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The Solar America Initiative(SAI) is part of the President's Advanced Energy Initiative and its goal is to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015. Adding solar energy to America's energy make-up will increase the national energy security by:
providing America with decentralized sources of clean power for the electric grid
improving our environment by avoiding 191,000 tons/year of CO2
boosting our economy by promoting a U.S.-based solar industry.
The U.S. Department of Energy is leading the SAI effort to accelerate the development of cost-effective solar energy technologies that produce electricity and heat water. DOE will conduct cost-shared research with industry-led teams and form strategic partnerships with universities, federal and state governments, and other non-governmental agencies. DOE will also support early-stage companies as they take promising prototype photovoltaic cells from the laboratory to the marketplace, leveraging DOE funding and technical assistance from national laboratories. DOE will also address non-technological barriers to widespread deployment of solar technologies such as codes, standards, certification, and technical training. DOE will establish Energy Star labeling for solar hot water heaters to ensure product performance. DOE will also facilitate cost reductions in utility-scale concentrating solar power systems by addressing three factors: further technology development, volume production, and scale-up in plant or project size. (Information Source: DOE)
July 13, 2007, Governor Charlie Crist signed three executive orders that will move Florida from ?business as usual? to a national leadership position in renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction.
The 1st executive order requires state government agencies to ?walk the walk.? Among other things, it requires that green house gasses (GHG) resulting from state operations be reduced by 10% in the next 4 years and then consistently over time to 40% below current levels by 2025. It establishes the U.S. Green Building Council?s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program and ENERGY STAR buildings standards as the new ?standard practice? for state facilities. It also directs the establishment of vehicle emissions ?baseline? for the government?s state-owned vehicle fleet and then, for new vehicles, the purchase of ?only those vehicles with the greatest fuel efficiency in a given class.?
The 2nd order establishes state-wide GHG emission targets. The Order set targets of reaching 2000 levels by 2017 and 1990 levels by 2025. The ultimate goal is to reduce 1990 levels by 80% by 2050. Among other things, this Order directs adoption of maximum allowable GHG emissions by utilities and adoption of the California motor vehicle emission standards. It also directs the Department of Community Affairs to increase the energy performance of new buildings by 15% through the Florida Building Code. Additionally, this order requests the Florida Public Service Commission to initiate rulemaking by September 1, 2007, to require Florida utilities to ?produce at least 20% of their electricity from renewable sources (Renewable Portfolio Standard) with a strong focus on solar and wind energy.? The order also requests adoption of IEEE Standard 1547 for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems as the statewide standard for utility interconnection and the adoption of net metering on a state-wide basis.
The 3rd order creates the ?Florida Governor?s Action Team on Energy and Climate Change to develop a comprehensive Energy and Climate Change Action Plan that will fully achieve or surpass Executive Order targets for statewide greenhouse gas reductions specified in Executive Order 07-127.? The Governor will appoint the members of this Action Team and it will be staffed and supported by agencies under his direction, specifically the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of Transportation. The resulting Action Plan is to be completed in two phases, with Phase I completed by November 1, 2007 and Phase II completed by October 1, 2008.
In addition, the Governor also signed international agreements with U.K. and Germany. Florida joins each nation in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and calls for immediate worldwide action. Florida hopes to strengthen ties with each country while improving upon the science and technologies used for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving public policies and overall increasing climate-friendly commerce between Florida, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Nov. 16, 2007, Like the energy barons of an earlier age, Mr. Al Gore(former Vice President) has the chance to achieve enormous wealth after being named recently as a new partner at the successful venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. No fewer than three of his new colleagues sit on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans. If Mr. Gore can develop market-based solutions to environmental challenges, we will cheer the well-deserved riches flowing his way. Gore has said that he?ll donate his salary at Kleiner to the Alliance for Climate Protection, an advocacy group of which he is chairman and which he founded. (He?s also giving the group his Nobel winnings of $750,000.) According to the Wall Street Journal, it would be ?as happy as the Sierra Club if one or more of these new technologies turns out to solve the secrets of cheap, efficient energy.?. (Information Source: WSJ)
March 1st, 2008 Greensburg: A Green City
On the night of May 4, 2007, 95 percent of homes and businesses in Greensburg, Kansas were destoryed by a powerful tornado that was nearly 2 miles wide. Although this storm was devastating to the community, the residents took it as an incredible opportunity to show the world their strength and to create a new future for those who will live there. The city has focused its recovery on rebuilding as a green community. The city council on Dec. 17 approved a resolution that all city building projects will be built to the US Green Building Council's LEED Platinum standards(www.usgbc.org). It becomes the first city in US to pass such a resolution. They strongly believe that they will be back, better than ever, and will be a model for rural America. (Please learn more about how Greensburg is united to show the world as the model green city at www.greensburgks.org)
March 27th, 2008 A letter from Senator on the issue of the extension of the renewable energy tax credits.
(President of Solar America wrote to Senator Mel Martinez(R., FL) voicing the concern about the government support on the renewable energy and got his reply in Email as follows. We encourage voters to contact their senators for the support on this Act. )
Dear Mr. Yao:
Thank you for contacting me regarding renewable energy tax credits. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to respond to your concerns.
On February 12, 2008, Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) introduced the Renewable Energy and Conservation Tax Act of 2008 (H.R. 5351). This bill would increase the estimated tax payment of oil producing companies by approximately $18 billion to pay for the extension of renewable energy production tax credits. In addition, the legislation includes an earmark to construct a new rail line from John F. Kennedy Airport to New York City. H.R. 5351 passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 236-182 on February 27, 2008 and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance, where it awaits further consideration.
Several attempts have been made in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to increase taxes on the oil and gas industry to pay for the extension of renewable energy tax incentives. I support the extension of these incentives and have voted for their extension in the past. However, I do not believe that we need to impose billions of dollars of tax increases in a way that would increase the price of gasoline at a time of record high fuel prices. The renewable tax incentives are an important part in spawning investment in the production of clean-burning power. Instead of raising taxes to fund these tax credits, we should find room for them in our federal budget. We can afford to cut a negligible amount of our $3 trillion budget to finance an important priority like renewable energy. You may be interested to know that I offered an amendment to the Senate's Fiscal Year 2009 Budget that would have extended the production tax credits for alternative energies like wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass by cutting spending.
Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind as we continue developing a competitive national energy policy. I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the full Senate to promote renewable energy.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share your views with me. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. In addition, for more information about issues and activities important to Florida, please sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Mel Martinez
United States Senator
Office phone: (561)637-8129 Mobile phone:(561)306-9894
Toll Free Fax: (866)393-5756 Email:amerisolar@yahoo.com
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