Reuters reports that, “Wall Street was supposed to become the capital of a global carbon trading market worth a trillion dollars a year but now many who thought green trading desks would be the next big thing are fearing the pink slip.

U.S. banks had looked forward to a huge “cap-and-trade market” a system where companies would buy and sell the right to emit gases blamed for warming the planet. Many hired carbon traders, picked up assets, and trained members of energy desks to deal in emissions markets.

But prospects for a broad U.S. carbon market have dimmed. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican working on a compromise climate bill, declared economy-wide cap-and-trade “dead” this month.

At least one bank with carbon trade assets has already been hit. EcoSecurities, a clean energy project developer and carbon trader, bought by JP Morgan Chase last year has closed its New York-based U.S. office leading to a loss of up to 20 jobs.

JP Morgan has said a senior carbon trader, who had recently moved to Washington, is leaving the bank this month. Banks that that did not expand in advance of a cap-and-trade bill may not have to cut much staff, but long-anticipated expansions will not happen either.

“It’s like all-out war,” Peter Fusaro, an expert at Global Change Associates in New York, said about the political and market odds stacked against creation of a big carbon market. Many in green groups, banks and the government had hoped the United States would anchor a global market worth up to $2 trillion a year by 2020.

Doubts about formation of a big U.S. market have filtered down to decimate prices in U.S. regional and voluntary corporate cap-and-trade programs formed in the absence of federal action on climate.

The problems extend to would-be carbon traders abroad. As the world struggles to agree a new pact to fight global warming, prices in the E.U.’s carbon market have fallen to about half of what they were in 2008. Australia’s national carbon plan is stalled and faces a third defeat in May.

Without creation of a U.S. market on emissions from tailpipes to smokestacks, the Obama administration must find different ways to meet President Obama’s goal of cutting emissions 17 percent by 2020 under 2005 levels.”

Source: Reuters

According to First Solar, “First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) today announced a power purchase agreement to supply Pacific Gas and Electric Company with renewable electricity from a 300 megawatt (AC) utility-scale photovoltaic solar power facility that First Solar is developing in Southern California.

The Desert Sunlight project, to be located near Desert Center in eastern Riverside County, Calif., will have a total capacity of 550 megawatts, enough to power approximately 160,000 area homes – or about 480,000 residents. The other 250 MW portion of the project is already under contract to Southern California Edison. First Solar’s power purchase agreements with PG&E and SCE are subject to the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission.

First Solar will build the Desert Sunlight project using its industry leading thin-film photovoltaic solar modules and providing its project development, engineering, procurement and construction capabilities. With construction expected to start by the end of 2010 and completion as early as 2013, the project will displace 300,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road. It will also create approximately 430 construction jobs. The project’s permit application has been fast tracked by the Bureau of Land Management.

“First Solar is one of the few companies that has all the capabilities required to realize very large, utility-scale solar projects like Desert Sunlight, which are important in helping our customers and California reach the state’s renewable energy goals,” said Rob Gillette, First Solar chief executive officer.

First Solar has 1,700 megawatts of utility-scale power projects with power purchase agreements in North America.”

Source: First Solar Press Release

According to Reuters, ” Like a savvy Madison Avenue advertising team, senators pushing climate-control legislation have decided to scrap the name “cap and trade” and rebrand their product as “pollution reduction targets.”

A clunky and difficult term to define for laymen and some politicians, “cap and trade” had become dirty words on Capitol Hill in recent months.

Republicans called the plan nothing more than “cap and tax” and one influential senator took great pains last week to declare cap and trade “dead.”

Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent trying to draft a bipartisan bill, said, “We don’t use that term anymore.”

Instead Lieberman said, laughing: “We will have pollution reduction targets.”

But Lieberman did say it was still possible utilities may be subject to a cap and trade system. Senator Thomas Carper, who chairs a clean air panel in the Senate, told Reuters on Tuesday that cap and trade for utilities was the way to go.

