| California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger put the final pieces in place for his Million Solar Roofs Plan on Monday when he signed Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) into law. Back in January, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) put the major piece of the plan into effect when it created the 10-year, $2.9 billion "California Solar Initiative" to offer rebates on solar power systems. However, because the CPUC only has authority over investor-owned utilities, the rebates were funded by those utilities and only available to their customers. SB 1 expands the program to municipal utilities such as the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water and allows the total cost of the program to increase to as much as $3.35 billion. It also increases the cap on the number of utility customers that can sell their excess solar power generation back to the utility. That number was previously capped at 0.5 percent of the utility's customers, but is now capped at 2.5 percent of the customers. And starting in 2011, SB 1 requires developments of more than 50 new single-family homes to offer solar energy systems as an option. The governor's Million Solar Roofs Plan aims to install solar power systems on one million homes by 2017. The state estimates that the million homes would have a total solar power capacity of 3,000 megawatts. See the governor's press release, his "Protecting Our Environment" Web site, and the full text of SB 1. Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) started construction last week on a new $600 million production facility for solar grade polysilicon in Moses Lake, Washington. The plant will nearly double the company's polysilicon production capacity, adding 6,500 metric tons to bring total capacity to close to 13,000 metric tons. Solar grade polysilicon is the raw material used to produce most solar cells, and REC's polysilicon is used in 20 to 25 percent of all solar cells in the world. Once the new facility is brought online, one year's production will yield enough solar cells to power about 75,000 homes. See the REC press release. REC's expansion is part of a worldwide push to increase manufacturing capacities for polysilicon and to lock in polysilicon supplies for solar cell manufacturers. In June, another polysilicon supplier, Germany-based Wacker, announced plans to increase its annual polysilicon production by 4,500 metric tons to total 14,500 metric tons by the end of 2009. In July, SunPower Corporation and ErSol Solar Energy AG both made long-term deals for polysilicon supplies that will allow the solar cell companies to each achieve an additional production output of at least 300 megawatts (MW). And SolarWorld AG plans to nearly double its annual production of solar silicon wafers to 350 MW by 2008, drawing in part from a facility that can produce 1,200 metric tons of solar polysilicon from lower-grade polysilicon and recycled polysilicon scraps. The company has also entered into a joint venture with Degussa AG to begin producing solar grade polysilicon starting in 2008. SolarWorld AG recently finished acquiring the Shell Group's assets for producing polysilicon solar cells. See the Wacker press release; the July 10th and July 13th press releases from SunPower; the ErSol press release; and the June and July press releases from SolarWorld. This expanded production capacity in the solar industry is largely in response to an increasing demand for solar power and materials that is not being met by the supply. Photon Consulting's 2006 Solar Annual report predicts that solar power demand will "significantly exceed supply" through 2010. Demand today is estimated at 5,000 MW, with a supply of only 2,400 MW, but demand in 2008 is estimated to reach as high as 10,000 MW, while supply may only reach 5,000 MW. As the industry ramps up production, the company projections point to a total capacity of 10,000 MW by 2010. See the executive summary of the 2006 Solar Annual report. Chena Hot Springs announced on August 10th the successful commissioning and startup of the first geothermal power plant in Alaska. The unique 200-kilowatt power plant also holds a record for producing power from the lowest temperature resource yet: a well producing 162.5 degree Fahrenheit water. That's scalding hot water, but far from boiling. To produce power from the well, the company teamed with DOE, United Technologies, and Carrier Corporation to fashion a binary power plant from commercial air-conditioning equipment, using the air conditioning compressor as a turbine. The system essentially runs in reverse: the geothermal heat vaporizes the refrigerant; the refrigerant vapor passes through the compressor, spinning it and a generator to produce power; and then a condenser removes heat and converts the vapor back into a liquid. To make the system more efficient, Chena Hot Springs pipes its cooling water in from a well at a higher elevation, allowing gravity to push the water through the power plant without a need to pump it. See Chena Hot Springs' announcement, power plant description, and technical paper on the power plant (PDF 220 KB). Download Adobe Reader. Chena Hot Springs is a resort that makes the most of its renewable resources, using the same gravity-fed water to irrigate its greenhouse and gardens, and employing geothermal energy to heat its 46 buildings. The resort is built around geothermal hot springs, but the company also erected the Aurora Ice Hotel in January 2004 to showcase ice art. When that structure melted during record temperatures in July 2004, the resort built a new structure, the Aurora Ice Museum, and cooled it with an absorption chiller that draws on geothermal energy. The new structure, built in January 2005, survived more record-setting temperatures that summer while hosting 10,000 visitors. The absorption chiller won an award from the Geothermal Resources Council last year. See the Chena Hot Springs Web site. