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Renewable energy trumping nuclear in Britain

Renewable UK said that last year there were at least 137,000 people involved in the sector, with a further 654,500 jobs in ancillary industries.

Renewable energy will overtake nuclear power by 2018, research says Renewables will provide enough power for one in 10 British homes by 2015 if current growth rates continue Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent The Guardian, 30 October 2012 Renewable energy capacity will overtake nuclear power in the UK by 2018, if current rates of growth continue, and will provide enough power for one in 10 British homes by 2015, according to new research.

The amount of electricity supplied by wind energy alone is up by a quarter since 2010, in a surprisingly good year for the renewables industry. While the government has notably cooled on wind power – more than 100 Tory MPs signed a statement this year opposing new windfarms, and the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has queried the future of subsidies – the industry has continued to grow, with investment in offshore wind up by about 60% to £1.5bn in the past year. Planning approvals for onshore windfarms also rose, up by about half, to reach a record level, according to the trade association Renewable UK.

Despite the outspoken opposition from many Tory MPs against wind power, there was a rise in the amount of onshore wind capacity approved last year for the first time since 2008. Continue reading →

November 2, 2012 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Germany’s nuclear phaseout – financial benefits to farmers, investors, and small business

the nuclear shutdown and an accompanying move toward renewable energy are already
yielding measurable economic and environmental benefits, with one top expert calling the German phase-out a probable game-changer for the nuclear industry worldwide.

 the nuclear phase-out and accompanying shift to renewable energy have brought financial benefits to farmers, investors, and small business;

Bulletin: German nuclear exit delivers economic, environmental
benefits http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2012/11/bulletin-german-nuclear-exit-delivers-economic-environmental-benefits, 11/01/2012  Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011, the German government took the nation’s eight oldest reactors offline immediately and passed legislation that will close the last nuclear power plant by 2022.

This nuclear phase-out had overwhelming political support in Germany. Continue reading →

November 2, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

A solar energy solution for India’s power needs

The solar-powered success of the Malankara Tea Plantation has national implications.

 India’s most recent power outages demonstrate how important it is for the country and its peers to pursue the sustainable, onsite generation of renewable energy and move away from the fossil fuels and fragile power grids that left millions in the sweltering dark this summer.

Solar Energy Could Solve Developing Nations’ Infrastructure Problems Aol Energy , By Mark Cerasuolo November 1, 2012  The challenges with India’s public electricity grids last summer showed the world what happens when a country’s growth rapidly outpaces its energy delivery infrastructure and diversity of sources. When three of India’s electricity grids failed and more than half a billion people suffered two days of blackouts at the height of summer, the global media reminded us that even on the country’s best day, there is still an enormous portion of the population with no access to power. Solar energy is one way to solve this problem….

Today, India gets only one gigawatt of power from solar energy, a mere 0.5 percent of its total power consumption according to BusinessWeek . But the country’s solar capacity is growing, and the government is encouraging state utilities to tap into that capacity by offering companies the chance to trade renewable energy credits……

The Malankara Tea Plantation took advantage of the Indian government’s incentives on solar photovoltaic installations; it used capital subsidies of 90 rupees per watt up to a maximum of 30 percent of the project cost. It installed solar arrays and charge controllers that gave the company independence from the unreliable grid and made it one of India’s first net-zero energy buildings. The organization has also reduced its annual carbon emissions by 47 tons. Continue reading →

November 2, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, India | Leave a comment

Pacific Island Tokelau leads the world in renewable energy: small really is beautuful

PEC-funded projects have brought power to the lives of more than 10,000 people in the Solomon Islands; will reduce Samoa’s fuel usage by 135,000 litres per annum; and, in the Federated States of Micronesia, reduce carbon emissions by 500 tonnes and induce fuel cost savings of 486,000 dollars per year.

