Czechs approve taxes on carbon permits, solar
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - The lower house of the Czech parliament approved taxes on solar power and carbon dioxide emissions allowances granted to electricity firms as a response to a boom in expensive solar energy.
The government aims to stem fast expansion in solar plants, which enjoy high price tariffs that power distributors must pay for solar power, with a 26 percent tax on solar power revenues.
A separate tax charging traditional electricity makers 32 percent of the value of carbon emissions permits granted to them for free in 2011 and 2012 is aimed to raise revenue to subsidize power prices raised by the rising proportion of solar power in the overall energy mix.
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Maryland’s renewable energy facilities break pollution rules, say groups calling for enforcement
BALTIMORE - Many facilities that supply Maryland with renewable energy have exceeded pollution limits or otherwise broken environmental rules, violating a state law, according to a complaint sent by environmental groups to state energy and law enforcement officials.
Maryland law says that any company that contributes to a state renewable energy goal — half the state’s energy portfolio must come from renewable sources by 2030 — must “substantially comply” with rules on air and water quality and waste management. The complaint says more than two dozen power generators, including paper mills and trash incinerators, have records of formal or informal enforcement…
