DailyFinance.comhttp://www.dailyfinance.comDailyFinance.com%http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/BlogURL%/media/feedlogo.gifDailyFinance.comhttp://www.dailyfinance.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ExxonMobil Buys Gas, as Big Oil Plans for a Renewable-Energy Futurehttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/15/exxonmobil-buys-gas-as-big-oil-plans-for-a-renewable-energy-fut/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/15/exxonmobil-buys-gas-as-big-oil-plans-for-a-renewable-energy-fut/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/15/exxonmobil-buys-gas-as-big-oil-plans-for-a-renewable-energy-fut/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

These days, everyone wants a piece of the rock -- domestic shale, that is. With oil-drilling costs north of $3.5 million per well and natural gas trading below $3, global energy companies are all about American shale. In November, Europe's second-largest supplier of natural gas, Norwegian-based StatOilHydro (STOHF), signed a $3.4 billion agreement in November to acquire 32.5% of Chesapeake Energy's (CHK) 32,000 shale-gas leases in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Ohio.

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]]>booz allen hamiltonbpbritish petroleumChesapeakedevonDevon Energygeorgianatural gasoklahomaputinrussiashale gasukraineXTO EnergyMark SvenvoldTue, 15 Dec 2009 15:40:00 ESTBig ideas on carbon emissions swirl through a radical energy conferencehttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/07/big-ideas-on-carbon-emissions-swirl-through-a-radical-energy-con/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/07/big-ideas-on-carbon-emissions-swirl-through-a-radical-energy-con/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/07/big-ideas-on-carbon-emissions-swirl-through-a-radical-energy-con/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

I'm still humming from November's "Carbon Economy" summit in Washington. My highlight: Ten entrepreneurs showcasing their ideas on how to address renewable-energy demand, carbon mitigation, and green jobs. They presented their ideas to potential investors and energy executives, who voted for the smartest, savviest, likeliest game-changer.

And it was a tough contest. There was the bio-algae producer from Puerto Rico, and the wind turbines designed to float at sea. There was the company using national weather-service data to help India's farmers accurately predict rainfall -- and use less diesel energy for their generators. The ideas were so good, I couldn't narrow them down to one favorite. Here, instead, I present my own awards for the most surprising green ideas to come from the conference (one of which was the actual "winner").

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]]>Mark SvenvoldMon, 07 Dec 2009 11:30:00 ESTEntering the nuclear age? A utilities CEO wants federal control on energyhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/28/entering-the-nuclear-age-a-utilities-ceo-wants-federal-control/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/28/entering-the-nuclear-age-a-utilities-ceo-wants-federal-control/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/28/entering-the-nuclear-age-a-utilities-ceo-wants-federal-control/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Will the federal government ever take more control of the nation's energy policy? At the Carbon Economy conference in Washington in mid-November, Duke Energy (DUK) CEO Jim Rogers stole the show when he broached that idea.

Today, each state has tremendous power to manage its own energy needs; governors and state public utility commissioners decide how much electricity is generated, from which sources -- renewable or traditional fossil-fuel -- and how much the electricity will cost. And renewable portfolio standards, which mandate that more electricity come from renewable-energy sources, have been entirely state-run initiatives.

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]]>Bipartisan Policy Centerclimate legislationDuke energyEmma DuncanJames RogersJason GrumetThe Economistwaxman-markeyMark SvenvoldSat, 28 Nov 2009 10:00:00 ESTNRG Energy sees the (green) light, buys Bluewater Windhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/15/nrg-energy-sees-the-green-light-buys-bluewater-wind/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/15/nrg-energy-sees-the-green-light-buys-bluewater-wind/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/15/nrg-energy-sees-the-green-light-buys-bluewater-wind/#commentsFiled under: , ,

nrg-energy-sees-the-green-light-buys-bluewater-windNRG Energy (NRG) a $3 billion company with 24,000 megawatts of coal, natural gas, nuclear and solar power plants in its portfolio, has acquired Bluewater Wind, based in Hoboken, N.J., for cash on hand. The deal, announced in a press conference last Monday with Drew Murphy, NRG's Northeast regional president and Bluewater Wind President and CEO Peter Mandelstam, marks the end of a long, strange saga. The two companies, once rivals, engaged in a bitter competition to provide energy to Delaware. Now they will operate in conjunction under NRG's large, well-financed roof.

