Maryland offshore wind energy bill may pass this session

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is optimistic that his latest effort to promote offshore wind energy in Maryland will succeed this session. Last month he told a supportive State House crowd that enough senators had signed onto his bill this time to get it through the chamber that's thwarted him the past two years. O'Malley said he had 24 senators as cosponsors, a bare majority but twice the number backing last year's effort. What's more, the governor said, six of his cosponsors are members of the Finance Committee, enough to break the logjam there that has stifled his legislation.

When the people own the power, it works

• Reuters: France needs more local power for green energy shift--14-11-12 A failure to empower local authorities on energy issues in the next few years could put a brake on its ambition to cut the share of nuclear power in the electricity mix to 50 percent by 2025, down from 75 percent now, green energy experts and local players say. . .
• Bloomberg: Germany Gives Citizens a Stake in Clean Energy Switch--14-11-12 "Our big utilities completely ignored renewables," he explained. "In the beginning, the Energiewende was driven almost entirely by individuals. Over half of our renewable power is still produced by small operations.". .
• Greg Pahl's Power from the People--A review--13-11-12 Greg Pahl's Power from the People is an inspirational guide to the burgeoning community power movement. His case studies of people who are making a difference is often a tale of endurance and survival, but also a powerful testament to the human spirit.

Solar progress

• Martin Frey's Baedeker Guide to Renewable Energy in Germany (Erneuerbare Energien Entdecken)-A review--13-11-12 Renewable energy has indeed come of age: It now has its on Baedeker Reiseführer or travel guide. . .
• Iceland--an Example of the High Penetration of Renewables in the Modern Era--6-1-12 Iceland's famous for its breathtaking scenery, its geysers, its Blue Lagoon-and for sitting astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Among energy wonks, Iceland is also well known for using its abundant renewable energy, and especially for tapping the volcanic roots of the island in developing its geothermal resources. . .
• Economics of Photoelectricity Open Source Spreadsheet--13-11-12 [Updated] This is an open source spreadsheet on the economics of solar photovoltaics. The spreadsheet contains more than 50 individual tabs covering a multitude of topics beyond the expected cash flow model. The spreadsheet includes sixteen tables of statistics on the installation of renewable energy technologies worldwide. There are more than a dozen tables of feed-in tariffs in countries around the world. 

Nuclear Power, Japan, Feed-in Tariffs, and the Rapid Development of Renewables

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  Paul McKay: Diagnosing Ontario's Christmas Pony Syndrome--7-11-12 Prolific Canadian author and award-winning investigative reporter, McKay takes on why Ontario's political class so fervently believes in the fairy tales about nuclear power . . .
• Truthdig: How Germany Is Getting to 100 Percent Renewable Energy--15-11-12 Since 2000, Germany has converted 25 percent of its power grid to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. The architects of the clean energy movement Energiewende, which translates to “energy transformation,” estimate that from 80 percent to 100 percent of Germany’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2050. . .
• Renewables International: German power exports reach record level--12-11-12 According to preliminary figures not yet published by the BDEW, an association representing power and water providers, Germany exported 12.3 terawatt-hours of electricity in the first 9 months of 2012, compared to minus 0.2 terawatt-hours in the first 3 quarters of 2011 (effectively meaning that Germany was a net importer in the first 3 quarters of last year).

What's new on Feed-in Tariffs

From Paul Gipe:

What's New on Feed-in Tariffs

• Chris Nelder: Beyond carbon policy: A national feed-in tariff--14-11-12 Climate hawks are hopeful that the U.S. will finally take action on carbon emissions in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and the President’s acceptance speech comment that “We want our children to live in an America that. . . isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.” Unfortunately, they’re trotting out the same tired old policy prescriptions that have failed in the past. I think I have a better idea. . . FITs
• Malaysian Star: New quota for FiT programme in Q1 next year--8-11-12 Malaysia will be releasing the new quota for Feed-In-Tariff (FiT) programme in the first quarter of 2013, said Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui. “We are now in the final stage of setting the degression rates and rationalisation of quotas,” he said at the Asean-India Ministerial Meeting on Co-operation in Renewable Energy. . .
• Now Re-elected, President Obama Should Examine US' Renewable Rank--12-11-12 In his stirring acceptance speech, re-elected President Barack Obama noted that climate change would be on the agenda in his second administration--despite its marked absence during the campaign. Obama then tried to unify a divided country by closing with a popular American rallying cry of how the US "is the greatest nation on earth" and our best days as a nation are yet to come. Considering the resounding defeat of the fossil-fuel industry's propaganda campaign against President Obama, and his new found interest in climate change, just where does the US rank relative to its development of renewable energy? . .