Clean Energy Initiative

Clean Energy Update:

Potential Trade War over Solar Power Industry Brews at the Department of Commerce

The Obama Administration finds itself caught between abundant cheap solar manufactured in China and strong resistance from U.S Solar manufacturers.  Environmentalists are playing a key Middle Role.  In the past few years,  imports from Chinese solar manufacturers has morphed to one half of the US solar market leading seven American Solar Manufacturers to file a petition with the Department of Commerce asking for an Administrative investigation into the Chinese trade practices.  

Rerouting of XL Keystone Pipeline past Environmentally Sensitive Areas Could Take Hotbutton Issue off the 2012 Political Landscape

The Obama Administration finds itself caught in the middle between two important constituences on the XL Pipeline Issue.  Business and labor joined together in favor of the pipeline stressing the importance more jobs.  Meanwhile, the environmental communicy has mounted a full scale campaign against the pipeline stating the severe effects of the pipeline  on our ecosystem.   Thousands of protesters gathered around the White House this weekend to protest the building of this pipeline.  If the State Department does reroute the pipeline, this would require new environmental reviews, effectively delaying this issue past the 2012 election season, and taking this hotly charged issue off the political table.

International Energy Agency Urges Clean Technology 

A new study by International Energy Agency (IEA) states the Key to Climate Change is High Efficiency Technology.  The International Energy Agency issued a new study that says unless countries quickly shift toward high-efficiency technology and low-carbon energy sources, the infrastructure being built worldwide in the next five years will make it impossible to check climate change to safe levels.  

You could have heard a pin drop as Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-21) made his presentation, “Federal government and the clean energy economy – Carpe diem” to a special luncheon presentation of our New York Clean Energy Forum this past Monday.  In spite of the fact that, as we all know, Congress will act proactively for any energy legislation, the Congressman made a compelling case for Congress to act swiftly and decisively to craft an energy plan. 

An engineer, Congressman Tonko is well suited in his role as a member of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee.  The Science and Technology Committee play a pivotal role in energy issues due to their appropriating role with regard to energy research and development.  Many an energy innovation got its start with R&D funding that came through the House Science and Technology Committee. 

Tonko made a proactive case for more distributed generation throughout our country.  He pointed out the attributes of off-grid energy both in terms of saving the consumer money but also in terms of long term energy efficiency.  Smart Grid/Smart Energy projects should continue to be funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, Tonko stated, as they will ultimately engage the consumer with their energy use and resulting energy efficiency. He made a case for the Infrastructure Bank Bill, legislation that would use $10 billion to leverage $100 billion for communication upgrade and smart energy.

Rep Paul Tonko to Discuss Urgency of Clean Energy Economy at NYC Energy Forum

Invite: Monday, October 24, 2011 at 12:00Noon  The New York Clean Energy Forum will host Congressman Paul Tonko. This luncheon event will be held in the Slocum Room at the Harvard Club 35 W 44th Street New York.

Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-12) is a highly respected and well known leader in the energy and environmental community both in New York and nationally.  His luncheon address, “Federal Government and the Clean Energy Economy – Carpe diem” will address our pressing need for an national energy blueprint.  

Congressman Tonko is a nationally recognized expert on energy and environmental issues in the House of Representatives.  An engineer by training, he served as Chair of the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Energy before he was appointed as President and CEO of NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) While at NYSERDA, Tonko earned a reputation for his work to advance an aggressive green agenda for businesses and residents throughout New York State.

 His extensive energy background and his commitment to the environment have made him a rising star on the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee. 

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Combining his considerable expertise in finance, science, technology and layering it with today’s political realities, Jack Hidary gave an excellent presentation to our New York Clean Energy Forum this morning.  His speech, entitled The Gamechanger:  China’s Unstoppable Clean Energy Exports, centers on the fact that China makes a rigorous and massive business plan every five years.  That plan, coupled with the enormity of China’s population, landmass, and financial resources, puts a footprint on every country and every major business in this global economy.  Ignore this five year plan at your peril.

According to Jack, clean energy is front and central to China’s economic plans.  “Do not underestimate the Chinese speed and alacrity in this area”, he points out, “we tend to think in a linear fashion, China thinks exponentially. At this point, our economy is unprepared for China’s exponential dynamic.”  The plan includes targeting Solar, LED light bulbs, Electric Vehicles, and Batteries.  Electric Vehicles are a huge initiative for China and their plan is to develop batteries at 60 kW capacities in the next six months.  Using their considerable resources, China intends to take solar, currently at $1.20 kw, to $.50 kw within the year. Amazing.

As Jack points out, this could very well be an economic boom for the United States.  China is taking a page of Japan’s automobile industry playbook.  Following in the footsteps of Honda and Toyota, who have automobile manufacturing plants throughout the USA, four Chinese solar companies are building plants in the USA this year alone -with plans for more in the future.   This makes for the initial creation of construction jobs in our country, especially building trades which is where our economy has lost the most jobs.  In addition, installation jobs, which unlike manufacturing jobs cannot be outsourced, will grow to accommodate these investments in clean energy and could be a massive job creation for the USA. 

Already, Hidary demonstrates, there are at a minimum 100,000 jobs in wind and solar manufacturing and installation today.  This 100,000 is compared to the 87,800 jobs in the coal industry which provides a majority of our electricity today.  Think of the opportunities for the future.

A critical factor states Hidary, is for political and industry leaders of our country to sit down with China and work together to see how we can leverage this technological potential between China and the USA.  Currently there is no economic policy to encourage collaboration in this area. 

This October our New York Clean Energy Forum with Michael Moynihan will host two very important leaders who have made a significant impact in the energy and environmental community.

