Future Energy eNews by Integrity Research Institute; Jan. 25, 2004

LONDON, Dec. 18 — Energy companies plan to erect more than 1,000 turbines off England's coast in a $12.4 billion project to build the largest source of wind energy.

The wind farms, which received preliminary approval on Thursday, would generate as much as seven gigawatts of electricity — enough to supply four million households, or to meet 7 percent of Britain's energy needs. Britain has pledged that 10 percent of its energy will come from renewable resources by 2010.

The Crown Estate, which controls British public lands, including its seabeds, asked companies to submit bids for coastal wind farms in July.

Royal Dutch/Shell, Warwick Energy, Powergen and Total are among companies that won leasing rights of up to 50 years for the project, which involves 15 sites and is expected to start generating electricity in 2007.

The project is vast. Groups of hundreds of turbines will be installed in the shallow waters of the Thames Estuary, in the East Coast area known as the Greater Wash, and off the northwest coast of England.

"This is a massive development for our industry," said Marcus Rand, chief executive of the British Wind Energy Association. "This puts the United Kingdom in the fast lane to becoming a world leader in offshore power generation."

Before they can start building, energy companies need clearance from the public and the government, including environmental regulators. The turbines will be visible from the shore only on very clear days, the companies said, so that public outcry, at least about the view, is expected to be minimal.

The project's biggest obstacle may come in the form of a small waterfowl related to the American loon, the red-throated diver, which feeds in and around some of the sites. The Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds issued a cautionary statement on Thursday, asking the government to make sure the wind farms do not pose a "significant threat to birds."

Little definitive research has been done on the effect of offshore wind farms on the bird population.

"We're in a sort of Catch-22, because we have to prove that this project is not a danger to birds" but there is no project of its size to compare it to, said Peter Crone, a director of Farm Energy, a renewable energy specialist that is one of the winning bidders.

Of course, birds have died after colliding with turbines. "Clearly, birds have been flying into things for hundreds of years, and that hasn't caused any extinctions," said Dr. Mark Avery, director of conservation for the bird preservation group, one of the strongest environmental lobbies in Britain, one that supports renewable energy, including the development of large, offshore wind farms.

But, he pointed out, it might not make great sense "to construct a large number of objects where large numbers of birds are already flying."

2) EnergyNet Update

Union of Concerned Scientists EnergyNet Update, December, 2003 http://www.ucsaction.ctsg.com/ctt.asp?u=112638&l=13262

In this EnergyNet Update, you will find a year-end review of state level clean energy campaigns in 2003. If you have any questions or comments, please send us an email at energynet@ucsusa.org.

Contents

California: Fighting for renewable energy In Los Angeles and implementing the Renewable Electricity Standard.
Colorado: Renewable Electricity Standard bill dies and Fort Collins passes a clean energy standard.
Connecticut: Improved Renewable Electricity Standard and clean energy fund raid.
Florida: Drafting and energy plan.
Illinois: Renewable Electricity Standard bill dies.
Iowa: Renewable Electricity Standard bill dies, Governor approves large wind farm, and renewable energy tax credits pass General Assembly.
Louisiana: Public Service Commission devises rules for Net Metering.
Maine: Summary of clean energy bills, climate change bill passes, effort to improve Renewable Electricity Standard, and state commitment to purchase renewable energy.
Maryland: Governor vetos energy efficiency bill and coalition drafting a Renewable Electricity Standard.
Massachusetts: Defending the Renewable Energy Trust Fund, facilitating compliance with the Renewable Electricity Standard, and green power option.
Minnesota: Prairie Island Bill passes with renewable energy requirement.
New Hampshire: Bioenergy facility to replace coal plant.
New Jersey: Governor establishes Renewable Energy Task Force.
New Mexico: Implementation of the Renewable Electricity Standard.
New York: State Renewable Electricity Standard, regional program to cut global warming pollution from power plants, and Net Metering.
Oregon: Raid of clean energy funds defeated and State House passes clean energy provisions.
Rhode Island: Public Utilities Commission approves green power option.
Vermont: Compromise clean energy bill and a bill requiring preliminary work on a Renewable Electricity Standard pass State House.
Washington: Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard dies and supporters regroup for 2004 effort.
Wisconsin: Governor unveils energy agenda and citizens petition for cap on global warming pollution.

