Florida Governor Charlie Crist has signed a comprehensive alternative energy bill that is being touted as putting his state on the right foot for beginning true energy independence, while being realistic.

This story from the Walton Sun says the new law will encourage investments in alternative and renewable energy technology and will help reduce greenhouse gases:

This follows a year after the governor issued three executive orders with the intent of reducing greenhouse gases, increasing energy efficiency and removing market barriers for renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind energy.

The newly passed energy bill puts a “more realistic tone” on it, but by issuing those executive orders he has kick started the whole process for alternative energy in Florida, said Erickson.

The article says Crist has also recommended for the 2008-2009 fiscal year a $200 million energy and climate change package, that includes $50 million for solar, wind and other renewable energies; $42.5 million to promote and develop biodiesel and ethanol in the state; and $107.5 million to encourage and develop green industries.

The world’s investment in clean energies - solar, wind and biofuels - jumped an amazing 60 percent from 2006 to 2007… thanks to rising oil prices and changing climate rules.

This story from Bloomberg.com says the information came from a United Nations Environment Program report:

Wind power attracted the most financing at $50 billion, according to a report today from the Nairobi-based UNEP. Overall, investment in clean-energy and energy-efficiency industries rose 60 percent from 2006.

Solar power attracted $28.6 billion in new capital in 2007, and the industry has more than tripled each year, on average, since 2004, according to the UNEP report. Investment in energy efficiency reached a record $1.8 billion, a 78 percent increase from 2006.

Duke Energy Ohio is seeking proposals for renewable energy resources. The energy company says it’s looking to begin delivering energy through more renewable means sometime between 2009 and 2012. The effort falls in line with Ohio’s new renewable energy portfolio standards.

Types of renewable resources that would qualify:

— Wind energy
— Solar photovoltaic or solar thermal energy
— Geothermal energy
— Fuel derived from solid wastes not mainly due to combustion
— Biomass energy
— Hydroelectric power
— Biologically derived methane gas
— Energy derived from pulping/wood manufacturing
— Fuel cells
— Storage facilities that use off-peak power from renewables.

The recent Ohio energy law requires Ohio utilities to generate 50 percent of their renewable power from facilities located within the state.

A California rice miller will dedicate the largest rice plant solar installation in the U.S. on Wednesday, June 18th.

Far West Rice will unveil its $6.5 million, one-million megawatt, Mitsubishi Solar System, that the company is using to power its milling operation at Nelson (south of Chico), California.

The solar array will meet about 70-80 percent of the total energy costs of the rice plant, using more than 5,500 Mitsubishi Electric solar panels installed by Pacific Power Management, LLC. When the plant is not operating, the solar system will feed electrical power back into the electrical grid.

Greg Johnson, Executive Vice President of Far West Rice, Inc. said “Going solar made sense from a business standpoint. Our electricity bill will be lower and the installation also means that our communities can breathe easier and enjoy California’s beauty with less air pollution. We are excited to be involved in this technology and know that it will exceed our expectations.”

Mark Frederick, managing partner of Pacific Power Management, commenting on Far West’s installation, said: “Far West Rice showed great initiative in going solar. They have a system now that sets the green standard in the rice industry and gives them a competitive advantage that will only grow as electricity prices increase.”

A growth sector focused investment bank is hosting its annual Alternative Energy Conference today at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York. The Thomas Weisel Partners one-day event will focus on the opportunities and challenges of the Alternative Energy industry for 2008 and the future.

The conference will showcase presentations from over 30 established and emerging public and private companies, including those engaged in alternative fuels, energy efficiency, fuel cells, smart grid technologies, solar power, and wind power.

“Rising energy prices, political uncertainty in oil producing regions and increased environmental standards and regulations are creating tremendous potential for alternative energy solutions,” said Keith Gay, Head of TWP’s Research Group. “We believe the management teams will provide investors with a unique look into various sectors of the alternative energy industry and a chance to find out what is on the horizon for 2008.”

It looks like alternative energy is generating large fiscal interest.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company says adding renewable solar hybrid power to its energy mix will mean “around-the-clock” clean energy production. PG&E has entered into two contracts with San Joaquin Solar Technology that are meant to combine solar power and biofuel. The contracts equate to 106.8 megawatts of solar thermal-biofuel hybrid power.

Located near Coalinga, CA, the solar-biofuel projects will deliver a total of 700 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually of renewable electricity to PG&E customers throughout northern and central California.

