John Rowe, CEO at the Exelon Corporation, gave a presentation this spring at the American Enterprise Institute called “Energy Policy: Above All, Do No Harm”. Exelon is one of the largest electric and gas utility companies in the U.S, and they are one of the largest nuclear power plant operators (with 17 reactors) but also a large generator of hydropower, wind and some solar. Rowe said that Exelon has committed to reducing, offsetting or displacing their carbon footprint by 2020 and they are halfway there.
Obviously, every company has their own slant on issues and their own business to protect. (more…)
The subject of master limited partnerships (MLPs) arose in a session here at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum. MLPs are the perfect vehicle to raise capital for movies – and for oil and gas exploration. Why not renewables? It’s unclear. It would require a one-line change in the tax code to make this happen. As the lady moderating the session said, forcing a smile, “All we’re asking for is a level playing field.”
It’s clear that the abundant supply of (and thus low price of) natural gas presents challenges for the renewable energy industry, just as the artificially low price of gasoline generated by subsidies for the oil companies creates a challenge for electric transportation. But you won’t hear too much moaning about that subject here at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum.
Occasionally a speaker will remind the audience that fracking comes at an environmental cost that is still not well understood, but in the main, the subject is taken as just another factor in the overall equation. Why this calm demeanor in the face of such robust competition? I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s that intelligent and mature people don’t curse their luck. Maybe we’re just trying to be “the adult in the room.”
In fact, several times I’ve heard that this phenomenon with natural gas is actually a good thing for clean energy, as it represents the “perfect partner” for renewables — a low-cost provider of energy to deal with the intermittence of wind and solar. But to me, this seems like “sour grapes” in reverse, i.e., we’re stuck with this; let’s find a way to like it.
All of us who follow and advocate for clean energy acknowledge that it is, at the end of the day, a considerable challenge on several levels: technologically, economically, and politically. Even putting aside the politics of the situation, which is clearly not on our side, we still need to face the fact that renewable energy is replacing something that works perfectly well. The lights generally don’t go out, and the cost of energy, at least as the externalities of fossil fuels remain external to its cost/price structure, is quite affordable. Thus until the world is willing to pay for a clean solution to the energy situation that is good for national security, no one here is expecting a precipitous adoption curve — at least until the point of grid parity in a few years.
My advice: Fasten your seatbelt and settle in for a long ride.
I’m at a loss to understand something, and I’m wondering if I could appeal to readers to help explain it.
Last year, Areva, the French energy giant, best known (at least in the US) as a nuclear energy company, bought Ausra, the up-and-coming US-based solar thermal company. More than a year later, we Americans hear almost nothing about Areva’s work in solar. In fact, the Wall Street Journal’s article this morning detailing the ouster of Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon didn’t mention the word “solar” once.
One might suspect the worst: they bought the company only to nullify the threat it represented.
Yet if you Google “Areva” you find dozens of mentions of their accomplishments in solar all over the world. It’s almost as if some sort of disinformation campaign was being waged. Any insights?
This morning’s keynote address at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum was delivered by Pennsylvania’s ex-governor Ed Rendell, who spoke on the possibilities that renewable energy may gain traction through politics. I suppose anything’s possible, so I tried to track with every word – and I’m glad I did.
Rendell began by pointing to a few points of concern to all of us:
1) The US is clearly and rapidly falling behind in the arena of innovation generally and in energy particularly. In 2009, for the first time ever, the US Patent Office granted a majority of its overall patents to foreign nations/companies. And nowhere is America losing faster and more obviously than energy.
2) Those of us who believe that the world is headed in an unsustainable direction are running out of time. China will import 80% more coal this year than last, and they’re building one new coal plant per week.
3) By far, the most important energy topic discussed in Congress is light bulbs, gaining far more minutes on The Floor than the runner up issues (subsidies for oil, and energy as a national security concern). Apparently, our leaders are deadlocked on the decision to ensure that incandescent bulbs are not removed from US commerce – and neither side is blinking. Rendell paused for a moment, then asked, “Do Republicans have a huge store of old light bulbs that they wish to sell into the market? They threatened to withhold their votes to elect Fred Upton (R- MI) chairman of the energy subcommittee unless he toed the line on this issue – to which he finally acceded. The Republicans appear to be on an all-out crusade here. Regardless, we’re diddling around while the rest of the world is kicking our butts.”
But Rendell is on a crusade of his own – this one to see a renewable portfolio standard (i.e., a mandate to get to a certain minimum mix of clean energy) at the federal level. “Through years of experience at the state level, we’ve proven that clean energy mandates create payoffs in terms of a large number of good, well-paying jobs. We need a stable policy to support this at the national level – and it has to be permanent; it can’t flip-flop every four years.
So why, precisely, is this not happening? According to Rendell: “There are too many special interests arrayed against it. Over 90% of Democrat voters are in favor of Congress passing legislation that prioritizes clean energy. In fact, over 75% of Republican voters are in favor of the exact same thing. Clearly, the will of the American people is being frustrated by special interests.”
