Following on from my last diary on wave power projects, I've been looking high and low for a detailed look at the Green Energy content of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act **warning direct link to big PDF**. Clearly we need to get the ball rolling and rolling fast on green initiatives. Just this past week a new report arrived indicating that the average person produces far more CO2 than originally expected, making the worst-case projections for global warming seem tame in comparison to what we may actually see.
For the sake of our planet, and the future economic stability of the world at large, we need to get his moving and accelerate the movement toward renewable energy, to reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the impact of rising oil prices on our economy.
So, with this goal in mind, just what did we get out of the stimulus ? Is it enough and what comes next ?
In Summary
The American Recovery and Investment Act contains $61.9 billion in energy-related public spending and industry building tax credits and bond provisions estimated at $20 billion over a ten year period (in reduced tax revenues).
So lets take a look at that $61.9 billion
1. R&D total : $8.2 billion
$8.2 billion has been set aside for research into renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. This will be administered by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Of this research funding, $800 million is to be spent on biofuel research, $400 million on geothermal projects, and $50 million on the integration of the grid with information technology. I assume this last provision is related to the "smart grid".
$3.4 billion of the R&D total is fossil fuels related including clean coal (what a waste) ... $1 billion for fossil energy R&D programs, $1.52 billion for carbon capture, $800 million for Clean Coal, and $70 million for geologic carbon sequestration.
$2.0 billion of the R&D total will be applied to programs at the Department of Energy Office of Science, including the National Laboratories. This may include nuclear research , I can't find details on the specific programs they are funding. $400 million of this total is indicated as going to the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-e) as authorized by the America COMPETES Act.
$300 million for the Pentagon to spend on greening our military.
2. Clean Energy Deployment : $6 billion
This consists of loan guarantees for the Innovation Technology Loan Guarantee Program (2005 Energy Policy Act). These are expected to support more than $60 billion in private loans for renewable energy and transmission technologies.
3. Energy Efficiency : $16.9 Billion
These funds are intended to reduce energy consumption through better insulation, low energy appliances etc.
$5 billion for Weatherization Assistance Program. This includes weatherization assistance grants for low income families and increases the maximum funding assistance level per household.
$4.5 billion to green federal buildings.
$3.2 billion for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.
$3.1 billion for the State Energy Program
$300 million for the Energy Efficiency Appliance Rebate program and the Energy Star Program.
$510 million to improve the efficiency of Native American housing units.
$250 million to increase the energy efficiency of low-income housing supported by HUD.
4. Electrifying Transportation, Alternative Fuels and Efficient Vehicles : $3 billion
These provisions are the funding for replacing fossil fuels in vehicles.
$2 billion for the Advanced Battery Manufacturing grant program to support the manufacture of advanced vehicles for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
$400 million for transportation electrification activities.
$300 million for the Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Grant Program
$300 million is provided for the acquisition of vehicles for the federal fleet. Glad to see this didn't get chopped off at the bequest of the GOP :)
5. Public Transit and Rail : $16.2 billion
Investing in our woefully under funded mass transit systems.
$8 billion for construction of high speed passenger rail (HSR) and regular intercity passenger rail service. Should have been more, but a good start.
$1.3 billion for Amtrak general funding.
$6.9 billion for other general public transit construction, maintenence and upgrades. I assume this is the bridges and highways funding.
It'll be interesting to see what that $8 billion funds. Anyone have a good feel for the cost of building just one high speed line ? There are several potential competing projects including tying the east coast HSR to the midwest, extending HSR in Florida, tying LA and SF etc.
6. Modernizing the Electrical Grid : $11 billion
Improving grid efficiency, enabling longer, wider transmission and giving consumers better information on their usage.
$4.5 billion for the DOE for modernizing the electrical grid.
This is in addition to the $6 billion loan guarantee program under "Clean Energy Deployment" above, for which transmission technologies are eligible and may receive a slice of the pie.
7. Tax Incentives, Credits and Bonds. Several of these totals actually amortize over ten years or so, but I'll leave that detail out for simplicity.
$14.9 billion for Clean Energy Deployment incentives / tax breaks over ten years.
$13.1 billion for three year extension of Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit.
$285 million for facilities placed in service in 2009 or 2010, renewable energy facilities qualified for the Production Tax Credit may claim the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit instead. This allows wind power generators to temporarily claim the up-front ITC instead of the PTC (which pays out over ten years) in order to help them secure financing during the credit freeze.
$872 million in tax credits for projects financed via federal subsidies and a 30% credit for wind generators. $1.6 billion for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds to help finance the construction of new renewable energy construction projects owned/operated by non-profit entities, including public power providers, state/municipal/tribal governments, and electric cooperatives. This is included because these non-profit entities cannot claim the Production Tax Credit or Investment Tax Credits.
8. New Energy Economy Workforce Development : $0.6 billion
$500 million to fund workforce training for careers in renewable energy and energy efficiency (Green Jobs Act of 2007). Probably not enough.
$100 million in workforce training for the electricity transmission industry.
9. Energy Efficiency Deployment : $2.8 billion (again some totals over a ten year period)
$2.4 billion for Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds to finance state/municipal/tribal government programs to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
$2 billion to extend tax credits for energy efficient home improvements through 2010 and increased from 10% to 30% of qualified expenses.
$2.1 billion in tax credits for Electrifying Transportation, Alternative Fuels and Efficient Vehicles.
$54 million for business and individual tax credits for alternative fuel pumps and refueling infrastructure is temporarily increased from 30% to 50% of qualifying costs for 2009 and 2010.
$2 billion in tax credits for the purchase of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, allowing larger credits for vehicles with larger batteries.
10. Public Transit and Rail benefits : $200 million
Anyone that receivs pre-tax benefits for use of mass transit via wageworks etc. will be familiar with this program. The upper limit on transit pre-tax allowance appears to be raised. This will bring the transit allowance in balance with parking benefits offered to employees. Previously the credit for transit benefits was lower than for parking benefits.
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So those are the key provisions I could dig up from various articles, overall I think we have a good mix and its good to see that the tax provisions, at least a portion of the total tax credit, is being used to promote investment in green energy. I think its somewhat questionable how much use we will get out of the funds allocated to the DOE and Pentagon, but at lesat they are going to energy generation projects and not yet another military system.
Clean coal is a blight on this program, that money is a complete and utter waste and should have gone to solar/wind/wave/geothermal. Disappointed that there isn't a mention of wave power in here actually. Clean coal needs to be uncovered as the rat it is.
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A reminder, from this past week's report on global warming :
Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s, Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"It is now outside the entire envelope of possibilities" considered in the 2007 report of the International Panel on Climate Change, he said. The IPCC and former vice president Al Gore received the Nobel Prize for drawing attention to the dangers of climate change.
The largest factor in this increase is the widespread adoption of coal as an energy source, Field said, "and without aggressive attention societies will continue to focus on the energy sources that are cheapest, and that means coal."
Past projections for declines in the emissions of greenhouse gases were too optimistic, he added. No part of the world had a decline in emissions from 2000 to 2008.
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So then $62 billion on green energy that is to spur the economy, lower energy costs and begin to address global warming. Was this the right amount ? Out of a near $800 billion dollar bill, thats about 8% of the total. Far lower than I would have expected considering Obama's focus on green jobs during the election.