10/10/10 - NO on CA Prop 23

WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND - Environmentalists will stage more than 7,000 events in a total of 188 countries this Sunday (10/10/10) in a bid to convince political leaders in the United States and abroad to take action to address climate change. Organizer and 350.org founder Bill McKibben.

I grew up in the Inland Empire - the valley east of Los Angeles - in the 1970's and suffered from childhood asthma due to the polluted atmosphere. We didn't even know we lived in a valley, because we couldn't see the three 10,000' mountains due to the smog. I like clean air, I hate oil refineries. Fair disclosure complete.

PROP 23 - Oil refiners are ramping up their efforts to pass the voter initiative meant to derail California's landmark greenhouse gas emissions law, Wall Street Journal reports. Valero Energy and Tesoro have given about $4 million and $1.5 million so far, according to state-finance filings.

The president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association is also asking for financial support from the group's members. 'I am pleading with each of you - for our nation's best interest and for your company's own self-interest,' Charles Drevna wrote in an e-mail obtained by the paper. http://bit.ly/cDB4Oi 

In 2006, California Assembly Bill 32 attempted to put the first serious limit on our growing level of Green House Gas emissions in the USA. It's intent is to limit GHG, mandate state electricity be made with renewable energy sources, and return California to 1990 levels by 2020. The Carbon-Fuel Industries are terrified that it will work, and that will set the example for the rest of the nation and the world.

Join a "NO on 23" CALLING PARTY.

SUNRUN backs down from its stance against PACE programs.

There is a lot of behind the scenes politics going on over Energy Efficiency (EE) and Renewable Energy (RE) financing options at various levels of our government. California, a traditional leader in creating progressive legislative solutions to the traditional road-blocks on the path to a greener energy economy, has developed various Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs that have been copied in other states throughout the nation. But these programs are seen as a threat to some who have made bets against Green technologies, and invested in corrupt systems such as home-mortgage financing.

All the traditional big corporation stake holders (Utilities, Energy Brokers, Carbon-Fuel Companies, Transportation Corps., etc) have substantial lobbies against the emerging Energy Efficiency and distributed Renewable Energy markets. Every watt of energy these new markets safe or produce is a decrease in demand from their traditional systems, and thus MONEY OUT OF THEIR POCKETS.

In the latest discussion, a national Power Purchase Agreement agent, SUNRUN, which provides Solar Electric Leases to homeowners in multiple states, has been helping slow down the move to PACE type programs, out of 'concerns' over various issues of implementation.

Some call SUNRUN's move against PACE financing self-serving, and I agree.

Sun Run is a venture capital financing model, looking to guarantee large interest rates on long term contracts. PACE directly competes with their business model by lowering interest rates, and providing long term financing to people without equity or credit. That shouldn't be seen as a threat, but it is, because people essentially funding their own Energy Efficiency can create service jobs, but that doesn't necessarily sell a tangible product, like Solar-PV, that can be depreciated for tax benefits, or could be repossessed.

Thus, SUNRUN, which is gaining vast market share as an alternative financing scheme, while PACE programs flounder, benefits at consumer expense.

That aside the SUNRUN argument is disingenuous. They are pushing Solar PV renewable energy production - the highest-cost piece of the green energy puzzle - over Energy Efficiency or even Solar Thermal Hot Water (STHW). They don't mention the low cost alternatives that efficiency provides, because they can't OWN EFFICIENCY.

To address the SUNRUN concerns: 

"1) PACE loans are typically larger than solar equipment value." YES, because the PACE programs require EE work first to minimize the size and expense of any necessary renewable energy generation, and thus maximize return on investment while minimizing property-tax payments.  

"2) PACE loans do not always create clear savings." This seems more relevant, but when using the Department of Energy (DOE) loading orders and EE "in-and-out" testing, the 'clear savings' are obvious.

"3) Solar inverters fail in 8-12 years ,while PACE lien payments persist 15-20 years." This is a valid concern for those who NEED SOLAR PV systems, but the simple solutions are A) shorten the lean payment period to the inverter period, B) include inverter replacement costs in the lien, C) allow the lien to include insurance for catastrophic problems like inverter failure, theft, or hail damage.