Like to receive EnergyNet updates? Join online: http://www.ucsaction.ctsg.com/ctt.asp?u=112638&l=13362

3) Solar PV can provide 10% of U.S. power by 2025, says report
Joel Makower, Refocus Weekly, December 10, 2003 http://www.sparksdata.co.uk/refocus/fp_showdoc.asp?docid=31608218&accnum=1&topics=
and http://www.solarcatalyst.com/soar.pdf

WASHINGTON, DC, US, 2003-12-10 (Refocus Weekly) The installed base of solar photovoltaic in the United States remains "frustratingly small," and a
report outlines measures to "move solar energy beyond a small, niche market
into a thriving industry able to contribute significantly to America's
energy and national security needs."

"This report illuminates what the current industry players think it will
take to sustain or double current total cumulative installation projections
by 2025, as well as outlining a far more ambitious path of capturing 10% of
total U.S. electricity production by 2025," says Alisa Gravitz of the Solar
Catalyst Group, which produced the 'Solar Opportunity Assessment Report'
with the research consulting firm Clean Edge. The report examines what is
needed to incrementally grow the U.S. solar industry into a "thriving
industry" through "bold audacious measures that could dramatically
accelerate the transition to a clean-energy future."

Interviews with 30 PV manufacturers and industry officials identified key
challenges in the solar marketplace to include its small production scale
which keeps quantities low and prices high, the on-again off-again
government funding of solar research, a dearth of financing solutions which
prices solar out of reach of most users, and a lack of standardized
plug-and-play systems that would greatly reduce the complexity and cost of
designing and installing a solar-energy system.

New installations of solar PV have experienced a compounded annual growth
rate of 24% over the past decade in the U.S., but the report suggests
various strategies to double projected installations from 35 GW to 70 GW by
2025, while its SHINE (Solar High-Impact National Energy) proposal calls for
290 GW of cumulative installed PV in the U.S. by 2025, providing 10% of
total U.S. electricity.

The industry needs "breakthrough" improvements in technology, "not just
incremental ones," to dramatically reduce the cost of solar and improve its
efficiency and reliability, the report notes, and there is a "wealth of
untapped opportunities that could significantly improve solar's appeal,"
such as improving economies of scale by building larger plants, improving
the 'balance of system' components of a solar installation, and better
integrating components so solar can be more cost-effective.

"Despite growing investments by some of the larger players, decreased
government funding and relatively meagre venture capital investments in the
earliest-stage solar start-ups undercut the chances that the market will see a technological breakthrough in the near term," it explains. "PV technology will continue to improve and steadily drop in cost, but it will be an incremental evolution" and a major government-sponsored R&D push could greatly accelerate the process.

"To rapidly bring solar to scale requires a simultaneous, coordinated
ramping up of both supply and demand," it explains, to overcome the
"chicken-and-egg problem of high prices depressing demand, which keeps
prices high." Large corporate and institutional purchases from the federal
government and military are needed, along with national incentive programs,
manufacturer incentives, utility cooperation and changes in local building
codes.

"There is much work to be done," and the report outlines three pathways of
current growth, accelerated growth and hypergrowth which "represent
critical, strategic choices to be made by the solar industry, political
leaders and citizens alike."

Among the companies surveyed were BP Solar, Evergreen Solar, PowerLight,
Sharp and Shell Solar.

+*+*+*+*

Clean Edge, Inc., based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a research and
strategic marketing firm that helps companies, investors, policymakers, and
non-profits understand and profit from clean-energy technologies. Through
its research reports and publications, distributed generation intelligence
services, strategic marketing services, and conferences and events, Clean
Edge's mission is to accurately track clean-energy trends and identify
market opportunities. Founded in 2000 by environmental and high-tech
business pioneers Joel Makower and Ron Pernick, Clean Edge and its growing network of partners and affiliates offer unparalleled insight, intelligence, and analysis on clean-energy technologies and markets.

