25x’25

The State of the Union address may be a constitutionally mandated assessment to be presented to Congress each year by the president, but it is also an opportunity for the nation’s chief executive to lay out the tenets of new policy and articulate the goals that have yet to be achieved. So while President Obama’s speech Tuesday night offered acknowledgement of the clean energy goals his administration has sought since taking office three years ago, the venue of his remarks underscores the continued need for bipartisanship that brought about the many policies, programs and fund-raising mechanisms that are guiding the country into an economically revitalized clean energy future.

It was on a bipartisan basis three years ago that Congress adopted the Section 1603 program, a funding mechanism that offers grants in lieu of tax credits for wind, solar and other renewable energy facilities, given that the credits have little appeal among businesses that aren’t making the profits needed to deem the credits viable. Unfortunately, the program expired at the end of 2011, but deserves a bipartisan revival.

Also needing bipartisan support is the revival of the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax credit that expired Dec. 31 – a tax credit that resuscitated the industry in 2011, raising total output from 315 million gallons in 2010 to nearly 900 million gallons last year, and restoring tens of thousands of jobs.

Other critical renewable energy incentives that were brought to bear in previous years with political support from both sides the aisle include renewable energy production tax credits that expire at the end of this year and are in need of long-term extension. A $1.01-per-gallon credit for cellulosic ethanol expires Dec. 31, and a credit of 2.2 cents per kWh for wind energy currently applies only to those facilities placed “in service” by the end of next year.

Similar per-kWh production tax credits deserving of extension for relatively new clean energy technologies such as geothermal, closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass and others are currently available only for those facilities placed in service by the end of 2013.

Farm state Democrats and Republicans understood the value of Farm Bill Energy Title Programs like the Rural Energy for America Program, the Biorefinery Assistance Program and the Biomass Crop Assistance Program in revitalizing rural America. Similar bipartisanship is needed to retain these programs and ensure they receive adequate funding when a new Farm Bill is drafted over the next year.

A federal Renewable Fuels Standard was a provision established five years ago by a majority of both parties seeking to reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil and ensure the domestic production of a clean, economically viable transportation fuel. With American producers on the innovative brink of a next-generation biofuel production breakthrough, the RFS remains the single most important policy tool to ensure stability in the market place. And it’s this stability that leads to new investments, continues research and development, and reduces the risk posed in the build-up to commercial-scale production of new technologies and products.

In this era of austerity ideas are needed from both sides of the aisle on how best to pull the nation out of an economic recession. There is nothing partisan about clean energy investments that create jobs and stimulate economic development. The enhancement of our national security through a reduction in our imports of foreign energy sources is a goal sought by both Democrats and Republicans. Near-term, lower-cost and high-quality solutions to our nation’s growing energy needs offer a win-win scenario for both parties.

The 25x’25 Alliance urges Republicans and Democrats alike to look past election year rhetoric and support clean energy programs and policies that help address the overarching challenge this nation faces: the revitalization of the economy and the creation of good jobs.

25x'25 Policy/Funding 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, anaerobic digestion, Biofuels, Biomass, cellulosic, clean energy, Congress, ethanol, Farms, Geothermal, green jobs, House of Representatives, national security, Obama Administration, renewable energy, Research, Senate, Solar, switchgrass, Wind

With Congress seemingly headed for another year of gridlock, many are looking to the states to provide leadership in the continued development of renewable energy. A new paper released this week by a Washington think tank says that nearly two dozen state clean energy funds (CEFs) “stand as one of the most important clean energy forces at work in the nation” and “offer at least one partial response to the failure of Washington to deliver a sensible clean energy development approach.”

Mostly northern states have adopted an array of CEFs as vehicles to invest in clean energy projects with revenues often derived from small public-benefit surcharges on electric utility bills.

The report, issued by the Brookings Institutes with the help of funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, “conservatively” estimates that over the last decade state CEFs have invested more than $2.7 billion in state dollars to support renewable energy markets. The report says that initial funding has leveraged another $9.7 billion in additional federal and private sector investment, with the resulting $12 billion flowing to the deployment of more than 72,000 projects in the United States.

The projects have ranged from solar installations at homes and businesses to wind turbines in communities to large wind farms, hydrokinetic projects in rivers, and biomass generation plants on farms.

Because CEF money principally targets projects, however, it’s not sufficient “to drive the growth of large and innovative new companies or to create the broader economic development taxpayers demand from public investments,” the report says.

