Green news harvest: How to create clean-tech jobs

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Green jobs: One goal, two different paths -- The Wall Street Journal
  Expect to hear a lot of talk about green-collar jobs this year. However, as this post notes, it's not clear which approach is best for creating those jobs.
• Lotus targets Tesla with EV of its own -- Wired.com
  Lotus, which makes the body for the Tesla Roadster, is developing electric powertrain technologies.
• Apple choosing ZPower for batteries? Good chance of it -- Greentech Media
  Rumor has it that zinc-silver battery company ZPower could supply batteries for Apple laptops.
• North Carolina approves Duke's solar program but not the cost -- Dow Jones
  Duke Energy is trying to install 15 megawatts worth of solar panels that it will own, but it has run into a serious snag with utility regulators.

Humans generate electricity at a gym in Oregon.
(Credit: BBC)
• Coming soon at Steinway, solar power -- The New York Times
  An interesting choice of solar technology: Piano maker is using small solar troughs to power an absorption chiller.
• A gym powered by sweat and tears -- BBC
  A gym in Portland, Ore., installs equipment that uses exercise to charge a battery. The challenge is the upfront cost.
• BlueFire: Cellulosic delay to be less than 6 months -- Reuters
  Another sign in how getting financing--not seed capital--is slowing down clean-tech projects, this example being second-generation ethanol.
• Catastrophe figures for 2008 confirm climate agreement is urgently needed -- press release
  Severe weather events, caused from climate change, resulted in one of the most dangerous--and expensive--years on record for the insurance industry.
• Coal ash scrutiny returns -- The Charlotte Observer
  Last month's toxic sludge spill brings to light the dangers of more potential disasters due to earthen dams that hold tons of toxic coal ash.

[UITD]

How about we get our tech jobs back from India, China and elsewhere before we begin asking stupid questions about some non-existent global warming BS? eh? We need to stop this outsourcing of jobs. Its bleeding the US of A dead.

[javsewpc]

"Duke Energy is trying to install 15 megawatts worth of solar panels that it will own, but it has run into a serious snag with utility regulators."

"On this complex issue (of cost recovery) the parties (the commission and Duke) are sharply in disagreement," the commission's ruling stated. Duke will be able to recover the costs based on how much it would have cost to buy the power from third parties.

This is one of the first large-scale programs for utility-ownership of solar, and the way it's handled has implications for other such proposals.

To avoid altogether the complexity of the issue, the best way to do it is by the electricity without price control (EWPC) market architecture and design paradigm. To get a feel for EWPC, please read the article <a title="Go To Blog Entry: Forget Decoupling Under Price Controls" href="http://www.energyblogs.com/ewpc/index.cfm/2008/8/31/Forget-Decoupling-Under-Price-Controls">Forget Decoupling Under Price Controls</a>