NDN Blog

Daniel Yergin, arguably the most prominent oil expert in the world, points out in his Wall Street Journal piece that foreign oil now only meets 45% of domestic consumption in the United States, down from 60% in 2005. 

Republicans have breathed life into the Keystone XL Pipeline by attaching the Keystone Pipeline as a rider to the Payroll tax Bill.  In doing so, the Republicans have successfully made the Keystone Pipeline into a major 2012 election issue

Solar Parity is here today.  Solar material prices are down, financing is more accessible and technology haas extended the life of  solar panel. The result is that the price of solar energy generated electricity is now competitive in many regions with conventional sources. 

House Republicans on Tuesday defied a White House veto threat to pass a version of a payroll tax cut extension that includes language demanding a quick decision on the Keystone XL pipeline and blocking EPA's boiler MACT. The measure passed 234 to 193, with 10 Democrats supporting the bill and 14 Republicans voting against it. 

Today the Senate Finance Subcommtittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure is holding a hearing on "Alternative Energy Tax Incentives" The renewable energy community has put out a study from Navigant Consulting, which found that next year there will be 78,000 jobs supported by wind, but that this would fall to 41,000 in 2013 without an extension of the tax credit, which is 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has instituted a new energy systems integration facility (ESIF) currently underconstruction to take on the challenge of helping utilities keep the grid functioning as our national grid infrasturcture is challenged by integration of new generation technologies such as wind and solar power and smart meters are rolled out across the nation.

According to the recent MIT study, while the grid is not in any imminent danger, the current regulatory framework, largely established in the 1930s is not capable of giving the country the grid of the future to support new technologies and consumer services for a strong and competitive U.S. economy.  MIT recommends a series of changes in the regulatory environment designed to facilitate and exploit technological innovation which should  include federal authority over decisions on the routing of new interstate transmission lines.

Republicans leaders in the House of Representatives are looking to use year-end legislation to extend the payroll tax cut to advance their energy tax policy.  Legislation was rolled out Friday to extend the tax holiday and unemployment insurance, but would also force the State Department to make a final decision on Keystone XL within 60 days. The measure also includes language blocking EPA's boiler MACT rule that would clamp down on mercury, lead and soot emissions.

Paralysis on any energy legislation rules the day in 112th Congress.   The Republicans say the Democrats haven't allowed votes on their bills, but the Democrats say that the Republicans' legislation is too ideologically partisan and not based in compromise

David Roberts of Grist makes a compellingcase for full frontal press behalf of climate change.

While renewable energy advocates have long argued that government subsidies for the sector are dwarfed by those for more traditional energy industries, they have had a more poignant complaint since the onset of the recession: one of the subsidies they do get, an investment tax credit, has been rendered nearly useless by the general business downturn.  At issue is a complicated provision of the tax code called Section 1603, which is actually a modification of an earlier subsidy program.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released the country's first set of test procedures to optimize how electric vehicles connect to the smart grid.
 
The technical report includes ways to evaluate the potential for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) connections, whereby power flows both ways, from grid to vehicle batteries and from batteries to grid. The test procedures evaluate EVs to determine their ability to connect and disconnect and to store and provide power to the grid, according to a NREL press release.

Natural Gas will soon replace coal as our nation's leading electricity generator by 2025, according to a long-term outlook from Exxon Mobil Corp.

If you say 20,000 jobs often enough – does that make it true?  No, it doesn’t.  The "20,000 jobs" came from a study funded by TransCanada, the company building the pipeline. The original State Department review, however, found that the actual number would be more like 5,000 annnnnd most of these jobs will be temporary.  Which makes the number 20,000 untrue and unfair – given the reality of unemployed people in our country.  But that won’t stop the Chamber of Commerce and some Republicans for repeatedly using that number, even if it means by their own admission that his includes ‘modern dancers choreographers and dancers who would move to the high plains area to reap the benefits of this economic boon' As might be expected, the Administration's money for the burgeoning electric vehicle industry has experienced some bumps in the road particularly in the area of batteries and battery storage.

