Crist gets solar energy award

This morning a group of national and local solar energy advocates gathered in Tallahassee to honor Florida's Governor Charlie Crist for his success in advancing solar energy in the Sunshine State.

The national "Golden Meter Award" is given each year to the policy leaders that advance a type of policy called net metering that gives solar energy system owners credit for the renewable energy they deliver to the electricity grid. (see press release)

In less than one year, solar advocates say Florida went from a lackluster net metering program to one of the best in the nation.
The award was presented by the Network for New Energy Choices, the Solar Alliance, the Vote Solar Initiative, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association.

New energy bill sets tough renewable 25 by '25 goal

A new energy bill published today sets tough goals to fight global warming with new clean energy technology.

The 648-page bill presented by the Energy & Commerce Committee is the first move by this Congress to enact comprehensive energy and climate legislation. It is being welcomed by environmental groups, but it will likely face an uphill battle in Congress.

"This is a pragmatic bill that tries to balance a historic opportunity to unleash clean energy to rebuild our economy and stop the climate crisis, with the diversity of views on the Energy & Commerce Committee,” said Environment Florida Advocate Adam Rivera.

The bill includes a requirement that 25 percent of future electricity be supplied from renewable sources, such as wind and solar power, by 2025. It also requires the United States to reduce its global warming emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Get $5,000 for trading in a gas guzzler

President Barack Obama is putting his support behind legislation to provide cash to buyers of new fuel-efficient cars if they trade in a gas guzzler. It has been dubbed the "cash for clunker" program.
This comes on top of a provision in the economic stimulus bill adopted in February, which provided a tax incentive for the purchase of new cars.

Similar incentive programs overseas have lifted automobile sales, The New York Times reports. In Germany, an offer of about $3,290 for trade-ins helped to increase February car sales there by 21.5 percent from a year earlier, a 10-year high, according to the German Association of the Automotive Industry.

A bill in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Rep. Betty Sutton of Ohio, would give those trading in a pre-2001 model a $5,000 voucher that could be used to buy a new car that was assembled in the United States and has a fuel efficiency rating of 30 miles per gallon. A car rated at 27 mpg would be worth a $4,000 voucher.

In other car news, GM and Ford have announced schemes to guarantee new-car payments for buyers who lose their jobs. GM would make up to nine car repayments of $500 each for customers who lost their jobs (see details here), while Ford also said that it would make repayments for newly unemployed customers of up to $700 for a year. The deal applies to Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles.
Hyundai was the first to launch this idea in January by allowing customers to return their cars if they lost their jobs within a year of purchasing a vehicle.

David Adams, Times Staff Writer

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Obama to host global climate change summit in DC in late April, bringing new US leadership to post-Kyoto debate

President Obama is planning to hold a climate change summit next month as he seeks to forge new US leadership on building a global consensus on greenhouse gas emissions.

Obama has invited figures from the world's 16 major economies to Washington for the meeting to be held April 27-28. The event will be the first meeting of what the White House styles "the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate". It will focus on increasing the supply of clean energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the White House said.

The meeting is designed to "help generate the political leadership necessary to achieve a successful outcome at the UN climate change negotiations that will convene this December in Copenhagen", a White House press release said.

The new agreement would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, that set targets for industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

- David Adams, Times staff writer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7970274.stm

Ford hybrid tax credit slashed in half -- the price of success

A few years ago, to encourage Americans to buy more fuel-efficent, low-emission vehicles, Congress approved giving a nice tax credit to anyone who bought a hybrid vehicle.

Ford has done particularly well at selling its hybrids -- a little too well, in fact. So if you want the very fuel-efficient 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid or 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid AND the full credit of $3,400 on your taxes, you've got to buy one by March 31.

After that, the credit is slashed in half.

According to the IRS, Ford has sold 66,000 of its hybrids -- mostly the less efficient Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs -- while GM has sold half that. The law that created the tax credit presumes that any carmaker selling more than 60,000 hybrids no longer needs a tax credit to persuade buyers to purchase one.

