yes, ethanol from sugarcane works for Brazil, but who knows what the lasting effects of massive deforestation will be and should we encourage the potential loss of more?

I asked a friend of mine why U.S. and E.U. legislators aren’t doing less to prop up the crop-fuel industry, like halting the subsidies and mandates, and doing more to find real solutions to global problems in the face of the evidence. He said, “They don’t want to find solutions. They want to sell corn for high prices.”

(more…)

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Makhijani, San Antonio discuss energy efficiency

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , on August 14, 2008 |

On Monday, various people including representatives from City Public Services, various county commissioners including Tommy Adkisson, commissioner candidate Chip Haass, Laurence Doxsey of HUD , Bill Sinkin of Solar San Antonio, and representatives from the Mayor Phil Hardberger’s office gathered to discuss energy efficiency with the Citizen’s Energy Coalition, SEED Coalition and the Alamo Group of the Sierra Club.

Arjun Makhijani, head of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, presented his preliminary findings on energy efficiency potential for San Antonio. I enjoyed the dialogue that came out of his speech. From most people I heard that Dr. Makhijani’s speech hit the right note of pushing CPS to do more while simultaneously congratulating them for their current energy efficiency and renewable goals.

(more…)

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The future of small-scale renewable energy: Project 34890

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , on August 8, 2008 |

This Tuesday I spoke at the PUC’s public hearing on Project 34890, which is charged with deciding on a net metering and interconnection policy for the deregulated markets in Texas. If that description sounds arcane and confusing to you, that’s because it is. In fact, in calling around to several investor-owned utilities last week, most of the people I spoke to had not a clue what I was talking about when I asked if they allowed net metering.

But the gist of it is this: if the rule proposed by the PUC passes, guaranteed incentives for individuals to invest in small renewable energy (putting solar panels on their roof, for example) will disappear.

(more…)

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MIT Solar Storage Breakthrough– turn your house into a Power Plant

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , on August 1, 2008 |

Researchers at MIT have developed a fuel cell which could revolutionize not only how we get energy but how we think about it. The old model has always been to hook up your home to a power grid and an electric utility which buys electricity from coal and gas-burning power plants (and to a lesser degree nuclear and in the last few years some wind).

[blip.tv ?posts_id=1297&dest=-1]

With this breakthrough, we can conceivably turn our homes into “power plants… and gas stations” according to MIT’s Daniel Nocera.

How the solar fuel cell storage would work - from MIT

How the solar fuel cell storage would work - from MIT

With Daniel Nocera’s and Matthew Kanan’s new catalyst, homeowners could use their solar panels during the day to power their home, while also using the energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen for storage. At night, the stored hydrogen and oxygen could be recombined using a fuel cell to generate power while the solar panels are inactive.

This is an important breakthrough that will lead to lower energy prices for us, but we have to act quickly. We need to deploy smart meters in our cities and start getting ready for plug-in hybrids or fully electric vehicles. Bring it up with your Congressman, Senator, State Legislator, City Councilmember, or electric Co-op board member and get ready for the next generation in energy.

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