Obama’s Stimulus Includes Green Investments
We are experiencing the effects of economic recession remotely or directly. Our political leaders are trying to assuage the situation on several levels. United States House and Senate members reached an agreement last week on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. President Obama is about to sign economic stimulus package. President Obama has already anticipated the future of solar energy and other renewable energy sources. He has clearly emphasized this by stating, “the country that figures out how to make cheaper energy that’s also clean, is going to win the economic competition of the future.”
The final version of the stimulus bill is a total of US$787 billion. After the Great Depression this package is the government’s most expensive economic rescue package, even after the cuts. The House and Senate both voted to pass this final version of the bill.
The final version of the stimulus package has thrilled many alternative energy enthusiasts. A tenth of the $787 billion will be allotted to environmental endeavors. This package is supposed to stimulate the economy and create jobs. The bill makes a provision of $6 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects. Its main focus is on solar energy. Solar Energy Industries Association President Rhone Resch’s response is quite positive. He states, “The solar provisions in the bill will allow us to begin hiring, create growth opportunities for small businesses throughout the country and keep the economic engine going.” Alternative energy representatives have estimated that this step of government might lead to 67,000 job creations in the solar energy sector this year and a total of 119,000 jobs over the next two years.
The package has also paid attention to manufacturing processes and equipments. The package has also crafted a new 30% tax credit for equipment and facilities that produce renewable energy-generating materials, such as solar panels. This step also extracted an enthusiastic response from the President and CEO of Applied Materials, Inc. Mike Splinter. He is of the view that “this bill does a lot for solar energy, and will create thousands of ‘green’ jobs just when we need them the most.” He reaffirms again, “The manufacturing credit is a huge step forward to put Americans to work making solar panels so we all can benefit from clean, affordable, renewable energy.”
Another benefit of the new rollout is that through a grant program, taxpayers will be able to redeem solar investment tax credits that are unusable because they do not have a sufficient tax liability to offset. Additionally, the tax penalty for subsidized energy financing will be repealed.
The stimulus bill also pays attention to a number of other energy funding measures. It has allotted US$11 billion for the development of “smart grid” project. This project will undertake the much needed effort to bring forth new technologies so that solar panels can be efficient and cost-effective. Another plan has US$6.3 billion for energy efficiency and conservation grants, and another fund of US$2.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy research.
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February 18th, 2009
AE, We can produce our national energy demand twice over with human waste sludge leaving some sand as the biproduct or use the other half to desalinate water. States are using more energy to pump water around or back and forth to gain the peak sell back rate are wasting even more time and money in the long run! Geothermal is another resource of constant energy production in the right areas with little notice but the Federal Government will have to okay these for there is no ordinances and the City/County officials will have us wait another 20 years to approve one so they can figure out how to own it!
All the best,
Dale Newman, Energy Consultant, Mobile:(707)228-0284
February 19th, 2009
It’s nice to see that Mr. Chu and the Energy Dept. are moving quickly to fund alternative energy projects. However most of what you see is the obvious and well known programs. We need to concentrate more on break through technologies! Otherwise we will never really change the world! I recently discovered a company called Energetics Technologies. They have a process called SuperWaveFusion, which could be a possible breakthrough in cold fusion.. Using an interaction between palladium and deuterium they have reported an excess heat reaction. I am trying to learn more about this process and would like to hear from others about what they think.
Their website is SuperWaveFusion.com, let me know your thoughts. Also please suggest other break through forms of alternative energy that we should be pursing.
February 19th, 2009
I have heard of a concept that some of the bailout money was to be supplied to the states to promote the sale of solar equipment. The money was to be available to property owners for purchase of solar equipment as a credit that could be paid back over 20 years. Such a plan would overcome the major stumbling block of home owners that would have to put up large amount of money to pay for device installation. You do not mention that plan or even the idea in your writeup.
February 21st, 2009
This bill funds ARPA-E with four-hundred million. That is the best part. The DOE has been pretty bad at developing alternative energy technologies. ARPA-E could be a solution to the slow bureaucratic process of DOE project funding.