The Douglas County School District (and several business partners) have announced the development of more than 3 MW of solar projects at 31 different sites, including 30 schools and one athletic stadium. The school district has entered into a power purchase agreement with REgeneration Finance, which will own and finance the solar electric generating projects. The project will be built at a cost of $18.3 million at no capital, operational, maintenance, insurance, financing or ownership expense to Douglas County School District taxpayers, and it is estimated this project will save the school district $5.5 million over a 25-year period. Installation will take approximately nine months to complete
http://www.solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.6121

The Bio-Bug has been converted by a team of British engineers to be powered by biogas, which is produced from human waste at sewage works across the country. They believe the car is a viable alternative to electric vehicles. Excrement flushed down the lavatories of just 70 homes is enough to power the car for 10,000 miles - the equivalent of one average motoring year. This conversion technology has been used in the past but the Bio-Bug is Britain’s first car to run on methane gas without its performance being reduced. “If you were to drive the car you wouldn’t know it was powered by biogas as it performs just like any conventional car. It is probably the most sustainable car around.” the Bio-Bug is carbon neutral because all of its CO2 would have been released into the atmosphere anyway in the form of methane gas.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7929191/Bio-Bug-Car-run-on-human-waste-is-launched.html

- We wrote about this innovative grid project months ago that now has added an important element- new powerful batteries that aim to solve the barrier that renewable energies of solar and wind have by storing the energy so it can be used when there is demand, not just when it is created. Exciting! If you have investment capability, there are opportunities here. - Editor
 

Xtreme Power
The startups that have teamed up to build a transmission hub to connect the U.S.’s three major grids in the east, west and Texas are adding another startup player for energy storage. This afternoon, Tres Amigas, the Santa Fe, N.M-based company behind the transmission project, announced that they have partnered with Xtreme Power, a startup which provides groups of batteries for energy storage for the power grid. Xtreme Power’s batteries would provide storage for the SuperStation to help balance the flow of electricity, and importantly, to enable the addition of more clean power, which is variable, depending on the wind and sunlight, which aren’t always available. Xtreme Power’s batteries would store and release power in response to fluctuations in demand and supply at the hub. For its batteries, Xtreme uses a PowerCell battery chemistry that it calls a “chemical capacitor,” which it says can beat lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy storage, efficiency, cycle life and cost. CEO Carlos Coe told us that Xtreme’s PowerCell battery tech acts more like capacitors: charging and discharging at high speeds, while at the same time, maintaining the qualities that make batteries better than capacitors for long-term energy storage.
http://earth2tech.com/2010/08/18/xtreme-power-joins-the-transmission-hub-project/

- Yes! Making the right decisions can be tough but so very necessary! We all must support politicians who are determined to make tough but right decisions. The goals being set now in the U.S. are far too timid- even non-existent.- Editor
 

Portugal Rocks Renewables: 45% Renewable Electricity by Year’s End
For the past 5 years Portugal has been pushing a dramatic shift to renewable energy. Compared to the standard “20% renewables by 2020” targets that are often brought out at press conferences, its accomplishments are impressive: By the end of the year nearly 45% of its electricity will come from renewable sources. That’s up from 17% five years ago.

If you think of it as a recipe, there are three key ingredients of Portugal’s success:
• 1 part opening up of the energy sector to market forces (including the privatization of energy utilities)
• 1 part technological modernization (in particular the creation of a smart-grid able to handle diverse sources of renewable energy), and
• 2 parts savvy country-wide energy policy (including guaranteed rates for renewables, and the EU Carbon Trading System).

Photo- wind farm in Portugal
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011498.html

-  Cutting funding for renewable energy by more than half while the Senate voted against proposed cuts to oil and gas subsidies verges on insanity. Doesn’t anyone in D.C. have children? - Editor

To help pay for the aid bill, lawmakers cut $1.5 billion from the Department of Energy’s renewable energy loan guarantee program. It’s the second time in roughly a year that Congress has raided the program to fund other priorities. Last summer, lawmakers cut $2 billion from the Dept. of Energy’s renewable energy loan account to extend the highly popular Cash for Clunkers program. Congress has not repaid the agency that $2 billion, despite frequent promises. Taken together, the cuts have whittled the program’s budget down to $2.5 billion, less than half the $6 billion Congress appropriated in early 2009.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/08/11/renewable-energy-backers-wince-as-congress-raids-doe-coffers/

- The many government leaders who read Climate Today may want to read this report for its analysis of policy effectiveness. - Editor

Feed-in tariffs responsible for 75% of solar deployment
The lure of feed-in tariffs (FITs) has been responsible for around 75% of solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment around the world and 45% of wind power, according to a study by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). FITs are the most widely used renewable energy policy, in operation in over 75 countries, outweighing both tax incentives and renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies. But the widespread introduction of European-style FITs in the US is hampered by the Federal Power Act (FPA) and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), which would require an investigation and specific rulemaking or declaratory order. Alternatively, Congress could take action and had the Waxman-Markey climate bill – the 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act – been passed this would have clarified a number of the issues. NREL’s guide provides a complete overview of the policy options for FITs, and the key elements that US states should consider if introducing FITs.
For the report: www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/44849.pdf
http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/power-generation/i/3302/

The Solar Bug is a solar-electric vehicle which travels more than 30 miles on a full charge at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, and can carry two passengers and a small amount of cargo. It has 200 watts of roof-mounted solar power and a proprietary regenerative braking system which converts braking energy into battery storage. The Solar Bug can travel up to 10 miles per day on solar power alone. The Solar Bug is the first commercially available solar powered vehicle in North America.
Very upbeat video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHKdFFIuOxA
http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=23794

The Senate has decided that we won’t get a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill before the August recess — which most observers interpret as a death-knell for the legislation this year. This failure would be hard to understand at any time, to say the least. But coming as it does in the middle of a record-hot summer and a series of environmental disasters, Washington’s abandonment of this effort is all the more confounding and frustrating.

However, this setback only makes our work more necessary. As long as we care about our country, our planet, and the future we’re leaving for our children and grandchildren, we must continue to fight.

Remember: The climate crisis isn’t going away. And neither can we. It is getting worse, so we have to redouble our efforts.  I’d like to invite you to join me next Tuesday, August 10, for a conversation to discuss how we should move forward from here. I’ll be answering some questions from Repower America members like you — so please submit a question for discussion.

“Next Steps for the Climate Movement”
Virtual Town Hall
Tuesday, August 10 at 8:30 p.m. EDT
RSVP to join and submit your question
http://acp.repoweramerica.org/jointhecall

Global subsidies for fossil fuels dwarf support given to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and biofuels, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said. Governments last year gave $43 billion to $46 billion of support to renewable energy through tax credits, guaranteed electricity prices known as feed-in tariffs and alternative energy credits. That compares with the $557 billion that the International Energy Agency last month said was spent to subsidize fossil fuels in 2008. “One of the reasons the clean energy sector is starved of funding is because mainstream investors worry that renewable energy only works with direct government support,” said Michael Liebreich, chief executive of New Energy Finance. “This analysis shows that the global direct subsidy for fossil fuels is around ten times the subsidy for renewables.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-29/fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-12-times-support-for-renewables-study-shows.html

The Partner jurisdictions of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) today released a comprehensive strategy designed to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), stimulate development of clean-energy technologies, create green jobs, increase energy security and independence, and protect public health. he Design for the WCI Regional Program is the culmination of two years of work by seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. Supported by their jurisdictional goals, the objective of the WCI Partner jurisdictions’ plan is to reduce regional GHG emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
For the Program Release Statement- http://westernclimateinitiative.org/component/remository/general/program-design/Program-Design-Release-Statement/
http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/news-and-updates/121-wci-partners-release-their-comprehensive-strategy-to-address-climate-change-and-spur-a-clean-energy-economy