Renewables in Ohio too successful, so GOP wants to freeze progress

Liberace used to say, "Too much of a good thing is wonderful!"  Well, apparently not in Ohio.  State House and Senate Republicans are moving to "freeze" renewable energy mandates passed nearly unanimously in 2008 in a story first reported by The Columbus Dispatch.

The article states, "This is the latest attempt by House and Senate Republicans to respond to the concerns of utilities and business groups that say parts of a 2008 energy law have unreasonably high costs."  In a stroke of complete non sequitur, Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina even references Solyndra (can you believe it!) in trying to make a case for freezing progress on renewable energy goals.  Solyndra was a case of direct investment by the Federal Government into a start up company.  The mandate in Ohio is a requirement for utilities to adopt renewable energy IF it meets certain goals in cost and performance, SO THAT THE CONSUMER IS PROTECTED.  Contact info for Keith Faber is at this link here if you care to call him, write him or visit him and let him know your thoughts on the subject.

While you can read through this article and try to make sense of the "reasons" for freezing progress in adoption of renewable energy, the truth is there is little sense and this is very clearly a protectionist move by incumbent utilities whose business plans and grid profitability are under direct threat of the rapidly increasing adoption of renewables.  The industry term for this event is the utility death spiral, and as sure as the day is long, it is coming.  While some utilities / IPPs are innovating their way towards success in the age of renewables (case in point is AES who is pioneering the way on grid storage), others choose to funnel would-be R&D dollars to lobbyists to try and preserve their archaic business plans with politicians.

While I urge those passionate about the issue to contact their friends and family in Ohio to speak up on the issues, truth is there is little that can be done to stop wide progress to the way our society consumes and generates electricity, even if politics (temporarily) suspend progress.  The reality is that very motivated and smart people are working very hard to completely renovate the way energy moves through our homes and businesses, and the changes are going to come sooner than everyone realizes.  If you live in the sunbelt, then it wont be long before solar panels on the roof coupled with storage in your home, as planned by little known companies such as Tesla and Solar City, means you simply will not need a grid connection.  Couple this with passive solar design and efficiency electrical appliances and you won't need any energy connection.  On that day I guess I'll put my old electric bills in the garage with my Kodak film camera and hamburger land line phone.

Links to consider:

GTM article on RPS battle happening in many states, not just Ohio

The Columbus Dispatch article on the freeze to renewables progress

Contact info for Ohio State Senator Keith Faber

Register for the BDR Fun Run 2014 on April 27!

As we climb out of the winter slumber here in Orange County, April also represents the time to reconnect around the annual Brian D. Robertson Memorial Fun Run, happening this year on April 27 at Bolsa Chica State Beach.  This is the 3rd year OCR has supported this event and worked to preserve the memory and legacy of solar power pioneer, husband and father Brian Robertson.

We certainly hope you can join all the OCR and BDR faithful for a fun run 5k or kid friendly 1 mile on Sunday, April, 27.  Click on this link here or the link below to be taken directly to the registration page at Active.com.  The day schedule is posted below:

Event schedule and times:

10:00am - Bib Pick-Up & Late Registration

11:00am - Kids 1Mile Fun Run/Walk Start

11:30am - 5K Run/Walk Start

12:30pm Awards Celebration & Official Race End

1:00pm Earth Day Park / Race Clean-Up

Please email us if you have any questions or visit the race website at www.bdrfunrun.com for more information.  For any Eastcoasters who read our blog, there is PA based BDR Fun Run as well in Washington Crossing, PA on April 6th also.  See you there!

Register today for the Race at Active.com

A little bit of perspective

For all those potential green tech entrepreneurs, thinkers, tinkerers, you don't have to be broke in your twenties with no wife / husband or kids to give your idea a try.  Use the experience and wisdom of your years to reach results faster with less time and energy.  The graphic below reminds us that these major (and hip) institutions had some, how do we say, more seasoned founders.

Just remember, you can be your own Dick Proenneke!

Much ado about water

I've been noticing that when I travel outside of the state recently, everyone seems to be asking me about the water situation in California.  I constantly hear, "What is deal with water out there?" or, "What is CA doing to do about this terrible drought?" or "Have you started drinking sea water yet!?!?!?"

