World Bank is Mapping the Renewable Energy Revolution
Mapping the Renewable Energy Revolution World Bank, June 17, 2013 STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A new World Bank program is helping developing countries map their renewable energy potential in a new way that produces rich, nationwidedata.
The project goes beyond existing solar and wind maps to provide the granular data governments need to understand the country’s fullresource potential and to pinpoint the best locations for serving thepopulation……..http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/06/17/mapping-the-energy-revolution
Youtube: Internet service by solar powered balloon
Solar And Balloon-Powered Internet For Everyone http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3794 17 June 13 Google hopes to bring Internet access to the two-thirds of the world’s population that does not have it with the assistance of solar power and balloons.
Project Loon is a network of balloons travelling at 20 km above the Earth’s surface; each decked out with transmission equipment able to provide connectivity to a ground area about 40 km in diameter with download speeds comparable to 3G.
Project Loon’s balloon envelopes are made from polyethylene plastic standing fifteen meters wide by twelve meters tall when fully inflated. A parachute attached to the top of the envelope allows for a controlled descent whenever a balloon needs to be taken out of service.
A small box hanging below the balloon contains the electronics and radio antennas; plus batteries to store energy so the balloons can operate during the night.
Solar panels with a total capacity of 100 watts sit between the balloon and the hardware. Between the wind and sun, Project Loon is able to power itself purely through renewable energy.
One of the major challenges Google faced was how to control the balloons’ path through the sky. One balloon would be challenging enough and there will be hundreds of these in the future. While not providing much in the way of further detail, the company says it has found a way to do that, using just wind and solar power – along with some complex algorithms and serious computing power.
The Project Loon pilot test began this month when thirty balloons were launched from New Zealand; beaming Internet to a group of 50 pilot testers. The technology will be refined based on the results before the next phase.
New Zealanders interested in registering to be a Project Loon pilot tester for future test launches can sign up here.
“The idea may sound a bit crazy,” says Google’s official blog, “and that’s part of the reason we’re calling it Project Loon – but there’s solid science behind it.”
Renewable energy program for Kuwait
Kuwait orders 2000 MW worth of renewable energy, Arabian Gazette by John Brian Shannon / June 15, 2013 Kuwait is set to spend USD 100 billion on the nation’s domestic energy sector over the next 5 years – and for the first time, some of that investment is earmarked for renewable energy. – See more at:
http://arabiangazette.com/kuwait-orders-2000-mw-renewable-20130615/#sthash.T2AZUK1u.dpuf
– See more at: http://arabiangazette.com/kuwait-orders-2000-mw-renewable-20130615/#sthash.T2AZUK1u.dpuf
Lithuania gets renewable energy law
President signs in renewable energy law http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/6728/president-signs-in-renewable-energy-law-20116728/President Dalia Grybauskaite signed the Renewable Energy bill into law opening up possibilities for widespread use of renewable energy resources such as biofuels, wind power and others.
The bill will make it easier for people to use renewable energy and diversify their usage away from gas-generated electricity. Lithuania is trying to reduce the political power that Russia has over it because of the 100 percent dependency on its gas.
“Energy independence is possible only if we use various energy sources. We have ambitious goals – by 2020 we want at least 23 percent of the energy consumed to be produced from renewable energy sources, and thus become less dependent on one energy source. This can be done only by developing modern, human and environmentally friendly renewable energy technologies,” Grybauskaite said.
Grybauskaite added that the government must ensure that renewable energy would be developed, taking into account human health and the environment and the individual interest groups so that it cannot become a source of profit at the expense of others.
The president said that the law was not perfect, but it needed to be signed because the public interest is at stake.
Renewable energy can lead Lithuania towards energy security
Opinion: Will renewable energy sources lead towards energy security? Lithuania Tribune, Inga Sapronaitytė , 14 June 13, All countries should give high priority to the development of renewable energy sources (RES) and their effective use. Alternative energy is one of the ways to establish new jobs, develop a ‘green’ economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Lithuania should also focus on the development of RES and increase its energy independence, since it is still highly dependent on Russia for this. Effective use of RES could increase reliable energy supplies and comply with the environmental requirements of the EU…….
Since Lithuania does not have major sources of fossil fuels (except probable shale gas), the only way to increase energy security and independence is development of renewable energy sources.
The key factors preventing from this development include:
Low prices of organic fuel (oil and gas) until 2006. Renewable energy sources could not compete with conventional sources, except in rural areas where timber were the cheapest fuel.;
The inherited district heating network in the cities was adapted to use only fuel oil or gas. Modernisation of this field of the economy is very expensive.
