Germany: Full speed ahead on renewables

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Germany forges ahead with ambitious renewable energy plans

Germany’s rail corridors are lined with medium-size photovoltaic installations.

A cluster of wind turbines is barely visible in the lower righthand corner of the image.

By Bob Berwyn

MUNICH, GERMANY — It’s been a whirlwind week of travels here in the ‘old country’ where I grew up, but as I scan the news from back home in the USA and Colorado about the politics of renewable energy, I’m still thinking about what I saw as we flew into Frankfurt a little more than a week ago.

The U.S. Senate is playing politics with wind power, and presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he would do away with even the most harmless way to promote renewable power, the so-called wind energy production tax credits.

Meanwhile, even from 30,000 feet, the change in the German landscape is striking — hundreds, and even thousands, of power-generating wind turbines dot the countryside, in small clusters near villages, in lines along ridge tops, and in seemingly random clumps around some of the larger cities.

It all adds up to about 29,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply 8 percent of the industrial country’s needs, and Germany has been adding new wind capacity at a healthy rate. (more…)

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2011: ‘Swift and steady’ progress on renewable energy

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Obama administration continues unprecedented push to shift energy paradigm away from fossil fuels

Wind power infrastructure growing along East Coast.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY —The Obama administration may have stumbled in a few areas in 2011, but stayed on a roll in the energy sector by approving several new large-scale renewable projects and laying the planning groundwork for many more.

The renewable energy developments are not without some detractors and controversy, but the administration — led by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar —  is making good on promises to drag the country, kicking and screaming if need be, into a renewable energy future.

Last week the Interior Department announced approval of two more utility scale projects — one wind and one solar — that, when built, will generate nearly 500 megawatts of power, or enough to power 150,000 homes, and create 700 jobs during peak construction. (more…)

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Feds OK another large solar project in Nevada

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

Innovative Energy underwrites coverage of energy issues.

More solar power will be coming online in Nevada with federal approval of a new 500 megawatt facility near Las Vegas, Nevada.

New facility will generate 500 megawatts of power, enough for 150,000 homes

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Continuing on a roll with permitting solar energy developments on federal lands, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar this week announced the OK for a second large-scale project about 80 miles north of Las Vegas. Project developer Solar Millennium is eligible for about $1 billion in investment tax credits through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s incentives for specified energy programs.

Since early October, Salazar has approved eight large-scale solar energy projects, including the first to be built on U.S. public lands in California and Nevada. Combined, they will generate 3,500 megawatts to power more than 1 million homes and generate 6,000 construction jobs and 700 permanent plant operations jobs. The project is in negotiations to sell electricity to NV Energy under the terms of a power purchase agreement. The power will be supplied to the grid through Valley Electric Association, Inc.’s transmission lines. (more…)

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Summit County eco-events: Blue stain and home brews

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

Beetle-killed wood is piling up in Summit County. What to do? Find out at the Oct. 14 Eco Forum.

Local eco-events, with useful info and a good time at the Blue Knight forum (Oct. 14) and the Brew Ha Ha fundraiser for the High Country Conservation Center, Oct. 15 at Alpine Earth Center in Silverthorne

SUMMIT COUNTY — The question of commercial uses for beetle-killed, blue-stain timber is once again the topic of discussion locally, as the nonprofit Blue Knight Group hosts a meeting tonight (Oct. 14) at Copper Mountain to discuss business strategies revolving around supply chain management. The hope is to create a combined business entity with multiple stakeholders develop channels for the promotion, sales and use of beetle-kill timber from a six-county area in Colorado. (more…)

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San Luis Valley solar project still stirring controversy

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

Coalition of community, environmental groups aiming for energy awareness

A large-scale solar power facility and associated transmission lines will be discussed at an upcoming series of meetings in the San Luis Valley.

By Summit Voice

Citing “narrowly focused” information coming from proponents of a new transmission line across the San Luis Valley, a group of concerned citizens and independent member organizations have united to form a coalition to educate  Southern Colorado residents on possible energy alternatives.

Dubbed the Transmission Line Coalition (TLC), the group will coordinate efforts of various groups that support the implementation of micro-grid and distributive energy alternatives in Southern Colorado.

“Our mission is to support alternatives that rely on upgrades of existing transmission structures which will provide renewable and reliable electricity,” said TLC spokesperson Sally Keller, “but we do not support the proposed Tri-State/Xcel San Luis Valley-Calumet-Comanche transmission line project.” (more…)

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Pair of laws could spur renewable energy boom in the West

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Plant in Þingvellir, Iceland, shows that renewable energy on a large scale is an industrial endeavor. Plans to explore and develop geothermal resources in the American West could get a boost from a proposed law under consideration by Congress.