Pacific Island Sets Renewable Energy Record, Alert Net, 26 Oct 2012 By Catherine Wilson BRISBANE,   (IPS) – Tokelau, a small Polynesian territory in the central Pacific, has surpassed the rest of the world in replacing fossil fuels and raised the benchmark of achievement on sustainable development. Continue reading →

October 27, 2012 Posted by | OCEANIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Solar energy is a dirty word, in USA’s election campaigns

 this failure to make the promise of renewables a keynote in the debate is a huge missed opportunity. In particular, it ignores the dramatic reduction in the cost of photovoltaic solar power worldwide and the considerable benefits to U.S. consumers and the environment

Solar Energy Is Ready. The U.S. Isn’t Bloomberg, By Ken Wells – Oct 25, 2012  Clean energy has become a dirty word in presidential politics. In their second debate, Mitt Romney  and Barack Obama  each tried to outdo the other’s love of fossil fuels: Obama extolling his record on oil and natural gas production, Romney vowing to take “advantage of the oil and coal we have here.” Continue reading →

October 27, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Solar energy catching on with friends and neighbours

Solar Power Adoption is Contagious,   Dani Thé, ENN , October 22, 2012  
Apparently doing something good can be contagious. Or at least this seems to be the case with solar power adoption. According to a study by Yale and New York University, published though Marketing Science, individuals are most likely to install solar panels on their home if one of their neighbors has also done so. The study, “Peer Effects in Diffusion of Photovoltaic Panels“, took a close look at solar installation clusters between January 2001 and December 2011 throughout the state of California. They found that a resident was most likely to install solar panels if solar panels had already been installed within that resident’s same zip code…… However, without governmental policy measures to create a market for which solar panel installations are desirable, initial installations by a household in a zip code area remains the principal challenge. Without it, a likelihood of adoption domino effect is minimal.

An example of such policy required to kick-start solar technology adoption rates is the “California Solar Initiative”. Established in 2006 by the California Public Commission, it played an integral role of encouraging solar infrastructure installations. Ten years since its establishment, the 3.3 billion dollar, 10-year rebate program encouraged the installation of over 3,000 megawatts of solar infrastructure. This study provides insight into the diffusion process of solar technology infrastructure, and also encourages policy makers to take action. It will require both governmental guidance and business strategy to take full advantage of these findings, so that solar technology adoption rates can quickly grow. The hope is that future studies will discover that the diffusion of other environmentally friendly technologies are just as contagious as solar is. http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/45120

October 26, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Taxpayers still paying up for dirty energy

When It Comes to Government Subsidies, Dirty Energy Still Cleans Up http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-21/when-it-comes-to-government-subsidies-dirty-energy-still-cleans-up
by: Charles Kennyn October 21, 2012 The Oct. 16 presidential town hall debate featured Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama facing off on who was really Mr. Oil or Mr. Gas or Mr. Coal. Neither candidate even mentioned climate change. And while President Obama did refer to renewable production, solar got short shrift—doubtless because of the fracas over now-bankrupt thin-film solar manufacturer Solyndra, which had received loan guarantees as part of the stimulus bill.

That’s a shame, because the reason panel production has moved from such countries as America and Germany to China is because prices have dropped and production has become a commoditized, high-volume enterprise. That may be bad news for Western manufacturing jobs, but it’s great news for the global environment, consumers, and even American energy security.

In fact, if we had a level playing field, where neither fossil fuels nor renewable energy received favorable regulatory or subsidy treatment, solar would be increasingly competitive. Mr. Coal would be going home, and Mr. Sun would be coming out to play.

Global subsidies for oil, gas, and coal amounted to $409 billion in 2010 —compared with $60 billion for renewable energy that year. Cutting those subsidies would be economically efficient, reduce overall energy consumption, and level the playing field with renewable power. The International Energy Agency suggests that removing fossil fuel subsidies would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 2.6 gigatonnes a year by 2035. That’s half of what’s required to prevent the planet’s average temperature from increasing by two degrees centigrade or more per year. Continue reading →

October 22, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, ENERGY | Leave a comment

Tamil Nadu – not a TOTAL disaster – solar energy policy

TN Govt unveils solar energy policy http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/tn-govt-releases-solar-energy-policy/article4016264.ece R. BALAJI CHENNAI, OCT 20: Industrial and Commercial buildings connected to a high tension power load will have to use solar power to meet a portion of their power consumption , according to a solar energy policy announced by the Tamil Nadu Government on Saturday.

The policy offers incentives and mandates exploitation of solar energy in industrial, commercial and residential buildings. Continue reading →

October 22, 2012 Posted by | India, renewable | Leave a comment

Costly to set up, but Germans think that clean energy is worth the price

Poll finds large majority of Germans favor phasing out nuclear power despite rising costs News Ser 22 Oct 12 Poll: Germans accept nuke exit despite rising bill ASSOCIATED PRESS |22 Oct 12 A new poll finds that a large majority of Germans back the government’s decision to phase out nuclear power and switch to renewable energies within a decade, despite rising electricity bills.

