Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee on Advanced Clean Energy Technology

Ed Markey, Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and coauthor of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) that passed through the House, led a panel today on advanced clean energy technology. According to the committee website, "Advanced coal and large scale solar projects provide a window to the future of low carbon technology and job opportunities."

The panel made the case, essentially, for the need in investment in and putting into effect loan guarantees for the solar power industry. The panel consisted of four leading developers and coal industry officials who testified on the commercial viability of carbon capture and sequestration technology. They see the technology as beginning to come online by 2015 and being widely distributed by 2020.

Meanwhile, the other two panelists represent the solar industry. They see the potential for photovoltaic solar technology as being equal to coal in terms of cost efficiency as also by being viable by 2020. Emanuel Sachs, who leads a solar research program MIT and is the Chief Technology Officer for the PV company 1366 Technologies, pointed out (and Markey made a point to emphasize) that solar manufacturing will be the largest industry in the "history of the world."

At the same time, another form of solar that is commercially usable but requires loan guarantees and investment is concentrated solar thermal electricity, a technology that collects heat from the sun to power large crank turbines that produce electricity. The technology, which was discussed by Sean Gallagher of Tessera Solar, also promotes job growth and has the potential for reinvigurating automotive workers through manufacturing jobs.

The fact that PV and concentrated solar are becoming commercially viable and comparible in terms of scale to coal is signficant. With CCS being hailed as the saivor for the coal industry in the light of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it is invaluable that investments are made in the sources of energy that are the most efficient, produce the least pollution, and that have the smallest lifecycle impact. Coal industry reps testified today that the use of CCS technology will consume 10-30 percent of the overall output of the power plant. This still says nothing about where the coal is coming from or the impact on the local communities that strip mining, mountain top removal and open pit mines have.

Sachs, who has been involved in solar energy production since the 70's, pointed out that PV has the potential to be more than 80 percent efficient .

Not surprisingly, in their opening statements, Shelley Capito (R-WV) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) were excited to hear about the potential for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. Capito's state of West Virginia, she pointed out, is the second largest producer of coal power. Blackburn remains a delusional critic of acting on global warming and completely missed the point when asking Gallagher about solar's regional opportunity for the southeast. Gallagher explained that what is required is transmission development, but she latched onto the idea that solar just isn't as viable in the region as elsewhere.

In moving forward with energy and climate legislation over the next few months a huge opportunity exists to provide the incentives to expand solar technology to the point that coal consumption, and the impacts it creates, are greatly reduced, if not eliminated.

Cutos to Markey for highlighting this important part of the energy and climate discourse. Now the rest of Congress must put these ideas into effect through the comprehensive bill being discussed.

On the Road to Copenhagen - 132 days and counting

Since I have just started working on communication and climate change (again), I have decided to start a blog on the activities leading up to the December 2009 conference that will take place in Copenhagen. The 15th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change is gearing up internationally and in trade publications within the Washington Beltway.

A UN report on the realities of sea level rise was supported yesterday by a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. According to the study, sea levels could rise 7-82 cms, depending on the range of warming that takes place, with a base range of warming between 1.1-6.4 C (1.98-11.52 F). In a 2007 report, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted oceans would rise by 18-59 centimetres (7.2 and 23.6 inches) by 2100. The goal set at the millenium economic forum earlier this month is to keep the earth from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius.

This week, the Senate will hold two more hearings related to the next attempt at a climate bill. On Thursday, Environment and Public Works committee chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will discuss the implications climate change will have on national security. Boxer's committee will hear from recently retired Senator John Warner, who was a coauthor of last year's Climate Security Act. According to Environment & Energy Daily (subscription required), Boxer plans to unveil a new climate bill on Sept. 8, immediately upon the return of Congress from the summer recess. EPW is expected to spend September holding legislative hearings on the proposal, culminating with a markup before Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) Sept. 28 deadline for action there and in five other committees, according to the article.

Also on Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee will discuss the development of climate models and forecasts to help U.S. communities and businesses adapt to climate change.