John Geesman, Co-Chair, ACORE Board and former California Energy Commissioner

In his conference opening remarks, John Geesman said that we are at an important juncture with "frozen credit, a train-wreck of an economy and a melting climate—and, thankfully, at the point of a powerful political renewal in America. We are a people waiting to be led towards a more sound economy built on the cornerstone of renewable energy."

America shows an "uncommon unity" and willingness to face our challenges. And now we have a leader who can help us realize the economic and security benefits which will flow from the power of natural resource replenishment.



Dan Reicher, Director, Climate Change and Energy Initiatives, Google.org, and Co-Chair, ACORE Board of Directors

In his welcome remarks, Dan Reicher said that we are in an extraordinary, exciting, challenging and historic moment in Washington, with a new president with a game-changing agenda and a congress with the political make-up to get things done. Combined with an energized and connected public hungry for change, this is a great time to advance a sustainable renewable energy agenda.

The President-elect supports our agenda of an aggressive renewable energy portfolio, long-term tax credits, a bigger, smarter power grid and a significant expansion of research and development.

The President-elect’s transition team (of which Reicher is a member) is focused on the critical first few months of Obama’s term. They want to make sure that clean energy figures into a stimulus bill and that they make the smartest investments of taxpayer dollars in economic activity and job creation.

We need to work to unstick project finance and accelerate policy change in Washington. As a case study, the transition team has forged a partnership with GE to create a larger, smarter electric grid using renewable energy and improving electric efficiency.

This time of great challenge is also a time of great opportunity for those of us working in renewable energy.



Governor Chet Culver of Iowa

Drawing from his experience in Iowa as it grew from the second-last state in energy independence to an "energy rich" state with considerable renewable resources and a net exporter of energy, Governor Chet Culver delivered a keynote with five key concerns for the incoming transition team. Culver notes that in order to address a national challenge, we need national leadership for the following five goals:

• We need to fix the grid
• At least a 5-year extension of the wind production tax credit
• It's time for a national renewable energy portfolio standard
• We must work directly with the auto-makers to produce and sell more flex-fuel vehicles
• We need a national plan for energy independence—and it starts with research and development

A generation ago, our great challenge was winning the race to space, Culver noted. "President Kennedy challenged us to win that race, saying: 'we choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, one which we intend to win.' Well today, we have a new challenge. And that's why we are all here. Simply put, there's a renewable energy frontier before us and we must explore it."

"Let's explore and discover, state by state, territory by territory, the unlimited potential which exists in renewable energy. Let’s build and embrace a common vision for an energy independent future. Doing so will help our country address the climate crisis, free our country from dependence on foreign oil, create millions of green collar jobs nationwide, and put us on a path towards energy independence.

"Iowa has always been a state of exploration and innovation. Look what we’ve done in just 40 years.

• "Back in 1970 the state was second to last in energy independence. 30+ years of good public policy aimed at the way we produce and, most importantly, consume energy means now we are an energy rich state. And this didn't happen by accident. It happened thanks to Iowa's abundant natural resources, significant investment in research and development, the most productive farmers on the planet, and a value-added agriculture industry second to none. But most of all, it happened because Iowans decided to be bold.
• Iowa's biofuels industry has added $8 billion to the state's industry
• Today Iowa is one of only two states in the nation manufacturing the three component parts of a windmill- turbine, towers, and blades.
• In just the last 24 months, 6 companies from around the world—Acciona, Siemens, Clipper, Hendricks , TPI International, Trinity-- have decided to locate or expand their operations in Iowa.
• Our goal is to become the Silicon Valley of the Midwest
• Even so, states are limited with what they can do on their own. Regional efforts such as the Midwest Governor's energy and climate storage platform and the Midwestern governor's greenhouse gas accord are heading us in the right direction. But we need the new Obama Biden administration and Congress to lead the way."

Senator Tom Daschle

Senator Daschle offered personal observations based upon his three decades of experience as a Congressman and Democratic Leader of the United States Senate.

