Monthly Archives: February 2012

Cost-Effective, Clean Energy Solutions Are Available NOW

By Jim Marston / Published: February 16, 2012

Today we introduced Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Energy Innovation Series. Over the next 12 months, EDF will select more than 20 innovations to highlight across a broad range of energy categories, including smart grid and renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency financing, and progressive utilities, to name a few. This series will demonstrate that cost-effective, clean energy solutions are available now and imperative to lowering our dependence on fossil fuels.

The buzz surrounding energy innovation
Can you name a company that has invented or completely changed a global industry in the last 10 years? Was it an energy company? Probably not.

You don’t have to surf the web too long to find a lot of people talking about energy innovation. Business leaders. Politicians. Environmentalists. And you don’t have to watch TV too long to see oil, gas and coal companies selling the idea that they’re hard at work in search of tomorrow’s miracle fuel.

The fact that so many companies are talking about energy innovation is a good thing. It shows they understand the business case for clean energy and realize that carbon reduction is necessary. But too many of these conversations end without action or result in little change.

We need paradigm shifts
We need energy innovation on par with the light bulb, assembly line, personal computer and iPhone. These breakthroughs didn’t slightly improve existing technologies, they revolutionized them.

Certainly, Apple has a unique history of introducing new products that displace current ones. Steve Jobs said that if anyone was going to make Apple’s products obsolete, he wanted it to be Apple. But that approach is absent among the “energy elites.”

Tomorrow’s smart energy technology is being developed by small, innovative and entrepreneurial businesses around the world. These businesses are raising and risking capital to push our country into the next century. As in all industries, these businesses realize that many will fail for each one that succeeds. They have chosen to take that risk not to build a better widget or launch a new website, but to help us innovate our way to less dependence on fossil fuels.

We’re shining a light on energy innovation bright spots
It’s time our country celebrated, rewarded….even demanded…innovation in the energy industry the way it has nearly every other industry from telephones to computers. Those of us on the environmental side of things know there’s a benefit bigger than profit, but in a trillion dollar (and growing) market, there’s room for more than a few Apples or Googles.

The EDF Energy Innovation Series promotes the role innovation has played in the energy industry and highlights clean energy technologies and new business models that hold the promise of revolutionizing the way we create, transport, manage and use energy. The series will showcase original news stories on featured energy innovations as well as videos and animations, interviews with clean energy experts and webinars that discuss the future of clean energy, among others. Stay tuned to the Energy Exchange for more information on featured energy innovations throughout the year.

Learn more at www.edf.org/energyinnovation.

Posted in General / Read 1 Response

Cities And Universities Join EDF Climate Corps To Save Money And Energy

By Michael Regan / Published: February 15, 2012

Cities and universities know the value of saving a dollar and saving a kilowatt, and EDF Climate Corps gives them a plan to do so in a just few, short months. This summer, EDF Climate Corps is celebrating its fifth year in action with even more energy efficiency savings for cities and universities around the United States. Joining EDF Climate Corps are returning and newcomer hosts who are eager to pair environment stewardship with smart business practices.

Newcomer host organizations for EDF Climate Corps include the Smithsonian Institution, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Port of Oakland, San Diego State University – Imperial Valley, City of Los Angeles, City of Cleveland (Ohio), Envision Charlotte (North Carolina), Housing Authority of the City of El Paso, City of Atlanta, and Texas A&M University – Kingsville. Returning hosts include the New York City Public Housing Authority and Howard University (D.C.).

2011 NYCHA EDF Climate Corps Fellows

Since its inception, EDF Climate Corps has recommended energy-saving opportunities and developed custom energy efficiency investment plans that could save $1 billion in net operational costs over the project lifetimes, and avoid over $1 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.

It’s not too late to host an EDF Climate Corps fellow – the application deadline for 2012 summer hosts is February 23. Cities and universities are encouraged to apply at edfclimatecorps.org. For more information and a list of 2012 hosts, please contact info@edfclimatecorps.org.

Clean Energy And The 2013 Budget Proposal

By Marita Mirzatuny / Published: February 15, 2012

Source: EcoWatch

In his State of the Union Address last month, President Obama made energy issues a focal point. Taking a clear stance, he said that it was time to “end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising.” With this statement, President Obama is addressing the reality that government support for new energy sources is the lowest it has been in any point in U.S. history, according to a report by DBL investors. “During the early years of what would become the U.S. oil and gas industries, federal subsidies for producers averaged half a percent of the federal budget. By contrast, the current support for renewables is barely a fifth that size, just one tenth of one percent of federal spending.”

