Solar Not Forgotten In Obama’s Proposed 2011 Budget

The proposed 2011 budget that was proposed by President Barack Obama does not exclude investments in clean energy, but subsidies for the oil, coal and gas industries were.

Specifically, the president’s FY 2011 budget request includes the following:

• Lending authority to support approximately $40 billion in loan guarantees for innovative clean energy programs;

• More than $108 million in new funding to advance and expand research in the areas of wind, solar and geothermal energies;

• More than $217 million in new funding for science research and discovery, including an additional $40 million for the existing Energy Frontier Research Centers program and $107 million for Energy Innovation Hubs; and

• $300 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency – Energy.

In developing this budget, several program reductions and terminations are proposed, including eliminating more than $2.7 billion in tax subsidies for the oil, coal and gas industries. This step is estimated to generate more than $38.8 billion in revenue for the federal government over the course of the next 10 years.

The budget includes $302.4 million for the solar energy program, a 22% increase from last year’s spending, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies budget includes another $7.2 million for solar heating and cooling, also an increase over last year.

These increases comes at a time when most of the government received substantial budget reductions, SEIA notes. In addition to the solar program, the president has requested a $5 billion expansion the Section 48C manufacturing tax credit that was passed in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. SEIA expects to see the expansion of this program pass as part of the Jobs Bill now under development.

The breakdown of the DOE Solar Energy Program is as follows:

• $152 million for PV, increased from $128.5 million;

• $98.2 million for concentrating solar power (CSP) – including $50 million for a new demonstration program – increased from $49.7 million;

• $30.7 million for systems integration, increased from $23.3 million; and

• $21.5 million for market transformation, decreased from $23.5 million.

The DOE Building Technologies Program includes $7.3 million for solar heating and cooling. Transmission-related budget requests include continued support for renewable generators and reliability, as well as an additional $6.4 million for “permitting, siting and analysis” to educate states, regional grid operators, federal agencies and help assist in modernizing the electric grid. The Department of the Interior budget includes a total of $73 million investment in renewable energy.

www.solarindustry.com

Obama Backs Solar Jobs In His State Of The Union Address

Clean energy jobs and economic recovery took center stage in President Barack Obama’s second State of the Union address tonight before a Joint Session of Congress that was televised and webcast across the country and around the world.

The President said that there should more Americans working to  building clean energy facilities, and plans to give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient, which supports clean energy jobs.

Last year, the President made the largest investment in basic research funding in history, an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched.

You can see the results of last year’s investment in clean energy Obama said. In North Carolina one company will create 1,200 jobs nationwide helping to make advanced batteries and in California one business will put 1,000 people to work making solar panels as a part of his investments.

Solar Energy Industries Association President and CEO Rhone Resch was naturally suppportive of the President’s efforts and said the solar industry is responding by providing jobs for the American people. The solar industry grew by almost 40 percent in 2009, creating 18,000 jobs across the country in areas hardest hit by the recession, Resch said.

President Obama said he is not willing to wait and put America’s future on hold before investing in a clean energy economy.

www.ens-newswire.com

Obama Gives $2.3B In Tax Credits to Solar & Wind Energy

President Barack Obama last week announced the award of US $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits. One hundred eighty three projects in 43 states will receive that funds that are meant to help create tens of thousands of jobs through the domestic manufacturing of advanced clean energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency and energy management technologies.

While projects selected for this tax credit generally must be placed in service by 2014, approximately 30 percent of them will be completed in 2010.