Biomass industries will continue to be a leader in meeting new administration’s goal of 10% of the nation’s energy sources by 2010, up from 7% today. Ethanol was a major national contributor in 2008, saving US consumers about $60 billion on gasoline, as compared to a net after tax "investment" of $3 billion. While the electricity sector has a variety of supply sources, from coal to wind, the US transportation sector relies exclusively on a distribution and end use system that has taken more than a century to put in place. While the nation must diversify all of its sources, it cannot afford to wait to pivot towards renewable liquid fuel alternatives that can utilize that extensive distribution and end use system. The Brazilian experience has proven that ethanol and other biofuels can achieve that goal in the near-, mid-, and long-term.

Biomass has the potential of being the world leader in reducing greenhouse gases since the main carbon sinks in the world are the oceans, soils, trees and other vegetation. By cleaning up watershed and wetlands, and growing biomass in riparian buffer zones, biomass will increase the oceans’ ability to absorb CO2. Biomass is ubiquitous, essentially everywhere including the oceans and the deserts. It also uniquely egalitarian -- anyone with access to soil and water, the right set of tools and equipment can gain value-added benefits and ownership. Biomass industry leaders are learning to counter disingenuous but well-funded attacks from those who would benefit from the demise of the industries that are proving their value in reducing dependency on oil and stimulating the economy. They are regaining support from environmental and public interest groups by steadily improving their efficiency, reducing the use of fossil energy to grow and process biomass into food, feed, fiber, fuels, fertilizers and feedstocks for chemicals. These industries are inseparable in their use of biomass feedstocks in some form, and in their dependency on optimized land use, vitalized soil and water conservation. Land use is becoming the critical factor, and the biomass industries must lead the way in revitalizing despoiled lands while boosting productivity. If the US cared for its lands as skillfully as the Western Europeans, we could easily double the production of all forms of biomass while beautifying our countryside.

To move the biomass industries into the next generation, the US government should give serious consideration to the recommendations of the Governors’ Biofuel Coalition:

• Extend and modify the existing ethanol tax incentives by replacing the VEETC with a credit direct to the producer, eliminate the current import tariff, and impose reasonable sustainability standards on imported material to ensure compliance with basic environmental, labor, and safety standards.
• Extend the biodiesel credit.
• Use sound science in setting standards and feedstock neutrality for Low Carbon Fuels Eligibility for biofuels, and ensure that tar sands and oil shale must compete on a level playing field, especially in terms of reduced carbon footprints.
• Promote widespread availability of blender pumps to provide consumers with fuel choices.
• Mandate an aggressive FFV (flex-fuel vehicle) production schedule
• Tie biofuels policy to efficient flex fuel, plug-in hybrid production
• Increase RD&D for Next-Gen biofuels production, and use, and First-Gen food/feed co-products.

Jeff Broin, President and CEO, POET

Jeff Broin, CEO of POET or "Mr. Ethanol" as recently titled by Forbes Magazine delivered an engaging presentation regarding the growth of the Ethanol Industry and POET’s subsequent expansion and development. Today POET has twenty-six ethanol plants located throughout seven states. In total POET has produced 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol. Broin’s presentation outlined Three Policy Pillars which he suggests are needed to make a difference for Ethanol Production in the future.

• Stabilize Existing Policy
-Volumetric Ethanol Tax Credit (VEETC)
-Secondary Tariff on Ethanol Imports
-Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
• Increase the Regulatory Cap
• Flex-Fuel Vehicles

Currently, is it very important to stabilize the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as "it is the most powerful piece of renewable energy policy" to date.

Today, U.S. Ethanol production is second only to Canadian ethanol production, producing more BTU’s than Saudi Arabia. In 2007, the economic impact of the Ethanol industry contributed to the displacement of 228.2 million barrels of imported oil, the creation of 238,541 jobs, 47.6 billion dollars contributing to the GDP and an estimated Green House Gas reduction of 18-29%.

An increase in the Regulatory Cap is important in order for the Ethanol industry in reaching its potential to meet Ethanol supply possibilities. Currently the Ethanol industry in the United States is limited to only 10% of the current market with a cap of 12.5-13 billion gallons. Increasing the regulatory cap will not only allow ethanol meet the needs of American consumers but it will also improve the potential for the Cellulosic Ethanol Industry. Increasing the Regulatory Cap will also allow Ethanol producers to move their production towards E15 and E20 blends.

