James L. Robenalt and David C. Campbell were recently published in the national edition of the Metropolitan Corporate Counsel magazine. Their article, “Why Dangerous Greenhouse Gases May be Incapable of Regulation,” examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, where the court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority under the federal Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases, but asks whether the EPA has the statutory tools necessary to actually do so.
Biofuel Refinery to be Built in Eastern Oregon
Posted in Clean Energy, OregonOn January 26, 2012, ZeaChem, Inc. announced that it had received a $235 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finance construction of a biofuel refinery in Boardman, Oregon. The facility, which will be operational by the end of 2014, will produce up to 25 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year.
Cellulosic ethanol is produced from non-edible biomass sources, such as agricultural residues, trees, and grasses. It costs about half as much as corn ethanol to produce and reduces greenhouse emissions 85% over reformulated gasoline. Since cellulose is so abundant, it is estimated that 323 million tons of cellulose-containing raw materials are thrown away each year in the U.S. If converted to ethanol, those materials could be used to supply as much as 30% of the nation’s fuel needs.
The ready supply of forest trimmings and agricultural residue in Oregon could make the state a leader in the biofuel industry. Oregon already offers tax credits for suppliers of the feedstocks used to make the fuel. ZeaChem’s biomass mix will contain 30% agricultural residue of which 70% will come from a 28,000 acre poplar plantation in Boardman owned by GreenWood Resources of Portland.
Boardman is located about three hours east of Portland on Interstate 84. Since the town is located on the Columbia River, ZeaChem’s ethanol likely will be transported to Portland and Seattle by barge and distributed along the west coast. The facility is expected to create 65 local jobs and 118 construction jobs.
Oregon 2nd, Washington 6th in Nation in Promoting Clean Energy
Posted in Oregon, WashingtonAccording to Clean Edge, Inc., a Portland consulting firm, Oregon ranks 2nd in the nation and Washington 6th in leadership efforts to promote clean energy.
In ranking the states, Clean Edge considered the states’ development and deployment of clean-energy technologies, the effectiveness of each state’s policy structure, and available capital resources. For example, utility-scale clean energy generation (wind, solar, and geothermal), the number of LEED and Energy Star buildings constructed, smart meters deployed, electric and hybrid cars on the road, and electric charging stations, the existence and strength of clean-energy initiatives, energy efficiency standards, utility performance incentives, venture capital investments, energy efficiency expenditures, clean energy patents, and jobs in the clean energy sector.
Other key findings in the report: Oregon ranks #1 in LEED-certified green building projects, #2 for smart electric meter penetration, #3 in hybrid electric vehicle adoption, and #6 in total installed wind capacity and generation. Washington ranks #2 in clean electricity as a percentage of total generation (72%). Oregon and Washington are in the top three states for total electric-vehicle charging stations and charging stations per capita.
Other notable state rankings: California (1), New York (4), Colorado (5), Vermont (10), Hawaii (16), Texas (18), Arizona (24), Montana (26), Idaho (32), Alaska (43), Mississippi (49), and West Virginia (50).
A summary of Clean Edge’s report may be found at www.cleanedge.com.
Google Invests $100 Million in Oregon Wind Farm
Posted in Clean Energy, OregonEarlier this year, Google, Inc. announced that it had invested $100 million into the Shepherd’s Flat wind farm in eastern Oregon. The 845-megawatt wind-generation facility will be the world’s largest land-based wind farm.
The project, which is being constructed by Caithness Energy, covers 30 square miles across Gilliam and Morrow counties near Arlington. Once completed, the project will generate enough energy to supply more than 235,000 homes and will avoid more than 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year (equivalent to the carbon dioxide from more than 200,000 cars). The power will be sold to Southern California Edison, a California-based utility, to help it meet its renewable energy requirements. The project is expected to inject $16 million annually into Oregon, in addition to creating 400 temporary and 35 permanent jobs.
The project is more than 50% complete. Work on the substations, interconnection facilities, transmission lines, and electricity collection systems is complete, and all wind turbine foundations have been built. The project’s first phase, which includes 70 turbines, will be finished by the end of November. All 338 turbines are expected to be operational by August 2012. The total cost of the project is expected to be $2 billion.
Other investors in the project are Itochu Corporation and Sumimoto Corporation of America.
Keeping Pace in Tough Economic Times
Posted in Clean EnergyRenewable energy will surely see some lean years ahead with a poor economy and lawmakers looking to cut trillions from the national budget. The recent bankruptcy of industrial solar manufacturer, Solyndra – a recipient of federal stimulus money – will only hurt the argument for further government investment in renewables. Put simply, the poor economy and fights in Washington will undermine any grand legislative progress on the clean energy front. However, in the near-term, victories can still be won on the local and administrative front.
One such administrative battle concerns PACE bonds. Heralded as “one of the best publicly and privately-funded tools for gaining energy independence,” PACE bonds allow property owners to defray the upfront costs of energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. PACE is a new take on an old idea. Just as property owners incur assessments for street paving, parks, street lighting and sewer systems, owners seeking to invest in “green upgrades” (e.g., weather sealing, solar installations, etc.) can opt in for PACE financing that is repaid through an assessment on their property taxes for up to 20 years. These assessments “run with the land” (i.e., the new owner continues to pay the assessment as they continue to receive the benefit of the energy savings), and are believed to be paid for through the energy savings.
