News-Record.com

Details here.

Check out this interactive map by the Natural Resources Defense Council that shows existing and proposed alternative energy sites throughout the country. It shows our state's highest renewable energy potential in bio-gas. Background here.

Just got word this word from Alamance Community College:

ACC is developing a new series of courses to train students in sustainable “green” energy jobs. ACC also hopes to install “a field of solar panels on our campus that can be used for hands-on learning in the green program we develop,” said Dr. Barry Weinberg, ACC executive vice president. “This will allow us to produce energy on campus to reduce reliance on traditional energy sources.”

ACC’s proposed “Alternative/Renewable Energy” initiative addresses two areas: An Associate in Applied Science Technology degree program with transfer agreements to several campuses of the UNC system; and a technology-focused agenda that will provide a hands-on learning laboratory program. The proposed program includes electives in tsolar and wind energy; and in designing, installing, and repairing solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity, a process known as photovoltaic.

Check out a story I wrote in February about the community college system's Code Green Initiative.

The Biofuels Center of North Carolina announced this week the recipients of $2.8 million in grants for feedstocks research. N.C. State University got a chunk of the funds; the center awarded no grants to Triad-area entities.

Find a summary of the projects here. I found this one interesting:

"The Craven County Schools 'Farms to Fuels Program' will benefit the students of West Craven High School and Havelock High School, local farmers and community members with training in the development of renewable fuels using agronomics for oilseed crops such as canola as a winter cover crop. Students in agriculture and science classes will receive instruction, participate in hands-on training, visit fuel production facilities, and produce fuel to be consumed in a renovated bus and school tractor."

A sampling of what's happening across the state:

Appalachian State University in Boone plans to start installing a 100-kilowatt wind turbine on its campus in April. This turbine will be the largest in the state and the student-led Renewable Energy Initiative (REI) will hold an information session about it for the community next week.

From a press release:

The project was conceived and coordinated through the student-led ASU REI. Funding for this project comes in part from a 5$ (sic) per semester student fee that is allocated towards bringing renewable energy to ASU campus. This particular project is also co-funded by New River Light & Power. Additionally, the ASU senior class of 2009 has decided to allocate its senior class gift fund towards the turbine project. Installation is set to begin around April 1st, 2009.

Also, the Nature Conservancy and a corporate partner will announce next week a major gift to research climate change adaptation in coastal North Carolina. A 2008 study by the University of Maryland identified North Carolina’s coast as one of the country’s most vulnerable areas to climate change. The Conservancy research will explore ways to make the coast more resilient to rising sea levels, according to a press release.

From the University of Maryland report:

In addition to their impacts on property, sea level rise and more intense hurricane activity will hurt the tourism industry in North Carolina. Costs to tourism include losses of beach area due to sea level rise and decrease in demand for beach trips due to more unpredictable weather patterns. These costs also include losses to area businesses because of decreases in tourism. Estimates suggest that the present value of the welfare costs to beach recreation inflicted by an increase of 46 cm (18 inches) in sea level by 2080 could be as high as $10.6 billion, assuming a 2 percent discount rate (Bin et al. 2007).

Other revenue losses could occur in the fishing sector of the economy. Recent estimates
suggest that aggregate consumer welfare losses for anglers in North Carolina could
amount to $17 million per year by 2080 (Bin et al. 2007).

One proposed method to protect coastal infrastructure from rising sea levels is building a seawall or bulkhead along the coast... For North Carolina’s 301-mile coast, building such a structure would cost the state $1.89 billion (NC Department of Commerce 2008).

The Conservancy and its partners have an interest in this type of research because of its large investment in preserving coastal property -- more than half a million acres in northeastern North Carolina.

Update: The conference flier.

The Center for Energy Research and Technology will hold a conference on March 19 called "Sustainable Energy Alternatives and Their Impact on Low-Income Citizens." The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a banquet at 6 p.m.) at the A&T alumni-foundation event center at 200 N. Benbow Road. The conference is the result of a partnership with the American Association of Blacks in Energy.

Presenters include Nita Patel, of Duke Energy in Cincinnati; Joe Lucas, of the Association of Clean Coal; Paul Quinlan with the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, Gary Sink, of Red Birch Energy in Virginia, and others.

Workshops will focus on clean coal opportunities, green jobs, biomass uses and the effects of green technologies on personal lifestyles. All with a focus on impacts on the low-income community.

Registration is $25 (plus another $25 for the dinner and banquet). Contact coordinators Venetia Fisher or Matthew O'Brien at 256-2406 or frseng@ncat.edu for more information.

The international Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels will hold a public meeting in Durham this month to gather input for a set of guidelines for the worldwide production of biofuels.

The meeting will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 28 at the Southern Growth Policies Board, 100 Capitola Dr, Suite 100, Durham. Details and the agenda.

From the draft guidelines:

According to the triple bottom line approach of sustainability, biofuels shall be environmentally sound, socially fair, and economically viable. While some aspects of the economic sustainability of biofuel projects can be assessed at the production unit level, others depend on national macro-economic policies. To ensure a level playing field for global biofuel production, domestic use and trade, macro-economic policies such as trade barriers and distortive subsidies that disrupt global food and biofuel markets should also be addressed by the appropriate authorities. If produced sustainably, biofuels can create opportunities for developing countries with a comparative advantage in their production to, in some cases, even export biofuels to countries that need them.

The U.S. Department of Energy has established a goal of supplying 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030.