The first event, October 4, will be with noted environmental leader Jack Hidary who will speak on:  The Gamechanger:  China’s Unstoppable Clean Energy Exports.

Jack is a long time friend of NDN/New Policy Institute.  He built his career as an entrepreneur in finance and technology and is currently building companies in the clean technology sector.  In 1995, Jack co-founded and served as CEO of EarthWeb/Dice and completed a record breaking IPO and secondary for a total raise of over $150 million. Dice is the leading IT job board today and is listed on the NYSE as DHX.

Hidary is the founder and Chairman of Samba Energy, the leading marketplace for commercial solar projects and financing.  Samba’s marketplace has driven down the cost of commercial solar and  increased the return on investment for companies using the market for their solar programs.  In 2001 Jack founded the Hidary Foundation to catalyze scalable, self-sustaining programs in clean energy and economic development.  The event will be in the President's Room of the Harvard Club, 35 W 44th Street, New York, NY.

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Later in October, I am so pleased to have Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-12) deliver a luncheon address on October 24 in the Slocum Room of the Harvard Club.  Anyone involved in utility issues in the state of New York know that Congressman Tonko (NY-12) is a leading expert on energy and environmental issues in the House of Representatives.  His background as CEO of NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) and Chair of the Energy Committee in the NY Assembly have made him a rising star on the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Science Committee. This event will be in the Slocum Room of the Harvard Club, 35 W 44th Street, New York, NY.

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Our panel today, The Economic Ramifications of Wind Energy and the Relevance of Tax Credits, was hugely successful.  Our panelists did a magnificent job of presenting the case for investment of wind energy in spite of the current political climate. 

Markian Melnyk, our renewable rock star, did not disappoint. He gave a compelling case for offshore wind technology.  After hearing his presentation, I have no doubt of the viability and future success of Atlantic Wind Connection.  An overall investment of $30 billion dollars in offshore wind technology will yield electrical benefits, congestion relief, reduce CO2 to taking 3 million cars off the road and job creation to 130,000 to 260,000 full time equivalent ears of employment.  Markian is not necessarily an advocate for Production Tax Credits and leans more toward the establishment of a Clean Energy Standard. 

Rob Gramlich outlined the spectacular success of the wind industry over the past 10years. Wind represents an astounding 35% of all new generation capacity and they are the second largest source of new installed capacity – after natural gas.  A nascent industry compared to traditional sources, wind garners 2.3% of U.S. electricity.  The wind industry has over 400 facilities in 43 states and the domestic content of wind is up 60% from 25% a short time ago.  Rob is an advocate of production tax credits and demonstrated how PTC helped boost the economy of wind energy.

Laura Haynes clearly presented the realities of wind energy and other renewable energy in the political climate of the 112th Congress.  She outlined Senator Carper’s legislation, Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act which provides the offshore wind industry with enhanced stabiltiy by extending investment tax credits for the first 3,000 MW of offshore wind facilities - an estimate of 600 wind turbines.

Our panel today is the fifth in our Clean Energy Solution Series to showcase the leaders, companies, ideas and policies who are hastening our transition to a cleaner, safer and more distributed energy paradigm of the 21st Century.

I am totally psyched about our panel tomorrow on the economic ramifications of wind energy, the footprint of the 112th Congress, and will tax credits survive the Supercommittee.  Response to this panel has been huge, so I suggest that you plan on getting to this event a little early to grab a seat.

The popularity of this event has a lot to do with the quality of our panelists:

Markian Melnyk is a superstar of new wind energy development.  He literally wrote the book on Offshore wind. Seriously, it’s called “Offshore Power” and you can find it on Amazon. He has an amazing ability to break down complicated issues into an easily accessible concepts. Markian took a sabbatical from his law firm to research and write the book. His research into the need for a backbone transmission line formed the basis for the Atlantic Wind Connection project.

Rob Gramlich has forgotten more about wind energy and transmission issues than most of us know.  He dreams in Energy Transmission.  To give you an example, he is the only non NDN staff person I know that is totally conversant with Michael Moynihan's paper Electricity 2.0.

Laura Haynes is one of those staffers who has “both sides of her Hill ticket punched” – i.e., she has worked in both the House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate.  As the Director for Energy and Environment for Senator Tom Carper, she is very knowlegable on offshore wind transmission.  This past July, Senator Carper introduced the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act which privides the offshore wind industry with enhanced stabiltiy by extending investment tax credits for the first 3,000 MW of offshore wind facilities - an estimate of 600 wind turbines.

Michael Moynihan, Director of our Clean Energy Initiative is a well know thought leader in the issue of the modernization of the Electric Grid System.

All in all this should be an excellent panel and I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Invite: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 8:30am.  The New York Clean Energy Forum will host noted environmental leader Jack Hidary to speak on:  The Gamechanger:  China’s Unstoppable Clean Energy Exports.  This event will be held at the Harvard Club 35 W 44th Street in the West Room I&II in New York, NY.

Jack is a long time friend of NDN/New Policy Institute.  He built his career as an entrepreneur in finance and technology and is currently building companies in the clean technology sector.  In 1995, Jack co-founded and served as CEO of EarthWeb/Dice and completed a record breaking IPO and secondary for a total raise of over $150 million. Dice is the leading IT job board today and is listed on the NYSE as DHX.

Hidary is the founder and Chairman of Samba Energy, the leading marketplace for commercial solar projects and financing.  Samba’s marketplace has driven down the cost of commercial solar and thus increased the return on investment for companies using the market for their solar programs.

In 2001 Jack founded the Hidary Foundation to catalyze scalable, self-sustaining programs in clean energy and economic development.  He serves on the advisory board of NREL and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Xprize.

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