Renewable Energy

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's plan to create jobs relies on an expansion of renewable energy in California. The energy plan, introduced during his campaign, contains few details but includes: Generating enough new renewable energy within California to serve more than 30% of current peak energy demand Reducing energy consumption in existing homes by 40% Revising energy-efficiency standards for new homes and commercial buildings...

Re "Solar standoff in the Mojave," Editorial, May 1 The Times is correct about the Genesis Solar Project when it writes, "Solar power is a vital part of the move to clean, renewable energy as well as greater independence from foreign oil. " Genesis will produce enough electricity for nearly 90,000 average homes and avoid putting more than 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. Sadly, the term "fast track," which once described a proactive, priority-driven approach to breaking bureaucratic gridlock, has now become unfairly associated with cutting corners and adverse environmental and cultural impacts.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced Tuesday that it has shelved plans for a 970-acre solar farm near the Salton Sea, just as members of the City Council signaled that they were unprepared to support the project. The DWP's interim general manager, S. David Freeman, said he was troubled by the costs of the 55-megawatt project, which had been slated to go up on land purchased by the utility in 2006. Freeman made his comments moments after Councilwoman Jan Perry, who heads the council's Energy and the Environment Committee, said she planned to send the solar project back to the DWP for more work.

Developers in the Mojave Desert last month were so keen on going forward with their project that they didn't consult with Native Americans about the ancient objects that might lie underground or conduct the required archaeological work in a thorough way. This has happened before: It happened most recently in downtown Los Angeles last year at the site of one of the area's oldest burial grounds. Now it's happening again 200 miles east, in the desert. But there's a key difference between the two. In the case of La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the new cultural center honoring Mexican and Mexican American history in L.A., there was little legitimate reason to rush the job once remains from a 19th century cemetery were discovered.

Renewable energy is surpassing fossil fuels for the first time in new power-plant investments, shaking off setbacks from the financial crisis and an impasse at the United Nations global warming talks. Electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass drew $187 billion last year compared with $157 billion for natural gas, oil and coal, according to calculations by Bloomberg New Energy Finance using the latest data. Accelerating installations of solar- and wind-power plants led to lower equipment prices, making clean energy more competitive with coal.

For Sale: 3,400 acres in the desert. • No paved roads. Check. • Isolated. Ideal. • Land not suitable for farming. Perfect. • Blistering sunshine. Jackpot. • Asking price: $34 million. Deal. As large-scale solar development has spooled out into Southwestern deserts, the modern-day gold rush is about more than renewable energy. Solar companies and land speculators are gobbling up scarce private land in the California deserts, driving prices up 10- to 20-fold, or even higher.

Getting investors excited about long-lasting batteries was a challenge for Leyden Energy in the early days. Raising funds was even harder. Then came the iPhone. The popularity of Apple's mobile device and other smartphones sent engineers into a frenzy to create batteries that could outlast the power hogs. The Fremont, Calif., lithium-ion battery company was already working on a solution, and as a result it recently raised $20 million in venture funding. Energy storage companies such as Leyden Energy led clean technology investment during the third quarter by raking in $421 million in venture capital, a 1,932% increase from the same period last year, according to an Ernst & Young report.

California is blessed with renewable energy resources that it has barely begun to harvest, an enlightened electorate that understands the importance of doing so and a venture-capital community eager to make green investments. In fact, the state has everything it needs to lead the world in clean energy development, except for one thing: a functional government. The Legislature isn't just bad at passing budgets; it's bad at moving major legislation even when it's favored by a strong majority of lawmakers and the public.

The state Senate acted Thursday to require California utilities to boost their use of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources to a third of total supply by the year 2020. California law already requires utilities to get a fifth of their power from renewable energy. If this measure becomes law, utilities will be forced to lean even more heavily on green power ? improving air quality and helping the economy in the process, supporters said. "Right now we can begin to create the jobs that this state so desperately needs," said state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto)

A mandate that California utilities increase their use of renewable energy sailed through the state Assembly on Tuesday and is headed for the governor's desk. Environmental groups say the legislation is the most ambitious of its kind in the country. It would require the state's electricity companies to provide 33% of power from renewable resources by the year 2020. State law now sets a 20% goal. Supporters made their case by invoking the nuclear plant problems in Japan and conflict in the oil-rich Middle East, as well as the struggling California economy: Environmentalists have said the mandate could create 100,000 jobs.