Still, the Brookings study cites efforts in a number of states, including California, New York and Massachusetts, that can show how states can broaden use of the CEFs to “jumpstart a new, creative period of expanded clean energy economic development and industry creation, to complement and build upon individualistic project financing.”

The paper offers a number of recommendations for expanding the role of CEFs, calling on states to redirect a significant portion (at minimum of 10%) of their funds money to include clean energy-related economic development. Suggesting the funds could lead to wider industrial growth, the paper also calls on states to make jobs and market data more readily available, and to link their CEFs with economic development entities and other stakeholders who could be “ideal partners” to develop decentralized funding and effective economic development programs.

Furthermore, the authors call on Washington policy makers to recognize the strength and utility of the CEFs and actively partner with them, through redirected federal funding, joint technology partnerships and decentralized financing decisions that rely more on local, knowledgeable entities.

The authors of the study say that the CEFs have already been innovative in their funding of hundreds of rural and agricultural clean energy projects. Now, they say, the state funds stand poised to innovate again by complementing that work with a new focus on building regional rural and agricultural clean energy industries as well.

In its role as the facilitator of information for partners, stakeholders and policy makers, the 25x’25 Alliance leadership believes it’s important to bring studies like the Brookings report into the public debate and allow its authors to contribute to the discussion that can lead to a clean energy future. 25x’25 encourages your review of this analysis and welcomes your feedback.

25x'25 Policy/Funding 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, Federal Leadership, Private Sector, renewable energy, State Agencies, Sustainability

The U.S. presidential campaign is now well under way and it provides an opportune time for renewable energy advocates to vet the candidates on their readiness to lead the nation to a clean energy future. With nearly 1,000 endorsing partner organizations across the country, the 25x’25 Alliance has a broad constituency that can introduce these presidential aspirants to the 25x’25 vision.

As these candidates air their proposals for reversing the nation’s economic decline, the time is ripe to present them with evidence that achieving the 25x’25 goal – by 2025, America’s farms, ranches and forestlands will meet 25 percent of U.S. energy needs with renewable resources – offers tremendous economic returns. Those returns are well documented in a study undertaken by the University of Tennessee, 25% Renewable Energy for the United States by 2025: An Analysis on Jobs Created by Meeting This Goal. This research found that achieving the 25x’25 goal has the potential to spark $646 billion in additional economic activity, the creation of more than 4.7 million jobs, and up to $37 billion in additional revenues for agriculture and forestry.

It is imperative that clean energy advocates engage presidential candidates as they campaign within each state and ask them specific questions regarding their support for the development of renewable forms of energy. As these candidates seek your support, it’s important that they be questioned directly, in a manner that evokes a thoughtful and complete response, about the steps required to restore the nation’s lead in the global technology race and create an environment that assures investment stability in the renewable energy sector.

Ask the candidates if they will work aggressively to craft and implement a comprehensive, national energy policy that will rapidly increase energy efficiency, accelerate the production of renewable energy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create new economic development here at home.

Point out that 92 percent of our nation’s energy is derived from risky, costly nuclear and finite fossil fuel resources. Ask them what they will do to diversify our nation’s energy portfolio.

Because unstable governments can influence global oil production and prices, candidates should be prepared to tell you how they will reduce America’s energy insecurity and minimize or eliminate the risks of another country’s actions causing significant disruptions in energy supplies or price spikes for consumers.

Ask the candidates if they will support retention of the current federal Renewable Fuels Standard and resist efforts to amend or repeal this critical provision. Those seeking the White House must understand that the RFS is the single most important policy to ensure stability in the biofuels market place. This stability leads to new investments, continues research and development, and reduces the risk of commercial-scale production of new technologies and products.

Determine the candidates’ position on the number of production tax credits, investment tax credits, and biofuels blender credits, along with the 1603 treasury grant, that provide incentives for the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies, but have expired or will soon lapse. Candidates must be asked if they will support the renewal and extension of these important financing tools.

Determine whether a candidate will commit to an increase in the level of federal support and investment for the research, development and deployment of clean renewable energy solutions by our nation’s land grant institutions, USDA research stations and DOE national laboratories.