Under cap and trade, or whatever it’s called, Washington would impose steadily declining limits on carbon pollution that companies could emit, in the hopes of battling global warming. The pollution permits they would be required to hold would be traded in a regulated financial market.

A bill passed by the House of Representatives last year would impose an economy-wide cap and trade program. That bill has been stuck in the Senate since last year.

Since then, other ideas have been discussed for controlling carbon emissions, including a carbon tax, “cap and dividend” and even “cap and trade with training wheels,” where an independent board would set a narrow price range for carbon for eight years to give markets experience in trading permits before going to a full-blown cap and trade.”

Source: Reuters

According to the NREL press release, “The U.S. Virgin Islands can reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by 60% within the next 15 years by developing its abundant renewable energy resources, Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. announced at a workshop at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

In his NREL visit, Gov. de Jongh and a delegation of 25 stakeholders from the islands’ public and private sectors heard presentations by Department of Energy (DOE) and NREL experts on renewable energy technologies, integration and transmission of electricity from renewable energy systems, policy and market analysis and project development and finance. The delegation also met with officials from Hawaii, Alaska and other locations that are embarking on similarly aggressive renewable energy strategies.

During the three-day workshop, Gov. de Jongh signed a memorandum of understanding between the USVI and federal agencies to develop a clean energy development strategy.

He signed the agreement with Joe Garcia, Director of the DOE Office of Minority Economic Impact and Anthony M. Babauta, Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior.

The agreement calls for NREL and federal agencies to work with the U.S. Virgin Islands to establish an aggressive renewable energy deployment strategy for the islands that includes transportation, electricity generation and transmission, energy efficiency, and tourism and industry. The agreement also calls for a communications and public education campaign.

The MOU is an important step in the islands’ efforts to transform its energy system and create green jobs while enhancing the islands’ energy security and reducing carbon emissions associated with global warming.

In April 2009, the International Partnership for Energy Development in Island Nations (EDIN) selected the U.S. Virgin Islands as one of its three pilot projects.

“There is no reason why the U.S. Virgin Islands cannot be the regional leader in the deployment of clean energy,” Gov. de Jongh said. “I hope this partnership with the Energy and Interior Departments and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory creates a synergy that will help us develop our own renewable energy resources.”

“We want to be able to showcase places like the U.S. Virgin Islands, where energy costs are so high, as leaders in implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions” said NREL senior vice president of commercialization and deployment Casey Porto, who opened the NREL workshop.

“The EDIN project will create models that can be replicated elsewhere, putting into play the right mix of renewable energy resources and energy efficiency practices in order to leverage the greatest reduction on fossil fuel dependence” Porto said.

Assistant Interior Secretary Babauta remarked that the joint agreement reflects the call for innovative collaboration that President Obama has been advocating for the the deployment of renewable energy and green jobs accros the nation. “Secretary Salazar has made the advancement of energy security a DOI priority and I am leading the effort for the Insular Areas,” he said.

“A green, energy efficient Caribbean is the first step in the fight against global warming. Nowhere is the stark reality of rising sea levels more palpable than on islands,” said Joe Garcia, Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact. “The EDIN project will ebb the tide of rising sea levels and lower the cost of energy in island nations. It will also usher in an era of greater collaboration and energy security in the Americas.”

Currently, the U.S. Virgin Islands rely entirely on fossil fuels to meet their energy demands. Not only do the islands have among the highest energy prices in the U.S., their economy is especially vulnerable to supply disruptions and price fluctuations. At the same time, the islands have abundant natural resources, including solar and wind. With the right financial and regulatory systems, the U.S. Virgin Islands could be a model for renewable energy development – especially for other island nations and territories.

In 2009, the U.S. Virgin Islands Energy Office received $17.8 million in funding from the Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The funding supports a variety of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, including improvements to the islands’ power transmission and distribution system, a renewable landfill-gas-to-energy treatment system, and a 350 kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel system to supplement power for the government-operated airport on the island of St. Thomas.

ARRA funding also is supporting an expansion of the islands’ Energy Star Rebate program, which provides incentives for consumers to purchase energy-efficient products, education programs and a financial incentive program for residents to encourage the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.”

