Australia Delays Introduction of Carbon Market: Smart or Stupid?

Australia’s decision to delay the introduction of its carbon market by one year to mid-2011 is receiving flak and praise in the carbon news, as is the general structure of the proposal. Business is unhappy with the original plan because they say it will impose additional costs and lead to job losses and increased prices for consumers; environmentalists are unhappy because they believe the cuts do not go deep enough. In this issue of the Climate Column, we discuss Australia’s carbon markets plan in light of recent accusations that Europe’s carbon trading market is open to trader speculation driving the price of carbon, which has a real influence on consumer energy prices.

Saudis Confused About Solar Power

In this issue of the Climate Column, we find out why Saudi Arabia’s oil minister seems to be confused as to what he thinks about solar power, and investigate whether the world can replace dirty Saudi Arabian oil with clean solar power as the world’s primary energy source. One thing is for certain, in the future we will be seeing more and more progressive companies investing in major solar power projects and the future is certainly looking bright for solar.

Forbes Recommends Clean Energy Stocks

Renewable energy stocks take a battering, but Forbes.com still recommends them for long-term portfolios and we outline why we think there will be a big green boom once this downturn is over.

2008 Coldest Year of the Decade but 10th Hottest on Record

The Guardian says 2008 will be the coldest year of the decade. Is global warming coming to an end? Unfortunately, no. We look at some of the evidence that shows why this was just a blip, and what we can expect from here.

India And China Among World’s Largest Wind Markets

Who’s got wind? In this edition of the Climate Column, we look at the world’s largest wind markets by capacity and percentage of supply, discuss the IEA’s far too pessimistic outlook for renewable energy, and announce the birth of a new international agency: IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, will come into being at a signing ceremony scheduled for 26 January 2009 in Bonn, Germany.

Financial Crisis Brings Together Unlikely Bedmates

While Bush & Co. watch Rome.. err, America.. burn, “treehugging hippies” and environmentally inclined “socialists” such as Jon Stewart and Joseph Romm are getting together to save.. the car companies. Oh, the irony.

Green Energy Community Investment Fund

Citi and Helio Micro Utility Announce The Green Energy Community Investment Fund
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), August 14, 2008

Initial Phase of new Fund will Power up to Four Megawatts of Commercial and Public Sector Solar Energy System Installations

New York, NY and Berkeley, CA – Citi Community Capital, a division of Citi, and Helio Micro Utility today announced the creation of the Green Energy Community Investment Fund to initially finance up to four megawatts of solar electricity production this year. Through this new initiative, solar power systems will be installed on qualifying commercial and public sector facilities throughout the U.S., with an emphasis on underserved communities. Helio mU, headquartered in Berkeley, CA, provides solar electricity to commercial, residential and not-for-profit customers with little or no initial capital outlay through long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

The first of its kind in the clean energy sector, the Green Energy Community Investment Fund™ puts a special focus on commercial, non-profit and public entities in low and moderate income areas. The Fund will follow the same model as the established Helio Green Energy Plan™, enabling qualifying entities to buy the power generated from a solar installation rather than the panels themselves, thus providing upfront savings and smoothing the path to solar adoption.

“Energy is a major concern in the everyday operation of businesses and organizations across America,” said Andrew Ditton, Managing Director of Citi Community Capital. “This Fund is an excellent opportunity for us to expand the mission of our community development efforts to bring affordable green energy solutions to facilities primarily in low and moderate income areas. It also supports Citi’s 2007 announcement of $50 billion in investment and financing over 10 years to address global climate change. We are pleased to work with the Helio Micro Utility team on this vital environmental and economic initiative.”

Helio Micro Utility Chairman, Ian Rogoff, explained “we created Helio Micro Utility in order to introduce innovative renewable energy finance and supply chain offerings to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy solutions. With the Green Energy Community Investment Fund, we have partnered with Citi to combine their environmental and community goals, and global financial strength, with our first-of-their-kind financial products for dramatically accelerated solar power adoption among traditionally under-served markets.”

“We are delighted with Citi’s support, and especially proud to work with them to expand the use of solar energy to help our planet while also serving local communities,” said Mo Rousso, President & CEO of Helio mU. “With budget cuts, rising energy and gasoline prices and economic pressures, it is more crucial than ever for businesses, schools and non profit organizations of all types to receive assistance now. With this support from Citi Community Capital, we are able to offer much needed help to reduce and stabilize energy costs and reduce dependence on brown energy.”

In 2007 Citi Community Capital (CCC), formerly Citibank Community Development, provided up to $5 billion for affordable housing and community revitalization projects in locations around the country. The Green Energy Community Investment Fund is part of Citi’s U.S. initiative to support business and community improvement with programs that also include environmentally positive objectives.

