Panelists Say Consistent Policy Can Overcome Low Carbon Fuel Barriers

Advancing clean technology requires the merging of policy, innovation, and financial investment, according to speakers at conferences hosted by Pacific Gas & Electric July 19 and 11. Also key to the success of innovative energy solutions is the collaboration of various stakeholders, including alternative technology developers, utilities, oil companies, universities and national laboratories, panelists stressed. “A big tent encompassing various groups to avoid going off in 20 different directions” is needed, said Barry Klein, University of California, Davis, vice chancellor. Four years ago, impediments to clean technology were associated with deficiencies in finance, public education, economies of scale, and government support. Many of these issues have evolved, however, into a new set of leveraging issues that need to be prioritized, conference speakers agreed. Assemblymember Ira Ruskin (D-Los Altos), chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Natural Resources, gave several examples of pending bills in the state Senate, which aim to strengthen the development of renewables, entrepreneurialism, and cleantech investment. They include SB 411 and SB 451. In addressing complaints about policy implementation inconsistency, Ruskin said there is a lack of stability, but that it’s being countered by beneficial policies, such as AB 32, the state’s climate protection law. To address the issue of an absent financial support structure, Ruskin called for developing a “California Index of Return on Investment” as a way to benchmark whether funds are being used wisely. A report released at the July 19 conference is a “call to arms” to the San Francisco Bay area to take the lead of fueling a clean energy future, according to Klein. The report, by the multi-sector Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium (BASIC), aims to lead the way to an energy portfolio that is “viable, sustainable and environmentally supportable.” The report looks as eight alternative technologies, including energy efficiency, biomass, wind, solar, fuel cell, hydrogen fuel, geothermal, nuclear power, and their associated benefits and challenges. Another barrier to renewables debated by panelists was the current status of complex and time-consuming permit processes that create hurdles for companies in financing and getting product in the pipeline. “It’s all about execution,” said Jeff Dasovich, Microgy senior vice president and regional manager. “I have got to get those permits! If you want a 100 percent certainty, nothing will happen.”

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Panelists Say Consistent Policy Can Overcome Low Carbon Fuel Barriers

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