POET’s pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol production facility opened in November 2008. Project Liberty, POET’s commercial cellulosic ethanol facility is scheduled to begin construction in 2009 and should be online by 2011. POET is excited about the future of cellulosic ethanol for the following reasons; with the use of corn cobs, the United States is able produce 5 billion gallons of fuel. Projected growth for cellulosic ethanol is approximately 80-100 billion gallons. The potential of cellulosic ethanol is great – in 10 years the United States will have approximately a 30 billion capacity for grain based ethanol and a 10 billion capacity for cellulosic ethanol. In 20 years it is projected that there will be a 50 billion gallon capacity for grain-based ethanol and a 85 billion gallon for cellulosic ethanol. Significant developments have been made regarding the technology of ethanol plants these advancements have greatly changed the capabilities of ethanol production. Compared with ethanol production in 2001 there has been a 6.4% increase in yield, a 21.8% reduction in over all energy use, with 26.6% less water used in the process.

It is clear that Ethanol has a bright future, especially given recent developments and uses of "Green Tech" such as the use of wood chips, landfill gas, cellulosic ethanol and agricultural advances. The use of wood chips as a feedstock is approximately a 3-1 improvement compared to the use of fossil fuels. The use of cellulosic ethanol is approximately a 4-1 improvement compared to the use of fossil fuels, and finally agricultural advancements and improvements such as the no till farming movement is considered to be 6-1 improvement compared to the use of fossil fuels.
Flex Fuel Vehicles are on the rise in the United States and blender pumps are popping up throughout America as more and more individuals are choosing ethanol over gasoline. Currently, there is a critical need for a legitimate Flex Fuel policy. It is to our benefit to give Americans the option to choose ethanol or gasoline at the pump based on price, value and mileage.

• Ethanol is the only commercially viable liquid transportation tool available today which addresses energy security, job creation and climate change.
• Advancements in agriculture and ethanol production will make ethanol even cleaner and greener in the future
• America needs to stay committed to renewable fuels and not accept the status quo

R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence and Venture Partner, VantagePoint Ventures

Jim Woolsey, former head of the CIA in two different administrations, compared America’s dependence on gas and oil to a past dependence on salt, which was once a strategic commodity used to cure meat until the advent of electricity. Salt was very expensive just as gasoline and petroleum are now. And of course, now wars are being fought over oil.

• 97% of the United States’ fuel consumption is oil.
• We consume 25% of the world’s oil.
• We spend between $200 and $700 billion a year to import it.

Woolsey’s advice: "Reduce our dependence on foreign oil as quickly as possible. When we buy gas from the Middle East we are funding terrorists and their activities." He urged the US not to "just move away" from oil, but to totally destroy its hold on our country.

Renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass are perfect for solving our dependence on oil and gas as our dominant fuel source. Woolsey pointed to the Clean Air Act waiver which costs $250 billion a year.

The use of cleaner grids can reduce our carbon footprint by 80 to 90%. Through plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles that can be plugged into outlets in your home, we can reduce that carbon footprint by up to 25%--and we would be using cleaner sources of sustainable, renewable energy.



Aimee Christensen, Founder and CEO, Christensen Global Strategies

Aimee Christensen, introducing Thomas Friedman:
"Tom Friedman has said, 'Green is the opportunity for America to get its groove back.' I believe that this is the moment for our country to be, once again, the innovator, collaborator, partner and leader in this time of great crisis. To become the society which others aspire to be—not for fame and fortune, but for the moral leadership and the ability to inspire and the humility and the ability to learn from others."

Subsequently, she provided some background on Mr. Friedman, then went on to remark, "Tom doesn’t shy away from the complexities of these issues. He sees them, he explains them and then finds a way forward. He understands that in these complexities, we find clarity."

Tom has written that President Obama will have to ask everyone to do something hard. And that we will all be inspired to take on those challenges, each in our own way.

This conference, remarked Christensen, is about climate change, but it is also about biodiversity. Recent studies have shown that nearly two-thirds of the world’s eco-services are adversely degraded. Nature provides these services for free and we don’t value them. We need to start to value nature’s services—beyond carbon.

As we prepare for the Global Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen in 12 months, we need clear commitment and direction. We need to be able to negotiate with the Europeans to put a cap and trade or another price on carbon. We have to be smarter, more transparent and take a simpler approach to policy change.



