Good news / bad news: More Federal $s into Energy

Funding renewable energy & energy efficiency is great. We've lacked it for a very long time. Obama's new "push" - though important - relies on the same mechanisms we're relied on for the past 30-odd years... without game-changing results. Again, funds are being put into labs... who's major metrics include: [1] # of patents and [2] requests for more research. Yes, more research is needed. So, this is the good news.

The bad news is - there is no "game-changing thinking" going on in Washington, D.C. This question is not being asked: "What else should we do to speed renewable & efficient energy (R&EE) technologies to market?" The speed-to-market has to do with acceleration, not more research. Without a change in thinking, we will not get a change in results.

What should change?

[1] Fund technology acceleration: NXergy would be a good place to start. So would Nth Power, Reference Capital, Pivotal Investments and Equilibrium Capital Group. All focused on speeding profitable R&EE technologies to market.

[2] Leverage the existing power-production industry: Incentivize utilities to be more efficient and produce more sustainable power by allowing them to keep most (OK, half?) of the savings they create as a result of THEIR research.

[3] Change thinking: Profits aren't bad... the notion that an entity HAS to be a non-profit to gain Federal funding is ridiculous. Profiting from going green makes all the sense in the world! Once business is on board, you'll see serious movement.

I have determined that through profit-focused clean-tech acceleration, jobs can be created for a fraction ($5,000 to $10,000 per job) of what is being proposed ($60,000 to $224,000 per job) for "bail out" funding.

Energy Planet offers news on alternative energy

Alternative Energy News is published by Energy Planet: Access to some great information.

The Role of State Policy in Renewable Energy Development

The U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program (SEP) publishes Conservation Update bimonthly to summarize renewable energy and energy efficiency projects of state energy offices.

=> Jan / Feb updates
=> State Publications

Energy sector suffers from a lengthy, unpredictable, & needlessly complex regulatory maze

Karen Harbert, President and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce writes in "Want Green Jobs? Cut the Green Tape" that we need to think beyond just dollars. We need to ensure that we work together and are able to cut through the stumbling blocks in front of job creation, renewable energy implementation and moving forward to a more energy-independent country.