Wind currently supplies 0.8 percent, and the DOE says the goal would require the number of turbine installations to increase from approximately 2000 per year in 2006 to almost 7000 per year in 2017. Whew.

Duke University's Climate Change Policy Partnership issued a policy brief last week echoing some of the concerns brought out in the DOE's July report. In summary, the wind power industry, just like other alternative energy sectors, will have a difficult time meeting these ambitious goals.

"While the DOE goal for wind power is inspiring, we must recognize that it will not be easy," said lead author Chi-Jen Yang. "In 2007, the nation's total installed wind power capacity was 16.9 gigawatts. Annual growth rates during the last decade hovered around 20 percent. High natural gas prices contributed to this rapid growth. If natural gas prices drop, wind power's competitiveness might decline significantly. To reach the DOE target of 305 gigawatts by 2030, annual wind power installation must maintain an average growth rate of 14 percent for the next 22 years. Whether or not we can maintain such a high rate over decades depends on the policies we enact in the next few years."

Well looky here, at least one natural gas company is already requesting a rate drop because of the decline in wholesale prices. (And more declines could come if the auto industry goes bankrupt.)

Yang elaborates on the barriers faced by the wind industry:
• Long-term investment uncertainty;
• Transmission Limitations;
• Wind turbine shortage, quality and reliability;
• Workforce education and training;
• Research and development; and
• Siting and landscape issues.

We basically have 21 years to make this happen. Anybody think this goal is achievable?

I just found this out today, but apparently a national energy forum is taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. It's free and online.

Details from a press release:

WHO: Fortune 500 CEOs, COOs, CFOs, public policy leaders, sustainability & energy experts & innovators of energy products & services.

WHAT: www.VirtualEnergyForum.com, a free online-only conference, brings together 5,000 Fortune 500 executives, public policy leaders & energy innovators in an innovative interactive format. Live video presentations by energy experts, with questions answered real-time.

Topics: Obama administration, federal funding, municipal or public works, green building, energy-efficient technologies, sustainability, alternative energy, clean technologies, and manufacturing.

WHEN: Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST.

WHERE: Entirely online at www.VirtualEnergyForum.com. Register and Login Dec. 10-11 to attend this live, interactive event, from the ease of your PC. To view coverage of the last Virtual Energy Forum by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, or to view the complete list of speakers and agenda, visit www.VirtualEnergyForum.com.

WHY: President-elect Barack Obama pledged on Dec. 6 to launch the biggest public works program since the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. The estimated $700 Billion plan is projected to include a push to make federal buildings more energy efficient.

The Virtual Energy Forum includes speaker sessions that address this topic, including:

· Mike Kearney of Siemens Building Technologies, speaking on "Practical Strategies to Green Existing Buildings" on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

· Kevin Kampschroer, US General Services Administration, "Making the Federal Green Building a Reality" on Thursday at 5:15 p.m.

· Public sector keynote speakers at the event include:

o The Honorable James T. Kelliher, Chairman of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

o The Honorable Ed Markey, US House Select Committee on Energy Independence

o Kathleen Hogan, US Environmental Protection Agency

o Paul P. Bollinger Jr., United States Army

o Kevin W. Billings, of the United States Air Force.

This sounds interesting and I will try to check it out this week.

Update (Friday): I took a look at the report and found some good points, particularly about states overlooking the importance of energy conservation in lowering fossil fuel-powered electricity demand. People often pay lip service to this but at the end of the day utilities and their employees are worried about revenue and jobs. And consumers want their big screen TVs and computers.

But consumers can have direct control over their energy use and wallets by reducing energy use, not just through weatherizing but through changed habits and dependencies. And it's going to become more important with all the layoffs taking place. Ways to curtail energy use include reducing the number of appliances and gadgets one uses at home, hanging laundry on clothes lines with perhaps neighbors sharing dryers during cold and rainy weather.

The Cato report argues that states would do better to focus on the goal rather than the method so as to not unfairly benefit a few industries while shutting out others. Moreover, it's unclear what the net impact will be of massive use of solar panel projects, wind farms, biomass/animal waste conversion and so on. For example, not everyone is happy about Fibrowatt's chicken waste burning plants in North Carolina. And what will be the economic and environmental impacts of converting land to biomass production?

Still, I would be interested in seeing a comparison study between subsidies and incentives provided for the established fossil fuel, nuclear and hydroelectric industries and those for renewable/alternative energy. We obviously cannot redo the past but I wonder how developed the fossil fuel and nuclear energy industries would be without government taxpayer support during the 20th century. Perhaps the situation would be better. Perhaps it would be worse.

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A new report out by the Cato Institute questions the economics of the renewable energy portfolio trend where states are requiring utilities to supply a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable energy. Twenty-six states have renewable portfolio requirements, including North Carolina, whose lawmakers passed standards in 2007.

Note: The institute espouses a "market-liberal" vision and opposes government planning mandates:

"Market liberals appreciate the complexity of a great society, they recognize that socialism and government planning are just too clumsy for the modern world. It is--or used to be--the conventional wisdom that a more complex society needs more government, but the truth is just the opposite. The simpler the society, the less damage government planning does. Planning is cumbersome in an agricultural society, costly in an industrial economy, and impossible in the information age. Today collectivism and planning are outmoded and backward, a drag on social progress."

I'll have comments on the report later, but feel free to chime in.

The N.C. Sustainable Energy Association is asking residents to sign a petition requesting strong rules for connecting solar systems to the electrical grid (net metering, which would allow households to supply electricity). The Vote Solar Initiatve is an effort to bring solar energy into the mainstream.