Thomas L. Friedman, Columnist, New York Times and author, "Hot, Flat & Crowded"

A world of hot, flat and crowded has lead to five major challenges of the 21st century, energy resource supply and demand, petro-dictatorship, climate change, energy poverty and loss of biodiversity. "That is a list of incredible opportunities masquerading as insolvable problems." All these problems have the same solution, abundant, clean, reliable energy. We need to have an energy technology (ET) revolution. Whatever country dominates energy technology (ET) will have the most energy security, economic security and global respect. Energy technology is about national power. Whatever country owns ET will own national power. This country has to be the United States if we want our kids to enjoy the same standard of living.

We will only be able to dominate in ET through innovation. This is a problem for the market. "The only way to get innovation, a green revolution, at the speed, scope and scale we need is with a long-term, fixed durable price signal. This is what we have to demand from the next president and congress, even in the depth of our financial crisis."
"It is so striking to me everywhere I go, the amount of energy innovation and entrepreneurship that exists in this country from the bottom up. But we have not had a government that has enabled, channeled and stimulated that innovative prowess…"

The world of hot, flat and crowded has five major challenges.

• Energy Resource Supply and Demand
• Petro-dictatorships
• Climate Change or Global "Weirding"
• Energy Poverty
• Biodiversity Loss

These five major problems all have the same solution: cheap, clean, reliable electrons.

"There is only one answer to this, what we demand of our leaders and what they demand back from us. That is the whole revolution." The leaders write the rules, which shape the markets, which establish the price signals to foster the innovation and green revolution. "We have exactly enough time… starting now."

Dan Arvizu, Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Starting with the premise that our national energy infrastructure is in need of transformational change, Mr. Arvizu explained his views on what it will take to see such change materialize. While many grassroots projects are advancing the state-of-the-art of energy technology and starting small-scale renewable-energy installations, Arvizu sees the federal government playing a crucial role in bringing these projects to a scale, which will affect that national energy infrastructure. A smart grid, for example, is a necessary catalyst to transformational change in both the supply and demand side of the energy infrastructure, and the federal government will be a necessary participant to seeing a smart grid flourish.

Arvizu also sees the massive purchasing power and research investment capacity of the federal government playing a crucial role in pushing the renewable energy industry down the "cost-learning curve," as successive generations of technology are developed. Arvizu pointed to an experimental $170 million smart grid project in Boulder, CO as a large-scale project that will generate the data needed to formulate plans and policies favorable to a shift towards renewable energy.



Kevin Walsh, Managing Director, Renewable Energy, GE Financial Services

Kevin Walsh’s presentation on "Renewable Energy Policy: Keeping Pace with Change" addressed how to jump start renewable energy investing. GE Energy Financial Services’ primary strength is their capacity to invest globally with a long-term view, across the capital spectrum and energy industry to help their customers and GE grow. His recommendations to the renewable energy industry ranged from modifying tax incentives to expanding the pool of potential investors in renewables, to increasing investment in constrained transmission infrastructure to create a green energy superhighway.

Specifically, Walsh made the following recommendations:

First, making PTC, ITC and MACRS refundable which would minimize the impact of the liquidity crisis on renewable energy projects and create clean energy jobs. He stated that this would also preserve the intent of the PTC and ITC in today’s challenging economic conditions at little or no additional cost. Walsh emphasized that we need to ensure that these tax incentives are usable, because the global financial crisis has limited tax capacity and capital for renewable energy investing.

Second, building a national transmission superhighway to overcome regional barriers to planning, cost and siting. The lack of a national transmission superhighway limits long-term development and investment in renewable energy. Proposed actions to overcome these constraints include making tax credits refundable; coordinating a federal energy policy which will ensure transmission build out; and, incentivizing the development of a "smart grid."

Walsh concluded by stating that because renewable energy is a capital-intensive industry, the time to act is now if the industry is to keep pace with change and the opportunities presented with the incoming administration.



Tom Werner, CEO, SunPower Corporation

Tom Werner opened with this quote from Julie Blunden of SunPower: "Policy creates markets, markets create scale, and scale allows you to get costs down."

