Happy Holidays from the Solar and Wind Expo

There is no intellegent life down here

2011 was filled with so many distractions that it is hard to pin point the biggest. 2012 could offer a lot of the same – especially since it will be an election year. In fact, it may be difficult to make predictions for 2012. But all is not lost even though politicians will continue to thrive on accentuating our differences,


Just as in other countries, the population is fed up. The current politicians are ill-equipped to stop the bickering and to work out the problems of today to allow for a future that will benefit us all, equally. Politics-as-usual is coming to an end and we will be witnesses.

The focus of the Solar and Wind Expo is to move the country forward towards a clean energy independent future. I bet most of you agree that this will not be possible without using the current available energy sources (like the Keystone Pipeline) while making the change to a new clean energy a priority.

The good part is we can and will do this. But we can’t wait until the left and the right stop fighting or the next election. If Obama wins and the House and Senate stay as they are, the conservatives will be unhappy and block everything that is proposed – more gridlock for four years. But if the Republicans win the Senate and the Presidency, I can’t see a much brighter future for clean energy either.

Let’s tell the President and Congress that we do not want to make this election about abortion, Mormons or putting judges in jail or we’re going to replace them all.

Action is what is needed in 2012. Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is now occupying people’s homes and they are making a difference because of action not in-action. Whether you disagree or disagree with OWS you have to applaud positive action. We all have our opinions, but this coming year let’s put the differences aside and focus on our commonalities. Clean energy is one of these commonalities and if we need a pipeline now to make things easier while we transition to the future, then okay. But this needs to be the discussion, not blackmail as it is being presented now. Environmentalists will need to compromise as well those who support the expansion of fossil fuels.

The Solar and Wind Expo will continue its mission of showcasing clean energy products and techniques in 2012 and we are planning bigger and better shows than last year. In 2012 we are bringing a new event call Electropalooza to Maryland with the help of electric motorcycles manufacturers and race teams. Electric Motorcycles will race in time trials around a track with chicanes. This should be a good time. The event is coming together well and we have developed a website for those who want to participate. We will eventually incorporate the website into the expo website soon.

Speaking of websites, we are working on redoing The Solar and Wind Expo website and will be hosting our own blog in the near future with some interesting surprises. So if you’ve noticed very few blogs lately, that is because the focus has been on the redo. Stay tuned.

So another year goes by and another approaches, let’s make the necessary changes in 2012 to make a clean renewable energy independence possible. Don’t look back, make it happen. Happy Holidays.

Here is a list of who is up for re-election:

• The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections will be held on November 6, 2012. Elections will be held for all 435 seats, representing the 50 U.S. states. Elections will also be held for the delegates from the District of Columbia and five major U.S. territories.


• 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections whose winners will serve six-year terms from January 3, 2013 until January 3, 2019. Additionally, special elections may be held to fill vacancies that occur during the 112th United States Congress. Currently, Democrats are expected to have 23 seats up for election, including 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats, while Republicans are expected to have only 10 seats up for election.

1. Democrats/Independents retiring (6 seats)

 Joe Lieberman of Connecticut (Independent)

 Daniel Akaka of Hawaii

 4.1.3 Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico

 4.1.4 Kent Conrad of North Dakota

 4.1.5 Jim Webb of Virginia

 4.1.6 Herb Kohl of Wisconsin

2. Democrats who have not announced intentions

 4.2.1 Dianne Feinstein of California

 4.2.2 Ben Nelson of Nebraska

3. Democrats/Independents seeking re-election (15 seats)

 4.3.1 Tom Carper of Delaware

 4.3.2 Bill Nelson of Florida

 4.3.3 Ben Cardin of Maryland

 4.3.4 Debbie Stabenow of Michigan

 4.3.5 Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

 4.3.6 Claire McCaskill of Missouri

 4.3.7 Jon Tester of Montana

 4.3.8 Bob Menendez of New Jersey

 4.3.9 Kirsten Gillibrand of New York

 Sherrod Brown of Ohio

 Bob Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania

 Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island

 Bernie Sanders of Vermont (Independent)

 Maria Cantwell of Washington

 Joe Manchin of West Virginia

4. Republicans retiring (2 seats)

 Jon Kyl of Arizona

 Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas

5. Republicans seeking re-election (8 seats)

 Richard Lugar of Indiana

 Olympia Snowe of Maine

 Scott Brown of Massachusetts

 Roger Wicker of Mississippi

 Dean Heller of Nevada

 Bob Corker of Tennessee

 Orrin Hatch of Utah

 John Barrasso of Wyoming

Is renewable energy truly a national defense issue?

