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Renewable energy project in association with the government a reality?
Wireless Age Communications, Inc. is pursing opportunities with Plasma Gasification technology. Linked to Sunbay Energy Corp. (Port Hope), Wireless Age will look to benefit from the Green Energy Act of Ontario. Their principle routine will involve turning waste (feedstock) into clean (green) energy through an efficient, effective, and environmentally conscious effort. Ultimately, as strong evidence suggests there will be a takeover of Sunbay Energy Corp., and Wireless Age Communications, Inc. will be based out of Port Hope, Ontario as a renewable energy company. Source
Plasco Energy Group
Plasco Energy Group is a private entity based in Ottawa, Ontario. Their business, likewise, also involves waste to energy with the brilliance of plasma gasification technology. Source
They are a great example of what Wireless Age/Sunbay is striving to build -- only (Plasco) on a smaller scale.
After one year of operating their waste to energy plant based in Ottawa, Ontario, Plasco had the following to report:
convert 85 tonnes of solid waste per day using Plasco’s conversion technology. At that rate, a net amount of 4 MW of electricity—enough to power 3,600 homes—will be fed into the Ontario energy grid. Source
Sunbay Port Hope is preparing for a larger operation that will intake 400 tons per day of feedstock and produce 20 MW net to the grid. Source
Therefore Sunbay's proposed plant will operate 5X more effectively, converting municipal waste (feedstock) into enough energy to power not 3,600 but 18,000 homes.
Government grants.
Plasco Energy Group had the following to report in association with their Zero-Waste Ottawa project.
Private investment in Plasco over the last three years has totaled $90 million. The company received the largest single funding from Sustainable Technologies Development Canada ($9.5 million) and also received a $4 million dollar loan from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
Source
The Ontario Power Authority, reportedly to become Sunbay Port Hope's consumer of electricity set aside a $14.1 billion investment in the Ontario electricity system that began in 2005 and will continue through 2013. Source
Under the Green Energy Act of Ontario projects such as Sunbay Port Hope will be accommodated with capital injections just as the facility based out of Ottawa, with Plasco Energy Group.
Port Hope will amass a larger demand than their competition in Ottawa as the Greater Toronto Area is occupied by the largest population in the nation (Canada). Partnering with one of the largest waste haulers in the city (Toronto) the feedstock will be composed of low moisture, high energy material including recycling residuals from ICI wastes and textiles. Source
Under the Green Energy Act, a feed-in tariff program will be established. Source
Ontario's Proposed Feed-in Tariff Program Highlights (
Objectives of the FIT Program):
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Increase capacity of renewable energy supply to ensure
adequate generation and reduce emissions
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Simpler method to procure and develop generation
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Create new green industries through new investment and job creation
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Provide incentives for investment in renewable energy technologies
Source
Connecting local and provincial government to Sunbay Port Hope.
Among Sunbay's management team, Mr. Stein Lal occupies a position. Accordingly, he has served as the Deputy Minister of the Environment of Ontario and reserves strong ties to programs that will invest in this renewable energy project.
Background information, including various sources profiling Mr. Lal
Port Hope's Mayor comments on Sunbay's renewable energy project and their role in the Green Energy Act.
According to Linda Thompson, Mayor of Port Hope, Ontario, home of the Sunbay Port Hope Project:
"Now is the time for the public and private sector to work together to build essential infrastructure and create sustainable employment. The opportunity this opens for world-class energy projects that also protect the environment, like Sunbay Port Hope, could be a huge step forward for the Province." Source
Key words, "opportunities" (plural) and "North America" (therefore not limited to Canada, let alone Ontario) rights to plasma gasification opportunities in North America. Source
Wireless Age is proposing numerous projects in the "green" renewable energy district. Remember that President Obama set aside significant capital to fund operations of this nature.
Obama signs stimulus plan, touts clean energy.
February 17, 2009 1:15 PM PST
by Martin LaMonica
President Obama signed into law a government stimulus package Tuesday and said the energy provisions will pave the path for doubling the amount of renewable energy in the next three years.
Energy is a major piece of the massive $787 billion package, totaling about $38 billion in government spending and about $20 billion in tax incentives over the next 10 years, according to estimates.
