Green Tech Infographics

by Carolyn Elefant on February 22, 2012

Pinterest graphicMy name is Carolyn Elefant and I am an infographic-aholic. In other words, I’m addicted to charts and pictorials and graphics and other visual means of succinctly and colorfully captures the complex legal and regulatory concepts that I deal with on a day to day basis, then I’ve got to have it. So for that reason, I’ve taken to collecting infographics depicting issues relevant to the green energy sector.

Whether the charts show the level of non-renewable energy subsidies or how Europe is beating the US when it comes to offshore wind energy development or renewable energy usage by state, they enable me to advocate on behalf of my clients and the offshore renewable industry without putting people to sleep with 7000 footnotes.

Feel free to join me in this harmless little addiction by following my Green Tech PinBoard at Pinterest.

FERC Grants Pilot License to Verdant Power!

by Carolyn Elefant on February 22, 2012

fercsealI first posted about Verdant Power just a little more than seven years ago, when I reported on the company’s plans to place six tidal turbines in the East River. Eventually, Verdant Power did just that, and used its experience in real water conditions to further refine its technology. Subsequently, Verdant was one of the first company’s to avail itself of FERC’s pilot license process.

Seven years since my first post, Verdant’s efforts have paid off. On January 23, 2011, FERC awarded Verdant a ten year pilot license , the first ever issued by FERC according to this news release. Here are a couple of quick observations about the license:

1. Verdant filed its application at the end of 2010, and FERC noticed the application on February 2, 2011. FERC’s January 23, 2012 license issuance is thus within the one year time frame that FERC intended when it developed the pilot process. Of course, from Verdant’s perspective, the licensing project took far longer than year; as noted, Verdant has been developing the project and license application since at least 2005. [click to continue…]

UK Releases Report on the Future of MHK

February 22, 2012

Just as they say that the grass isn’t any greener on the other side, so too, it appears, that the waters aren’t any bluer for MHK on the other side of the pond.  On February 7, 2012, the Energy & Climate Change Committee of the UK House of Commons released a this Report on the [...]

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Oceans of Wave Energy Innovation

February 22, 2012

One of the most exciting aspects of practicing law in the marine and hydrokinetic space is that I have a birds-eye view of innovation-in-action.  And while I sometimes think that it might be nice to work in a more mature industry like wind, where the three-blade turbine design is set or stone (or more accurately, [...]

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Law Review Round Up

February 22, 2012

Obscure, complex, duplicative and uncertain.  While those adjectives don’t make for good law or regulation, they’re the stuff that law review articles are made of.  Perhaps that explains why in the decade since my original (and now, grossly outdated) journal article, Ocean Energy in the 1990s, dozens of other papers and articles have emerged summarizing [...]

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Supreme Court To Hear OCS Case With Impacts for the Offshore Renewables Industry

October 3, 2011

It’s not often that the United States Supreme Court hears a case with consequences for the offshore wind and marine hydrokinetic industry. The last time I mentioned a Supreme Court case was back in April 2008, where I posted about Delaware v. New Jersey. There, the Court interceded to resolve a dispute over [...]

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Why Is MHK Lumped With Hydropower?

August 24, 2011

Let me begin by saying that I don’t harbor any ill-will towards hydropower.   In fact, I’m a fan.  I started my career in FERC’s Office of General Counsel as an attorney-advisor on electric and hydro issues.  As a baby-attorney, I have fond memories of plowing through the Federal Power Act’s rich, more than half-century [...]

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Wanted: FERC Lawyers, $200 an Hour

July 26, 2011

I’m still parsing through the FERC recent Order No. 1000, the long-anticipated final rule on transmission planning and cost allocation. But as with most FERC regulations, I first skip the main course for dessert – which for me is the oft-overlooked, OMB-mandated analysis of information-reporting and public burden requirements for new regulations.
Here, FERC estimates [...]

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Social Media for Renewable Energy Lawyers & Professionals

June 27, 2011

I’m holding a webinar on July 6, 2011 on Social Media for Energy Professionals – learn how to keep up to date with new developments , find business opportunities and build relationships with clients and colleagues. Like many of you, I practice in the energy regulatory space. I know how difficult – and [...]

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My First Hand Experience With Eco-Tourism

June 27, 2011

I’ve just returned from a five-day vacation with my family in the Berkshires. Yet, my work in the renewables industry was never far from my mind. It’s not because I spent my vacation working – though as a law firm owner, I routinely check-in to the office at least once a day even [...]

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