June 19, 2008
New Powerline Study Finds that Local Wind Energy Generation Can Avoid the Need for New Lines
A study released this week in Minnesota shows there is an abundant opportunity for new community-based energy development (C-BED) throughout Minnesota. The study’s conclusions affirm those of a previous utility study that found that significant amounts of wind energy can be injected into the existing transmission system at costs far lower than building new transmission lines to more distant wind farms.
June 04, 2008
Report: Concentrating Solar and Decentralized Power: Government Incentives Hinder Local Ownership
Can residential rooftop solar compete with new utility-scale concentrating solar electric plants? Only if federal and state incentives are amended to level the playing field. This May 2008 report explores the economics of solar PV and concentrating solar and shows how local ownership is hindered unless government solar incentives change.
May 01, 2008
Federal Energy Incentives Are Drifting in the Wind
A wind turbine can power up to 600 homes, but 600 homeowners can't get together to own a wind turbine. Why? Because federal law makes local ownership virtually impossible. The federal wind-energy incentives -- up for renewal this year -- discriminate against local ownership and favor absentee ownership. They also severely restrict the number of investors who can finance wind-energy generators.
April 28, 2008
Distributed Energy First, Wait On New Transmission Lines
A debate between advocates of distributed and centralized renewable energy systems is just beginning. It is overdue. Consideration of scale in renewable energy systems has been delayed in part because we first had to bring solar energy in all its forms to market, and in part because the distributed nature of renewable energy resources seemed inexorably to lead to their being harnessed in distributed fashion. Only recently have we begun to realize that a renewable energy future does not inevitably mean a decentralized energy future.
April 10, 2008
Report: Federal Barriers Are Limiting Renewable Energy Ownership Opportunities
A typical 2 megawatt wind turbine provides enough electricity for around 600 average American homes. So why is it nearly impossible for those same 600 households to pool their resources and own a wind turbine? A new policy brief by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) shows how removing two barriers to owning and investing in renewable energy projects can pave the way for true energy independence.
March 18, 2008
UK Home Buyers Will Get Substantive Energy and Environmental Information
Regulations coming into force in April and May 2008 will bring a wealth of energy and environmental information to homebuyers in the United Kingdom. Potential buyers will get an Energy Performance Certificate and a mandatory comparison of the new home to the requirements contained in the UK's Code for Sustainable Homes as part of home information packets (HIPs) prior to purchasing the home.
March 13, 2008
Driving Our Way to Energy Independence
Updating a pathbreaking 2003 report, ILSR's March 2008 report, Driving Our Way to Energy Independence, describes how commercially available technologies today could transform our petroleum powered transportation system into one powered by electricity and biofuels. Provisions in the recently passed Energy Act could accelerate that transformation. With the adoption of complementary policies, the revolution in our transportation sector can generate an equally profound revolution in our electricity sector. Hundreds of thousands of locally owned wind turbines and solar electric arrays supplying flexible fueled, plug-in hybrid vehicles can allow tens of millions of Americans to become energy producers not just energy consumers.
February 15, 2008
New Anti-Ethanol Studies Reach Wrong Conclusion on Greenhouse Gases
A new policy brief from Institute for Local Self Reliance criticizes the authors of two recent studies published in Science for advancing a conclusion not supported by their own studies. ILSR's paper notes that the vast majority of today’s ethanol production comes from corn cultivated on land that has been in corn production for generations. Since little new land has come into production, either directly or indirectly, the current use of ethanol clearly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
February 13, 2008
312 Projects Given Go-Ahead to Issue Clean Renewable Energy Bonds
Last month the Internal Revenue Service today announced 312 projects that are now eligible to be financed with tax-credit bonds under the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB) program. Approximately, $477 million was available for this round of applications. The CREB program was created by the Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005 and expanded under the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006.
January 28, 2008
Carbon Caps With Universal Dividends: Equitable, Ethical & Politically Effective Climate Policy
A new policy brief from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance concludes that universal dividends are a critically important tool to create the political will and public acceptance for a carbon cap. Universal dividends have the potential to hold harmless a large segment of consumers while we move to a low-carbon economy. Moreover, the universal dividend honors the principle that the sky belongs to all of us equally. Private investment in clean and efficient technologies will be driven by a carbon cap that leads to steady reductions over time of GHG emissions and carbon-based fuels.
January 17, 2008
New Study Proposes Powerful Strategy to Expand Renewable Energy and Boost Local Economies
Several European countries and the Canadian province of Ontario have recently adopted feed-in tariffs, a mandated, long-term premium price for renewable energy paid by the local utility company to renewable energy producers. A new study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) shows how feed-in tariffs could turbocharge Minnesota’s renewable electricity standard, reduce costs, and spread the economic benefits across the state.
October 23, 2007
Electric Avenue - PHEVs in Travel+Leisure Magazine
A new kind of hybrid uses less gas and more electricity. All-electric cars are already here. What will this mean for the road trip of the future? ILSR's David Morris plugs in and gives us a little history lesson of the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).