The renewable hybrid projects combine Luz solar thermal trough technology and steam turbines powered by biomass fuel to produce hybrid solar-biofuel renewable electricity. The incorporation of biofuel increases the overall production of renewable power by allowing for around-the-clock production of clean energy, even at night or when sunlight is not at its strongest. Each hybrid project will require 250,000 tons of biofuel annually, to be supplied from a combination of locally-produced agricultural wastes, green wastes and livestock manure. These projects are expected to begin operation in 2011.

San Joaquin Solar LLC is a subsidiary of Martifer Renewables Electricity LLC.

A bill that would have extended and boosted the producer-incentive tax breaks on a host of alternative energy sources, including wind, solar, biodiesel, clean-coal and other projects to help spur alternative energy development, has been stopped in the U.S. Senate… for the time being.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), would have extended the $1-a-gallon producer tax incentive for biodiesel but failed when Senate Democrats failed to garner the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture… cutting off debate and allowing a majority vote on the bill. Senate Republicans opposed the measure largely because of some of the tax hikes attached to the bill. But this story from the National Journal says it’s not dead yet:

The measure is in limbo, although Senate Majority Leader Reid can call the bill back up for a vote. Aiding the GOP cause were Democratic absences, including Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. Those two may be back for votes soon, however, giving Democrats a better chance on a revote as well as giving affected industries more time to lobby. Speaking earlier today at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Baucus said he thought cloture could be invoked within a week to 10 days. One lobbyist predicted Republicans would eventually back the bill or risk blame for expiration of the tax breaks, particularly vulnerable incumbents like GOP Sens. John Sununu of New Hampshire and Norm Coleman of Minnesota.

A report out from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says the world will need to spend $45 trillion if it wants to cut in half the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. And part of that money will need to be spent on solar and wind power.

In this story posted on Bloomberg.com, Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA’s executive director, says the U.S. and leading economic nations will need to go through a “Global Energy Revolution”:

“A global energy technology revolution is both necessary and achievable, but it will be a tough challenge,” Tanaka said in the statement. “The world faces the daunting combination of surging energy demand, rising greenhouse gas emissions and tightening resources.”

The agency said that increased use of nuclear power, the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, and carbon capture and storage are vital to reducing emissions. Carbon capture is a technology in which carbon dioxide emissions are caught in the air and stored underground.

So, if environmental reasons aren’t enough to get you on board with clean energy, consider this: non-renewable petroleum jumped more than $11 a barrel today… closing at a record $139+! And its expected to climb to $150 a barrel by July 4th. Happy Independence Day, huh?

Atlanta-based Suniva, Inc. has announced it will build its first solar cell facility at Norcross… a first for the state of Georgia as well.

This story posted on Chattanoogan.com says the company will use technological advances developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology to make high-efficiency solar cells:

“This new solar cell facility is a perfect example of the way Georgia’s investment in research and development pays dividends by producing innovative technologies that help companies grow,” said Gov. Perdue. “Suniva’s production commitment and highly-qualified workforce will expand our clean energy success as the nation’s renewable energy corridor into the solar arena.”

“As the solar industry looks to bring down costs and compete with conventional power, Suniva has built the team and the technology to execute on our vision of low-cost, high-efficiency solar energy,” said John Baumstark, CEO of Suniva. “We are pleased to be moving into our next phase of growth close to home, and we are interested in working with state and local government to create an ecosystem of clean energy companies in the Atlanta metro area.”

The new plant is expected to employ 100 people in the first year.

This weekend I visited the RIT/NASA AstroZone exhibit in St. Louis. The free exhibit was offered in conjunction with the 212th meeting of the American Astronomical Society and it offered all kinds of fascinating scientific demonstrations: from seeing yourself in infrared to star-gazing in a portable planetarium to being enveloped in Cosmic Collisions while watching a video a portable dome. I’m not going to lie, the free exhibit was geared towards children but, that’s why I had my little brother and sister in tow.

So what’s all this have to do with domestic fuel? One of the videos that I watched in one of the cool, miniature, omnimax-type domes said that one solar flare releases the same amount of energy as millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs. That’s just too big of a number for me to even grasp. But, it did get me thinking. The U.S. is awaiting an apparent “energy crisis” as oil becomes more scarce and gas prices go up. Yet, just one little burst from the sun emits enough energy to… well, again… I can’t even fathom how much energy millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs means. So it looks like there’s plenty of energy coming from the sun and it doesn’t look like that energy source will “dry up” anytime soon.

My point is, developing alternative ways to harness energy from an abundance of energy out there, yes abundance, is exactly what we should be doing. Whether it be from the sun, from wind, water, or corn and crops. It just makes more sense to start relying on what nature already offers us in plenty instead of continuing to chase after this “oil scarcity.”