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PETROL should be included in Australia's carbon emissions trading scheme, but low-income households should be compensated for higher power and fuel bills, the nation's top climate change expert has warned. Issuing a stern challenge to the Rudd Government to include petrol in the scheme, when it begins in 2010, Ross Garnaut warned of dire consequences for Australia's natural icons unless urgent and decisive action is taken.

t's becoming crystal clear that the resolution of America's energy crisis is now the centerpiece of the current election campaign; it could conceivably be the decisive issue that decides the future occupant of the White House. Advertisement This is increasingly motivated by public opinion, which heavily favors a "drill now" commitment.

Amid growing concerns over the preservation of the environment, the quest for energy efficient and greener technologies is intensifying in Europe, especially after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. Green initiatives have encouraged the gravitation towards environmentally friendly technologies such as flywheel UPS systems. The European Commission energy efficiency action plan has also helped drive the uptake of flywheel UPS systems. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.powersupplies.frost.com), European Flywheel UPS Markets, finds that market earned revenues of over €25.4 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach €58 million in 2014. "Although the technology has been in existence for a long time, it has seen widespread acceptance and increased uptake only over the past three or four years," says Frost & Sullivan programme manager Malavika Tohani. "Flywheel UPS systems use kinetic energy, eliminating harmful emissions and disposal issues and reducing the impact on the environment."

Energy utility Exelon Corp. spent nearly $1.2 million in the second quarter to lobby on tax credits for renewable energy sources and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report. The Senate on Tuesday passed a broad tax package providing more than $17 billion in renewable energy tax incentives that the solar and wind industries say are crucial if they are to become significant energy sources in the near future. But the legislation faces obstacles in the House, where three separate bills are on the schedule Wednesday.

Drill, drill, drill. Suddenly, oil and gas exploration is all the rage on Capitol Hill. With energy prices a red-hot political issue, the Democratic-controlled Congress, in the midst of its final, three-week legislative sprint before the presidential elections, can't get enough of drilling bills. Not that most Capitol Hill watchers seriously believe that - in the absence of a major supply disruption - any substantive energy legislation will actually emerge from this frenzy and become law. "You don't pass energy bills in the heat of the campaign season," noted Frank Maisano, an energy specialist with Bracewell & Giuliani. Still, there should be plenty of action.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for up to $6 million over two years (FY09-FY10), subject to annual appropriations, to address wind development technical challenges and market acceptance barriers as outlined in the "20% Wind Energy by 2030" report published in July 2008. The announcement will address six topic areas: (1) turbine research, development and testing; (2) distributed wind technologies; (3) market acceptance efforts; (4) environmental research and sitting strategies; (5) transmission analysis, planning and assessments; and (6) workforce development.

Energy and environmental leaders, including representatives from the Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Pew Environment Group, recently met with members of President-elect Obama's transition team. The groups came carrying a monstrosity of a document that describes their recommendations on energy and environmental issues for the new administration. The 391-page report, entitled "Transition to Green," was made available Monday on Obama's transition Web site. The environmental groups had suggestions for a wide swath of federal departments, from Energy to Education and Homeland Security to Defense.

The City of Los Angeles has more Energy Star buildings than any other U.S. metropolis with 262 buildings, according to a new ranking issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Los Angeles and 24 other cities were recognized Tuesday by the EPA for using engineering and construction techniques that reduce energy consumption. Four California cities made the Top 25 Energy Star Buildings List. San Francisco ranked second with 194 buildings, while Sacramento and Riverside also made the list.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander came to Oak Ridge on Friday to promote a five-year project aimed at making America energy independent and more environmentally friendly within a generation. Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, is comparing his proposal to the World War II-era Manhattan Project, when the nation worked feverishly and secretly to develop atomic weapons. Oak Ridge's people and facilities played a key role in that project.

