Whitefish, MT / September 23, 2014 / The Obama Administration has made it clear that it supports efforts to combat climate change and reduce emissions. On Thursday, the White House announced new executive actions aimed at creating jobs, reducing carbon pollution and improving energy efficiency, which included multitude of efforts centered on solar and the creation of a renewable energy toolkit by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for use by Community Planning and Development grantees. According to the new executive actions, "The toolkit will provide program compliance information, tools, and capacity to integrate renewable energy components such as solar photovoltaic, solar hot water, and cogeneration in an efficient, cost-effective, and impactful way by using CPD funds, such as the Community Development Block Grant Section 108 program."
Safe to say the trend to go green, albeit through solar, cogeneration or other alternative energy methods, is not a passing fad; it is an ongoing movement that continues to garner government support and recognition across a broad spectrum of industries. For example, with respect to cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP) as its called, beer companies like Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) and Yuengling are utilizing CHP technologies to reduce energy consumption at their breweries. Residential high rises are using CHP, such as Tower West in New York City buying two InVerde Ultra 100 units from Tecogen (NASDAQ: TGEN) earlier this month, which is projected to save residents almost $170,000 annually on electricity costs.
Schools have become extremely active in employing alternative energies. A report from The Solar Foundation this month shows America's K-12 schools increased their use of solar energy from 303 kilowatts of installed capacity to 457,000 kilowatts in the last decade, reducing emissions by 442,799 metric tons each year. That's equivalent to taking about 100,000 cars off the road. A more salient point may be that the install rate has accelerated in recent years, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 110 percent between 2008 and 2012. The report showed that 3,752 K-12 U.S. schools have solar energy systems installed and that 125,549 schools do not. The large opportunity still at hand bodes well for companies like SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) and SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY), both of which have installed projects at schools.
Schools are not just looking to solar to save capital and minimize their pollution footprint. In July, Tecogen received orders to install CHP systems in New York and New Jersey, including three high schools, one middle school, and one elementary school. The company typically pens long-term service agreements along with the sale of systems. The increased interest in the New York metropolitan area was a driving force in Tecogen last week opening a new customer service center in Valley Stream, NY, marking its ninth such center.
Earlier last week, Tecogen said that its subsidiary Ilios sold a water-source gas engine-driven heat pump water heater to the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. Introduced earlier this year, the product heats water at over two times the efficiency of traditional boilers, while providing chilled water as a free by-product. Cutting the school's fuel demand for hot water in half, the Ilios equipment will provide domestic hot water for the school's 212,000 square-foot Forrest E. Mars Jr. Athletic Center, while producing free chilled water for air-conditioning.
The new system does more than just cut down energy costs and lower the school's carbon footprint. The Ilios system comes with Tecogen's patented emission-control system, called Tecogen Ultra, which reduces criteria pollutants (e.g. carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide) to near nil.
The new executive actions set forth on Thursday demonstrate the government's long-term commitment to reducing the nation's reliance on fossil fuels and the negative impact that accompanies them. Whether businesses or institutions choose one alternative energy or the other - or a combination, such as the University of California's three on-campus solar projects and 19-megawatt cogeneration plant, - it's all good for the green energy space, which looks to be getting a strong foothold for continued growth.
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SOURCE: Emerging Growth LLC