Energy Exchange

Is 15% of the Global Clean Energy Market Good Enough?

By Paul Stinson / Published: May 12, 2015

How does 15 percent measure up?https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/7556615906/

If you’re talking about a baseball batting average, 15 percent puts you on the first fast and joyless train to Mudville. If you’re talking about return on savings with today’s interest rates, 15 percent has you laughing all the way to the bank.

If, however, you’re talking about America’s share of a $1.3 trillion global clean energy market, as Advanced Energy Economy recently reported, that 15-percent figure, while not too shabby, merits further consideration about how we got here – and where we should be heading.

Advanced energy market grew a whopping 14% 

Sure, the “advanced energy market” is a broad term, but that’s because it’s a broad market.

Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Clean Power Plan / Read 2 Responses

What Tesla’s Powerwall Home Energy Storage Battery Means for Texas

By Marita Mirzatuny / Published: May 11, 2015
Source: flickr/genphys

Source: flickr/genphys

There is enough solar energy potential in Texas to power the world twice over. Yet currently we rank 10th in the nation (behind New Jersey) with 330 megawatts (MW), which is enough to power about 57,000 homes. Texas is a state of almost nine million households. That’s a lot of rooftops, and when you add the number of commercial and industrial rooftops, parking lots, and garages, we are talking about a significant amount of surface area.

Meanwhile, the cost of solar panels has dropped 80 percent since 2008 and prices for rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems have declined markedly in recent years, dropping 29 percent from 2010 to 2013. Moreover, jobs in the solar industry are booming –SolarCity is hiring significantly more people than leading tech companies like Twitter.

So, what will it take to energize rooftop solar growth in Texas? Well, a recent announcement from one of Texas’ “frenemies” may be part of the solution. Read More »

Posted in Grid Modernization, Texas / Tagged , | Read 4 Responses

Bank of America Votes for Renewables with Its Very Large Wallet

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 11, 2015

By: Tom Murray, Vice President, Corporate Partnerships Program

boaA company’s public statements matter – they can influence consumer choice, sway public policy decisions, and demonstrate leadership on important issues. But in terms of actual change, it’s where a company puts its money that really matters. This week, Bank of America (BoA) spoke with both its voice and wallet: At its shareholder meeting last week, the bank announced a new coal policy that continues the company’s commitment to reducing its exposure to coal extraction companies and accelerating the transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy.

According to BoA, its portfolio has grown to favor renewable energy over coal by a ratio of more than three-to-one. That’s an important step forward toward a clean, low-carbon energy future. And, it’s one that builds on moves by other institutions, like the recent news from Goldman Sachs about how the company is looking to divest some of its mining interests and Citi’s recent 10-year, $100-billion commitment toward investments in areas like energy efficiency, renewable energy, green affordable housing, and climate change resiliency projects. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Financing / Comments are closed

So You Want an EV? We’re Helping to Figure Out How to Make it Happen

By Larissa Koehler / Published: May 8, 2015

Ride_and_Drive_EVs_Plug'n_Drive_OntarioYou may have noticed:  we’re big fans of electric vehicles (EVs) here at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Standard transportation fuels are one of the biggest sources of harmful greenhouse gas emissions, so vehicle electrification is a crucial part of our clean energy future. But getting more EVs on the road is about more than just giving customers incentives to buy these types of vehicles. We also need to deal with where and how we charge EVs.

From April 27th to May 4th, EDF was engaged in evidentiary hearings at the California Public Utilities Commission that dealt with San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) new electric vehicle pilot. Representatives from EDF, the Utility Consumers’ Advocacy Network, the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, SDG&E, Pacific Gas & Electric, ChargePoint, KnGrid, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Green Power Institute, were all putting their best foot forward at the hearings. While there were sadly no Perry Mason moments (aside from an unsilenced cell phone playing the theme song in the middle of the hearings), I did try my hand at challenging witnesses on some key points through cross-examination for the first time. More importantly, the six-day-long process allowed Jamie Fine to shine as an expert witness and raise a number of matters of high priority to EDF.  Read More »

Posted in California, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Electricity Pricing, State / Comments are closed

FracFocus Enters the Era of Big Data

By Adam Peltz / Published: May 7, 2015

6914441342_605f947885_zThe identity of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid has been a key policy issue since the beginning of the shale revolution a decade ago.  Now, that chemical information just became publicly available in a whole new way.

Today, FracFocus, the nationwide state-run hydraulic fracturing chemical registry database, made its chemical data publicly available as a raw data download – bringing FracFocus into the modern era of Big Data where large information sets can be analyzed for actionable patterns and trends.

In the past, data about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing were obtainable only on a well-by-well basis and only in PDF format. With nearly 100,000 wells registered with the FracFocus program, this made collecting and analyzing broad chemical information a nearly impossible task for researchers and the public. Read More »

Posted in Natural Gas / Read 3 Responses

Kentucky Adopts Innovative PACE Clean Energy Financing Tool

By Guest Author / Published: May 7, 2015

By: Jeremy Faust, Strategic Business Development Director, Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance

kentuckyIn a surprising show of bi-partisanship, lawmakers in one of the nation’s more conservative states came together last month to approve a major victory for clean energy.

Kentucky became the latest state in the country to approve PACE (Property-Assessed Clean Energy), an innovative financing tool that allows cities to use their property taxes as a way to finance clean energy upgrades to buildings.

PACE’s unique structure and benefits have helped spur the proliferation of PACE programs around the county. As a result, the market for PACE financing is estimated to rise above $1 billion this year.

Kentucky has authorized businesses and other commercial property owners in the state to apply for PACE financing, which can be used for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water efficiency improvements to their buildings. The victory comes after a two-year legislative effort led by the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance and the Kentucky Energy Project Assessment Districts (EPAD) Council. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Financing / Tagged | Read 2 Responses