Coal and nuclear plants may not be dropping like flies, but the business climate and the planet’s climate have caused some utilities to think twice about investing in them.

Tampa Electric of Florida has announced that it won’t build a coal plant to meet future energy needs, as originally planned. The coal plant was going to be an integrated gasification combined-cycle plant, or IGCC, which means that the coal is broken down into different gases that make it easier to pull out and store the carbon dioxide (CO2) so it doesn’t get released into the atmosphere. It’s still a very expensive technology and has yet to be tested on a very large scale, but because the U.S. is so reliant on coal power, many believe sequestration is the only way to cut emissions fast enough to slow global warming.

Tampa Electric cited the uncertain future regulation of CO2, the challenge of carbon capture and sequestration, and the associated costs. Although the utility sees IGCC as playing a significant role in future energy needs, the economic risks were too high and too uncertain at this time to proceed. Instead, the utility will look at other technologies like renewables, natural gas, and efficiency. Florida has also had a slew of new clean energy laws, including limits on global warming emissions and requiring utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewables.

Likewise, Xcel Energy says it can delay the need for new baseload generation in Minnesota because of its diversification into new, cleaner energy (particularly wind power and efficiency measures). Xcel argued that more hydropower from Canada — not considered “green” by many because of its destruction to native communities there — and upgrades to nuclear plants are not needed because of the aggressive energy bills passed during the last legislative session. Those laws direct Xcel to get 30 percent of its energy from renewable sources and to begin cutting energy use 1.5 percent annually beginning in 2010. Xcel’s own analysis concluded: “[C]learly there will be periods when available wind energy will supplant base-load resources to meet our customers’ energy needs.”

Diversifying our energy sources and emphasizing efficiency measures have started impacting how utilities do business and how their customers power their lives. While there is no silver bullet for a clean energy future, changes like these are all part of the “silver BB” approach to get us moving towards a smarter energy system in the 21st century.

Cross posted on Maria Energia

The Energy Blog
Wind Energy Weekly

There’s big news for solar power coming out of Florida. Florida Power & Light (FPL) – one of the nation’s largest utilities and the largest producer of wind power – announced at the Clinton Global Initiative conference that it will spend $1.5 billion to build solar thermal energy in Florida, California, and other states. In addition, the utility plans on investing nearly another billion dollars nationwide to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a big contributor to global warming.

Solar thermal power makes electricity by converting solar energy to heat that drives a thermal power plant.

The utility’s plan is to build at least 300 megawatts (MW) of solar thermal in Florida; that’s enough electricity to power about 150,000 homes. It will also help the state reach its goal of cutting CO2 emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and get 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by that same year.

California will get a 200-MW plant that will cover 2 square miles with flat mirrors that track the sun.

FPL’s CEO Lew Hay told Reuters: "The thing we’ve got to make customers understand is that any fossil fuel has a hidden cost that society is paying every day, and that is the cost of carbon. We need to put a price on carbon, by doing so the illusion that coal-produced energy is low-cost will go away."

The project FPL has planned will start out as a 10MW pilot project and eventually grow to be the largest solar plant in Florida. But besides the solar investment, the company is also upgrading all 4.5 million electricity meters used by Florida customers. The replacements will be "smart network" meters that show a digital read-out of electricity consumption, and even give an hour-by-hour record of power use. This will allow customers and businesses to monitor their energy use more closely, and experiment with the most effective methods of efficiency. Other investments will go towards promoting these efforts.

As exciting as this news is, it’s easy to feel down when you learn that FPL’s solar plans for Florida only amount to about 1 percent of the state’s power plant capacity. But clean energy supporters and FPL are still optimistic. Hay pointed out that relatively large commitments to clean energy, like FPLs, will really drive the cost of the technology down.

Already the largest wind power provider, FPL now has its sights on leading the solar market.

Associated Press, via Orlando Sentinel
Reuters, via Planet Ark

While hosting an international climate change summit last week, Florida’s Republican Governor Charlie Crist signed into law executive orders that include setting limits on global warming pollution, restricting emissions from cars sold in the state, requiring energy-efficient state buildings, and requiring utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.