Thus, shutting down all of PACE programs nation-wide for such easily surmountable problems is untenable. That's why SUN RUN eventually backed down, for their "concerns" were not substantial and profited their business model over the industry as a whole, and over the common good. 

See SUNRUN's statement here.

Self-Replicating Nano Solar Paint

Scientists at MIT Discover tiny solar photovoltaic compounds that assemble or disassemble themselves depending upon chemicals that are sprayed upon them. They don't loose efficiency, either. Can you say "Electric Spray-Paint"?

Jimmy Carter's Solar Panels Return to the White House

Unity College Students & Bill McKibben Launch Road Trip to Reinstall Jimmy Carter Solar Panel Back on White House Roof - Report by Democracy Now of NYC

A group of Unity College students, led by environmentalist Bill McKibben, set out Tuesday for Washington, DC, carrying a solar panel that once stood atop President Jimmy Carter’s White House. In 1979, Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the West Wing as part of a new solar strategy. They were removed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and put into storage. In 1990, the panels were brought to Unity College in Maine. The students are now hoping to convince President Obama to reinstall the panel back on the White House roof.

FutureStates: From PBS

What will become of America in the next 5, 25, 50 years? The Public Broadcasting System has invested in the imaginations of eleven film makers to test the theories of our future. Watch FutureStates on PBS
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World Resource Simulation Center

“How do we make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone?”

Video Introduction:


Thirty Years Ago, Buckmister Fuller suggested that with all the interrelated global problems of our time; Population, Energy, Climate Change, Disease, Food, Water, etc. It is necessary to have one place where the best minds can visualize the scope of the worlds problems, and suggest solutions.

This is the concept that developed into the World Resource Simulation Center, a project of San Diego's own Global Energy Network Institute.

You are invited to attend this unique Month Long Event, September 7th -- September 30th, 2010. To be held in San Diego, at the NewSchool of Architecture & Design, 1249 F St., San Diego, CA 92101

Register NOW for each individual day:
Each Day will be structured for collaborative learning, presentations, and networking. Each week will deal with a different problem set; Energy and Water at the Local, State, National and Global scale and in the last week will offer solutions.

• Week One: Global Scenarios, Trends, and Projections.
• Week Two: National and State Directions
• Week Three: Southern California Stakeholders
• Week Four: Solutions, Energy, Water, Moving Forward

(Suggested Donation $20/day, $30/presentation days, includes lunch and reception)
Register Here: http://wrsc.org/?page_id=1735

Remember, this is not a conference, but a working immersive environment designed to simulate the day to day work of the future WRSC. You will actively participate.


Contact:
Peter Meisen
President, GENI
peter (at) geni.org
(619) 595-0139

Governments Subsidize Fossil Fuel Over Renewable Energy by a Factor of TEN!

TravisTR sends word of research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance which found that direct subsidies for renewable energy from governments worldwide totaled $43-46 billion in 2009, an amount vastly outstripped by the $557 billion in fossil fuel subsidies during 2008. Governments of the world are spending substantially more on subsidizing dirty forms of energy than on renewables and biofuels. In fact, support for cleaner sources is dwarfed by the help the oil, coal, and other fossil fuel sectors receive.

"The BNEF preliminary analysis suggests the US is the top country, as measured in dollars deployed, in providing direct subsidies for clean energy with an estimated $18.2bn spent in total in 2009."

Approximately 40% of this went toward supporting the US biofuels sector with the rest going towards renewables. The federal stimulus program played a key role; its Treasury Department grant program alone provided $3.8bn in support for clean energy projects.

China, the world leader in new wind installations in 2009 with 14GW, provided approximately $2bn in direct subsidies, according to the preliminary analysis. This figure is deceptive, however, as much crucial support for clean energy in the country comes in form of low-interest loans from state-owned banks. State-run power generators and grid companies have also been strongly encouraged by the government to tap their balance sheets in support of renewables.

This disparity raises the question--if the report is right and fossil fuels require so much backing, can they compete with renewables without government support?

So far renewables just can't provide enough fuel and power to displace fossil fuels. The infrastructure to make and distribute them isn't adequate. That could change overnight if we simply stopped subsidizing fossil fuels, and shifted that Government Investment into renewable infrastructure.