Colorado: Dems launch push for more renewable energy

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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More wind power in Colorado’s future? Photo courtesy UCAR.

New bill would expand renewable energy standards to rural electricity co-ops

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — New legislation proposed by Colorado lawmakers could help refocus the energy debate by shifting more demand to renewable sources.

Under the Ritter administration, Colorado took significant steps to move toward renewable sources, but that momentum has faltered under Gov. Hickenlooper, widely seen as tilting toward the fossil fuel industry.

Senate Bill 252 would expand Colorado’s renewable energy standard by raising the percentage of retail electricity sales that must be achieved from renewable energy resources by cooperative electric associations that provide service to 100,000 meters or more from 10 percent to 25 percent starting in 2020. (more…)

Filed under: business, Colorado, economy, energy, Environment, renewable energy | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Energy: Congress wants to boost hydropower production

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Turbine shafts at the Hoover Dam. Photo courtesy U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Bipartisan measure has backing of river conservation group

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — With huge potential for increased hydropower generation, a bipartisan U.S. Senate bill and a companion measure in the house could help reduce some the red tape currently required to bring new hydropower sources online.

The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), would remove licensing barriers for smaller hydropower development and would require a study on a streamlined permitting process at existing dams and pumped storage products.

“In Colorado and the rest of the West, water is an extremely important resource for our families and the industries that drive our economy.” Bennet said. “This bill will accelerate development of hydropower resources as a part of a clean and diverse energy portfolio.” (more…)

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Op-ed: GOP misleads Americans on energy and public lands

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Paul Ryan makes blatantly false claims about energy development

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The proposed GOP budget includes plans to sell off public lands in the West. Bob Berwyn photo.

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — After licking his wounds for a few months, former Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is picking up right where he left off, by misleading Americans about the Obama administration’s energy and public lands policies.

Most blatantly, Ryan this week wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration is “buying up land to prevent further development” of energy resources. “Our budget opens these lands to development, so families will have affordable energy,” he added, playing to the lowest common denominator of his conservative base as if he were still campaigning for office.

Ryan’s simplistic and false statement about the connection between public lands and energy costs is flat-out wrong. Domestic energy production has grown under Obama; the administration has been leasing land for onshore production and selling offshore leases at a vigorous rate. (more…)

Filed under: energy, Environment, gas drilling, oil drilling, oil shale, public lands, renewable energy | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Will sequestration hamper energy development?

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Budget cuts could slow review and approval process, Salazar warns

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Wind turbines off the coast of Denmark.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Looming budget cuts could hamper the government’s ability to review and permit both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said this week, addressing offshore wind stakeholders at a conference in Boston.

Last spring, the federal government announced a $20 million grant program to spur offshore wind energy development and help address key challenges associated with installing utility-scale offshore wind turbines, connecting offshore turbines to the power grid, and navigating new permitting and approval processes.

By some estimates, offshore wind along the East and West coasts, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes could potentially produce more than 4,000 gigawatts of power, not far from the country’s major coastal cities, where much of the nation’s population and electricity demand lies. (more…)

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Senate committee tackles energy policy in first hearing

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Experts testify on natural gas exports, fracking

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Estimated fossil fuel reserves in the U.S. Courtesy USGS.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week tackled the question of an American energy policy in the context of the country’s natural gas boom by trying to find some bipartisan common ground on issues like fracking and liquid natural gas exports.

The fracking boom, along with other new technologies, has put the U.S. on the verge of becoming the world’s leading oil producer, ahead of Saudi Arabia. The U.S. is already exporting significant amounts of natural gas, with more export mega-projects poised to come online.

By some recent estimates, the natural gas boom could give the U.S. a reliable energy supply for 100 years or more, helping the country achieve a long-sought goal of energy independence. (more…)

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Does renewable energy permitting need streamlining?

