Archive for the 'Policy' Category
Smuggled alcohol and animal remains to biofuel
From Sweden.se:
Swedes could soon be filling their cars with smuggled alcohol and animal remains. It is all part of a plan by the Swedish government to wean the country off oil within 15 years and thereby become the world’s first oil-free country…
…The one million bottles and cans seized annually by Tullverket are trucked to a warehouse where they are dumped into a crushing machine. The beverages are separated from their containers and blended with water to make the largest and probably worst-tasting cocktail imaginable. This is then taken by tanker to a plant in Linköping, about 200 km south of Stockholm, and turned into biofuel to power public buses, taxis, garbage trucks, private cars – even a train…
…Peter Undén is the marketing boss at SvenskBiogas, which produces, distributes and sells biogas for transportation in eastern Sweden. Each year the company takes 50,000 tons of a stomach-churning mixture of slaughterhouse waste, human waste and seized alcohol and turns it into clean-burning biogas…
It’s always interesting to see where policy coupled with a little innovation can produce. One must admire the Swedish government’s goal, 100% oil independence in 15 years. This is certainly a novel approach to the production and use of biofuels.
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ACORE report hits the mainstream
A report issued this week by the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) claims that up to half of our electrical power and 40% of our transportation energy requirements could be met by 2025 with renewable resources with a couple of policy tweaks.
Understandably this information has been published far and wide, but unlike other studies, this seems to have hit the mainstream spawning coverage in venues like CNN/Money. From their article:
“We still have elected officials who believe renewable energy cannot power this country, and I think that is incorrect,” ACORE president Michael Eckhart said on a conference call. “We can deliver huge amounts of energy in an environmentally sustainable way.”
What we have here is a failure to communicate
ACORE’s projections differ sharply with those of the U.S. government and most major oil companies, who say renewables will continue to account for between 5 to 10 percent of the country’s energy use by 2030.
Eckhart noted the government’s forecasts are made considering only current policies and laws, but said ACORE’s study highlights what could be done with laws and policies that encourage renewable energy use.
“Renewable energy doesn’t amount to much unless you change policy,” he said.
It’s encouraging to see that this type of message is making it into mainstream media and, I’m encouraged to see a multi-dimensional approach to the challenge using a portfolio of renewables. Nice work ACORE.
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Zero Carbon House
The Zero Carbon House is a low energy demonstration project to show how renewable energy can create a unique living experience on a remote island in a severe climate. A holistic approach has been taken to eliminating household carbon emissions that would normally result from heating and powering the home, running the family car and growing and transporting food.
Interesting systematic thinking from the Scots on a replicable and sustainable design.
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Court ruling changes economics
From Renewable Energy Access:
Comments are off for this postIn simple terms, the Court rejected arguments by many electric utilities whose power plants were grandfathered into the Clean Air Act, and then maintained that if they upgraded these power plants — they still would not have to meet Clean Air Act standards.
Renewable energy experts hailed the ruling as the first step to force baseload coal plants to invest in meeting emissions standards like all other energy sources — and that these investments will be reflected in increased rates, making baseload renewables such as biopower, concentrated solar, geothermal and wind more competitive.
Federal Production Tax Credit increases
Renewable electricity producers got a cost of living increase as the Internal Revenue Service published the inflation adjustment factor for 2006. This increases the current PTC credit from $19 per megawatt hour to $20 per megawatt hour. This is an annual process of review and, if appropriate, adjustment of the credit. The credit is available to any qualified renewable electricity producer for a period of up to 10 years.
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