Going further in addressing climate change the President said, “I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change. But here’s the thing. Even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future, because the nation that leads the clean-energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy, and America must be that nation.”

On Monday he unveiled his budget proposal for FY 2013. So, how does it hold up to the goals of his speech with regards to a clean energy future?

The Good News:

– The world’s largest energy consumer, the Department of Defense (DOD), would receive approximately $1 billion for energy conservation efforts. This would further the DOD’s increasing commitment to renewable energy which now makes up 8.5 percent of its energy production and procurement.

– With a 3.2 percent increase from the year before, the budget proposes $27.2 billion for the Department of Energy. Of that:

Research and development for energy efficiency, advanced vehicles and biofuels would get $2.3 billion
Renewable energy sources will get a $522 million increase and an additional $174 million for a revamped industrial technology-advanced manufacturing program.
$12 million would be directed towards multi-year research investments in safer natural gas infrastructure in order to reduce risks associated with hydraulic fracturing in shale formations.
Furthermore, pipeline safety would receive a 70 percent, $64 million, increase.
This 3.2 percent increase comes just as a report vindicates the DOE loan program, confirming that the “overall loan portfolio as a whole is expected to perform well and holds less than the amount of risk envisioned by Congress when they designed and funded the program.” Energy Secretary Steven Chu states that, “we have always known that there were inherent risks in backing innovative technologies at full commercial scale, and it is very likely that there will be other companies in the portfolio that won’t succeed. But the vast majority of companies are expected to pay the loans back in full, on time and with about $8 billion in interest — while supporting a total of 60,000 American jobs and helping us compete for a rapidly growing global industry.”

The Bad News:

– Seeming to cave to current attacks, the fiscal 2013 budget proposes stifling cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

Reducing current agency funding levels by $105 million, the EPA is slated to receive $8.3 billion. This would make for the first time since 1994 that the agency’s budget was cut for three consecutive years.

– Counterproductive cuts to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service:

Proposed cuts for Farm Bill conservation programs would be about $600 million.
Already Congress has cut conservation funding by $2.8 billion over the last five years, representing 81 percent of the nearly $3.5 billion in Farm Bill spending cuts over that time period(FY 2008-2012).

Despite some disappointment, overall we at EDF are pleased that the President chose to not only speak to the importance of a clean energy future but that his budget reflects this as well.

Elgie Holstein, our senior director for strategic planning here at EDF and a former associate director of the Office of Management and Budget for Natural Resources, Energy and Science, sums it up well, “despite some flaws, the president’s budget is a big net plus for the environment, and we urge Congress to embrace the positive aspects of it.” That latter part will be the true challenge.

Vice president of EDF’s Energy Program, Jim Marston continues: “The fact is: clean energy and responsible environmental policy make good economic policy as well because they create jobs, while cutting energy and medical bills for American families. Look at it this way: environmental conservation is cheaper than environmental cleanup, just like preventive medicine is cheaper than emergency room treatment. We applaud the President’s support of job-creating, clean energy programs.”

The President understands that getting our energy future on the right path is an essential foundation that our country needs to be competitive, provide jobs and protect our health and environment.

Posted in Climate, Energy Efficiency, Natural Gas, Renewable Energy, Washington, DC / Read 2 Responses

California Finds Common Interests In Financing Energy Efficiency Upgrades

By Brad Copithorne / Published: February 14, 2012

This commentary was originally posted on the EDF California Dream 2.0 Blog.

OBR Moves Forward

Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) held a well-attended three-day workshop to discuss a potential On-Bill Repayment (“OBR”) program and other statewide financing solutions for energy efficiency upgrades.

We thought it would be helpful to highlight some of the key takeaways:

The Funding Gap is Large – Jeanne Clinton of the CPUC used charts to show that the annual need for energy efficiency upgrades in California exceeds $10 billion but that current ratepayer spending was about $1 billion. In this economic environment, it is unlikely that ratepayers or taxpayers will make up the difference. EDF believes that addressing this gap will require active engagement from a wide variety of investors ranging from large banks to local institutions. Additionally, demand generation must come from a variety of sources ranging from the largest contractors and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), home improvement retailers and appliance retailers down to the smallest contractors. Fortunately, the workshops drew participants from all of these groups. Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Citi, Trane and SolarCity were among the attendees, each of which committed multiple person-days to the proceedings.