Obama signed the bill, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, into law at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science where he later took a tour of the museum's solar-panel installation.
The energy portions of the law are intended to promote rapid development of renewable energy sources and increase energy efficiency in buildings, appliances, and other sectors of the economy.
The president said he hoped that the clean-energy-related portions of the bill will inspire Americans the same way that President Kennedy's goal to put a man on the moon did in the 1960s.
"I hope this investment will ignite our imagination once more in science, medicine, energy and make our economy stronger, our nation more secure, and our planet safer for our children," Obama said before signing the bill.
The major energy-related portions of the law were largely left intact after Congressional debate. Overall, the plan will more than triple the amount of spending on clean-energy programs, said Daniel Weiss, a fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Major energy portions include:
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A three-year extension to the tax credit for wind, which would have expired at the end of this year, and an extension until the end of 2013 for geothermal and biomass renewable-energy projects. The credit has been increased to 30 percent of the investment.
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$4.5 billion in direct spending to modernize the electricity grid with smart-grid technologies.
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$6.3 billion in state energy-efficient and clean-energy grants and $4.5 billion to make federal buildings more energy efficient.
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$6 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy systems, biofuel projects, and electric-power transmission facilities.
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$2 billion in loans to manufacture advanced batteries and components for applications such as plug-in electric cars.
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$5 billion to weatherize homes of up to 1 million low-income people.
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$3.4 billion appropriated to the Department of Energy for fossil energy research and development, such as storing carbon dioxide underground at coal power plants.
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A tax credit of between $2,500 and $5,000 for purchase of plug-in electric vehicles, available for the first 200,000 placed into service.
Measuring the impact
In general, companies in the green-technology field have welcomed the focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy production in the law.
The law gives renewable-energy project developers an alternative to the existing federal subsidy. Many renewable-energy projects have been stalled, or scrapped, because many investors don't have enough income to take advantage of a 30 percent federal tax credit. The bill now allows renewable-energy project developers to effectively get the same credit by applying for a loan from the Department of Energy for 30 percent of the project, explained Rhone Resch, the president of the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA).
The loan guarantees are designed to help companies to commercialize new energy technologies, by providing money for a manufacturing facility, for example. A number of green-tech companies, including flywheel storage company Beacon Power, electric-car company Tesla Motors, and battery maker A123 Systems have applied
More generally, investors and analysts said that the significance of the law is that it's a step toward crafting a more comprehensive energy policy, based on sustained commitment to renewable energy and efficiency.
"For years, U.S. policymakers' support for clean energy has been uneven," said Michael Liebreich, the CEO of research firm New Energy Finance, in a statement. "No longer...the U.S. will have a great chance to be the growth engine for our industry over the next several years.
The spending on the bill on things like smart grid technologies and energy efficiency should have a rapid impact, said Dennis Costello, a venture capitalist at Braemar Energy Ventures. But he said that even with the economic stimulus of the government spending, the conditions for energy technology firms remains very difficult.
Specifically, he said the drop in the cost of oil over the past year makes it harder for a firm that is seeking to develop a replacement, such as biofuels. Also, the overall recession continues to dampen demand for products and financing remains challenging.
"It's kind of refreshing to see at least beginnings of a real energy policy, some sort of unified approach to our energy problems," Costello said. "But it isn't going to solve our energy problems. There are a lot of countervailing factors to give pause to being over exuberant on the future of energy sector and clean tech."
Analysts noted there are other challenges to a rapid change in the slow-moving energy sector.
The stimulus act gives the Department of Energy control over billions of dollars in loans and spending on research and development projects--more than the department's annual budget. But the Energy Department has not dispersed money in the past few years because of its slow approval process, which Secretary Steven Chu said he intends to speed up.
Also, a sharp increase in renewable energy from wind and solar power requires building new power lines to bring electricity from windy and sunny areas to more populated regions.
Bramaer's Costello said an industry association estimated that the stimulus act spending could lead to 3,000 new miles of transmission lines. However, sitting these new lines is a contentious process and likely to meet local and state opposition.
"Siting of transmission lines is this going to be the Achilles' heel of renewables," said Elgie Holstein, a senior energy policy adviser in the Obama administration.
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