Green Tech

Duke Energy on Thursday said it is seeking bids on a planned $100 million solar energy investment, a program to assess whether distributed rooftop solar panels can collectively function like a virtual power plant.

The utility said that next year it plans to start installing solar electric panels at 850 locations in North Carolina that would be capable of generating 16 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power about 2,600 homes.

Part of a distributed "solar power plant"?

(Credit: SolarCity)

Like other utilities, Duke Energy is purchasing electricity from large-scale solar power plants, where hundreds of photovoltaic panels generate tens or hundreds of megawatts of electricity.

Duke's distributed energy plan amounts to a solar power plant, spread out over many locations.

The utility will install, own, and maintain the equipment and get all the electricity the panels generate. Consumers are paid a rental fee for allowing Duke to install the panels on their rooftops or land.

The goal of the program is to measure whether distributed energy can make a significant dent in the overall power generation mix, while offsetting power demand during peak times.

At 16 megawatts for $100 million, it's significantly more expensive than a traditional power plant, but the utility will use the pilot project to gather data, according to a Duke Energy representative. Longer term, thousands of panels on rooftops could be cheaper than building a new power plant, he said.

It's also much smaller: a nuclear power or coal plant can generate between 800 and 1,100 megawatts. One megawatt is enough to run a large retail outlet.

Duke chose North Carolina for the effort because utilities that operate in that state need to generate a fraction of their electricity from renewable sources, a policy called a renewable portfolio standard. It still needs approval from the state's regulatory agencies.

So far, both consumers and businesses have voiced interest in participating in the program, which would have the panels installed by 2010.

"There is an enormous number of people who really believe in renewable energy. It's not just the so-called green crowd," the Duke Energy representative said. "There are a lot of big believers."

Since homeowners or businesses are not paying for the panels, the electricity they generate will go straight into the grid and not offset Duke Energy customers' bills.

Another utility that plans on a similar distributed solar plant design is Southern California Edison, which said earlier this year that it plans to spend $875 million over five years to get electricity from over two square miles of flat commercial rooftops.

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.
• Surpassing expectations: State of the U.S. wind power market --Renewable Energy Access
  A data download from the Department of Engery on the booming wind industry.
• Solar panels becoming target for thieves--CBS5.com
  Hot commodities: a school in Pleasanton, Calif., has its solar panels stolen.


Click on the image to watch video.

• Hydrogen cars boosted by EU backing and home fuel station--SmartPlanet.com
  A U.K. company says it has come up with a more cost-effective way to make hydrogen from water using a refrigerator-size appliance.
• India's Tata to launch electric car in Norway in 1 year--Reuters
  A small, all-electric car with a range of 110 miles on a two-battery pack will be on the market next year.
• Assessing the value of small wind turbines--NYTimes.com
  Roof-mounted wind turbines are cool from an eco-hip point of view, but the payback is not comparable to solar panels yet.
• Codexis withdraws IPO--Cleantech Group
  Biofuels catalyst company pulls plans to go public, following a few others in the biofuels area.
• Presidential candidates compete for best plug-in policies--CalCars
  Both candidates advocate tax credits for fuel-efficient vehicles, with Barack Obama having a more aggressive policy, according to CalCars. (Via Earth2Tech)
• Microbes for off-the-grid electricity--Technology Review
  Profile of a company that one researcher calls the first practical application of microbial fuel cells where electrodes in the Earth power small appliances like cell phones and LED lights.
• First fuel-cell-powered commercial passenger boat inaugurated in Germany--Triple Pundit
  Fuel-cell motors for boats are a great application, speaking as someone who would rather not listen to their motors or breath their exhaust.
• Corporate VCs turn to clean-tech start-ups--Wealth Bulliten
  More on interesting trend of large corporations investing in clean-tech start-ups to get access to technology. This works out for start-ups, too, as they can test their technology and have access to more capital than VCs can offer.
• Seven funds known to have invested in Miasole's latest round--Clean Edge
  Stealthy CIGS solar start-up, which has hit some serious technical bumps, is said to have raised another large round of funding.
• PC movement: How green is your computer?--WSJ.com
  The latest in eco-friendly PCs is materials with fewer toxins and recycling programs.

