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Caribbean and Southeastern Coastal Wind Turbines Fare Well During Sandy Phoenix Rising

Renewable Energy Good News Comes to Light After Hurricane Sandy By Jennifer Runyon, Managing Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com November 20, 2012

“……Just about a week after Hurricane Sandy,Northern Power Systems announced that 74 of its wind turbines, including three in the Caribbean, had been in the path of Hurricane Sandy and were undamaged by the high winds. Following Irene, a category 3 hurricane that hit in 2011, Sandy was the second powerful Atlantic storm to hit Northern Power turbines within a year and all turbines that were impacted performed safely as expected.

“The losses experienced from Hurricane Sandy are a tragic reminder of how powerful nature can be,” said Troy Patton, Northern Power Systems President and CEO. “Many of our turbines, from the Caribbean to the eastern seaboard of the U.S., were directly in the path of Hurricane Sandy, but none were damaged by the high winds. At Northern Power Systems, we have the experience and commitment to continue to make products that are safe and reliable.”

As a testament to the design of Northern Power’s turbines, as soon as each turbine detected Sandy’s hurricane force winds, it automatically entered safe mode. Once conditions returned to normal, each turbine started generating electricity again, said the company. http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/11/phoenix-rising-renewable-energy-good-news-comes-to-light-after-hurricane-sandy?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-November21-2012

November 22, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

In Lithuania – wind to take over from nuclear power?

Lithuania May Partly Replace Nuclear Power With Wind, Lobby Says Bloomberg, By Torsten Fagerholm – Nov 19, 2012 An expansion of wind power in Lithuania may help the country to improve its energy independence and offset a shortfall caused by closure of nuclear capacity.
Installed wind power capacity is likely double to 500 megawatts by 2015, five years ahead of schedule, paving the way for energy independence without nuclear power, Continue reading →

November 21, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, renewable | Leave a comment

The India Energy [R]evolution – jobs and energy security

The India Energy [R]evolution report jointly drafted by Greenpeace, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) focuses on the socio-economic impacts of renewable energy and proposes the pathway to ensure India’s energy security in the long run.

“With consistent and long term renewable energy policy frame work, India could build up a local renewable energy industry with an annual turnover of more than-INR 54,000 crore, creating more up to 24 lakh jobs by 2020.

Renewable energy can create more jobs: Greenpeace, Electric Light and Power, New Delhi, Nov 17 (IBNS) Replacing fossil fuel with renewable energy can create more jobs and provide cheap electricity, said environmental organization Greenpeace.

Greenpeace has launched the second version of the Indian Energy [R]evolution – a roadmap to secure India’s growing energy needs without having to depend on the depleting and polluting fossil fuels.

The roadmap comes at a critical time when the country is facing massive power shortage due to the inability of fossil fuels to meet its economic aspirations.
Future of India’s growth lies with massive expansion and deployment of renewable energy technologies through key policy reforms and significant investments, without putting any negative impact on its pristine forest and dependent marginalised communities.

The India Energy [R]evolution report jointly drafted by Greenpeace, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) focuses on the socio-economic impacts of renewable energy and proposes the pathway to ensure India’s energy
security in the long run. Continue reading →

November 19, 2012 Posted by | India, renewable | Leave a comment

Africa racing ahead with renewable energy

Africa’s renewable energy sector to be worth $57b by 2020 – UN Ghana Business News, By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi, November 18, 2012 The demand for power in Africa is expected to grow, driving the projected worth of continent’s renewable energy sector to $57 billion by the year 2020, a senior UN official has said. Mr. Said Adejumobi, the Director, Governance  and Public Administration Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA) told a business forum of investors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that the sector recorded “a staggering 1,583% increase between 2004 and 2011.”

He indicated that the enormous growth amounts to $3.6 billion in 2011 from $750 million in 2004 and is mainly due to the large unmet demand, combined with abundantly available sources of renewable energy in Africa…. The key growth areas in the sector he said, include wind, solar and geothermal power, he therefore emphasised the need for foreign direct investment into the continent’s energy and power infrastructure. “Investment in renewable energy, is a major priority for Africa,” he said.

The Forum according to Sam Cho, who heads the ECA’s private sector section brought together investors, banks, government investment agencies and those in the energy sector to discuss interests, concrete investments and other areas of collaboration. Among those present at the Forum are emerging market investors from China, India, Korea and Brazil, financing departments from the World Bank, the AfDB, DBSA, AFC and Ecobank.
http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2012/11/18/africas-renewable-energy-sector-to-be-worth-57b-by-2020-un/

November 19, 2012 Posted by | AFRICA, renewable | Leave a comment

Romania’s boom in wind and solar energy

Renewable energy: sense and necessity, The Diplomat, 16 Nov 12 Romania offers one of the most substantial and, therefore, attractive support schemes for renewable electricity production in the European Union.

