RE Type: Wind Energy

March 16, 2010 -- Congress must set a national renewable-power standard and revamp the electric grid to help the burgeoning U.S. wind-energy industry reach its potential and compete globally, governors from 29 states said.  A jumble of state laws should be replaced by a federal edict, according to a report from the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition. The plan would help spur development and efficiency, which would create jobs, curb greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce dependency on oil imports, the coalition said. << Full Story >>

March 15, 2010 -- The Obama administration is considering a carbon-trading system under existing law if Congress doesn’t pass cap-and-trade legislation that allows companies to buy and sell the right to pollute, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official said today. << Full Story >>

March 14, 2010 -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on Sunday that Democratic plans to use budget reconciliation to complete heath care legislation will “poison the well” for subsequent initiatives – including the climate and energy plan he’s crafting with Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Graham noted that “the way Obama is governing on this health care bill, this arrogance, ignoring the American people and trying to jam through a bill that nobody likes and deal out Republicans is going to make it virtually impossible for me or anyone else” to pass a climate bill. << Full Story >>

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 funding is available again through three USDA programs to promote increased production of biofuel and bioenergy. The programs are authorized under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (The Farm Bill).

Mar. 10 -- Again, the year 2009 brought new records for wind energy utilisation around the world: In spite of the global economic crisis, investment in new wind turbines exceeded by far all previous years.
Wind capacity worldwide reached 159’213 MW, after 120’903 MW in 2008, 93’930 MW in 2007, 74’123 MW in 2006, and 59’012 MW in 2005. <<Read full report>>

RE Type: Wind Energy

The Department of Energy recently offered a $117 million conditional loan guarantee to ACORE member First Wind to finance the construction and start-up of a thirty megawatt wind energy project in Kahuku, Hawaii. The proposed Kahuku Wind project, located on the island of Oahu, involves installing a dozen 2.5 megawatt wind turbine generators and an innovative battery energy storage system for electric load stability.