Renewable energy sources are most effectively used in small systems yet there is still lack of local qualified staff and competent authorities.
A sceptical attitude toward renewable energy sources has prevailed in society and among politicians for a long time, preventing legal and economic incentives.
During the recent decade the situation has changed significantly. Positive changes toward RES (especially in the heating sector) were determined by the restructuring of the sector such as separation of manufacturer and supplier.
Privatisation providing for the emergence of smaller energy producers using RES has also had a sizeable effect, together with increased global organic fuel prices. This has changed the attitude of society and politicians towards renewable energy sources……..
So far the main renewable energy sources in Lithuania were conventional sources used for energy needs, i.e. timber, wood-processing industries waste and hydro-energy. Only during the last five years energy produced by wind power plants has acquired more relevance, as well as bio-fuel used in transport.
According to the National Strategy for the Development of Renewable Energy Sources, logs and wood waste, straw and other agricultural and industrial waste account for approximately 90 per cent in the balance of renewable energy sources. Another 10 per cent consist of biofuel, hydro-energy, wind and geothermal energy.http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/41337/opinion-will-renewable-energy-sources-lead-towards-energy-security-201341337/
No to Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs). Yes to wind energy, for Warren Buffett
The best-known investor in the utility arena is raising its stake in wind in Iowa $1.9
billion….
MidAmerican is cancelling its pursuit of new small modular nuclear power options…..
Buffett & co choose wind energy investment over nuclear REeweconomy, By Mike Jacobs 14 June 2013 The Equation Investors working with utilities are making clear and clean choices for meeting our energy needs. Two big announcements show wind and energy efficiency are financeable and attractive, and new small nuclear reactors are not. Recently MidAmerican Energy chose to add more wind energy to its supply, dump a “modular” nuclear plant proposal, and decline to follow the trend toward burning natural gas.
Meanwhile, today Seattle City Light announced a purchase of energy from a commercial energy efficiency developer, demonstrating a power-purchase approach to fund investments in energy conservation that won’t disrupt a utility company’s financial health.
With Warren Buffet behind the wind decision, (MidAmerican is a subsidiary of Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway), and a new financial model possibly cracking the nut on building owner and utility ambivalence about deep energy retrofits for commercial buildings, these are important developments.
To summarise what just happened: Continue reading
Norway, Iceland -100% renewable energy, and other countries following
EU: 100 Percent Renewable Energy Is Here, The Energy Collective, David Thorpe, 13 June 13 June 13, 2013 Two questions for you: how many countries in the world source their electricity 100% from renewable sources? And which major European nation that is well-endowed with renewable energy resources, is the worst at exploiting them?
The answers can be gleaned from the recently updated International Energy Statistics of Electricity Generation from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy…….New York giant bank to invest $3b in Japan renewable investments
Goldman eyes $3b in Japan renewable investments SMH, 14 June 13, Goldman Sachs, the New York-based bank planning as much as 300 billion yen ($3 billion) in renewable energy investments in Japan, is eyeing offshore wind power after building up holdings in more established clean energy sources such as solar.
Japan Renewable Energy Co. was set up by Goldman in August after Japan began offering above-market rates to producers of clean energy. The incentives, or feed-in tariffs, have spurred investments in renewables, setting Japan on course this year to become one of the world’s largest solar markets by annual installations.
The company sees offshore wind as promising, Shigeru Yasu, a representative director at Japan Renewable Energy, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. Geothermal and biomass power also hold potential, he said……..
Five-year investment
Japan Renewable Energy plans in the next five years to invest as much as 50 billion yen directly into clean energy projects with capital provided by GS Infrastructure Partners. It will take as much as 250 billion yen of loans for project financing, Takahisa Nakagawa, also a representative director at Japan Renewable Energy, said in the interview. The investments and loans will amount to about 1,000 megawatts of clean energy, he said……..
Japan is set to overtake Germany as the world’s largest solar market, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said last month……. http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/goldman-eyes-3b-in-japan-renewable-investments-20130614-2o7uo.html#ixzz2WFD29I8D
Could Britain achieve 100% renewable energy?
Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Spain and all these other European countries show that it is possible to do so. They are all out-classing Britain.
A bright future, full of jobs and export potential, with far less global upheaval caused by climate chaos awaits us, if only the political will was thereEU: 100 Percent Renewable Energy Is Here, The Energy Collective, David Thorpe, 13 June 13 Britain can, clearly, do far better, never mind all the party political wrangling over support for green technologies. If other countries can do it, so can we.
