Blog Contributors
- Alan Bickerstaff
- Roger D. Feldman
- J. Matthew Lyons
- Bonnie Rubey McMurtry
- Siddharth "Sid" Sethy
- Mark J. Thurber
- Sean S. Wooden
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REFF Creates Ripples in the Clean Technology Industry
The Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF) held in New York this week is the annual event where industry leaders and wannabes meet and greet. It is a barometer of the industry's self confidence and prospect assessment. This is the year of the "game face." There is serious concern about industry prospects, notably sustained demand for wind. Solar's costs are declining, but sustained market interest in the absence of feed in tariffs, strong Renewable Energy Standards/RECs availability, is still problematic. The absence of US players and US banks in the project finance market drew notice. The effect on energy price points of shale gas on renewables competitiveness in particular, was noted as a major threat, as was the declining prospects of systematic carbon regulation.
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Categories: Biofuels, Biomass, Clean Technology, Conference Updates, Emerging Markets, Energy, Federal Funding, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind Energy
Complimentary Live Webinar - June 17: Alternative & Renewable Energy Finance Available in Washington, DC
Obtaining funds for renewable energy and sustainability projects and companies now involves more incentives originating in Federal programs administered or legislated in Washington. Increasingly private capital has sought to utilize such incentives.
Biomass: State of the Industry
I attended the recent Department of Energy Biomass industry conference in late March. The atmosphere was very positive, and unlike other events where there is substantial uncertainty, the companies and participants were nearly uniformly optimistic about the state of the industry. A couple of companies were openly discussing filing for IPOs in late 2010 or early 2011. They seemed to be realistic goals. Many of the companies in attendance were pleased with the fact that the timeframe for DOE grants, after having slown down the industry as a whole, has been met and that money from that sector is flowing. Private market participants indicated that this would help them fund companies.
Cellulosic Biofuel Waiver Credits: Part I
On February 3, 2010, the U.S. EPA finalized its long-awaited amendments to the National Renewable Fuel Standard program (“RFS2”), which increased mandated quotas of ethanol, biodiesel and other biofuels in the U.S. transportation fuel supply. The National Renewable Fuel Standard program was originally created in the 2005 federal energy bill and substantially modified by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (“EISA”). The RFS2 program sets quotas for biofuels in U.S. fuel supply starting at 12.95 billion gallons in 2010 with an ultimate goal of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022. The rule includes nested sub-quotas for advanced biofuels, cellulosic biofuels and biomass-based diesel, with the goal for cellulosic fuels at 21 billion gallons by 2022. The policy goals of the RFS2 include energy independence through displacing imported petroleum and increased domestic energy supplies.