The American public is divided about whether to eliminate federal subsidies for any form of energy and is giving less support to nuclear power and U.S. funding of renewable energy, a new poll has found. Fifty-four percent of respondents opposed doing away with subsidies for oil, gas, coal, nuclear or renewable energy, while 47% favored the idea. Support for building more nuclear power plants has fallen dramatically, to 42% from 61% in 2008. The Yale-George Mason University poll being released Thursday found that 76% of Americans support regulating carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas pollutant and that two-thirds believe the U.S. should pursue policies to reduce its carbon footprint.

SAN FRANCISCO — At 11:10 a.m. on the dot, a squad of fresh-faced environmental activists bearing ominous black balloons sashayed into Apple's flagship store on Union Square. Some were dressed like members of a hipster, black-clad cleaning crew. Others plastered outsize decals on the minimalist retail establishment's windows. And anyone taking an Apple device for a test drive Tuesday morning was automatically routed to a Greenpeace website . The store takeover — carried out in sync with actions in New York and Toronto — was part of a global Greenpeace campaign to get technology giants to switch to renewable sources of energy for powering the electricity-hungry information cloud.

AMARGOSA VALLEY, Calif. - April Sall gazed out at the Mojave Desert flashing past the car window and unreeled a story of frustration and backroom dealings. Her small California group, the Wildlands Conservancy, wanted to preserve 600,000 acres of the Mojave. The group raised $45 million, bought the land and deeded it to the federal government. The conservancy intended that the land be protected forever. Instead, 12 years after accepting the largest land gift in American history, the federal government is on the verge of opening 50,000 acres of that bequest to solar development.

Green energy may be losing momentum inside the Beltway. But officials in the heart of Silicon Valley are betting on the sun. This week, the Palo Alto City Council approved a plan to buy clean power from local utility customers who install solar panels on their roofs. That's right. The power company will pay them, not the other way around. The arrangement - known by the clunky name “feed-in tariff” - is still a rarity in the United States. But Palo Alto officials want to help pioneer the effort.

Reporting from Tempe, Ariz. -- It was almost as if Torii Hunter hit the refresh button on his career this winter. The Angels right fielder spoke of retirement several times in 2011, at one point saying he wanted to leave the game as an Angel after his five-year, $90-million contract expired after this season. But a strong two-month finish, when he shook off a pesky quadriceps injury to hit .324 with a .396 on-base percentage, .537 slugging percentage and 10 homers in 51 games, coupled with the off-season additions of slugger Albert Pujols and pitcher C.J. Wilson have invigorated the 36-year-old.

For Sale: 3,400 acres in the desert. • No paved roads. Check. • Isolated. Ideal. • Land not suitable for farming. Perfect. • Blistering sunshine. Jackpot. • Asking price: $34 million. Deal. As large-scale solar development has spooled out into Southwestern deserts, the modern-day gold rush is about more than renewable energy. Solar companies and land speculators are gobbling up scarce private land in the California deserts, driving prices up 10- to 20-fold, or even higher.

A state agency is expected to approve regulations Thursday that could break an impasse in a long-sought goal to require utilities in California to obtain a third of their power from solar and other renewable sources by 2020. The vote by the California Air Resources Board is being watched closely by clean-tech companies, many of which have curtailed expansion of their operations in the state because of the regulatory deadlock. But critics said the regulations, which would also include a streamlined permitting process for renewable energy projects, could face an uphill battle with an unsympathetic new governor and could be overturned by a ballot initiative.

Reporting from Sacramento California Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Tuesday will ask a state panel that hands out sales tax exemptions to renewable energy manufacturers to suspend the program in the wake of the Solyndra scandal. Lockyer, who heads the panel, said he will ask fellow members of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority at a meeting to not approve any new applications for tax exemptions. The program is aimed at encouraging the purchase of equipment used to make solar panels and other energy-saving projects.

Two more golden eagles have been found dead at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power wind farm in the Tehachapi Mountains, for a total of eight carcasses of the federally protected raptors found at the site. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to determine the cause of death of the two golden eagles found Sunday at the Pine Tree wind farm, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles and 15 miles northeast of Mojave, said Lois Grunwald, a spokeswoman for the agency. The agency has determined that the six golden eagles found dead earlier at the 2-year-old wind farm in Kern County were struck by blades from some of the 90 turbines spread across 8,000 acres at the site.

Executives from the U.S. hydropower, geothermal and biomass power industries called Wednesday for the passage of a congressional bill that would extend production tax credits to all renewable-energy projects. The leaders were referring to H.R. 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011. The bill has been offered by Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and has drawn bipartisan support from more than 60 co-sponsors. Failure to pass the bill, the executives said, would put thousands of jobs across the country at risk, stall active energy projects and make it very likely that few new projects would get the funding necessary to begin.