Energy Law

Renewable Energy News, June 21, 2010

By Shems Dunkiel Kassel & Saunders PLLC

Alaska has adopted legislation aiming to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

The state?s Governor, Sean Parnell, signed a bill into law that will set one of the highest targets for renewable power among any of the US states, surpassing California?s 33% goal and Hawaii?s 40% goal.

House Bill 306 is expected to see most of Alaska?s renewable energy target achieved through hydroelectric projects.

PG&E Corporation, the California utility holding company, has created a $100 million tax equity fund to finance residential solar installations by SunRun, a San Francisco startup that leases photovoltaic arrays to homeowners.

The fund managed by a PG&E subsidiary, Pacific Energy Capital II, is the largest single solar leasing pool to date, according to the company, and marks the growing interest of utilities in the renewable energy financing business.

Carbon neutrality by 2030 is the new standard for climate policies, and again the UK is leading North America in the climate debate with a bold national-level proposal about how to get there. The Centre for Alternative Technology just launched zerocarbonbritain2030 (ZCB2030), a collaborative project showing one possible scenario for making the entire UK carbon-neutral by 2030.

ZCB2030 is a well-researched, well-written, and well-designed report on a set of possible pathways to a zero carbon Britain by 2030 (The goal, though bold, is not unique: Alex Steffen called for a very similar position for Seattle, a target which the Seattle City Council has included in their legislative priorities this year; and a variety of other nations and cities are approaching the same target, from Copenhagen to New Zealand). In 384 pages, CAT presents a comprehensive look at the kind of systemic changes needed to achieve dramatic emissions reduction in just 20 years in such areas as farming, energy generation, building codes, transportation planning, and economic frameworks. This report truly addresses the scope, scale and speed of the climate crisis and the solutions needed to create a bright green future.

Full post as published by Renewable Energy Law Blog on June 21, 2010 (boomark / email).