The background to the acquisition provides a study in the power that some investor-owned utilities have had to block the entrance of renewable energy into electricity markets -- and in how that is rapidly changing.

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]]>Bluewater WindConnectiv EnergyDelmarva PowerDrew MurphyNRG EnergyOffshore Wind farmPeter MandelstamTom NoyesWind powerMark SvenvoldSun, 15 Nov 2009 13:00:00 ESTClimate change bill: How Congress could fail us all, even if it passes health carehttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/11/climate-change-bill-how-congress-could-fail-us-all-even-if-it/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/11/climate-change-bill-how-congress-could-fail-us-all-even-if-it/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/11/climate-change-bill-how-congress-could-fail-us-all-even-if-it/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

While the planet's environmental apocalypse may not be much much nigh than it was last month, this year's Election Day bore grim tidings for voters concerned with climate change. By electing public officials whose tendency on this issue is inaction, we may tipped the climate ever so slightly in the direction of the doomsday scenario -- a realm of irreversible ecological change that scientists have long warned about.

One battlefield was New Jersey, which elected Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, a U.S. attorney, over hapless Democratic incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine. Another was Virginia, which elected former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell over his Democratic challenger, Creigh Deeds. Christie vowed, if elected, to make trouble for the Environmental Protection Agency, while McDonnell revealed his own radical views denying climate change, despite overwhelming scientific evidence of its existence. McDonnell's denial of global warming also puts him at odds with the most prominent members of the Republican party, who acknowledge climate change as fact:


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]]>bidenbob mcdonnellboxer-kerryBurlington Northernburlington northern santa fechris christieclimate changecoalcongresscorzinecreigh deedsdesotoelectionglobal warminggovernorinhofejon corzinelegislationnew jerseyobamasolarvirginiawarren buffettMark SvenvoldWed, 11 Nov 2009 14:20:00 ESTWhy the booming wind industry needs a renewable electricity standardhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/21/why-the-booming-wind-industry-needs-a-renewable-electricity-stan/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/21/why-the-booming-wind-industry-needs-a-renewable-electricity-stan/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/21/why-the-booming-wind-industry-needs-a-renewable-electricity-stan/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Last Wednesday was New York Wind Energy Day. Like other recent officially designated days (New York International Fringe Festival Day, Hispanic Television Summit Day), Wind Energy Day coincided with a big conference: the Wind Power Finance & Investment Workshop, hosted by the American Wind Energy Association.

On MTV's 44-foot billboard at 45th and Broadway in Times Square stood a video screen showing wind turbines and industry factoids ("Wind power jobs grew by 70 percent from 50,000 to 85,000 jobs in 2008"). Nearby, at 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, 16 45-foot cylindrical wind turbines were spinning away, powering the 47-foot Ricoh billboard: the first wind-powered outdoor board in the world. (It apparently saves the Japanese photocopier company as much as $15,000 a month on electricity bills.) And on the afternoon that the Dow closed above 10,000 for the first time in a year, AWEA president Denise Bode and Broadwind Energy CEO J. Cameron Drecoll rang the NASDAQ closing bell. That benchmark put an exclamation point on a day full of good omens and ceremonial gestures, and set a bullish tone for wind energy in the American portfolio.

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]]>American Coalition for Clean Coal ElectricityAmerican Electric Poweramerican petroleum instituteAmerican Wind Energy AssociationAWEABroadwind EnergyClimate billClimate LegislationDenise BodeKerry-Boxer billnational association of manufacturersRenewable Electricity Standardrenewable energy legislationressouthern companywaxma-markey billWaxman-MarkeyWind energywind energy financeMark SvenvoldWed, 21 Oct 2009 11:30:00 ESTEnergy production adding $120 billion in hidden costs to the nationhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/19/enery-production-adding-120-billion-in-hidden-costs-to-the-nati/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/19/enery-production-adding-120-billion-in-hidden-costs-to-the-nati/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/19/enery-production-adding-120-billion-in-hidden-costs-to-the-nati/#commentsFiled under:

Energy production and use in America could be adding as much as $120 billion in hidden costs to the nation, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Academy of Sciences.

