United States Renewable Energy Credits

http://rothschildmotors.com/solarbank/renewableenergycredits.html

http://JPChance.Org

8 November 2008

United States Renewable Energy Credits (US RECs) and United States Peak
Renewable Energy Credits (US P-RECs) shall be directly issued to individual
United States citizens, age sixteen (16) years or over, who are owners of
certified renewable energy (RE) systems.

US Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and US Peak Renewable Energy Credits (P-RECs)
shall be lawful tender for any and all claims of debt, public and private.

One ($1) US Renewable Energy Credit (REC) represents twenty (20) kilowatt-hours
(kWh) of certified renewable energy (RE) produced within the United States of
America ($1 REC = 20 kWh RE).

One ($1) US Peak Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) represents ten (10)
kilowatt-hours (kWh) of certified grid-tied peak-demand photovoltaic (PV)
electricity produced within the United States of America ($1 P-REC = 10 kWh
peak-demand RE).

Certified renewable energy for US Renewable Energy Credit (REC and/or P-REC)
shall be derived only from environmentally benign photovoltaic (PV) systems,
grid-tied solar thermal electric systems, grid-tied solar water heating systems,
grid-tied wind power systems, grid-tied hydroelectric systems, grid-tied
closed-loop geothermal systems, cellulosic ethanol and/or organic vegetable oil.

Other than the Sun's radiation, a minimum of ninety-five percent (95%) of
physical natural resources, materials, components and/or labor time contributing
toward US Renewable Energy Credit (REC and/or P-REC) shall be produced in the
United States of America.

The Treasury shall issue no more than three thousand ($3000) US Renewable Energy
Credits (RECs and/or P-RECs) to each individual United States citizen, age
sixteen (16) years or over, per month.

US Renewable Energy Credit (REC and/or P-REC) shall be taxable at a total rate
no higher than fifteen percent (15%) to be shared equally among the federal,
state and local governments of the locations where the certified renewable
energy is generated.

US Renewable Energy Credit (REC and/or P-REC) shall be fully redeemable for any
and all public or private claims of debt denominated in Federal Reserve Bank
"dollars", Bank of England "pounds", Bank of Canada "dollars", Reserve Bank of
Australia "dollars", Reserve Bank of New Zealand "dollars", Swiss National Bank
"francs", European Central Bank "euros", World Bank Group "SDRs" and/or any
other central-bank currency.

The real price of petro-banking – including military costs and replacement
value, but excluding health and safety – is over $1 million ($1,000,000) Federal
Reserve Bank debt per gallon.  Too expensive to burn?

There is no shortage of energy, there's just a shortage of common sense.

http://JPChance.wordpress.com

Ted Ko, Associate Executive Director of the FIT Coaltion, talks with Etopia News
special correspondent Marc Strassman about renewable energy-related legislation
in California, focusing on AB1106, a bill to establish a German-style feed-in
tariff for the Golden State, recorded between San Francisco and Studio City,
California, on November 13, 2009:

http://blip.tv/file/2847113

Craig,

I haven't grasped all of the reasoning in your recent article on feed-in
tariffs. Yet since I have ceased researching the deeper issues involved in this
increasingly complex topic - every state that is developing a model appears to
be using a separate approach - my verdict may be superficial.

However, you leave the impression that power prices are fixed throughout the
country at approximately the same level, and independent of available resources.
You write: "the United States has had price fixing in the electricity sector
since the 1930s". While it is true that regulators decide on whether to approve
the rates proposed by local utilities, these prices correlate with locally
available resources to a remarkably high level. I have prepared the enclosed
graph from official data using geologically based statistics on energy
production. Note that there is a high degree of conformity between available
energy and the ability to lower prices. It will be commensurately easier to
introduce feed-in tariffs in the gray-colored states that up to now have had no
alternative to buying fuel or electricity at a premium elsewhere.

In Germany, by contrast, living next to a coal or lignite mine has never
provided local customers with lower power rates. That circumstance apparently
made it easier to introduce a national schedule of feed-in tariffs.  I see three
reasons for that state of affairs.

1. Since uniform dynamic power trading prices prevail throughout the country
(determined on the EEX spot market), rivalries do not persist between regions
based on available energy options.

2. With this mindset, a national feed-in tariff can be justified even though
only a few regions are providing the bulk of renewable power.

3. The experience with regionalized feed-in schedules established by the first
feed-in law in 1990 proved incapable of stimulating renewables growth.

The best analogy I've found to justify national feed-in tariffs has been to
compare them with fixed prices for magazines and postage stamps that prevail
throughout both countries. This system insures that newspaper stands will not be
submitted to competing with Wal-Mart for reading material. Germany's price
fixing regulation for books allows many small editions to be published.  Since
no one gives a thought to such price dictates, it should be possible to justify
a national feed-in law on the same basis. The more rapidly grid parity is
attained as a result, the quicker it will become superfluous.

Jeff


-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:46 +0100
Von: Craig Morris <petiteplanete@...>
An: feed_in_tariffs@...
Betreff: [feed_in_tariffs] Grist article

Hi all,

I try a new angle here:

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-05-feed-in-tariffs-the-new-school-of-though\
t

Ciao

--
Craig Morris, Petite Plančte,
Krozingerstr. 52, 79114 Freiburg
Tel. +49-761-881-4801
www.petiteplanete.org, http://notesfromotherside.blogspot.com/


------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links



--
Strasse der Genossenschaft 2a
04574 Deutzen
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)3433 - 778727
Mobil +49 (0)176 - 28061314
USA / magicJack +1 - 770 - 821 - 8792
www.heuersdorf.de

Hi all,

I try a new angle here:

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-05-feed-in-tariffs-the-new-school-of-though\
t

Ciao

--
Craig Morris, Petite Planète,
Krozingerstr. 52, 79114 Freiburg
Tel. +49-761-881-4801
www.petiteplanete.org, http://notesfromotherside.blogspot.com/

Hi All -

FIT4NV, our tentative working name for an initiative to support the adoption of
advanced renewable energy feed-in tariffs in Nevada during the 2011 legislative
session, is ramping up efforts in the wake of growing interest, both in the
community as well as the government, to seriously consider FITs as a viable
policy tool for accelerating growth in renewable energy development.

To date, the Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada and the Great Basin
Resource Watch as well as a professor of environmental science at the University
of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and an IT professional are actively participating in the
FIT4NV campaign. We also have strong interest from a handful of legislators, one
and perhaps two of the three PUCN commissioners as well as a couple of well
connected public energy policy experts in Nevada. Additionally, organizations
such as the Sierra Club and certain influential employees of the Desert Research
Institute (DRI) are all expressing a growing interest in FITs as well.

We intend to launch a multi-prong approach to this initiative aimed at not only
creating political will to adopt aggressive FITs legislation via public pressure
from a broad-spectrum coalition of organizations and individuals, but we're also
very interested in addressing the spatial planning and public opinion problems
surrounding deployment of various sized renewable energy generation projects.

The public needs to not only understand FITs, but also comprehend how
distributed electrical energy generation capacity impacts our communities and
landscapes. Furthermore, there will be an on going requirement to educate the
public in emerging advanced metering infrastructures, related rates designs and
smart-grid applications, including electric drive transportation. The latter
prong of this this campaign will be ongoing long after what we hope will be the
successful adoption of FITs legislation in Nevada by 2011.

Therefore, we are activity seeking funding to assemble the talent necessary to
launch a "think and do" tank that will move this initiative forward.

I would be very appreciative for any and all suggestions regarding potential
funding sources.

Thanks, in advance, for any funding leads!

Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org

Dear Mr. Tregilus and all,

We can be thankful that newspapers have intensified their coverage on this
topic, irrespective of the conclusions individual journalists may draw due to
insufficient access to the pertinent background data. A good example of the
faulty impressions that may arise as a result is provided by the following
sentence:

"In Germany, feed-in tariffs have added nearly 5 percent to consumers’ power
costs."

Assuming that the 5 percent figure is essentially valid, it remains inaccurate
to say that power bills have been raised by that amount. It would have instead
been appropriate to write: "In Germany, feed-in tariffs comprise nearly 5
percent of consumers’ power costs." Renewable energies emit no CO2 covered by
the EU Emission Trading Scheme ETS, while they account for nearly 17 percent of
grid power supplies. Renewable energies commensurately exert downward pressure
on CO2 trading prices, making fossil fuel power less expensive, while also
eliminating the need to devastate particular parcels of landscape for lignite
mining. They likewise make CCS - an extremely expensive way to avoid CO2
emissions - far less credible. The enclosed article provides insight into some
of these issues.

Best wishes,
Jeffrey Michel

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 22:52:42 -0800 (PST)
Von: Bob Tregilus <lakeport104@...>
An: calfit@yahoogroups.com, feed_in_tariffs@...
Betreff: [feed_in_tariffs] Nevada PUC to open docket on FITs

Hi all -

Well, it's a start, not a very good article (see below), fixation on rate
increases (to be expected), but we got a docket opened at the PUCN and the
Senate Interim Committee on Energy Production and Use Chair, Senator Schneider,
seems quite interested in FITs.

FYI - our legislative sessions are biennial in Nevada, with the next one
commencing in 2011.

BTW: If you follow the link to the Las Vegas Review-Journal website you can get
a sense of what I'm up against by reading the comments. However, it's certainly
not a good article and it's further compounded by the fact that the LV RJ is
widely known as a libertarian leaning publication. If any you feel inspired to
add clarification to the article's comments - by all means I'd be greatly
appreciative!

