Yanukovych signs law on change in rules on renewable energy market in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed law No. 5485-VI, which considerably changes the conditions of operation on the renewable energy market in Ukraine.

Corresponding bill No. 10183 on changes in the law of Ukraine on electricity (in part of incentives for electricity generation from alternative energy sources) was passed by parliament at second reading on November 20, 2012.

A bill that will remove barriers for renewable natural gas

Assembly Bill 1900, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles), a bill which removes barriers to the development of renewable natural gas (RNG) as a fuel in California and will save local rate-payers millions on their utility bills, was signed by Governor Brown today.

In conjunction with AB 2196 (joint authored by Assemblymen Gatto and Wesley Chesbro), AB 1900 will save the millions of Californians who get their power from municipal utilities hundreds-of-millions of dollars by protecting the municipal utilities’ contracts for biomethane.

California Bills for Biogas

As part of the package of 19 clean energy bills that California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law on September 27, there are three in particular that will provide a boost to anaerobic digestion and biogas projects in the state.

The first of these, SB 1122, will require electric utilities to purchase in aggregate 250 MW of capacity from bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013.

Bangladesh approves Clean Energy Act, 2012

The Cabinet on June 18 approved the draft of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority Act, 2012 aiming to increase the production and use of green energy in the country.

The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the government has initiated the renewable energy law framing to bring use of the renewable energy under a legal framework as use of the renewable energy including biogas and solar energy have been increased in the country in recent years.

Ukraine improves legal base for renewable energy investment

The State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine is continuing to improve the legislative and regulatory base to improve conditions to attract investment in renewable energy in Ukraine, Agency Head Mykola Pashkevych has said.

"We are constantly working on improving the legal base. In close cooperation with profile associations and international experts we are monitoring all of the latest trends in the development of technologies. First of all, we are systematically correcting all regulatory deficiencies to maximally simplify the work of investors," he said.

Wash. State Senate passes biomass bill

The Legacy Biomass Bill (SB 5575) has passed through the Washington State Senate with an overwhelming majority vote of 45-1.

The bill, sponsored by State Senator Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, will alter a 2006 initiative that excluded biomass facilities in operation before 1999 from being considered renewable energy producers. If passed by the House, the bill will also include materials such as yard waste, food waste, food processing residues and black liquor generated from the pulping and wood manufacturing process as eligible biomass products that would help meet the 2006 Initiative 937. The initiative called for public utility providers with 25,000 or more customers to meet energy conservation targets while using renewable energy resources, or to purchase renewable energy credits. Under I-937, large utility providers much generate at least 3 percent of their output from renewable energy, and 9 percent by 2016. Hatfield’s bill will start in 2016.

New California laws clear the way for renewable energy projects

California passed several laws recently which further clear the way for renewable energy projects in the state. 

Senate Bill 618 makes it possible for big solar projects to move forward without disturbing sensitive lands or species.

It provides incentives for solar developers to site projects on impaired farmland - lands that are no longer suitable for agriculture because they're contaminated or non-productive.

Indonesia: Govt considers new renewable energy policy

The government is mulling over a policy that, if taken forward, will require large energy consumers, including mining, oil and gas companies, to partly use renewable energy sources to boost efficiency in energy consumption.

The planned policy is not aimed at limiting the energy consumption of such companies, but rather at better managing the sustainability of future energy demands, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director general of renewable energy and energy conservation, Kardaya Warnika.

California Gov. Brown signs renewable energy bill

Yolo County Senator Lois Wolk scored a win and a loss when Gov. Jerry Brown signed off on legislation to increase access to renewable energy, but vetoed a bill that would have restricted tax breaks and overhauled the state's budgeting system.

Thailand energy policy: three-in-one master plan almost done

The government is about to complete the first national energy master plan, which will incorporate three existing energy-related plans.

Sittichod Wantawin, the director of energy conservation and renewable energy policy under the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO), says the new energy development plan will incorporate the power development plan (PDP), the renewable energy development plan (REDP) and the energy conservation plan into a single development plan.

Snapshot of feed-in tariffs around the world in 2011

Feed-in tariffs are the world's most popular renewable energy policy mechanism. Despite the economic recession, more and more jurisdictions are turning to feed-in tariffs to spur not only renewable energy development but also industrial development and the attendant jobs that it creates.

CA: Two bills help farmers address renewable energy goals

By Lois Wolk

I want to applaud Ag Alert® for its excellent two-part series on the effects of solar power on agriculture (Sept. 7 and Sept. 14), drawing attention to the fact that California farmers and ranchers lead the nation in use of solar power.