The report, "Hidden costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use," ties much of the hidden costs to medical care sought by people affected by air pollution from electricity generation and vehicle transportation. Sustainability advocates say for the first time, the government has recognized and quantified what economists call the "external," life-cycle costs of, among other things, electricity generation, transportation, and building heating and cooling. Together these three areas account for 90 percent of the energy consumed in the United States.

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]]>climate and energy legislationclimate billcost of coalenergy debateexternal costs analysiskerry-boxer billrenewable energywaxman-markeyMark SvenvoldMon, 19 Oct 2009 20:20:00 ESTCleantech hits the jackpot: George Soros to invest $1 billion in green energyhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/12/cleantech-hits-the-jackpot-george-soros-to-invest-1-billion-in/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/12/cleantech-hits-the-jackpot-george-soros-to-invest-1-billion-in/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/12/cleantech-hits-the-jackpot-george-soros-to-invest-1-billion-in/#commentsFiled under: ,

Billionaire philanthropist George Soros has thrown his hat into the green-investment ring, pledging to spend $1 billion on clean energy. The 29th richest man in the world with a net worth of about $11 billion, Soros suggested he is interested in investing in technologies that are profitable and that are effective in reducing global climate change. "I want to apply rather stringent criteria to the investments," Soros said in a speech in Denmark on Saturday.

If he is true to his word, however, his investment would seem to rule out a technology into which he has already invested -- carbon capture and sequestration, which has been shown to be riotously expensive and dubiously effective, as in this recent post.

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]]>cap and tradecarbon taxclean energy investingclean energy investmentGeorge SorosNew Energy Financesolar powerMark SvenvoldMon, 12 Oct 2009 19:00:00 ESTClimate change: Will the U.S. be a leader or a laggard at Copenhagen conference?http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/06/climate-change-will-the-u-s-be-a-leader-or-a-laggard-at-copenh/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/06/climate-change-will-the-u-s-be-a-leader-or-a-laggard-at-copenh/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/06/climate-change-will-the-u-s-be-a-leader-or-a-laggard-at-copenh/#comments
That's the worry of former Irish prime minister John Bruton, now the European Union's ambassador to the U.S. Calling for action on New York radio station WNYC last week, Bruton called America's overconsumption of fossil fuels and dependence on unfriendly countries a national security issue. His remarks echoed those of Energy Secretary Steve Chu, who, when he was director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, urged the U.S. to take the long view on climate change and to take action:

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]]>Barbara BoxerBoxer-Kerry Climate billCarbon EmissionsClimate ChangeClimate legislationCopenhagen Climate Change ConferenceEnvironmental Protection AgencyJohn BrutonJohn KerrySteve ChuMark SvenvoldTue, 06 Oct 2009 13:30:00 ESTEnergy efficiency, as powerful as it is unglamorous, is getting its duehttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/28/energy-efficiency-as-powerful-as-it-is-unglamous-is-getting-it/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/28/energy-efficiency-as-powerful-as-it-is-unglamous-is-getting-it/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/28/energy-efficiency-as-powerful-as-it-is-unglamous-is-getting-it/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The secret hero of Ronald Brownstein's article "The California Experiment" in the October Atlantic Monthly is Arthur H. Rosenfeld. A California Energy Commissioner, Rosenfeld is a winner of the Enrico Fermi Award -- the top scientific honor in the United States -- and a man widely recognized as an early champion of the of the powers of energy efficiency.

I met Rosenfeld a few years ago in his office in Sacramento. I found him to be a spry, silver-haired raconteur who wears short-sleeved shirts with a pocket protector and makes quick use of graphs and bar charts. Here's Rosenfeld in a video from CBS:

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]]>Amory LovinsArthur RosenfeldCalifornia economyenergy efficiencyEnergy Efficiency Centerrenewable energyUniversity of California at DavisMark SvenvoldMon, 28 Sep 2009 17:30:00 ESTClean coal: Unworkable, expensive, but blessed with stimulus moneyhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/21/clean-coal-unworkable-expensive-but-blessed-with-stimulus-mon/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/21/clean-coal-unworkable-expensive-but-blessed-with-stimulus-mon/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/21/clean-coal-unworkable-expensive-but-blessed-with-stimulus-mon/#commentsFiled under: ,

Big coal's last best hope, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), which is the missing puzzle piece required to create a truly 'clean coal' energy plant, is dead.

