Solar One would like to thank all who attended last night’s screening of Earth Days, as well as Rooftop Films, Nevette Previd, Yellow + Blue Wines and Living Librally for helping make the event a success.

The film debuts theatrically today at Quad Cinema in Manhattan.

Photo: Erik Martig

This past Friday, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced an innovative plan that will help curb NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously providing jobs for those most in need of them.  The Go Green! Cooking Oil Recycling Program will employ formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals to pick up used cooking oil from local city restaurants free of charge; the oil will then be sold to companies that conduct biodiesel conversion, cutting down on the use of standard diesel gasoline – among the dirtiest of hydrocarbon-based fuels – in commercial vehicles in and around the city.

The service will be conducted by RWA Resource Recovery, a venture of The Doe Fund and its Ready, Willing and Able Community Improvement Project.  To date, RWA Resource Recovery has collected nearly 725,000 gallons of biodiesel since its inception in early 2007, an amount that should increase at a substantial rate under the new agreement; in March alone, RWA added 50 new client businesses around the city.  Overall, through this community improvement project, The Doe Fund has aided more than 3,000 formerly destitute New Yorkers in their quest for self-sufficiency.  The program will also partner with the Lower East Side Ecology Center, which will conduct education and outreach by training local students to serve as “eco-consultants” to help recruit other businesses into the program.

In addition to this venture, which will expand to neighborhoods in upper Manhattan over the next few weeks, the state will provide further incentives for biodiesel through tax credits for users and producers of the alternative fuel.  Given current economic and employment trends, the Go Green! Cooking Oil Recycling Program will provide much-needed hope and opportunities while at the same time making progress towards a cleaner city.

Sources: “Speaker Sheldon Silver and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer Announce Free Cooking Oil Recycling Program for Local Restaurants”, press release – 4/24/09, Manhattan Borough President’s Office official website (www.mbpo.org); RWA Resource Recovery website (www.rwarr.org); The Doe Fund website (www.doe.org); Lower East Side Ecology Center website (www.lesecologycenter.org).

The sun may soon bring something new to the Empire State.  According to a press release issued Tuesday by Governor David Patterson’s office, New York is about to get its first solar cell factory.

SpectraWatt, a spin-off of Intel Corporation and relative newcomer to the solar scene, will set up shop in Hudson Valley Research Park and expects to be ready for production by early 2010.  Their upstate factory will process and manufacture the silicon-derived “cells” which other firms will turn into those familiar icons of renewable energy – the typical solar panel that is making its appearance on more and more buildings and homes throughout the country.

SpectraWatt anticipates an initial production capacity of 60 MW in its first year, bringing 100 new jobs to New York.  By 2012, the facility is expected to operate at a full capacity of 120 MW and 161 employees.  The state will supply $3 million of the $81 million projected cost through the Empire State Development Corp. and an additional $1.5 million through NYSERDA.  In addition, for relocating to the Poughkeepsie-Dutchess Empire Zone, the company will receive a significant tax break, as well as 200 metric tons of solar grade silicon (the raw material for most photovoltaics) per year from Globe Specialty Metals, another company that recently announced its intentions to move to the area.  In exchange, Globe will receive 40 MW of hydropower from the state.

Established in the summer of 2008, less than a year later, SpectraWatt is poised to become a green job pioneer in New York.  Given recent trends, it is unlikely to be the last.

Sources: “SpectraWatt Sets Up Headquarters in New York”, press release – April 7 2009, www.spectrawatt.com; “SpectraWatt to Tap Local High-Tech Pool”, Pougkeepsie Journal, April 8, 2009; “Governor Paterson Announces New Solar Cell Manufacturer to Move to Dutchess County”, press release – April 7, 2009, www.ny.gov/governor; Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation website, www.thinkdutchess.com.

Political proclamations and big gusts of wind often go together.

This paradigm of civic symbiosis was never more true than last Tuesday, when Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced plans to markedly boost his commonwealth’s wind power capacity by 2020.  While Massachusetts currently produces just 7 MW of wind-generated energy annually, Patrick hopes to ramp up production to 2000 MW – enough to power 800,000 homes and 10% of overall anticipated need – by the end of the next decade.  The ambitious policy will supplement his administration’s recent commitment of 250 MW of solar power by 2017.