Bob

---

Nov. 03, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

PUC asked to consider new type of power rate

By JENNIFER ROBISON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
http://tinyurl.com/ylg9ocy

An interim legislative committee asked the state Public Utilities Commission
today to investigate a new form of electric rate that supporters say would boost
green-energy jobs.

But the rate also would increase consumers’ power costs, advocates
acknowledged.

At issue are feed-in tariffs, or power rates that assure generators of renewable
energy that they’ll be paid a fair price based on production costs and
they’ll receive that price in contracts that run as long as 25 years.

Bob Tregilus, co-chairman of the Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada,
testified that guaranteed rates would bolster development of renewable energy
because such power sources require “huge amounts” of startup capital.
Developers would feel more confident about such investments if they knew
they’d recoup building costs.

Feed-in tariffs are popular in Europe: Some countries, such as Germany, have
used the rates to finance green-power development for nearly 20 years.

In Germany, feed-in tariffs have added nearly 5 percent to consumers’ power
costs. But Tregilus credited the tariffs with creating 280,000 green jobs in the
country of 82 million.

He said the tariff cost in Nevada could be half that in Germany because of the
Silver State’s abundant renewable resources, which include abundant sunshine
and a multitude of geothermal hot spots.

Committee member and state Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said Germany has
installed more than 22,000 megawatts of wind power and more than 3,800 megawatts
of solar power since it began charging feed-in tariffs in 1991.

“Those are impressive results,” Schneider said.

But feed-in tariffs haven’t fared so well in the United States. Only a few
states and cities have implemented the rates, and many of those efforts have
failed to yield optimum results.

Sara Birmingham, director of Western policy for the Solar Alliance, said many
U.S. jurisdictions have had trouble finding the right tariff balance. Set rates
too low, and developers won’t step up. Make them too high, and a jurisdiction
can generate more interest than it can handle, and surplus profits for
developers could result.

“Neither are outcomes we want to see,” she said.

Jurisdictions attempting to use feed-in tariffs also run into trouble setting
long-term prices that will remain “fair” for years to come, Birmingham said.

“The United States hasn’t quite gotten it right yet, but this is an open
invitation to you, and hopefully, Nevada will get it right,” she said.

The legislative committee asked the Public Utilities Commission to look into the
feasibility of feed-in tariffs in Nevada. Commissioner Rebecca Wagner said the
agency would put an item on its Nov. 19 agenda to launch the process of
considering the rates.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@... or 702-380-4512.


Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org





------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links



--
Strasse der Genossenschaft 2a
04574 Deutzen
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)3433 - 778727
Mobil +49 (0)176 - 28061314
USA / magicJack +1 - 770 - 821 - 8792
www.heuersdorf.de

jrobison@...

Dear Mr. Tregilus and all,

We can be thankful that newspapers have intensified their coverage on this
topic, irrespective of the conclusions individual journalists may draw due to
insufficient access to the pertinent background data. A good example of the
faulty impressions that may arise as a result is provided by the following
sentence:

"In Germany, feed-in tariffs have added nearly 5 percent to consumers’ power
costs."

Assuming that the 5 percent figure is essentially valid, it remains inaccurate
to say that power bills have been raised by that amount. It would have instead
been appropriate to write: "In Germany, feed-in tariffs comprise nearly 5
percent of consumers’ power costs." Renewable energies emit no CO2 covered by
the EU Emission Trading Scheme ETS, while they account for nearly 17 percent of
grid power supplies. Renewable energies commensurately exert downward pressure
on CO2 trading prices, making fossil fuel power less expensive, while also
eliminating the need to devastate particular parcels of landscape for lignite
mining. They likewise make CCS - an extremely expensive way to avoid CO2
emissions - far less credible. The enclosed article provides insight into some
of these issues.

Best wishes,
Jeffrey Michel

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 22:52:42 -0800 (PST)
Von: Bob Tregilus <lakeport104@...>
An: calfit@yahoogroups.com, feed_in_tariffs@...
Betreff: [feed_in_tariffs] Nevada PUC to open docket on FITs

Hi all -

Well, it's a start, not a very good article (see below), fixation on rate
increases (to be expected), but we got a docket opened at the PUCN and the
Senate Interim Committee on Energy Production and Use Chair, Senator Schneider,
seems quite interested in FITs.

FYI - our legislative sessions are biennial in Nevada, with the next one
commencing in 2011.

BTW: If you follow the link to the Las Vegas Review-Journal website you can get
a sense of what I'm up against by reading the comments. However, it's certainly
not a good article and it's further compounded by the fact that the LV RJ is
widely known as a libertarian leaning publication. If any you feel inspired to
add clarification to the article's comments - by all means I'd be greatly
appreciative!

Bob

---

Nov. 03, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

PUC asked to consider new type of power rate

By JENNIFER ROBISON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
http://tinyurl.com/ylg9ocy

An interim legislative committee asked the state Public Utilities Commission
today to investigate a new form of electric rate that supporters say would boost
green-energy jobs.

But the rate also would increase consumers’ power costs, advocates
acknowledged.

At issue are feed-in tariffs, or power rates that assure generators of renewable
energy that they’ll be paid a fair price based on production costs and
they’ll receive that price in contracts that run as long as 25 years.

Bob Tregilus, co-chairman of the Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada,
testified that guaranteed rates would bolster development of renewable energy
because such power sources require “huge amounts” of startup capital.
Developers would feel more confident about such investments if they knew
they’d recoup building costs.

Feed-in tariffs are popular in Europe: Some countries, such as Germany, have
used the rates to finance green-power development for nearly 20 years.

In Germany, feed-in tariffs have added nearly 5 percent to consumers’ power
costs. But Tregilus credited the tariffs with creating 280,000 green jobs in the
country of 82 million.

He said the tariff cost in Nevada could be half that in Germany because of the
Silver State’s abundant renewable resources, which include abundant sunshine
and a multitude of geothermal hot spots.

Committee member and state Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said Germany has
installed more than 22,000 megawatts of wind power and more than 3,800 megawatts
of solar power since it began charging feed-in tariffs in 1991.

“Those are impressive results,” Schneider said.

But feed-in tariffs haven’t fared so well in the United States. Only a few
states and cities have implemented the rates, and many of those efforts have
failed to yield optimum results.

Sara Birmingham, director of Western policy for the Solar Alliance, said many
U.S. jurisdictions have had trouble finding the right tariff balance. Set rates
too low, and developers won’t step up. Make them too high, and a jurisdiction
can generate more interest than it can handle, and surplus profits for
developers could result.

“Neither are outcomes we want to see,” she said.

Jurisdictions attempting to use feed-in tariffs also run into trouble setting
long-term prices that will remain “fair” for years to come, Birmingham said.

“The United States hasn’t quite gotten it right yet, but this is an open
invitation to you, and hopefully, Nevada will get it right,” she said.

The legislative committee asked the Public Utilities Commission to look into the
feasibility of feed-in tariffs in Nevada. Commissioner Rebecca Wagner said the
agency would put an item on its Nov. 19 agenda to launch the process of
considering the rates.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@... or 702-380-4512.


Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org





------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links



--
Strasse der Genossenschaft 2a
04574 Deutzen
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)3433 - 778727
Mobil +49 (0)176 - 28061314
USA / magicJack +1 - 770 - 821 - 8792
www.heuersdorf.de

Hi all -

Well, it's a start, not a very good article (see below), fixation on rate
increases (to be expected), but we got a docket opened at the PUCN and the
Senate Interim Committee on Energy Production and Use Chair, Senator Schneider,
seems quite interested in FITs.

FYI - our legislative sessions are biennial in Nevada, with the next one
commencing in 2011.

BTW: If you follow the link to the Las Vegas Review-Journal website you can get
a sense of what I'm up against by reading the comments. However, it's certainly
not a good article and it's further compounded by the fact that the LV RJ is
widely known as a libertarian leaning publication. If any you feel inspired to
add clarification to the article's comments - by all means I'd be greatly
appreciative!

Bob

---

Nov. 03, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

PUC asked to consider new type of power rate

By JENNIFER ROBISON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
http://tinyurl.com/ylg9ocy

An interim legislative committee asked the state Public Utilities Commission
today to investigate a new form of electric rate that supporters say would boost
green-energy jobs.

But the rate also would increase consumers’ power costs, advocates
acknowledged.

At issue are feed-in tariffs, or power rates that assure generators of renewable
energy that they’ll be paid a fair price based on production costs and
they’ll receive that price in contracts that run as long as 25 years.

Bob Tregilus, co-chairman of the Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada,
testified that guaranteed rates would bolster development of renewable energy
because such power sources require “huge amounts” of startup capital.
Developers would feel more confident about such investments if they knew
they’d recoup building costs.

Feed-in tariffs are popular in Europe: Some countries, such as Germany, have
used the rates to finance green-power development for nearly 20 years.

In Germany, feed-in tariffs have added nearly 5 percent to consumers’ power
costs. But Tregilus credited the tariffs with creating 280,000 green jobs in the
country of 82 million.

He said the tariff cost in Nevada could be half that in Germany because of the
Silver State’s abundant renewable resources, which include abundant sunshine
and a multitude of geothermal hot spots.

Committee member and state Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said Germany has
installed more than 22,000 megawatts of wind power and more than 3,800 megawatts
of solar power since it began charging feed-in tariffs in 1991.

“Those are impressive results,” Schneider said.

But feed-in tariffs haven’t fared so well in the United States. Only a few
states and cities have implemented the rates, and many of those efforts have
failed to yield optimum results.

Sara Birmingham, director of Western policy for the Solar Alliance, said many
U.S. jurisdictions have had trouble finding the right tariff balance. Set rates
too low, and developers won’t step up. Make them too high, and a jurisdiction
can generate more interest than it can handle, and surplus profits for
developers could result.

