In the 19th century, Texas became well known for its longhorns and the Alamo. The 20th century saw the oil boom, the Cowboys, and an infamous Dallas afternoon in November, 1963. In the 21st century, the state is becoming defined by its surprisingly progressive stand on energy through its wind farms and embracing of electric vehicles.

NRG Energy and its EV Services division have been leading the drive to bring clean power and transportation to Texas. The company now controls 450 megawatts of wind power in the state, and has executed the most aggressive rollout of EV infrastructure in the country.

These two developments are closely linked, according to Arun Banskota, the president of NRG EV Services, with whom I spoke at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. NRG is investing $25 million in public EV charging equipment in Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Banskota said. That’s a hefty investment in a speculative market, especially for a publicly-traded company. Despite the area’s reputation as an oil town rich in land yachts, NRG is installing 50 “Freedom Stations” in Houston and 75 in DFW. Each of the charging stations has at least one DC fast charger and one Level 2 charging station, and they cost more than $100,000 per location.

The strategy appears to be working. According to Banskota, 80 percent of Nissan Leaf owners in the two regions have signed up for the EVGO program, a subscription service that enables charging at home or around town. NRG customers can specify only clean energy when they sign up.

Banskota said the company’s wind farms produce an abundance of power at night, when demand is low, which can result in spilling the excess power or negative pricing. Enter the EVs, which can charge at night and enable NRG to generate more revenue from its wind farms. Tying wind to EV charging in Texas mirrors similar endeavors in The Netherlands and Denmark, but is unique in the United States.

Texas is one of four states (along with Hawaii, California and Virginia) that currently do not regulate EV charging services, and NRG is likely to offer a similar service in one of the other states during 2012. NRG is looking to integrate EV charging into home energy management applications so that all of a home’s energy can be managed through a single application. The company also plans to introduce vehicle to grid (V2G) technology in several states. The company acquired V2G technology from the University of Delaware, but does not expect there to be much demand for using vehicles to provide power to the grid for three to five years.

Article by John Gartner, appearing courtesy the Matter Network.

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The drive towards alternative energy continues at full steam in Ontario, Canada.

According to a report in the London Free Press, Ontario Liberals are pressing ahead with 25 wind and solar projects for the Southwestern region.

The announcement was made earlier this week. The projects will produce enough electricity to power a city the size of Windsor.

London will host the largest number of projects, or 200 solar farms and 180 wind turbines.

The Energy Minister Brad Duguid said in a release that the projects will “create more good jobs for Ontario families and provide new, clean power for local communities to grow and prosper. Our efforts are transforming our electricity system, attracting investment, creating thousands of jobs and building a better future for our children and grandchildren.”

The projects will attract about $3 billion in new private investment and will help the province create 50,000 green energy jobs by the end of 2012.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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Breakthroughs in green energy technology, coupled with supportive government policies, could add $155 billion to the U.S. economy annually and create more than 1.1 million jobs by 2030, according to an analysis by Google.org, the internet search giant’s philanthropic arm.

Using an analytic set of models to calculate the potential benefits of various policies, Google’s energy team found that aggressive innovations in clean power, grid storage, natural gas technologies, and electric vehicle production could reduce U.S. oil consumption by more than 1.1 billion gallons each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent.

According to the report, published on the company’s blog, a rapid decrease in battery costs and energy density also could drive the cost of electric vehicles below those of internal combustion-powered cars by 2030, and electric, hybrid and plug-in electrics could achieve a 90-percent market share of cars and light trucks.

However, the longer innovations are delayed, the more likely the rewards will be diminished, Google said. According to its model, a five-year delay would cost the U.S. economy $2.3 trillion to $3.2 trillion in unrealized GDP gains and 1.2 to 1.4 million net jobs.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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Scientists at the Madagascar Biodiversity Center have a new tool to help them study species that are being threatened by deforestation – reliable clean power. Volunteers have installed solar panels that prevent the loss of valuable research time during occasional power outages while simultaneously reducing the center’s carbon footprint.

The center, which was founded by Dr. Brian Fisher from the California Academy of Sciences in 2004, promotes the understanding and preservation of Madagascar’s plant and animal life. An estimated 80 percent of the species are unique to the island, which has suffered severe biodiversity loss in recent years due to deforestation.

But the doctoral students and researchers who collect samples in the field and bring them back to the Biodiversity Center have been hindered by power outages due to rainstorms, or when the power demand exceeds the capacity of a grid that is largely powered by diesel generators.