The Green Energy Community Investment Fund was created to support the installation of solar electricity systems on commercial and public sector buildings. Ideal criteria for participation in this new program include:

• Solar projects that can be completed prior to the end of 2008 so that the benefits of the Federal Incentive Tax Credit (ITC) program can be applied to the solar power system installation cost.
• Customer sites that are owner occupied or have more than 10 years remaining on the building lease.
• Sites that have adequate roof space for a solar electricity system capable of generating at least 50 kW, or approximately 9,000 square feet of space.
• Sites that have unobstructed sun exposure year round.
• Sites that are paying over $2,000 per month in electricity bills.
• Sites in California, New Jersey, or other states with existing state-level solar incentive programs

Tom Millhoff, Vice President of Business Development for Helio mU will lead the qualification process of facilities for the fund. “We will move quickly to evaluate building sites and install solar power systems this year. We encourage interested customers to contact us, particularly for projects that can be completed by the end of this year. In addition to end customers, solar power integration firms who have non-residential projects which might qualify for support from the Green Energy Community Investment Fund™ should contact us immediately,” said Mr. Millhoff.

# # #

Citi Community Capital
The community development division of Citi was created to fulfill the diverse community development lending and investment activity in one distinct business unit. The business, now called Citi Community Capital (CCC), was launched in 2000. In 2007, CCC merged with the Affordable Housing unit of the Municipal Securities Division which made available an even wider array of financial products that can be structured to fit our clients’ objectives.

CCC helps community development financial institutions, real estate developers, national intermediaries and non-profit organizations achieve their goals through a broad, integrated platform of debt and equity offerings. Within CCC is a dedicated investment team that specializes in renewable energy, New Markets, and other community development oriented investing. For more information, please visit www.citi.com/citigroup/citizen/community or contact Danielle Romero-Apsilos at 212-816-2264.

Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi’s major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Citi Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

Helio Micro Utility (Helio mU)
Helio mU is a green power pioneer, selling solar energy without the upfront cost of panels. The Company provides solar electricity to commercial, residential and not-for-profit customers with little or no initial capital outlay through its Green Energy Plan TM. The Helio Green Energy Plan guarantees customers receive cost-effective and predictable energy pricing and maximum system performance over the life of the agreement. Helio mU is headquartered in Berkeley, CA. For more information please visit: www.HeliomU.com and www.BuyPowerNotPanels.com or call toll free at 1.866.862.2806.

Solar From The Sahara To Power Europe

Solar power from Saharan sun could provide Europe’s electricity, says EU
The Guardian, Wednesday July 23, 2008

A tiny rectangle superimposed on the vast expanse of the Sahara captures the seductive appeal of the audacious plan to cut Europe’s carbon emissions by harnessing the fierce power of the desert sun.

A concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Spain that uses panels to reflect light on to a central tower to produce electricity. Similar plants are proposed for north Africa. Photograph: AP

Dwarfed by any of the north African nations, it represents an area slightly smaller than Wales but scientists claimed yesterday it could one day generate enough solar energy to supply all of Europe with clean electricity.

Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission’s Institute for Energy, said it would require the capture of just 0.3% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts to meet all of Europe’s energy needs.

The scientists are calling for the creation of a series of huge solar farms – producing electricity either through photovoltaic cells, or by concentrating the sun’s heat to boil water and drive turbines – as part of a plan to share Europe’s renewable energy resources across the continent.

A new supergrid, transmitting electricity along high voltage direct current cables would allow countries such as the UK and Denmark ultimately to export wind energy at times of surplus supply, as well as import from other green sources such as geothermal power in Iceland.

Energy losses on DC lines are far lower than on the traditional AC ones, which make transmission of energy over long distances uneconomic.

The grid proposal, which has won political support from both Nicholas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown, answers the perennial criticism that renewable power will never be economic because the weather is not sufficiently predictable. Its supporters argue that even if the wind is not blowing hard enough in the North Sea, it will be blowing somewhere else in Europe, or the sun will be shining on a solar farm somewhere.

Scientists argue that harnessing the Sahara would be particularly effective because the sunlight in this area is more intense: solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in northern Africa could generate up to three times the electricity compared with similar panels in northern Europe.

Much of the cost would come in developing the public grid networks of connecting countries in the southern Mediterranean, which do not currently have the spare capacity to carry the electricity that the north African solar farms could generate. Even if high voltage cables between North Africa and Italy would be built or the existing cable between Morocco and Spain would be used, the infrastructure of the transfer countries such as Italy and Spain or Greece or Turkey also needs a major re-structuring, according to Jaeger-Walden.

Southern Mediterranean countries including Portugal and Spain have already invested heavily in solar energy and Algeria has begun work on a vast combined solar and natural gas plant which will begin producing energy in 2010. Algeria aims to export 6,000 megawatts of solar-generated power to Europe by 2020.

Scientists working on the project admit that it would take many years and huge investment to generate enough solar energy from north Africa to power Europe but envisage that by 2050 it could produce 100 GW, more than the combined electricity output from all sources in the UK, with an investment of around €450bn.

Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist, welcomed the proposals: “Assuming it’s cost-effective, a largescale renewable energy grid is just the kind of innovation we need if we’re going to beat climate change.”