Even though it took four years to pass the law governing thisfield, investors haven’t just been biding their time, but have spent a billion Euro on investments in the construction of wind farms, photovoltaic units, micro-hydropower and biomass plants November 2012 –

The renewable energy “boom” began in Romania in late 2009, in the midst of the global economic and financial crisis. At that time  when many investors and speculators were counting the losses they had incurred through misfiring investments in real estate  wind plants with tiny installed capacity of barely 14 MW were in operation across
the country.

A small step, which in 2010 turned into a leap, propelling the wind turbines’ installed capacity to 462 MW. A year later, another 520 MW of wind power “sprang” out of the country’s
soil, and in 2011 Romania reached 982 MW of operational wind turbines.

By the end of 2012, the total capacity of operating turbines is estimated to reach approximately 1,500 MW, 350 MW less than the target
of 1,850 MW set by the Government in the National Renewable Energy
Action Plan (NREAP). …… According to data provided by Transelectrica, 27 companies are planning to install almost 100 MW in photovoltaic panels next year  “ a substantial capacity compared to the existing figure of about 13 MW. The projects by the 27 companies are scattered through 11 counties, mainly focusing on Giurgiu, Timis and Ialomita. ….

November 19, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, renewable | Leave a comment

France’s top-down energy system makes it hard to switch to renewables

Some 95 percent of the territory’s electricity supply network is now managed by ERDF, a fully-owned branch of former state monopoly EDF.

“The French grid is a top-down network, conceived for a centralised production. It has to be restructured so power can flow in both directions. Today the grid is only used to distribute power from nuclear plants,”

France needs more local power for green energy shift PlanetArk 15-Nov-12 FRANCE Marion Douet Centralised France may lack the clout at local government level to ease its new shift to greener energy, contrasting with the regional and grass-roots power that helped push through the rise of renewables in Germany. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | ENERGY, France | Leave a comment

Renewable energy the choice of most Americans – of all political views

 Americans of all political persuasions really like renewable energy and will almost always choose it as a priority over fossil fuels.

Poll: Independent Voters Favor Renewable Energy Over Keystone XL Pipeline By 4-1 Margin Think Progress, By Stephen Lacey   Nov 15, 2012  Environmental groups celebrated last fall when President  Obama delayed  the  northern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that would pipe carbon-intensive tar sands crude from Canadian strip mines to refineries in Texas.
Now that Obama is back in the White House for a second term, those same forces are banding together   to encourage the president to kill the pipeline altogether. A new poll suggests that these groups have public opinion on their side. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

UK’s Conservative Party driven by climate denialism, and anti wind power fervour

Anti-wind zeal already runs through the party…… the objections of many Tories suggest a deeper animus, fuelled by Euroscepticism, climate-change denial

Mr Cameron made a windpower sceptic, John Hayes, energy minister, and appointed yet another, Owen Paterson, as environment secretary.

as turbines get bigger and more efficient, the costs for operating and maintaining them are falling

Wind farms and renewable energy A lot of hot air The government’s energy policy gets mired in politics
http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21566680-governments-energy-policy-gets-mired-politics-lot-hot-air Nov 17th 2012  THE hatred some Conservative MPs feel for windmills is  amazing.On November 14th Chris Heaton-Harris, a Tory MP charged with running his party’s campaign for a by-election in Corby, was secretly taped bragging that he had supported a rival, James Delingpole. A climate-change sceptic, Mr Delingpole had briefly stood as an independent on an anti-wind platform. Mr Heaton-Harris suggested this was a put-up job, designed to implant the issue into the “DNA of the Tory party”. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | climate change, renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Google’s Investment in Renewable Energy Approaches $1 Billion http://mashable.com/2012/11/15/googles-renewable-energy-1-billion/
 November 15, 2012 by Todd Wasserman Google announced a $75 million equity stake in an Iowa wind farm on Thursday, bringing the company’s total investment in renewable energy to “more than $990 million.” Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Qatar moving ahead on renewable energy

Qatar puts focus on renewable energy initiatives, AMEinfo.com Qatar: November 14 – 2012“………as part of its commitment to reducing carbon emissions and increasing sustainable energy production, Qatar has overseen a range of internal initiatives
as part of its Vision 2030.