Volunteers from solar manufacturer SunPower of San Jose and from the non-profit Vote Solar initiative in San Francisco worked with solar company Energie Technologie to to make the long journey to install the 7.8 kilowatt system. The new solar energy system is one of the largest on the island and provides nearly all of the power for the Center. Small rooftop photovoltaic systems are instrumental in providing power in remote locations where there is no power grid.

While laws are in place to protect Madagascar’s forests, poachers routinely remove trees that are burned to make charcoal and sold to businesses for cooking fuel. In many places on the island, electric power to use for cooking is either too inconsistent or not available.

After installing the solar panels at the Center, Dr. Fisher and the volunteers went to the village of Ranobe to meet with civic leaders to discuss locations to install solar and other methods of protecting the fragile ecosystem. Education and cooperation with village leaders is seen as critical to slowing down the rate of biodiversity loss. An estimated 90 percent of the island’s natural habitat has been destroyed, and poachers continue to damage and remove protected species.

More than 100 villagers attended the meeting. Participants, often slow to implement change, showed an eagerness and willingness to protect the forest and explore new infrastructure to be used for healthcare and for a lighting system to secure protected areas from poachers.

Article by John Gartner, appearing courtesy the Matter Network.

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As far as renewable energy goes, the London Olympics, which will take place next year, is already a loser.

According to a BBC report, the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 said only the original 20% target will not be met as only 9% of the carbon-reduction measures in place will come from clean power.

Overall, carbon emissions are likely to be reduced by 50%, the watchdog said.

The main reason for the renewable energy targets not to be met was the scraping of plans to set up a wind turbine at the Olympic Park last year, due to safety reasons.

To make up for it and reduce emissions the Olympics organizers are investing in measures such as insulation and draft-proofing in local houses and schools.

Green Party member Darren Johnson lamented the figure and said it “makes mockery of the idea of a green Olympics”.

It really is a shame, considering the marketing renewable energy would get during the world-class event.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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Spain is currently the second largest global solar market and the third in the global wind market. Spain houses some of the leading renewable energy research centers, including Almeria Solar Platform, the National Center for Renewable Energy, and ISFOC, one of the cornerstones for concentrating photovoltaics. The Spanish government has created many progressive mandates that have called for things such as the requirement of all new building to be built with solar collectors to supply a percentage of hot water needs. The Movele Project is one of the most ambitious electric car projects throughout the globe.

1) Role Model for the Development of Renewable Energy. Spain is being looked at as a leader in renewable energy development. The government of Spain has provided number subsidies to assist in clean power technologies, in the form of low-interest loans and grants. In 2008, more than $1.6 billion was donated to this cause, with the amount rising each subsequent year. In the last few years, Spain has seen a large increase in its solar panel manufacturing sector.

2) Favorable Feed In Tariffs. Spain has a number of positive renewable energy tariffs that allow for a productive and positive environment to create new projects revolving around renewable energy. For example, “The Spanish government authorized a feed-in tariff under which renewable energy producers could sell the energy they produce to the system directly through distributors; they could choose between selling electricity at the market price with a premium or at a given – very attractive – regulated tariff.”

3) Powerhouse of Renewable Energy. Spain has been a frontrunner in wind, solar, and biofuel renewable technologies behind some of the largest countries in the world, including the United States and Germany. A lot of this has been “due to the big investments made by Spanish energy companies and the government’s early adoption of favorable tariff incentives that provide a guarantee to producers that all their energy will be purchased.” According to one private equity manager, this stance as a powerhouse is due in large part to Spain’s large focus on research and development of clean energy and how that has increased the ability of various Spanish groups to successfully invest in the clean teach market of the country.

4) Support Policies. To keep on the key issues surrounding the Spanish target for renewable energy, Spain has had to create a large support program with a number of policies for electricity from renewable energy sources. Not only does this include a number of feed-in tariff programs, but also increased support for biogas, biomass, and solar thermal electricity, low interest loans which would cover as much as 80 percent of reference costs, and renewable energy legislations that would increase tariffs and make the country more favorable to increasing development of renewable energy technologies, and make the country more inviting to outside investment from other countries.

5) The Renewable Energy Plan. The goal of the Renewable Energy Plan is to “take it possible to achieve the target of 12 percent of primary energy being met from renewable sources [and creating] more ambitious objectives in those areas that have been developing successfully and establishes new measures to support technologies.” This plan is indicative, it is not binding for the energy system actors, however, there is the hope that a majority of investments will be provided by the private sector. Therefore, the next aim of the plan is the produce an attractive framework that is based upon profitability and stability.