There has been a lot of talk in the news and in politics since that fateful day, Sept. 11, 2001, about the need to end global funding of terrorist factions, and justly so. The playbook rhetoric has always been that we take the war to them, and we did, that we find where the funding is coming from and stop it, and we did, sort of.

Terrorism exists on ideology and money. Without money it is impossible for a terrorist group to buy weapons, organize training camps or bribe officials in locations where training operations take place. Our government’s policies favor invading or putting in place sanctions to force countries that harbor terrorists to our will. These tactics haven’t worked in Cuba. After enduring years of US economic sanctions, Cuba is now looking to China to help it find oil 60 miles from Key West. This proves that isolation only creates strange bedfellows and that these tactics are so counterproductive that they do is create more problems. What will Cuba do with these profits, hopefully not harbor terrorist?

Invading other countries is a bad choice and often backfires. Help from other countries isn’t always there and the human toll is priceless. Yes we have triumphed in Iraq, or so it seems but time will tell. We can’t stay on this course any longer, we just can’t.

Terrorist attacks cost a small amount when compared to the funds they spend in developing their terrorist infrastructure, which cost perhaps billions of dollars to set up and maintain. Vast sums are spent on recruitment, training camps, conventional and unconventional weapons, intelligence gathering, various forms of propaganda, and other activities.

The methods used to acquire these funds are nothing new and have been around for decades, i.e. drugs and oil profits. The US has done little to curtail the influx of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels that fund the very terrorism that we then must fight. How many wake-up calls must we have before people in power act see this?

Tired of waiting for government action, the American public is taking matters into its own hands. They are saving more, fighting for their legal rights and buying locally to help themselves get out a financial quagmire while Congress continues its lackluster performance. The 2008 economic crash left the United States people no choice but to rethink the place of our country in this new global economy.

The United States needs to make the change to clean electric cars and solar, wind and geothermal technologies as quickly as possible to help lead the country and the world out of this dependence. There is no more time to wait. Countries all over the world are making quick work of the change and we must too. We should take the message to Congress that this too is of national importance and must be put in the defense budget. This is the language they understand.

Money can be reallocated from research on worthless technologies or new line items should be added. It’s that important.

The defense expenditures for 2010 were as follows:

• Operations and maintenance $283.3 billion +4.2%
• Military Personnel $154.2 billion +5.0%
• Procurement $140.1 billion −1.8%
• Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation $79.1 billion +1.3%
• Military Construction $23.9 billion +19.0%
• Family Housing $3.1 billion −20.2%
• Total Spending $683.7 billion +3.0%

DOD Programs: 

• F-35 Joint Strike Fighter $11.4 billion +2.1%
• Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis, THAAD, PAC-3) $9.9 billion +7.3%
• Virginia class submarine $5.4 billion +28.0%
• Brigade Combat Team Modernization $3.2 billion +21.8%
• DDG 51 Aegis-class Destroyer $3.0 billion +19.6%
• P–8A Poseidon $2.9 billion −1.6%
• V-22 Osprey $2.8 billion −6.5%
• Carrier Replacement Program $2.7 billion +95.8%
• F/A-18E/F Hornet $2.0 billion +17.4%
•  Predator and Reaper Unmanned Aerial System $1.9 billion +57.8%
• Littoral combat ship $1.8 billion +12.5%
• CVN Refueling and Complex Overhaul $1.7 billion −6.0%
• Chemical Demilitarization $1.6 billion −7.0%
• RQ-4 Global Hawk $1.5 billion +6.7%
• Space-Based Infrared System $1.5 billion +54.4%

The 2012 Defense-related budget breakdown shows where all the money is going to be spent:

• DOD spending $707.5 billion Base budget + "Overseas Contingency Operations"
• FBI counter-terrorism $2.7 billion At least one-third FBI budget.
• International Affairs $5.6–$63.0 billion At minimum, foreign arms sales. At most, entire State budget
• Energy Department, defense-related $21.8 billion
• Veterans Affairs $70.0 billion
• Homeland Security $46.9 billion
• NASA, satellites $3.5–$8.7 billion Between 20% and 50% of NASA's total budget
• Veterans pensions $54.6 billion
• Other defense-related mandatory spending $8.2 billion
• Interest on debt incurred in past wars $109.1–$431.5 billion Between 23% and 91% of total interest
• Total Spending $1.030–$1.415 trillion

My proposal is this. Add one more line item: 

• Strategic fossil fuel import reduction $431.5 billion - to be used to finance renewable energy

This amount is equal to the amount that is paid in interest for past wars alone. Maybe we can put an end to having to fight those types of wars. We must make it a National Priority.

