The Federal Tax Credits Blog

Posts Tagged ‘renewable energy’

Reportlinker Adds Solar PV Inverters – Global Market Size, Price Analysis, Regulations and Competitive Analysis to 2020

Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Bioenergy Company’s Expansion Brings More Jobs, Clean Energy to Northern BC

New Laws Effective January 1, 2010

The following legislation will take effect beginning Jan. 1, 2010.

President Obama Signs the Economic Stimulus into Law (ARRA) Part 2 of 3

Question: First cap and trade and now blocking renewable energy – are Republicans becoming the UnGreen Party?

With gas prices now averaging a record $4.04 a gallon in the United States, the Senate voted on two bills Tuesday that would have revoked tax breaks for Big Oil and extended tax credits to renewable energy. Proponents of the two measures touted them as vital for consumer relief and transition to new energy sources, but both measures failed to muster the 60 votes needed to proceed.

The first vote, on the Consumer First Energy Act, fell short of cloture by a vote of 51-43. The second, on the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, failed by a vote of 50-44. Both votes fell largely along party lines.

Trade organizations that represent renewable-energy firms on the Hill say they’re already seeing a slowing of growth in the sector because companies are hesitant to start new projects without the assurance that these credits will be available.

http://gristmill.grist.org/tag/Muckraker/

With Senate Republicans now blocking renewable energy, are they becoming the UnGreens?

Answer: Yeah, they’re the anti-greens and always have been. Except for maybe Teddy Roosevelt.

Come November we are going to see a landslide of historic proportions.

Lets hope the Dems keep their heads and don’t blow a historic opportunity.

We subsidize everything under the sun, except for the stuff that matters. If we took subsidies away from oil, airlines, highways and agriculture and let the “free market” work, suddenly alternative energy and local economies would look very attractive.

edit:

I wish they would have let some first graders in on the Bush-Cheney energy bill. They probably would have done a better job. Lord knows they wouldn’t let anyone else look at it.

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/energybill/2005/articles.cfm?ID=13980

Agriculture top 10

On the whole, 2010 was a good year for agriculture in Nebraska.

Entrepreneurship in Climate Change: Brighter Planet

Question: What Are Some Pros and Cons of Different Organizations that Assist With Purchasing Renewable Energy Credits?

There are two organizations that I have been considering: 1) LiveNeutral (www.liveneutral.org); and 2) Native Energy (www.nativeenergy.com).

Some issues that I am considering are: 1) non-profit vs. for-profit; 2) credits purchased from the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) vs. credits created from renewable energy sources; 3) “imaginary” market vs. real-world projects; and 4) managed by educational institution vs. managed by Native American organization. Please feel free to suggest additional criteria.

Also, if there is another organization that you think I should consider, please let me know, and please provide your reasoning for the suggestion.

Thanks!

Answer: There is a table from the Dept. of Energy that compares various vendors and their costs. See:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/markets/certificates.shtml?page=1

In effect, you are donating money to fund alternative energy sources (wind, solar, hydro, biogas) that subsequently feed into the nat’l power grid.

Since you are donating money, you might as well get a charitable deducation on your income taxes. The nativeenergy.com site won’t give a definitive answer on this question, but suggests you can do it.

So go with a group which is a charitable non-profit organization that clearly states donations are tax deductible. Look at your yearly electricity bills, multiply kilowatt hours by 2 cents and donate that much.

Unlike the carbon offset credits that are often nebulous and sometimes outright fraudulent, renewable Energy Credits (RECs) trace back to definite generating capacity that can be (and usually are) audited to make sure they are above board. (The US gov’t buys RECs, so any egregious fraud tends to get uncovered quickly.)

I think you are taking the right approach to renewable energy, and these projects will stand the test of time regardless of how the global warming issue pans out.

Despite all the bashing of the US, the graph at:

http://www.eea.europa.eu/pressroom/newsreleases/GHG2006-en

shows how the EU-25 don’t come close to meeting their Kyoto promises.

The non-Kyoto country, the US, in 2006 DECREASED CO2 emissions in by 1.4%.

I guess that signing Kyoto and then reneging somehow makes countries feel noble and good about themselves. But buying RECs that actually do something doesn’t count.

UPDATE:Obama Highlights Efforts To Unleash Private-Sector Growth

UPDATE:Obama Highlights Efforts To Unleash Private-Sector Growth

Law 270.6 – Lecture 9 – Resource Alternatives: Renewable Energy – The Technologies