Setting a Goal – Cisco Devries of Renewable Funding identified the auto loan market might provide some attractive benchmarks for energy efficiency lending offerings.. Auto loans are offered by a number of financial institutions, are usually originated seamlessly in the dealer’s office and are currently available at a rate of 3.7% for five-year loans. Cisco said that much of the low cost is driven by standardization and the ability of banks to finance large pools of loans in the capital markets. EDF, however, hopes that an OBR program would offer better consumer protections than the auto loan market.

Publically Funded Credit Enhancements are a Good First Step – Christine Solich of the California Treasurer’s office and Angie Hacker of Santa Barbara each discussed how they have been able to entice local credit unions to participate in energy efficiency lending programs through loan loss reserves ranging from 5-15%. Alfred Griffin of Citi explained that banks would either need a much larger reserve (possibly more than 30%) or 10+ years of loan performance data in order to satisfy the needs of rating agencies and institutional investors. On the other hand, Alfred said that the California OBR proposal would likely provide sufficient data because it uses utility bill payment records that go back for decades..This opportunity, however, would not be available for an OBR program that did not use all of a utility’s standard collection procedures for delinquent payments.

OBR can Work – The utilities raised numerous legal concerns while consumer advocates questioned whether residential customers would be adequately protected. Proponents of the OBR program heard these concerns and can only support it if it doesn’t expose utilities to significant increased liability or provide adequate consumer protection. Fortunately, Jeff Pitkin of New York discussed how his state has managed to overcome these obstacles to establish an OBR program. From the perspective of the utilities and residential customers, the New York OBR program is virtually identical to the California proposal and we are hopeful that we can incorporate many of their best practices to address these problems. (The California OBR proposal differs from New York in that it is initially open to a broad range of lenders and investors and has a much broader range of projects, financing structures and building types.)

I had the opportunity to spend time with representatives from most of the key constituencies and believe that there is genuine interest in working together to provide a low-cost financing solution for Californians.

EDF is excited that large statewide contractors such as Trane and SolarCity were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to attend. These firms will need flexible, statewide solutions from leading financial institutions to finance their customers’ projects. We believe that an OBR program that fully benefits from utility bill collection policies will be able to meet their needs, increase investment in energy efficiency and create jobs for Californians.

Posted in California, Energy Efficiency, On-bill repayment / Tagged OBR | Comments are closed

A Texas Coalition for Water, Energy and Economic Security Briefing: The Drought Threatens Texas’ Power

By Kate Zerrenner / Published: February 13, 2012

(Source: www.businessinsider.com)

This commentary was originally posted on the Texas Clean Air Matters Blog.

On Thursday, February 2, the Texas Coalition for Water, Energy and Economic Security (TCWEES), which includes Environmental Defense Fund and other stakeholders in the environmental and business community, held a legislative briefing discussing the impact that the drought could have on power in Texas. This is the first of a series of TCWEES-hosted, educational events focused on energy efficiency that will be held around the state during the legislative interim.

The speakers at the briefing included:

Dr. John Nielson-Gammon, Texas State Climatologist and Regents Professor of Atmospheric Science at Texas A&M University
Dr. Carey King, Research Associate at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the Bureau of Economic Geology at University of Texas at Austin
Mark Armentrout, President and CEO of Texas Technology Partners; former chair of ERCOT
Cris Eugster, EVP and Chief Sustainability Officer for CPS Energy (San Antonio)
Kevin Tuerff, Principal and President of EnviroMedia

In 2011, Texas experienced record heat and drought and the electric grid was stressed as a result. Though the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) took a proactive approach to dealing with the crisis, the potential still remains for economic loss caused by electric generation outages related to heat and drought. The drought is predicted to continue and action is needed to protect Texas’ power and economic viability. Given that it can provide the same amount of service while using less electricity, energy efficiency should be a significant part of the solution. Energy efficiency reduces waste, electric bills, emissions and water use needed for electric generation.

During the briefing, Dr. John Nielson-Gammon brought up the recent rain in Texas. He said that while the rain is great for taking people’s mind off the drought, it is not useful for setting us up for the summer of 2012 because it’s too little too late for our current situation. He added that climate change is an important enough factor in the drought that it must be considered in long-term water planning.

(Source: www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu)

Texas State Representative Donna Howard was in attendance and she posed a question about better coordination between state agencies. Though there is some coordination, there is no actual coordinated plan among and between state agencies to be thoughtful about planning for Texas’ future water and energy needs. Dr. Carey King pointed out that both the Texas Water and Development Board and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality work on water issues, but it isn’t clear how power plants fit into water priorities. He stated that we don’t have an answer and that we need a better understanding of the breadth and depth of water issues.