“Neither are outcomes we want to see,” she said.

Jurisdictions attempting to use feed-in tariffs also run into trouble setting
long-term prices that will remain “fair” for years to come, Birmingham said.

“The United States hasn’t quite gotten it right yet, but this is an open
invitation to you, and hopefully, Nevada will get it right,” she said.

The legislative committee asked the Public Utilities Commission to look into the
feasibility of feed-in tariffs in Nevada. Commissioner Rebecca Wagner said the
agency would put an item on its Nov. 19 agenda to launch the process of
considering the rates.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@... or 702-380-4512.


Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org

Dear Friends and Colleagues,


I would like to announce the new energy publications from the World Future
Council, written in collaboration with dozens of experts from around the world.

We have produced two new books designed to be as practical as possible in
delivering solutions on energy and climate issues.

Powering the Green Economy is a comprehensive and detailed study of feed-in
tariffs, covering design, advocacy, technical issues, other policies and much
more.

A Renewable World is a much broader look at proven and emerging solutions for
creating a carbon-absorbing economy.


Powering the Green Economy – The Feed-in Tariff Handbook.
http://tinyurl.com/FIThandbook
Miguel Mendonça, David Jacobs and Benjamin Sovacool.
Earthscan

A Renewable World – Energy, Ecology, Equality.
http://tinyurl.com/a-renewable-world
Herbert Girardet and Miguel Mendonça
Green Books


Powering the Green Economy – The Feed-in Tariff Handbook

Effective policy is vital for creating greener economies, new jobs and
industries, for securing energy supplies and for protecting the climate and
environment. As renewable energy is fundamental to achieving all of these
objectives, it too needs the best possible policy to drive it. Feed-in tariffs
have proven to deliver the fastest, most cost-effective and inclusive
deployment, by allowing anyone to sell renewable energy into the grid and get a
long term, guaranteed return for it. This book, from authors who have spent
years working on feed-in tariff design and advocacy, provides a broad and
detailed resource on feed-in tariffs and other renewable energy support schemes.
It shares many lessons on good and bad design and implementation, as well as
discussing the challenges faced by policy, and renewable energy in general.
Powering the Green Economy:

- Situates renewable energy and feed-in tariffs within the context of the global
moves towards a green economy
- Provides an introduction to feed-in tariffs and brings developments in key
countries around the world up to date
- Investigates effective design for developed and emerging economies
- Explores technical, social and political issues
- Analyses other support schemes
- Describes the barriers to renewable energy
- Presents a blueprint for campaigning successfully for feed-in tariffs

Written in a clear, practical style, this is a must-read for policymakers,
businesses, investors, campaigners, academics, community groups and anyone
concerned with creating successful and sustainable energy policy.

'This book should be essential reading for any government committed to a more
sustainable energy path. For it is clear from numerous country case studies that
feed-in tariffs are among a suite of smart and effective market mechanisms able
to catalyze a transition to a low-carbon, innovation-led Green Economy.'
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UN Environment Programme Executive
Director

'This insightful book explains how to implement the most effective policy to get
onto a path towards renewable energy. For any decision-makers in North America
in search of strategies to address climate change, energy security, and
employment creation, this is the book.'
Dr David Suzuki, scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster

'With energy now entering a 'golden age' of innovation it is exciting to see a
true trans-Atlantic dialog over some of the most effective policy measures; this
book details the important U. S. applications of what has proven to be the most
successful policy in Europe, the Feed-in Tariff.'
Daniel Kammen, Professor of Energy, University of California, Berkeley


A Renewable World – Energy, Ecology, Equality

Climate change and energy shortages are set to become the greatest challenges
for humanity in the 21st century. While a few reports have given some indication
about what can be done to get to get to grips with these problems, very little
has been written about how the necessary changes can be brought about. This book
is all about how the key steps needed to make the crucial transition can happen.

The latest climate research indicates that the challenge facing us is not just
the reduction of our annual global emissions of greenhouse gases, but of their
actual concentrations in the atmosphere. After years of inaction, urgent and
comprehensive action is now needed to turn an existential crisis for humanity
today into an opportunity to secure the well-being and prosperity of present and
future generations.

This book shows how we can:

• accelerate the renewable energy revolution,
• renew our local economies and our urban habitat,
• renew the living systems of planet earth, and
• renew and invigorate international cooperation.

Illustrated in full colour, A Renewable World deals with a variety of urgent
issues in a holistic, comprehensive and accessible way. We can all help to
influence and accelerate the measures that are needed to deal with the climate
and energy crisis. A Renewable World shows how.

"Here's the book we've been waiting for: a thorough, up-to-date, and above all
proportionate response to our climatic predicament. When I say proportionate, I
mean: it tells us how to solve the problem we really have, not the one we wish
we had. It's truly important!"  - Bill McKibben, founder, 350.org

"Moving towards a green economy requires focused and smart public policies to
enable new markets to emerge. The story of renewable energy and feed-in tariffs
presented in this book provides a powerful illustration of how consumers and
producers of clean energy can — given the right policy framework — transform the
market for energy almost overnight." - Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP

"A Renewable World is based on the renewable gifts of sun, soil, seed. This is
how sustainable societies of the South, especially the women, have kept society
fed and clothed over millennia. This important book highlights the solutions
that allow us to regenerate our renewable natural capital and reduce our
ecological footprint, while increasing human welfare." - Vandana Shiva,
scientist and activist

At the advice of Bob Tregilus, I have disabled mz HTML editor. Perhaps the
following comment will now reach everyone.

Feedback will be appreciated.

Jeffrey Michel

*******************

You may wish to translate the following page with Google language tools:

http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news264030

As you will see, Dr. Dietmar Kuhnt has been one of the main architects of
RWI activities. He was simultaneously chairman of the board at the RWE
power company, Europe's leading aggregate source of CO2 emissions, and
president of the Society of Friends and Promoters of RWI Essen.

Recently, Dr. Rolf Pohlig, financial CEO at RWE, was named the new
president of the Society of Friends and Promoters. The city of Essen hosts
both RWE headquarters and the RWI. 

Many more inferences can be drawn from this press release and from other
reports on RWI. Everyone in the industry in Germany associates RWI with
RWE. No report they have published has ever drifted very far from the
intentions of the corporation, to my knowledge.

I recommend finding someone in Nevada who speaks German to perform the
background research on these and associated topics. This would be an
intricate task, but if your state is interested in pursuing a renewables
course, it would be invaluable. English language translations of certain
materials will never provide the in-depth information you need, some of
which appears in newspapers and corporate reports.


-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:30:52 -0700 (PDT)
Von: Bob Tregilus <lakeport104@...>
An: feed_in_tariffs@...
Betreff: Re: [feed_in_tariffs] Re:Germany's renewable myth

             Hi All -

Well, I ran across that commentary piece last night while researching
information for a presentation I'm scheduled to make before a Senate
Interim Committee here in Nevada. (Our legislature meets on a biennial
basis.)

I'm able to respond to any number of "reports" bashing renewables. Usually
there's lots of quantitative as well as qualitative responses that can be
made. In most cases one only needs to point to the report in question as
the work of an Austrian School economist or an institute heavily funded by
Exxon-Mobil or the fossil-fuel industry in general. Interchangeable use of
the word "subsidy" with FITs is usually a dead giveaway to free-market rant
reports as well.

However, I've never heard of this RWI Essen which is apparently associated
with the Leibniz Association which is a Federal Ministry initiative. RWI
seems not to be supported by corporation grants either and its populated by
a large number of academics unlike corporate nonprofit front organizations
in the US such as the Heartland Institute.

I really don't have time to closely parse this RWI report, and
unfortunately I don't read German.

You state: "RWI warms up a series of old and widely refuted arguments." I
do see where seem to be cherry-picking quotes from the IEA &c. For example
they quota a 2007 IEA recommendation that "policies other than the very
high feed-in tariffs to promote solar photovoltaics" (IEA, 2007:77).
However, IEA has since revised that assessment in this 2008 report
http://www.iea.org/Textbase/npsum/DeployRenew2008SUM.pdf (as Paul Gipe
noted a year ago).

On the surface the report in question does *not* appear to be a very
rigorous or balanced research.

Could someone provide a paragraph or two as to why that might be? Like I
said, it doesn't appear that this RWI is populated by Austrian School
economic zealots, nor does it seem to be funded by the oil companies?

The problem is folks in Nevada seem to navigate to material like this given
they get most of their information from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. I'm
betting someone will ask me about this sooner rather than later!

Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org


--- On Sun, 10/25/09, ehrbar <ehrbar@...> wrote:

> From: ehrbar <ehrbar@...>
> Subject: Re: [feed_in_tariffs] Re:Germany's renewable myth
> To: feed_in_tariffs@...
> Cc: feed_in_tariffs@...
> Date: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 9:27 AM
>
>
> Link to the RWI report about renewable energy policies
> (a 42-page pdf):
>
>
http://www.rwi-essen.de/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/PUBLIKATIONEN/GUTACHTEN/P_RENEW\
ABLE+ENERGY+REPORT+RWI+FORMAT.PDF
>
> The National Post article sent to this list earlier was its
> executive
> summary.  Long URL is
>
>
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/10/21/germany-s-\
renewable-myth.aspx
>
> A good summary in German is also here:
>
> http://www.co2-handel.de/article340_12687.html
>
> The German Federal Ministry for the Environment responded
> here:
>
> http://www.bmu.de/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/doc/45090.php
>
> (unfortunatley right now available only in German). 
> Basically they
> say RWI warms up a series of old and widely refuted
> arguments.
>
> Here is another response in German language:
>
>
http://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/news-nachhaltigkeit/2009/2009-10-29/erneuerbare\
-energien-streit-um-foerderung-geht-in-neue-runde/
>
> It is not an accident that such an attack on Feed-In
> Tariffs is
> published in Germany.  Just as the US in the 1970s,
> Germany today is
> one of the world's foremost pioneers for renewable
> energy.  In the
> 1970s, the oil and coal interests managed to stop the move
> towards
> renewable energy in the US, setting back the entire world
> by 25 years.
> Now they are trying a repeat performance in Germany. 
> This is
> documented on pages 8-12 of Hermann Scheer's book *Energy
> Policy*.
>
>
> Hans.
>
>
> Hans G. Ehrbar   http://www.econ.utah.edu/~ehrbar
ehrbar@...
> Economics Department, University of Utah 
>    (801) 908 6937
> 260 Central Campus Drive Rm 343       
>       (801) 581 7481 (econ office)
> Salt Lake City    UT 84112-9155   
>           (801) 585 5649 (FAX)
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>     mailto:feed_in_tariffs-fullfeatured@...
>
>
>





------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links




--
Strasse der Genossenschaft 2a
04574 Deutzen
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)3433 - 778727
Mobil +49 (0)176 - 28061314
USA / magicJack +1 - 770 - 821 - 8792
www.heuersdorf.de

Thanks Professor Ehrbar and Dr. Michels et al -

Now I know what Steve Plater was referring to when he wrote: "This junk is based
on a report from the RWE.... sorry, slip of finger..... the RWI institute in
Essen."

It might be because I'm looking, but it seems there's a lot of these
cherry-picked faux "reports" being released ahead of the Copenhagen meeting. You
folks think there might be a connection? ;>)

Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org


--- On Sun, 10/25/09, ehrbar <ehrbar@...> wrote:

> From: ehrbar <ehrbar@...>
> Subject: Re: [feed_in_tariffs] Re:Germany's renewable myth
> To: feed_in_tariffs@...
> Date: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 7:58 PM
>
> As promised, here is a rough translation of
> http://www.bmu.de/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/doc/45090.php
>
>
> BMU's Response to RWI's criticism of the EEG: nothing new
> and long
> since refuted
>
> The systematic promotion of renewable energies in the
> electricity
> sector began in Germany in 1991 through the Electricity
> Feed Act.
> This act was replaced in 2000 by the Renewable Energies Act
> (EEG).
> Both laws are based on the principle of compensation for
> electricity
> from renewable energy by the distribution operator. 
> Since 1991, these
> allowances are differentiated according to technology,
> although the
> differentiation was refined according to the technological
> development
> over time.  This system is now supported by all
> parties represented in
> parliament.
>
> The Rhineland-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research
> (RWI)
> recently criticized the EEG in a current RWI project report
> (final
> report of the project "The Economic Effects of Promotion of
> Renewable
> Energy: Experiences from Germany").  In this new
> report of the RWI, no
> new arguments can be found.  Instead, it only warmed
> up some
> well-known and long-refuted arguments against the
> successful EEG.
> While for example the International Energy Agency 1 and the
> European
> Commission 2 praise the EEG as effective and efficient, and
> dozens of
> countries in the EU and beyond follow the German example 3,
> the RWI
> unnecessarily remain in the old thinking.
>
>
> The positive climate impact of the EEG
>
> The EEG and its predecessor, the Electricity Feed Law of
> 1991, have
> ensured that renewable energies in Germany experienced a
> steep
> increase.  Their share in gross electricity
> consumption has risen from
> just over 3% in 1991 on just over 6% in 2000 (when the EEG
> became
> valid) to just over 15% in 2008.  In 2008, the
> biomass, geothermal,
> photovoltaic, hydro and wind energy installations promoted
> by these
> two laws have saved approximately 53 million tons of CO2
> emissions.
> No other law has saved as many greenhouse gas emissions in
> Germany. 4
>
> However, the RWI states that, because of emissions trading,
> the
> climate-friendly effect of the EEG is zero.  For, due
> to the
> definition of the upper limit for CO2 emissions, further
> renewable
> energy plants could not effect any further CO2
> reductions.  This
> argument ignored that in the establishment of the upper
> limits for the
> emissions trading system, the effect of the EEG was a
> firmly
> considered factor.  Without the planned effects of the
> EEG, the
> ceilings would have been obviously much higher.
>
> It should also be considered that only by the promotion
> and
> implementation of renewable energies, the ceilings to be
> determined in
> the future for the period after 2020 can be set as low as
> it is
> necessary to achieve our main target for climate
> protection: the
> limitation of the long-term temperature rise to 2 deg
> Celsius.  To
> achieve this aim, industrialized countries, including
> Germany, must
> reduce their respective greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by
> 80-95%
> compared to 1990.  For this, the rapid
> commercialization of renewable
> energy also and especially in electricity is
> indispensable.  In its
> weekly report 11/2009, the German Institute for Economic
> Research
> argued in detail why the EEG is indispensable even in the
> presence of
> an effective trading system.  This weekly report,
> moreover, has been
> supported by 15 additional economists. 5
>
> Technology development through the EEG
>
> Because of the EEG a vibrant market has been developed in
> Germany in
> the area of techniques for the production of electricity
> from
> renewable energy.  Dozens of companies compete in
> Germany for the best
> wind turbines, the best biogas plants and the best and most
> efficient
> photovoltaic systems.  As a consequence, for example,
> the four wind
> turbine manufacturers which produce the world's most
> powerful wind
> turbines (5-6 MW), come from Germany.  Early in 2009,
> the German
> research institute Fraunhofer ISE has established a new
> world
> efficiency record for concentrating photovoltaics (41.1%
> efficiency).
> The crucial role of the EEG for this technology development
> has been
> documented in a comprehensive report for the BMU. 6
>
> RWI, however, is not impressed.  Rather, in the view
> of the RWI "the
> system of feed-competition among renewable energy
> technologies is
> suffocating competition among renewable energy
> technologies."  This is
> justified with the finding that the economically superior
> technology
> for thin film photovoltaic modules only "gradually takes
> the stage"
> due to the massive proliferation of conventional
> photovoltaic modules.
>
>
> Also this argument lacks foundation.  The EEG remains
> deliberately
> open to any technology.  The remuneration for
> electricity from PV
> systems must be paid regardless of the technology
> used.  The state
> does not presume to decide that one or another technique
> for PV power
> generation is better or more meaningful.  The
> purchaser of modules is
> free to decide what is for him the better and more useful
> technique.
> The market will decide which technology has which future.
>
> Energy security through the EEG
>
> With the expansion of renewable energies, we make ourselves
> less
> dependent on fossil and nuclear energy.  We are able
> to reduce
> gradually and permanently the electricity production from
> fossil-fired
> power plants and thus the corresponding greenhouse gas
> emissions, and
> in the medium term abandon the nuclear technology.
>
> In 2008, the EEG has ensured that Germany had to use around
> 55 TWh
> less natural gas for the production of electricity. 
> We import 83% of
> the natural gas (in 2005).  Around 140 TWh coal
> imports were saved
> 2008 by the EEG.  The German coal was not affected,
> because their
> sales are guaranteed.  In 2008, the avoided raw
> material imports from
> the EEG alone totaled nearly 3 billion euros, with an
> upward trend. 7
>
> Nevertheless RWI doubts that the expansion of the share of
> renewable
> energies actually improves energy security.  RWI
> contends that in
> order to compensate for the fluctuating power supply from
> wind and
> solar power, more natural gas is used for
> electricity.  Also this
> argument is old and unfounded.  The production of wind
> power can now
> be forecast very well.  Therefore, the more slowly
> adjustable
> coal-fired power plants can make a significant contribution
> to
> offseting this fluctuatiing source of electricity.
>
> Of course, gas-fired plants are very suitable and currently
> still
> needed to compensate quickly for unexpected changes in
> electricity
> supply from wind and solar power.  For this purpose,
> "balancing power"
> (load-following energy supply?) is required.  However
> this is also
> true for unexpected changes in electricity consumption, or
> if for
> instance a nuclear or coal power plant has to be taken
> off-line
> because of a disturbance.
>
> Therefore, intensive efforts are under way to provide
> balancing power
> also with other techniques or to minimize the need for
> balancing
> power.  An improved load management, improved wind
> forecasts, the
> intelligent use of bioenergy and hydropower plants and the
> use of
> storage will clearly improve the integration of renewable
> energies
> into the electricity grid in the future.  When it
> comes, moreover, to
> minimize our dependence on imports of natural gas, quite
> different
> areas are of central importance:
>
> Heating, which accounts for about half of Germany's energy
> consumption, is close to 50% dependent on natural gas and
> to almost a
> quarter on mineral oil.  With electricity, the share
> of natural gas is
> however only 11% (both as of 2005). 8 Especially in the
> heat sector,
> the dependence on the increasingly scarce and expensive
> energy sources
> natural gas and oil can and must be reduced.
>
> At this point, the argumentation of the RWI ignores the
> policy in the
> important areas of efficiency measures such as increased
> insulation of
> buildings.  This is surprising because there is a
> broad political
> consensus: Improved thermal insulation and the enhanced use
> of
> renewable energy should provide in the medium to long term
> the
> whereabouts for the decline of natural gas consumption in
> the field of
> space and process heating strongly and across the board,
> step by step.
>
> Such measures have been taken for many years, and have
> been
> significantly expanded particularly in the implementation
> of the
> Meseberg Cabinet decision in the summer of 2007. 
> Especially the
> following deserve to be called exemplary: the support for
> energy
> rehabilitation (programs at the KfW), the new energy
> conservation
> legislation, the new Renewable Energies Heat Act, the
> improved
> co-generation law and the improved and is now legally
> enshrined market
> incentive program for renewable energies.  A threat to
> energy security
> through the development of renewable energies does
> therefore not exist
> - quite on the contrary.
>
> The EEG and jobs
>
> Also the discussion of the employment effects of the EEG
> lacks
> balance: As alleged evidence that the long-term net
> employment effects
> of the EEG are negligible or even negative, several earlier
> studies
> are cited that were based entirely on unrealistic
> assumptions. By
> contrast, recent sound scientific inquiries for the BMU
> have shown
> that not only many new jobs were created in the renewables
> sector, but
> the net employment impacts of renewable energies taking
> into account
> directly or indirectly incurred losses in other areas are
> clearly
> positive in all realistic scenarios. 9
>
> This issue will of course continuously investigated further
> by the
> BMU; an update of the above-mentioned study is currently in
> progress.
>
>    1.
> www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
> www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
>    2.
> www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
> www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
>    3.
> www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf
[http://www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf]
> www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf
[http://www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf]
>    4. Siehe EEG-Erfahungsbericht 2007. See
> EEG Erfahungsbericht 2007th
>    5. www.diw.de
[http://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.100319.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteil\
ungen.html?id=diw_01.c.96083.de.]
> www.diw.de
[http://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.100319.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteil\
ungen.html?id=diw_01.c.96083.de.]
>    6.
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wirk\
ungen_kap2.pdf
>
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wir\
kungen_kap2.pdf]
>
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wirk\
ungen_kap2.pdf
>
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wir\
kungen_kap2.
> pdf]
>    7.
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applicat\
ion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf.pdf
>
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applica\
tion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf.pdf
> ] und Energieversorgung in Deutschland.
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applicat\
ion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf.pdf
>
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applica\
tion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf.
> pdf] and energy supply in Germany. Statusbericht fuer den
> Energiegipfel am 3. Status report for the energy summit on 3
> April 2006. April 2006.
>    8. Energieversorgung in Deutschland.
> Energy supply in Germany. Statusbericht fuer den
> Energiegipfel am 3. Status report for the energy summit on 3
> April 2006. April 2006.
>    9. http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289
> [http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289]
> http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289
> [http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289]
>
>
> Hans G. Ehrbar   http://www.econ.utah.edu/~ehrbar ehrbar@...
> Economics Department, University of Utah 
>    (801) 908 6937
> 260 Central Campus Drive Rm 343       
>       (801) 581 7481 (econ office)
> Salt Lake City    UT 84112-9155   
>           (801) 585 5649 (FAX)
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>     mailto:feed_in_tariffs-fullfeatured@...
>
>
>

