Reverse the slowdown in Renewable Energy....

Today’s post: Wednesday, 4-29-2009

We need an 80% reduction in fossil fuel use by 2050 to avoid the worst global warming effects. And, practically speaking, we need to also double our electricity generation and double the useful work done per unit of electricity & other energy sources as well during that same time to have a decent economy.

At about the time of the Presidential election or slightly before that, it looked like we were on our way to a very rapid build up of renewable energy companies and construction of large scale solar electrical generation operations. Clearly doing just that is a critical path part of the solution to solve our problems just listed.

Since the need was so great, that was very good news indeed. Solar companies had contracts with utilities to build these solar “farms.” But suddenly, the banks who would have financed these projects in normal times, would not do so or could not do so due to their own fear or liquidity problems.

Some solar companies sold assets and laid off over 90 % of their employees; some changed to a business model that no longer included building large scale solar electrical generation operations; & others simply disappeared.

Now that we need these companies to exist and be hiring new people to work 3 shifts to build all the renewable energy we now know we need – AND our economy needs MORE jobs instead of less, this is a disaster times TEN !!

So, let’s ensure renewable energy projects and companies will be financed 100 % of the time instead of almost never. And let’s do it as close to immediately as we can manage!

As I’ve posted, feed-in tariffs are one solution. They make the repayment of the debt financing to build renewable energy generation of electricity projects predictable and very safe. One clean tech CEO said he knew of a boom and bust problem with Feed-in Tariffs in two locations. But the boom we need is so large and we need it so soon, I think that may be a problem to solve later or gradually as we get the needed feedback.

But for right now, we have hardly any Feed-in Tariffs in place in the United States. And, even if we begin using them it will take years to get done.

Here is a second and potentially faster way to regain or surpass the financing for renewable energy we once had.:

Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, is reported to have asked his board members to submit ideas for ways the Federal Reserve can use its powers to add jobs right away and be listening for usable answers.

There almost certainly is a way that the Federal Reserve can back banks that make renewable energy loans and do so in a way that also gives those banks an incentive to do so.

If several of us suggest that to him and to the Governor in our own Federal Reserve district, maybe it might happen.