The Coming Efficiency Boom

The New York Times has a great piece on the billions of federal stimulus energy efficiency funding that soon will be pouring into state, city and local government coffers:

At least $20 billion in the stimulus bill was earmarked for programs like improving the efficiency of government buildings and the homes of poor people, and trying to find better ways to save energy. That is far more, advocates say, than any bill in history. Within a few months, the money is likely to start landing in the bank accounts of thinly staffed state and city agencies that are accustomed to scraping for a dime here, a dollar there. …

The package contains $5 billion to weatherize low-income homes through the Department of Energy, enough to give the state programs that manage that work 10 to 30 times the money they received last year, said Christina Kielich, a department spokeswoman.

For advocates of this relatively obscure program, “it’s like they finally got to the other side of the desert and it’s pouring rain,” said Seth Kaplan, a vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental group.

Governments are already preparing to expand their staffs:

Utah expects that its state energy office will receive $40 million for energy efficiency, renewable energy and related programs — 123 times the size of the office’s current budget, said Jason Berry, who manages the four-person unit. He is about to go on a hiring spree.

It looks like the golden age for LEED professionals is upon us.

Reid Hints at Timeline for Climate Bill

The AP reports:

Saying it’s time to “take a whack” at climate change, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he plans to push for Senate action on global warming by the end of summer.

The Nevada Democrat in an interview with The Associated Press said the Senate will take up energy legislation in a couple of weeks “and then later this year, hopefully late this summer do the global warming part of it.” …

“We have to take a whack at it,” Reid said in a telephone interview late Thursday. He said failure to act “would be neglectful.”

A First Step in a Long Climate Journey

The New York Times made an important point yesterday about the $80 billion of green spending contained in the stimulus package:

As ambitious as this measure is, it should not be confused with a global warming bill. Dealing with climate change will require a much broader strategy, even larger federal investments in clean-energy technologies and an effort to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions to unlock private investment on an enormous scale.

As the NYT ed board points out, a price on carbon is needed before clean tech industries can truly thrive. Now get moving Congress!

Solar Thermal Gains Steam

Photo from BrightSource Energy

Great news today for fans of solar thermal (like me):

California’s biggest electric utility today signed an agreement that it calls the world’s largest solar power deal.

Southern California Edison completed a contract with BrightSource Energy Inc. under which the Oakland, Calif.-based solar power developer would build 1,300 megawatts of solar-thermal facilities for the investor-owned utility. The contracts are subject to approval by the state utility commission.

The agreement calls for a series of seven projects, all of which would be run by BrightSource’s solar-thermal power system. The technology uses thousands of mirrors to reflect sunlight into a boiler, which then pipes steam into a turbine to create electricity.

Not to be confused with its better known and more expensive cousin PV solar, solar thermal is on its to becoming cost-competitive with coal. However, regulatory hurdles around land-use issues remain, and as is the case with other renewable power sources, electricity generated from solar thermal plants is intermittent. Unless it can produce electricity when the sun goes down, the technology will always play second fiddle to fossil fuel plants.

Never fear, companies like BrightSource and Ausra have been working to solve this problem by developing molten salt storage devices that can store the generated heat for use at night.

Obama Reads My Blog!

Well, ok, he probably doesn’t have my blog bookmarked on his Blackberry, but we have the same feelings about those who think energy efficiency upgrades are ‘wasteful‘:

This is another concern that I’ve had in some of the arguments that I’m hearing. When people suggest that, “What a waste of money to make federal buildings more energy-efficient.” Why would that be a waste of money?

We’re creating jobs immediately by retrofitting these buildings or weatherizing 2 million Americans’ homes, as was called for in the package, so that right there creates economic stimulus.

And we are saving taxpayers when it comes to federal buildings potentially $2 billion. In the case of homeowners, they will see more money in their pockets. And we’re reducing our dependence on foreign oil in the Middle East.

Why wouldn’t we want to make that kind of investment?

Good question, President Obama. And thanks for being a fan!

Who Wants to Be an Energy Efficient City?

The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance has launched a $500,000 contest, with the grand prize going to the southeastern city with the most effective energy efficiency program. Via E&E:

The contest asks local governments to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce electricity use by between 20 percent and 40 percent over a period of up to seven years. That means city halls and county boards will have to build partnerships with utilities, which generally drive efficiency programs by adding small surcharges to customers’ bills.

The rules also require local leaders to “emphatically sponsor and market the program,” by reducing power at schools, hospitals and water facilities, and by pledging to obtain advertising to educate the public. Power reduction targets and projected budgets must be included in the plan.

Some are already throwing out some serious trash talk:

“The smart money is on Asheville winning,” declared Brownie Newman, a city councilor in the North Carolina town, population 72,000. “I don’t think there’s much question that we’re going to win.”

Personally I’m pulling for the ATL to pull out an upset victory, but something tells me Asheville’s got something up its sleeve.

Saving Energy is Somehow Wasteful

Yesterday, the House GOP released a long list of provisions in the stimulus package that they claim are “wasteful,” including funding for Amtrak, sewers, and fire departments.

But one item in particular struck me as undeserving of ridicule:

$6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.

Not only will it save the government money in the long run by cutting heating and electricity costs, it will provide work for companies that install the energy efficiency upgrades.

Government spending that saves taxpayer money and creates jobs? Sounds pretty efficient to me.

Top 10 Green Jobs

Fast Company has a great list of the best green jobs out there. My favorites: Energy Efficiency Builder and Green MBA Entrepreneur:

• Farmer: America has only two million farmers, and their average age is 55. Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a huge need for more farmers — up to tens of millions of them, according to food guru Michael Pollan. Modern farmers are small businesspeople who must be as skilled in heirloom genetics as marketing.
• Forester: Modern forestry a complex combination of international project finance, conservation and development. According to the World Bank, a staggering 1.6 billion people depend on the forest for their livelihoods. Foresters help local people transition from slash-and-burn to silviculture–teaching cultivation of higher-value, faster-growing species for fruit, medicine or timber, for examples while carefully documenting the impact on the environment. Deforestation, which causes around a quarter of all global warming, is also likely to be a leading source of carbon credits worth tens of billions of dollars.