A nationwide misinformation campaign is underway to dismantle state-level policies critical to the growth of wind and solar. Panelists at the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Conference, taking place in Baltimore April 16-20, will unveil the misinformation at the heart of these efforts, and address ways to counter the opposition.

Boulder, CO, March 21, 2013 — Special interest groups opposed to renewable energy and funded by fossil fuel interests, including the billionaire Koch brothers, are stepping up their misinformation campaign to repeal or weaken bipartisan Renewable Electricity Standards (RES) – also known as Renewable Portfolio Standards – in states across the US this year.

The nationwide effort to prevent adoption of renewable energy technologies is spearheaded by the Washington, DC-based American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a source of policy templates crafted by special interest groups and corporations and distributed to ALEC members in state legislatures nationwide. Sample legislation proffered by ALEC – such as the “Electricity Freedom Act” – has resulted in copycat bills to repeal or weaken existing renewable electricity standards sponsored by ALEC members in states like Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio this year.

The language found in ALEC’s legislative template makes no mention of the external costs imposed by fossil fuels, such as volatile fuel prices, air pollution, climate change and environmental degradation. Additionally, the legislation does not account for the benefits of job creation and risk mitigation.

Renewable electricity standards now in place in 29 states and the District of Columbia, require utilities to generate a certain percentage of their electricity using renewable energy 
technologies. While the standards vary from state to state, they have contributed to a doubling of the electricity generated by non-hydro renewable energy in the last five years. And that rate of growth is increasing, adding tens of thousands of jobs and creating the fastest-growing sector of the US economy in the process.

The panel discussion of political attacks on renewable energy includes:

• Jeffery Wolfe (Moderator), Founder and Chairman, groSolar
• Emily Duncan, Director of Government Affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
• Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy
• Gabe Elsner, Director of the Checks & Balances Project
• David Anderson, Outreach Coordinator for Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists

About the American Solar Energy Society

Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation’s leading association of solar professionals and advocates. Our mission is to inspire an era of energy innovation and speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy. ASES leads national efforts to increase the use of solar energy and other sustainable technologies through the publication of the award-winning SOLAR TODAY magazine, the ASES National Solar Tour – the largest grassroots solar event in the world, and the the ASES National Solar Conference. For more information about ASES and the SOLAR 2013 conference please visit http://www.ases.org/solar2013.
# # #

Contact:
Seth Masia
smasia@ases.org
303.443.3130 x109

Lili Francklyn
lfrancklyn@ases.org
303-443-3130 x 107

Theme: The Renewable Energy Landscape in 2013

Day and Time: Wednesday, April 17th: 10:30 am-12:00 pm

Come Join us for Wednesday’s plenary session at SOLAR2013 and have the honor of listening to distinguished speakers Kevin Knobloch, Eric Martinot, and John Byrne!

Economics & Politics of Clean Energy & Climate Science
Kevin Knobloch: President, Union of Concerned Scientists

Kevin will be speaking from 10:30-12:30 pm. He is knowledgable about a range of environmental and national security issues and brings 32 years of experience in public policy, government, advocacy, and media to his job as president of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

The Road Forward: The REN21 Global Futures Report
Eric Martinot: Report Author, The REN21 Global Futures Report

Eric will be speaking from 10:30-12:30 pm. Dr. Martinot has worked in renewable energy for 25 years and is an internationally recognized scholar, writer, and teacher on the subject. He is report author of the pioneering REN21 Renewables Global Futures Report, and was lead author from 2005-2010 of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report, an annual synthesis of markets and policies.

New Energy For a New Climate: Risks & Progress
John Byrne: Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Deleware

John will be speaking from 10:30-12:30 pm. Dr.Byrne is the distinguished Professor of Energy and Climate Policy and Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP) at the University of Delaware. He is also Chairman and CEO of the Foundation for Renewable Energy & Environment (FREE).

Boulder, CO, March 14, 2013 — The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) welcomes Jochen Flasbarth, President, German Federal Environment Agency, and David Wedepohl, Markets & Communications Director of German Solar Industry Association at its annual National Solar Conference, SOLAR 2013, in Baltimore, April 16-20. ASES will explore the German policies and financial incentives that have led to rapid growth in the country’s renewable energy installations, exceeding the expectations of policy analysts and investors around the world.