The announcement also comes on the heels of the DOE’s 2007 decision to locate one of two planned Wind Technology Testing Centers there, spurring speculation that Massachusetts could join California as a leader in forging a green economy.  In a statement issued by Governor Patrick’s office, the new center will provide a framework for the “economic rewards of technological development, entrepreneurship and jobs.” Assuming an even greater commitment to clean energy policy at the federal level by the incoming Obama administration and new DOE honcho Steven Chu, this is a trend that should continue.

Though some hurdles remain in getting locals on board (one proposed Cape Cod offshore wind farm comes to mind), Massachusetts Secretary for Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles noted that last year’s incentive-laden Mass. Green Communities Act has “municipalities around the Commonwealth… lining up to bring wind power to their communities.”  In part to alleviate concerns about the blight of turbines on the seascape, the state is also formulating a comprehensive ocean-management plan to identify other suitable locations for “appropriate-scale renewable energy facilities.”

The initiative is part of a broader attempt to reduce the commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050 and 25% by 2020, as mandated by the 2007 Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Act.

Sources: “Patrick sets 2000-MW wind-power goal”, Providence Business News; “Deval Patrick unveils big push for wind power”, Your Industry News; “Residents upset over Cape Cod wind-farm plan”, www.sfgate.com; “Massachusetts Moves Closer to Having Nation’s First Offshore Wind Farm and More Secure Energy Future” (press release; Jan. 16, 2009), www.capewind.org; “”Summary of S. 2768, The Green Communities Act”, Conservation Law Foundation; “Senate Bill, No. 534″, “Governor Patrick Sets New Goals for Wind Power” (press release; Jan. 13, 2009), www.mass.gov.

WHERE: SOUTHPAW, 125 Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn (Between Sterling and St. John’s Place). Map.

WHEN: Sunday, December 7th, 7pm-10pm.

I Heart PV is Solar One’s grassroots campaign to make New York a leading solar power adopter through legislative action.

The Solar Soiree is a new monthly event where New Yorkers can come and have fun with friends and strangers, find out about the state of solar power in New York, and get involved in the I Heart PV campaign. Activities include:

- I Heart PV info booths, and general solar-related chattiness. Find out why solar photovoltaics (PV) is so well suited for New York, and what the campaign is doing right now to put our city and state at the center of solar implementation and industry. 

- The I Heart PV letter writing bar. Take your first refreshing step into local solar advocacy by writing a letter to your state senator and/or assembly member in support of pro-solar legislation on the spot with the help of our members. It’s super easy and letter writers will be lavished with great drink specials for their heroic efforts!

- Solar-Powered Toy Car Building. Fun for the inner child (involves hot glue guns and knives!!). Design, build and take home your own tiny little bundle of PV fun. Great gift idea for broke gift-givers who have loved ones and friends with relatively low expectations.

- Enjoy hours and hours of ‘sun’-titled tracks spun by Southpaw’s own DJ Mikey Palms.

. . . and MUCH MORE!

FREE ENTRANCE, must be 21 to drink!

RSVP: greenrenter@solar1.org or 212 505 6050

In a surprise move that has potentially seismic ramifications for the energy industry, the EPA issued a ruling last Friday that will essentially halt the development of any new coal-based power plants in the United States. The ruling was issued by the agency’s appeals panel as they denied a permit to Deseret Power, an energy conglomerate looking to build a 110 MW coal-burning power plant on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Utah. As a result, more than one hundred other plants in various stages of development and construction now face an uncertain future.

Claiming that they would no longer grant permits for projects that do not adequately consider the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, the appeals board overturned a permit recently granted by the agency’s Denver office and cited a 2007 Supreme Court decision giving the EPA federal authority to regulate CO2 emissions. The decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, ruled 5-4 in favor of 12 state plaintiffs that the agency had shirked its responsibilities under the Clean Air Act and was widely perceived as a critique of the current administration’s environmental policies.

Environmentalists have hailed the new move as a harbinger of a green-friendly administration-in-waiting, though many are surprised that it has come under the aegis of a lame duck and environmentally obstinate commander-in-chief. Ultimately, whether this decision signals a belated acknowledgement of accepted scientific fact or a raise-of-the-white-flag by defeated leadership is less significant than the implication that, however we choose to meet our future energy needs, clean and renewable sources should finally get their chance.