As promised, here is a rough translation of
http://www.bmu.de/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/doc/45090.php


BMU's Response to RWI's criticism of the EEG: nothing new and long
since refuted

The systematic promotion of renewable energies in the electricity
sector began in Germany in 1991 through the Electricity Feed Act.
This act was replaced in 2000 by the Renewable Energies Act (EEG).
Both laws are based on the principle of compensation for electricity
from renewable energy by the distribution operator.  Since 1991, these
allowances are differentiated according to technology, although the
differentiation was refined according to the technological development
over time.  This system is now supported by all parties represented in
parliament.

The Rhineland-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI)
recently criticized the EEG in a current RWI project report (final
report of the project "The Economic Effects of Promotion of Renewable
Energy: Experiences from Germany").  In this new report of the RWI, no
new arguments can be found.  Instead, it only warmed up some
well-known and long-refuted arguments against the successful EEG.
While for example the International Energy Agency 1 and the European
Commission 2 praise the EEG as effective and efficient, and dozens of
countries in the EU and beyond follow the German example 3, the RWI
unnecessarily remain in the old thinking.


The positive climate impact of the EEG

The EEG and its predecessor, the Electricity Feed Law of 1991, have
ensured that renewable energies in Germany experienced a steep
increase.  Their share in gross electricity consumption has risen from
just over 3% in 1991 on just over 6% in 2000 (when the EEG became
valid) to just over 15% in 2008.  In 2008, the biomass, geothermal,
photovoltaic, hydro and wind energy installations promoted by these
two laws have saved approximately 53 million tons of CO2 emissions.
No other law has saved as many greenhouse gas emissions in Germany. 4

However, the RWI states that, because of emissions trading, the
climate-friendly effect of the EEG is zero.  For, due to the
definition of the upper limit for CO2 emissions, further renewable
energy plants could not effect any further CO2 reductions.  This
argument ignored that in the establishment of the upper limits for the
emissions trading system, the effect of the EEG was a firmly
considered factor.  Without the planned effects of the EEG, the
ceilings would have been obviously much higher.

It should also be considered that only by the promotion and
implementation of renewable energies, the ceilings to be determined in
the future for the period after 2020 can be set as low as it is
necessary to achieve our main target for climate protection: the
limitation of the long-term temperature rise to 2 deg Celsius.  To
achieve this aim, industrialized countries, including Germany, must
reduce their respective greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by 80-95%
compared to 1990.  For this, the rapid commercialization of renewable
energy also and especially in electricity is indispensable.  In its
weekly report 11/2009, the German Institute for Economic Research
argued in detail why the EEG is indispensable even in the presence of
an effective trading system.  This weekly report, moreover, has been
supported by 15 additional economists. 5

Technology development through the EEG

Because of the EEG a vibrant market has been developed in Germany in
the area of techniques for the production of electricity from
renewable energy.  Dozens of companies compete in Germany for the best
wind turbines, the best biogas plants and the best and most efficient
photovoltaic systems.  As a consequence, for example, the four wind
turbine manufacturers which produce the world's most powerful wind
turbines (5-6 MW), come from Germany.  Early in 2009, the German
research institute Fraunhofer ISE has established a new world
efficiency record for concentrating photovoltaics (41.1% efficiency).
The crucial role of the EEG for this technology development has been
documented in a comprehensive report for the BMU. 6

RWI, however, is not impressed.  Rather, in the view of the RWI "the
system of feed-competition among renewable energy technologies is
suffocating competition among renewable energy technologies."  This is
justified with the finding that the economically superior technology
for thin film photovoltaic modules only "gradually takes the stage"
due to the massive proliferation of conventional photovoltaic modules.


Also this argument lacks foundation.  The EEG remains deliberately
open to any technology.  The remuneration for electricity from PV
systems must be paid regardless of the technology used.  The state
does not presume to decide that one or another technique for PV power
generation is better or more meaningful.  The purchaser of modules is
free to decide what is for him the better and more useful technique.
The market will decide which technology has which future.

Energy security through the EEG

With the expansion of renewable energies, we make ourselves less
dependent on fossil and nuclear energy.  We are able to reduce
gradually and permanently the electricity production from fossil-fired
power plants and thus the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions, and
in the medium term abandon the nuclear technology.

In 2008, the EEG has ensured that Germany had to use around 55 TWh
less natural gas for the production of electricity.  We import 83% of
the natural gas (in 2005).  Around 140 TWh coal imports were saved
2008 by the EEG.  The German coal was not affected, because their
sales are guaranteed.  In 2008, the avoided raw material imports from
the EEG alone totaled nearly 3 billion euros, with an upward trend. 7

Nevertheless RWI doubts that the expansion of the share of renewable
energies actually improves energy security.  RWI contends that in
order to compensate for the fluctuating power supply from wind and
solar power, more natural gas is used for electricity.  Also this
argument is old and unfounded.  The production of wind power can now
be forecast very well.  Therefore, the more slowly adjustable
coal-fired power plants can make a significant contribution to
offseting this fluctuatiing source of electricity.

Of course, gas-fired plants are very suitable and currently still
needed to compensate quickly for unexpected changes in electricity
supply from wind and solar power.  For this purpose, "balancing power"
(load-following energy supply?) is required.  However this is also
true for unexpected changes in electricity consumption, or if for
instance a nuclear or coal power plant has to be taken off-line
because of a disturbance.

Therefore, intensive efforts are under way to provide balancing power
also with other techniques or to minimize the need for balancing
power.  An improved load management, improved wind forecasts, the
intelligent use of bioenergy and hydropower plants and the use of
storage will clearly improve the integration of renewable energies
into the electricity grid in the future.  When it comes, moreover, to
minimize our dependence on imports of natural gas, quite different
areas are of central importance:

Heating, which accounts for about half of Germany's energy
consumption, is close to 50% dependent on natural gas and to almost a
quarter on mineral oil.  With electricity, the share of natural gas is
however only 11% (both as of 2005). 8 Especially in the heat sector,
the dependence on the increasingly scarce and expensive energy sources
natural gas and oil can and must be reduced.

At this point, the argumentation of the RWI ignores the policy in the
important areas of efficiency measures such as increased insulation of
buildings.  This is surprising because there is a broad political
consensus: Improved thermal insulation and the enhanced use of
renewable energy should provide in the medium to long term the
whereabouts for the decline of natural gas consumption in the field of
space and process heating strongly and across the board, step by step.

Such measures have been taken for many years, and have been
significantly expanded particularly in the implementation of the
Meseberg Cabinet decision in the summer of 2007.  Especially the
following deserve to be called exemplary: the support for energy
rehabilitation (programs at the KfW), the new energy conservation
legislation, the new Renewable Energies Heat Act, the improved
co-generation law and the improved and is now legally enshrined market
incentive program for renewable energies.  A threat to energy security
through the development of renewable energies does therefore not exist
- quite on the contrary.