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced last week its completion of an environmental review and approval of a right-of-way grant for the 200-megawatt Cotterel Wind Power Project in Cassia County, Idaho. The wind project is the largest on federal land in 25 years. It will consist of 98 turbines along a ridge on 4,500 acres of land managed by BLM, and the power generated by the project will be distributed through the existing regional power grid. The right-of-way grant clears the way for the project to proceed while including important measures for mitigating its effects on wildlife resources, including sage-grouse, raptors, bats, and migratory birds. An interagency team of federal and state biologists developed the mitigation plan and will continue to monitor wildlife impacts. The project is being developed by Windland, Inc., which plans to begin construction in the fall and bring the plant online next year. See the BLM press release and the project description on the Windland Web site. The BLM is part of the U.S. Department of Interior, which is also providing a $128,000 grant to help install wind turbines in Alaska. The grant will go to the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc.—a non-profit tribal organization in Anchorage—to hold public meetings and perform environmental assessments to support the installation of hybrid wind and diesel electrical generators for six native communities located along the state's Aleutian Island chain. The Alaska Energy Authority and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are funding the purchase and installation of the wind turbines for the six communities. The region is blessed with the Class 7 wind resources, the highest class and the best for wind power development. See the Interior Department press release. The seven Northeast states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)—an effort to set a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions—released a model rule for the program last week. The model rule will form the basis for individual state regulatory or statutory proposals to implement the program. Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont are participating in the program, while recent legislation in Maryland requires the state to join RGGI by June 2007. Under RGGI (pronounced "Reggie"), the seven states intend to launch a regional cap-and-trade system that utilizes emissions credits or allowances to limit the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions. Beginning in 2009, emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants in the region would be capped at current levels of 121 million tons annually. The cap remains at the same level until 2015, after which the states would then begin reducing emissions over a four-year period to achieve a 10 percent reduction by 2019. Compared to the emissions increases the region would see from power plants without the program, RGGI will result in an approximately 35 percent reduction by 2020. At least a quarter of each state's emissions allowances will be dedicated to strategic energy or consumer benefit purposes, such as energy efficiency or clean energy technologies. If a power plant buys these allowances, the funds will support beneficial energy programs. RGGI can also benefit projects in other states, since power plants can meet some of their emissions cuts by investing in non-electricity projects that cut greenhouse gases anywhere in the country. Such projects might include landfill gas recovery efforts and energy efficiency programs for natural gas users. Assuming all the states take the necessary actions to adopt the program, RGGI will take effect in 2009. See the RGGI press release (PDF 48 KB) and Web site. Download Adobe Reader. A program to require the federal government to give preference to buying biobased products is hitting its stride, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed 20 new categories of biobased products for federal purchase. The USDA proposed rules, published in two separate rounds in the Federal Register last week, would include the following categories of biobased products: adhesive and mastic removers, insulating foam for wall construction, hand cleaners and sanitizers, composite panels, fluid-filled transformers, biodegradable containers, fertilizers, metalworking fluids, sorbents, graffiti and grease removers, two-cycle engine oils, lip care products, biodegradable films, stationary equipment hydraulic fluids, biodegradable cutlery, glass cleaners, greases, dust suppressants, carpets, and carpet and upholstery cleaners. According to the USDA, these 20 categories will open the door for federal procurement of 1,500 biobased products. Comments on the proposed rules are due on October 16th. See the USDA press release and the Round 2 and Round 3 proposals on the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program Web site. Biobased products generally replace items produced from petroleum, so they can potentially reduce our nation's petroleum dependence. They often have environmental benefits as well. The USDA previously named six categories of products in a rule that became final in March, and within a year of that date, federal agencies must give preference to biobased products when buying items that fall within those six categories. The USDA's current catalog of biobased products lists 93 products under these six categories. See the online catalog. |
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