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The Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/the-tea-party-vs-occupy-wall-street/A few days ago NBC’s Meet the Press host David Gregory complained about Occupy Wall Street protestors “demonizing banks” and wondered, “Is this not a reverse tea party tactic?” Gregory is right. In many respects Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is indeed a mirror image of the Tea Party. To the Tea Party government is the… Continue reading
One Year of Energy Self-Reliant States: Stats
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/one-year-energy-self-reliant-states-stats/
For the numerically inclined and because no series of posts should be complete on Energy Self-Reliant States without a chart, here’s the weekly site visits to Energy Self-Reliant States starting with our launch last October. We started slowly, but have been steadily piling on the new visits since early this year. The early summer drop can be blamed on the person pictured below.
The cause of our mid-summer slide:
We’re also getting more people to sign up for our weekly update email, and follow yours truly on Twitter.
Thanks again for a wonderful first year at Energy Self-Reliant States! Help us keep producing these great charts and great analysis of distributed renewable energy by donating!
One Year of Energy Self-Reliant States: Greatest Syndicated Hits
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/one-year-energy-self-reliant-states-greatest-syndicated-hits/I’ve shared the greatest hits on Energy Self-Reliant States from our first year, but we were honored to be invited to syndicate this blog at Grist, Renewable Energy World and CleanTechnica before the year was out. With a bit of time to revise before we re-published, the top 10 Greatest Syndicated Hits list differs a lot from the list of ones our direct readers selected:
- Busting 4 myths about CSP and PV – (140 comments on Renewable Energy World)
- Cost of nuclear, not Japan crisis, should scrub nuclear power - (78 comments on Grist)
- Want local communities to support wind? Put them in charge. – (94 tweets from Grist)
- Value of solar far exceeds its cost - (359 tweets from Grist)
- Concentrated solar power plants are all wet (the water use issue of concentrating solar power) - (91 comments on Grist, 100 tweets from CleanTechnica)
- Local solar could power the Mountain West right now, all of America in 2026 - (325 tweets, 29 comments on Grist; 1400 views and 140 tweets and 2,200 views at CleanTechnica)
- State Energy Self-Reliance Map – (2,300 views at CleanTechnica)
- Solving wind power variability with more wind – (85 tweets and 46 comments across multiple sites)
- New York City’s solar windfall illuminates America’s clean energy future – (over 100 tweets and 25 comments across multiple sites)
- Is the Bloom Box cheaper than solar? – (43 comments across multiple sites)
One Year of Energy Self-Reliant States: Greatest Hits
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/one-year-energy-self-reliant-states-greatest-hits/What articles did Energy Self-Reliant States readers like the most? Judging by page traffic, the best stories were those that highlighted the falling cost of solar and the value of local solar compared to other sources.
Here are the top 10 stories from our 1st year:
- Astonishingly Low Distributed Solar PV Prices from German Solar Policy
- Home Solar Cheaper Than Every Concentrating Solar Power Plant
- Distributed Solar Power Worth Far More Than Electrons
- Pricing CLEAN Contracts – feed-in tariffs – for Solar PV in the U.S.
- Why tax credits make lousy renewable energy policy
- Smaller Generation Incites Largest Renewable Energy Gains
- Distributed Solar PV Beats Grid Prices with “Balance of System” Cost Reductions
- Distributed, Small-Scale Solar Competes with Large-Scale PV
- Over 80 Percent of German PV Installed on Rooftops
- Centralized v. Decentralized Clean Energy – We May Have to Choose
One Year of Energy Self-Reliant States: Reports
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/one-year-energy-self-reliant-states-reports/Over the last year, we’ve published a number of reports that coalesce the analysis you see here into hard-hitting examinations of North American energy policy, always looking for the tools to best increase energy self-reliance. Here are the big ones:
Energy Self-Reliant States, 2nd Edition
This is the report that launched it all, an atlas to each state’s potential for maximizing renewable energy generation within its borders. The executive summary has been viewed over 23,000 times, and the report was featured in the New York Times Green Inc blog. The title map alone drew over 2,000 views on CleanTechnica earlier this year.
