2014 May 14 « nuclear-news

New renewabl eenefrgy record for Germany, 74% of energy from renewables

Germany Sets New Record, Generating 74 Percent Of Energy Needs From Renewable Energy http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/13/3436923/germany-energy-records/

BY KILEY KROH MAY 13, 2014 ON SUNDAY, GERMANY’S IMPRESSIVE STREAK OF RENEWABLE ENERGY MILESTONES CONTINUED, WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION SURGING TO A RECORD PORTION — NEARLY 75 PERCENT — OF THE COUNTRY’S OVERALL ENERGY DEMAND BY MIDDAY. WITH WIND AND SOLAR IN PARTICULAR FILLING SUCH A HUGE PORTION OF THE COUNTRY’S POWER DEMAND, ELECTRICITY PRICES ACTUALLY DIPPED INTO THE NEGATIVE FOR MUCH OF THE AFTERNOON, ACCORDING TO RENEWABLES INTERNATIONAL.

In the first quarter of 2014, renewable energy sources met a record 27 percent of the country’s electricity demand, thanks to additional installations and favorable weather. “Renewable generators produced 40.2 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity, up from 35.7 billion kilowatt-hours in the same period last year,” Bloomberg reported. Much of the country’s renewable energy growth has occurred in the past decade and, as a point of comparison, Germany’s 27 percent is double the approximately 13 percent of U.S. electricity supply powered by renewables as of November 2013.

Observers say the records will keep coming as Germany continues its Energiewende, or energy transformation, which aims to power the country almost entirely on renewable sources by 2050.

“Once again, it was demonstrated that a modern electricity system such as the German one can already accept large penetration rates of variable but predictable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar PV power,” said Bernard Chabot, a renewable energy consultant based in France, via email. “In fact there are no technical and economic obstacles to go first to 20 percent of annual electricity demand penetration rate from a combination of those two technologies, then 50 percent and beyond by combining them with other renewables and energy efficiency measures and some progressive storage solutions at a modest level.”

To reach the lofty goal of 80 percent renewables by 2050, Germany had to move quickly. Despite being known for gray skies, the country has installed an astonishing amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) power — setting multiple solar power generation records along the way. At the end of 2012, Germany had installed considerably more solar power capacity per capita than any other country. The rapid growth has slowed, however, with 3.3 GW of PV installed in 2013, compared to 7.6 in 2012. And as countries like the U.S., Japan and China catch up, installations have continued to drop in 2014.

Regardless, a recent analysis by the consulting firm Eclareon found that solar power has reached grid parity in Germany, meaning once all of the costs are accounted for, the price of commercial solar power is now equal to retail electricity rates.

And wind power reached record output levels last year — producing a massive 25.2 GW and accounting for 39 percent of the electricity supply on a single day in December.

The unprecedented growth of solar PV in particular has been fueled in large part by policies that incentivize clean energy. Germany’s simple feed-in tariff (FIT) policy, which pays renewable energy producers a set amount for the electricity they produce under long-term contracts, has driven the solar power boom. But as installations continued to outpace government targets, Germany announced last year that it would begin scaling back its feed-in tariff.

May 14, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, renewable | 1 Comment

Bangladesh is going for solar energy in a big way

Why Green Jobs Are Booming in Bangladesh, AN ATLANTIC SPECIAL REPORT The impoverished nation is going solar in a big way. TODD WOODY MAY 12 2014 according to a report released Sunday, the South Asian nation has become a top hot spot for renewable energy jobs, creating a green workforce as large as Spain’s in 2013.

How? Solar energy.

Bangladeshi’s are installing small photovoltaic systems at a rate of 80,000 a month, says the report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). In a country where only 47 percent of the population had access to electricity in 2009, according to the Asian Development Bank, solar is increasingly becoming a way to leapfrog the need to build a bigger power grid. In the past 10 years, the number of solar systems in Bangladesh has jumped from 25,000 to 2.8 million, according to IRENA. That in turn has created some 114,000 jobs, from assembling solar panels to selling, installing and maintaining them. In fact, the number of solar-related jobs nearly doubled between 2011 and 2013. “The numbers are set to increase further,” wrote the report’s authors. (By comparison some 4 million people work in Bangladesh’s garment industry.)

