July 2010

While many people have never heard of solar daylighting, Glendale-based Natural Lighting Company has been designing and installing their energy saving component "daylighting" systems since 1992.  Component daylighting is a technology that uses high efficiency skylights, reflective lightwells, and light diffusers to convey sunlight through a building's roof to light the interior.  While perhaps, not as flashy as photovoltaic (PV) panels, solar daylighting is starting to gain attention as a cost effective solar technology.  For example, in APS's Schools and Government Program (recently filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission), the utility hopes to install a daylighting project along with every PV or solar thermal project.  Arizona's Department of Commerce is getting on board too.  read more

The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act, unveiled by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), does not include a national renewable energy standard (RES).  Several Democratic senators have expressed their support for a nationwide RES that requires utilities to provide 15% of their power by renewable energy resources.  Renewable energy groups have also expressed dismay that the bill does not include an RES. read more

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) acknowledged what has been suspected for several weeks – that there is not enough support in the Senate for a carbon cap-and-trade scheme.  Although the possibility of an economy-wide cap-and-trade system has been unlikely for some time, Democratic leaders and environmental advocates had maintained hope that the Senate would pass a utility-only cap-and-trade program or, at a minimum, a national Renewable Energy Standard.  The smaller energy and oil spill-related bill Sen. Reid now intends to pursue will include neither. read more

The latest development in the Senate climate bill drama is a shift in focus from economy-wide to utility-only greenhouse gas emission caps.  Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lieberman (I/D-CT), who previously authored a sweeping cap-and-trade bill that failed to attract the needed sixty votes, are now working feverishly to garner support for a pared-down version that limits only power plant emissions.  Their efforts are in response to Majority Leader Reid’s (D-NV) July 13 announcement that he wants to address power plant emissions in the larger energy bill that he plans to send to the floor during the last week of July.  That bill will also include titles that deal with oil spill response, energy efficiency, and renewable energy production. read more

According to an analysis by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the American Power Act of 2010 would reduce GDP by 0.2% from 2013 to 2035.  The decrease in GDP is a result of higher energy prices, "which reduces real economic output, reduces purchasing power, and lowers aggregate demand for goods and services."  EIA estimates the Act would cost an average of $206 per household per year. read more

The Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) issued the final draft of its PM-10 Periodic Emissions Inventory Report on Thursday.  The report, prepared in cooperation with the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), estimates emissions of particulate matter of 10 microns or less (PM-10), particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less (PM-2.5), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and ammonia (NH3) (the latter three are precursors to particulate matter) for both Maricopa County and the PM-10 non-attainment area.  The emissions estimates are used to determine which sources of air pollution could reduce emissions further through tighter regulation and to evaluate the effectiveness of existing controls on various source categories. read more