These are all basic questions that go to the heart of meeting the 25x’25 goal and creating a strong, clean energy policy. With the support of whoever occupies the White House in 2013 for appropriate programs and funding mechanisms, the nation can benefit from a triple bottom line: a stronger economy, enhanced national security and an improved environment. All renewable energy advocates should use the 2012 presidential campaign, not only to learn the candidates’ positions, but help them reach positions that enable a clean energy future.

25x'25 Policy/Funding 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, anaerobic digestion, Biofuels, Biomass, cellulosic, clean energy, Congress, Efficiency, ethanol, Farms, Federal Agencies, Federal Leadership, Forestry, green jobs, House of Representatives, Industry Developments, infrastructure, national security, Obama Administration, Private Sector, renewable energy, Research, Senate, Solar, Sustainability, USDA, Wind

The renewable energy sector experienced a volatile year in 2011, confronting critics and competitors who question the validity of new, sustainable sources of power and fuels. Nevertheless renewable energy advocates surmounted many of the hurdles that were erected and continued to press forward on the long march to a clean energy future.

A review of the past year shows those advocates had much to point to in asserting the viability and validity of renewables in meeting our nation’s growing energy needs. A recent analysis by the DOE’s Energy Information Administration estimates that once the total supply of renewables is calculated for 2011, it will have grown by a remarkable 11 percent over the previous year’s total.

In fact, renewable energy sources – biomass and biofuels, geothermal energy, solar power, wind energy and hydropower – provided 4.687 quadrillion Btus of energy, a record 12.25 percent, of U.S. energy production, during the first six months of 2011. Power generated by renewables exceeded that produced from nuclear power during the first quarter of the year. And the EIA says wind energy is projected to grow by 22 percent from 2010 to 2011. Final U.S. hydropower generation numbers in 2011 are estimated to reach their highest level since 1999.

Ethanol production is estimated by the EIA to have grown from 860 thousand barrels per day in 2010, to 900 thousand last year. Nearly 10 percent of all fuel used on the road in 2011 is ethanol, which studies have shown has kept the price of gasoline down (by an average of 89 cents per gallon in 2010 according to one analysis). That’s a critical finding, given that a typical household spent an average of 8.4 percent of its annual budget on gasoline in 2011, the highest percentage since 1981.

Meanwhile, the EPA has estimated the year’s total production of U.S. biodiesel at more than 900 million gallons, more than doubling 2010 production, breaking the previous record of about 690 million gallons set in 2009, and far surpassing the 800 million gallons mandated by the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.

The DOE in August released an update to its 2005 Billion Ton Study that says biomass feedstock under baseline assumptions remain sufficient to meet near- and long-term bioenergy goals, including the production of 85 billion gallons of biofuel annually, enough to displace a third of the nation’s transportation fuel demand. Looking forward, more good news came from the International Energy Association, which affirmed that biofuels can provide up to 27 percent of the world’s transportation fuels by 2050.

The installed cost of solar photovoltaic power systems in the United States continued its rapid decrease in 2011. The DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory says the costs of panels and related equipment has dropped by nearly a third, making solar power cost-competitive with more traditional sources of electricity.

The geothermal industry now has power plants and small power units operating in nine states – compared to just four in 2005 – and expects to see more projects coming online in 2012 and 2013.

Among the number of significant accomplishments in the field of research last year, researchers with DOE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) engineered the first strains of Escherichia coli bacteria that can digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into a clean biofuel that can directly replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

The successes of 2011 go far beyond what is chronicled here and have come about because of the hard work and support of stakeholders and 25x’25 partners. Seeing how far the sector has come, partners must redouble efforts and continue the fight in 2012. It is critical that partners and stakeholders stay united and prepared for the time when the political environment inevitably turns more favorable, and that our messages focus on the clear benefits of renewable energy – economic recovery and job creation, national security solutions to volatile oil supplies from unstable regimes, and a better environment with improved soil, water and air quality.

By reframing the national energy conversation to emphasize the renewable energy successes at the federal, state and local levels; by forging new alliances with other forward thinking sectors such as the military community, and by continuing to work for the adoption of enabling policies, we can bring the 25x’25 vision to life and achieve a clean energy future.

25x'25 Policy/Funding 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, Biofuels, Biomass, Carbon, cellulosic, clean energy, Congress, DOE, Emissions, EPA, ethanol, Farms, Federal Agencies, Forestry, Geothermal, green jobs, greenhouse gases, national security, Obama Administration, renewable energy, Research, Solar, Sustainability, USDA, Wind