renewable energy

Wherein the Jobs Jobs Jobs Rhetoric Hampers Solar Power Development

Michael Giberson If you believed what politicians say about green energy and jobs, you probably think they fit together like peanut butter and jelly squished between layers of bread. Has there been a renewable power subsidy announcement or ribbon-cutting ceremony where the word “jobs” was not featured in the first two or three sentences uttered …

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At Freakonomics, the Realization That State Solar Power Policies May Be Less Than Optimal

Michael Giberson File it under “Ya think???” A post at Freakonomics by Steve Sexton concludes that California’s solar power subsidies may not be making the best use of the technology. Sexton points out, for example, the 1,923 residential rooftop systems installed in cloudy San Francisco rather than sunnier California locations: If San Francisco’s residential solar …

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More on Evergreen Solar’s Move to China

Lynne Kiesling As an addendum to Mike’s post Monday about Evergreen Solar and Ed Glaeser’s comments, note that WW at The Economist’s Democracy in America blog has also posted some remarks on the subject. In particular, he focuses on the use (or uselessness) of solar technology subsidies as social policy: If subsidies for solar-panel manufactures …

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Evergreen Solar Moves Manufacturing to China

Michael Giberson In my view most “green jobs” arguments are bunk. While such estimates may have their practical uses, for the most part they are convenient lies. Industry lies to politicians and bureaucrats to get subsidies, and politicians recycle the lies to get votes. My view is not particularly subtle. Edward Glaeser provides a subtler …

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Speaking of Smoke: Oregon’s Only Coal Power Plant May Convert to Biomass, but Plan Has Many Unknowns

Michael Giberson The High Country News reports that Portland General Electric is considering shutting down its Boardman, OR, coal-fired power plant, with costs of Clean Air Act compliance cited as the cause.  However, another option under consideration is conversion of the plant to biomass, more specifically converted to use a torrefied Asian cane that would …

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Google’s Investment in Wind Generation

Lynne Kiesling Yesterday Google announced that their ever-growing sustainability strategy now includes investing in wind generation. Although they pursue these opportunities through their philanthropic arm, they claim that they are looking for meaningful returns on their investments in addition to their sustainability impact: To reach a clean energy future, we need three things: effective policy, …

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On the Road Again…

Michael Giberson I’ll be away from my desk for a couple of days, so posting may be light. (Unless I can figure out the WordPress ap on my phone, in which case maybe I’ll live blog parts of the renewable energy conference I’ll be attending in Austin.)

Tres Amigas Project Proposes to Connect Eastern, Western, and Texas Power Grids

Michael Giberson A high-profile, high-technology power project is making waves well beyond the small town of Clovis, New Mexico, where it has secured land for development. I’ve been telling my students and anyone else I can induce to listen to me for a few minutes (i.e., mostly just my students) that my new hometown of …

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