DOE Determined to Dole Out Overdue Green Car Loans ASAP

 by Josie Garthwaite

Washington is in the business of handing out money these days (see: bank bailout, auto bailout, stimulus), but when it comes to cutting checks for a Department of Energy program designed to support advanced vehicle manufacturing, the feds have taken nearly three years to get projects moving. But according to a new Wall Street Journal interview with DOE chief Steven Chu, the stalling stops now. He wants money moving out the door within four weeks, not the additional the five months that people working on the program had planned.

The $25 billion in loans and loan guarantees, created as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and appropriated by Congress in 2006, could breathe new life into some of the more than 70 companies that have applied for funds, including electric car startups Tesla Motors, Integrity Automotive and Zap, and battery makers Ener1 and A123Systems. As recently as last month, a DOE spokesperson told us that applications were “under rigorous and thorough review,” and that the DOE was “moving with all deliberate speed in reviewing the applications, but any date by which we might make a decision would be pure speculation at this point.” Not anymore. Chu’s the boss, and with some $30-$40 billion expected to require spending (if only I had that problem) after the stimulus bill passes, he’s naming dates.

In Davos, talk of linking clean tech and economy

Posted by Martin LaMonica

The World Economic Forum calculates that $515 billion in yearly investment is required between now and 2030 to transition the world to cleaner sources of energy production.

At its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum released a report (click for PDF) on Thursday urging policy makers to make clean-technology incentives and investments part of government stimulus plans to revive flagging economies.

Economists who authored the report said alternative-energy technologies have the potential to address two pressing global problems--energy security and climate change--while generating good financial returns.

"It is essential that this stimulus also build our capacity to solve the longer-term climate crisis. Well-meaning but short-sighted economic stimulus programs could lock us into a predominately fossil fuel-based world economy for decades," according to the report.

A number of initiatives related to clean-energy, such as retrofitting government buildings to be energy-efficient, can create jobs and lay the foundation for longer-term economic growth, according to the World Economic Forum.

The report identified eight "large-scale clean-energy sectors" that government policies should seek to promote. They include: onshore wind, offshore wind, solar-photovoltaic energy, solar-thermal electricity generation, municipal solar energy, waste-to-energy generation, sugar-based ethanol, cellulosic and next-generation biofuels, and geothermal power.

In the United States, the Obama administration has made clear that it trying to tie economic development to clean technology. There are a number of provisions related to clean energy in a stimulus plan, which just passed the House of Representatives and could be voted on by the Senate next week.

The World Economic Forum's call for massive investments in clean energy echoes the International Energy Agency's 2008 annual report. Because of growing energy demand and climate change, the IEA said the world's energy consumption is "patently unsustainable. Its report concluded that trillions of dollars are needed to "decarbonize" the energy infrastructure and curb greenhouse gas emissions growth.

Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld.E-mail Martin.

Better Place Raises Financing for Denmark Electric Car Project

from Earth2Tech by David Ehrlich