George Lopez

America is split – just about down the middle – half on the left and half on the right

 If you told me that every football game this season was going to end in a tie, I would not watch football. I feel the same way about politics; I just can’t watch it anymore. At least with football if you stop watching, the pain goes away. The opposite is true with politics. If you leave them alone they will steal the farm (Oh wait, they have).

We need to take responsibility for our votes. The left blames the right and the right blames the left. In the end it’s the voter who loses.

The almost even division of the country has created this problem; and in a way this is a good thing, because this system does not give either side supreme power and this increases the need for compromise between the two sides. But they all have dug in their heels and will not allow common reasoning to enter the conversation.

So the only thing the left and the right can do is hope that the independent vote will help sway the election their way. So in other words, billions of dollars are spent to sway a small minority.

This is money that in my eyes can be used for better things, but that argument is for another time. What is so disingenuous on the part of both sides is that they never repay their debt by helping an independent candidate get any recognition. Not ever. It boggles my mind.

What does all this have to do with renewable energy and electric vehicles? If you look around you’ll see that the environment hasn’t gotten any better and the cost of fossil fuels hasn’t gone down. History shows that this is a never-ending trend. But the cost of solar and wind and geothermal is going down. According to the World Energy Council (WEC), global demand for natural gas is likely to increase by 44% between 2007 and 2035 due to increasing global population and growing demand. This will increase the cost of that fuel. Count on it.

Bloomberg news reported a couple of days ago on India pushing down the price of solar even further:

India, the world’s third-largest energy consumer, is cutting solar-power costs to a record by forcing project developers into auctions, helping avoid the spiraling renewable-energy subsidies that have hurt Europe.


The lowest bid in India’s latest national auction on Dec. 2 came from Solairedirect SA, France’s second-largest producer, which offered to sell photovoltaic electricity at 7,490 rupees ($147) a megawatt-hour. That’s 38 percent below the average price set in a December 2010 auction and about 30 percent cheaper than the global average for solar projects.

They go on to say:

The auction’s results for $700 million of projects shows the price of solar power in India is closing in on the cost of coal-fired generation faster than expected as photovoltaic equipment costs plunge, said Mohit Anand, senior consultant at Bridge to India Pvt., a New Delhi-based advisory firm.


Solar power may equal the cost of fossil fuel-based electricity sold to commercial businesses as early as 2014 or 2015 if prices continue to fall at the rate seen in India over the past 12 months, Anand said. KPMG LLP predicted in May solar power may be as cheap as coal by 2017. The government said in an August report that solar could reach grid parity by 2019.

Read the story here.

While the country is in gridlock and the media only wants to promote its own agenda, the renewable energy industry could make a difference by promoting alternative energy friendly political candidates. There is a great opportunity to make difference going forward and maybe this two-party system is hurting our chances to further the renewable energy industry in a way that is fair. Is the only way left to introduce new ideas is to introduce a new party?

While Ice caps melt, ground water is dries up, the housing market flounders and economies all over the world are at the mercy of fossil fuel providers, the price of clean, renewable energy continues to go down. There has been no better time to make the change to clean renewable energy, but all the left and the right can do is argue. HELLO! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?!! George Lopez.

The State of the Industry: Wind Making Important Gains, Facing Legislative Uncertainty

Workers preparing the base for
Turbine at Chesapeake college in
Maryland

Of all the renewable energy technologies available, wind energy appears to be the one most capable of being harnessed to a true utility scale. Cumulatively, wind energy production has soared 30% in the last ten years. The Global Wind Energy Council tallies the number of wind energy jobs at over 400,000. Within the last decade large wind farms have begun to dot the nation, particularly in the Midwest and Deep South, where strong winds and open country both exist in optimal quantities.

Wind has become a part of many conventional utility companies’ portfolios where it has proved to be anything but unreliable. During the scorching summer heat of 2011, Texas electrical grids buckled under soaring demand and conventional modes of production could not keep pace. Wind turbines picked up the slack and kept the air conditioning and lights on in thousands of Texas homes.