UK wind power succeeding without need for fossil fuel backup
Fossil fuel plants not needed to back up UK wind http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/fossil-fuel-based-power-stations-unnecessary-to-back-up-wind-23670 By Joshua Hill 14 June 2013 An incidental note at the bottom of a wildlife article covering the culling of badgers in the UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph could have explosive results for the energy industry.
According to the addendum, a measly four paragraphs in length, the National Grid — the country’s electric grid operator — has reported that wind energy produced 23,700 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power, requiring only 22 GWh of power from fossil fueled stations to fill the gaps: that is less than a thousandth of wind’s output, and ironically, less than a tenth of what was needed to back up conventional fossil fueled power stations.
The figures were similarly impressive when looking at emissions. According to the National Grid, wind saved nearly 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the period accounted for (April 2011 through to September 2012) and required only 8,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions to be released as backup, measuring in at only 0.081%.
There is no easy information available on the National Grid website to confirm these figures referenced in the Daily Telegraph article, and furthermore the paper’s final sentence — “Not surprisingly, given these figures, no new fossil‑fuel power station has been built to provide back‑up for wind farms, and none is in prospect” — seems to be in direct contradiction to a BBC News story published this week, reporting that two diesel power stations are planned to compensate for fluctuations in green energy.
According to the article, Green Frog Power received planning permission last year to build its diesel power station in Plymouth, while Fulcrum Power has made an application for a similar power station in Plymouth, as well. Unsurprisingly, given the current climate surrounding the energy industry, both companies said that they support renewable energy. This article was originally posted on Cleantechnica. Re-produced with permission.
Renewable energy investment going strong in emerging nations
Renewable Energy Investments Shift to Developing Nations http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-12/renewable-energy-investments-shift-to-developing-nations.html By Alex Morales – Jun 12, 2013 Renewable energy investments are shifting to developing nations as countries from Morocco to Chile pursue power sources that wean them off fossil fuel imports, two studies promoted by the United Nations said.
China’s $67 billion of investment in wind, solar and other renewable projects led developing nations to $112 billion of spending in 2012, according to an e-mailed statement today from the UN and other groups involved in the studies. That compares with $132 billion of expenditure in the industrialized world.
The gap on renewables spending between richer and developing countries shrank to 18 percent last year from 250 percent in 2007, marking a “dramatic change” in investment patterns, the statement said. Two-thirds of the 138 nations that now have clean-energy targets are in the developing world.
“The uptake of renewable energies continues worldwide as countries, companies and communities seize the linkages between low-carbon green economies and a future of energy access and security,” UN Environment Program Executive Director Achim Steiner said in the statement. “More and more countries are set to take the renewable energy stage,” he said, citing “the logic and the rationale of embracing a green development path.” Continue reading
Shared Renewable Energy Bill in California an exciting development
California Shared Renewable Energy Bills Gain Momentum, http://theenergycollective.com/rosana-francescato/236241/california-shared-renewables-bills-gain-momentum by Rosana Francescato June 11, 2013 Momentum is building for shared renewable energy in California. Late last week the two bills we’ve been following there, SB 43 and AB 1014, passed with strong margins in their chambers of origin — marking the first time this legislation has moved beyond committee to pass in either chamber.
The author of SB 43, Senator Lois Wolk, worked late into the night to draft last-minute amendments that would address concerns expressed by both Senator Alex Padilla and several utilities. The concerns were about an issue that’s been hounding the bill since its previous incarnation last year as SB 843: that there be no cost-shifting to utility customers not participating in the bill’s program.
The program allows for 500 MW of renewable energy projects that are ideal for utility customers who can’t put solar on their own roof. When they subscribe to energy produced by these shared renewable projects, customers get a credit on their power bill for that energy.
While this may sound great to customers, especially renters, utilities are sceptical. They want to ensure that the method used to calculate the bill credit be fair to all customers, including those who don’t sign up for shared renewables projects. Whether or not the utilities’ concern is disingenuous (remember the debate about net metering?), the bill’s sponsors have focused on addressing this point to ensure both fairness to all customers and passage of the bill.
And pass it did last week, with a vote in the California Senate of 27 – 9. The bill’s current version includes carve-outs that have been key requests of environmental justice and community power organizations: at least 20% of the program is set aside to be built in environmental justice areas, and at least 20% is set aside to be available to residential customers.
Less dramatic was the passage of AB 1014, which sailed through the Assembly with no debate and a vote of 55 – 17. Authored by Assemblyman Das Williams, this bill creates a voluntary program that allows utility customers to opt for 100% renewable energy, through their utility. As with SB 43, an important component of this bill was avoiding any cost-shifting to non-participants.