I have to admit, I didn't know there was a problem.  In fact, I'm still not sure if there is a problem.  I keep hearing there is a problem but if there was a real problem then I have to believe the price of water would go up.  Supply and demand, right?  So, I went back and looked at my water bills for the last two years, and I am paying the exact same $/gal that I paid in 2012.  Funny enough, cost of trash pickup went up 3%, but water has stayed exactly... the ... same.

This all got me thinking about the annual water report for Orange County published by MWDOC.  The most recent is at this link.  Right in the front of the report is the breakout below for residential use.  The first time I saw that nearly 60% of all water usage in Orange County is for landscaping I nearly fell out of my chair.  

So, the point of this post is simple.  Orange County residents on average use 60% of their water for their landscaping.  That is crazy.  So as we all wait for the rainstorm to roll in this weekend, please make sure your sprinklers are off.  Also, if we are in a water crisis, my opinion to the powers that be is to try economics, raise the price of water.

DOE Solar Decathlon 2015 coming back to Irvine

Its official, Orange County knows how to party. And by party I mean host the bi-annual DOE Solar Decathlon.. like a boss. 2013 was the first year the event was held outside of the National mall in Washington DC, and from the looks of this announcement from DOE last week, they liked what they saw.

OC Renewables is proud to start spreading the news that the 2015 DOE Solar Decathlon will be coming back to the Great Park in Irvine, Orange County, CA.  DOE has also released the list of participating schools, which is reproduced below.  Congrats to all of these teams and I think I speak for everyone at OCR when we say that we look forward to the event!

Congrats to:

• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
• California State University, Sacramento
• Clemson University
• Crowder College and Drury University
• Lansing Community College and Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University
• Missouri University of Science and Technology
• New York City College of Technology
• Oregon Institute of Technology and Portland State University
• Stanford University
• State University of New York at Alfred College of Technology and Alfred University
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• University of Florida, National University of Singapore, and Santa Fe College
• The University of Texas at Austin and Technische Universitaet Muenchen
• University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
• University of California, Davis
• University of California, Irvine; Saddleback College; Chapman University; and Irvine Valley College
• Vanderbilt University and Middle Tennessee State University
• West Virginia University and University of Roma Tor Vergata
• Western New England University, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, and Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana
• Yale University

Jeremy Grantham's recent GMO letter is very optimistic on renewables

Jeremy Grantham is a very well know investment strategist, economist, fund manager, all around idea man when it comes to big global trends.  Last year he gave a riviting interview with Charlie Rose on everything from the National debt to the promise of renewables.  The video can be watched below.

He latest newsletter just published and is hosted at this link.  In it, he remains bullish about the outlook for renewable energy in our society and even has some nice things to say about Tesla's product.  I always enjoy reading his insights and I hope you will too!

• A link to the Jeremy Grantham / Charlie Rose interview from March, 2013

Stanford Presents Plan for 100% Renewable Grid in California by 2050

In a comprehensive paper, researchers led by Dr. Mark Jacobson at Stanford University have released a report detailing how California can be transitioned to a completely renewable grid, powered by wind, water and sun, by 2050.  Below is a copy of the Abstract, and the full report is hosted at this link here.

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Abstract

This study presents a roadmap to convert California’s all-purpose (for electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, industry) energy infrastructure to one derived entirely from wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) generating electricity and electrolytic hydrogen. We outline the requirements, costs, benefits, and policies needed for the conversion. The plan contemplates all new energy capacity powered with WWS by 2020, 80-85% of all energy use powered with WWS by 2030, and 100% by 2050. Electrification plus modest efficiency measures would reduce California’s end-use power demand ~44% and stabilize energy prices since WWS fuel costs are zero. Complete conversion of California’s energy system to WWS by 2050 would create 205,000 net permanent jobs, eliminate ~16,000 (4,800-29,600) state air pollution deaths/yr, avoid $131 (39-296) billion/yr in health costs (6.9% of California’s 2010 gross domestic product), and reduce 2050 global climate costs by $48 billion/yr. The California air-pollution health benefits plus global climate benefits from eliminating California emissions would repay the $1.15 trillion capital cost of the 631 GW installed power of a 100% WWS system within ~6 years.