Drunk With Power | The New Republic
This is a great article describing the development of utility regulations.
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Pine Beetle Devastation Threatens Power Lines- Reposted from the Colorado Independent
Colorado’s vast beetle-kill pine forests threaten power grid
This article describes the hazard presented by dead trees in areas crossed by transmission lines. Colorado Forest and Energy is featured as a leading solution. Our modular units provide the unique capacity to use trees at the point of removal and put clean green energy directly into the transmission lines.
Community Owned Independent Power Production: Challenges and Opportunities - Reposted from Renewable Energy World
Community Owned Independent Power Production: Challenges and Opportunities - Renewable Energy World
This is an interesting article on small hydro, some of the challenges to small hydro are the same for distributed biopower.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Share Liverpool FC
I am a Liverpool Fan, they are the champion of champions. They are the best club in the world.
I must say that when their current American owners purchased the club I was a little concerned but hoped that it would really bring some needed resources. Instead, they have saddled the club with their debt, and I agree with most Liverpool fas that it is time for them to leave. Share Liverpool FC is an effort by fans to acquire ownership in the club. Barcelona already has a fan ownership model, one that is worth emulating. Sign up for updates and pledge to own a piece of the Reds!
Also, check out this site for my kind of socialism, the football kind.
"The socialism I believe in is everyone working for each other, everyone having a share of the rewards. It's the way I see football, the way I see life." -Bill Shankly
I must say that when their current American owners purchased the club I was a little concerned but hoped that it would really bring some needed resources. Instead, they have saddled the club with their debt, and I agree with most Liverpool fas that it is time for them to leave. Share Liverpool FC is an effort by fans to acquire ownership in the club. Barcelona already has a fan ownership model, one that is worth emulating. Sign up for updates and pledge to own a piece of the Reds!
Also, check out this site for my kind of socialism, the football kind.
"The socialism I believe in is everyone working for each other, everyone having a share of the rewards. It's the way I see football, the way I see life." -Bill Shankly
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Colorado PUC issues emergency net metering rules- Reposted from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council
These regulations have the power to determine the life or death of a company like ours. Colorado's renewable energy regulations have an interesting history. In 2004 when voters here passed Amendment 37 we were the first voters to pass renewable portfolio standards (RPS). The Colorado Public Utility Commission is responsible for defining and updating the rules governing RPS and all activities of Utilities.
This recent ruling (the emergency rules were formalized in a recent filing) is especially relevant to us as it discusses "third party operators," like us. We finance the units we install, selling heat and power to our customers but requiring no up front capital from them, making us a third party operator. The solar industry has thrived in Colorado because Xcel offers them the rebates and rates described below. We are beginning to push for the same rules to apply to us as well. Our units can provide equally clean energy to apply to Xcel's RPS, but we also have the added benefit of operating 24x7, day or night, rain or shine!
Colorado PUC issues emergency net metering rules: "COLORADO – On August 26, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission issued emergency rules for the state’s Renewable Energy Standard, to implement changes required by SB 51, signed into law in April 2009. The changes became effective September 1. SB 51 required several changes to the state’s net metering rules for investor-owned utilities as they apply to solar electric systems. As previously mentioned in this publication, these changes include shifting the maximum system size for solar electric systems from 2 MW to 120% of the annual consumption of the site; redefining a site to include all contiguous property owned by the consumer; and allowing system owners to make a one-time election in writing to have their annual net excess generation carried forward as a credit from month to month indefinitely, rather than being paid annually at the average hourly incremental cost for that year. While SB 51 dealt explicitly with solar electric, the emergency rules pertain to all eligible energy resources. The Colorado PUC continues to develop final rules under Docket 08R-424E.
On a related note, in August, Xcel Energy Inc. asked the Colorado PUC for permission to change its popular “Solar Rewards” rebate program to allow third-party developers to participate. Senate Bill 51 allows third-party companies to own and install solar panels on residential roofs, while homeowners pay a monthly lease for the panels and use the renewable power in their homes.
Xcel on Monday proposed changing its Solar Rewards rebate program to allow these third-party companies to access the rebate money. In the past, only the property owner could receive any rebate money. All solar power systems get a $2 per watt rebate, per state law. The systems are also eligible for an additional payment for the Renewable Energy Credit (REC), associated with renewable power generation.
For systems owned by third parties, and sized 1 to 100 kilowatts, REC payments are 11 cents per kWh. For those sized 10 to 100 kilowatts, the REC payment is 11.5 cents per kWh. For systems capable of producing between 100 and 500 kilowatts, the $2 rebate is capped at $200,000, and the REC payment is 12.5 cents.
Xcel also recently announced that with the recent completion of infrastructure build-out and software deployment, Boulder, CO has become the world's first fully operational smart grid-enabled city."
