Washington International Renewable Energy Conference: Canadian Viewpoint

We met an outstanding group of York University graduate students at WIREC. They have since written a fascinating article on the conference. We are honored to share it with you on our blog...

"At the 2008 Washington International Renewable Energy Conference,Dan Reicher, CEO of Google, stated, “Policy can make or break thisrevolution”. This is a powerful message for the renewable energymovement, and a dominant theme at WIREC, along with the necessity forcollaboration and commitment. It is clear that investors need a stablepolicy environment that guarantees a long-term return on investment,and it is imperative that networks are expanded and sustained to sharethese best practices worldwide.

Feed-in Tariffs
We left WIREC with agenuinely positive sense that countries around the world are rapidlymoving in this direction. Much discussion revolved around the need forpolicy stability, and what is commonly referred to as Feed-in Tariff’s(FITs) took centre stage as the desired policy. This policy guarantee’sthat producers of renewable energy, from a  family home to a largebusiness, can sell their power to utilities for an established priceover a specific period of time.  Presently, 65 countries promoterenewable energy, with FITs established in 45 countries and regions.FITs bring financial security, remove price risk, and guarantee returnon investment – exactly the support that investors and community powerprojects need."

To continue reading the article, click here.