While the wind sector has experienced its share of the attrition from the global economic downturn, the worldwide wind picture appears strong, with European markets stable and China claiming the top spot in terms of global wind energy production.

On the other hand, the United States has seen its share of production in the wind sector decline by half in 2011. This year has seen the nation’s first planned offshore wind farm, Cape Wind, struggle with bureaucratic red tape and a fierce backlash from citizens concerned with the sight, sound and placement of the turbines. These factors, combined with wrangling on behalf of the utility companies and lawsuits have caused the gears of Cape wind to grind to a halt.

More menacing is the prospect that Congress, (who recent polling shows is tied with Hugo Chavez at 9% for popularity among American citizens) gripped by the hysteria of austerity, will decide to scale back or entirely dispense with the federal grants making much of utility scale wind possible. If this happens, analysts and industry leaders predict that, while it will not kill the wind industry in the United States, it will greatly slow its advance.

At a time when the nation badly needs jobs, it makes little sense to gut the funding from an internationally growing industry. It goes beyond poor judgment and into the realm of outright cruelty, when one takes into account the thousands of Americans who will lose their jobs should Congress decide to remove these important and necessary subsidies.

Contrary to what some would have us believe, the oil, natural gas and especially the nuclear energy sector all had substantial subsidies, grants and miscellaneous perks afforded them by Congress in efforts to turn them into the behemoths of industry they are today. At a time when Marcellus Shale is generating revenue hand over fist, it is nonsensical to advocate for the retention of subsidies for the fossil fuel industry while demanding that government cut aid to clean energy.

On November 2, 2011, bipartisan legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives to extend the renewable energy production tax credits. The legislation is H.R. 3307: “American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011.” I strongly urge anyone who reads this post to write, email or call their congressman or congresswoman and urge them to cosponsor this bill and demand that they advocate for America’s rightful clean and renewable energy future.

- By Richard Harrod

Solar and Wind Expo wraps up in Massachusetts – Part Deux

Ted Dillard showing his
electric motorcycle

The 2012 Massachusetts Solar and Wind Expo will be held the first weekend of November in the Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough. We are looking forward to growing the number of vendors at the show and people walking through the door by expanding on our advertizing campaign, engaging our current partners early and adding more.

Although the Expo is not for another year we stay engaged in the Massachusetts energy community and will continue our mission of promoting renewable energy any way we can. One of those ways will be to point out misinformation and injustice anytime we see it.

I recently read that the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a Cape Wind opponent, has recently received a large contribution so it can continue to fight this much needed and good-for-everyone project. A quick search on Wikipedia revealed the following: The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit self-styled environmental organization dedicated to the opposition of the Cape Wind project^[1] and to the long-term preservation of Nantucket Sound.^[2] Alliance membership and allies include wealthy residents of Cape Cod, executives in fossil fuel industries, some local towns, Chambers of Commerce, several environmental groups, many fishing and recreation groups, and public figures including billionaire oil heir William Koch, former mining executive Doug Yearley, former candidate for U.S. President and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, Attorney General Tom Reilly, and Congressman Bill Delahunt.^[1][3][4] Its current president is Charles McLaughlin of Harwich. Among its directors have been Dan Wolf, President and CEO of airline Cape Air, along with former candidate for Massachusetts governor and convenience store baron Christy Mihos (source: public records at the Massachusetts Division of Corporations).

A self-styled environmental organization dedicated to the opposition of the first offshore wind farm? Cape Wind is a project that is decades behind the rest of the world and would create many short and long term jobs as well as reduce our dependence on fossils. That is why the Solar and Wind Expo will continue to do its job: Pointing out issues like this, promoting and creating demand for renewables until we no longer need fossil fuels and beyond.

Vadim Polikov of Astrum Solar
demonstrates solar power to
a very interested attendee to the
Mass. Solar and Wind Expo

I want to thank the folks who helped make the Expo a success. They were instrumental in spreading the word and believed in us from the beginning:

Astrum Solar
Energy Systems & Installation
SunLion Energy Systems
Krannich Solar
Brightergy Solar Solutions
Boston Gliders
Conservation Solutions Corporation
Earthheaded
Honest Tea
EnerG Magazine
WCVB Television
WGBH Television
Green Alliance
Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston
Sustainable Leader Program
Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce
GoGreen Web Directory
Pearl’s Premium Seed

And the many who attended and are now evaluating their energy choices

Look for future blogs where we’ll tell you about plans for the 2012 Maryland Expo. We are putting together more seminars, more EVs--including the first ever Electropalooza. Electropalooza will showcase factory and homemade electric motorcycles and cars and their capabilities on a closed circuit track. Don’t miss it. Save the date!

