Sunday, January 31, 2010

Utilities Enter the Photovolatic Market, Why Now?

Utilities Enter the Photovolatic Market, Why Now?

Posted using ShareThis

A man died.

Thomas Edwin Lawson died Saturday January 30th 2010. Tom was born in 1909. In his lifetime he lived thru more history than I can imagine. I am going to recall some of the things he told me about that have me in awe. When he was 12yrs old, living in the foothills of the Georgia mountains he saw the first automobile arrive by train to his town. The first automobile his family got he helped his father drive it with his three brothers because his father was nervous. When his youngest brother was born, Tom moved to the porch to sleep with his other brothers while his mother convalesced. Tom saw the invention and introduction of,
The automobile, radio, the telephone, the television, the tank, the airplance,
diesel boats (they were coal-fired) the nuclear bomb, WWI, WWII,
Korean War, The rise of Russia, plastic, the fall of Britain,
The vietnam war, space flight, the microwave, central heating and cooling,
the computer, video, cell phones, the fall of Russia, dvd, cd,
2 space shuttles destroyed,
the international space station,
nuclear energy and solar energy.
Tom was survived by his 98yr old wife, three children, 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Tom was once fired from a job because he didn't like one of the other managers sleeping with workers and reported him, (this didn't cause the firing but the other manager got his revenge) Tom was always pleasant, kind and honest. I am honored to have known him and lucky to have married one of his grandchildren. He will be missed.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

H.4374 SPONSORS CONTACT INFO

H. 4374
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Loftis, Hardwick, Mitchell, Simrill, Bowen, Hamilton, Rice, Spires and Umphlett

Dwight A. Loftis [R]
Insurance Agent
Dist. No. 19 - Greenville Co.
(H) P.O. Box 14784, Greenville, 29610
(C) 522C Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-3101

Nelson L. Hardwick [R]
Businessman/Engineer
Dist. No. 106 - Horry Co.
(H) 714 Cedar Drive North, Surfside Beach, 29575 Bus. (843) 238-1142
(C) 320C Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-2967

Daniel P. "Dan" Hamilton [R]
Businessman
Dist. No. 20 - Greenville Co.
(H) 9 Staten Lane, Taylors, 29687 Bus. (864) 527-7685
(C) 312A Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 212-6795

Don C. Bowen [R]
Retired
Dist. No. 8 - Anderson & Oconee Cos.
(H) 1176 Embassy Dr., Anderson, 29625 Bus. (864) 934-3272
(C) 306C Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-3038

Harold Mitchell, Jr. [D]
Executive Director, Regenesis
Dist. No. 31 - Spartanburg Co.
(H) P. O. Box 3046, Spartanburg, 29304-3046 Bus. (864) 583-2712
(C) 414C Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-6638

Rex F. Rice [R]
Businessman
Dist. No. 26 - Greenville & Pickens Cos.
(H) 301 Providence Way, Easley, 29642 Bus. (864) 616-5657
(C) 418A Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-3035

J. Gary Simrill [R]
President & CEO of Carolina Motorworks
Dist. No. 46 - York Co.
(H) 1515 Alexander Rd., Rock Hill, 29732 Bus. (803) 366-0445
(C) 420C Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-3040

L. Kit Spires [R]
Pharmacist and Pharmacy Owner
Dist. No. 96 - Aiken & Lexington Cos.
(H) P.O. Box 396, Pelion, 29123 Bus. (803) 606-5749
(C) 326D Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-3010

C. David Umphlett, Jr. [R]
Retired Vice Pres., Govt. & Consumer Affairs, Berkeley
Electric Co-op, Inc.
Dist. No. 100 - Berkeley Co.
(H) 1145 Hwy. 402, Moncks Corner, 29461 Bus. (843) 899-1744
(C) 310D Blatt Bldg., Columbia, 29201 Bus. (803) 734-2946

Friday, January 22, 2010

Energy bill, jobs bill, get it done.

Bloomberg

Energy Measures May Go to Jobs Bill After Brown Win (Update1)
January 21, 2010, 03:17 PM EST More From Businessweek

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Kim Chipman

Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Measures to spur green-energy jobs may end up in a new economic-stimulus bill after Republican Scott Brown’s Senate victory in Massachusetts dimmed prospects for legislation to curb carbon-dioxide emissions.