Source: NREL Press Release

According to Reuters, “Investors are becoming less convinced that a global carbon market, estimated to be worth about $2 trillion by the end of the decade, can be established as uncertainty over global climate policy persists.

The absence of legally binding global climate deal and a federal emissions trading scheme in the United States are standing in the way of the market in global emissions trading growing to achieve yearly turnover of $2 trillion by 2020.

“There will only be a $2 trillion market if the U.S. gets on board,” Trevor Sikorski, head of carbon research at Barclays Capital, told Reuters at a carbon conference in Amsterdam.

The market for carbon credits was worth around $136 billion last year, according to analysts Point Carbon.

Highlighting these fading hopes, a Point Carbon survey on Wednesday showed 61 percent of respondents said they expected a U.S. emissions trading scheme by 2015, down from 90 percent last year. They also predict a lower global carbon price of 31 euros ($41.92) a tonne in 2020, compared to 35 euros.

Carbon markets allow polluters to buy and emit carbon dioxide, blamed for global warming. Under such “cap-and-trade” schemes, companies or countries face a carbon limit. If they exceed that limit they can buy allowances from others.”

To read more, source: Reuters

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has recently developed solar cells made of 98% plastic, effectively using 1/50th of the normal semiconductor material required. More importantly though these solar cells have demonstrated over 90% efficiency, almost four times greater than traditional silicon-based solar cells.

The researchers at Caltech have discovered that by growing silicon wires in a polymer substrate the cells will maintain better flexibility while adding to its efficiency. Normally light is captured by regular solar cells and converted into electricity with a bulk of light bouncing away and essentially being lost. The added flexibility of these plastic cells will trap the light causing the light to bounce around inside a matrix until it is absorbed. As a result, more light will be absorbed and at a higher concentration.

Atwater explains, “The light comes in and is both directly absorbed by the wires, and some of the light bounces around in between the wires. And that bouncing around or multiple scattering in between the wires results in dramatically enhanced absorption. In fact, the absorption enhancement that we see is in” the range of 20 to 50 times the single-pass absorbance.”

Additionally, the flexibility of these plastic solar sheets presents a unique opportunity to curve and shape them along surfaces that are not traditionally flat. For instance, Atwater suggested the roof of a car could be a potentially useful application that would take advantage of this new material. They could also be integrated into roofing materials to save money on installation and ultimately making it even cheaper to go green.

These recent developments will have a profound impact in the solar sector and the renewable energy market as well. Solar technology has always been a viable source of energy for the future and this research only strengthens its case. Currently, the head of the research, Harry Atwater, is working on increasing the voltage and size of the solar cells so that they can be produced inexpensively as flexible sheets.

According to the Press Release, “Marks & Spencer (M&S) announces a programme to be the world’s most sustainable retailer by 20151, launching 80 major new commitments under M&S’ eco and ethical plan, Plan A.

The new commitments will mean we ensure all M&S products become ‘Plan A products’ with at least one sustainable quality, enable our 2,000 suppliers to adopt Plan A best practice and encourage M&S customers and employees to live ‘greener’ lifestyles. They include:

* Converting all 2.7 billion individual M&S food, clothing and home items (across 36,000 product lines) sold every year into ‘Plan A products’, so that each carries at least one sustainable or ethical quality (e.g. carrying Fairtrade or Marine Stewardship Council certification or using free range or other sustainable ingredients). We will aim to convert 50% of our products by 2015 and 100% by 2020;

* Encouraging 21 million M&S customers to live a more sustainable lifestyle starting today with the launch of a new competition – Your Green Idea – for customers to submit their ideas for ‘green’ actions for M&S to adopt. The winning idea will receive £100,000 to be spent on ‘greening’ an organisation such as a school, charity or small business;

* Becoming the first major retailer to actively tackle and bring clarity to the living wage debate. M&S will do this by determining and agreeing a fair, living wage before implementing a process to ensure our clothing suppliers pay this wage to their workers in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. Based on our successful pilot in Bangladesh, we will do this by working with our suppliers to improve productivity and management practices;

