Today, we are in Austin, Texas (and no, we’re not attending South by Southwest, that’s next month) for Renewable Energy World’s North America Conference. The agenda includes a mix of technical discussions (one panel is entitled “Overcoming Supply Chain Challenges to Wind Power in the U.S.”) and panels looking at U.S. renewable energy policy and access to development capital.
We plan to attend as many panel discussions as possible, with a slight bias for those focusing on project finance. Speaking today at one such panel, called “Financing renewable energy: after the stimulus,” are Raymond Wood of Credit Suisse and Mit Buchanan of JP Morgan Capital.
For this panel GER will try something new: A Live Tweet! If you would like to get real time updates on the panel discussion, click here to become a follower of Greenenergyrep, Green Energy Reporter’s Twitter feed.
The Austin gathering is a concentrate of bread-and-butter issues for GER, so count on us keeping you up-to-date on key take aways.
Beyond Austin
A lot of the renewable energy news cycle, today, should focus on the much-anticipated rollout of the Bloom Box. For the past eight years secretive Bloom Energy has been developing this energy storage devise, raising $400 million in VC funding along the way. The company started lifting the veil on its box Sunday with a feature on 60 Minutes. Correspondent Lesley Stahl best described the technology as “a little power plant in a box.” Check out the Bloom Energy Web site, which as we write, has a ticking clock counting down the hours until the official launch.
In Washington expect some feedback — both positive and negative — on the Senate version of the climate change and energy bill drafted by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.). The bill received a 100 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters and Senator Kerry now seems ready to introduce his legislation for a full vote.
In the UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband’s (#1 in our January Top Ten Players in Green Energy) Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) policy faces a major test in the House of Commons. A group of rebel Labor MPs are threatening to vote against the green bill because its provisions blocking future coal-fired power plants, they say, are not robust enough, writes BusinessGreen.com.