Production Tax Credit—2.1 cents/kilowatt-hour
incentive
Personal income tax credit or reduction
Organizations
American Wind Energy Association: Educating
and promoting wind energy
Wind and Hydropower Technologies: Researching
and improving wind technology
State
Personal income tax deduction for interest on loans for alternative
energy parts.
Renewable Portfolio Standard
Requires electricity providers to obtain a minimum percentage of
power from renewable energy
Programs
California Wind Energy Association: Non-profit organization that
encourages the production of electricity through the use of wind in
California
Ethanol
Federal
Minimal Laws
Incentives
Helping states & large entities
Retrofit & buy new AFVs
Develop new programs
State
Many laws to set AFV usage goals
IEPR suggests 20% ethanol usage
Rebates
$5,000 new AF cars
$200 mil School Bus Grant program
Geothermal
Federal
NEPD Recommendations:
Lessen the delays in permitting (speed up installation)
Allow more access to federal
Lease the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to fund research into
alternative and renewable energy
Geothermal Technologies Program (GTP)
Three National Laboratories
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Colorado)
Sandia National Laboratories (New Mexico)
Work with the U.S. industry and academia to make geothermal energy
an economically viable part of the energy supply
Incentives
Include Corporate tax credit incentives, federal loan programs,
production incentives, personal tax credit incentives, and federal
grant programs.
All incentives for geothermal use encompass all forms of alternative
energy use.
State
State Oil and Gas Supervisor
Responsibility to safeguard life and property, as well as encourage
maximum economic recovery in relationship with geothermal wells
Publish and information relating to geothermal resources that may
have public demand
CEC’s Geothermal Program
Gives funding (procured from federal leases of geothermal developers)
and technical aid to public and private agencies in order to promote
geothermal development
Incentives
Production incentives (through tariffs), fee waivers for green building,
and utility rebate programs
Nothing specific to geothermal energy
Hydrogen
Federal
Primarily consists of an aggressive research and development plan
The US Department of Energy (DOE), and the US Department of Transportation
(DOT) views HPFC vehicles as the primary solution to the environmental
and supply issues currently associated with the petroleum-based US transportation
infrastructure.
Ultimate goal is to shift the US from an oil-based to a hydrogen-based
transportation energy system, with the beginning of mass-market penetration
by 2020
DOE’s Energy Hydrogen Program collaborates with other government
offices, energy companies and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research
(USCAR) in the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership to perform extensive research
and development on hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles.
No federal incentives specific to Hydrogen exist because so much research
is required
State
Unlike the Federal Government, the California Energy Commission (CEC)
does not see hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles as the environmentally
friendly replacement of fossil fuels in the transportation sector
According to the California Distributed Energy Resources Guide, while
hydrogen has important advantages over conventional gasoline and diesel
fuels, there are other fuels that currently have more promise as a replacement
for gasoline and diesel, like biofuels and clean natural gas (CNG).
While the CEC advocates and conducts research, it views hydrogen as
having too many obstacles are far as efficient production, energy output,
storage, and transportation for it to really take hold as a true alternative
to petroleum fuels
No incentives currently exist specifically for hydrogen fuel production
Solar
Federal
Policy: no current policy
National Energy Report recommends more incentives and research
Programs
Solar Energy Technology Program- research for cost competitiveness
Solar America Initiative- grid improvement & market expansion
Incentives
Financial support for residential and business installations
Financial support for solar power plants
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act cut incentives by Dec 2008
State
Policy: Executive order S- 14-08: 33% by 2020
Program: Self Generation Incentive Program for < 30kW
Emerging Renewable Program for >30kW
Incentives: California Solar Incentive = $3.3 billion for 10 years
Benefits of renewable energy
Cleaner environment and better health
Energy independence
Changes in foreign policy
Create more jobs
More research and discoveries in science field
Educate the general public
Reduction of global warming
Recommendations
50% of renewable energy by 2050 at the national level
More money for research and development for each renewable energy
Broadening incentives for people at federal and state level
switching their vehicles (ethanol and hydrogen)
conserving energy (wind)
using solar panels (solar)
changing building standards for residential and industrial for better
use of energy (geothermal)