John McCain says nation must drill new oil wells now, while supporting innovative transportation technologies and "the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas."

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)

ST. PAUL, Minn.--John McCain formally accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination here on Thursday in a speech extolling the virtues of both oil drilling and green energy.

The Arizona senator received one of his loudest rounds of applause when he lashed out at his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, and characterized the dispute over oil drilling as a matter of international relations and security as well as economics.

"We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much," McCain said. "We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now."

He added: "Sen. Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet."

McCain's speech comes a day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his vice presidential pick, said her state was ready to provide more energy for America. "The fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all," she said.

McCain went out of his way to tout green technology. In addition to building more nuclear power plants, he said: "We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles."

A comparison of McCain and Obama's energy plans shows that the Republican opposes existing federal government ethanol production targets and would eliminate a tariff on Brazilian ethanol, a move that would expose U.S. producers to more competition. Obama supports the ethanol regulations (one factor that has led to higher corn prices), wants to raise automotive fuel-efficiency rules, and is not willing at the moment to support expanding nuclear power.

Last month, Obama signaled he might be open to new offshore drilling in some circumstances.

From the right, clean-tech investor Steve Westly, Google.org exec Dan Reicher, climate change advisor Aimee Christensen, U.C. Berkeley Professor Daniel Kammen, and Clean Tech for Obama co-chair Jeff Anderson speak at San Francisco's Hastings Law School.

(Credit: Stefanie Olsen/CNET News)

SAN FRANCISCO--Executives in the clean-tech sector plan to get a whole lot louder in their support for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

The drumbeat started Wednesday night here at the University of California's Hastings College of Law. An estimated 400 people from the technology and clean tech industries came out to support Obama's energy policies under the new banner of a constituency group called "Clean Tech and Green Business for Obama."

Among the executives at the event were Dan Reicher, director of energy initiatives at Google.org; clean-tech investor Sunil Paul, who co-founded Brightmail; Steve Westly, CEO of the venture firm The Westley Group and former senior vice president at eBay; and Aimee Christensen, an adviser on climate change issues who has previously worked with Google.org.

Their goal? Get Obama elected. Following that, the charge is to elevate issues of climate change and buoy the clean-tech industry.

"We want to use the opportunity of this serendipitous moment where energy, the environment, and the economy are featured in this race...to create a political brand and voice," said Jeff Anderson, founding co-chair of Clean Tech and Green Business for Obama.

Steve Westly, CEO of clean tech venture firm The Westly Group and a former exec at eBay, recalled working for President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s when the president put solar panels on the White House. His successor, President Ronald Reagan, took them down immediately.

(Credit: Stefanie Olsen/CNET News)

The group was founded six weeks ago by Paul, Anderson and others, and so far it has raised about $600,000 from individuals in the clean-tech sector. In the coming months, the group plans to raise $1 million total through events like a fund-raising dinner with former Vice President Al Gore at the end of September. Clean Tech for Obama also aims to build a database of the companies and people employed by the green-tech business, especially in battleground states, so that voters are aware of the industry's ability to create jobs.

The group will also promote the idea that clean-tech businesses can ultimately help reduce gas prices by developing new energy alternatives and efficient cars. Already operating in 18 states, with plans for a national presence, the group also intends to throw "house parties" to promote the new energy economy, according to Anderson.

In his talk, Wesley promoted the energy policies of Obama over those of his Republican rival John McCain. But instead of spending much time on those policies, he called on people to create a movement that goes beyond an election. He said the group will open offices around the state of California; and it has already established outposts in San Francisco, San Jose, and Berkeley.

Sunil Paul, founding partner of clean tech venture firm Spring Ventures, helped start Clean Tech for Obama this summer.

(Credit: Stefanie Olsen/CNET News)

Google.org's Richter, a former assistant secretary of energy under the Clinton administration, said issues of climate change, security, and deep economic woes are prompting policy changes in the U.S.

He said the amount of money allocated to research and development in renewable energies is lower today than that of the Carter administration in the 1970s. The U.S. government has long given subsidies to energy markets like coal and nuclear, and the green-tech industry should now ask that it level the playing field. "We've gotten crumbs when it comes to energy and energy efficiency," he said.

