FREE SPEECH ZONE | The real tragedy of the Solyndra affair

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The recent Daily Planet story on the Hiawatha transmission line brings up the subject of clean energy development, and revisiting the demise of Solyndra solar.To some, the potential loss of $500 million of taxpayer money would be the greatest tragedy of the Solyndra event.  And while that kind of loss is not trivial, it is small compared to the long term ramifications of the debacle.Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases.To recap, Solyndra is a solar panel manufacturer in Californiawho was provided with a Department of Energy (DOE) loan as part of an effort to stimulate clean energy development in America. The company recently filed bankruptcy and layed off 1100 employees. This is not a defense of the company, the DOE, the Obama administration or any other parties to the transaction. If there is mismanagement, it should be uncovered; if fraud, prosecuted.  But none of this: the loan, the bankruptcy, or the possible mismanagement represents the true tragedy of the event.  The real cost could be aborting and/or diminishing future loans to clean energy developers and manufacturers.Already there are such calls. Continue Reading

More small-scale, local clean energy in Minnesota?

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For a state filled with independently-minded folks like Minnesota, distributed generation (a system of small, local energy-generation projects—like small wind turbines or solar panels— instead of one big power plant) is a great way to produce the energy we need. (Need a more thorough definition of distributed generation? Read our Energy 101.)But it’s not just the mindset that makes this kind of energy generation perfect for Minnesota. We also happen to have a host of clean energy resources that are perfect for small-scale, local energy generation: great wind and solar resources, forestry and agricultural byproducts, and geothermal right beneath our feet. That’s probably why we have so many nation-leading examples of distributed generation (and the benefits that come with it).Take Rahr Malting in Shakopee, for example. Continue Reading

OPINION | Minnesota’s cost of doing dusiness

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As we’ve explored, Minnesota businesses receive a relatively good return on their tax investments in the form of skilled workers, solid infrastructure, and quality public health and human services.Another set of factors firms must examine when considering expansion or relocation is the cost of doing business in a state—that isn’t related to taxes. That includes power and energy costs. For growing companies or start ups, entrepreneurs must explore investment availability and start-up assistance.In these areas, Minnesota enjoys relatively low energy prices, a “reasonable and balanced tort liability system,” and a high level of venture capital investment and Small Business Administration loans.Combining these measures with Minnesota’s reasonable level of business taxes (see “Average Business Taxes, Above Average Return”), Minnesota’s business climate is certainly competitive with other states.Minnesota ranks among the 25 states with the lowest business energy prices in six measures of electricity and gas prices examined, which include a typical energy bill for commercial and industrial users, average annual gas prices for industrial and commercial users, and Energy Star labeling. For all six measures of energy prices for commercial and industrial users, Minnesota is near or significantly below the U.S. average, as measured by DEED.These lower energy prices correlate with the state’s conservation initiatives that have saved our environment from more than a million tons of carbon monoxide emissions annually.“Energy conservation programs help Minnesotans save energy, reduce pollution and the need for costly new power plants and infrastructure, and create jobs for companies that analyze, manufacture and install energy efficiency improvements,” said Mike Rothman, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce in a June press release.The state’s 2007 Next Generation Energy Act is providing companies, individuals and public entities with a myriad of incentives to reduce their energy consumption. Examples include help with high-efficiency lighting retrofits, incentives for premium-efficiency industrial motors, and incentives for the purchase of Energy Star-labeled furnaces and air conditioners.Minnesota ranks 12th relative to other states when it comes to Energy Star-labeled buildings. Continue Reading

MN activists call on Obama to stop Keystone XL pipeline

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The Twin Cities Tar Sands Action group marched in downtown Minneapolis on Monday, Sept. 26, and called on President Obama to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would transport synthetic crude oil from the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Midwest, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. Native American leaders and local environmental activists — some of whom were arrested as part of Keystone Pipeline protests in front of the White House this summer — warned that the pipeline would destroy wetlands, continue to feed our addiction to global climate change-inducing fossil fuels, and hurt indigenous peoples’ lands.The demonstrators marched from the Royal Bank of Canada in Minneapolis to the Canadian Consulate, where they sought to speak with consular officials about their grievances. Speakers included Clyde Bellecourt of the American Indian Movement, Marty Cobenais of the Indigenous Environmental Movement and Michael Noble of Fresh Energy. The rally was staged to coincide with a demonstration in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, where hundreds were arrested for opposing the Keystone pipeline. Continue Reading

With tax credit in doubt, wind industry ponders future

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UPDATED 9/28/2011 Minnesota wind developer Dan Juhl has seen the scenario before.The wind production tax credit – seen as a key incentive to bringing new wind energy projects online – nears its expiration date, expires without legislative action and then comes barreling back, reviving the industry after a period of stagnation.It’s a sequence of events that has played out three times in the last decade, most recently in 2003, and is unfolding again today. The current tax credit, which provides developers with 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity produced from utility-scale wind turbines, is set to expire at the end of 2012.Industry officials have called for a long-term extension, but so far no action has been taken. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., recently said he was “not confident” it would pass given the mood in Washington, and wind energy proponents said they would not hazard to guess at its fate.You would think that Juhl, the chairman and chief executive at Juhl Wind Inc., would be carefully tracking the issue. His company is behind four of the 15 new wind energy projects expected to come online in Minnesota before 2012, and has longer-term ambitions.But Juhl said he no longer relies on the whims of Congress when thinking about the future. The need for alternative energy, he said, is simply too strong to be tempered by tax policy, he said. Continue Reading

Rethinking land use for biofuels

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Globalization effects every aspect of agriculture. It’s time to examine the systemic impacts of using Minnesota acres for raising bio-energy crops on systems across the world.A recent conference at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy brought together leading biofuel scientists, environmental advocates, policymakers and farmers to present the latest research on land use change and the efficient way forward for expanding domestic sustainable energy. Continue Reading

Acting on climate change: Carrying the living King back to the White House

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Rose Berger from Sojourners Magazine spoke to the hundreds of us gathered in Lafayette Park just before we processed to the fence surrounding the White House. She mentioned the irony of building a monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by the powerful political forces who disregarded or dismissed his message during his lifetime – we only honor him after he is safely dead. Continue Reading