Werner used this quote as the major premise of his speech, claiming that achieving scale will absolutely drive down the cost of solar power. He then outlined the ways to use policy to create markets in pursuit of this goal.

Part of SunPower’s philosophy is to establish a presence in every market segment and geography, partly because different policies have different outcomes in every market sector, and policy is hard to predict. As a result of this strategy, according to Werner, SunPower is "#1 in residential retrofitting, #1 in new production homes, and #1 in commercial and public buildings." This broad-based strategy gives SunPower a unique perspective about policies in various segments of the market.

Werner said that at every level, "policy needs to be customized to the segment," whether it’s utilities, distributed generation, or power plants.

He then gave a brief summary and analysis of current policies in the United States. Policies must be targeted to specific sectors of the market, and we need a balanced approach that doesn’t favor one segment over another.
The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is "incredibly important, but we need ways of making it more fungible." Specifically, the tax credit must be refundable.

Three markets for the ITC: commercial, residential, and utility (now included).

• The ITC needs to be broader based.
• At the state level, 26 states have Renewable Portfolio Standards, and "they work for solar."
• SunPower supports the idea of a federal RPS, but distributed technologies must be included.
• "Renewable energy can work at three levels of the market."
• Utility-scale: supported by RPS
• Distributed technology: encouraged by feed-in-tariffs
• Residential and commercial: supported by net metering policies that act as a hedge against future electricity prices

At the federal level, the government needs a procurement policy. The federal government could provide a $10 billion market for solar rooftops with a procurement program. The Department of Defense is currently a leader in procurement because they can sign onto 20-year Power Purchase Agreements—other agencies should be able to do this as well. SunPower also supports a federal RPS with a distributed technology carve-out. Any carbon cap-and-trade system would be welcome, but it is critical that renewables get tradable credits. Also, the ITC is a "wonderful thing, because it creates a solar trifecta," but the ITC needs refundable tax credits.



Brad Gammons, Vice President, IBM Global Energy and Utilities Industry

Gammons said that where he lives -- West Texas – he is witnessing a renaissance in the energy industry. "We now have oil derricks working in the shadows of wind turbines."

The electricity industry is moving down a path analogous to that traveled by the IT industry, from a centralized system to a distributed network. The technology is largely ready, but the network infrastructure in many cases hasn’t been built out. Regulatory frameworks have not been designed to accommodate the rapid change that occurs in industries as they are transformed. The industry needs a revised regulatory and tax structure that can accommodate the needs of rapid technological and structural change. A supportive governmental tax and regulatory policy will unleash the creative juices of the innovative companies in the industry and allow the transformation to occur.

The successful energy companies are justifiably proud of the highly reliable system created by their past success. Now we are transforming the industry from a centralized systems to something distributed and networked. IBM understood reliable central delivery of information, but it outlived its time. We were very satisfied with what we did with our infrastructure and how we ran the mainframe. IBM was one of those companies that almost ended up on the trash heap [of the IT revolution] because we didn’t understand what was coming. The same thing is going on here [the electric industry].

Wal-Mart transformed its industry based upon reliable information on demand of what was being purchased, where when and why. Smarter grid provides us the information we need to optimize what energy is best to used where, when and why.

Smart grid is made up of available technology. The real issue is that this is an industry that invests in 10-30 cycles. That’s the way they look at their infrastructure. When you look at rapid technology evolution, that’s on 2-3 year cycles. That makes an industry that gets a regulated rate of return on their assets over a long period of time very nervous. If I’m going to put something in and it’s going to be outmoded in 3-4-5 years, there has to be a new treatment of how we recover costs. The way we build regulatory policy and the way we build tax policy have to shift with the reality of the way the technology is shifting also.

New technology transformation comes more and more quickly. Regulatory and policy backups need to be able to move quickly enough to allow me to put in solar panels or wind turbines, to turn my homes into a micro business and self generate at my home. I need to be able to take the excess power and credit it to my grandmother’s account down the street. Will the investment base and the policy base be there in time so that I don’t "disappoint" my customer base?

Other things going on in the urban environment; electric infrastructure is not the only thing that needs to be modernized. If we are laying down a new infrastructure for electricity delivery, look across our government lines and put in an information system that can manage not just an electric infrastructure but include a transportation, water and gas infrastructure.