"We have an opportunity to really engage on these issues," said Richter, who was there as an individual and not on behalf of Google. (Google.org has invested in several renewable energy projects, including two geothermal start-ups and a wind-power company.)

"We obviously need to get Obama and Biden elected. We also need to get a Congress elected that can pass the laws," he said.

For example, Richter touted Obama's plans to weatherize 1 million homes a year to offset energy costs for lower-income households.

Paul, founding partner of Spring Ventures, for his part, agreed that now is the time for the clean tech market to raise its voice.

"We're in the right place at the right time," Paul said. "Energy and energy-related topics are a top voting issue and that's so unusual for us--biotech, the Internet, semiconductors--have never been top voting issues."

Clean tech executives, policy advocates and college students schmooze after the cocktail mixer and panel session.

(Credit: Stefanie Olsen/CNET News)

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Wednesday called for more domestic oil and natural gas drilling, pulling the McCain ticket further from the clean-tech industry.

In her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Palin touted her accomplishments in laying more pipelines and creating more competition among oil companies as governor of Alaska.

Alaska governor Sarah Palin

If elected, she said that a McCain-Palin administration would tap more oil and gas from Alaska, while investing in nuclear energy and so-called clean coal, where pollution is stored underground at coal power plants.

"We Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all," she said.

McCain, too, has called for more domestic oil and gas production but has opposed drilling in Alaska's North Slope. He advocates a massive increase in nuclear power, with the goal of building 45 new reactors by 2030.

In policies generally favored by the clean-energy industry, McCain supports national cap-and-trade carbon emissions regulations and tax credits for people who purchase fuel-efficient cars. Both McCain and Palin promised investments in renewable sources of energy--solar, wind, and geothermal.

The two presidential candidates' energy policies fall along philosophical lines, with Sen. John McCain calling to scale back government ethanol policy and Sen. Barack Obama promising expanded support for renewable energy, according to an analysis published Wednesday.

After examining voting records and public statements, research firm New Energy Finance concluded that there are significant differences between the energy stances of Democratic candidate Obama and Republican candidate McCain.

A McCain White House would favor free-market economics and rein in the role of federal government policy on energy. Obama, meanwhile, would seek a more active role for government in promoting the clean energy industry.

"The fiscally conservative, small government-minded McCain has long eschewed subsidies, earmarks, and heavy regulation, and his energy policy is no exception," according to the report. "By contrast, liberal Obama prefers to have the federal government take a more direct role in the U.S. energy sector."

A summary of the presidential candidates' energy policies, with Barack Obama favoring support of the clean energy industry and John McCain calling for less government assistance. Click to enlarge.

(Credit: New Energy Finance)

McCain is opposed to existing federal government ethanol production targets and has said that he would eliminate a tariff on Brazilian ethanol, a move which would expose U.S. producers to more competition.

He also advocates expanded domestic oil drilling and a massive increase in nuclear power plant construction, with the goal of building 45 new reactors by 2030.

In sharp contrast to McCain, Obama's voting record has been solidly behind the renewable energy industry. A Senate effort last year to extend an investment tax credit around solar and wind energy projects failed to pass by one vote; McCain did not vote.

Obama has voted for the investment tax credit, set to lapse at the end of this year, and favors a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which would mandate that utilities generate 25 percent clean energy by 2025.

Obama supports the continued ethanol mandate and has called for more aggressive fuel-efficiency standards. Obama has not ruled out further expansion of nuclear power but his support is pending new technology development for storage of nuclear wastes, according to New Energy Finance.

Where both candidates align is on the question of regulating greenhouse gas emissions, with both advocating a cap-and-trade system although different methods for auctioning off polluting rights.

Both have proposed expanded research into so-called clean coal technology for storing carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants underground. And both favor tax breaks for fuel-efficient cars.

Regardless of the outcome, U.S. citizens can expect energy and environment to be a center-stage issue during the fall presidential campaign, although paying for any policies once in office will be a challenge.

New Energy Finance applauds various aspects of both candidates policies but argues that McCain's is "incorrect" in believing that the clean energy industry is mature enough to thrive with relatively little government assistance.