UN Chief General Ban Ki-moon, as he opened the final ministerial stage of the two-week conference, stated that an all-encompassing climate deal "may be beyond our reach for now," as China and India delivered a setback to European plans to negotiate a new treaty that would bind all parties to their pledges on greenhouse gas emissions.  Political differences, the worldwide financial crisis and a divergence of priorities among rich and poor countries are barriers to an agreement on a future negotiating path, Ban said. But he urged nations to resolve lesser issues.  "We must keep up the momentum," he said. "It would be difficult to overstate the gravity of this moment. Without exaggeration, we can say the future of our planet is at stake." 

However, leaders in the United States are not so pessimistic.  According to Politico Morning Energy, Senator John Kerry wants to help lead a Senate effort to come up with bipartisan energy proposals that can find their way through the legislative gridlock next year. Kerry and Barbara Boxer have restarted weekly Tuesday gatherings of a group of fellow Democrats that they had led during the cap-and-trade talks.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released an analysis of the impacts of a Federal clean energy standard (CES).  The analysis was requested by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Sen. Bingaman has said that the analysis will inform the development of legislation he plans to introduce in 2012 to establish a Federal CES, which would require electric utilities to demonstrate that a minimum percentage of sales derive from certain clean energy sources.

Members of the MIT study team presented the results of a new study on the Future of the Electric Grid yesterday. This report aims to provide a comprehensive, objective portrait of the U.S. electric grid and the challenges and opportunities it is likely to face over the next two decades. The report says the U.S. electric grid will face unprecedented technological challenges stemming from the growth of distributed and intermittent new energy sources such as solar and wind power, as well as an expected influx of electric and hybrid vehicles that require frequent recharging. But as long as some specific policy changes are made, the report says the grid is most likely up to the challenge.

The Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Energy, will be holding a hearing next Wednesday to look into energy tax extenders.  The hearing will actually be on expiring and short-term energy tax incentives.  The focus will be on how the start and stop nature of such incentives affect deployment, jobs, manufacturing, etc.  Witnesses are still being determined, but will likely include investor, manufacturer, and academic perspectives.  Two likely witnesses will be the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and someone from a renewable biodiesel firm from Texas (probably at request of the Ranking Subcommittee Member Senator Cornyn)

A coalition of wind energy companies and renewable advocacy organizations (including the American Wind Energy Association) are launching a new website today intended to push Congress to extend the production tax credit - which is set to expire in 2012 - for four years. Uncertainty over the credit's extension is making companies hesitant to put up turbines and is costing jobs, the groups say.

The Obama Administration's 'political' decision to postpone a decision of the Keystone Pipeline until 2012 did not score popularity points with with either industry or environmentalists and, it appears, the Canadian government.  In a statement, the Candadian government said 'We either participate in the markets when the opportunities present themselves or we see other bidders fill the void and take the resources'.  There are some who say U.S.equivication could lead to a deal between China and Canada.

Solyndra is being investigated by Congress, and Republicans have criticized President Obama and his administration for granting a $528 million loan to the company in 2009, only to see the company go bankrupt two years later. Presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney has been among the critics, saying the company was recklessly spending money that belonged to taxpayers.  However, it appears that one of Romney's close advisors, Ron Kaufman, worked for two firms that advised and counseled the now bankrupt Solyndra.

Even if all of the public private sector initiatives succeeded in putting a million electric vehicles on the road – only 0.3% of the population would have a registered electric vehicle. With the distribution of vehicles and the varying charge times, the impact on the electric grid is anticipated to be minimal. A study by EPRI with the National Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) shows that even if people plug in their cars as soon as they arrive home, the load of vehicle charging is relatively well distributed.

Bad news for the electric power grid is usually good news for the fuel-cell industry. Thanks to a series of severe storms that clobbered electric-power grids in New York and Connecticut recently, the fuel-cell industry appears poised for a modest to massive growth spurt.

With global climate talks set to begin next week, China on Tuesday issued the most comprehensive document yet on its plans and negotiating positions on emissions.

Lisa Jackson advocated state-led environmental controls for fracking on "The Rachel Maddow Show" Monday night, saying there need to be transparent standards, but no need to micromanage.