New York Governor Announces $1 Billion Green Bank And $1.5 Billion Solar Program

New York City officials are thinking more about climate resiliency in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. But adaptation - making the city more resilient to intensifying extreme weather - is only one part of an effective strategy.

Mitigating climate change through clean energy and other carbon reduction efforts is just as important. And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo seems to understand that.

In his State of the State address yesterday, Cuomo outlined plans for a new billion-dollar "green bank" to leverage private funds for deploying clean energy technologies, announced a 10-year expansion of the state's solar program by increasing funds $150 million per year, and named a new cleantech czar to oversee the efforts. The cumulative impact could be a massive expansion of renewables and efficiency in New York.

Here's what the Governor had to say about the Green Bank:

The NY Green Bank leverages private capital in a fashion that mitigates investment risk, catalyzes market activity and lowers borrowing costs, in turn bringing down the prices paid by consumers. Through the use of bonding, loans and various credit enhancements (e.g.,loan loss reserves and guarantees), a Green Bank is a fiscally practical option in a time of severe budget conditions. Many public credit and investment programs require only a small amount of government funds, even holding taxpayers harmless or acting asmoney makers. And along with these benefits, the long-term public and social benefits of a robust and clean economy are virtually incalculable.

And here's the language on the solar program:

Last year Governor Cuomo created the NY-Sun solar jobs program to bolster the use of solar power in New York, while also protecting the ratepayer. The goal of NY-Sun is to install twice as much customer-sited solar photovoltaic capacity in 2012 as was added in 2011, and to quadruple the 2011 amount in 2013. The NY-Sun program is authorized through 2015. This year, Governor Cuomo proposes to extend the successful NY-Sun program, continuing through 2023 the existing annual funding levels established under the program. The extended solar jobs program will provide longer program certainty to solar developers than current programs, funded through 2015, and is expected to attract significant private investment in solar photovoltaic systems, enable the sustainable development of a robust solar power industry in New York, create well-paying skilled jobs, improve the reliability of the electric grid, and reduce air pollution.

Solar has the potential to play a huge role in New York's climate-conscious building strategy. Consider this: Two-thirds of New York City's buildings could feasibly host solar-electric systems - enough to meet half the city's demand for peak power. And a lot of that could be developed today at a cost competitive with current electricity rates.

The solar industry has been working hard for many years to expand New York's solar policies. And this latest announcement from Governor Cuomo shows it's really starting to pay off. But actually funding these programs is the real issue. The State of the State address is designed to outline priorities - not always outline a plan for implementation. It remains to be seen if the Governor can fully raise the amount of money needed to meet these goals. The appointment of Richard Kauffman, a former adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, as energy czar will certainly help the process along.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/10/1427801/new-york-governor-

Solar parking lot @ Kyocera in San Diego

There's a lot of space in this world which could be used for solar panel systems. They don't have to be installed way out in the desert, but can be installed right here in town. e.g. Parking lots and rooftops represent land area ripe for use as photovoltaic energy systems.

KYOCERA Inaugurates First-Ever Solar Grove, Unleashing "Power of the Sun" for Parking Facilities "Solar Trees" Convert Parking Lot into 235-Kilowatt Solar Electric Generating System

Kyocera Solar makes solar panels, and has set up a system in their parking lot that produces 235 KW's. They call it "solar trees" and it serves a dual purpose. First is of course electricity production, and second is providing shade to cars parked in the parking lot.

Renewable Energy - The Next Opportunity for Silicon Valley

Renewable Energy - The Next Opportunity for Silicon Valley (by Brian McConnell, 12/10/2004, O'Reilly)

The article suggests that Silicon Valley aim its entrepeneurial might to make things better/faster/smaller/etc at the issue of Renewable Energy. This certainly fits my posting yesterday: Solaicx; making solar electricity cost effective as well as Nanosolar which I covered last March: Breakthrough in solar photovoltaics

Interesting stuff ...

Fossil fuel subsidies 'must end'

Fossil fuel subsidies 'must end' (Monday, 21 June, 2004, By Alex Kirby, BBC News Online environment correspondent)

... a year's worth of global fossil fuel subsidies could "comfortably" pay off sub-Saharan Africa's entire international debt burden, leaving billions of dollars to spare.

The report says these subsidies amount conservatively to about $235bn a year. It argues that they both distort the global economy and hold back the development of renewables.

This is from a study by the New Economics Foundation.

The recommendations outlined in the BBC article are very sound, and I applaud them for their bravery.

• Implementing the target of the G8 group of industrialised countries to provide at least one billion people with renewable energy by 2010, and increasing the target of access to clean energy by the poorest people to two billion over the next decade
• Reforming international financial institutions to allow a "dramatic" increase in funding for renewable energy sources in developing countries
• Phasing out World Bank group subsidies to fossil fuel projects by 2008, and all government subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

Solar to Keep Army on the Go

During a battle, the ability to move troops swiftly and without detection can mean the difference between victory and defeat. The U.S. Army is developing tents and uniforms made from flexible solar panels to make it more difficult to track soldiers.

Jean Hampel, project engineer in the Fabric Structures Group at the Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center, said the need to reduce the Army's logistics footprint spurred interest in developing lightweight solar panels. "We want to cut back on the things that soldiers have to bring with them," including generators and personal battery packs, Hampel said. In modern warfare, portable power for communications technology is every bit as important as firepower and manpower

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64021,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

Solar cells turn over a new leaf.

Spinach power is not just for Popeye, it could work for computers too. US researchers have made electrical cells that are powered by plant proteins.

The biologically based solar cells, which convert light into electrical energy, should be efficient and cheap to manufacture, says co-creator Marc Baldo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They could even be used to coat and power laptops...

http://www.nature.com/nsu/040621/040621-9.html