n a setback for the renewable energy movement, the state House in Oklahoma this week passed a bill
that would levy a new fee on those who generate their own energy
through solar equipment or wind turbines on their property.
The
measure, which sailed to passage on a near unanimous vote after no
debate, is likely to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin. The bill, known as S.B. 1456, will
specifically target those who install power generation systems on their
property and sell the excess energy back to the grid. However, those who
already have such renewable systems installed will not be affected.
Still, it’s the new customers who will
rapidly make up the majority, even in a traditional oil-and-gas
powerhouse like Oklahoma. That’s because the cost of solar power systems
has been drastically falling for the last five years. Solar installations worldwide are going to shoot up to an estimated 45 gigawatts in 2014, a new record, and are projected to grow even more in coming years as solar prices fall further and fossil fuel extraction gets harder and more expensive.
Now, utility firms in Oklahoma say they
just want to be compensated for use of their infrastructure. But
renewable energy fed back into the grid is ultimately doing utility
companies a service. Solar generates in the daytime, when demand for
electricity is highest, thereby alleviating pressure during peak demand.
Oklahoma is not alone. Last year, Arizona enacted a similar law. Legislators in Spain tried to do the same thing. The pushback against renewable energy, it seems, is already here. That there is a pushback should not come
as a shock. Technological innovations are often resisted by those who
have a stake in the old system, and energy companies are deeply invested
in fossil fuels and nuclear power. While some old energy companies — such as BP and ExxonMobil
— are investing in fast-growing renewables as a hedge against their
current business model going the way of the dinosaurs, it’s hardly
surprising that many are quietly demanding legislation to make
renewables less competitive.
But giving into this pressure is a really bad idea. Renewable energy isn’t just any new technology — it is, as the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argues,
our best and possibly only hope to mitigate dangerous climatic changes
caused by humans dumping carbon emissions into the atmosphere:
The new IPCC
report warns that carbon emissions have soared in the last decade and
are now growing at almost double the previous rate. But its
comprehensive analysis found rapid action can still limit global
warming to 2°C, the internationally agreed safe limit, if low-carbon
energy triples or quadruples by 2050. [The Guardian]
The answer? Renewable energy:
Catastrophic
climate change can be averted without sacrificing living standards
according to a UN report, which concludes that the transformation
required to a world of clean energy is eminently affordable. "It doesn’t
cost the world to save the planet," said economist Professor Ottmar
Edenhofer, who led the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
team. [The Guardian]
Renewable energy already has a mountain to climb. Many complain about President Obama’s modest subsidies for renewable energy, but on a global scale fossil fuels receive ten times the subsidies that renewable energy enjoys.
That makes it more difficult for renewable energy to compete in terms
of cost. Even though renewables have some inherent advantages — namely,
that they’re renewable, whereas fossil fuels are finite — it’s an uphill
battle. And every dollar of taxes on solar and wind makes the goal of a renewable-energy world more distant.
http://theweek.com/article/index/260115/the-worlds-dumbest-idea-taxing-solar-energy
No comments:
Post a Comment