* Working with M&S suppliers to provide training and education programmes – including in basic healthcare and workers’ rights – for 500,000 workers in their factories;

* Helping our suppliers create 200 ‘Plan A’ factories with either ethical or environmental features, or both, and encouraging 10,000 farmers who produce our fresh foods to join our sustainable agriculture programme;

* Sourcing all cardboard for M&S food packaging via a single ‘model’ forest programme;

* Becoming the first major retailer to ensure full traceability of all the key raw materials used in our clothing and home products including cotton, wool, polyester, nylon, leather and wood;

* Becoming the first major retailer to ensure that six key raw materials we use – palm oil, soya, cocoa, beef, leather, coffee – come from sustainable sources that do not contribute to deforestation, one of the biggest causes of climate change;

* Increasing the number of clothing garments our customers recycle every year from two million to 20 million, including via our partnership with Oxfam, significantly reducing the tonnage of clothing sent to landfill;

* Launching a five-year £50m Plan A incubator fund to support the development of innovative new ‘Plan A’ products and services at M&S;

* Offering free home insulation and a free home energy monitor to all eligible M&S employees and giving them one paid, day-off a year to work in their local communities.”

See more of the press release

According to Bloom Energy’s press release, “company committed to changing the way people generate and consume energy, announced today the availability of the Bloom Energy Server™, a patented solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology that provides a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable alternative to both today’s electric grid as well as traditional renewable energy sources. The Bloom Energy Server provides distributed power generation, allowing customers to efficiently create their own electricity onsite. The company introduced its groundbreaking technology at an event hosted today at eBay Inc.headquarters along with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, General Colin Powell, and several of its early customers.

Built using abundant and affordable materials, Bloom’s fuel cell technology is fundamentally different from the legacy “hydrogen” fuel cells most people are familiar with. The Bloom Energy Server is distinct in four primary ways: it uses lower cost materials, provides unmatched efficiency in converting fuel to electricity, has the ability to run on a wide range of renewable or traditional fuels, and is more easily deployed and maintained.

Unlike traditional renewable energy technologies, like solar and wind, which are intermittent, Bloom’s technology can provide renewable power 24/7. Each Bloom Energy Server provides 100 kilowatts (kW) of power in roughly the footprint of a parking space. Each system generates enough power to meet the needs of approximately 100 average U.S. homes or a small office building. For more power, customers simply deploy multiple Energy Servers side by side. The modular architecture allows customers to start small and “pay as they grow”.

Bloom’s customers have deployed the solution to lower and/or fix their energy costs, while significantly cutting their carbon footprint and enhancing their energy security by reducing their dependence on the grid. Customers who purchase Bloom’s systems can expect a 3-5 year payback on their capital investment from the energy cost savings. Depending on whether they are using a fossil or renewable fuel, they can also achieve a 40-100% reduction in their carbon footprint as compared with the U.S. grid. Customers announced today include Bank of America (NYSE: BAC); The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO); Cox Enterprises; eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY); FedEx Express, an operating company of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX); Google (Nasdaq: GOOG); Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS); and Walmart (NYSE: WMT).

Since the first commercial customer installation in July 2008, Bloom’s Energy Servers have collectively produced more than 11 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, with CO2 reductions estimated at 14 million pounds – the equivalent of powering approximately 1,000 American homes for a year and planting one million trees.”

Source: Press Release

Corky (Battery-less, cordless mouse developed by Adele Peters)

Corky

Say hello to Corky, the brown little mouse, a creative approach to cutting back on battery waste. Made of 100% recycled components, this revolutionary mouse is powered by the motion of your hand. The energy used as your hand guides the mouse across a surface is captured by elements within the mouse simultaneously powering and charging it. Additionally, the wheel and buttons on the mouse both produce and store energy effectively leaving no movement wasted.