Measures would help companies develop geothermal resources and create competitive bidding process for wind and solar leases; part of royalties would be earmarked for conservation

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — House and Senate bills promoting wind and solar energy projects on public lands have the potential to spark a renewable energy boom in the West — and the measures have support from influential conservation groups like Trout Unlimited because they require that part of the royalty revenues derived from energy production on public lands go toward monitoring and mitigating impacts to wildlife.

The bills, sponsored by Senators Harry Reid and Jon Tester and Representative Dean Heller, encourage the responsible development of renewable energy while carefully considering the impacts on the country’s fish- and wildlife-rich landscapes. Provisions of these bills would, for the first time, establish a leasing program for wind and solar energy development on public lands.

The Wind and Solar Leasing Act would create a competitive bidding process for leases instead of the current first-come, first-serve application process.

The geothermal Exploration Act would help energy companies with the up-front costs associated with exploration and drilling for geothermal resources. The bill will set up a loan fund that the Department of Energy will administer to assist companies with higher risk development projects. (more…)

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Obama: $2 billion for solar power

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

Solar photovoltaic panels at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Colorado company will also get stimulus funds to expand a Longmont plant and build a new factory in Indiana for production of ‘thin film’ photovoltaic panels


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By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A still-limping economy and the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico both may have  been factors in President Barack Obama’s recent decision to invest $1.85 billion in solar power.

Under the deal, a Spanish company, Abengoa Solar, has been recruited to build one of the largest electricity producing solar plants near Gila Bend, Arizona. The project is expected to create about 1,600 construction jobs. More than 70 percent of the parts will manufactured in the U.S. By some estimates, the investment will result in overall benefits worth about $1.1 billion to the U.S. economy. The plant will generate about 280 megawatts, enough power for 70,000 homes. (more…)

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Western power grid plans for renewable energy

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

A map produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows where Western states could incorporate additional renewable energy production.

Carbon emissions could be cut by 25 to 45 percent across the region by boosting renewable production to 35 percent of total
By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Western U.S. could easily produce 35 percent of its electricity needs with solar and wind power by 2017, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory reported recently. Using that amount of renewable energy could cut carbon emissions by 25 to 45 percent and wouldn’t require additional infrastructure for the western power grid.

The key is making strategic changes to current operation to account for variable rates of production. Large amounts of wind and solar could be added to the grid without a lot of backup generation, according to NREL’s Debra Lew, a project manager for the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study.

“When you coordinate the operations between utilities across a large geographic area, you decrease the effect of the variability of wind and solar energy sources, mitigating the unpredictability of Mother Nature,” Lew said. (more…)

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Op-ed: Solar power debate in the San Luis Valley

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Bob Berwyn
A photovoltaic array at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

A photovoltaic array at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Residents support solar, but are wary of centralized, large-scale photovoltaic arrays in the rural valley; Small-scale solar projects near existing sub-stations make more sense, conservation groups say

By Ceal Smith

When Tri-State became the energy provider for San Luis Valley Rural Electric Coop over a decade ago, part of the contractual agreement was to begin redundant transmission line development to improve energy security for the San Luis Valley. Tri-State was solo in this endeavor, initially exploring a 230 kV line.  Xcel Energy/Public Service Company later realized that constructing centralized solar thermal generation complexes to export solar electricity out of the San Luis Valley was one way of meeting the new Colorado’s renewable energy standard requirements.

To accommodate this goal, Xcel joined the transmission project in 2008, increasing the size to a double-circuit 230 kV line. Recently, PUC staff recommended yet another increase to a 345 kV double-circuit line.  In capacity, this allows more than 1700 MW solar energy export, almost 10 times our 165 MW peak energy use during the summer irrigation season. These present transmission line proposals will, in effect, obligate multiple industrial scale solar sites miles wide, and forever change the agro-pastoral landscape of the San Luis Valley. “Benefits” are suspect if compared to viable alternatives. (more…)

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More cash rebates for energy upgrades in Colorado

Posted on January 20, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

A photovoltaic array on a New Jersey parking structure is an example of the type of project Colorado hopes to encourage with a new set of energy efficiency grants. PHOTO COURTESY FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS.

Just a handful of upgrades could add up to more than $1,000 in cash for local homeowners; Breckenridge historic properties could also benefit from state grants

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Homeowners who make just a handful of upgrades to boost the energy efficiency of their houses and appliances could quality for more than $1,000 in cash rebates, said Jon Kinstad of the High Country Conservation Center.

Local businesses can also benefit, with training grants to fund local businesses and non-profits that provide residential energy efficiency services. Grant dollars would help the organizations expand their work and aid with new employee training costs.

Kinstad said the High Country Conservation Center plans to apply for some of that grant money. More details on specific programs after the break. (more…)

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