Energy Law

With a cap on carbon dioxide an apparent nonstarter in the Senate these days, some clean energy and climate advocates have shifted their sights to a scaled-back but still ambitious goal: passage of a national renewable electricity standard.

Such a law would require utility companies to produce a set amount of electricity from renewable sources by a certain date, spurring the development of clean sources like wind and solar and probably lowering overall emissions nationally. Perhaps most important, some argue that with a strong push by the president, such a measure could actually clear the high bar for passage of 60 votes in the Senate this fall.

Greece is to invest ?12bn on the environment and energy projects before 2015 in an attempt to kick-start its economy.

The funds will be partly allocated to renewable energy projects and are being deployed with the hope of attracting ?32bn of private investment, according to Environmental Minister Tina Birbili.

?The ministry hopes the programme will decisively contribute to face recession and lead to dynamic economic growth, Birbilli said in a press release obtained by Reuters.

TORONTO ? Canadian researchers hope to stem the global IT industry?s rampant output of greenhouse gas emissions by perfecting a way to host the Internet?s content purely on green power. And if their experiment succeeds, Canada could essentially become the world?s largest Internet server ? powered with almost no carbon footprint ? and help reduce one of the most significant, growing sources of pollution.

The GreenStar Network is a two-year project funded by the Canadian Advanced Network and Research for Industry and Education, which aims to address the IT industry?s incessant energy consumption. It?s estimated that two to eight per cent of the world?s energy consumption is drained by computers and the IT field, and the industry?s explosive growth may propel it to a 20 per cent share in some countries by 2020.

Despite public approval, U.S. wind energy investment is slowing down instead of growing, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

An overwhelming majority of Americans support a renewable electricity standard, and wind energy investment in particular, according to a poll of 600 likely voters conducted in March by Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies and Bennett, Petts & Normington.

Specifically, 89 percent of Americans said increasing the amount of energy the U.S. gets from wind is a good idea. Broken down by ideology, 84 percent of Republicans, 93 percent of Democrats, and 88 percent of independents support increasing the use of wind energy in the U.S.

But that bipartisan enthusiasm for wind has not translated into real-world investment or public policy, according to a detailed report released this week by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

Starting in January 2011, electric and hybrid car buyers in the United Kingdom will be able to tap a £43 million (around $67 million) grant fund to knock up to 25 percent off their purchase price, with a max grant of £5,000 (about $7,789). The grants, initially promised last year by the previous Labour government and announced on Wednesday by Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond, are set to be available through March 2012.

If all participants reap the max grant of £5,000, the funds will cover up to 8,600 vehicles next year from companies like Mitsubishi, Toyota, Renault-Nissan and Tesla Motors, which all have plug-in models on the UK market or in the pipeline for 2011.