Dear Friends of SAC:

We are very excited to announce the debut of SAC’s sustainability hub website – please see the article below this letter.

But before we delve into the world of technology, we are compelled to take a moment to ask for YOUR SUPPORT in SAC’s continued existence and expansion.

During our 2009 reincarnation, you have helped the all-volunteer board take SAC to a new level. You have talked with us at the Community Stakeholder meetings in February. In response, we have created the VIRTUAL HUB that you asked for!

You also have participated with us in the budding Food and Energy Working Groups. The Food WG is mapping and envisioning what a sustainable local food system would look like. The Energy WG is discussing how SAC might help to further the goals of energy conservation, particularly for low-income residents who spend a disproportionate amount of their incomes for energy.

SAC has been participating in UF’s Sustainability Forum of community leaders, and we have made our organization available to provide coordination, social marketing, and accountability services for potential stimulus grants that may be coming to our community.

We have not made a plea for funds since 2007, so NOW IS THE TIME!

We need funds to create a PHYSICAL HUB to mirror the virtual hub. We envision a space where we can offer community meetings, sustainability workshops, and a lending library of sustainability tools. We want to offer an ongoing slate of workshops in coordination with our community partners.

In SAC’s view, the worlds of computer social networking and learning skills for energy conservation and backyard gardening walk hand in hand toward a sustainable future.

PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TO SAC by visiting our new website at
http://sustainablealachua.org/ and clicking the “Make a Donation” tab. Better yet, sign up to participate in the website, and you will offered an opportunity to donate.

If you would like to discuss a major donation of physical space or sponsorship of events, please contact Susan Marynowski at sustainableac@gmail.com. You also may mail a check to Sustainable Alachua County, PO Box 2772, Gainesville, FL 32602-2772.

Thank you for all you have done for sustainability in our community and for making a donation to SAC today. We greatly appreciate your support.

For all things sustainable,
Susan Marynowski
and the entire SAC Board

Clean energy is one of the fastest growing industries in today’s economy, and Gainesville is positioned to be a leader in this dynamic field. According to a 2008 report from research firm Clean Edge, fuel cells, solar PV, wind energy and biofuels — a combined $77.3 billion market in 2007 — will increase to $254.5 billion (or 229 percent) within a decade.

Florida averages roughly 240 days of year-round sunshine and receives 85 percent of the maximum solar resource available in the U.S. With more than 430 companies and nearly 16,000 employees, Florida has one of the largest concentrations in the U.S of suppliers of silicon, solar PV module components and balance of systems components, according to Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development entity. Florida ranks among the top five states in the production of solar thermal collectors. Florida researchers are already developing next generation photovoltaic technologies, like thin film PV based on amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, CIS/CIGS and other emerging and nano materials.

The Council for Economic Outreach (CEO) is seeing an influx of clean energy projects considering Gainesville. Of the 35 projects CEO has worked with in 2009, nearly a third are in the clean energy sector.

For more information, go to http://www.gainesvillechamber.com/Clean-Energy-Economy.aspx

The feed-in tariff has proven to be the best way to get quick movement in renewable energy development and create a lot of jobs,” said state Rep. Matt Pierce (D), who has introduced a feed-in tariff proposal in Indiana. (New York Times)

In Florida, the Gainesville Regional Utilities adopted a feed-in tariff with a rate of $0.32 per kilowatt-hour guaranteed for the next 20 years. The program is modeled closely after European systems and reached its self-imposed cap of 4 MW in minutes after accepting applications. In comparison, the U.S. Department of Energy took over three years to award the first loan guarantee for solar after the Energy Policy Act passage in 2005.

Perhaps similar to the problems in using European benchmarks in the current U.S. healthcare debate, FITs are still seen by some as some strange, exotic policy not applicable to the U.S. market. Some observers have even claimed that that the type of incentives does not matter, just the amount. One solar lobbyist even said about Germany, “They’ve been handing out bags of money and calling it a feed-in tariff. People think that they want a feed-in tariff, but what they really want is those bags of money.”

“A lot of the charm of the feed-in tariff is solid, take-it-to-the-bank security and confidence for the investing community,” said U.S. Representative Jay Inslee (D-Wash), a sponsor of legislation that would establish a nationwide FIT. His bill was introduced in Congress last year and would use FITs to incent small projects up to 20 MW and help streamline grid interconnections.

An analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) also confirmed that countries with feed-in tariffs have cheaper renewable electricity than those with renewable energy credits, the mechanism behind RPS. The tariff system is less risky, and investors are willing to accept lower profits for long-term stability, according to the report.

“We deal with data and the evidence is very clear,” said Toby Couture, a researcher with the NREL in a report by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (March 22, 2009). “Feed-in tariffs have consistently proven to be cheaper for consumers. That’s the bottom line.”

Increasingly, FITs are seen as complimentary to well-crafted RPS policies. One report concluded, “RPS policies appear to be converging with some of the design characteristics typically associated with feed-in tariffs. As a result, it could become increasingly possible to incorporate elements of feed-in tariffs into RPS policy making,” (Feed-in Tariffs and Renewable Energy in the USA – a Policy Update, May 2008). A similar conclusion was made in a March 2009 report by the NREL that concluded: “FIT policies…can be used in parallel and wholly separate from RPS policies, they can replace a part of the current mechanism (perhaps to support a solar carve-out, or distributed generation), or they can be used to entirely replace RPS mechanisms. Of course, they can also be used by states with voluntary renewable energy goals to advance renewable energy development (Technical Report, NREL/TP-6A2 45549 March 2009).

Despite their proven effectiveness and ability to work in conjunction with RPS policies, national, state and regional FIT legislation has been a grass roots affair, not supported by national environmental or renewable energy associations. Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association said in January, “What you are also going to see is a focus by industry to create feed-in tariffs at the state level. Creating these programs at the state level will provide a laboratory that shows the federal government how this kind of incentive program stimulates the market. So we are probably a couple years away from a major push on feed-in tariffs at the federal level.”

Call them what you will, but feed-in tariffs or performance-based incentives need to be seriously considered by every country and every policy maker in the world looking to expand the contribution of solar energy. They will be required to reach meaningful national climate goals and achieve significant job creation and economic stimulus. Elimination or marginalization of FITs by many policy makers in the U.S. cannot be a healthy sign for optimal legislation in the future. While near-term legislative action needs to focus on winnable, achievable victories, long-term success will require effective instruments grounded in solid economics.

For more information click here or visit Pure Energy Solar.

The GRU feed-in tariff program has the potential to attract major new renewable energy investments and provide a vital boost to the local economy. More than 220 companies currently produce, sell or install solar PV products in Florida alone. While the program does not require that solar PV equipment be sourced from or installed by local or in-state companies, products and service providers must meet all applicable national and local standards and be licensed to operate in Florida.

Indeed, solar companies in the Gainesville area reported that the initial implementation of the feed-in tariff program was good for business. Wayne Irwin, president of Pure Energy Solar, a contractor based in the city, says the program will “grow the industry.” Mike Antheil, executive director of the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy, agreed that investments could amount to as much as $50 million in the long run. However, because preference for local solar companies was not written into the program, it may also attract solar companies from out-of-state who aim to capitalize on the expected growth.

For more information please visit Pure Energy Solar or click here.