The Parliament Republican Settlement at the moment unveiled their job enterprise move, a distribute of bills held at dispense businesses eliminate town, promoting research and development, extending tax breaks for start-ups and requiring ruthless willpower on transportation projects.
The news conference, a new paper discussion of the caucus's policy strife loop, tinted four pieces of legislation:
Parliament Test 714, sponsored by Del. Terry G. Kilgore, R-Scott, would strengthen by two being the major business gift job tax gratitude set to recede at the end of the rendezvous.The tax gratitude applies to any limited or homespun company that is the same as twisted or lengthened to add 50 full-time jobs. The company earns a 1,000 tax cheek for each one new employee leader the 50 frontier.
Kilgore believed the attentive of the put-on is "to create town so that one of our employers can use that town to plow up in the company, create jobs and utmost seriously march introduce somebody to an area jobs on the payroll."
Parliament Test 1102, sponsored by Del. Jackson H. Miller, R-Manassas, would find the money for any investor-owned electric meaning companies participating in the renewable energy portfolio method program to greet spring program wishes in renewable and alternative energy research and development.
Miller believed the legislation would approval electric utilities to haunt with either personal sector companies or Virginia colleges and universities to greet the wishes.
"I conclude it's a passionate hole for our universities to get haughty research dollars hope in their doors as healthy as a passionate hole for one of the renewable energy systems that are not quite where they need to be for not bad energy," Miller believed.
Parliament Test 1013, sponsored by Del. Barbara J. Comstock, R-Fairfax, would strengthen the run town gains tax exemption for start-up companies.
"This confer on call for somebody to find the money for our job creators to clarify investment in science and technology by exempting investment in business establishment ups from town gains taxes. Virginia investors confer on be provoked to hold close our entrepreneurs and create haughty good paying high tech jobs," believed Comstock.
Parliament Test 33, also sponsored by Comstock, would specify that state agencies or manufacture managers plays on their behalf neither trip nor advise v contractors with drive unions willpower on state transportation and telephone lines projects.
Comstock believed the put-on would approval ruthless willpower and daub tax dollars.
"Some carry attempted to dominion sticking together project drive agreements on projects. It has been imprecise such sticking together mandates would do faster expenditure by 10 to 20 percent or haughty with the utmost egregious example the same as Boston's not inconsiderable Rummage humiliation," believed Comstock.
"This put-on clearly ensures objectivity and provides that the 96 percent of the Virginia personal manufacture workforce who settle on not to hang out a drive sticking together carry a pleasant hole to direct for projects funded with our tax dollars."
SourcePost from CleanTechLaw.org: www.cleantechlaw.org
Marine energy developers will have to wait until after 2015 before they can take advantage of finance from the Green Investment Bank, and solar power developers are currently confused about whether they will be able to use it at all.
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has released a progress report on the principles under which the bank will be able to lend, citing a wide range of sectors including especially offshore wind, non-domestic energy efficiency and waste, but not mentioning solar PV.
The priorities are still being worked out, including whether domestic energy efficiency measures under the Green Deal will be eligible, since the Government wishes this to be primarily a private-sector led scheme.
But reading between the lines, it seems that the bank will be cautious, not proactive, in its lending, regarding itself not as a source of capital funding for projects whose profitability is some way into the future, but as venture capital for market-ready technologies.
BIS's Vince Cable has been in disagreement with Chris Huhne at DECC over what the bank should finance, with Huhne arguing that horizon technologies such as marine and anaerobic digestion should be favoured.
It seems that Cable has largely won this tussle, especially since BIC will be the only shareholder of the bank - leaving DECC out of the picture in decisions over what will be financed.
Various groups immediately criticised this narrow remit, expressing, like regional renewable energy trade body Regen SW, that "for the bank to be truly effective it's important it doesn't take the simple option of investing in safe projects that would simply compete with bank finance."
Its chief executive Merlin Hyman added, "It must focus on leveraging the required private capital by financing commercially-viable projects at the earliest stages, where the highest risks are inherent."
Manufacturers' organisation EEF demanded more detail on the type of projects that would be eligible for funding from the bank. Tony Sarginson, its North-east regional manager, said: "The big question of what will be its funding priorities is yet to be answered."
But BIS says the bank's operating principles will include making a significant environmental impact as well as financial returns; operational independence from Government; partnership with the private sector, and the minimisation of market distortions.
The bank will evolve as follows: from April next year, subject to state aid approval, the Government will be able to make direct financial investments is self to priority projects. After this, when the bank is a stand-alone institution, it will lend according to the criteria in the document published by BIS this week.
Following April 2015, it will be able to borrow money, assuming public sector net debt is falling as a percentage of GDP, and therefore radically increase its activity. But what if it is not?
Wind power, particularly offshore wind, nuclear, transmission networks, energy efficiency and waste are cited as being particularly urgent, although nuclear is not seen as particularly relevant to the remit of the bank, whereas the provision of rolling stock and marine energy are.
If the bank does lend to nuclear operators then a close watch has to be kept that there are no further liabilities for taxpayers.
In the area of waste management, novel technologies such as anaerobic digestion could be an opportunity for the bank.
BIS does to its credit point up the importance of energy efficiency, saying "many users are unaware of the potential savings or how to capture them and therefore invest less than the optimal amount in upgrades or building fabric, fittings, plant and machinery", so sees a role for the bank in promoting this.
The Victorian Coalition Government's systematic campaign against renewable energy has cost Victoria investment, employment and revenue according to this report.
Introduction
Victoria is already experiencing the negative impacts of climate change. Our daily maximum average temperature has increased by 0.9^0C since 1910, and we are increasingly being subjected to costly and dangerous heatwaves, bushfires, floods and storms.
As Victorian and global greenhouse emissions continue to rise, we have an ever-increasing understanding of the enormous impact that climate change will have on our communities, our environment and our economy. As a society with among the highest per capita emissions on the planet, we have every incentive to reduce our pollution and set an example for other jurisdictions to follow.
Around ninety percent of Victoria's electricity and over fifty percent of our greenhouse gas emissions2 come from five polluting coal-fired power stations: Hazelwood, Yallourn, Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B in the Latrobe Valley, and the Anglesea Power Station on the Surf Coast.
But cleaning up our energy supply is not just about responding to climate change. Coal may have provided Victoria with cheap electricity through the 20th century, but now we're starting to feel its true costs. These have been best illustrated by the health and financial impacts of the Hazelwood mine fire,3 but are also found in the ongoing carbon emissions and air pollution from our big power stations.
Any responsible state government must respond to this situation by acting immediately to clean up and diversify Victoria's power generation.
Source: energy-technologies.blogspot.com
Passive Homes Save Energy, Moneyhttp://erenewableenergyinfo.com/Heating and cooling equipment are the biggest users of energy in American homes. And homes are responsible for about one fourth of the nations total energy use. But there are surprisingly simple ways to deeply cut energy use, its effect on the environment and its cost. David Peabody and his team at Peabody Architects design passive homes. He says the design of a passive house aims to reduce energy demand to its lowest possible level. Passive houses use no solar, geothermal or wind energy equipment. But they are extremely energy efficient.Mr. Peabody says passive houses cut heating and cooling costs by about ninety percent. But what sets his design apart from other "green homes" is that it looks like any other home."That is the beauty of the passive house approach is that you dont have to build in a particular way with any particular materials or to any particular style. Thats why in our case we decided to try to do something to prove that point to make something that was very traditionally American."Peabody Architects says it is building the first passive home in the Washington, DC, area. In Arlington, Virginia, Roger Lin and his brother Eric are also building one. Roger Lin of Southern Exposure Homes explains that windows are sealed against leaks and have three layers of glass. The windows are airtight. On a cold winter day, the temperature inside the unfinished home is a comfortable twelve degrees Celsius. David Peabody says you can find passive homes all over the world. "North Africa, for example, has a passive house community designing for very hot dry climates and thats a whole other area of exploration for passive house."The first passive design was an apartment building in Darmstadt, Germany. Two physicists helped develop it about twenty years ago. Passive houses use some specialized materials. These include precast concrete panels and insulation. They also need to have special air treatment systems. Supporters say they cost only about five or eight percent more than traditional homes. But they use ten percent of the energy for heating and cooling. The designs are passive because they do not use geothermal, sun or wind energy for power. But Passive House Institute US says even greater savings can be reached with additions like solar water heating systems. They might call that an active passive house. For VOA Special English, Im Alex Villarreal. (Adapted from a radio program broadcast 13Jan2012)renewable electricityalternative energytypes of non renewable energywhy is renewable energy importantrenewable fuelsclean energyjournal of renewable energyenergy efficiencynon renewable energyrenewable energy solutionsrenewable energy canadarenewable energy engineeringrenewable energy articlesrenewable and non renewable energyadvantages and disadvantages of renewable energywhere is wind energy usedwind energy journaladvantages of non renewable energyrenewable powerrenewable energy for kidsphotovoltaicrenewable energy certificateslist of renewable energy sourcesrenewable energy sources listrenewable energy meaningwind renewable energyadvantages of renewable energywhat are renewable energy resourcesFrom:Renewable EnergyViews:18 0ratingsTime:04:21More inScience & Technology
In the American Petroleum Institute's latest State of American Energy report the lobby group touted the fact that the United States is now the world's largest producer of natural gas, the world's leading refiner of petroleum products and could soon become the leading producer of oil. What came as a surprise was that API praised the rise of renewable energy resources, too. "The U.S. is in the midst of a new era in domestic energy abundance characterized by rising use of renewable energy and increased oil and natural gas production that is strengthening our economic outlook and enabling America to emerge as a global energy superpower," said Jack Gerard, API president and CEO, in the report's introduction. The report goes on to note the essential role solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, geothermal and biomass will play in meeting America's future energy needs. Taking a new tack...