Solar energy accounted for 2.3 million of the world’s 6.5 million renewable energy-related jobs in 2013, according to the report. About 70 percent of those solar positions were in China, the biggest green-job generator with 2.6 million people employed in renewable energy overall…….http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/why-a-green-jobs-boom-is-under-way-in-bangladesh/362087/

May 14, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ASIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Political opposition to Miami Nuclear Plant

Tallahassee Rep. To Oppose Miami Nuclear Plant Expansionhttp://news.wjct.org/post/tallahassee-rep-oppose-miami-nuclear-plant-expansion By JESSICA PALOMBO May 13, 2014 A Tallahassee lawmaker and a South Florida mayor are planning to ask Florida Gov. Rick Scott to stop the expansion of a Miami nuclear power plant. Scott and his cabinet will hear from Florida Power and Light Tuesday about its plans to add reactors to its Turkey Point plant.

Florida Power and Light’s proposal includes two new nuclear reactors and 89 miles of transmission wires to stretch across nearby towns. The wires are a sticking point for Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner. Lerner is slated to attend the meeting alongside state Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda (D-Tallahassee), who says an expansion of nuclear power has statewide implications.

“What’s really happening is we’re pushing out the desire and need for other innovations and for other renewable energy answers,” she says.

Vasilinda has unsuccessfully sponsored bills repealing power companies’ ability to charge customers for nuclear plants that are never built, as happened recently in Levy County. And she says she’s concerned about the safety of all nuclear reactors as sea levels continue rising.

May 14, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

Right wing attack on Colorado Clean Energy Standard fails in court

Court Slaps Down Right Wing Attack On Colorado Clean Energy Standard http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/13/3437403/right-wing-attack-on-colorado-res-slapped-down-by-court/ BY TOM KENWORTHY ON MAY 13, 2014 COLORADO’S RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD, ONE OF THE MOST AMBITIOUS IN THE U.S., HAS THE DISTINCTION OF BEING APPROVED NOT JUST BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE BUT ALSO BY VOTERS IN A STATEWIDE REFERENDUM.

Now it’s been approved in the courts.

In a decision that could have implications for other renewable energy requirements under attack by the fossil fueled right wing, a U.S. District Court judge has upheld Colorado’s RES. Judge William J. Martinez flatly rejected arguments by the Energy and Environment Legal Institute that Colorado’s RES violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Martinez granted summary judgment to the three defendants in the case, all commissioners of the state’s Public Utilities Commission.

In a news release responding to the decision, EarthJustice — which represented environmental groups which intervened in the case — said the decision will have implications beyond Colorado because renewable standards in some of the 30 other states that have them are “under legal attack by the fossil fuel industry and its supporters.”

Michael Hiatt, an EarthJustice attorney, said in an interview there have been a number of cases attacking clean energy and climate change efforts that have been rooted in Commerce Clause arguments and that the Colorado decision is important in beating back that line of legal attack. “It confirms that states do have the authority to mandate the use of renewables,” he said.

The Colorado case dates to 2011 when plaintiff Energy and Environment Legal Institute was known as the American Tradition Institute (ATI), a longtime opponent of mainstream climate science and clean energy. ATI had a partner organization called the American Tradition Partnership. According to theInstitute for Southern Studies the groups have ties to fossil fuel interests including the Koch brothers.

According to SourceWatch, ATI or its employees have been involved in campaign finance violations in Montana, in suing the University of Virginia to obtain access to the emails of climatologist Michael Mann, and in an effort to build a nationwide movement against wind power.

Colorado voters approved the state’s first RES in 2004, which required large investor-owned utilities to get 10 percent of their power from renewable sources. The state legislature has twice improved upon that first requirement, and those large utilities must now get 30 percent of their power from renewable sources by the year 2020. Municipal utilities and large rural electric co-ops must meet less stringent standards.

May 14, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

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