| Washington Clean-Energy Update |
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| Wednesday, January 25 2012 |
The President and the White HouseState of the Union – January 24The President's State of the Union focused on energy policy to a surprising extent. He outlined his policy positions but was careful not to raise hopes that he expected the Congress to do anything about them. Instead, he identified some areas where he could use his executive powers to implement his positions. Below are the key themes and messages that emerged from the speech on energy policy (in bold), followed by the relevant quote from the address: All-of-the-Above Strategy — Energy policy generally: an all-of-the-above energy strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs. "But with only 2 percent of the world's oil reserves, oil isn't enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy — a strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs." Shale Gas — Full-speed ahead with natural gas, subject to health and safety. No mention of legislative proposals to bring fracking under federal regulation. Rather, new rules for federally owned land (leading by example?). "And I'm requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use. America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk." Clean Energy Innovation — Keep funding clean energy research and development; just as federal research is important to oil and gas, so it is just as important for clean energy sources too. "And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of thirty years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock – reminding us that Government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground. What's true for natural gas is true for clean energy." Clean Energy Innovation —Solyndra is no reason to back away from a clean energy development strategy. To rebuild our economic competitiveness, we need such a strategy. "Some technologies don't pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. … I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here." Tax Credits — Take oil subsidies and give them to clean energy sources. "We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That's long enough. It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that's rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that's never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs." Running the Federal Government on Clean Energy – It is unlikely that Congress will enact a Clean Energy Standard (CES), even though it should. So as a land-owner and purchaser of power, the feds are going to develop some amount of market demand for clean energy, with or without the Congress. I'm directing my Administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power three million homes. And I'm proud to announce that the Department of Defense, the world's largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history – with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year. Energy Efficiency — We need some incentives and de-regulatory steps (still unspecified) to produce energy efficiency gains in industrial processes and commercial buildings. "So here's another proposal: Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings." For the complete text of the State of the Union Address, please click here. Follow-up to the State of the Union – January 25The day after the address, the White House released six proposals to encourage domestic manufacturing. Using revenues captured by cutting the tax benefits companies enjoy by out-sourcing manufacturing, and eliminating domestic-production tax deductions for oil companies, the President's proposals include three of special interest to the cleantech community:
For more information, please click here. The Congress:House Bills:
Senate Bills:No relevant bills introduced. House Hearings:ARPA-E. On January 24, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held a hearing to discuss recent oversight reports from the DOE Inspector General and Government Accountability Office (GAO) on ARPA-E funding awards from 2009 until the present. The Republican Majority submitted their own report for the record, which called into question a number of funding awards from ARPA-E for projects that also received funding from the private sector. Dr. Arun Majumdar, Undersecretary of Energy, and formerly Director of ARPA-E, defended ARPA-E throughout the questioning, with the support of the Democratic minority, and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), explaining the original charter of the organization – to fund breakthrough technologies that the private market cannot support on its own, and how ARPA-E's work to date has all been consistent with that goal. For a full summary of the hearing, please click here. Senate Hearings:No relevant hearings. DOE:ARPA-E Energy Innovation SummitThe slate of keynote speakers is finalized for the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Feb 27-29, 2012. Plan to be in Washington, DC to hear President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Microsoft; Susan Hockfield, MIT; Fred Smith, FedEx; Ursula Burns, Xerox; and Lee Scott, BDT Capital. NVCA members can use this code when registering to receive a 10% discount: 10NVCA12 To register, click here. Policy Initiatives/ReportsThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a report that documents the increased adoption of energy-efficient lighting products in the United States over the last decade. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released two nationwide resource assessments showing that waves and tidal currents off the nation's coasts could contribute significantly to the United States' total annual electricity production, further diversify the nation's energy portfolio, and provide clean, renewable energy to coastal cities and communities. Vote for America's Next "Top Energy Innovator"It's up to you, America, to help decide America's Next Top Energy Innovator. Voting opened on January 26 for you to help select which technology has the potential to deliver the greatest impact to the country's economic and energy future. Of the 36 companies that received option agreements, 14 of the start-up companies participating in America's Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge have signed option agreements allowing them to license cutting-edge technologies developed and patented by one of the U.S. Department of Energy's 17 National Laboratories and the Y-12 National Security Complex. With the help of the Department's technologies, these start-up companies are inventing new ways of doing business in America. You can view the profiles of these start-ups and then cast your votes by 'liking' your favorite companies here . Voting will remain open until Monday, February 6 at 8:59 a.m. EST. The voting results play a significant role in determining which of these innovative and promising companies will be invited to be featured at the 2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, the premier annual gathering of clean energy investors and innovators. An expert panel will also evaluate the companies and rank them based on their economic and social impact. Remember: Vote Early and Vote Often! SolicitationsModulat Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstration. Genomic Science: Biosystems Design to Enable Next-Generation Biofuels EPA:Policy Initiatives/ReportsThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released for the first time comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) data reported directly from large facilities and suppliers across the country for calendar year 2010. The EPA's GHG Reporting Program provides information that will be easily accessible to the public, and includes public information from facilities in nine industry groups that directly emit large quantities of GHGs, as well as suppliers of certain fossil fuels. For more information, please click here.
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