Bottom line: If you unleash the innovation ability of engineers, they are able to produce magical things. From a policy perspective we need to unleash the innovative juice from all these people.



Pat Wood, Principal, Wood3 Resources LLC, and former FERC Chairman

Pat Wood’s speech focused on policies to shape markets, especially regarding electricity and transmission.

"The problem has nothing to do with physics or science or engineering; the engineers have known how to do this since Edison put the light bulb in the socket for the first time. And it’s not money, even in this environment."
The problem is not technical or economic—it’s regulatory. The transmission system is overseen by a complex, inter-jurisdictional network of regulatory bodies at the state, regional, and national levels. In this type of "balkanized system…each utility protects its own turf and doesn’t worry about spillovers." Unfortunately, this system "depresses the necessary investment we’ve got to have in wind and solar and geothermal," which can only be fully integrated at appropriate levels with a much more robust grid.

Wood then detailed the plan in Texas to expand the grid to better integrate the wind energy from the rural, western areas in the state. The Texas legislature mandated that the Texas Public Utilities Commission "find the best wind in the state of Texas" and expand the transmission system to incorporate that wind. The result is a $5 billion transmission expansion project, the "largest transmission project in the history of the country."
In Texas, there is only one transmission regulator—the PUC—because the grid does not cross state lines, giving the federal government no regulatory authority. Other strengths of the Texas system are "clear transmission rate recovery" and a "bipartisan commitment to renewables." This will allow Texas utilities to integrate 28,000 MW of future wind energy into the grid.

Wood noted however, that "you can’t take Texas to Washington and expect people to just swallow it."
As a final thought, Wood commented on the importance of energy storage. "Utility-scale storage is imminent. There are some cost-effective programs out there, either on the horizon or in the marketplace. We’ve got to have this one work—to manage the viability of wind and solar."



Hank Habicht, Managing Partner, SAIL Venture Partners

Hank Habicht chaired the panel on "Financing the Renewable Energy Scale-up." He opened by wondering how we pay for a sustainable renewable energy solution to the world’s energy crisis? The alignment of business partnerships and of private and public partnerships is key to the success in being able to put out a massive "scale-up" of renewable energy that is truly transformative, Habicht explained. He cautioned that government’s role is going to be more important than ever in transforming finance, transmission, R & D, storage and other areas of renewable energy growth.

We need all government entities to work together, at the same table, and with the same priorities and same agenda. We need to recognize the interdependencies among different areas and find synergistic relationships that will attract sustainable capital investments in renewable energy and withstand the fluctuations in the credit markets and in oil prices.

We need to ensure that part of the economic stimulus package focuses on renewable energy success factors like transmission, storage, fiscal policy and the smart grid infrastructure. It’s crucial to recognize the synergy between revitalizing the grid infrastructure and an expected effort to monetize carbon. And how do we make sure we can maximize the huge investor interest in arbitrage opportunities between peak and off-peak power?



Andrew Lundquist, President, Blue Water Strategies

Andrew Lundquist introduced the panel on 'Policy for Electric Power," and said he was reminded of a Sherlock Holmes quote about once the impossible had been eliminated, what remained was the solution. Lundquist felt that quotation summarized what the U.S. policy for electric power had been in the past.

Judging the possible as impossible has been the problem we’ve been wrestling with in the current climate. As we are now facing the dilemma of an increasing international demand for power vying with growing concerns about global climate change. We need to place more attention on transmission, particularly as it pertains to a smart grid.



Tracy Wolstencroft, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

Director and Head of the Environmental Markets Group at Goldman Sachs, Tracy Wolstencroft, participated in the panel on Financing the Renewable Energy Scale-up. Wolstencroft discussed Goldman Sachs' commitment towards environmental stewardship and renewable energy by highlighting their comprehensive environmental policy framework introduced in 2005 as well as several key principal investments they have made in the space which is part of the more than $2 Billion of their own capital invested in renewables.

With that background, Wolstencroft provided an overview of the state of the capital markets and the current challenges facing capital flows into the renewable markets. He described the path forward to the renewable scale up as a matter of 'when' and not 'if' and discussed several policy options that would help navigate the path forward, emphasizing that "the solution set needs to be comprehensive and requires collaboration between government and the private sector that evolves with the changing markets."

