Florida is famous for its abundant sunshine. Yet the state's small solar businesses are expecting cloudy skies this summer. The Florida Legislature, citing another tough budget cycle, has failed to renew a state rebate program which provided incentives for solar providers working to sell renewable energy to Florida customers.
It was called the Solar Energy Systems Incentives Program, and it sunsets (no pun intended) June 30th. A firm called Blue Chip Energy recently announced it's launching its own solar rebate program to fill the gap; however, the loss of the statewide incentive program is seen as a blow to the development of renewables here.
I recently interviewed Frank Erickson, CEO of Jacksonville-based Erickson Energy, about the alternative and renewable energy picture here. He presents a gloomy forecast for renewable energy development in Florida -- the very location bracing, along with other Gulf states, for the worst as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to spew millions of gallons of crude every week.
"It's very disappointing. We've developed several projects that have been shelved, and we've had to direct our resources to other states. In a couple of weeks there won't be any more projects in Florida," said Erickson, who is now looking for business in Georgia and South Carolina, states that have a stronger commitment to solar power.
Meanwhile, Florida still hasn't created what 29 other states and the District of Columbia did some time ago -- a Renewable Portfolio Standard. An RPS establishes that a certain percentage of a state's energy must come from renewable sources -- be they solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, or others.
According to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the upfront costs of establishing an RPS would be offset by the growth of cleantech jobs that follow investment in clean energy. They project some 50,000 jobs in this space over the next ten years if Florida gets serious about renewables. Tom Larson, Florida Energy Policy Manager for the advocacy group, told our "First Coast Connect" audience that the key to making renewables more affordable and accessible over time is allowing third parties to sell power -- which is still not legal in Florida.
"If we were to undertake the direction that the Florida Public Service Commission studied and recommended to the Legislature, we'd see 50,000 jobs for the construction industry, for engineers and program developers... With the concerns about the oil offshore and the opportunities that are being left unattended here, the next legislative session in Florida should be very active on this issue," Larson said.
Florida may well lag behind other states in converting to a clean energy economy, but as Jon Stewart so incisively pointed out last week, the last EIGHT American presidents have promised to cure America of its addiction to oil. The foot-dragging isn't new -- or confined to just a few states.
A recent report from the Pew Charitable Trust found that for the first time ever, the United States has fallen behind China in overall clean energy investment. In fact, America trails several of our G-20 partners in what we're spending to develop alternative and renewable energy sources.
Which begs the question -- if the oil spill isn't the tipping point that finally forces Americans to commit to a renewable energy future, then what will be?
Fossil fuels supply 85% of the nation's energy. That percentage won't change without a wholesale commitment to stake out a new path, both at the state and federal levels. Floridians are bracing for tar balls on our beaches this summer, and a devastating blow to our tourism-based economy. That's bad enough -- but as Dr. Quinton White, who heads up the Marine Science Research Institute at Jacksonville University, said recently on our radio program:
As bad as it is, and as bad as it's going to get, the oil spill probably won't force real change. I don't think we'll see a major shift to renewables until everyday Americans drive up to the pump and gas is $7 a gallon.Is White right? "The situation is very fluid right now," Larson said. "We don't know which direction energy policy will go." In other words, it's sort of like watching the oil's muddled path toward our shores.
Follow Melissa Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MelissainJax
As for Florida's RPS, look no further than the Florida State legislators who’ve stymied the passage of renewable energy legislation, more specifically, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) as issued by the Florida Public Services Commission (FPSC) on January 30, 2009. Their ruling coincided with Governor Crist‘s recommendation for a 20% renewable energy mandate by 2020, which was sent to the legislature for ratification..
The proposal has stalled in the state legislature due to jockeying on the part of those beholden to special interests who want to include outdated fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and nuclear energy in the 20% mix. The result would be to dilute renewable energy sources to the point where the mandate’s effect would be negligible.
Every year, misinformed and sometimes malevolent green people and their cheering supporters over at Big Coal/Oil can defer the conversion from fossil fuels to nuclear 3 million people die world wide from coal air pollution and the US alone dumps a 40 feet deep 10000 sq mile Lake Erie sized toxic radioactive waste dripping pile of coal ash .
Nuclear waste is valuable nuclear fuel for the Gen IV reactors in service and planned around the world except the USA.who invented the technology. India is firing up a big one next year and Japan just got one of theirs up and running. Bill Gates has one on the go.
After powering the world on existing nuclear waste for hundreds of years the tiny amount of low level waste from these units would fit in a toolshed, stored for 30 40 years then burned up in a fusion reactor
Scientists tell us we are maybe less than ten years away from a civilization ending peak oil and climate crisis. Only nuclear power can save us in that time frame.
Even in the worst case, if we had to destroy a football forever as a storage dump for nuclear waste, better that than losing the entire planet
“Save money, cut the deficit, employ everyone, cut energy dependence:
Immediately order energy retrofits for all gov buildings.
Rooftop PV Solar, Offshore wind, and Waste Bio char, can supply the worlds energy and fuel needs: cleanly, safely, Forever, within 12 years and cheaper in the long run 2-6 cents now, and 26$ per barrel bio oils.
http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/solar_panels.htm
about 1$ per Wp solar panels, new.
install solar plants for about $1.30 per watt, compared with an industry average of about $1.75, according to Hardy." http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=a7K1FZoNgJ0w
Wind: “between two and six cents today, depending on location.12 Wind power approaches competitiveness with conventional generation at this price point. “
http://www.repp.org/articles/static/1/binaries/wind%20issue%20brief_FINAL.pdf
http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/publ/BiofBioproBioref%203,%20547-562,%202009%20Laird.pdf
26$ per barrel bio oil from waste bio char.
Real cost of solar.
$32B/Gw or 50 cents a kwh
Largest solar installation in the US, just built, at Arcadia Florida 42 Gwh/annual $150M, $32B/Gw or 50 cents a kilowatt hour at Florida Power's discount rate. 25-megawatt peak, 4.7 megawatts baseload equivalent Dual axis tracking Capacity factor 19%. Google it
Real cost of wind.
$20B/Gw 24 cents a kwh
Cape wind $20B/Gw 24 cents a kwh going to 34 cents over 15 years latest tariff agreement. Real capacity factors 20%. Google it
Real cost of American nuclear power built by American engineers in five years or less overseas for public power companies instead of the attorney’s, corrupt private power companies and pet politicians, and greedy wall street financiers taking ten years at four times the cost to build the same nuclear plants in the US.
AP1000 build $1.2B/Gw 2007, 1.3 cents a kwh
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&refer=asia&sid=aJPyNB5Q_Fr0
you list future predictions of a notoriously cost overrunning, 50% defaulting nuclear industry....
Not so renewable power actually produces more GHG's than it saves via its associated fast spooling low efficiency load balancing gas plants replacing high efficiency slow spooling CCGT gas plant which would produce less green house gases at a lower cost. Better to skip the not so "renewables and built the CCGT plant instead. Big Oil/Coal loves not so "renewables" because they know they will do nothing but enhance sales of their odious products.
RPS is a joke and promotes Big, wilderness-killing projects over local, point of use solutions. Florida should expand the Gainesville Feed in Tariff to the entire state without caps, and watch clean power blossom, while property values increase, great paying local jobs are created, and THE MONEY STAYS IN THE COMMUNITY WITH THE RATEPAYERS instead of going offshore to Big Energy tax shelters.
Point of use solutions within the built environment are the ONLY future we need. Big Solar is lousy for the planet, lousy for taxpayers, lousy for ratepayers.