The EEG and jobs

Also the discussion of the employment effects of the EEG lacks
balance: As alleged evidence that the long-term net employment effects
of the EEG are negligible or even negative, several earlier studies
are cited that were based entirely on unrealistic assumptions. By
contrast, recent sound scientific inquiries for the BMU have shown
that not only many new jobs were created in the renewables sector, but
the net employment impacts of renewable energies taking into account
directly or indirectly incurred losses in other areas are clearly
positive in all realistic scenarios. 9

This issue will of course continuously investigated further by the
BMU; an update of the above-mentioned study is currently in progress.

    1. www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
    2. www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/42299/36302/]
    3. www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf
[http://www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf]
www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf
[http://www.ren21.net/pdf/RE_GSR_2009_Update.pdf]
    4. Siehe EEG-Erfahungsbericht 2007. See EEG Erfahungsbericht 2007th
    5. www.diw.de
[http://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.100319.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteil\
ungen.html?id=diw_01.c.96083.de.] www.diw.de
[http://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.100319.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteil\
ungen.html?id=diw_01.c.96083.de.]
    6.
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wirk\
ungen_kap2.pdf
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wir\
kungen_kap2.pdf]
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wirk\
ungen_kap2.pdf
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/eeg_wir\
kungen_kap2. pdf]
    7.
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applicat\
ion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf.pdf
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applica\
tion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf.pdf ] und Energieversorgung in Deutschland.
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applicat\
ion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf.pdf
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/applica\
tion/pdf/broschuere_ee_zahlen_bf. pdf] and energy supply in Germany.
Statusbericht fuer den Energiegipfel am 3. Status report for the energy summit
on 3 April 2006. April 2006.
    8. Energieversorgung in Deutschland. Energy supply in Germany. Statusbericht
fuer den Energiegipfel am 3. Status report for the energy summit on 3 April
2006. April 2006.
    9. http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289]
http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289
[http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/inhalt/36860/40289]

Hans G. Ehrbar   http://www.econ.utah.edu/~ehrbar ehrbar@...
Economics Department, University of Utah     (801) 908 6937
260 Central Campus Drive Rm 343              (801) 581 7481 (econ office)
Salt Lake City    UT 84112-9155              (801) 585 5649 (FAX)

I am in the process of translating the report by the BMU,
with the help of google translate, will post it here shortly.

Hans.

Hi All -

Well, I ran across that commentary piece last night while researching
information for a presentation I'm scheduled to make before a Senate Interim
Committee here in Nevada. (Our legislature meets on a biennial basis.)

I'm able to respond to any number of "reports" bashing renewables. Usually
there's lots of quantitative as well as qualitative responses that can be made.
In most cases one only needs to point to the report in question as the work of
an Austrian School economist or an institute heavily funded by Exxon-Mobil or
the fossil-fuel industry in general. Interchangeable use of the word "subsidy"
with FITs is usually a dead giveaway to free-market rant reports as well.

However, I've never heard of this RWI Essen which is apparently associated with
the Leibniz Association which is a Federal Ministry initiative. RWI seems not to
be supported by corporation grants either and its populated by a large number of
academics unlike corporate nonprofit front organizations in the US such as the
Heartland Institute.

I really don't have time to closely parse this RWI report, and unfortunately I
don't read German.

You state: "RWI warms up a series of old and widely refuted arguments." I do see
where seem to be cherry-picking quotes from the IEA &c. For example they quota a
2007 IEA recommendation that "policies other than the very high feed-in tariffs
to promote solar photovoltaics" (IEA, 2007:77). However, IEA has since revised
that assessment in this 2008 report
http://www.iea.org/Textbase/npsum/DeployRenew2008SUM.pdf (as Paul Gipe noted a
year ago).

On the surface the report in question does *not* appear to be a very rigorous or
balanced research.

Could someone provide a paragraph or two as to why that might be? Like I said,
it doesn't appear that this RWI is populated by Austrian School economic
zealots, nor does it seem to be funded by the oil companies?

The problem is folks in Nevada seem to navigate to material like this given they
get most of their information from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. I'm betting
someone will ask me about this sooner rather than later!

Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org


--- On Sun, 10/25/09, ehrbar <ehrbar@...> wrote:

> From: ehrbar <ehrbar@...>
> Subject: Re: [feed_in_tariffs] Re:Germany's renewable myth
> To: feed_in_tariffs@...
> Cc: feed_in_tariffs@...
> Date: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 9:27 AM
>
>
> Link to the RWI report about renewable energy policies
> (a 42-page pdf):
>
>
http://www.rwi-essen.de/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/PUBLIKATIONEN/GUTACHTEN/P_RENEW\
ABLE+ENERGY+REPORT+RWI+FORMAT.PDF
>
> The National Post article sent to this list earlier was its
> executive
> summary.  Long URL is
>
>
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/10/21/germany-s-\
renewable-myth.aspx
>
> A good summary in German is also here:
>
> http://www.co2-handel.de/article340_12687.html
>
> The German Federal Ministry for the Environment responded
> here:
>
> http://www.bmu.de/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/doc/45090.php
>
> (unfortunatley right now available only in German). 
> Basically they
> say RWI warms up a series of old and widely refuted
> arguments.
>
> Here is another response in German language:
>
>
http://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/news-nachhaltigkeit/2009/2009-10-29/erneuerbare\
-energien-streit-um-foerderung-geht-in-neue-runde/
>
> It is not an accident that such an attack on Feed-In
> Tariffs is
> published in Germany.  Just as the US in the 1970s,
> Germany today is
> one of the world's foremost pioneers for renewable
> energy.  In the
> 1970s, the oil and coal interests managed to stop the move
> towards
> renewable energy in the US, setting back the entire world
> by 25 years.
> Now they are trying a repeat performance in Germany. 
> This is
> documented on pages 8-12 of Hermann Scheer's book *Energy
> Policy*.
>
>
> Hans.
>
>
> Hans G. Ehrbar   http://www.econ.utah.edu/~ehrbar ehrbar@...
> Economics Department, University of Utah 
>    (801) 908 6937
> 260 Central Campus Drive Rm 343       
>       (801) 581 7481 (econ office)
> Salt Lake City    UT 84112-9155   
>           (801) 585 5649 (FAX)
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>     mailto:feed_in_tariffs-fullfeatured@...
>
>
>

Link to the RWI report about renewable energy policies
(a 42-page pdf):

http://www.rwi-essen.de/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/PUBLIKATIONEN/GUTACHTEN/P_RENEW\
ABLE+ENERGY+REPORT+RWI+FORMAT.PDF

The National Post article sent to this list earlier was its executive
summary.  Long URL is

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/10/21/germany-s-\
renewable-myth.aspx

A good summary in German is also here:

http://www.co2-handel.de/article340_12687.html

The German Federal Ministry for the Environment responded here:

http://www.bmu.de/erneuerbare_energien/downloads/doc/45090.php

(unfortunatley right now available only in German).  Basically they
say RWI warms up a series of old and widely refuted arguments.

Here is another response in German language:

http://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/news-nachhaltigkeit/2009/2009-10-29/erneuerbare\
-energien-streit-um-foerderung-geht-in-neue-runde/

It is not an accident that such an attack on Feed-In Tariffs is
published in Germany.  Just as the US in the 1970s, Germany today is
one of the world's foremost pioneers for renewable energy.  In the
1970s, the oil and coal interests managed to stop the move towards
renewable energy in the US, setting back the entire world by 25 years.
Now they are trying a repeat performance in Germany.  This is
documented on pages 8-12 of Hermann Scheer's book *Energy Policy*.


Hans.


Hans G. Ehrbar   http://www.econ.utah.edu/~ehrbar ehrbar@...
Economics Department, University of Utah     (801) 908 6937
260 Central Campus Drive Rm 343              (801) 581 7481 (econ office)
Salt Lake City    UT 84112-9155              (801) 585 5649 (FAX)

Yikes - someone left the lock off the cage for crazy people, and the occupants
all escaped!

Bob

---

Germany's renewable myth
Posted: October 21, 2009, 9:01 PM by NP Editor
http://tinyurl.com/yff2vtr

Germany is seen as a leader in renewable energy, but its experience has been a
costly waste

By Manuel Frondel, Nolan Ritter and Colin Vance

Aggressive policy of generously subsidizing and effectively mandating
“renewable” electricity generation in Germany has led to a doubling of the
renewable contribution to electricity generation in recent years.

This preference came primarily in the form of a subsidy policy based on feed-in
tariffs, established in 1991 by the Electricity Feed-in Law, requiring utilities
to accept and remunerate the feed-in of “green” electricity at 90 percent of
the retail rate of electricity, considerably exceeding the cost of conventional
electricity generation.

A subsequent law passed in 2000 guaranteed continued support for 20 years. This
requires utilities to accept the delivery of power from independent producers of
renewable electricity into their own grid, paying technology-specific feed-in
tariffs far above their production cost of ¢2.9-10.2 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

With a feed-in tariff of ¢59 per kWh in 2009, solar electricity generated from
photovoltaics (PV) is guaranteed by far the largest financial support among all
renewable energy technologies.

Currently, the feed-in tariff for PV is more than eight times higher than the
wholesale electricity price at the power exchange and more than four times the
feed-in tariff paid for electricity produced by on-shore wind turbines.

Even on-shore wind, widely regarded as a mature technology, requires feed-in
tariffs that exceed the per-kWh cost of conventional electricity by up to 300%
to remain competitive.

By 2008 this had led to Germany having the second-largest installed wind
capacity in the world, behind the United States, and largest installed PV
capacity in the world, ahead of Spain. This explains the claims that Germany’s
feed-in tariff is a great success.