Examples of possible policy options include (but are not limited to):

• Expanding the user base for tax credits
• A renewable portfolio standard,
• A price on carbon, and
• Upgrading the transmission infrastructure.

In closing, Wolstencroft reiterated Goldman Sachs' belief that the investment thesis for renewables remains strong and notwithstanding the current challenges, they remain optimistic about the renewable energy space.

John Cavalier, Managing Partner, Hudson Capital

According to John Cavalier, former Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking Division, current Managing Partner of Hudson Capital – the key drivers of renewable energy are 1) demand: per capita energy use is up in developing countries, 2) the environment: see climate change, 3) security: we need to source our energy locally. The U.S. borrows $700 billion a year to bring oil to the U.S., and 4) cost: the cost of renewables has been dropping rapidly.

We are now at grid parity. 40% of electric generation capacity additions to the U.S grid in 2007 were from wind energy. What the new Administration needs to do:

• Eliminate the legislative expiry of renewable energy tax credits
• Make renewable energy tax credits refundable
• Extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) carry back period to 10 years
• Allow PTCs to apply to lease financing, and 5) provide incentives for domestic manufacture of renewable energy equipment.

Other points made by Cavalier include:

• We need to be doing a better job on public awareness on climate change – consumers need to understand why they need to pay for externalities
• Buying oil at $140/bbl makes the US barrow $700b/y = not sustainable
• Misconceptions:
• Clean energy is expensive
• Clean energy depends on high oil Prices
• No correlation between oil prices and the valuations of clean energy companies
• Need for entrepreneurial spirit in the renewable energy industry
• All of the CEO’s at the major energy companies are struggling to understand the role of renewable energy in their companies
• Over 500 VCs have invested in RE
• Private equity investments will far exceed the investment of public markets in the renewable energy space
• In 2007 there were 18 providers of tax equity to the RE community, today that number is six
• In 2009, we are looking at the availability of 3.9 billion dollars of tax equity. In order to move from 20gw to 25gw of RE – industry requires $8b of tax equity. These are not huge numbers but the government must act to free up the logjam of this tax equity availability.

Michael Ware, Managing Director, Good Energies

Michael Ware, Managing Director of Good Energies, is one of very few in financial circles today who can say they served in the original Federal Energy Office in the 1970s. Ware said our nation needs to back up its commitment to clean energy by extending the incentives for a longer time, and by continuing to refine the incentive rules to match market conditions. Congress could not have foreseen the extent of the credit crisis when they passed the PTC and ITC in September. No one is to blame. We are using our collective expertise to suggest how the Congress can relatively easily amend the rules to keep capital flowing into the U.S. market, keep our companies producing, and keep Americans employed. This requires no additional money, just refinements to how the tax credits can be used – credits that Congress has already passed. Pertinent facts include:

• 2008 was a strong year, $2.6 billion of venture capital investment in clean technologies during the first 3 quarters. Over $25 billion invested in renewable energy projects by the end of Q3. This is significant.
• The US has strong growth in Solar and Wind sectors; we are second only to Germany in cumulative installed capacity.
• The renewable energy market is facing new challenges. The global weighted average of solar stock has fallen almost 40% since this year. The share price of Suntech went down 91% this year. This generates the uncertainties, which financial markets hate.
• The ITC and PTC market is frozen. Project lenders are wary or have withdrawn completely. Debt-financing costs significantly more, making projects uneconomic. Meanwhile, the economic recession and falling oil prices may discourage important investment in renewables and energy efficiencies.
• Detailed short-and long-term action is needed. Short-term let’s revise PTC/ITC to permit tax credits to be packaged, transferred and sold. Goldman Sachs, Hudson Capital and Good Energies combined together represent $5 billion. This action will help us unlock the capital market.

Four major actions are needed from long-term perspective.

