San Francisco based Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) is in the news with its bid to become the nation’s leading solar utility. Focused on turning itself into a paradigm for 21st-century utilities, PG&E is investigating and nurturing cutting-edge technologies to mass produce fuel from solar power, wave energy and manure based biogas.
PG&E is way ahead of other American power firms going green primarily because of its connections in Silicon Valley with clean-energy technology. Environmental initiatives — like limits on greenhouse-gas emissions — are also actively and effectively supported.
The United States is expected to impose certain ceiling caps on greenhouse gases in the next few years. Utilities that fail to cut their emissions could end up paying heavy penalties in carbon taxes. In an effort to stay ahead in the green issue, PG&E is preparing for the greenhouse-gas caps by investing in an energy efficient grid and nurturing innovation in non-fossil energy.
Investments in a number of green energy farms are projected to help PG&E meet its energy targets. It has put forward an interest claim in California with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permits to develop two 40-megawatt green energy wave farms. This is in line with its interest in exploring new sources of clean, renewable ocean energy to generate power for commercial and industrial purposes that currently consume natural gas or other combustible fuels. PG&E presently has nearly a gigawatt of wind power online. Strategic wind farms from states such as Oregon lets the company avoid transmission obstacles while speeding up new power projects. The latest wind energy agreement is with a subsidiary of the U.K’s Scottish Power.
To date, PG&E is set to buy one gigawatt of solar thermal energy — which is expected to provide 750,000 American homes with one of the cleanest and most cost-effective forms of renewable energy. 553 megawatts of this is from an Israeli firm. Overseas green energy companies are increasingly looking at the U.S. as rich market for green tech. The utility is targeting an additional gigawatt of solar power in the near future. PG&E is now equipped with enough biogas for the next two years to power 50,000 homes through its recent contracts with two biogas companies.