6) Spanish Renewable Energy Companies Moving to Latin America. Investing in the future is really important to Spain, but not just in the home country, but around the globe as well. Starting in 2009, Spanish company Associacion Empressarial Eolica provided more than 1,200 megawatts of energy in Latin America, mainly Mexico, Brazil, and Chile. The plan for Spanish renewable energy companies it to then head into Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela, while still investing in Brazil and Mexico. According to the Associacion, “A recent study shows that by 2025, the investments could reach 46,000 installed MW [in Latin America].” There are numerous Spanish firms in Latin America working on increasing solar energy, including T-Solar and Solarpack.

7) Renewable Energy Goals. Spain’s renewable energy goal seeks to have the country produce 67 percent of its energy in 2020 from renewable energy sources. According the plan at hand, generation capacity must reach 70 gigawatts by 2020 (one gigawatt equals enough energy to power one million washing machines). To reach these goals, solar energy will have to climb to 13.4 gigawatts, and wind will have to reach 38 gigawatts, with three of those gigawatts from offshore generators.

8 ) Top in the Wind Energy Market. Spain ranks as number three throughout the globe for installed wind power capacity, only behind the United States and fellow European Union Member, Germany. The Spanish Wind Power Association remarked that the wind power sector counts for 40 percent of Spain’s GDP, looking to rise to 45 percent by 2021. There are more than 50 companies dedicated to the wind industry, generating more than $5 billion in revenue. A large part of Spain’s Renewable Energy Plan outlines that wind energy will be a prime focus in renewable energy consumption targets. Along with onshore wind power, Spain has a potential for large offshore wind power investments.

9) Energy Efficiency Institutions and Programs. There are a number of institutions and programs designed by the Spanish government to assist with energy efficiency. These have included the National Plan for the Allocation of Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowances, 2008-2012, Energy Efficiency Strategy Action Plan, and the Planning of the Electricity and Gas Sectors.

10) Measures for Energy Efficiency. Spain has taken up a number energy efficiency measures that will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Some of these measures include public support programs, transport plans in firms and activity centers, urban mobility plans, greater participation of collective road transport means, efficient driving of private vehicles, renewable of the road transport fleet and private car fleet, improvement of the energy efficiency in the thermal installations of existing buildings, as well as energy saving and efficiency plans in public administrations.

Article by Shawn Lesser, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Atlanta-based Watershed Capital Group – an investment bank assisting sustainable fund and companies raise capital, perform acquisitions, and in other strategic financial decisions. . He is also a Co-founder of the GCCA Global Cleantech Cluster Association ”The Global Voice of Cleantech”. He writes for various cleantech publications and is known as the David Letterman of Cleantech for his “Top 10″ series. He can be reached at shawn@watershedcapital.com

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Imagine a world where you can buy electricity from your choice of vendor (not the utility) at prices that can be negotiated with the vendor. Kind of like shopping at eBay or Amazon. Want to buy a week’s worth (1,000 kWh) of power from SebaSolar at 9 ¢/kWh? Just click here. How about switching to WindyWelly for the weekend (300 kWh) at 8.5 ¢/kWh? Click! Wait, NeoGeo just announced it has a ‘fire sale’ at 7 ¢/kWh for next Tuesday through Thursday. Click!

Well, imagine no more. This electricity world exists today. To see this new architecture of energy at work I went to Wellington, New Zealand.

Powershop is a unit of Meridian Energy, the largest electricity generator and retailer in New Zealand. “The vision of Powershop is to be like eBay for electricity,” says CEO Ari Sargent. “Any electricity generator in New Zealand, including Meridian’s competitors, can offer their own brands of electricity at different prices and different times.”

I think it’s also a bit like the iTunes Store since nothing really gets shipped. Just as iTunes moves electrons Powershop moves electricity.

Many countries require their electric utilities to buy the clean power generated by residential or commercial solar or wind installations. The utilities in turn resell this power back to other consumers. That is probably Electricity 1.5. Powershop goes beyond that. In the Powershop architecture, I could build a small 1-MW solar power plant and offer the “SebaSolar” brand on the Powershop Store. I could sell this electricity directly to consumers at prices that I set—not the utility.

This means that today New Zealand consumers probably have the most choices any electricity user has anywhere in the world.

