SmartEnergyViews

Federal tax credits that cover up to 30% of the cost of installing solar electric systems for businesses and up to $2000 for residential installations are set to expire on December 31st.

According to the Sacramento Business Journal, companies in the industry are concerned about new business next year, and some are looking overseas. :

"Everybody’s making contingency plans," said Steve Kircher, chief executive officer of Solar Power Inc. in Roseville. "I think you’re going to see cutbacks and layoffs in the construction industry. We’re not out soliciting new business."

A bill to renew the credits is stalled in Congress.

According to survey by the Civil Society Institute (CSI) think tank and its Citizens Lead for Energy Action Now project, 75 percent of Americans support setting a national goal of declaring July 4, 2015 as "Energy Independence Day," a target date for ending our reliance on Middle Eastern and other foreign oil supplies. That number is up from 64% in a similar 2005 survey. 90% say energy and related issues will be important when they vote.

Here's a summary of the findings, and here's the complete survey (PDF format).

Pacific Business News reports that a new state law in Hawaii requires all new single-family homes built after Jan. 1, 2010 to have solar hot water heaters. Home sites that do not receive enough sunlight can use some other renewable energy source. Homes may also have gas-powered tankless "instant" water heaters as long as the home has one other gas appliance.

Solar hot water heaters are far less expensive than solar PV (photovoltaic) electric systems, and the payback period is much shorter. According to the DOE, water heating represents up to 17 percent of national residential energy consumption.

Fuel costs draining local governments, law enforcement agencies

The city has also purchased a hybrid Toyota Prius for Dothan Utilities’ Water Division supervisor to use.

Officers doing part to conserve gas

Urbana also has purchased three gas-saving hybrids, a Toyota Prius and two Ford Escapes, for parking enforcement.

N. Texas City Uses Hybrid Cars To Save Money

The Prius is one of six purchased for the city's housing department and officials said they are getting about 41 miles per gallon in the city. [..] Now the city may replace 250 other vehicles with hybrids.

Feeling pain at the pump, agencies downsize, scale back

[Clark Co. NV/Las Vegas] is trying to combat higher fuel prices by replacing its heavy Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis models with more fuel-thrifty cars such as the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry and Prius. It also is phasing out gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles such as Ford Expeditions and Chevrolet Blazers for hybrid Ford Escapes.

Cities going green as gas prices go higher

Forty cars in Salt Lake City's 1,000-plus vehicle fleet are hybrids or run on CNG, which sells for about 80 cents per gallon. [..] And Murray's Power Department has used four Toyota Prius hybrids during the past few years. [..] West Valley City just bought hybrids and is considering purchasing more. The city says the fuel savings through the car's service life will far outweigh the purchasing costs.

Agencies feel pinch of gas

Salem's fleet now has six hybrid vehicles. Don Thomson, the city's fleet and warehouse superintendent, said replacement cars and trucks will be smaller and more fuel-efficient where possible.

Others are taking a more low-tech approach:

Twin Falls, ID

Deputies are being told to do at least an hour and a half of foot patrol, said Lori Nebeker, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

Cost-conscious cops - NJ.com

Idling patrol car engines are being ordered turned off, more officers are being assigned to walk or bike the beat and even battery-powered Segway scooters are being used to cut back on gas consumption, according to local law enforcement officials.

How Law Enforcement Is Handling High Gas Prices

Sheriff Nielsen says as of last week, deputies have been asked to go 10 miles per hour slower on the interstate and about 5 miles per hour slower in the city.

WBIR.com | Knoxville, TN | Fuel costs change work schedules in Blount Co.

To help offset the ever-increasing cost of fuel, Dunlap proposed a change to the weekly work schedule. Crews now work 2 extra hours per work day but only work 4 days each week.

The DOE has selected twelve cities to receive solar energy grants:

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced that DOE will make available up to $2.4 million to 12 cities across the country selected as Solar America Cities, chosen for their commitment and comprehensive approach to the deployment of solar technologies and the development of sustainable solar infrastructures.

[..]

Cities designated as Solar America Cities, which will each receive $200,000 from DOE to integrate a variety of solar energy technologies throughout the city, include: Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Knoxville, TN; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Jose, CA; Santa Rosa, CA; and Seattle, WA.

According to the DOE press release, the selected cities will also receive hands-on technical assistance with integrating solar technology into energy planning, zoning, local regulations, best practices, solar financing options, and incentive programs. The grants are part of the DOE Solar American Cities program.

$2.4 million is a rounding error in terms of federal funding for alternative energy research and development programs, but we should be happy and take what we can get.

From an interesting article in Mother Earth News.

Global non-renewable energy resources in terawatt/hours:

• Coal: 6,000,000
• Natural Gas: 1,500,000
• Uranium 235: 1,500,000
• Oil: 1,000,000
• Tar Sands: 800,000
• Total: 10,800,000

Global annual renewable energy sources in terawatt/hours:

• Direct Solar Radiation: 350,000,000
• Wind: 200,000
• Ocean/Thermal: 100,000
• Biofuels: 50,000
• Geothermal: 10,000
• Tidal/Wave: 5,000

According to the article, total world energy consumption in 2004 was 130,971 terawatt hours, and is projected to grow to 205,686 terawatt hours by 2030.

The article also says:

• "The total amount of energy produced by burning all the coal on the planet would only be equivalent to the solar energy that strikes the Earth every six days."

• "The entire recoverable world oil reserve is equivalent to the solar energy that strikes the Earth in one day."

• "The recoverable world reserve of fissionable uranium is equivalent to less than 1 1/2 days of the energy striking the Earth from the nuclear reaction of the sun."

I haven't been able to verify any of the author's numbers, but if they are even close it boggles the mind. You should read the whole article, and ask why we aren't seriously pursuing a distributed solar economy.

Like most states in the South, Florida is heavily dependent on fossil fuels for energy, with 80% of its electrical generating capacity based on non-renewable sources that pollute the environment.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Florida gets 37% of its power from coal, 21% from natural gas, and 22% from petroleum. Clean, renewable sources (wind, geothermal, biomass, and solar) represent only about 3% of Florida's power generating capacity, and the rest (18%) comes from nuclear power plants.

With growing political and environmental opposition to fossil fuel energy sources (not to mention the fact that they will eventually run out), and concerns about the safety and cost of nuclear power, what are the alternatives?

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News reports indicate that milk and dairy prices will increase dramatically because the price of corn is going up due to the demand for corn to make ethanol. (Yes, our economy is a tangled web!)

But even more serious is talk of a tequila shortage because Mexican farmers are planting corn instead of agave due to the demand for ethanol.

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The State of Tennessee is considering a 2.5 cent per-gallon ethanol subsidy. The "pilot" program would target nine counties. A Pilot Oil lobbyist is promoting the bill. According to new reports, the cost would be somewhere around $3.3 million, based on an expected output of 60 million gallons from a producer in Knoxville. The governor is also proposing a $40 million "biomass ethanol production plant" in Oak Ridge.

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