Installed capacity is not the same as production or contribution, however, and
by 2008 the estimated share of wind power in Germany’s electricity production
was 6.3%, followed by biomass-based electricity generation (3.6%) and water
power (3.1%). The amount of electricity produced through solar photovoltaics was
a negligible 0.6% despite being the most subsidized renewable energy, with a net
cost of about $12.4 billion for 2008.

The total net cost of subsidizing electricity production by PV modules is
estimated to reach US $73.2 billion for those modules installed between 2000 and
2010. While the promotion rules for wind power are more subtle than those for
PV, we estimate that the wind power subsidies may total US $28.1 billion for
wind converters installed between 2000 and 2010.

Consumers ultimately bear the cost of renewable energy promotion. In 2008, the
price mark-up due to the subsidization of green electricity was about ¢2.2,
meaning the subsidy accounts for about 7.5% of average household electricity
prices.

Given the net cost of ¢41.82/kWh for PV modules installed in 2008, and assuming
that PV displaces conventional electricity generated from a mixture of gas and
hard coal, abatement costs are as high as $1,050 per ton.

Using the same assumptions and a net cost for wind of ¢3.10/kWh, the abatement
cost is approximately $80. While cheaper than PV, this cost is still nearly
double the ceiling of the cost of a per-ton permit under Europe’s
cap-and-trade scheme. Renewable energies are thus among the most expensive GHG
reduction measures.

There are much cheaper ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions than subsidizing
renewable energies. CO2 abatement costs of PV are estimated to be as high as
$1,050 per ton, while those of wind power are estimated at $80 per ton. By
contrast, the current price of emissions certificates on the European emissions
trading scheme is only 13.4 (Euro) per ton. Hence, the cost from emission
reductions as determined by the market is about 53 times cheaper than employing
PV and 4 times cheaper than using wind power.

Moreover, the prevailing coexistence of the EEG and emissions trading under the
European Trading Scheme (ETS) means that the increased use of renewable energy
technologies generally attains no additional emission reductions beyond those
achieved by ETS alone. In fact, since the establishment of the ETS in 2005, the
EEG’s net climate effect has been equal to zero.

While employment projections in the renewable sector convey seemingly impressive
prospects for gross job growth, they typically obscure the broader implications
for economic welfare by omitting any accounting of off-setting impacts. These
im-pacts include, but are not limited to, job losses from crowding out of
cheaper forms of conventional energy generation, indirect impacts on upstream
industries, additional job losses from the drain on economic activity
precipitated by higher electricity prices, private consumers’ overall loss of
purchasing power due to higher electricity prices, and diverting funds from
other, possibly more beneficial investment.

Proponents of renewable energies often regard the requirement for more workers
to produce a given amount of energy as a benefit, failing to recognize that this
lowers the output potential of the economy and is hence counterproductive to net
job creation. Significant research shows that initial employment benefits from
renewable policies soon turn negative as additional costs are incurred.
Trade-and other assumptions in those studies claiming positive employment turn
out to be unsupportable.

In the end, Germany’s PV promotion has become a subsidization regime that, on
a per-worker basis, has reached a level that far exceeds average wages, with
per-worker subsidies as high as $240,000.

It is most likely that whatever jobs are created by renewable energy promotion
would vanish as soon as government support is terminated, leaving only
Germany’s export sector to benefit from the possible continuation of
renewables support in other countries such as the US.

Due to their backup energy requirements, it turns out that any increased energy
security possibly afforded by installing large PV and wind capacity is
undermined by reliance on fuel sources — principally gas — that must be
imported to meet domestic demand. That much of this gas is imported from
unreliable suppliers calls energy security claims further into question.

Claims about technological innovation benefits of Germany’s first-actor status
are unsupportable. In fact, the regime appears to be counterproductive in that
respect, stifling innovation by encouraging producers to lock into existing
technologies.

In conclusion, government policy has failed to harness the market incentives
needed to ensure a viable and cost-effective introduction of renewable energies
into Germany’s energy portfolio. To the contrary, Germany’s principal
mechanism of supporting renewable technologies through feed-in tariffs imposes
high costs without any of the alleged positive impacts on emissions reductions,
employment, energy security, or technological innovation. Policymakers should
thus scrutinize Germany’s experience, including in the US, where there are
currently nearly 400 federal and state programs in place that provide financial
incentives for renewable energy.

Although Germany’s promotion of renewable energies is commonly portrayed in
the media as setting a “shining example in providing a harvest for the
world” (The Guardian, 2007), we would instead regard the country’s
experience as a cautionary tale of massively expensive environmental and energy
policy that is devoid of economic and environmental benefits.

Financial Post
From Economic impacts from the promotion of renewable energies: The German
experience, published this month by the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut in
Essen, Germany, and written by Manuel Frondel, Nolan Ritter, Colin Vance. The
full report is available at www.rwi-essen.de. Photo: Two German workers install
solar panels. The estimated cost per green job of Germany’s subsidy policy is
$240,000. (Reuters)

Germany fuming over solar policy

The Star, October 24, 2009

Tyler Hamilton
http://tinyurl.com/ykssy9y

The new Ontario requirement that grid-connected solar projects include a minimum
amount of local content is causing a stir in Germany, where manufacturers say
Canada is breaching its obligations to the World Trade Organization.

Germany's solar-industries association, BSW-Solar, has put out a notice to its
members – including some of the biggest solar module manufacturers in the
world – urging them to protest Ontario's "local protectionism."

"The actions taken in Ontario directly contravene Canada's international trade
commitments and place foreign solar equipment makers at a serious competitive
disadvantage," the association said.

"We respectfully request that you raise this issue with the appropriate Canadian
federal and Ontario provincial authorities, indicating that the European Union
will consider seriously all available options to resolve the matter
successfully."

The new rules, which went into effect Oct. 1, require that small rooftop solar
systems contain 40 per cent local content as a combination of labour and
equipment.

Larger systems must meet a 50 per cent threshold. Starting in two years that
target will rise to 60 per cent.

Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman established the rule to
stimulate investment and green-collar job creation in the province, a benefit
aimed at making electricity consumers more agreeable to paying a premium for
solar and wind power.

Under Ontario's new feed-in tariff program power that comes from solar projects
can fetch between 44.3 and 80.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is eventually
absorbed into provincial electricity rates.

Amy Tang, a spokeswoman for Smitherman, said the content threshold was carefully
crafted to make sure local and foreign companies could participate, but in a way
that brought economic and environmental benefits to the province.

"Our conclusion is that the domestic content rules have been developed in a way
that welcomes investment from outside Ontario, because only a portion of the
costs are required to be spent in Ontario," said Tang.

BSW-Solar said the federal government is responsible for ensuring that all
provinces, including crown corporations and agencies such as the Ontario Power
Authority, comply with Canada's WTO commitments.

It warned that Ontario's move will backfire, and that major manufacturers will
simply avoid investing in the province.

Thomas Chrometzka, head of international affairs at BSW-Solar, said "a formal
complaint is not yet anticipated." An industry source said international
manufacturers upset with Ontario's new rules include SunPower, First Solar,
Mitsubishi, Sanyo and Schuco.

A European Union delegation was in Ottawa this week discussing a possible
Canada-EU trade deal and raised Ontario's local content mandate as a concern.
"It's on their radar screen," said Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, an international
trade lawyer with Lang Michener LLP in Toronto.

Cherniak said that on the surface, it doesn't appear Ontario is violating the
WTO principle of "national treatment," which requires a state to treat foreign
and domestic products equally once within national borders. But the answer isn't
clear. "The analysis has yet to be done," she said. "There are some people
asking the questions in government."

If, as BSW-Solar claims, international manufacturers avoid investing in Ontario
it could mean the end of utility-scale solar projects in the province. Investors
in such large, capital-intensive developments require "investment-grade" solar
modules: ones with a proven track record and strong warranty.

First Solar, for example, supplied modules for solar farms in Stone Mills and
Sarnia out of its facility in Perrysburg, Ohio. It's unlikely to relocate or
build a new facility in Ontario to serve the market here. No investment-grade
modules means no investment, and that has many developers in Ontario nervous.