Provisions to help homeowners reduce power use and make industry more energy-efficient may be shifted out of cap-and- trade legislation that’s stalled in the Senate, said Robert Stavins, director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“Those Democrats who may have already been nervous about a vote on climate policy are even more nervous now,” he said.

Brown, who on Jan. 19 won the Senate seat held by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy for almost 50 years, opposes the emissions-trading program that President Barack Obama says is needed to fight global climate change. Republican opponents say the cap-and-trade legislation would boost costs and cut jobs in an economy that already has a 10 percent unemployment rate.

“A large cap-and-trade bill isn’t going to go ahead at this time,” Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, told reporters in Washington yesterday.

Putting energy provisions into a bill to stimulate job creation instead “makes sense” because that’s the Senate’s next priority after health-care legislation, Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, said before Brown’s win.

“Everybody who’s got a job-creation idea is going to try to get on this train,” Brown said in a Jan. 15 interview, referring to a new jobs bill. “Anything that we’re thinking of doing in any energy related area that can produce jobs short- term, mid-term, long-term will be considered in this.”



House Jobs Bill



The House passed a $154 billion jobs bill before the Christmas break. The Senate was planning to take up a bigger package this year.

Some Republicans may support moves to help manufacturers make the transition to clean-energy production if the provisions aren’t too costly, said John Feehery, a Republican strategist who advised former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The loss in Massachusetts should prompt Democrats to seek smaller-scale legislative victories.

“What Democrats are going to want to do more is get some discrete, easily understandable accomplishments that they can take back to the voters,” Feehery said in an interview. “They’re going to have to ditch climate change and push on more targeted agenda items, like energy independence and green jobs.”



Renewable-Energy Investment



The U.S. lost 85,000 jobs in December, and unemployment remains close to a 26-year high. Republicans have successfully cast the cap-and-trade bill as “as a job-killer and a tax- raiser,” Feehery said.

Climate-change legislation would penalize use of power from fossil fuels while guaranteeing long-term returns for investors in wind turbines and solar panels, said Jeffrey McDermott, the former co-head of investment banking at UBS AG who started Greentech Capital Advisors LLC in 2008 to advise and raise money for alternative-energy companies. Renewable developers in the U.S. must rely on a “patchwork” of state regulations and short-lived federal incentives, he said.

“There’s no way to spin it as positive,” McDermott said in an interview. “The failure of Congress to put in place policies which set a framework is that it’s just going to be more difficult for capital to make long-term investment decisions.”



Exelon, Nike



Chief executives officers of Exelon Corp., Nike Inc., and 81 other companies today urged Obama and lawmakers to enact climate legislation. In a letter, the group called for “strong policies and clear market signals that support the transition to a low-carbon economy and reward companies that innovate.”

The new Senate version of the jobs bill may include funding for a “cash for caulkers” program providing grants to make homes more energy efficient, said Lowell Ungar, policy director for the Washington-based Alliance to Save Energy.

“The money will run out from the recovery act and if there’s not further legislation to push these retrofits, there’s a real risk that the infrastructure we’re creating right now will wither,” Ungar said in an interview. “The people who are being trained right now to do these retrofits will no longer have jobs.”

The Obama administration credits last year’s economic stimulus bill with helping to stabilize the economy and creating 640,000 jobs, including 52,000 in clean energy.



‘Daunting’ Challenges



The cap-and-trade measure that the House of Representatives passed in June would limit emissions and establish a market in pollution allowances. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said yesterday that Democrats “will tackle our daunting energy and climate challenges” with legislation that creates “good-paying, clean-energy jobs.” He provided no specifics.

“The election itself means the loss of one vote,” Nikki Roy, who monitors Congress for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Virginia, said of Brown’s victory. “Obviously the bigger unknown is how it affects thinking by moderates. Most moderate members of the Senate were already feeling very cautious on this issue.”