Meanwhile, Obama has garnered the support of a number of clean-tech investors because of his policies; high-profile clean energy venture capitalist Nancy Floyd spoke at the Democratic National Convention and endorsed Obama.

New Energy Finance CEO Michael Liebreich summarized their policies this way:

"We expect either a President Obama or a President McCain to pursue more vigorous policies on clean energy and emission reductions than President Bush has done for the last eight years. Obama is arguably being more imaginative, but he is also taking more of a centrally planned approach. McCain's regional approach, and in particular his insistence on tariff reductions, has much to recommend it. But neither candidate has yet put forward a fully comprehensive plan, and we are hoping to see them developing their policies more completely--particularly towards the encouragement of renewable power generation and energy efficiency--during the final few weeks of the campaign."

• AltaRock & Weyerhaeuser Sign Engineered Geothermal Exploration Deal - RenewableEnergyWorld.com
  AltaRock, funded by Google and Kleiner Perkins, is an enhanced geothermal systems company drilling deep into stone to get renewable energy.
• Toyota Plugs Lithium Ion Batteries, Reluctantly - Greentech Media
  A presentation from Toyota exec handicaps the different transportation technologies, including plug-in hybrids, liquid fuels, and hydrogen. Not mentioned is Toyota's rumored plans to use zinc air batteries for plug-ins.

A chart from Toyota's 2008 Sustainability report on the barriers to different types of auto fuels.
(Credit: Toyota)
• Toyota Releases Sustainability Report 2008, Looks to Liquid Peak - Green Car Congress
  More on Toyota's plans to use alternative fuels, as part of its corporate sustainability efforts.
• Alt-chemistry battery maker PowerGenix lands a deal for electric scooters and bikes - VentureBeat
  Nickel metal hydride battery designed for plug-in hybrids is finding a home in electric scooters.
• Out of Africa: New Concentrating-Solar Tech Inspired by Congo Stint - Greentech Media
  Interesting profile of Canadian company that claims to reduce cost of concentrating solar power using acrylic as material.
• Republicans break with Bush on ethanol - Reuters
  A proposal to shift away from government mandates on ethanol production which, along with a phase-out of MTBE additive, has been driving the market.
• Experts wary of Pickens' clean-energy plan - SF Chronicle
  Some skeptical reactions to the Pickens Plan, specifically on the speed of wind turbine deployment and the shift to natural gas-powered cars.
• Scoop: Tesla's future - Autocar
  Details on planned five-person plug-in hybrid sedan from Tesla, which reportedly will be the platform for future cars.
• Carbon offset developer raises $280 million: source - Reuters
  Snapshot of the carbon offset marketplace with a Dubai-based fund committing to a 10-year fund despite some policy uncertainty.

Need some ideas on how to have a more eco-friendly lifestyle? Take a look at CNET's Living with Technology feature, which is focused on green tech this month.

The top story and photo gallery are about cars. With all the talk about electric cars like the Tesla Roadster and plug-in hybrids, you would think that the dealer lots are full of them. They're not.

Click on the image to see a photo gallery of Genzyme Center, a Platinum-level green building.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET News)

But automakers, eager to appeal to consumers looking for more fuel-efficient cars, are pushing to make production plug-in hybrids available within two or three years. The dates are shifting as results from battery tests come in, so it's worth monitoring.

In the meantime, there are a growing number of hybrids and fuel-efficient cars you can check out in the photo gallery.

The other place to lower your environmental footprint is in the home. The first things you should do are the least sexy: get an energy audit, buy Energy Star appliances, and pile up more insulation. As I said in our Earth Day special package, it's not that hard taking a few steps to lower your energy use.

Beyond that, you can start talking about making your energy at home. Check out this story that covers solar hot water, solar electric, wind, and community-based distributed energy plans.

If you want a look at how the Maserati of green buildings operates, take a look at this video and photo gallery. It's a profile of Genzyme Center, corporate headquarters of the biotechnology company in Cambridge, Mass., and a Platinum-level LEED-certified green building. You might even get a few ideas (daylighting) for your home.

eBay on Wednesday plans to unveil a new e-commerce site for shoppers of environmentally friendly and fair-trade goods, as expected.