Jaeger-Walden also believes that scaling up solar PV by having large solar farms could help bring its cost down for consumers. “The biggest PV system at the moment is installed in Leipzig and the price of the installation is €3.25 per watt,” he said. “If we could realise that in the Mediterranean, for example in southern Italy, this would correspond to electricity prices in the range of 15 cents per kWh, something below what the average consumer is paying.”

The vision for the renewable energy grid comes as the commission’s joint research centre (JRC) published its strategic energy technology plan, highlighting solar PV as one of eight technologies that need to be championed for the short- to medium-term future.

“It recognises something extraordinary – if we don’t put together resources and findings across Europe and we let go the several sectors of energy, we will never reach these targets,” said Giovanni de Santi, director of the JRC, also speaking in Barcelona.

The JRC plan includes fuel cells and hydrogen, clean coal, second generation biofuels, nuclear fusion, wind, nuclear fission and smart grids. De Santi said it was designed to help Europe to meet its commitments to reduce overall energy consumption by 20% by 2020, while reducing CO² emissions by 20% in the same time and increasing to 20% the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources.

The Carbon Footprint Consumer Products Summit

The Carbon Footprint Consumer Products Summit

Here’s the plug for the summit coming up on February 26-27, 2008:

The Carbon Footprint Consumer Products Summit is part of the first ever global series of conferences to demonstrate the business case for measuring your carbon footprint. The event will dissect the WHYS, going beyond the environmental arguments and analyzing the business case for climate change initiatives. Using case studies from industry leaders, the event will then show you how to get started, literally taking you, step by step, to define a reference point for your carbon reductions investments, both internally and across the supply chain.

You can get more information and register for the summit here.

The Carbon Principles

Leading Banks Coming Green With “The Carbon Principles”

Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley yesterday released “The Carbon Principles”, a set of ” guidelines to strengthen environmental and economic risk management in the financing and construction of electricity generation.”

The principles were developed in consultation with power companies American Electric Power, CMS Energy, DTE Energy, NRG Energy, PSEG, Sempra and Southern Company, as well as the NGOs Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Although I must admit I’m not very familiar with the latter two, they both seem like fairly solid environmental agencies. (Check out the detailed global warming myth-buster page, Global Warming by the Numbers page and Global Warming: A Review of the Facts on Environmental Defense’s website, and NRDC’s damning report on the Bush administrations latest earth-destroying budget.)

The upshot of The Carbon Principles seems to be that the big banks will discourage investment in power-generation enterprises that fail to take into account CO2 emissions over the long term through the “Enhanced Diligence Process”, developed in conjunction with Matthew Arnold of Sustainable Finance. The reasoning behind the banks decision to create these principles is to assist in “reducing the banks regulatory and financial risks associated with greenhouse gas emissions.”

The principles state the banks “will encourage clients to invest in cost-effective renewables and distributed technologies, taking into consideration the value of avoided CO2 emissions.” Presumably the banks see further CO2 restrictions coming up in the States too, whether the Democrats or the Republicans win the next election. That is a good sign, although the part about viable power sources including coal and nuclear (“This may include power from natural gas, coal and nuclear technologies.”) is not very confidence-inspiring.

Green Investing or more GreenWashing?

Here are the principles as given in Citi’s press release:

Energy efficiency. An effective way to limit CO₂ emissions is to not produce them. The signatory financial institutions will encourage clients to invest in cost-effective demand reduction, taking into consideration the value of avoided CO₂ emissions. We will also encourage regulatory and legislative changes that increase efficiency in electricity consumption including the removal of barriers to investment in cost-effective demand reduction. The institutions will consider demand reduction caused by increased energy efficiency (or other means) as part of the Enhanced Diligence Process and assess its impact on proposed financings of certain new fossil fuel generation.

Renewable and low carbon distributed energy technologies. Renewable energy and low carbon distributed energy technologies hold considerable promise for meeting the electricity needs of the US while also leveraging American technology and creating jobs. We will encourage clients to invest in cost-effective renewables and distributed technologies, taking into consideration the value of avoided CO₂ emissions. We will also encourage legislative and regulatory changes that remove barriers to, and promote such investments (including related investments in infrastructure and equipment needed to support the connection of renewable sources to the system). We will consider production increases from renewable and low carbon generation as part of the Enhanced Diligence process and assess their impact on proposed financings of certain new fossil fuel generation.

Conventional and advanced generation. In addition to cost effective energy efficiency, renewables and low carbon distributed generation, investments in conventional or advanced generating facilities will be needed to supply reliable electric power to the US market. This may include power from natural gas, coal and nuclear technologies. Due to evolving climate policy, investing in CO₂-emitting fossil fuel generation entails uncertain financial, regulatory and certain environmental liability risks. It is the purpose of the Enhanced Diligence process to assess and reflect these risks in the financing considerations for certain fossil fuel generation. We will encourage regulatory and legislative changes that facilitate carbon capture and storage (CCS) to further reduce CO₂ emissions from the electric sector.