Be well,
Bob Tregilus
Co-chair -
Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada
http://ElectricNevada.org
775 826-4514

In a world without walls, who needs Windows?
Registered Linux user #471603,
http://counter.li.org

merci bernard. they've been talking about this for several years and yet they
still can't get it right.

at least they make the case that savings on the nordic pool will pay for half
the cost. that's a new twist to make that case directly up front.

paul


--- In feed_in_tariffs@..., Bernard Chabot <bechabot@...> wrote:
>
> A governmental working group is recommending FITs based on "a
> market-based guaranteed price system" (??) for wind power and biogas in
> order to reach the renewable electricity target for Finland within the
> European renewable energy Directive, see the press release.
>
> Only 12 years for such FITs seems too low.
>
> Bernard CHABOT
>
> Source:
>
> http://lato.poutapilvi.fi/p4_tem/?89521_m=96996&l=en&s=2471
>
> Press releases: Energy
>
> 29.09.2009 11:58
>
>
>   Working group proposal: Guaranteed price for electricity produced
>   using renewable energy
>
> The working group that considered the feed-in tariff system submitted
> its final report to *Mauri Pekkarinen*, Minister of Economic Affairs, on
> 29 September 2009. This working group was chaired by Industrial
> Cousellor *Petteri Kuuva* of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
> The final report incorporates the interim report completed by the
> working group on 7 April 2009, concerning a feed-in tariff for
> electricity produced using wind power.
>
>
>
> The working group proposes that a market-based guaranteed price system
> be introduced in Finland. This proposal concerns electricity produced
> using wind power and biogas. Within the scheme, electricity producers
> would be electricity market actors. The scheme would almost totally
> eliminate producers' price risk associated with electricity production
> for as long as the tariff scheme remains in force.
>
>
>
> The level of the feed-in tariff would be determined by an administrative
> decision. During further preparation, the Ministry of Employment and the
> Economy will examine ways of determining the tariff level via
> competitive tendering.
>
>
>
> The combined nominal output capacity of wind power plants or wind power
> parks admitted to the scheme should be at least 1 MVA and the nominal
> capacity of biogas plant generators at least 300 kVA. According to an
> evaluation performed by the working group, the feed-in tariff system
> would not be suitable for smaller plants: the system requires the daily
> submission of hourly data on power production to the national grid company.
>
>
>
> The target price for the feed-in tariff would be EUR 83.5/MWh.
> Additional support for electricity generated from biogas would be EUR
> 50/MWh, when the plant in question is involved in the combined
> production of heat and electricity and its total efficiency is at least
> 50 per cent. The tariff would be paid for 12 years.
>
>
>
> The construction of wind power plants must be initiated at a brisk pace.
> The working group therefore suggests a raised feed-in tariff target
> price of EUR 90.2/MWh for wind power plants introduced during the
> initial years of the feed-in tariff system.
>
>
>
> The feed-in tariff would be financed from a fee to be collected directly
> from electricity end-users. If electricity consumption were 2,000 kWh
> per year in 2020, this fee would be approximately EUR 5 a year, the
> target price being EUR 83.5/MWh. Correspondingly, in a small house with
> electric heating and electricity consumption of 18,000 kWh, the fee in
> 2020 would be around EUR 44 per year.
>
>
>
> The increase in electricity produced using tariff-supported wind power
> and biogas, totalling approximately 6 TWh, will reduce the burden on
> electricity end-users. It will do so by lowering the price of
> electricity on the Nordic market by an estimated EUR 1.2/MWh. In other
> words, a reduction in the market price would compensate for around half
> of the feed-in tariff fee payable by the end-user.
>
>
>
> The working group has assessed various alternatives through which
> certain user categories might be released from paying feed-in tariffs,
> and the impacts of such measures on other electricity end-users. If, for
> instance, electricity-intensive industries, i.e. those consuming more
> than 100 GWh of electricity per year, were released from the feed-in
> tariff fee, in 2020 the fee for an end-user consuming 2,000 kWh of
> electricity per year would be approximately EUR 7.5. Moreover, a user
> consuming 18,000 kWh would pay approximately EUR 68 without the
> palliative impact of the market price of electricity.
>
>
>
> The feed-in tariff system would promote investments in electricity
> produced from wind power and biogas and improve self-sufficiency in
> power production. This would help Finland attain the EU's 20-20-20
> objectives, i.e. the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per
> cent from the level of 1990, and of increasing the share of renewable
> energy sources by 20 per cent while improving energy efficiency by the
> same proportion by 2020. At the same time, it will open up new
> opportunities for Finnish companies to develop technologies related to
> renewable energy and take advantage of the export potential associated
> with such technologies. Such investments would also have positive
> effects on employment.
>
>
>
> Achieving the target set in the National Climate and Energy Strategy
> would require an increase of some 30 TWh in the exploitation of
> renewable energy by 2020, which would mean a rise of about a third
> compared to the current level. Wind power's share of the required
> increase is estimated at approximately 24 per cent and that of biogas at
> about 1 per cent.
>
>
>
> The increase in wind power production would reduce CO2 emissions by an
> estimated minimum of 3.7 Mt CO2 by 2020 and power production from biogas
> by an estimated 0.1 Mt CO2. Finland's greenhouse gas emissions in 2007
> amounted to 78.3 Mt CO2. Such a reduction in emissions would consist of
> reduced consumption of other fuels and lower methane emissions from bio
> waste. Reduced methane emissions will go some way towards helping
> Finland attain the national obligations set for the non-emission trading
> sector. Furthermore, the reduction of emissions from power production
> will reduce the need for Finnish companies to acquire emission
> allowances. If the average price of emission allowances stabilised
> between EUR 20 and EUR 50/t CO2, an approximately 6 TWh increase in
> electricity production from wind power and biogas would reduce the need
> to purchase emission allowances by EUR 75--190 million per year.
>
>
>
> *For more information, please contact*
>
> Petteri Kuuva, Industrial Counsellor, MEE, tel. +358 10 606 4819
>
> Pekka Tervo, Senior Adviser, MEE, tel. +358 10 606 4796
>
> Anja Liukko, Government Counsellor, MEE, tel. +358 10 606 2078
>

Press releases: Energy

Working group proposal: Guaranteed price for electricity produced using renewable energy

The working group that considered the feed-in tariff system submitted its final report to Mauri Pekkarinen, Minister of Economic Affairs, on 29 September 2009. This working group was chaired by Industrial Cousellor Petteri Kuuva of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The final report incorporates the interim report completed by the working group on 7 April 2009, concerning a feed-in tariff for electricity produced using wind power.

The working group proposes that a market-based guaranteed price system be introduced in Finland. This proposal concerns electricity produced using wind power and biogas. Within the scheme, electricity producers would be electricity market actors. The scheme would almost totally eliminate producers’ price risk associated with electricity production for as long as the tariff scheme remains in force.

The level of the feed-in tariff would be determined by an administrative decision. During further preparation, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy will examine ways of determining the tariff level via competitive tendering.

The combined nominal output capacity of wind power plants or wind power parks admitted to the scheme should be at least 1 MVA and the nominal capacity of biogas plant generators at least 300 kVA. According to an evaluation performed by the working group, the feed-in tariff system would not be suitable for smaller plants: the system requires the daily submission of hourly data on power production to the national grid company.

The target price for the feed-in tariff would be EUR 83.5/MWh. Additional support for electricity generated from biogas would be EUR 50/MWh, when the plant in question is involved in the combined production of heat and electricity and its total efficiency is at least 50 per cent. The tariff would be paid for 12 years.

The construction of wind power plants must be initiated at a brisk pace. The working group therefore suggests a raised feed-in tariff target price of EUR 90.2/MWh for wind power plants introduced during the initial years of the feed-in tariff system.

The feed-in tariff would be financed from a fee to be collected directly from electricity end-users. If electricity consumption were 2,000 kWh per year in 2020, this fee would be approximately EUR 5 a year, the target price being EUR 83.5/MWh. Correspondingly, in a small house with electric heating and electricity consumption of 18,000 kWh, the fee in 2020 would be around EUR 44 per year.

The increase in electricity produced using tariff-supported wind power and biogas, totalling approximately 6 TWh, will reduce the burden on electricity end-users. It will do so by lowering the price of electricity on the Nordic market by an estimated EUR 1.2/MWh. In other words, a reduction in the market price would compensate for around half of the feed-in tariff fee payable by the end-user.

The working group has assessed various alternatives through which certain user categories might be released from paying feed-in tariffs, and the impacts of such measures on other electricity end-users. If, for instance, electricity-intensive industries, i.e. those consuming more than 100 GWh of electricity per year, were released from the feed-in tariff fee, in 2020 the fee for an end-user consuming 2,000 kWh of electricity per year would be approximately EUR 7.5. Moreover, a user consuming 18,000 kWh would pay approximately EUR 68 without the palliative impact of the market price of electricity.

The feed-in tariff system would promote investments in electricity produced from wind power and biogas and improve self-sufficiency in power production. This would help Finland attain the EU’s 20-20-20 objectives, i.e. the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from the level of 1990, and of increasing the share of renewable energy sources by 20 per cent while improving energy efficiency by the same proportion by 2020. At the same time, it will open up new opportunities for Finnish companies to develop technologies related to renewable energy and take advantage of the export potential associated with such technologies. Such investments would also have positive effects on employment.

Achieving the target set in the National Climate and Energy Strategy would require an increase of some 30 TWh in the exploitation of renewable energy by 2020, which would mean a rise of about a third compared to the current level. Wind power’s share of the required increase is estimated at approximately 24 per cent and that of biogas at about 1 per cent.

The increase in wind power production would reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated minimum of 3.7 Mt CO2 by 2020 and power production from biogas by an estimated 0.1 Mt CO2. Finland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 amounted to 78.3 Mt CO2. Such a reduction in emissions would consist of reduced consumption of other fuels and lower methane emissions from bio waste. Reduced methane emissions will go some way towards helping Finland attain the national obligations set for the non-emission trading sector. Furthermore, the reduction of emissions from power production will reduce the need for Finnish companies to acquire emission allowances. If the average price of emission allowances stabilised between EUR 20 and EUR 50/t CO2, an approximately 6 TWh increase in electricity production from wind power and biogas would reduce the need to purchase emission allowances by EUR 75–190 million per year.

For more information, please contact

Petteri Kuuva, Industrial Counsellor, MEE, tel. +358 10 606 4819

Pekka Tervo, Senior Adviser, MEE, tel. +358 10 606 4796

Anja Liukko, Government Counsellor, MEE, tel. +358 10 606 2078

An interesting report from REN21 on China. Recommends a "Clarification
of the FIT system":

http://www.ren21.net/pdf/Recommendations_for_RE_Policies_in_China.pdf

Also very good data on renewables development in China. Including for
Small hydro power: 143 TWh/year, of which 87 TWh/y less than 10 MW,
mostly in rural and remote places, so obviously with an invaluable
impact on rural electrification and related social and economic development.

Bernard CHABOT