The US Department of Energy has released the latest edition of their Annual Energy Review (from the Executive Summary): The projections in AEO2009 look beyond current economic and financial woes and focus on factors that drive U.S. energy markets in the longer term. Key issues highlighted in the AEO2009 include higher but uncertain world oil prices, growing concern about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its impacts on energy investment decisions, the increasing use of renewable fuels, the increasing production of unconventional natural gas, the shift in the transportation fleet to more efficient vehicles, and improved efficiency in end-use appliances. Using a reference case and a broad range of sensitivity cases, AEO2009 illustrates these key energy market trends and explores important areas of uncertainty in the U.S. energy economy. The AEO2009 cases, which were developed before enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA2009) in February 2009, reflect laws and policies in effect as of November 2008.

The US Dept. of Energy has issued a set of spreadsheets on the use of alternative fuel vehicles, available from two web pages: EIA Alternative Transportation Fuels-Supplier Data EIA Alternative Transportation Fuels-User and Fuel Data A few observations:

Greentech Media has a post on one of the major issues facing electric car manufacturers - getting people used to the idea - Learning to Live With Electric Cars. While consumers overwhelmingly say they want plug-in cars, consumers will have to be educated on the differences between them and gas-burning cars, says Debra Reed, CEO of San Diego Gas & Electric, which will take delivery of 10 to 15 all-electrics Nissan when they come out next year. Nissan and SDG&E showed off a "mule" of Nissan's electric commuter today. The functioning vehicle sports the same basic motor and other electronics that will come with the production all-electric cars, said a Nissan spokeswoman. However, it is housed in the shell of an existing car.

Jerome a Paris has an excellent (and long) article at TOD about the economics of wind power - The cost of wind, the price of wind, the value of wind. I'd like to try to clear some of the confusion that surrounds the economics of wind power, as it is often fed and used by the opponents of wind to dismiss it. As I noted recently, even the basic economics of energy markets are often wilfully misunderstood by commentators, so it's worth going in more detail through concepts like levelised cost and marginal cost, and identify how different electricity producers have different impacts on electricity (market) prices (which may or may not be reflected in retail prices) and have different externalities. Value for society of a generation source may also include other items that are harder to acount in purely monetary terms (and/or whose very value may be disputed), such as the long term risk of depletion of the fuel, or energy security issues, such as dependency on unstable and/or unfriendly foreign countries or vulnerable infrastructure.

If you want to raise public awareness and influence government actions on conservation issues, you might have a good future as a conservation policy analyst and advocate.

The wind energy industry in the United States installed 2,836 megawatts of new generating capacity through the end of March, bringing total installed generating capacity in the country to 28,206 MW, the American Wind Energy Association announced. The national trade association for the wind energy industry in the U.S. issued its report Tuesday on projects that were completed in 15 states during first financial quarter of the year.

In pursuit of Governor Deval Patrick's goal of 2,000 megawatts of wind power in Massachusetts by 2020, the Secretaries of the Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) announced a project to install a utility-scale wind energy project on state land adjacent to the Massachusetts Turnpike's Blandford Rest Area. "This wind energy project is good for the environment and it will help create jobs within our clean energy economy." -- Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Following studies showing significant wind power potential, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) today issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to install wind power at the 68-acre site in western Massachusetts.

Twenty-nine of the 50 U.S. states have established a required minimum amount of electricity generation that must come from renewable sources like wind and solar power, called a Renewable Portfolio Standard or RPS. Another five states have "renewable goals" which are considered voluntary and do not penalize utilities for not meeting the goals. The District of Columbia also has an RPS. California's utility regulator, the Public Utilities Commission, issued a report on Friday that showed that requiring a third of the power delivered in the state be made from renewable sources of energy will increase electricity retail costs by 7 percent more than having a 20 percent RPS goal. [ID:nN1275374]

Becoming a green lobbyist is not as easy as announcing that you are only going to work on green issues and policies; you must make sure that you are actually adhering to the same goals that you are extolling.

Battery switching technologies make it cheaper and easier to own an electric vehicle. Without the battery, the cost of an electric vehicle (EV) is comparable to that of a traditional car without the problems of oil, gas, and maintenance issues.