But despite solar power being vastly under-represented in the Sunshine State, Governor Crist is awfully excited about nuclear power (even lumping it together as “renewable” along with wind and solar in his remarks at the Florida Summit on Global Climate Change).

Nuclear supporters argue that it would be expensive at best and impossible at worst to meet the 20 percent renewable energy goal with only solar, wind and biofuels. The President and CEO of Progress Energy Florida, Jeff Lyash, told the St. Petersburg Times the only way the Governor’s goals are achievable is with nuclear.

Others aren’t so optimistic about a nuke-rush in Florida. It would take at least 10 years and billions of dollars to get the necessary state and federal approval and construct a new plant, and that money could go much further by making energy use as efficient as possible and by developing truly clean, renewable sources of energy like solar power. Dale Bryk of the Natural Resources Defense Council explained,

"If you spend all the money that you have to develop global warming options on nuclear, you’re going to do the least you can possibly do to solve the problem by spending the most money.”

Governor Crist is doing better on the coal front. He, along with others, pressured Florida utilities to drop an 800 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant because of concerns over its global warming pollution. In June, the Public Service Commission (PSC) rejected a proposal by Florida Power & Light to build a 960 MW coal plant near Everglades National Park. The PSC based its 4-0 vote in part on concerns about the plant’s climate change emissions – marking the first time that global warming has ever played a role in the body’s decision.

St. Petersburg Times
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
TCPalm.com

I cover the renewable energy beat here at Green Options, and I particularly enjoy writing about the states, communities, and businesses that are showing great leadership on advancing a clean, efficient, and innovative energy system for the 21st century. Although I agree that global warming and the related energy problems do require a federal goals, it is heartening to see citizens around the country taking action in spite of Washington.

This week brings a lot of renewable energy news from the states. So instead of covering just one, here’s a run down on the big legislative action that’s been going down. Do you know what’s going on in your state?

• Hawaii became the 2nd state in the nation, after California, to pass a statewide cap on global warming emissions. On July 1 the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2007 took effect, which aims to bring emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020. A 10-member Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Task Force will develop a plan by the end of 2009 for “maximum practicality and technically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions” by 2009.

• Florida is set to enact tough new emissions standards for air pollution that will attempt to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. New limits would go into effect for automobiles and trucks, toughen energy efficiency goals and require that state-owned vehicles use cleaner fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. Electric utilities would also be required to cut emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and generate at least 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources.

• Missouri Governor Matt Blunt signed legislation to increase the use of renewable energy from sources such as wind, hydroelectricity, solar power, hydrogen, and biomass. Specifically, utilities must get 11 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Not as aggressive of an objective as other states, but it’s a start. Also, at least 70 percent of the state’s fleet of new vehicles must be flex fuel.

• New Jersey passed a global warming law this week that requires the state to cut global warming emission to 1990 levels by 2020.

CBN News
CNNMoney.com
Environment News Service
Renewable Energy Access

A day after Florida Governor Charlie Crist called for global warming solutions and decreasing the state’s dependence on outside energy sources in his first State of the State Address, the Florida House Energy Committee passed its first bill – to promote coal-fired power plants.

The bill gives tax breaks to “integrated gasification combined cycle” – or IGCC – coal plants. IGCC is a process that turns coal into a synthetic gas that is burned with regular fuel to make electricity. The power companies say it is cleaner than traditional, pulverized coal.

Susan Glickman of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said that IGCC is an interim step towards cleaner energy, but that lawmakers should focus on energy efficiency and cutting global warming emissions. Others like the Sierra Club say that moving towards a clean and efficient energy system should not include burning more dirty coal. From the St. Petersburg Times:

As the fourth most populous state in the nation, Florida has a responsibility to reduce its emissions. Despite possessing some of the nation’s best natural energy resources — forest, farmland and climate — the state woefully lags most of the rest of the country.

But all is not dark in the Sunshine State: Governor Crist has proposed a major increase in funding of $68 million for alternative energy, and the Florida Energy Commission has been created to advise the Legislature on a clean energy policy that’s less dependent on foreign oil.

Tallahassee Democrat
St. Petersburg Times