energy

This summer, 12 former CEOs with substantial experience in raising venture capital and no particular ties to clean energy will participate in an extensive curriculum-based fellowship program designed to rapidly transition them into a leadership role, in order to help grow the cleantech cluster in the New England region.

Legislative approval of several measures to support the state’s energy initiatives were accompanied with lawmakers’ rejection of Gov. Linda Lingle’s proposals to fund Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs and expand TBED initiatives at the conclusion of the 2008 legislative session earlier this month.
 
Lawmakers allocated $8.7 million ($2.8 million above the governor’s recommendation) in fiscal year 2008-09 for the Hawaii Renewable Hydrogen Program, a key component of the governor’s Energy for Tomorrow package. The legislation stipulates that the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation submit a report before the 2009 legislative session convenes on the measures of effectiveness of the program, details of expenditures, and a master plan for the renewable hydrogen program detailing planned expenditures.
 
The legislature also adopted Gov. Lingle’s proposal to expedite permitting of renewable energy facilities and created an energy facilitator position to assist with the permitting process in support the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative.
 
The Hawaii High Technology Development Corporation will receive $100,000, half of the governor’s recommendation, to expand the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer assistance programs. An additional $100,000 to provide Hawaii firms with training workshops and one-on-one grant proposal assistance was not included in the final budget.
 
The approved FY 2008-09 supplemental budget does not include funding of $2 million for a second year of the Hawaii Excellence through Science and Technology Academy Program and Robotics Programs within the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Despite the setbacks, the governor’s administration will continue to partner with private sector and federal organizations to fund the STEM programs established last legislative session, according to a press release issued by governor’s office (see the May 14, 2008 issue of the Digest).
 
Lawmakers did not fund the governor’s proposal to appropriate $2 million to the University of Hawaii to establish endowed chairs in STEM and Energy. Additionally, lawmakers rejected HB 3073, authorizing the Employees Retirement System to invest $100 million in one or more venture capital funds that support innovative Hawaii companies. The proposal to create a new state-owned technology park, HB 3358, was stalled in committee at the close of the session. Gov. Lingle has until July 8 to act on the budget bills.

Last week, Congress approved the $300 billion "farm bill" with large bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate (318-to-106 and 81-to-15, respectively). The wide margins belie that fact that the bill remains somewhat controversial outside of Congress for its lack of reform of farm and crop subsidies. President Bush vetoed the bill today, citing concerns about its continued support of large subsidies for agricultural producers despite record profits for the farming industry. With veto-proof majorities in both houses, however, the bill is likely to survive.
 
Despite being dubbed the farm bill, farm programs only account for 12 percent of spending in the bill. Many TBED-related programs are expected to receive funding increases if the bill becomes law.
 
Under the new legislation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service would be replaced with a National Institute for Food and Agriculture. This institute would assume oversight over the department's research, extension and education programs and help to promote USDA's science programs. The House Committee on Agriculture has said that this new body would finally give the department a grant-making agency with the same kind of visibility as the National Institutes of Health.
 
Six new program offices within the institute would design USDA programs, establish research priorities and coordinate and track developments in agricultural research. These specialized offices would include:

Unprecedented investment in alternative energy technologies and growing awareness about the need for clean and renewable energy production have driven many states to initiate strategies to promote alternative forms of power generation, such as solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and wind power. Most current government strategies, however, fall short of what will be needed to build a truly reliable, affordable and clean energy portfolio in the U.S., according to a new study from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The key to creating portfolios that accomplish all of these goals will be diversity. No one source of power will be able to support the nation's need for electricity, but a diverse portfolio of many power sources may be able to provide a flexible and sufficient power supply.
 
Wind has emerged as one of the more affordable and common alternative sources of power. The cost of drawing power from wind has fallen 90 percent over the past 20 years, making wind power an increasingly viable alternative for regions with the necessary geographic attributes and which have the infrastructure to accommodate wind farms (see the Oct. 23, 2006 special issue of the Digest). The DOE report examines the necessary steps and outcomes of building a larger wind infrastructure, one that could provide 20 percent of the nation's power by 2030.
 
One of the most pressing changes required to make this 20 percent scenario possible is the expansion of the U.S. power transmission grid. The current grid is already taxed by congestion and in need of an overhaul, but increasing the availability of wind power would require even greater changes. Capacity would have to be increased in regions that are geographically favorable to the production of wind power. The pace of construction for new wind installations also would have to increase substantially. Currently, wind power generation is increasing at roughly 3 gigawatts (GW) a year, a number that would have to grow to 16 GW by 2018 and continue growing at that pace through 2030. This would bring the pace of wind installations in line with the current increase in natural gas units.
 
The report outlines many of the benefits that the increase in wind power production would have for the country. Most importantly, it would diversify U.S. power generation, keeping prices stable and helping to increase the amount of available power without the country becoming more dependent on coal and other polluting sources of energy. The 20 percent scenario would also:

When given a list of seven technology categories to possibly target and invest money and resources over the next 10 years, 37 percent of U.S. respondents selected “fuel efficiency and alternative fuels” as their leading choice, according to a national survey commissioned by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) in Virginia. The remaining choices provided by the survey, which was conducted in March 2008, were as follows (ranked by overall popularity):