On Thursday, April 18, Jochen Flasbarth will join Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, in a plenary session on Climate & Resiliency. Other speakers include Alice LeBlanc, former head of the Office of Environment and Climate Change at American International Group (AIG) and Patricia Hoffman of the Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. Behind Germany’s rapid development of renewable energy is a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2020. That goal is linked to producing 35% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and 80% by 2050. German goals also include reduction in fossil fuel imports and sustainable economic growth.

David Wedepohl will speak on “Building the Solar Industry” on Friday, April 19, along with Rhone Resch, head of the Solar Energy Industries Association; Tony Clifford,  CEO of Standard Solar; and Laura Jones, a partner at Hunton & Williams and an expert on tax incentives for renewable energy. Wedepohl will also participate in a panel session that explores which German policies might be appropriate in the United States.

The key driver behind the rapid expansion of renewable energy in Germany has been the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT), a long-term contract guaranteeing revenue for solar producers over a twenty-year time-period. The FIT, which pays more than the retail cost of electricity, has encouraged hundreds of thousands of German farmers and homeowners to earn income by owning grid-tied solar. Germany encourages the development of distributed energy, as opposed to central power production, a policy which has boosted economic development in rural areas and made them into net energy exporters. Because the country has focused on eliminating red tape and cumbersome permitting requirements, the cost of a PV system in Germany is half what it is in the United States. Germany’s solar industry now employs upwards of 300,000 people, more than its auto industry.

About the American Solar Energy Society:

Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation’s leading association of solar professionals and advocates. Our mission is to inspire an era of energy innovation and speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy. ASES leads national efforts to increase the use of solar energy and other sustainable technologies through the publication of the award-winning SOLAR TODAY magazine, the ASES National Solar Tour – the largest grassroots solar event in the world, and the the ASES National Solar Conference. For more information about ASES and the SOLAR 2013 conference please visit http://www.ases.org/solar2013.

Learn more about the German speakers here.

Contact:
Seth Masia
smasia@ases.org
303.443.3130 x109

Lili Francklyn
lfrancklyn@ases.org
303-443-3130 x 107

SOLAR2013

State budgets are strained and federal government support for solar programs is dwindling; the ASES conference will explore ways that solar can continue to be financed without subjecting the industry to roller coaster market conditions. Other themes include the impact of net metering policies, the challenges of grid integration, the burgeoning movement to develop community solar projects, and efforts to bring solar to a more diverse economic population. Here are the highlights:

Finance

Policy

Featured Event – Passive Conference Plenary:

• The Mythic Modern: Mythology, Ecology and Technology….the Spirit of Place, delivered by Travis Price, FAIA, author of “The Archeology of Tomorrow: Architecture and the Sprit of Place”

Emerging Architecture & Passive Building Technology

Daylighting, Modeling & Building Automation

Highlights from the technical sessions:

• New techniques for making high-performance quantum-dot and nanoparticle photovoltaic cells.
• The status of the High Definition PV Project, and industry-wide program to reduce the cost of solar installations through plug-and-play standardization.
• Several new techniques to reduce the cost of dispatchable power from utility-scale concentrating solar (CSP) thermal plants, a key development in providing cheap, clean solar power to run municipal grids through the night.
• Solar-powered furnaces that generate hydrogen or syngas fuels at high efficiency.
• A wide variety of simplified techniques for minute-to-minute and hour-to-hour forecasting of solar farm output, useful for balancing loads across geographical regions.
• Efficient new ways to store solar-heated hot water – and use solar heat to drive air-conditioners.
• Low-cost feedstocks to make cheap biodiesel.
• Hybrid light rail that runs when the grid goes down.
• Driving large desalinization and waste-water recovery systems with renewable energy.

Photovoltaics ・Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) ・ Solar Thermal ・Hydro ・Small-Scale, Distributed Wind ・Hydro ・Forecasting & Modeling ・Sustainable Transportation ・Water – Energy Nexus