The bills have distinct approaches, but according to Tom Price, California Shared Renewables Policy and Market Strategies Director, “both solve the same problem — letting people who can’t buy renewable energy because they don’t have a place to physically install it to instead virtually install it on their power bill.”
As currently written, each bill would generate about 500 MW of new clean energy, 6,500 jobs, $60M in new taxes, and $2B in economic activity — all without a penny of state incentives.
At some point, SB 43 and AB 1014 are expected to be reconciled into one. No one knows yet how or when that will happen. Given that some still view SB 43 as pricing mechanism with cost shifts, there may be a convergence toward AB 1014’s PG&E-approved pricing structure. Wolk and Williams are working together to ensure the bills are supportive of each other.
The bills are now set to go through the policy committee of the opposite chamber, and then that chamber’s appropriations committee, before moving on to the whole floor. They’re likely to reach the policy committees by early July.
For the moment, the bills are on pause. But it won’t be long before it’s once again time for action. Keeping both bills moving forward requires showing as much support as possible. To receive updates and find out how you can get involved, sign up at the California Shared Renewables site.
A crack appears in Tea Party’s opposition to solar emergy
Even if the Public Service Commission forces Georgia Power to expand its use of solar power in their energy plan, Dooley said the fight is far from over. She plans to continue her efforts by pushing for upcoming legislation that would allow private companies to set up solar farms and feed their energy into Georgia Power’s grid, continuing to put pressure on Georgia Power for cost overruns at its Vogtle nuclear power plant, and possibly even challenging the law that grants monopoly rights to utilities. http://theenergycollective.com/josephromm/234916/tea-party-takes-georgia-power-over-lack-solar-energy
Tea Party Takes on Utility Over Lack of Solar Energy, Energy Collective, Joseph Romm , 9 June 13 The fight to bring cheaper, clean energy to Georgia is uniting some unlikely allies. Renewable energy advocates and leaders of the Atlanta Tea Party are taking on utility giant Southern Co., and its subsidiary Georgia Power, over resisting the call to expand its development of solar energy.
As Debbie Dooley, co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party explained in an interview with Climate Progress, the group’s interest in the debate is quite simple: “The free market has been one of the founding principles of the Tea Party since it began and a monopoly is not a free market.” Continue reading
Global Impact Award goes to Solar Aid
SolarAid Recipient Of £500,000 Google Award. http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3783, 9 June 13, by Energy Matters Last week, SolarAid became the winner of a £500,000 Google Global Impact Award.We first covered SolarAid back in 2009. The group’s mission is make solar energy as widely available as possible to the poorest people in developing countries by providing affordable (and in some instances free) solar lighting.
Its core focus is the social enterprise, SunnyMoney. Lights are sold to local entrepreneurs; who then resell the equipment in their communities at a reasonable price. The approximate payback time of a basic light through savings on kerosene fuel is around 12 weeks. The group also offers a donate-a-light initiative; where donors can sponsor a light for a family.
SunnyMoney has sold over 338,000 lights in the last 12 months, growing over 550% year on year to become the largest seller of solar lights in Africa. In total, the organisation has distributed over a half a million solar lights. With the average household size in East Africa being five, SolarAid’s work has helped to transform the lives of over two and a half million people.
SolarAid says it will use the half a million pound prize to distribute 144,000 solar lights in rural Tanzania and recruit 400 school leavers to create a new generation of solar entrepreneurs.
“The support pledged by Google to the four Award winners will help SolarAid raise its profile, gain more supporters and ensure the injustice of living without clean light gets onto the world radar,” says SolarAid.
With 85% of Africans not having access to electricity, the entrepreneurial approach has massive potential – not just in lighting up lives, but improving health and creating employment. SolarAid has set a lofty goal of eradicating the kerosene lamp from Africa by 2020.
Google’s Global Impact Awards support nonprofits using technology and innovation to tackle tough human challenges.
California can now move to safe, clean renewable energy
The End of the San Onofre Nuclear Plant — An Advance for Safe, Clean, Renewable Energy Technologies http://karlgrossman.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/the-end-of-san-onofre-nuclear-plant.html
Southern California Edison’s announcement this week that it will close its troubled twin-reactor San Onofre nuclear power plant—along with other recent setbacks for atomic energy in the United States—marks a downward spiral for nuclear power.1 This Month
petition to oppose the rapid increase of space-military industry threatening Jeju Island and the region.
[Petition by April 19th (KST)] Stop the joint military-Hanwha Systems-Jeju Provincial Government Sea Launch!
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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