Some thoughts on drilling our way out of our fossil fuel dependency

For some reason, I never actually posted the following screed. Probably because it didn't deal directly with solar. It's a bit dated now that gas has come all the way down to $3.85 or so, but the nuts-and-bolts remain the same.

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Since the amount of oil available throughout the world has increased over the last year, while demand has begun to decline (everywhere - not just in the US), the run-up in oil prices has been entirely driven by speculators doing classic pump-and-dump market manipulation. Thanks for this newest artificial crisis goes to the Repubs for deregulating the commodities market in 2005.

Even the frikin' Saudis say that there's no rational explanation for the price of oil - THEY think it's overpriced.

So drilling for a tiny quantity of oil off Florida's coast (most of what's out there is believed to be natural gas) gets us what?

If ANWR was opened up tomorrow, it would lower prices by a couple pennies in 10 years (straight from the Federal Energy Information Agency). For those who say that if we opened it when Cheney first sneered about conservation being a lifestyle choice not worthy of real Americans, we'd still be two years off from dropping gas prices from $4.12 all the way down to $4.10 a gallon. And that's assuming that "supply and demand" had ANYTHING to do with oil prices right now.

We consume 10-13 million barrels of oil a DAY in this country. Our domestic production peaked in 1974 for no other reason than we're running out of the easy to reach stuff. What remains is much harder to get out of the ground (ie way more expensive extraction and in much lighter volumes) and is often dirtier stuff requiring more processing (additional cost). In the not too distant future, domestic production will reach the point where it will take a barrel of oil to extract a barrel of oil. And that first barrel will be better quality stuff.

People who say that we can drill our way to energy independence remind me of those RedBull contests with the home-made flying machines - "if only I flapped my arms harder I could fly."

Oil will remain an important commodity for a long time to come, but without significant investments in efficiency and alternative energy development this country's economy will be crushed on the shoals of the oil age.

Remember, "the Stone Age did not end for lack of stones." They found a better tool and moved on.

FPL has some 'splainin to do

The Florida Public Service Commission - not really known as the most rabid watchdog of the public trust - really clamped a fang into FPL over their shockingly inept management of their green energy program called Sunshine Energy.

The PSC took Florida's largest utility to task for squandering the majority of the $9.6 million raised through their volunteer subscribers on marketing the frigging program. Green Mountain, the contractor charged with running this program, blew 74% of the $8.6 million they received from FPL on marketing.

Read the synopsis on the Florida PSC website

The Sunshine Energy program was supposed to support the purchase of 1000 kWh of green energy for the customer's voluntary $9.95 contribution to FPL. On top of that, the Utility promised to install 150 kW of solar energy somewhere in Florida for every 10,000 members. They are over the 30,000 subscriber mark, so they should be well on their way to installing 450 kW of solar power in Florida - just through this program.

The PSC found that FPL fell way short. And I find that they're fudging the numbers even more than the PSC will admit. For example, here's the list of solar project that FPL can point to as examples of their good-faith effort:

• 8 kW of solar installed in cooperation with SunSmart Schools – 2 kW at 4 schools
• 2 kW of solar installed at the Miami Science Museum
• 54 kW of rooftop solar installed on homes at The Quarry residential subdivision in Naples, Florida
• 250 kW solar array at Rothenbach Park in Sarasota
• 75 kW Publix Supermarkets project – 50 kW complete, 25 kW in progress
• 124 kW of solar photovoltaic systems under the Sun Funds Program

Here's the catch - SunSmart schools was funded by taxpayers through a FDEP grant. The Sun Funds Program, according to the information provided by the PSC (I've never heard of it) is a minor incentive of $1.50 per installed watt for FPL customers on top of the $4 the State provides for solar PV installations. So FPL seems to be taking 100% credit for 15% of the contribution, or in the case of the SunSmart schools grants, 100% of the credit for no financial contribution to the projects at all.

As for the green tags, it looks like only 21% of the funds that went to Green Mountain actually went to buy Renewable Energy Credits.