In a bid to win over eco- and socially conscious shoppers, the online auctioneer will add a new retail component to its fairly new community site WorldofGood.com, which targets people who care about healthy living and the ethical treatment of workers. The site, which eBay built in partnership with fair-trade company World of Good, will sell products ranging from fair-trade coffee from Costa Rica to toxin-free skin cream from London.

The move is an attempt to capture a piece of the estimated $206 billion annual business in the U.S. surrounding fair-trade and environmentally made products. One of the pioneers in the business has been the natural food store Whole Foods, which over the years has broadened its scope to sell everything from organic-cotton baby clothing to fair-trade wine to eco-friendly bed slippers. Online, however, the business is still fragmented. eBay hopes to provide a one-stop shop for people interested in finding these goods.

"We have an opportunity to drive large-scale consumer demand by helping consumers make more informed choices about the products they buy, and doing so in a market that's historically been inefficient," said Robert Chatwani, eBay's general manager of the project.

What's different about WorldofGood compared with eBay, he said, is that shoppers will have more information about products--where they come from, how they're made, and how they affect the environment.

Chatwani helped conceive of the idea for the WorldofGood marketplace three years ago while traveling to India with fellow eBay employees. There, they found some sustainably made artisan products they believed would sell online, and could give some money back to the creator. They tested the idea and it worked. eBay teamed up with World of Good, a group designed to alleviate poverty in third worlds by helping sell local artists' goods globally.

Unlike eBay's traditional auction model, WorldofGood.com will sell products at fixed prices. The listings, of which there will be about 20,000 to start, will appear on WorldofGood as well as within eBay. The auction company will initially launch the store in the United States, but it plans to expand internationally, initially in Europe.

For now, the listings will span more than 70 countries and carry environmental or fair-trade certifications from about 25 eBay partners, including the Rainforest Alliance and Co-opt America. Product makers must have some sort of certification before they can apply to sell products on the site.

"Consumers are sleeping giants--they have a tremendous amount of purchasing power," Chatwani said. "We simply are introducing a new way for them to shop...and create a really positive social impact."

DENVER--The Democratic Party has boasted that its convention here will be "the most environmentally-sustainable" gathering in the party's history, complete with a director of sustainability, low-power lighting in some areas, and calculations of carbon footprints.

Some of the goals include diverting 85 percent of waste that would normally go to a landfill, finding hundreds of people to sort waste into recycling-compost-landfill containers, and devising what The Wall Street Journal described as "lean 'n' green" catering guidelines that say food described thusly must not be fried and shall contain three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white.

That was the claim. And it has worked to a large extent: a troika of trash containers (again, recycling, compost, and landfill) dot the convention complex, even in areas that aren't officially part of the event. Drinking straws are made from corn and biodegradable. Room keys for hotels are made of wood. Delegates are buying carbon offsets.

But reality doesn't always match expectations. Bikes aren't permitted inside the convention's security perimeter, so golf carts and other vehicles are used. The wooden card keys proved buggy, and some were replaced with more-reliable plastic. Fried mini-donuts were prominently on sale inside the Pepsi Center. Party VIPs and celebrities told their decidedly non-green town cars and GMC Yukon XL mega-SUVs--rented from limo provider A Class Above Transportation--to idle, with engines and air conditioning on, in the nearby pickup area. (What self-respecting conference-goer wants to climb into a GMC Yukon when it's a toasty 93 degrees in the shade?)

Plus, a gathering of tens of thousands of people (and perhaps 70,000 for Barack Obama's Thursday acceptance speech) generate a whopping amount of trash. Even if it's sorted, recycling Obama-Biden signs takes energy, as does trucking in what the Journal reported to be 900 volunteers to monitor waste cans and perform the trash-separation, thereby taking them away from tasks that might be more productive.

Let us stipulate that the Democratic Party, perhaps because it was good marketing or perhaps because it was a sound principle, made an effort to promote recycling here. But whopping huge mounds of trash remain unavoidable--and the presence of idling SUVs--show that the concept remains more of a slogan than reality. (Then again, probably the only way to hold a "green" convention is to do it entirely over the Internet.)

These and the other photos were taken at the Democratic convention near the Pepsi Center. When you have tens of thousands of people, huge mounds of trash are inevitable.

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News)