Some lawmakers were describing passage of the cap-and-trade measure as unlikely this year even before Brown’s win, which gave Republicans 41 votes in the Senate and deprived Democrats of the 60-vote supermajority generally needed to pass legislation.



‘Climate-Friendly’ Measure



There won’t be enough political will left to undertake such a disputed measure after the fight over health-care legislation, Senator Byron Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota who recently announced his retirement, said Jan. 19 on a conference call with reporters.

“It’s my assessment that we will not do a climate bill, but that we will do an energy bill instead.” Dorgan said. “The energy bill will be climate-friendly.”

The Senate Energy Committee approved a measure last year that would require utilities to get as much as 15 percent of their power from renewable sources. That bill, which wouldn’t place a cap on greenhouse-gas emissions, hasn’t been taken up by the full Senate.

Carol Browner, Obama’s top adviser on energy and the environment, said last week that an energy and climate bill limiting emissions from power plants, factories and refineries remains a priority of the White House.



Kerry, Graham, Lieberman



Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who co- sponsored a climate-change bill last year, said he is beginning daily meetings with colleagues Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, to draft a compromise bill.

“The political atmosphere doesn’t reduce the urgency of dealing with pollution and energy,” Kerry said in an e-mail. “This is the single best opportunity to create jobs, reduce pollution, and stop sending billions overseas for foreign oil from countries that would do us harm.”





--With assistance from Simon Lomax in Washington. Editors: Larry Liebert,

Sunday, January 17, 2010

State politics slows industry growth


While most of us may not realize it day to day, without electricity, modern life ceases to be. Coal and oil have been the single greatest vehicles to wealth in the history of our species. It is this fact that makes it critical we address the depletion of fossil fuel. All utilities across the country make plans for production and growth several decades into the future and they watch energy prices every minute of everyday. The conversation we have today, directly impacts the next decades of our lives. When a single coal plant costs $2.2billion dollars and a nuclear plant costs 5 times that, we have to get these decisions right.

Every living thing on the surface of the planet gets its energy from the sun. Coal and oil are nothing more than storage units of the sun’s energy. Wind and biomass are also energy created from the sun. Nuclear plants are mimicking the sun’s fusion reaction but we use fission and fuel that is poisonous. To me then it seems abundantly clear that we should explore the mining of the sun’s energy directly. Spectra Labs a division of Boeing makes the most efficient/ most durable solar panels on and off the earth. American engineers can still create great things. USC located in Columbia SC is doing some amazing research into semiconductor materials and photovoltaic’s (solar electric, PV for short)

Since energy is one of the four critical things we need to have modern society, I believe it is the next arms race and the next vehicle of economic growth (actual sustainability) for the US and the world. 60% of the world’s oil is located near India and China. India and China have one third of the planet’s population. China is spending its $2.1 trillion dollars of currency reserves on energy bets globally; China is also outspending us on renewable energy infrastructure. The majority of American’s despite our political arguments and social differences are fat and happy. We need to put aside our differences at the local level and create the support needed to get solar energy on parity to coal, if we don’t someone else will. Food, shelter, communications and energy are the underpinning of our happiness.

So with the eventual rise of China and India (go to Wal-Mart or ask your telephone credit card representative where they got their college degree) we have to ask ourselves now where is our energy going to come from in 20-40yrs from now. Paul Campbell (R) Berkeley recently said “we need a clean energy standard in South Carolina.” We need this new leadership to prevail. It is lack of education and state support for new industries that will cause us to lag behind the rest of the country and the world.

Some people have been quoted saying South Carolina is too humid for solar. This is completely false. South Carolina gets 43% more output than Germany, the world’s leader in solar installs. Solar most certainly does work in South Carolina. We have the 13th best solar irradiance in the nation and we far outstrip Europe in sun mining potential. That is why we must mine the sun. Can solar meet base load demand (energy 24 hrs a day) right now? No, but not utilizing it where we can, (peak shaving, offsetting the most expensive energy at high demand times) is wrong. The internal combustion engine was industrialized in the 1870’s and yet even today only 10% of the used energy moves the vehicle, should we have waited for 20%, or 40%?!