Sources: PSD Appeal No. 07-03, Environmental Appeals Board, United States Environmental Protection Agency;“EPA ruling over climate jeopardizes coal plants”, Reuters; “EPA Blocks Coal Plant, Could Change Power Landscape”, The Huffington Post (Nov. 14, 2008);“EPA Coal Decision Levels Playing Field for Wind, Solar”, Wired Science; “EPA Coal Decision Could Pave Way for Renewable Energy”, EcoGeek; “EPA ruling halts all new coal-fired power plants”, Scientific American; “Massachusetts, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.”, Supreme Court of the United States, #05-1120; “Supreme Court: Heat-Trapping Carbon Dioxide is Pollution”, National Resources Defense Council (press release); “Justices say EPA Has Power to Act on Harmful Gases”, The New York Times (April 3, 2007).

Solar One is hosting a debate party on Wednesday October 15 at 9pm! Bring your friends, family or just yourself and watch the final act of this incredible, historic election cycle. We’ll serve some light refreshments, and have chairs available on a first come, first serve basis. It may be a bit chilly that night, so dress warm and bring a blanket, a dog or a loved one!

The financial rescue package, however, offered one last chance to get the extension passed before the end of the year.  Regardless of your sentiments on the “pork” attached to the final bill, the inclusion of these incentives is a lot more palatable than some of the other special favors that found their way in.   The total package includes somewhere in vicinity of $17-$18 billion in tax credits for power generated by solar, wind and other renewable sources through 2016.  It looks like the coal industry managed to get a piece of the action as well, but in the spirit of compromise, we’ll overlook that little tidbit for now.  What’s important is that the incentives make renewables more readily able to compete on cost with traditional (i.e. dirty) sources of energy.  One important change to note was the removal of the cap of $2,000 of incentives for residential projects.  This means that the cost of residential solar projects just got reduced even further.  When you combine these federal incentives with the already existing incentives at the state and local levels, the economics of solar really start to make sense for more and more customers.   ASES has a more complete rundown on the provisions – which also include elements covering energy efficient buildings and plug-in hybrids – on their website.

For more information on solar check out our PV resource page.  And the Power Naturally site can answer many of your questions about the process of buying and installing solar panels.

On Tuesday, August 5th, the 13th Police Precinct held the Annual National Night Out Against Crime by opening up the schoolyard on 20th Street and Second Avenue to local organizations and providing music, free food and ice cream to neighborhood residents. Solar One’s information table was a big success. Councilman Dan Garodnick stopped by to say hello and wish us well. Several hundred people got to know more about Solar One’s green arts and education programs and received free CFL light bulbs when they joined our mailing list. Fun was had by all.

]]> http://solar1.org/2008/08/13/solar-one-at-the-annual-night-out-against-crime/feed/ 0 http://solar1.org/2008/07/31/introducing-the-new-york-city-solar-empowerment-zone/ http://solar1.org/2008/07/31/introducing-the-new-york-city-solar-empowerment-zone/#comments Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:04:08 +0000 SolarOne http://solar1.org/?p=1073

Today, the New York City Council’s Infrastructure Task Force convened what was arguably the most substantive public forum ever held on the complex subject of distributed energy sources and the New York City electricity grid. During the course of the four hour hearing, which was hosted by Hunter College and included three separate panels of experts from the academic, engineering and business communities, solar photovoltaics were singled out during much of the conversation as the leading clean energy prospect for the five boroughs. A number of cost and technical issues were raised and discussed at length, but perhaps the single most exciting idea to emerge from the hearing was that of the Solar Empowerment Zone.

The term, coined by Council Member Dan Garodnick, describes a policy that would identify areas of the city wherein properties would be eligible for extensive incentives for solar investment. While the policy idea is in its earliest stages of development, zones would be designated on the basis of their vulnerability to summertime power disruption, as well as prevailing building type (buildings with few stories and large roofs would be given highest preference). Zones would be designed to scale up solar capacity in the city at an exponential, rather than incremental rate. Realization of the concept would establish, irrefutably, the Big Apple’s leadership position on the national stage in renewable energy adoption and innovative policy making.

