| 18 | | - | (a) For purposes of this section, "renewable energy" means solar photovoltaic energy, solar thermal, geothermal energy, wind, ocean thermal energy, wave or tidal energy, fuel cells, landfill gas, hydropower that meets the low-impact standards of the Low-Impact Hydropower Institute, hydrogen production and hydrogen conversion technologies, low emission advanced biomass conversion technologies, alternative fuels, used for electricity generation including ethanol, biodiesel or other fuel produced in Connecticut and derived from agricultural produce, food waste or waste vegetable oil, provided the Commissioner of Environmental Protection determines that such fuels provide net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption, usable electricity from combined heat and power systems with waste heat recovery systems, thermal storage systems, waste heat recovered from a public wastewater treatment plant, and other energy resources and emerging technologies which have significant potential for commercialization and which do not involve the combustion of coal, petroleum or petroleum products, municipal solid waste or nuclear fission. |
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| 20 | | - | Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 16-245n of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): |
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| 21 | | - | |
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| 22 | | - | (c) There is hereby created a Renewable Energy Investment Fund which shall be within Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated for administrative purposes only. The fund may receive any amount required by law to be deposited into the fund and may receive any federal funds as may become available to the state for renewable energy investments. Upon authorization of the Renewable Energy Investments Board established pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated, may use any amount in said fund for expenditures that promote investment in renewable energy sources in accordance with a comprehensive plan developed by it to foster the growth, development and commercialization of renewable energy sources, related enterprises and stimulate demand for renewable energy and deployment of renewable energy sources that serve end use customers in this state and for the further purpose of supporting operational demonstration projects for advanced technologies that reduce energy use from traditional sources. Such expenditures may include, but not be limited to, reimbursement for services provided by the administrator of the fund including a management fee, disbursements from the fund to develop and carry out the plan developed pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, grants, direct or equity investments, contracts or other actions which support research, development, manufacture, commercialization, deployment and installation of renewable energy technologies, and actions which expand the expertise of individuals, businesses and lending institutions with regard to renewable energy technologies. Not more than fifty per cent of the cost of installation of a public wastewater treatment plant from which waste heat is recovered shall be disbursed from the fund. |
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| 30 | + | (26) "Class I renewable energy source" means (A) energy derived from solar power, wind power, a fuel cell, methane gas from landfills, ocean thermal power, wave or tidal power, low emission advanced renewable energy conversion technologies, waste heat recovered from a public wastewater treatment plant, a run-of-the-river hydropower facility provided such facility has a generating capacity of not more than five megawatts, does not cause an appreciable change in the river flow [,] and began operation after July 1, 2003, or a sustainable biomass facility with an average emission rate of equal to or less than .075 pounds of nitrogen oxides per million BTU of heat input for the previous calendar quarter, except that energy derived from a sustainable biomass facility with a capacity of less than five hundred kilowatts that began construction before July 1, 2003, may be considered a Class I renewable energy source, or (B) any electrical generation, including distributed generation, generated from a Class I renewable energy source; |
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