Maximizing Jobs From Clean Energy: Ontario’s ‘Buy Local’ Policy
Released in January, this report examined Ontario’s feed-in tariff program for financing renewable energy and its remarkable requirement that participating wind, solar, and other projects be largely “made in Ontario.” It made few friends in international trade circles, but provides the most robust connection between clean energy incentives and jobs in the world. The executive summary has been accessed over 2,500 times and the report has become even more relevant as Ontario’s liberal party – responsible for the policy – narrowly won re-election just last week.
Democratizing the Electricity System
This report provides the vision for the transition from a 20th century electricity system dominated by centralized electricity generation and centralized power of utilities to a decentralized, 21st century grid with distributed renewable energy widespread. Nearly 5,000 people have seen the report, which details the technical and economic value of distributed generation to the electricity system and the barriers and breakthroughs that will transform the grid to clean energy and more local ownership.
Pricing CLEAN Contracts for Solar PV in the U.S.
Starting with a few maps in a blog post, this short report packs in several data-rich maps explaining the cost of solar power by U.S. state, accounting for differences in solar resource, federal tax incentives, and the modest rate of return offered by CLEAN Contract Programs.
CLEAN v SRECs: Finding the More Cost-Effective Solar Policy
Just recently released, this report provides an in-depth analysis of the cost-effectiveness of two popular solar financing policies, CLEAN Contracts and solar REC markets. The report finds that the low risk and high transparency of CLEAN Contract Programs can lower the cost of solar by as much as 20 percent. The report also models the recently introduced New York Solar Jobs legislation, and finds that the 3% solar by 2025 goal would be met more cost-effectively with a CLEAN Contract Program.
Thanks for a great 1st year!
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/thanks-great-1st-year/Energy Self-Reliant States turns 1 year old today, and I wanted to take some space to share how thankful I am for your support of this project. If you’re reading this, you’re one of over 17,000 unique visitors to the site since we launched on Oct. 20, 2010.
If you like what you read, I encourage you to support this project financially. We’re mostly grant funded, but it’s a thin time for for-profits and non-profits alike, and I need your help convincing the boss that this is as good as writing 50-page reports.
Click And Donate
How else can you celebrate 1 year of killer distributed generation analysis?
Check out the Highlights
Throughout the day I’ll post the highlights of Energy Self-Reliant States Year 1, including:
- our big reports
- the biggest stories
- what folks on the interwebs liked
- and a few site stats for the numerically inclined.
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We tweet our own horn, but it’s recommendations from you that have made this site a hit. Let everyone know that this is the place for great charts and a strong commitment to energy self-reliant energy policy.
Thank you!
-John Farrell
Sun Power Minnesota
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/sun-power-minnesota/This is a presentation given to the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society in October 2011. With costs dropping rapidly and value rising, solar can make enormous contributions to Minnesota’s electricity system and economy. That’s the spirit of this presentation ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell gave last week to the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society on the potential… Continue reading
More Cost-Effective Solar from CLEAN Contracts than Solar REC Markets
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/more-cost-effective-solar-clean-contracts-solar-rec-markets/The low risk and transparency of CLEAN Contract Programs can provide states with more solar at a lower cost than solar renewable energy certificate (SREC) programs, says a new report released last week. Produced by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), CLEAN v. SREC: Finding the More Cost-Effective Solar Policy finds that an otherwise identical… Continue reading
The Challenge of Reconciling a Centralized v. Decentralized Electricity System
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/challenge-reconciling-centralized-v-decentralized-electricity-system/As Americans transition their electricity system to the 21st century, they should ask this question. Does it make sense to pursue strategies such as accelerating the development of new high-voltage power lines that reinforce an outdated paradigm of electricity delivery, or should scarce energy dollars be spent to add new clean, local energy to the… Continue reading