Powershop has built a plug-and-play technology architecture. While Meridian Energy is the only one currently selling power (under different brands) on this website, anyone should be able to sell power to anyone else. Just as iTunes transformed the world of music, this could be a transformational technology in the power industry.

Powershop’s revenue model is more like an internet company than the energy industry: Take a percent of each transaction. They don’t charge “connection fees” like many utilities (cable and telephone companies included) or transaction fees. Transactions are as simple as can be.

New Zealand, a country the size of California with a population smaller than that of the San Francisco Bay Area, has created a relatively open, competitive power market that offers consumers choice and some of the lowest electricity rates in the developed world.

Welcome to Electricity 2.0!

Tony Seba is the author of Solar Trillions: 7 Market and Investment Opportunities in the Emerging Clean-Energy Economy.

photo: Atil Hardarson

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The earth is the water planet, so it should come as no great surprise that forms of water power have been one of the world’s most popular “renewable” energy sources. Yet the largest water power source of all – the ocean that covers three-quarters of earth – has yet to be tapped in any major way for power generation. There are three primary reasons for this:

The first is the nature of the ocean itself, a powerful resource that cannot be privately owned like land that typically serves as the foundation for site control for terrestrial power plants of all kinds;

The second is funding. Hydropower was heavily subsidized during the Great Depression, but little public investment has since been steered toward marine renewables with the exception of ocean thermal technologies, which were perceived to be a failure.

The third reason why the ocean has not yet been industrialized on behalf of energy production is that the technologies, materials and construction techniques did not exist until now to harness this renewable energy resource in any meaningful and cost effective way.

Ocean energy advocates face a daunting task in the light of recent proposed cuts in federal government support. With the best ocean current resource in the world in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida, excellent tidal sites in California, Maine, Washington and Alaska and prime wave resources off the coasts of California and Oregon, the U.S. is well positioned to be a global leader.

With good tidal power sites in the San Francisco Bay, and the nation’s most viable wave resource all along the North Coast, there is much at stake here for the Golden State.

Consider these simple facts: waves, tides and ocean currents are 800 times more powerful than the thin air that is wind. Tides can be predicted decades in advance, while the wind resource shifts so suddenly, forecasts are good for only a few hours at a time. The sun never shines at night.

Despite these inherent advantages, the total installed capacity of these hydrokinetic resources – a category that includes wave, tidal stream, ocean current, and ocean thermal – was less than 10 megawatts (MW) at the end of 2008 (enough power for about 10,000 homes). It is expected that within the next five to eight years, these emerging technologies will become commercialized to the point that they can begin competing for a share of the burgeoning market for carbon-free and non-polluting renewable resources. By 2015, almost 3,000 MW could be on-line around the world. That figure could jump to 200,000 MW by 2025.

A recent surge in interest in these new renewable options has generated a buzz, particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand…and the U.S.

So far, President Obama wins high marks for shifting priorities on energy policy in the U.S. But his recent proposal to trim R&D funding for the emerging sector of “marine renewables” – also often referred to as ocean power or hydrokinetic technologies – appears to be extremely short-sighted and misses the boat. Trimming the $40 million proposed for marine renewables in 2009 by 25 percent may allow the U.K. and Europe to take a commanding lead in the development of a potential “game changing” clean power that is much more powerful and predictable than either solar or wind, both big winners in Obama’s proposed R&D budgets for the federal Department of Energy.

Europe, particularly the U.K., Ireland and Portugal, are currently the best places to develop wave and tidal projects. Subsidy schemes there, as well as government funded test facilities, and streamlined permitting processes, will likely allow Europe to be the focal point of commercialization efforts in the near-term.

The U.S. has taken some promising steps recently resolving permitting issues for marine renewable technologies. But without more R&D, entrepreneurs already hit by the global economic meltdown may flounder and seek to do business on friendlier shores in Europe. While wave and tidal developers are offered lavish subsidies amounting to about 30 cents per kilowatt hour in Europe, the U.S. currently offers a measly 1 cent/kWh on top of wholesale rates, half of the subsidy currently being offered to wind power projects, a fully commercialized technology.

The ocean is a huge global resource that will ultimately have to be tapped to meet the energy needs of the world’s growing populations – without contributing to global climate change. If the U.S. wants to be part of the solution, and help economic development in regions decimated by the collapse of native fishing stocks, then strategic investments need to be made today. We need wind, we need solar, but we should also be smart and be in a good position to tap the immense power of our oceans.

[photo credit: martapiqs]

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