The death of CCS, which has not been greatly exaggerated (see here, and here), hasn't prevented the Obama Administration from recently allocating money to stimulate it back to life -- for instance, in field tests, like this one that began last week in an unused West Virginia mine shaft. And it hasn't prevented climate scientist James Hanson from naming CCS as one of many possible solutions to the problem of global warming.

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]]>ACCCEAmerican Coalition for Clean Coal Electricityarch coalcarbon capture and coalcarbon capture and sequestrationcarbon legislationclean coalclean coal technologyclean energyclimate legislationcoal minecoal miningcoal powerIGCCin focusPeabody energywaxman-markeyMark SvenvoldMon, 21 Sep 2009 15:00:00 ESTThe world's first floating wind turbine goes on line in Norwayhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/09/the-worlds-first-floating-wind-turbine-goes-on-line-in-norway/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/09/the-worlds-first-floating-wind-turbine-goes-on-line-in-norway/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/09/the-worlds-first-floating-wind-turbine-goes-on-line-in-norway/#commentsFiled under:

Hywind, the world's first floating wind turbine, went on line this week, six miles off the coast of Stavanger, Norway. It owes its existence to two oil and gas engineers who asked, according to Sjur Bratland, the Hywind project manager, "Why not? Why not do it?"

StatoilHydro, the Norwegian oil company, spent $60 million dollars to design and construct Hywind's tower and platform which rises almost 200 feet feet above the waves. The turbine sits atop a floating steel structure that extends 300 feet below the surface, is filled with ballast of water and rocks and is anchored to the ocean floor by three cables.

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]]>floating wind turbinehywindnorwaystavangerwindMark SvenvoldWed, 09 Sep 2009 17:00:00 ESTWill a 100-year supply of natural gas hinder the renewable energy sector?http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/09/will-a-100-year-supply-of-natural-gas-hinder-the-renewable-energ/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/09/will-a-100-year-supply-of-natural-gas-hinder-the-renewable-energ/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/09/will-a-100-year-supply-of-natural-gas-hinder-the-renewable-energ/#commentsThis may be a better time than ever for renewable energy. The climate for passing laws that would create subsidies for it are promising: last year, the Production Tax Credit for wind power was extended, along with a hefty longterm-Investment tax credit for solar power. A loan guarantee program was put into place (although it was subsequently raided to finance the "cash for clunkers" program). Last week, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced more than $500 million of grants, mostly for wind-project developers, as the first phase of a $3 billion grant program for developing renewable energy. This and the $2.3 billion Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit are expected to help build the wind-energy sector.

But Bruno Mejean isn't feeling the winds of change just yet. The managing director and deputy general manager of Nord/LB, New York, a German financial institution, Mejean is on the front lines for financing large utility-scale solar and wind power projects. (Among the top 20 banks lending funds for renewable energy, Nord/LB and three others are German; only one American institution -- ING Bank -- makes the top 50.) Mejean anticipates obstacles for the wind-energy sector in particular, and the biggest drag on developing renewable-energy projects, he says, is the prospect of a longterm low price for natural gas.

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]]>Bruno Mejeangreen energy project financingnatural gasNordLBproject financingRenewable Electricity Standardrenewable energy project financingrenewable energy risksshale gassolar powersolar power pricingT Boone PickensWaxman-markeywind energyMark SvenvoldWed, 09 Sep 2009 11:00:00 ESTThe dirtiest bus tour in America attacks cap and trade billhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/28/the-dirtiest-bus-tour-in-america-attacks-cap-and-trade-bill/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/28/the-dirtiest-bus-tour-in-america-attacks-cap-and-trade-bill/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/28/the-dirtiest-bus-tour-in-america-attacks-cap-and-trade-bill/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

While you were off on your summer staycation, a small group of sunny-faced politicos hit the road in a big blue tour bus, armed with clipboards and talking points developed by a former speechwriter for the late Kenneth Lay, the convicted former CEO of Enron. In the manner of insurance and health-industry lobbyists orchestrating faux-grassroots bus tours to fight healthcare reform, the blue tour bus is funded by the American Energy Alliance: the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research.