Solar One staff consulted closely with Council Member Garodnick in the planning of the hearing, and moving forward, will mobilize its I Heart PV campaign in support of the Solar Empowerment Zone policy. We thank Council Members Garodnick and James for their leadership, hard work and vision.

Stay tuned for the next developments in this very encouraging policy direction.

Click here to read the NYT blog synopsis of the hearing.

So biofuels apparently aren’t all they were cracked up to be. We shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss biofuels, however. While they make a convenient scapegoat for the current crisis and are clearly deserving of skepticism, they may not be entirely to blame, despite what the energy moguls claim. Biofuels will probably never live up to their original hype, but with continued technological progress and more intelligent legislation, they may still find their niche on a smaller, more sustainable scale. First, while most attempts to produce biofuels utilize processes and raw materials that are inefficient, some alternative methods offer hope. The International Energy Agency (IEA) supports the use of second-generation biofuels, which use non-food crops to produce the fuel. Other methods focus on genetically engineering certain tree species to reduce lignin levels, which prevent researchers from accessing the cellulose needed for ethanol production. Given their high levels of cellulosity, trees are otherwise perfect candidates for biofuels. Such methods are not without their own controversies, however; critics of bioengineering have raised concerns over compromising the structural integrity of these experimental trees, not to mention the threat of cross-fertilization with wild strains. Second, most current subsidy policies do little but promote such inefficiency. Corn-based ethanol – the bulk of biofuel produced in the U.S. – is especially inefficient given corn’s low cellulose content compared to other potential sources. Yet Congress continues to pass bills in favor of greater corn subsidies and cornthanol production. (Click here and here to read our past posts.) At the conference, recently ousted Italian prime minister Romano Prodi astutely commented that “We have to examine very closely subsidy policies so as to avoid distortions in the allocation of resources”. Such a prudent approach may prove better in the long run than the outright dismissal of biofuels, despite the significant limitations born out by recent events.

“Tortillanomics”, a slideshow on Frontline‘s website, also explores the effects of biofuel production on corn prices in Mexico. Click here.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy called for a significant increase in green investment at an international conference on global warming last week in Paris. As much as 90% of the financing that will be necessary to help mitigate climate change must come from the private sector, France’s leader told reporters.

His comments were intended to address the creation of a long-term strategy to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Sarkozy also called for the establishment of a globally regulated carbon credit market and cited America’s policy of stimulating environmental change through private financing, though he is critical of the American administration’s insistence on voluntary emissions cuts. In the past Sarkozy has openly advocated stricter tariffs and trade penalties on nations that do not actively attempt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, even going so far as to threaten American imports with stiffer taxation if the U.S. continues to vacillate on the establishment of a mandatory emissions cap.

Ever the diplomat, Sarkozy made no mention of President Bush’s apparently straight-faced attempt at credible environmental policy. Bush’s announcement earlier in the week that the U.S. would reduce its emissions by 2025 was met with harsh criticism at the conference by Germany and other nations; the EU released a subtler but no less emphatic statement that Bush’s plan did “not match the level of ambition needed on the part of developed countries, considering their responsibilities in the challenge we face”.

Despite his seemingly contradictory about-face on climate change, Bush offered no specific suggestions as to how this emissions reduction would be achieved. Skeptical environmentalists claim that the announcement is merely an attempt to establish a less rigorous policy before his successor has a chance to tackle the issue. With the American president’s likely motives revealed, the rest of us can stop looking for further signs of the apocalypse. The world just isn’t ready for a green George W…

Despite the apparently noble intent of this project, our initial report voiced some reservations. First, that CCS had not been adequately tested, with regard to both its large-scale feasibility and its lack of environmental impact (especially on groundwater and subterranean rock/mineral formations). Second, that massive cost overruns and delays were becoming an increasing burden to the project before ground had even been broken.

It now seems that those reservations may have been more than idle speculation. The Economist reported last month that FutureGen is, according to DOE parlance, being “restructured”. In their typically blunt fashion, the eminent policy journal translates this to mean “starting from scratch” (See “Up In Smoke”; Jan. 31, 2008). The DOE is now requesting more information on CCS from the private sector with an eye towards building several smaller plants based on the technology in place of Mattoon’s grand enterprise. This reconsideration was based partly on a March 2007 report issued by MIT suggesting the need for more extensive investigations into CCS and the adoption of less cumbersome federal legislation. The new plan pushes back the completion of the first wave of CCS power plants to 2015 and promises to “at least double the amount” of impurities sequestered. No one yet knows if Mattoon or a reincarnated FutureGen Alliance will be involved.