He told a story (perhaps self-serving, since he was the hero – but hey, isn’t that what politicians do?), in which he pointed out that when he was governor, Pennsylvania was one of only nine states that had no investment in pre-K education. “Harrisburg was dominated by lobbyists, and the poor kids — who would benefit most from this — had none. So I said: ‘I’m going to take this one on myself.’ Well, we won that fight, and now our young kids rank number one in reading.”
“Together, we can do this,” Rendell fairly bellowed in summary. “But we can’t do it inside the Beltway. The lobbyists are raising campaign money for our senators and representatives in Washington seven days a week. It never stops. It never stops. There are fund-raisers happening literally every night. If change is going to happen, it needs to take place in hometown America. Your leaders have to hear it from you.”
I don’t consider myself a sucker for political rhetoric, but I have to say that there was a level of gusto in my applause as Rendell left the stage.
As I’ve mentioned, I’m in New York City for the Renewable Energy Finance Forum. The buzz of the first day here, which comes as no surprise, is the uncertainty that pervades the industry. Though the world market for clean energy is growing at an impressive pace, in the US, the industry is at sea, due to the lack of clear direction from our elected leaders.
Falling costs for clean energy projects: good. Global reaction to Fukushima and the 100+ GW gap produced by reduction in nuclear: excellent (mitigated by the sorrow we all feel for those affected). Limited EPA regulation of natural gas fracking: bad. Republicans actively pushing away from clean energy in favor of Big Energy: even worse.
My morning conversations bore out that uncertainty, including one over breakfast with a high-powered but clearly stressed developer of utility scale (10—or-so MW) solar projects. In response to my well-meaning but non-specific greeting: “How’s it going?” I got an avalanche that communicated the pressure on this poor guy. “How am I ? It depends on the status of SRECs (solar renewable energy credits), that’s how I am.”
Just settled into my hotel room here in Manhattan, in time to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for the two-day Renewable Energy Finance Forum at the Waldorf Astoria. These guys do it right. A great line-up of speakers, and many hundreds of like-minded attendees I’m looking forward to meeting. More on this tomorrow.
I’m in town for a great number of meetings in addition to The Forum. If you’re in the area and would like to meet, please hit “contact” and let me know.
4. Wind farm in the southern US, will implement compressed air energy storage using top-flight engineering team. Terrific technology; perfect application. Click for Video
5. Proven, low-cost modular technology for processing manure of chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows into biofuels and
electricity
6. Pyrolysis of guaranteed stream of feedstock (waste auto/truck tires) to produce carbon black and biodiesel. World-class technology, proven team. Click for Video
7. Plan to grow and pelletize babassu in northeastern Brazil with solid feedstock and take-off deals in place
8. Plan to acquire and operate an existing B-100 biodiesel production facility, upgrading the plant and converting to crude corn oil from ethanol production (CCOE) feedstock
9. Unique, patented approach to thermal anaerobic gasification. Click for Video
10. Construction and demolition waste processing plant, using feedstock currently paying a tipping fee of $75+/ton
11. Solar panel manufacturer with proprietary, super-efficient manufacturing process
12. Paper (for copiers, notepads, letterhead, etc.) made from sugar-cane waste, with manufacturing processes 100% driven by renewable energy (wind). Click for Video
13. Patented, modular LED lighting technology
14. Proprietary technology for processing coal ash into building products: shingles, fence boards, etc.
15. Contracted land/resources to grow 356 truckloads of organic tomatoes annually (approx. 12 million lbs) cost-effectively; contracts with buyers in place as well.
16. Land management system/tool, building topsoil, controlling erosion, drought, and flooding
17. Two small CSP plants in the western US, implementing a breakthrough in cost reduction. Attractive IRR. PPAs in place.
18. Breakthrough in use off-peak wind energy to recycle waste CO2 into transportation fuels. Click for Video
As time goes by and I conduct more conversations in environmentalism and sustainability with people all over the world, I become more aware of the proliferation of wasteful garbage that we truly can live without. Here’s one I came across yesterday at a local winery.
Want to keep wine safe and leak-free? I submit that this can be done without this plastic non-reusable planet-buster – and you’ll be $10 richer for having simply re-corked your wine and wrapped it in a towel.
Btw, Happy Fathers’ Day, everyone. Here’s a pic of my kids. I was going to use it as a Christmas card, but I didn’t get enough light on Val’s face.
I hope I can count on you to participate in June’s poll, which centers around the following:
Given the world’s rapid growth in both population and fossil fuel resource consumption, how optimistic are you for a sustainable future? And why? If you see a solution on the horizon, which direction are you looking?
As always, I’ll publish a free report in the next few weeks, in which I present an analysis of the results. The Survey Is Here. Thanks very much.