• First, we need to prepare Americans for the RE economy; the way US citizen think about energy needs to be changed. Cheap gas is very expensive in terms of national security and balance of payments – oil imports cost U.S. more than $300 billion ($75 per barrel) annually. Also, inefficient vehicles and homes are a financial liability, leaving owners vulnerable to energy price volatility. Moreover, retrain unemployed workers in clean energy sectors. Germany sets a good example for us.
• Second, renew emphasis on energy efficiency, which is the cheapest form of clean energy. We need incentives for Detroit to produce energy efficient vehicles and federal leadership to incentivize utilities to promote energy efficiency.
• Third, enact policies that level the energy playing field. Carbon tax is important to level the energy playing field. We need to encourage utility regulatory reform to phase in widespread time of use and peak pricing; and set rates based on marginal costs of new electricity production.
• Forth, implement public/ private partnership to regain technology leadership. There is no shortage of private equity out there to do what needs to be done. We need help from government to take over the companies that we fund to return them to economic viability. Loan guarantee programs can move VC-backed companies through the "valley of death" and into commercial operation.

Roger Ballentine, President, Green Strategies, Inc.

In the closing session of Phase II 2008, the conference Co-Chairs offered their closing thoughts in consideration of the day’s speeches.

Roger Ballentine gave three general reactions to the seventh annual Phase II Policy Conference:

• All the speeches were characterized by an overwhelming sense of optimism and a feeling that success in the renewable energy field is possible.
• Many ideas and possible solutions exist, and the leaders in the energy sector have set a "clear path forward."
• Despite the many ideas that exist, there will be no solution unless a broad coalition of interests advocates for a single policy solution.

Key Quotes from Ballentine’s speech:

• "We laid out today a pretty clear path forward—a pretty clear, unambiguous set of things that we need to get done."
• "It almost sounds like it should be easy."
• "There is a strong sense that none of this is going to happen unless we and a lot of other folks ask and push and demand for it to happen."
• "We need a sense of collaboration across industry, NGOs, advocacy groups, and labor to build the new renewable energy economy and to do it by advocating for the types of policies that we heard today."

Michael Eckhart, President, ACORE

In his closing remarks, Michael Eckhart recalled some of the key points raised by the speakers.
He noted John Geesman’s remark that in facing our energy crisis, "We have nothing to fear but inadequate resolve." Eckhart said that he seriously doubted any of the session attendees would let that happen.

Governor Culver, noted Eckhart, knows not just how to build an industry of renewable fuels, but also how to galvanize people around ideas and how to transform an economy and create jobs. Culver has proven in Iowa that "what’s good for the environment is good for the economy," and has given us a 5-point blueprint for how to do the same thing in other states. Energy is all about creating jobs, and Chet Culver has shown us how to do just that.

Dan Reicher, said Eckhart, summed up the Renewable Energy opportunity as a unique moment in history: "It’s the best of times, the worst of times and a great time to be in renewable energy. We can achieve our goals if we try to attain them."

Senator Tom Daschle’s talk about biomass and biofuels impressed Eckhart with his firm grasp of technical terms and numbers. "Daschle wasn’t just trying to sell us something, he was conveying to us his knowledge and belief in a future where bio-mass and biofuels are a cornerstone of our energy solution," said Eckhart. "And after his talk, I find that I myself believe more strongly in biomass." Daschle challenged the US by saying that if we managed our land resources as well as the Europeans do, "we could double our production of biomass while beautifying our landscape."

Jeff Broin is an "American success story," Eckhart noted. Broin grew up on a farm with an ethanol plant fifty feet from his house and now owns 26 ethanol plants, pumping 1 1/2 billion gallons of ethanol per year. Broin is "an entrepreneur who deserves a government that will stabilize the factors in the market that could destroy Jeff’s business through no fault of his own."

Thomas Friedman’s address was the first he had heard, said Eckhart, that began to define the terms of a successful Green Revolution. "We’ll know that the Green Revolution has been successful when we don’t call it a Green Revolution anymore," Friedman declared. "When a clean running plug in car is called just a car." Eckhart suggested that here will be an end to this revolution in "about 10-15 years, the normal cycle for this sort of public phenomenon. If we fail, the term will be around forever. If we succeed, the term will go away."

In closing the conference Eckhart said he was inspired by all the speakers’ leadership and their accomplishments, their deep belief in the cause and their "sharp edge of decisive policy-making." Those qualities, combined with "unlimited brilliance and clarity of proposition" will lead to the creation of a renewable energy agenda that can—and will--win.