Editor Outpost
Why is Dirty Energy Still So Cheap?
The clean tech sector has experienced remarkable success in the past few years, yet there still remains one huge roadblock from mass implementation – cheap fossil fuels. Some may think this is simply a matter of free-market capitalism at work. The real truth is that petroleum and coal industries continue to receive massive subsidies from governments around the world, while renewable energy firms receive only a small fraction of that amount.
23Aug2010 | admin | 2 comments | Continued
U.S. Clean Energy Strategy — What a Mess!
I’ve argued here and elsewhere that the noise surrounding “clean energy” may be overblown given the relatively small contribution renewable energy can make to total U.S. supplies in the coming couple of decades. Still, CORE is certainly of the opinion that progress needs to be made in renewable and clean energy technology development and that the U.S.needs to establish an energy policy that drives this process vigorously. Unfortunately, the U.S. government’s current efforts to accomplish this are delusional, timid and ineffectual.
10Aug2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Boulder Stumbles Going Green
For all the solar panels arrayed on the roof of the municipal building on the corner of Broadway and Canyon, the roar of traffic tells a different story. The people of Boulder are just as wedded to their cars as they are anywhere else in America. The city has tried hard to try to get people to use public transport. But the buses crossing this busy intersection are all virtually empty. “Changing behaviour at a community level is not easy and it doesn’t happen at a rapid pace,” admits Jonathan Koehn, Boulder’s regional sustainability co-ordinator, during a tour of some of the city’s green initiatives.
2Aug2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
How Big Biz Will Drive Cleantech
Recognizing that I get into trouble for pitching the role of the world’s major corporations in driving cleantech innovation and - supposedly - ignoring the role of fledgling companies, let me show you how it’s working.
22Jul2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
China’s Energy Grab Is No Green Affair
China’s clean energy spending, indeed, is at a high monetary level, but what the President fails to mention is the utterly massive level of spending that the Chinese have embarked upon in pursuit of expanding their traditional energy portfolio. As Kate MacKenzie points out in her recent Financial Times piece, Chinese national oil companies have embarked on a “mega-spree” of fossil energy foreign acquisitions, accounting in fact for almost 20% of the world’s global deal value in the first quarter of 2010.
12Jul2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Rolling Back Drilling Regs Would Be a Mistake for Colorado
My view on the oil and gas rules comes from the five years I spent in the oil and gas business, and the responsibility I feel we share to protect the natural resources that draw people to our state. If elected governor, I will work to make sure that we strike the right balance. In general, the state rules include the best practices of the oil and gas industry. Both of my opponents want to rewrite the rules, but that would be a mistake.
6Jul2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Did the DOE Bet Wrong on Smart Grid?
Consider Xcel Energy’s SmartGridCity project in Boulder. A couple years ago the utility began deploying a wide variety of smart grid technologies similar to those funded by ARRA to the city’s 50,000 residents. Now the project costs have ballooned almost three times from an initial estimate of $15 million to more than $40 million, and Xcel has had to raise customer rates to help fund the project.
24Jun2010 | admin | 1 comment | Continued
Tiered Rates Are
Fair Rates
Much has been said and written lately about the new tiered electric rates for residential customers of Xcel Energy. Some of it has been accurate, but a lot of it has been misleading. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission understands that consumers are concerned about the impact of the new rate structure on their utility bills. As with any electric rate structure, some customers will benefit more than others based on their patterns of usage.
15Jun2010 | admin | 5 comments | Continued
Gusher vs. Goals
By Anne B. Butterfield
As the gusher in the Gulf continues to traumatize the nation, the 20,000 attendees at this year`s largest wind energy conference held last week in Dallas, felt anguish on the need for national renewable energy standard (RES). Industry and its allies are calling for a national RES, as well as streamlined rules for transmission, to support a robust American wind industry that will shield rate payers from fuel price spikes and power plug-in vehicles to offset our oil dependence now running amok in the Gulf.
Oil Shale Industry Says “Trust Us” (Once More!)
Once again we are being asked to believe that production of oil shale is a good idea. Industry leaders, such as Shell, Exxon, Red Leaf and the Oil Shale Exploration Company (OSEC), are asserting this time will be different … But a federal taskforce is cautioning “not so fast.”
17May2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Despite Record Fines, Gas Patch Pols Want Salazar to Ease Up on Industry
Just a couple of days after running a story in which more than 90 county commissioners and other elected officials from around the West urged Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to ease up on the oil and gas industry, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel posted a story illustrating why that would be a really bad idea.
28Apr2010 | admin | 1 comment | Continued
State’s Fuel Switching Ignites Heated Debate
Underlying supporters’ argument that the impact on ratepayers would be relatively minimal is an assumption that utilities could obtain long-term natural gas supply contracts — but that hasn’t been the norm between power companies and natural gas producers.
6Apr2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
SUMMIT Reflections
While the attendees were the usual mixture of corporate executives, small business people, entrepreneurs, academics, students and government managers, it was noticeable this year that large corporations were more strongly represented than in previous years. Perhaps this is a reflection of the fact that sustainability has now become such a key driver of corporate strategy in so many of the world’s largest companies.
16Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Colorado is NOT Arizona
His critics will never acknowledge it, but executive leadership like the kind provided by Colorado’s governor can make a critical difference in a state’s economic well-being, even in the depths of a severe recession. Think we’re overstating the case? Take a look at what recently took place in Arizona, a state never known for consistent legislative policy-making.
4Mar2010 | admin | 2 comments | Continued
Clean Energy Battered, Not Broken
A cascade of events have discouraged such folks – to the degree that many are taking a silver-lining perspective on the clouds gathering around attempts to transform the energy industry in Colorado and beyond.
2Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Balance Needed
These articles on oil shale project an image of an underdeveloped, overhyped industry inherently damaging to the environment– with no mitigation likely. They imply that those who object to the policies of the Obama administration are just trying to continue sweetheart deals worked out during the Bush era.
15Jan2010 | admin | 5 comments | Continued-
Why is Dirty Energy Still So Cheap?
The clean tech sector has experienced remarkable success in the past few years, yet there still remains one huge roadblock from mass implementation – cheap fossil fuels. Some may think this is simply a matter of free-market capitalism at work. The real truth is that petroleum and coal industries continue to receive massive subsidies from governments around the world, while renewable energy firms receive only a small fraction of that amount.
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