While our house and Senate continue to resist helping entrepreneurs build a new industry in SC, other states like North Carolina and Georgia are creating jobs, gaining investments and creating energy security. Lindsey Graham US senator for South Carolina gets it. His approval of national climate legislation will bring jobs to our state. Not only thru solar and biomass but natural gas drilling off the SC coast and wind turbines and nuclear technology investment will bring billions to SC. Do we want to fight (running up the deficit and losing our most precious resources) over fossil fuel reserves or do we want to build the new energy economy?

So it’s a question of new jobs, new money, and new ideas or no ideas and the blind hope that our economy will create jobs by itself. Tell your state representative that North Carolina has fully supported solar with legislation and they have much lower unemployment due to this investment, we need to match North Carolina incentives. If we invest in new technology and innovation we secure our position as global leader and will prosper as these other economies buy our products and knowledge as they already do in relation to fossil fuels now. Its hard to give up what has been so good to us, fossil fuel powered America’s industrial revolution. We will remain the leaders in petro-chemical production and research for the foreseeable future but if we look back to why America is great its much easier to realize we can and must build a new energy economy on solar power because the sun is so integral to all life and energy is prosperity.

State politics slows industry growth

While most of us may not realize it day to day, without electricity, modern life ceases to be. Coal and oil have been the single greatest vehicles to wealth in the history of our species. It is this fact that makes it critical we address the depletion of fossil fuel. All utilities across the country make plans for production and growth several decades into the future and they watch energy prices every minute of everyday. The conversation we have today, directly impacts the next decades of our lives. When a single coal plant costs $2.2billion dollars and a nuclear plant costs 5 times that, we have to get these decisions right.

Every living thing on the surface of the planet gets its energy from the sun. Coal and oil are nothing more than storage units of the sun’s energy. Wind and biomass are also energy created from the sun. Nuclear plants are mimicking the sun’s fusion reaction but we use fission and fuel that is poisonous. To me then it seems abundantly clear that we should explore the mining of the sun’s energy directly. Spectra Labs a division of Boeing makes the most efficient/ most durable solar panels on and off the earth. American engineers can still create great things. USC located in Columbia SC is doing some amazing research into semiconductor materials and photovoltaic’s (solar electric, PV for short)

Since energy is one of the four critical things we need to have modern society, I believe it is the next arms race and the next vehicle of economic growth (actual sustainability) for the US and the world. 60% of the world’s oil is located near India and China. India and China have one third of the planet’s population. China is spending its $2.1 trillion dollars of currency reserves on energy bets globally; China is also outspending us on renewable energy infrastructure. The majority of American’s despite our political arguments and social differences are fat and happy. We need to put aside our differences at the local level and create the support needed to get solar energy on parity to coal, if we don’t someone else will. Food, shelter, communications and energy are the underpinning of our happiness.

So with the eventual rise of China and India (go to Wal-Mart or ask your telephone credit card representative where they got their college degree) we have to ask ourselves now where is our energy going to come from in 20-40yrs from now. Paul Campbell (R) Berkeley recently said “we need a clean energy standard in South Carolina.” We need this new leadership to prevail. It is lack of education and state support for new industries that will cause us to lag behind the rest of the country and the world.

Some people have been quoted saying South Carolina is too humid for solar. This is completely false. South Carolina gets 43% more output than Germany, the world’s leader in solar installs. Solar most certainly does work in South Carolina. We have the 13th best solar irradiance in the nation and we far outstrip Europe in sun mining potential. That is why we must mine the sun. Can solar meet base load demand (energy 24 hrs a day) right now? No, but not utilizing it where we can, (peak shaving, offsetting the most expensive energy at high demand times) is wrong. The internal combustion engine was industrialized in the 1870’s and yet even today only 10% of the used energy moves the vehicle, should we have waited for 20%, or 40%?!

While our house and Senate continue to resist helping entrepreneurs build a new industry in SC, other states like North Carolina and Georgia are creating jobs, gaining investments and creating energy security. Lindsey Graham US senator for South Carolina gets it. His approval of national climate legislation will bring jobs to our state. Not only thru solar and biomass but natural gas drilling off the SC coast and wind turbines and nuclear technology investment will bring billions to SC. Do we want to fight (running up the deficit and losing our most precious resources) over fossil fuel reserves or do we want to build the new energy economy?