The poll for German news magazine Focus published Sunday found that 72 percent continue to support the country’s energy switchover. Only 24 percent were opposed to the policy.

Germany’s grid operators announced earlier this month that a surcharge on households’ electricity prices financing the expansion of renewable energies will increase by 47 percent starting in January. A typical family of four will then have to pay about (EURO)250 ($325) per year on top of their bill… http://www.newser.com/article/da21vv5g1/poll-finds-large-majority-of-germans-favor-phasing-out-nuclear-power-despite-rising-costs.html

October 22, 2012 Posted by | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Denmark is way ahead of its solar energy goal

Denmark Hits 200 Megawatt Solar Capacity Goal 8 Years Ahead of Schedule by , 10/15/12http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1jrNeg/inhabitat.com/denmark-hits-200-megawatt-solar-capacity-goal-8-years-ahead-of-schedule/  Lets face it – its rare we see a government goal reached on time, let alone early. Not too long ago, the Danish Government announced an ambitious goal to reach 200 megawatts of solar capacity by 2020, and as of last week, they have already met it! The country is currently installing an average of 36 megawatts of solar panels each month. At this rate, their resulting capacity by 2020 will be over five times the original goal. Denmark‘s power is currently 20% supplied by renewable sources, and the nation has set a goal of sourcing 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2050.

October 22, 2012 Posted by | Denmark, renewable | Leave a comment

Northern Scotland goes from nuclear to wind and waves, DW 19 Oct 12, The sparsely populated region of Caithness in northern Scotland once relied heavily on the development of nuclear energy for electric power and for job creation. Now wind and wave energy are set to take over. Continue reading →

October 20, 2012 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Revolutionary Inverter Technology Developed In The USA http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3431   18 Oct 12,   by Energy Matters
Solar panels often steal the limelight when it comes to solar power systems, so it’s good to see developments in inverter technology getting a little more press attention.

In a grid connected solar power system, a solar inverter converts the DC electricity generated by solar panels into AC electricity suitable for use by home appliances and for exporting to the mains grid. Continue reading →

October 19, 2012 Posted by | ENERGY, technology, USA | Leave a comment

International Renewable Energy Agency’s success in developing countries

The World Energy Forum in Dubai from October 22 to 24 is a major event. It is the first time this event is being held away from UN headquarters in New York.

Renewable energy in developing countries to inspire world http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/renewable-energy-in-developing-countries-to-inspire-world-1.1090242 Around 160 countries joined Irena within a few years — an unprecedented achievement By Binsal Abdul Kader,   October 16, 2012 Abu Dhabi: Initiatives in renewable energy in developing countries will inspire the world to adopt clean energy to address energy poverty and climate change caused by pollution, a top official of International Renewable Energy said on Monday. Continue reading →

October 17, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

USA leads in 5 top countries using renewable energy

5 Top Countries Leading The World In Renewable Energy, Care 2, by Judy Molland October 9, 2012 ”  Sustainable Energy and Renewable Energy are terms that are thrown around a lot these days, but what exactly do they mean, and how many countries are taking them seriously?

The US Energy Information Adminstration  (EIA) estimates that in 2008, 10% of the world’s energy consumption was from renewable energy sources. EIA forecasts that by 2035, consumption of renewable energy will be about 14% of total world energy consumption.

What are these renewable sources?

First, what they are not: the coal, oil and natural gas that the U.S. relies heavily on are all non-renewable, and will eventually dwindle and disappear.

By contrast, the many types of renewable, or sustainable, energy resources, such as wind and solar energy, are constantly replenished and will never run out…. And why do we love renewable energy?

These are clean sources of energy, meaning they have a much lower environmental impact than conventional energy technologies. They won’t run out, their costs revolve around materials and workmanship for facilities rather than on expensive energy imports, and better yet, renewable energy technologies developed and built in the U.S. are being sold overseas. Finally, U.S. energy security is at risk when we become so dependent on foreign oil supplies. Continue reading →

October 10, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

Barefoot Power and Kiva bring decentralised renewable energy across the world

Barefoot Power and Kiva Join Forces, Making Renewable Energy Solutions a Reality http://prwire.com.au/pr/32383/barefoot-power-and-kiva-join-forces-making-renewable-energy-solutions-a-reality, 9 Oct 12, 
Award-winning social enterprise Barefoot Power and non-profit organisation Kiva are working together to improve the lives of millions of families that do not have access to affordable energy in remote communities across the world. Continue reading →

October 10, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

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