DOE Offers First Renewable Energy Loan In Four Years

The U.S. Department of Energy is doing something it has been talking about for four years: loaning money.

A loan guarantee of $535 million will go to Solyndra Inc., which will expand its production of photovoltaic systems in Fremont, Calif. The money will cover 75 percent of the project costs but will yield up to 15 gigawatts of electricity and save some 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Oh, it will also produce thousands of new construction, manufacturing and installation jobs. That’s thousands of green jobs, y’all.

Chris Gronet, the founder and chairman of Solyndra, said the guaranteed funding “will enable Solyndra to achieve the economies of scale needed to deliver solar electricity at prices that are competitive with utility rates. This expansion is really about creating new jobs while meaningfully impacting global warming.”

The loan guarantee is still subject to final approval. A process which has halted hundreds of applications for more than $40 billion in alternative-energy loans. But Steven Chu, the new Energy Secretary, has said it is this administration’s priority to create jobs and develop carbon-free sources of power. And we hope it’s true!

“This investment is part of President Obama’s aggressive strategy to put Americans back to work and reduce our dependence on foreign oil by developing clean, renewable sources of energy,” Dr. Chu said in a statement on Friday. “We can create millions of new, good-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced. Instead of relying on imports from other countries to meet our energy needs, we’ll rely on America’s innovation, America’s resources and America’s workers.”

The program that provides these loans was passed by Congress under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but has yet to really do anything.

“After years of watching this program struggle to get off the ground,” Senator Jeff Bingaman, the Energy Committee chairman said, “it’s encouraging to see that Secretary Chu’s energetic new leadership at the department is having an effect.”

Yah, we feel that way too, Senator.

Source: New York Times

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