So it’s a question of new jobs, new money, and new ideas or no ideas and the blind hope that our economy will create jobs by itself. Tell your state representative that North Carolina has fully supported solar with legislation and they have much lower unemployment due to this investment, we need to match North Carolina incentives. If we invest in new technology and innovation we secure our position as global leader and will prosper as these other economies buy our products and knowledge as they already do in relation to fossil fuels now. Its hard to give up what has been so good to us, fossil fuel powered America’s industrial revolution. We will remain the leaders in petro-chemical production and research for the foreseeable future but if we look back to why America is great its much easier to realize we can and must build a new energy economy on solar power because the sun is so integral to all life and energy is prosperity.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Solar Jobs For SC

Facts related to Solar power in South Carolina

1. North Carolina Unemployment rate 10.7% of the labor force –
Not seasonally adjusted - Nov 2009 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

NC RPS states:- 12.5% of 2020 retail sales with a minimum of 7.5% to be renewable based, in state generation, with 5% from energy efficiency. Municipal and Co-op to meet 10% renewable and energy efficiency by 2018.
Solar Tax Credit for NC, 35% residential, up to $2.5million for commercial

2. South Carolina unemployment rate 12.1% of the labor force –
Not seasonally adjusted - Nov 2009 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

SC Solar tax incentives 25% capped at $3500 per year, total $35,000.

NC gets less solar irradiance than SC!

NC still gets 43% more output per MW installed than Berlin, Germany, which is worlds leader in Solar installs.
National renewable energy laboratory NREL.gov/solar irradiance analysis (PV watts)

3. Georgia Unemployment rate 9.9% of the labor force –
Not seasonally adjusted - Nov 2009 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

GA Solar tax credit:- $100,000 solar thermal, $500,000 solar photovoltaic.

4. Florida Unemployment rate 11.5% of the labor force –
Not seasonally adjusted - Nov 2009 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Florida is one of 3 states listed nationally as being MOST effected by real estate bubble and still has lower unemployment than our state.
Florida tax credit is $5million per year total, Florida has a 50% rebate for solar up to $4 per watt.

5. SC total tax credits given in 2008, $132,058. (Department of Revenue)

Estimated increased cost of electricity if SC had an RPS 2-3% by 2015
(National Association of Manufacturers report on GHG emissions reduction legislation)
2010 increases in electricity cost for SC, 9.5%.
(State paper 2010)
NC number of solar install companies. 247
NC number of manufacturers 59

SC manufacturers 0

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Sheep make clear climate change is real


Money men ignoring climate change
Ecologist

7th January, 2010

Survey finds global financial decision makers ignoring climate risks and opportunities
An extensive survey of the world’s leading asset managers has found that only a few are including climate risks and opportunities throughout their investment analysis.

The report by US-based Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organisations, surveyed 500 of the world’s foremost assets managers on how they factor climate-related trends into investment decision-making.

Nearly three-quarters of asset managers reported that they did not expressly consider climate risks and opportunities.

Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres and Director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk said:

‘These findings make clear that the investment community is overly focused on short-term performance and ignoring longer-term business trends such as climate-related risks and opportunities.

'The recent sub-prime mortgage meltdown is a painful reminder of the fallout for investors who ignored 'hidden' long-term risks.’


One thing everyone should know for sure by now, Wall Street can't predict rain in a hurricane, since before 1929 they have consistantly failed to predict every major market shift. IT is because of this that I can now tell you with certainty that climate change is real and we will see its impacts in our lifetimes.

Richard Rainwater a billionaire investor who pegged peak oil in 2008 at $129 a barrel (just $18 short of all time high) when it was well below $100 and increased his net worth by $500million in doing so is leading the way to make a small SC town green and solar.

Rainwater is a proponent of peak oil, that we have already drilled and pumped all the easy deposits and oil shortages will severely impact the world economy. Hmmm if this guy has all the money in the world why would he waste any on energy security. Just sayin'