However, the battle lines over PACE were drawn in the summer of 2010 when the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) issued a statement that directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to cease underwriting mortgages for properties with a PACE assessment. The reason: PACE bonds provide the issuing municipality with a “priority” lien on the property in the event of default. Because banks do not want to compromise their priority position, the FHFA made the rather dubious claim that PACE does not meet a “valid public purpose.” In turn, the State of California sued the FHFA and more recently, the Federal District Court in Oakland ruled that the FHFA may not unilaterally issue directives, but instead must go through the proper administrative channels and conduct a “rulemaking procedure” (i.e. address comments and explain and justify its rules).
The case of PACE bonds illustrates the need to focus on administrative law efforts. While a court ruling requiring the FHFA to follow administrative procedures is not game changing, it is progress. Requiring agencies to effectively administer the clean energy policies that do exist will help maximize the current array of green technologies and financing options.
Clean Energy’s Environmental Problem: The Need for Planning and Consensus Among Unlikely Foes
Posted in Clean EnergyWith increased focus on how to jump-start the economy, commentators have focused attention on a traditional debate that pits the “clashing priorities of jobs versus the environment.” However, when clean energy projects are actually proposed, the irony is that “pro-environment” groups are often the loudest critics. For example, when Cape Wind (a 130-turbine wind farm scheduled to be built in Nantucket Sound) was first proposed in 2003, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound was filing lawsuits, mounting political pressure in Boston and Washington, and espousing harsh “environmental” critiques: The turbines will break up and the oil inside will spill into the sound; birds will be torn apart in “pole-mounted Cuisinarts”; and “whales will bump their heads.” Even Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a well-known environmentalist and President of the Waterkeeper Alliance, voiced his own peculiar opposition: “People want to look out and see the same sight the Pilgrims saw.” (Apparently these concerns do not apply to the not-so-pilgrim yachts and diesel-powered motorboats sailing across the Sound).
In Washington State, the same contradictory “clash” occurs. Klickitat County, for example, created a so-called Energy Overlay Zone (EOZ) in 2004 that serves to ease the red tape involved in siting new generation facilities, including wind. The first of its kind in the country, the EOZ involved a county-wide environmental review as a means to streamline the conditional use permitting process so developers know where they are welcome. The results have exceeded expectations: Klickitat County has already generated more than one gigawatt of wind generation, at least 90% of the landowners in the community have contracts with wind developers, and the wind farms employ roughly 5 to 10 operations and maintenance workers per 100 MW of capacity. This translates to over 100 new jobs for a county that watched 600 of its best paying jobs disappear in 2001 when an aluminum smelter was shut down. As one county official noted: “People were really struggling with how to get started again, and that’s where this renewable energy — particularly the wind energy — is changing the whole dynamic.”
Despite the positive economic news, environmental groups, such as Friends of the Columbia Gorge (FOCG) and Save Our Scenic Area (SOSA), believe the EOZ zoning is too broad. Detractors have raised wildlife concerns—including reports of a golden eagle killed by a wind turbine—as well as wind’s perceived negative aesthetic impacts. These arguments are raised in the media, at county planning commission meetings, and debated before administrative tribunals, such as the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. This rather puzzling debate between “clean energy” and the “environment” underscores an important point: development of clean energy will require creative planning, political and administrative solutions, just as it will require technological innovations. In fact, in many instances, the technology is already there. What is needed are tools to build consensus, address community opposition, and increase political will.
Alaska Airlines Tests Jet Biofuel
Posted in Clean EnergyOn November 9, 2011, Alaska Airlines launched the first of 75 flights from Seattle to Portland and Washington, D.C. powered by a 20% biofuel blend made from used cooking oil.
The Seattle-based airline estimates that the use of the blend on the 75 flights will reduce greenhouse emissions by 10%. If the company powered all of its flights with the blend for a year, the emissions savings would be the equivalent of taking 64,000 cars off the road. The biofuel is produced by Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture between Tyson Foods (the chicken giant) and Syntroleum Corp., and supplied by aviation biofuel broker, SkyNRG.
The biofuel is not cheap. The airline paid nearly $17 a gallon, or $14 a gallon more than conventional jet fuel. However, the cost is expected to decrease as production increases and technology improves. In addition, the Navy and departments of agriculture and energy recently announced that they will invest as much as $510 million over the next three years to help the private sector create homegrown alternative fuels for the military and, eventually, commercial transportation.
The announcement comes just six months after the airline joined the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest Initiative, which was created to develop an aviation biofuels industry in the Pacific Northwest.
Stevens Pass Signs REMA Pledge
Posted in WashingtonOn November 8, 2011, Stevens Pass Ski Area became one of the first organizations in the country to sign the Renewable Energy Markets Association (REMA) Renewable Energy Pledge. As part of its pledge, the ski area, which is located about 75 miles east of Seattle, agreed to purchase wind energy to power 100% of its operations for at least the next five years.
The announcement is the latest in the ski area’s commitment to sustainable practices. On June 1, 2011, the ski area installed the nation’s first public electric vehicle charging stations in a mountain pass environment. Each of the two charging stations can provide a trickle charge (120 volts) and a quick charge (240 volts) to two vehicles simultaneously. In addition, the ski area has adopted extensive programs in, among other things, recycling, composting, water conservation, paper reduction, and energy efficiency.
Another Pacific Northwest organization, Southern Oregon University, also was one of the first to sign the REMA pledge. The others are the City of Austin (Texas), Bank of Georgetown (Maryland and District of Columbia), Diamond Packaging (New York), and Sandy Alexander (New Jersey).
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