Go Mechanical Charger (Portable phone charger developed by Elephant Design)

With the mobile phone market growing ever larger and having significant impact on developing nations around the world, this device will prove to be absolutely invaluable. Much like hand-powered flashlights this portable phone charger features a hand crank and a bonus a roll-on wheel feature. Essentially, the power from the Go Mechanical Charger will be grid-free and user-generated. Additionally, the charging port will support universal adaptability allowing use across all cell phone carriers. Although the charger can certainly be used for high-powered executives on-the-go its target consumers are those without immediate access to outlets on a regular basis. As such the engineers at Elephant Design have made the prototype an affordable $8 and an additional $1.50 for adapters.

Smart Grid Home Controller (Home energy monitor developed by BuLogics Inc.)

Smart Grid Controller

A good portion of our energy consumption in the home goes largely unnoticed, but certainly not unaccounted for which is where the world’s first Smart Grid Home Area Network (HAN) controller comes in. Uniquely designed to bridge the communication gap between utility companies and their customers the Z-Wave HAN will allow users to reduce energy consumption and save money with no effort on their part. The interaction happens in three stages starting with the utility company sending an energy change request regarding energy usage during peak hours and subsequent price increases. The information is received by Z-Wave’s HAN automatically shutting off appliances based on user preferences. The HAN then relays the changes made to the user’s cell phone or email detailing the event and effect on their energy efficiency. The result? It allows consumers to save money and conserve energy to help erase our carbon footprint.

Turbine Light (Car-powered highway lighting developed by TAK Studio)

Turbine Light

The growing number of cars on the road has led to an ever-increasing demand for electricity to light up highways. TAK Studio’s ingenuity has led to highway lighting powered by the wind from passing cars on the freeway. The concept is fairly simple: as cars zoom down highways they create wind which is then harnessed by the turbines in these lights and generates electricity used to power the lights itself. Ultimately, the Turbine Light will create a wonderfully symbiotic relationship between the two by effectively allowing each to give and take energy from one another.

The consistent theme throughout all these products is empowerment of the consumer. If we truly hold ourselves accountable for the environmental mess we are in then these products will provide a great way to take responsibility. Government policies and regulations are only part of the equation, the green revolution must start from the bottom and permeate through every level of our society in order to truly change our destructive ways.

PHEVs, according to CalCars, combine the strengths of both types, the long distance capability of gas and the cost-efficiency of a green, electric motor. By charging the vehicle overnight in the garage most daily commute is sufficiently covered by the battery which translates to about $0.75/gallon of gasoline. By comparison, regular hybrids today achieve 45 mpg at about $1.20/gallon.

Besides the daily costs of owning a PHEV many consumers are still weary of the hefty price tag on PHEVs versus an old-school automobile. While most PHEVs admittedly cost thousands more than even the hybrids on the market today, the cost to own a car is an entirely different matter. By essentially cutting the cost of fuel for a PHEV by 2/3 the money saved will reach well into the thousands.

If an average car owner drives 12,000 miles a year and gets roughly 25mpg and spends about $3/gallon for gas, then $1440 is spent on gas alone per year. If we use the high estimate of the cost for electricity to power the car, the savings will be roughly $1000/year. After five years, an PHEV would effectively negate the added cost. For simplicity sake the cost for battery replacement should at least be offset by lower maintenance since PHEVs have significantly less moving parts. Although it should be noted that battery technology is a rapidly growing industry which would lower its costs immensely in the coming years.

Finances aside, the environmental implications are obviously far-reaching which CalCars stresses the most. In a extensive study by the Electric Power Research Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council (EPRI-NRDC) conducted in July 2007, the organization confirms that PHEVs will be cleaner as they get older because the grid it utilizes is itself becoming cleaner.

The EPRI-NRDC also emphasizes that this shift away from our dependency on oil can happen right now since we have the technology to build it and the infrastructure to support it. Although the future will undoubtedly bring greener, more affordable technology PHEVs are going largely unnoticed despite their potential impact on the environment. By investing in PHEVs today we would be investing in the future of our planet because we should be giving back to that which has already given us so much.