On June 8, 2009, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”) to deploy over $1.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Recovery Act”) to be used to lower our nation’s carbon emissions. The FOA will support projects in two areas: (1) the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides almost $94 billion dollars in direct and indirect spending to clean energy company and projects. See Show me the Money: A Guide to Sources of Funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

On June 17, 2009, I will be speaking in Cle Elum, Washington about how…

On June 12, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced that an agreement has been entered to develop the nation’s first commercial scale, fully integrated, carbon capture and sequestration project in the country. 

The Project will be constructed by the FutureGen Alliance and will serve as a flagship facility to demonstrate commercial scale carbon capture…

On June 1, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced plans to deploy $256 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Recovery Act") to be used to improve the energy efficiency of the American economy. Three recent DOE Funding Opportunity Announcements ("FOAs") have been issued in conjunction with this Recovery Act announcement. Additionally, a…

The Western Governors’ Association ("WGA") will hold its annual meeting in Park City, Utah on June 14-16, 2009.  Based on a review of the Agenda posted to the WGA’s website, the focus of the meeting will be on developing regional and global strategies for addressing important issues related to energy resources, climate change and water.  I will be attending the annual meeting this year and reporting on the outcome of discussions on the following topics:

On June 14, 2009, there will be a panel discussion on policies and technologies to address water use in an era of declining water supplies due to climate change.  Panelists include:  Dr. Peter H. Gleick, co-founder and president of the Pacific Institute; Professor Eilon Adar, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Resources, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Doug Miell, Principal, Miell Consulting; Cameron J. Brooks, Ph.D., Director of Solutions and Business Development for IBM Corporation’s Big Green Innovations initiative.

On June 15, 2009, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff will provide their perspectives on developing large amounts of clean energy in the West and the transmission lines needed to bring it to market.  Following their remarks, they and the Governors will have the opportunity to discuss what cooperation is needed between states and the federal government to accelerate progress.  An outline of discussion points that might be expected from the Governors during this session could include topics addressed in the letter dated May 1, 2009 from the WGA to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.Continue Reading Annual Meeting of the Western Governors’ Association: June 14-16, 2009, Park City, Utah

On June 2, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement ("FOA") providing $24 million for the development of consortia between universities and industry to focus on critical wind energy challenges.

DOE intends on awarding two to three grants of $8-12 million.  The grants will be used to address two areas:

  • Partnerships for Wind

…

Late last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) and the State of Washington signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to coordinate their review of hydrokinetic energy projects in Washington state waters.  The MOU is intended to  reduce some of the regulatory barriers associated with siting and permitting such projects, while also ensuring that projects…

On June 8, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced the transfer of approximately $80 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Recovery Act") to Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi, and Oregon to expand state weatherization assistance programs.  These four states have now received 50% of their Recovery Act funds for the Weatherization Program.

Arizona…

On May 27, 2009, President Obama announced that the Department of Energy ("DOE") would deploy $350 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Recovery Act") to be used to expand development, deployment, and use of geothermal energy throughout the United States. Four recent DOE Funding Opportunity Announcements ("FOAs") have been issued in conjunction with…

On May 27, 2009, President Obama announced that the Department of Energy ("DOE") is to provide $117.6 million to support the widespread commercialization of clean solar technologies and to scale up U.S. solar manufacturing and production. The funds are intended to promote partnerships between DOE’s national laboratories, universities, local government, and the private sector to…