Energy & Clean Tech Connections: Your Law Firm Link to Industry News

August 2012

In the August edition of Energy & Clean Tech Connections, we’ve gathered recent information from a wide variety of sources in an effort to keep you abreast of what’s new in the world of clean energy. We draw your attention to the latest industry developments, news from local governments to Capitol Hill, grant opportunities, and upcoming events.

This month, the Energy and Clean Technology Practice would like to applaud the CleanTech Open’s event, Navigating IP and Other Legal Risks: A Startup Workshop, at Mintz Levin’s Boston office on August 14, 2012. The workshop was a success, targeting a variety of legal hurdles that cleantech startups face as they move down the product development pipeline. Throughout the day, entrepreneurs learned from experienced attorneys the best practices for approaching legal concerns and received one-on-one advice on business issues. Topics included protecting intellectual property, orchestrating equity deal term sheets, and contracting with consultants and customers.

We are excited to report that MassCEC released the 2012 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report. According to the report, the expanding sector employs 71,523 people at 4,995 firms across Massachusetts, indicating that the state’s clean energy economy grew 11.2% between July 2011 and July 2012. Additionally, the report includes a breakdown of companies and employment statistics by technology sector, geographic region, and workforce trends.

On Capitol Hill last week, the Army issued a request for proposals (RFP) for alternative energy to help meet the Department of Defense’s goal of producing or procuring 25% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. The contracts, for 2.5 million MW of energy by type, include solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and potentially fuel cells and ocean oscillation systems. A Pre-Proposal Conference will be held August 22 in Huntsville, Alabama. Potential respondents must also submit any clarifying questions via the RPF website by August 24.

In other news, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved, 29-19, the No More Solyndras Act (H.R. 6213) August 1. The legislation would phase out the Energy Department’s loan guarantee program, but allow the agency to process applications that are already in the pipeline and use its $34 billion in loan guarantee authority, paving the way for consideration of the bill on the House floor in September. Committee Democrats argued that the program should be reformed instead of eliminated.

In response to a July 27 letter from Senator John McCain (R–AZ) to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus charging that the Navy’s Great Green Fleet demonstration was not authorized by Congress, Washington Senators Patty Murray (D) and Maria Cantwell (D) and Representatives Norm Dicks (D), Rick Larsen (D), and Adam Smith (D) proclaimed their support for the Navy’s biofuel initiatives on August 7. The demonstration featured the operation of aircraft and surface ships using advanced biofuels. The legislators portrayed the Navy’s efforts as imperative for reducing the military’s dependence on foreign oil, protecting it from oil price spikes, increasing national security, reducing greenhouse gases, and generating jobs.

Additionally, on August 22, the Romney-Ryan campaign released The Romney Plan for a Stronger Middle Class: Energy Independence. The plan emphasizes the expansion of domestic energy production and partnership with neighboring countries to establish America as an energy superpower in the 21^st Century. The agenda also aims to open offshore areas for energy development; restore transparency and fairness to permitting and regulation; and facilitate private-sector-led development of new energy technologies.

In upcoming events, we encourage you to attend the AWEA Wind Energy Summit – New England, with event partner MassCEC, which will take place in Portland, Maine from September 5-6, 2012. The conference will present a comprehensive view of wind energy specific to the Northeast region, and will address present and forecasted issues facing the region’s development of wind energy. Additionally, the Renewable Energy Markets Conference 2012 with presenting sponsor NextEra Energy Resources will take place in Washington, DC, September 23-25, 2012. The annual Renewable Energy Markets Conference has expanded the marketplace opportunities for clean energy by bridging the interests of sellers, purchasers, policymakers, and communities that will benefit from clean power. On September 27-28, 2012, Mintz Levin will sponsor the Fifth Annual Renewable Energy Finance Forum as it returns to San Francisco. As the nation’s largest annual event for renewable energy finance, the forum will cover a range of renewable and clean energy technologies with particular focus on topics that include project financing, venture capital, renewable power generation, emerging commercial technologies, financing smaller projects, equity financing, and established technologies. For more information on upcoming events, please consult our “Events” section below.

We hope that you enjoy this month’s edition of the newsletter. For the most up-to-date information on federal legislation and programs, read the most recent ML Strategies Energy & Environment Update.

Mintz Levin’s Monthly Innovator Profile

The Oakland University Incubator offers similar services as other incubators: assistance with refining business plans, mentorship, and access to investors; however, the OU Incubator also houses the Clean Energy Research Center. The center focuses on applied research as well as private sector investment to achieve a 40% reduction in energy consumption by existing industrial and commercial buildings in the nearby county. The clean energy companies concentrating on developing their products include a biomass densification project supported by the US DOE, a PV solar panel display, and biodiesel and ethanol projects. We look forward to seeing what the Clean Energy Research Center at the OU Incubator does in the future!