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

House bill could put renewable energy on equal footing with fossil fuels

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Will Congress consider a renewable energy development bill this session? Photo courtesy BLM.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — On the heels of a do-nothing obstructionist Congress, it’s hard to say whether any public lands bills will get a fair committee hearing during the current session, but that hasn’t stopped U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) from taking a shot a promoting renewable energy on BLM lands.

Along with nine co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, Polis is promoting renewable energy development act that would streamline the process for leasing public lands for solar and other renewable energy projects. (more…)

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Feds map wind, solar energy zones in Arizona

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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New plan focuses on previously disturbed sites with few resource conflicts

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Obama administration’s push to develop more renewable energy resources reached another milestone this week, as the Interior Department finalized designation of 192,000 acres in Arizona as potentially suitable for utility-scale solar and wind energy development.

Any subsequent proposals for specific solar or wind energy projects will still need to undergo a site-specific environmental review.

According to the Interior Department, the lands identified in Arizona include previously disturbed sites (primarily former agricultural areas) and lands with low resource sensitivity and few environmental conflicts. Federal land managers in Arizona spent three years analyzing  disturbed land and other areas with few known resource conflicts that could accommodate commercial renewable energy projects. (more…)

Filed under: energy, Environment, renewable energy | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Drastic energy overhaul needed to stop climate change

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

‘Our emissions are not being held constant or even slowing; they’re growing faster than ever.’

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Alaska and a portion of Canada were the only significant land areas reporting below-average temperatures in the autumn of 2012.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Piecemeal changes to energy policy, like switching from coal to natural gas, are not nearly enough to stop the buildup of greenhouse gases that’s driving global warming.

What’s needed is “a fundamental and disruptive overhaul of the global energy system” to eradicate harmful carbon dioxide emissions, not just stabilize them, according to new findings by UC Irvine and other scientists.

In a paper to be published Jan. 9 in Environmental Research Letters, UC Irvine Earth system scientist Steve Davis and others say a fundamental overhaul of energy policy is needed to develop carbon-free power. (more…)

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Wind energy production tax credit gets 1 year extension

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Wind turbines near Lamar, Colorado. Photo courtesy NREL.

Congressional vote may help prevent additional wind energy layoffs in Colorado

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Surprisingly, and in part because of the persistence of Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), the wind energy production tax credit made it through the federal budget fiasco, gaining approval for a one-year extension that could help protect Colorado’s burgeoning renewable energy industry.

After giving 27 speeches on the Senate floor in support of the tax credit, Udall said the extension  gives manufacturers in Colorado and throughout North America the signal they need to create jobs, make capital investments in the United States, and ensure that wind energy remains a strong part of our national energy strategy, although a one-year extension isn’t likely to spur significant long-term investments.

“The extension of the wind Production Tax Credit is excellent news for workers in Pueblo, Windsor, Brighton and across the country. Thanks to the PTC extension, I am confident the wind industry will be able to create jobs and help revitalize our American manufacturing sector,” Udall said. (more…)

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Energy: Key East Coast grid could be powered with renewable sources by 2030 — at an overall cost savings

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
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Offshore windpower could be a critical part of a renewable East Coast power grid. Photo courtesy Hans Hillewaert.

Smart planning, with mix of sources and adequate storage the key to renewable energy future

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Powering the U.S. with renewable energy sources has always seemed to be a long-term dream, so distant that the temptation to stick with fossil fuels — despite the obvious environmental costs — has so far outweighed to motivation to move into a greener future.

That perception is, of course, supported by heavy duty lobbying and advertising by the fossil fuel industry, but evidence continues to mount that a renewable energy future is attainable in the foreseeable future, with existing technologies and at a cost comparable to today’s electricity expenses.

One of the most recent studies comes from the University of Delaware and Delaware Technical Community College, finding that a well-designed combination of wind power, solar power and storage in batteries and fuel cells would nearly always exceed electricity demands while keeping costs low, the scientists found. (more…)

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