The IER is a think tank founded by one of the most successful remaining free-market ideologues in the country, 16-year Enron veteran Robert L. Bradley, Jr. As reported by Brad Johnson in the Wonk Room, both the AEA and the IER are front groups for some of America's biggest environmental polluters -- big oil, big coal, big manufacturing, and big utilities -- which do not want a cap-and-trade bill to pass.

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]]>American Energy Alliancecap-and-tradeenronglobal warmingInstitute for Energy ResearchKen LayRobert L. Bradley Jr.waxman-markeyMark SvenvoldFri, 28 Aug 2009 15:40:00 ESTAre wind power's critics blowing hot air?http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/25/are-wind-powers-critics-blowing-hot-air/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/25/are-wind-powers-critics-blowing-hot-air/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/25/are-wind-powers-critics-blowing-hot-air/#commentsMy recent post about wind power and manufacturing touched a nerve of a reader who wrote in to the comments section. Wind power gets people concerned and upset. The prospect of a horizon altered by giant wind turbines triggers powerful emotions: the endless vistas of the American landscape symbolize our national identity, and to some people, altering that view with wind farms profanes a sacred place.

The Maple Ridge wind-turbine project in upstate New York, like others in the Northeast, has attracted lots of controversy, for predictable reasons: outside developers move into a pristine area, change the landscape, throw down some royalties for a few local citizens, and then ship the electricity to New York City. (And often, the local electricity rates go up.) That must be exasperating.



And there are complaints of the adverse health effects upon people located near wind farms:




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]]>wind power and intermittancywind power and variabilitywind power opponentswind turbine criticsMark SvenvoldTue, 25 Aug 2009 15:00:00 ESTFor wind power, it's all about nuts, bolts, bearings, gear boxes - and jobshttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/24/for-wind-power-its-all-about-nuts-bolts-bearings-gear-boxes/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/24/for-wind-power-its-all-about-nuts-bolts-bearings-gear-boxes/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/24/for-wind-power-its-all-about-nuts-bolts-bearings-gear-boxes/#commentsIn the back and forth over wind energy, one thing is clear. As Congress tries to come to grips with what to do about renewable energy, other countries have surged ahead with great focus.

The effect has been powerful for the economies of China, India, Brazil, and much of Europe, where the contours of a major renewable industrial manufacturing base are appearing. Factories overseas are in overdrive, making bearings, gear boxes, generators, nacelles, turbine blades and towers, all the component parts that go into producing a wind turbine.

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]]>green jobswind energy and jobswind energy supply chainwind turbine manufacturingwind turbine supply chainMark SvenvoldMon, 24 Aug 2009 17:00:00 ESTNew Jersey's solar boom: The battle between old and new energyhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/18/new-jerseys-solar-boom-the-battle-between-old-and-new-energy/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/18/new-jerseys-solar-boom-the-battle-between-old-and-new-energy/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/18/new-jerseys-solar-boom-the-battle-between-old-and-new-energy/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Last Friday, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine cut the ribbon on an 18-kilowatt solar installation at an apartment complex in Patterson, New Jersey. The event marked a state milestone: According to the governor, 4,000 solar installations, or 90 megawatts of solar power, have been installed in New Jersey. Corzine added that, seven years ago, there were only six solar installations.

When one thinks of the refineries, chemical companies, smoke stacks and toxic waste of the Garden State, it seems surprising that New Jersey has risen to national prominence as a leader in solar power. Even so, according to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' Jeanne M. Fox, the state has more solar power installed per capita than California. Indeed, except for California, no other state has installed more solar power.

Continue reading New Jersey's solar boom: The battle between old and new energy


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]]>Dolores PhillipsGermanyJohn CorzineMiddle Atlantic Solar Industries AssociationNew JerseySRECMark SvenvoldTue, 18 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST