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Future for renewable energy looking good in USA and elsewhere

Whatever the outcome of the upcoming mid-term elections in the country, [USA] the present momentum to create renewable energy opportunities looks likely to have broad bipartisan support….Even as the country was combating the downsizing of its economy and the job losses spawned by it, “more renewable energy capacity was installed than conventional fossil or nuclear power stations,” according to a recent report by Bank Sarasin, the Swiss financial institution.

Bright future for renewable energy Not only US and Europe are creating opportunities but also rest of the world gulfnews  By Manoj Nair,  October 24, 2010 Dubai : Barack Obama might have been less than enthusiastic recently about installing new solar panels at the White House, but this has in no way deterred the US from committing a growing cache in alternate energy resources.

Whatever the outcome of the upcoming mid-term elections in the country, the present momentum to create renewable energy opportunities looks likely to have broad bipartisan support.

And US politicians are likely to keep to the straight and narrow when it comes to alternate energy — public anger and dismay over the havoc wrought by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is too recent to have them think otherwise. In fact, investments attracted by non-fossil fuel initiatives has been on a high for the last two years. Surprisingly so, at that.

Even as the country was combating the downsizing of its economy and the job losses spawned by it, “more renewable energy capacity was installed than conventional fossil or nuclear power stations,” according to a recent report by Bank Sarasin, the Swiss financial institution.

The report — ‘Renewable Energies” Evolving from a Niche to a Mass Market’ — finds that the year-on-year increases were higher by 50 per cent in the US.

It was not a trend confined to the US. New capacity generated by renewable energy sources — including solar cells and modules, wind turbines, etc. — recorded a 60 per cent gain in Europe on a year-on-year basis. Emerging categories such as bio-fuels geo-thermal efforts within the renewable energy umbrella are getting their due as well.The Bank Sarasin report reckons that a substantial 130 billion euros (Dh666.24 billion) was spent in such capacities worldwide, a 23 per cent gain over the 2008 numbers. What is particularly noteworthy is that all of this was taking place when governments and businesses were scrambling to save each dollar.

If renewable energy could attract this scale of investments in a year of recession, there’s nothing to indicate it will not be the same when the global economy is feeling more sanguine.

Even in the Middle East, governments have taken the lead in setting the agenda on renewable energy. One need look no further than Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City initiative, even if its scale has been trimmed down to be more aligned with the economy…

gulfnews : Bright future for renewable energy

October 25, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, renewable | climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, nuclear, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind