Norway has continued to live up to its clean energy reputation by publishing its first annual report on the Clean Energy for Development Initiative.  This details nearly $130m worth of funds spent by the Norwegian Government on clean energy projects across the developing world in 2008-9, double the amount budgeted by USAID for a variety of issues including clean energy aid.

Key to the initiative’s approach has been the electrification of small villages in remote areas and over 44% of the money has been spent on building transmission and distribution infrastructure.  The largest type of generation deployed has been hydroelectric, with 15% of expenditure going on these projects, some of which have been large scale but many of which have been small and localised.

Other forms of generation considered include wind, geothermal and biomass, each depending upon the particular needs of the country and neighbourhood within which the initiative is operating.  Rather pointedly, the report states that it spent 0% of its money on power generation from non-renewable sources.

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It is really quite sad what Republicans have done to the Senate and what they are doing to the country and the world as a result. Even conservatives Dick Schmalensee, who served on President George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Jonathan Kay are calling out their colleagues and friends for their backwards thinking and counter-productive actions (perhaps even better than any non-conservative could).

If one courageous Republican in the Senate wanted to, though, he/she could make a big difference and help turn things around for the highly popular PACE program now. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that he is willing to add PACE-restoring legislation to a scaled-back energy bill IF he can find a Republican cosponsor to sign onto it.

Why would anyone oppose PACE? Why wouldn’t a Republican step up and be the PACE hero?

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Allentown, the city that songwriter Billy Joel used as a symbol of 1980’s Rust Belt decline, is showing more signs of an economic revival powered by clean, renewable energy and new energy storage solutions.  One indication came earlier this year, when hometown manufacturer International Battery announced that it won a new contract to supply lithium-ion batteries for NASA, for use in developing the space agency’s new “smart” energy storage systems. Now another manufacturer, Air Products, has announced plans to build a 1.5 megawatt solar installation that will provide about half the energy used in its corporate headquarters in Allentown, with the help of a state alternative energy grant.

Both of these projects illustrate the important role that government will play in the development of a safer and less risky energy future for the U.S., just as the government has provided billions to support the oil, coal and gas industries.  Allentown is also an example of a city that supports private industry while also putting public sector resources to work for the public good, as aptly demonstrated by the city’s own photovoltaic installation at its public works department.

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A peer-reviewed study soon to be published in the journal Energy Policy shows that moving clocks forward an hour in Britain would substantially cut carbon emissions.

The new study by Dr Elizabeth Garnsey of Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering shows that if Brits moved their clocks forward an hour for the whole year, the carbon emissions saved would be the same as taking 200,000 cars off the road.

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The U.S. Army’s a new best friend when it comes to recycling waste, conserving energy and keeping hazardous materials out of the waste stream is a chipmunk – a Kurt Chipmunk, that is.  The Kurt Chipmunk is a new energy efficient metal compactor and recycler installed at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, and its success there could mark a big step forward in defense-related waste reduction initiatives.

In terms of green tech a metal compactor is not quite as glamorous as other U.S. military programs such as microbial fuel cells or portable solar power, but in addition to environmental goodness the Chipmunk offers significant bottom line benefits that could motivate private industry to invest in sustainable new technology sooner rather than later.

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While some Arizona legislators seem to have a bit of trouble deciphering the U.S. constitution, the state’s utility companies are wide awake when it comes to shifting out of fossil fuels and adopting renewable energy.  Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has joined the rush to renewables with an announcement that it will purchase the electrical output from solar, landfill gas, and wind installations, which when completed will total almost 160 megawatts or enough to power about 30,000 homes.

The greatest amount will come from ten new solar power installations, which together will account for 107 of the 160 MW.  TEP anticipates completion of these along with the wind and landfill gas projects in 2011 or 2012.

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The jury is still out on the commercial viability of kudzu as a biofuel crop, but scientists at the University of Virginia have come up with a compelling reason to get the invasive, fast-growing vine under control but quick.  The team has found evidence that kudzu is a major contributor to surface ozone pollution.

The kudzu-induced increase in ozone is so powerful that it “completely overcomes the reduction in ozone realized from automobile pollution control legislation,” reports a member of the research team.  Dang!

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Britain’s newly-appointed Prime Minister, David Cameron, has reportedly agreed to release £200 million worth of funds to Scotland to allow it to set up large scale renewable energy based power plants.

Scotland had been demanding the release of these funds which were raised through the North Sea oil and gas industry and are being currently held by government regulator Ofgem (Office of Gas and Electricity Markets). These funds have been kept aside for investments in green energy projects but the Gordon Brown government had refused the Scottish demands to release the same in the past. Now, there seems to be a good understanding between the new British government and the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, on this issue and the Treasury is said to be considering changing the rules pertaining to collection and distribution of these funds.

Funding for large scale renewable energy power plants in Britain has been a roadblock in the recent past. British Petroleum has slowly withdrawn from its plans to invest in wind energy generation in the country while Royal Dutch Shell sold off its stake in one of the world’s largest wind farms, the London Array — the project was rescued when the Abu Dhabi-based Masdar group bought stake in the project. The economic uncertainty and attractive investments opportunities abroad certainly did not help.

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Last week, more than 100 presidents of university and college student government associations, representing over 1 million American students, signed a letter urging Congress to fund RE-ENERGYSE, a program aimed at ‘REgaining our Energy Science and Engineering Edge’. This letter (PDF download) is a remix of a last summer’s letter, which was also co-signed and submitted by 100 groups.

With RE-ENERGYSE redux, will the kids get to eat their energy Wheaties?

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The timing was pure coincidence but the irony is still crushing: this week, while the fallout was still settling from the Massey coal mine disaster and crews were fighting vainly to stem a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, ARPA-E announced its picks for a new round of transformative energy projects.  ARPA-E, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, is the federal agency charged with getting us out of this fossil fuel mess and into more sustainable forms of energy.

In this round of funding, ARPA-E will distribute 37 grants to transformative energy projects in 17 states for a total of $106 million.  The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The idea is to invest in sustainable technology that creates new green jobs.  Fossil fuels will be with us for a long time, but the faster we support new energy solutions, the sooner we can marginalize fossil fuels and reduce if not eliminate their devastating environmental and economic impacts.

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