NYTimes author Jim Dwyer wrote an article (also there is an entertaining video) about his experience getting solar panels installed on his Washington Heights co-op building. After incentives, low-financing, and a very competitive bid from AltPower, he says they will roughly break even throughout the life of the loan and be in the black for the remainder of the life of the panels, which are guaranteed to last for at minimum 25 years.

But the real juice to his story comes from his retelling of uncooperative incentive policies, complicated regulations, and unnecessary ConEd needs. Solar could be a real boon for NYC because of our huge demand and very restricted supply (all of our blackouts are because of high demand and not enough electrons flowing through the wires). The problem is that obviously (except maybe to Albany) incentives that are appropriate for single-family suburban homes are not for the big city.

This is why we started our I Heart PV program, to get grassroots support for proper solar incentives for NYC. Head over there to read all the great arguements and what you can do to help.

I believe we need a moratorium on the building of any more coal-fired power plants unless and until we have the ability to capture and sequester the carbon in the ground. Because every time we build a new coal-fired power plant in America when we don’t have that technology attached to it, what happens is, we’re making a terrible situation worse.

We’re getting somewhere! Now if we could just get a front-runner to jump on board…

Despite the disappointments of the 2007 Energy Bill, the coal industry is getting some disappointments of its own this year. According to Bangkok-based NGO Palang Thai (via Grist), 12 US states have abandoned major coal expansion projects since September 2006, and in several cases have replaced them with wind projects. Apparently communities in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Dakota, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, Idaho, Washington and Colorado were willing to defy coal industry rhetoric and reject or alter their plans. Quite a turnaround from 2005, when the revitalization of the coal industry was being widely touted as the solution to the national energy crisis.

“Many of the players contained in this report were expected,” Mitchell wrote. “But one that was unexpected, despite the fact that it had increased by far the most in size is US Energy Usage. Investigations suggest they are continuing to use a special designer steroid, which we have dubbed “coal”, or, consuming at obnoxious levels.” Mitchell went on to detail explicit evidence to support his findings.

“It is well know that one can obtain a high level of performance without using these substances,” Mitchell says in his conclusion, “but often players wish to take the easy way out. In the long run, a growing body of scientific evidence says that these are very harmful to health, and as a society, we must be very concerned for the next generations, which will look back to the example we set now, and will have to deal with the consequences.”

It was a biting critique of the use of this substance, “coal”, but Mitchell had no subpoena power to delve deeper, nor any authority to issue binding ramifications–it was merely an investigation. It will be up to politicians and grassroots pressure to decide how to deal with US Energy Usage.

With support from the city council, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday his energy conservation plan for all city owned buildings and operations to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 30% over the next ten years. The short term action plan include 132 improvements, one of which is replacing the Brooklyn Bridge’s 100-watt mercury vapor lamps that make up its necklace lighting with 24-watt LED lamps. Other improvements include replacing approximately 25,000 street lights with more efficient bulbs, replacing NYPD’s and FDNY’s emergency response vehicles with hybrids, and upgrading some of the city’s aging heating and cooling systems.

Watch Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference announcement here.

Despite fears that the 2007 Energy Bill now being hashed out in Congress could be stripped of key green provisions for the sake of expediency, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has posted a short statement on her site that gives the impression that a deal has been reached with new CAFE standards, a Renewable Energy standard and a Renewable Electricity standard intact; according to David Roberts at Grist.org, the House also intends to extend the Production Tax Credit for solar and wind power (although not for the 10 years that many hoped for). Representative John Dingell (D-Michigan), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has dropped his opposition to the new CAFE standards, which will increase fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks to 35 mpg. The bill still contains some outrageous giveaways to the coal, oil and nuclear industries, but it’s a HUGE improvement over the last Congressional Energy Bill, which was forged in total secrecy by old-school industry insiders and the Vice President, and was more pork-laden than a Memphis barbeque.

Thanks to everyone who responded to our Energy Bill Call to Action! It seems that your efforts were not in vain.