What a shame.

Palm Beach Post: Bulk of FPL money for renewable energy goes to start-up costs

FPL green energy program under questioning by PSC, asks to be shielded from the public

There was a disturbing article about the PSC audit of the FPL Sunshine Energy Program published in the Miami Herald on June 6th: State audit of FPL 'green' program remains secret

The crux: FPL may not be all that forthright about how it's spending the funds that their customers are forking over to buy green tags and install new solar in Florida.

Word is that they're coming with a "revised" program to the PSC in the coming months. Possibly as early as July.

FPL is a private monopoly. The only way they exist is through the State legal framework giving them monopoly status. They shouldn't be able to shield audits of their activity from the public.

My concern is twofold - 1) they may be buying green tags worth significantly less than they charge for the "service" of buying them from green energy producers and/or 2) they've been gaming the system by including new solar projects that are actually funded through other sources like state grant programs and counting that toward their promised new solar project capacity.

Neither worry is founded in anything more than guesswork, but since they refuse to release the audit to the public, all we can do is speculate.

FPL making excuses instead of clean energy?

Re: “Solar Still a Tough Sell” by John Dorshner

See original story in the Miami Herald (if you must)

Solar is getting to be less of a “tough sell” by the day. FPL just recently announced that they were going to ask the Public Service Commission (PSC) for a 16% rate hike to offset the spike in fuel costs. Add to that, the Utility’s plan to charge ratepayers 6% now for a nuclear power plant only in the early planning stages and we have all the more reason to look to renewable energy options like solar.

Solar may be a “tough sell” for big energy companies because most solar energy technologies do not fit well within their standard model of large centralized power plants. FPL Energy, sister company to the utility, has managed to make large-scale solar work in the projects they own in the Southwest United States, but the utility’s plans for Florida were new – at least for our State where no concentrating solar power facilities exist.

Where solar energy does work well, and is making increasing economic as well as environmental sense, is on individual homes and businesses. Homeowners can now power a sizable portion of their home energy needs through on-site power, and through State mandated agreements, the local energy utility must provide connection to the power grid. Because of recent rules adopted by the PSC, all energy utilities must now compensate small “green energy” systems dollar for dollar for excess power supplied to the grid as well.

As for cost, the solar industry has received pocket change compared to oil and gas and nuclear power’s share of Federal Research and Development funds. Yet the industry has made amazing advancements with dramatic improvements in efficiency and functionality in recent years. By way of comparison, the two additional nuclear reactors proposed for Turkey point have been reported to cost $16 billion, assuming no unforeseen cost overruns. These proposed reactors are expected to produce 2200 megawatts of power. That’s a construction cost of more than $7 per watt. Solar for your home costs about $8 per watt to install and the State will reimburse you $4 of that.

Finally, the solar energy industry is one of the fastest growing energy sectors in the Country, with double digit growth in production and job creation. According to the US Department of Energy, the industry posted a 26% annual increase in jobs for 2006, and is expected to continue this rapid growth to feed the world-wide demand for solar energy products. International companies from Germany and China are now looking to establish manufacturing facilities in the US, bringing more clean energy jobs here. Florida should wholeheartedly embrace solar energy and become a world leader in the development and use of clean, sun power. It may not be a good fit for FPL, but it will work great for the rest of us.

Interesting Blog about local solar installation

I came across the blog of Ken Fields - a local inhabitant of Miami Beach and something of an entrepenerial spirit from what I can see.

He's undertaking the installation of a solar photovoltaic system on a flat-roof home using AGT FlexLight Solar Modules. These are solar laminate strips instead of the classic panel systems. The advantage that AGT has is that their product meets Miami-Dade product approval making permitting much simpler. The downside? You need more roof to produce adequate power.

Mr. Fields installation looks like its about 5 kW and is already generating power.

Way to go!

Check out his blog to see some of his experiences during the installation (and now operation) of one of the first solar electric systems in Miami Beach.