This recent ruling (the emergency rules were formalized in a recent filing) is especially relevant to us as it discusses "third party operators," like us. We finance the units we install, selling heat and power to our customers but requiring no up front capital from them, making us a third party operator. The solar industry has thrived in Colorado because Xcel offers them the rebates and rates described below. We are beginning to push for the same rules to apply to us as well. Our units can provide equally clean energy to apply to Xcel's RPS, but we also have the added benefit of operating 24x7, day or night, rain or shine!
Colorado PUC issues emergency net metering rules: "COLORADO – On August 26, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission issued emergency rules for the state’s Renewable Energy Standard, to implement changes required by SB 51, signed into law in April 2009. The changes became effective September 1. SB 51 required several changes to the state’s net metering rules for investor-owned utilities as they apply to solar electric systems. As previously mentioned in this publication, these changes include shifting the maximum system size for solar electric systems from 2 MW to 120% of the annual consumption of the site; redefining a site to include all contiguous property owned by the consumer; and allowing system owners to make a one-time election in writing to have their annual net excess generation carried forward as a credit from month to month indefinitely, rather than being paid annually at the average hourly incremental cost for that year. While SB 51 dealt explicitly with solar electric, the emergency rules pertain to all eligible energy resources. The Colorado PUC continues to develop final rules under Docket 08R-424E.
On a related note, in August, Xcel Energy Inc. asked the Colorado PUC for permission to change its popular “Solar Rewards” rebate program to allow third-party developers to participate. Senate Bill 51 allows third-party companies to own and install solar panels on residential roofs, while homeowners pay a monthly lease for the panels and use the renewable power in their homes.
Xcel on Monday proposed changing its Solar Rewards rebate program to allow these third-party companies to access the rebate money. In the past, only the property owner could receive any rebate money. All solar power systems get a $2 per watt rebate, per state law. The systems are also eligible for an additional payment for the Renewable Energy Credit (REC), associated with renewable power generation.
For systems owned by third parties, and sized 1 to 100 kilowatts, REC payments are 11 cents per kWh. For those sized 10 to 100 kilowatts, the REC payment is 11.5 cents per kWh. For systems capable of producing between 100 and 500 kilowatts, the $2 rebate is capped at $200,000, and the REC payment is 12.5 cents.
Xcel also recently announced that with the recent completion of infrastructure build-out and software deployment, Boulder, CO has become the world's first fully operational smart grid-enabled city."
Friday, October 2, 2009
Combined Heat and Power
Many existing forms of electricity generation produce huge amounts of waste heat, but these massive centralized plants have no way to make use of this resource. Regardless of how efficient these plants become, or how "clean," centralized generation will always waste energy. As we rethink and update how we create and use energy in the United States, distributed energy is going to be a huge part of the solution.
The biomass gasification systems that we use at Colorado Forest and Energy are perfectly suited for distributed generation, they make extremely efficient use of waste residues by converting them to both power and heat. We attach directly to customer's site, where the heat produced in gasification and generation is easily routed to the customer's facility. When operating in this "combined heat and power (CHP) mode" these units have over 80% efficiency, converting over 80% of the energy stored in the feedstock into useable energy.
I came accross another very interesting combined heat and power company recently, Ceres Power. Their fuel cells are sized for a single home, much smaller than a BioMax, but are based on the same principle of providing heat and power. They use the natural gas piped into the home to do this. Some day perhaps we will see a fuel cell running on the syngas from a BioMax!
Distributed generation has benefits beyond CHP, one of the most important is integration in smart grids, which I will post on later.
The biomass gasification systems that we use at Colorado Forest and Energy are perfectly suited for distributed generation, they make extremely efficient use of waste residues by converting them to both power and heat. We attach directly to customer's site, where the heat produced in gasification and generation is easily routed to the customer's facility. When operating in this "combined heat and power (CHP) mode" these units have over 80% efficiency, converting over 80% of the energy stored in the feedstock into useable energy.
I came accross another very interesting combined heat and power company recently, Ceres Power. Their fuel cells are sized for a single home, much smaller than a BioMax, but are based on the same principle of providing heat and power. They use the natural gas piped into the home to do this. Some day perhaps we will see a fuel cell running on the syngas from a BioMax!
Distributed generation has benefits beyond CHP, one of the most important is integration in smart grids, which I will post on later.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Amman Under The Rain- Reposted from 7iber.com
This definitely never happened while I was there! 7iber (pronounce Hiber) is a project of Ramsey Tesdell, my roommate while I was living in Amman, worth watching!
Amman Under The Rain: "
Amman Under The Rain: "
Amman under the rain. By: Ms. Weltall
"
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