George Lopez

  



The Solar and Wind Expo wraps up in Massachusetts and now looks to Maryland



The kids had fun on
Ted Dillards Custom



It was a beautiful weekend in Marlborough, Massachusetts, on November 4-6th. Over 2000 people interested in renewable energy came through the door and were welcomed by solar and wind energy companies, Segways, electric cars, an electric motorcycle and electric bikes.

The free seminars were very popular and all classes were well attended. The most popular classes were those on solar leasing, wind and geothermal.

The weather cooperated the entire weekend had sun and temperatures in 60s. A week earlier they had a 30-inch snowfall and all was melted by the time we arrived. The folks at the Royal Plaza Trade Center were great and treated us very well. The guys at Capital Convention Services even threw in the wall-to-wall carpeting. We extend a big thank you to Pat Silva and Erik Palm and the entire staff of the Trade Center.

A week earlier due to the storm Massachusetts had been hit with a massive power outage and the Hotel had become one of the staging areas for the reconnection efforts. While folks on TV lamented about how the electric company was not doing enough, we were treated to an incredible demonstration. I have never seen so many boom trucks in one location in my life. The parking lot had generators running around the clock with staging area for poles and other needed items. The lobby was deployment central for hundreds of workers from all over the country. The poor guys had to take their clothes with them every day because they did not know if they would come back to this hotel or another. By the time the Expo began setting up, the entire state of Massachusetts had power. My hat goes off to National Grid and all the guys who gave their all to get it done.

Now we focus on Maryland and the plans are taking shape. We are putting together a great event, bigger and better than last year. The first ever “Electropalooza” will take place in May along with the Expo. We are expecting electric motorcycles and cars from all over to descend on Timonium Fairgrounds. Stay tuned.

George Lopez

 in our Key West Headquaters.

The State of the Industry: Ray of Sunshine Winds its Way through Pennsylvania State Legislature

Over the past year Pennsylvania has been a tough spot for the solar industry. Solar power benefited greatly from the enacting of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Program in 2008, which created a $100 million fund for residential consumers and business owners to tap into to help offset the cost of going solar.

This created a boom in solar installations, but now the fund is all but depleted and state has outpaced its renewable portfolio standard carve out for solar, meaning that the value of SRECs (the certificates or credits generated based on kilowatts of solar installed and then sold back into the grid) in Pennsylvania has tumbled from over $300 to around $50 over the last year.

This crash of SREC prices and disappearance of subsidies is compounded by a less than proactive approach from the Governor’s Office in Harrisburg. Governor Corbett has focused almost all energy policy on the exploitation of natural gas from Marcellus Shale. Additionally he has banned state agencies from investing in infrastructure upgrades or repairs that involve the use of renewable technologies.

Many companies are diversifying or relocating, opening offices in more renewable energy friendly states like New Jersey or Massachusetts or simply leaving the state altogether. The state’s share of solar jobs has gone from near 7000 to under 5000 in the course of one year.

The one ray of sunshine in this landscape is coming from a new proposed law entitled “Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act” (HB 1580) sponsored and promoted by State Representative Chris Ross (R – Chester County). The bill would increase the solar carve-out in the Pennsylvania’s RPS to .5% and also close the state’s borders to purchases of SRECs from outside Pennsylvania.

Rep. Chris Ross

Rep. Ross has been buoyed by a tremendous amount for support. Legislators were signing on as cosponsors before the legislation was even written. As it stands now, the bill is before the Consumer Affairs committee. It is not known for certain when the bill will make it out of their deliberations and to a vote on the assembly floor, but experts in the industry believe it will not only pass, but will also be signed by Governor Corbett if it makes it to his desk.

HB 1580 is a very promising initiative and, assuming it passes, should stabilize the solar industry in Pennsylvania. It will take longer for the industry to undergo the necessary market shakeout and for supply to come into line with demand. Nonetheless, it is more than a little encouraging to see local lawmakers fighting for the jobs and welfare of the solar industry and understanding the promise that renewable energy holds, not just for Pennsylvania, but for the United States and beyond.

- by Richard Harrod