The high priests of America’s renewable energy sector, assembled in New York, are ready to take on national energy transformation.
With federal deficits looming far as the eye can see, massive federal subsidies will wane but permanent tax incentives should be put in place. The business proposition for renewables will have to become clearer and compelling. Those are some of the themes at the REFF Wall Street conference now being held at the Waldorf Astoria.
The eighth REFF gathering has attracted in excess of a record 750 attendees.
Vice Admiral Denny McGinn, president of ACORE and sponsor of the event, said, “We are all about mainstreaming renewable energy throughout our economy."
McGinn and his views will be highlighted in the upcoming July issue of EnergyBiz magazine - www.energybiz.com.
Dan Reicher, ACORE chairman of the board, formerly with Google, said that $26 trillion waits to be invested in energy worldwide by 2030. Reicher said China is lapping the United States in the race to lead in renewables, while Congress is unlikely to embrace any sweeping new energy initiatives.
Ethan Zindler said that half of federal stimulus funds for energy will be spent this year and then wind down. Renewables, he said, are “going to have to start competing on economics fairly soon.”
Joseph Stanislaw, a leader in energy, declared that while the mood of the renewable sector is somber given the policy gridlock in Washington, we stand at a transformational moment. “The business model is changing,” he said.
The staggering amount of money to be spent on new energy will eclipse “all investments in the history of mankind,” he said.
Ed Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania, declared, China, not America, now leads in renewables while “we are still arguing about light bulbs.”
“We need federal renewable portfolio standards and we cannot wait,” Rendell said.
He continued, “We need permanent tax credit help for the development of this industry. Too many special interests – coal, oil and nuclear – are arrayed against renewables in Washington.
We need a bi-partisan national energy policy, the political leader said. Republicans would be attracted to the plan if it included offshore drilling and nuclear power, Rendell said. And renewables will be in the thick of the mix. "Let's get a system of incentives that will get this industry pumping again. This is doable," Rendell said.
It will require grassroots support.
“We are never going to win the battle in Washington, Rendell said. “We are going to win it in America’s hometowns.”
The themes emerging at REFF are important and should be streamed across America’s power universe. EnergyBiz has worked with the opinion leaders who are attending REFF. They have appeared in the pages of our publication, on our webcasts and in our conferences, and we intend to redouble those efforts.
Reicher, for instance, helped us kick off our three-year-old EnergyBiz Leadership Forum - http://www.energybizforum.com/dreicher.cfm.
We will be working with many of the emerging leaders in creative energy financing and project development in the months to come as renewables gain heft in the energy world.
Stay tuned.
Advise for the Republican party: focus on what the US needs! Stop blocking all initiatives of Obama, he is saving the country with so many good proposals to fight the oil addiction of US. Wake up Republicans, it's 5 to 12!
Stef Folmer in the Netherlands
Don't forget that there are a couple of boosts that China also has: 1) Manipulation of their currency resulting an artificially low cost of goods exported and 2) unabashed piracy of technology.
Bad News - In the July 7th issue of Forbes, The Coming Clean Tech Crash, Devon Swezey writes, "The global clean energy industry is set for a major crash. The reason is simple. Clean energy is still much more expensive and less reliable than coal or gas, and in an era of heightened budget austerity the subsidies required to make clean energy artificially cheaper are becoming unsustainable."
The subject of wind energy, both on/off shore in Massachusetts, is treated in my blog posts of April 5, 7, 12, 14, 18, 20, 26, and 28. Capital equipment costs, development time, state subsidies and insufficient wind are issues that make wind energy far less competitive with respect to fossil fuel, electric generation sources.
"Clean tech crashes are nothing new. The U.S. wind energy industry has collapsed three times before, first in the mid 1990s and most recently in 2002 and 2004 when Congress failed to extend the tax credit that made it profitable. But the impact and magnitude of the coming clean tech crash will far outstrip those of past years."
Cuts in clean energy are already underway in Europe with budget reductions in Germany, France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Italy. China, however, is expanding its clean energy support based on a ten year program and $760B. There is a reasonable chance that the clean tech industry will migrate to "only game in town," namely China.
Path Forward: Back to Good News - The United States should support adequately budgeted, clean tech programs that consistently feature innovation (i.e., riskier projects) to develop energy generation technologies that are less costly than their fossil fuel counterparts. In this manner, government subsidies can be removed permanently, along with the creation of a competitive industry and many jobs. China does not have to win the clean tech game if the United States plays its cards well.
Dr. Jeffrey Everson
www.jheversonconsulting.com
As far as government support, I wonder exactly what would happen if oil companies paid "market price" for oil lease? Or if coal companies truly had to price in environmental costs. We unfortunately have segment of politicians that believe that air and water pollution will not spread beyond some foggy boundary so they will not be affected. Good luck with that.
Jim Scheiderich