WIREC is a Hit for 2008 March 4, 2008
Posted by Reginald Johnson in Energy, Environment, International.add a comment
As the first day of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) 2008 cane to a close, the overall response from attendance goers was very positive. Participants of the conference overwhelmingly has given the conference good reviews. “The conference has been wonderful today. I traveled from Italy and to attend and it was well worth it,” said one attendee.
In attendance were a few members of President Bush’s cabinet. Secretaries Dirk Kempthorne (Interior), Ed Schafer (Agriculture) and Samuel Bodman (Energy). Keeping in good company were The Honourable Paula Dobriansky (Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State), The Honourable Tom Dorr (Under Secretary of Agriculture), The Honourable Gale Buchanan (Under Secretary Research, Education, and Economics, USDA) and The Honourable John Negroponte (Deputy Secretary of State). Also giving remarks are: Marta Bonifert (Executive Director, Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe), Yusof Basiron (CEO, Malaysian Palm Oil Council), Amina Benkhadra (Minister, Moroccan Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water, and Environment), Kristjan Guy Burgess, (Reykjavik Energy) and Linda Conlin (Vice Chair and First Vice President, Export Import Bank). Those mentioned make up a small number of people who either spoke today or are set to give remarks in the duration of the conference.
One of the biggest highlights of the first day was an announcement by Secretary Schafer and Secretary Bodman. The secretaries announced that their respective departments will invest up to $18.4 million, over three years, for 21 biomass research and development, and demonstration projects. The objective is to address needed barriers to making production of biomass more efficient and most importantly affordable. Strategically enough many look at this as an effort to advance the U.S. President’s plan to bringing online more clean, bio-based products and biofuels. This will help reduce America’s dependence on oil from unstable parts of the world and mitigate climate change.
One interesting section was the push for federal tax incentives lobbied by Nth Power, a energy technology venture capital firm. The problem is the tax incentives are set to expire this year. On the plus side, the incentives provide a federal tax credit for renewable-energy investment. On the bad side, as I said, its set to expire at the end of the year. Right now it doesn’t look like anything is going to change.
Head of GE’s renewable-energy financing division, Kevin Walsh said, “We are already having a tightening of capital right now with the credit crunch.”
By mid year wind and solar will have taken a serious hit, and if something isn’t done soon, many believe there will be sharp declines.
Recently going in the right direction, the U.S. House passed a bill which would extend the renewable-energy tax credit. The Senate looks poised to not let this measure go through. To date, the Senate has failed to pass this bill. In order to pay for this Congress would allow for rescinding a tax break extended to oil and gas companies.
For more information on President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, visit: www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/energy/index.html.