The key takeaways from this briefing are that water and power are inextricably linked and the stress that the drought has had, and will continue to have, on our ecosystems and electric systems is a serious concern. This is not something that will go away as the climate will continue to change. Cleaner energy sources and greater energy efficiency will cut carbon pollution and help stabilize the climate, protecting our land, water, air and health. We need to find solutions now.

Posted in Climate, Energy-Water Nexus, Texas / Comments are closed

Mixed Bag Out Of Pennsylvania On Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Disclosure

By Matt Watson / Published: February 9, 2012

Last night the Pennsylvania (PA) General Assembly passed legislation on fracturing fluid chemical disclosure that, on the whole, isn’t half bad – particularly considering where they started. Unfortunately, the bill contains a major flaw that prevents us from being able to hold it up as a model for other states to follow. Still, there’s quite a bit to be liked. More on that below.

I should also point out that the disclosure legislation was part of a much larger bill that addresses a broad range of issue related to shale gas development in PA. The overall bill has been the target of quite a bit of criticism from local environmental groups – particularly for eliminating much of the discretion of local jurisdictions to manage and plan for oil and gas activities within their borders. We didn’t work on those provisions, so I’ll leave it to those who did to offer up their assessments and, for now, just give a run-down on the disclosure piece.

As originally drafted, the disclosure provisions in this bill were, quite frankly, useless. All they would have done is codify current rules at the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Under those rules, companies only reveal the chemicals that have to get reported on material safety data sheets – which leaves out maybe half the chemicals used in fracturing fluids. And there was no requirement for posting disclosures on an easily accessible website for the public to see. That kind of regime comes nowhere close to what EDF calls “disclosure,” and it’s way behind the times in terms of where the national conversation is today. So, EDF teamed up with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council to improve the draft.

The Good

The first thing to understand is that PA will require two kinds of reporting. Operators will disclose chemical information on the well completion reports they turn in to the DEP after drilling, fracturing and beginning production on a well. And then, certain operators will be required to also post their disclosures on Frac Focus, the disclosure website run by the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.

As for the well completion reporting requirements, they’re quite good. Operators will have to disclose all the chemicals they use, along with chemical concentrations. They’ll also disclose the trade-name additives they use and the purposes they serve. Taking it a step further than what other states have done, PA will also require operators to report their water sources and how much recycled wastewater they use in hydraulic fracturing treatments – an important step forward in disclosure requirements.

As with every other state disclosure rule, PA will allow operators to claim trade secret protections to keep certain chemical identities confidential. These claims will be governed by PA’s “Right to Know” law, which means PA will be on the leading edge of how states are currently dealing with trade secrets in fracturing chemical disclosure rules. Companies will be required to actually submit their trade secret information to the DEP (instead of completely withholding it, as some states allow). Citizens will have broad standing to challenge trade secret claims at the PA Office of Open Records; and when there are challenges, the burden will be on the DEP and operators to prove why a trade secret claim is legitimate. We’re aware that some in industry repeatedly tried to gut the Right to Know provisions in the bill, and credit is due to Governor Corbett’s office for fending off those attacks.

As we’ve mentioned before, we support the recommendation of the DOE Secretary of Energy Advisory Board that “the barrier to shield chemicals based on trade secrets should be set very high.”

Finally, the PA bill gives added emphasis to the need for making information available in formats that are useful and user friendly. Mirroring the language that was pioneered in the Colorado rule, PA is now the second state to call for improving the search functions on Frac Focus.

The Bad (and Ugly)

Unfortunately, the bill took a major wrong turn on one key point. While operators of all oil and gas wells will be required to disclose chemical information on their well completion reports, only operators of “unconventional” wells will be required to post their disclosures on Frac Focus. The bill defines unconventional wells as those that are drilled and fractured below the Elk Sandstone formation in PA. We’re not sure yet how many wells this will leave out, but it’s a fair guess it will be a lot. So, we’re really only getting partial public disclosure here.

That’s a shame. Public concern about fracturing chemicals doesn’t have anything to do with geologic stratigraphy. Spills, bad casing and cementing jobs, loss of well control and failures in waste containment facilities can happen regardless of the depth of your target formation. The potential pathways for contamination are there for all wells (and arguably, they’re even higher for shallower wells). So, there’s no rational reason why all wells shouldn’t be required to post their disclosures on Frac Focus.

PA is the only state that’s made this bizarre differentiation between conventional and unconventional wells. We’ll be looking to fix that problem in the future. And in the meantime, we’ll be working overtime to make sure no other state repeats this mistake.

Posted in Natural Gas / Tagged fracking, Hydraulic Fracturing | Read 1 Response