In This Edition

In the News: United States

In the News: Europe and Asia

Government Financial Assistance

Privately Sourced Financial Grants

Federal and State Happenings

Legal News

Events

In the News: United States

Green Jobs: 37,409 Green Jobs in Q2 2012- Report

Green Tech Media – August 20, 2012

Energy & Clean Tech Connections: Your Law Firm Link to Industry News

Green Jobs: 37,409 Green Jobs in Q2 2012- Report

Borrego Solar on SREC Funding and Tips for Talking with Banks

Ocean Power Gets License for First U.S. Wave-Energy Project

China Says U.S. Support for Clean Energy Violates WTO Rules

DOE Report States Wind Accounted for 32 Percent of New Generation in 2011

Obama Fast-tracks Seven Renewable Energy Infrastructure Projects

Five Key Takeaways from the U.S. Solar Market Trends Report

New York Announces $107 Million for Solar Power Installations

It’s Back to the Future on the US Clean Tech Industry

Clean Energy Patent Growth Index Q1 Results Announced

Obama, Romney Spar over Energy

US Solar Import Tariffs Could Soar, Lawyers Warn

Millions More Acres for Renewable Energy Projects in the U.S.

Solar, Wind Power Get Pentagon Boost

US to Offer $2B in Clean Energy Loans to South Africa

US Energy-related Emissions Hit 20-year Low

USDA and DOE Announce $41 Million for Biofuels and Biobased Products

Chinese Conglomerate Invests in Waltham Battery Maker A123 Systems

U.K.’s $39 Billion Severn Tidal Power Seeks Sovereign Investors

Merkel’s Green Shift Forces Germany to Burn More Coal

Skanska and Jamtkraft Link to Buy 80MW Swedish Wind Farm

EU’s Biofuel Sustainability ‘Questionable’

Spain to Keep Subsidies for Renewable Energy, Expansion Says

China Government Asked to Probe EU Solar Dumping, Xinhua Says

Germany Joins European Energy Project

Asian Cities Must Go Green or Risk Disaster

China’s Wind-Power Capacity Linked to Grid up 87%, Xinhua Says

Asia Report: South Korea Solar Companies Make Strong Push Into U.S. Market

Denmark’s DONG Buys German Wind Power Projects

The Deal: European Supergrid Sets High Expectations

Recent Blackouts in India Underscore Need for Clean Technology

Top Wind and Solar Power Countries Per Capita

India, Norway to Jointly Develop Expertise in Geothermal Energy

News, Views, Tirades on the US-EU-China Solar Trade War

UK Allocates £100m to Energy Efficiency Funds

Renewable Energy Incentives for Homes & Businesses

Federal Business Energy Investment Tax Credit

Federal Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit

Federal Tax Credits for Consumer Energy Efficiency

Federal Energy-Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction

California Self-Generation Incentive Program

California Property Tax Exclusion for Solar Energy Systems

Massachusetts Incentives/Policies for Renewables & Efficiency

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center: Commonwealth Wind Incentive Program – Micro Wind

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center: Commonwealth Solar II

Energy Efficiency Programs Offered by Massachusetts Utilities

Massachusetts RPS Solar Carve-Out

BIRD Energy: U.S.-Israel Joint Renewable Energy Grants

New Generation Energy Grants, Loans & Microloans (Ongoing)

GE Ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid

The Energy Foundation Grants (Ongoing)

The Carbon Trust: Entrepreneurs Fast Track

EPA Defeats Challenge to Higher Ethanol Levels in Fuel

New York Gov. Cuomo Signs Bills for New Solar Incentive

Obama Mileage Rule Called Coercion Favoring Bailed-Out Carmakers

Energy Round-Up: Obama’s Wind Revolution, Stalled Fracking Regulations

U.S. Offshore Drilling Rules Finalized by Government

U.S. to Offer $2B in Clean Energy Loans to S. Africa

Ohio Seeks Cleaner Ways to Use State’s Coal

Bonds: A New Way to Fund Clean Energy

USACE Announces New Action to Support Deployment of Renewable Energy on U.S. Military Installations

Energy and Environment Update

Energy and Environment Update

Energy and Environment Update

New Massachusetts Law Boosts Wind and Solar Energy

Court Throws Out New Air Pollution Rules

Yes, More Solyndras for Clean Energy

AWEA Regional Wind Energy Summit – New England

Texas Offshore Wind Energy Roundtable

MIT Summer Accelerator Demo Day

ICCE 2012: International Conference on Clean Energy

Solar Power 2012

Oregon Best Fest

Renewable Energy Markets 2012

Algae Biomass Summit

GreenGov Symposium

Optimizing Wind Power O&M

Flexible Transmission and Distribution

Renewable Energy Finance Forum West