Since Ford hit that mark in the last quarter, the credit will now begin being phased out, just as the Fusion is due to hit the market.

"After March 31, the tax credits will drop from $3,400 to $1,700," the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported. "In the fourth quarter of 2009, it will drop an additional 25 percent, and there will be no tax credit after March 31, 2010."

But the problem with the phase-out, notes the Los Angeles Times, "is that these miraculous testaments to American ingenuity aren't due to hit dealership lots until right around the time that tax credit expires, March 31, or perhaps slightly after that date. That means that environmentally conscious consumers, tempted by the sharp looks and gas-sipping ways of the new mid-sized sedans, will find themselves in the frustrating position of reaching out for that $3,400 tax credit, only to find that it's dropped to $1,700. Hocus-pocus."

[2010 Ford Fusion from Ford website]

--Craig Pittman

Geo-thermal pumps - a natural solution to cut your home cooling/heating bills

Could geo-thermal pumps be the new way to cool or heat your home? It's a solution right there under our feet, and it's simple and free, after the installation costs.

"By some estimates, home­owners can cut their heating and cooling bills by 50 percent or more. The technology has been around for decades but has only recently begun to gain traction," according to this article in the St Pete Times today by Asjylyn Loder.

The way the system works is similar to an air-conditioner, except it exploits underground temperature (cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter) to as a natural mechanism to heat and cool.
Companies have begun installing these systems around the country, with incentives for consumers. The Obama administration recently included in its stimulus plan passed by Congress a homeowners tax credit that covers 30 per cent of the cost of installation of a system.

- David Adams, Times staff writer.

Earth Hour tonight at 8.30pm reaches around the globe.

Lights go out around the world today to mark Earth Hour at 8.30pm.

This years' event is being described as the biggest climate change protest ever attempted.
Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia two years ago, and has since grown rapidly and green activists have signed on.
The goal this year is to create public pressure prior to a major international climate change meeting in Copenhagen, part of the global talks to create a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Locations taking part this time include Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, the Las Vegas strip and the Pyramids in Egypt. MacDonald's has also pledged to dim its "golden arches" at 500 locations.

Monitor the lights going out here on the BBC. Or visit earthhourus.com. There is also a YouTube site where you can post your own videos.

- David Adams, Times staff writer.

Wind-powered vehicle breaks land speed record

A British engineer has broken the world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle, the BBC reports.
Richard Jenkins reached 126.1mph in his Greenbird car on the dry plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada.
The Greenbird is a carbon fibre composite vehicle that uses wind for power. The only metalwork used is for the wing bearings and the wheel unit.

- David Adams, Times staff writer

Tesla unveils the Model S sedan with 300-mile battery pack

Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker, has launched its first sedan, the Model S.

The company hopes to begin selling the Model S in the fall of 2011, starting price of $49,900, with different sized battery packs varying from 160 to 300 mile-range. Until now the company produces only a sports car, the $109,000 Tesla Roadster.
The Model S, which looks a bit like a Jaguar or Maserati, seats up to seven people with folding side-facing rear seats.

Media coverage link here.

- David Adams, Times staff writer.

Renewable energy lobby pushes back on renewable requirements

The renewable energy lobby -- including environmentalists, energy companies and even farmers -- today called on Florida legislators to pass a strong renewable energy requirement.

Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007 proposed that utilities produce 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, a goal state regulators have so far supported. The utility industry has pushed hard to include nuclear power in the requirements, to the dismay of environmentalists and renewable energy advocates. One bill has already been introduced that would include nuclear.

The group wrote, "Let’s not accept the notion being advanced by utility lobbyists that nuclear reactors should be an eligible resource to meet the 20 percent renewable energy goal. To do so would divert investment away from renewable resources..."

The renewable energy has made strange bedfellows of one-time opponents. Environmental groups like Audubon of Florida and the Environmental Defense Fund signed on to the letter, along with Florida Crystals, waste-to-energy companies Covanta and Wheelabrator, and the Florida Farm Bureau Federation.

Asjylyn Loder, Times Staff Writer

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