For more information contact: Joel Makower- Clean Edge, Inc.
6 Hillwood Place - Oakland, CA 94610 US - 510-465-3600
makower@cleanedge.com

4) Earth's Inconstant Magnetic Field

NASA Science News, Dec. 29, 2003 http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/29dec_magneticfield.htm?list68305

Our planet's magnetic field is in a constant state of change, say researchers who are beginning to understand how it behaves and why.

Earth's magnetic north pole is racing away from North America. Compass
needles in Africa are drifting about 1 degree per decade. Globally the
magnetic field has weakened 10% since the 19th century. What's happening
to our planet's magnetic field? Researchers are seeking the answer. In
this story we see what they've learned in recent years.

Listen to this story via streaming audio, a downloadable file, or get help.

December 29, 2003: Every few years, scientist Larry Newitt of the Geological Survey of Canada goes hunting. He grabs his gloves, parka, a fancy compass, hops on a plane and flies out over the Canadian arctic. Not much stirs among the scattered islands and sea ice, but Newitt's prey is there--always moving, shifting, elusive.

His quarry is Earth's north magnetic pole.

At the moment it's located in northern Canada, about 600 km from the nearest town: Resolute Bay, population 300, where a popular T-shirt reads "Resolute Bay isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here." Newitt stops there for snacks and supplies--and refuge when the weather gets bad. "Which is often," he says.

The movement of Earth's north magnetic pole across the Canadian arctic, 1831--2001. Scientists have long known that the magnetic pole moves. James Ross located the pole for the first time in 1831 after an exhausting arctic journey during which his ship got stuck in the ice for four years. No one returned until the next century. In 1904, Roald Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved--at least 50 km since the days of Ross.

The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating "to 40 km per year," says Newitt. At this rate it will exit North America and reach Siberia in a few decades.

Keeping track of the north magnetic pole is Newitt's job. "We usually go out and check its location once every few years," he says. "We'll have to make more trips now that it is moving so quickly."

Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too: Compass needles in Africa, for instance, are drifting about 1 degree per decade. And globally the magnetic field has weakened 10% since the 19th century. When this was mentioned by researchers at a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, many newspapers carried the story. A typical headline: "Is Earth's magnetic field collapsing?"

Probably not. As remarkable as these changes sound, "they're mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past," says University of California professor Gary Glatzmaier.

-------- Rest of story at : http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/29dec_magneticfield.htm?list68305

5) Second Annual Arlington Seminar

Unique two-day conference on “Breakthrough Technologies for the World’s Biggest Problems” April 27-28, 2004, Arlington Institute, VA

John Peterson, FutureCasts, http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org

Humanity is advancing through an age of innovation and discovery we have never experienced before. At a global scale, we are creating conditions that simultaneously solve and cause more problems far faster than we can assess the significance and implications of our own actions. We have extraordinary opportunity, but we are as ill-prepared as most people doing something for the first time.

The Problem in a Nutshell: Technologies have made us efficient; yet we have not fully made sense of their potential and implications. Present technologies will not solve the world’s biggest problems, which are increasing in their magnitude and significance.

The conference will examine – at a systems level – the positive, negative, and interconnected impacts of technological advancement in the following areas: Health Care, Water, Energy, 3^rd World Development, Infotechnology, Nanotechnology, and Biotechnology.

To these ends, the conference will:

Showcase unique emerging technologies for the world’s biggest problems, by the innovators themselves
Provide high level experts in a number of technological areas
Combine first class presentations with interactive, lively discussions
Aim toward considering a normative future where technologies in all areas are “zero harm” – ensuring that the technology we create harms no part of our natural environment or humanity

Join The Arlington Institute as breakthrough innovators and experts from around the world converge on Washington DC to showcase some of these emerging technologies, discuss the exciting implications of a new global technological era, and plant the seeds of a global awareness about the technological challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Note: Registration for The Arlington Seminar 2004 is limited to 150 people. For more information, email johnp@arlingtoninstitute.orgnformation, email president and founder John Petersen at

Future Energy eNews

Future Energy eNews January 25, 2004

1) British Plan Major 'Wind Farm' to Generate Power Along Coasts

7) International UFO Congress Presents a Live Internet Broadcast

Saturday February 14, 2004 St. Valentine's Day

See also