In this, Qatar is one of the region’s leading proponents of energy diversification. The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook report shows that this is in line with a
global shift in attitudes towards energy generation and consumption. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, renewable | Leave a comment

International Energy Agency says Energy Efficiency and renewables can fight global warming

The IEA says energy demand out to 2035 could be halved through energy efficiency measures – in the building sector, including appliances, the transport sector and the industry sector. This would require an estimated $US11.8 trillion investment, but this would be more than offset by an $18 trillion reduction in fuel costs.

How energy efficiency and renewables can save the planet http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/how-energy-efficiency-and-renewables-can-save-the-planet-44897 By Giles Parkinson , 13 November 2012 The International Energy Agency has raised hopes that time can be bought for the world to finally get its act together on climate change – as long as it implements a rapid uptake of energy efficiency measures.

In its latest World Energy Outlook, the IEA says energy efficiency could buy the world an extra five years to reach conclusive and effective climate change policies. Without such measures,it says, the world by 2017 will have exhausted its carbon budget to try and keep keep the world to an average rise in global temperatures of 2C. It says 81 per cent of that budget has already been used. Continue reading →

November 15, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

Mongolia could meet all its energy need through renewable sources

Mongolia to Increase Renewable Energy Development, Xinhua Says http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-12/mongolia-to-increase-renewable-energy-development-xinhua-says.html By Ehren Goossens – Nov 12,  Mongolia plans to increase the amount of energy produced from renewable sources, the country’s President Tsakhia Elbegdorj said Monday, according to China ’s official Xinhua News Agency.

The country expects to produce 20 percent to 25 percent of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable resources by 2020, Elbegdorj said at the Northeast Asia Renewable Energy Resources Cooperation Forum. He didn’t say how much renewable energy is produced now.

Mongolia has the potential to meet its entire domestic energy demand with renewable power, Elbegdorj said.

November 15, 2012 Posted by | Mongolia, renewable | Leave a comment

New ways to store solar energy

Using rust and water to store solar energy as hydrogen e! science News, November 11, 2012 How can solar energy be stored so that it can be available any time, day or night, when the sun shining or not? EPFL scientists are developing a technology that can transform light energy into a clean fuel that has a neutral carbon footprint: hydrogen. The basic ingredients of the recipe are water and metal oxides, such as iron oxide, better known as rust. Kevin Sivula and his colleagues purposefully limited themselves to inexpensive materials and easily scalable production processes in order to enable an economically viable method for solar hydrogen production. The device, still in the experimental stages, is described in an article published in the journal Nature Photonics……

The results presented in the Nature Photonics paper represent a breakthrough in performance that has been enabled by recent advances in the study of both the iron oxide and dye-sensitized titanium dioxide, and both of these technologies are rapidly advancing. Sivula predicts that the tandem cell technology will eventually be able to attain an efficiency of 16% with iron oxide, while still remaining low cost, which is, after all, the attractiveness of the approach. By making it possible to store solar energy inexpensively, the system developed at EPFL could considerably increase the potential of solar energy to serve as a viable renewable energy source for the future. 

Source: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 

            http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/11/11/using.rust.and.water.store.solar.energy.hydrogen

November 12, 2012 Posted by | energy storage, USA | Leave a comment

Sun and wind saving money, and the environment, in USA sports stadiums

Stadiums increase renewable energy use Pro sports facilities are using green energy sources to help the environment and their own bottom lines.  Nov. 9, 2012 ALISON BURDO, MEDILL NEWS SERVICE   WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) — Green is more than a team color for the Philadelphia Eagles. By the end of the year the team’s stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, will generate enough energy from 14 wind turbines and 11,000 solar panels to power every home game.

“One of the uses of such a high-profile enterprise is you can sometimes help show the way and lead by example,” said Eagles Vice President of Communications Rob Zeiger.

Construction of the wind turbines was to be completed this week. The 15-feet-tall structures were installed atop the north and south ends of the stadium, in direct view of the nearly 70,000 fans entering the “Linc” and the countless drivers passing the complex on I-95. Continue reading →

November 10, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Solar truck helping to provide electricity in New York

Rolling Sunlight Helping New York Storm Victims http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3454 by Energy Matters, 7 Nov 12, Greenpeace’s solar truck is in New York, generating electricity for some of those affected by Sandy.

Hundreds of thousands of people in states hit by Sandy are still without power and it may be quite some time before electricity supply is back to normal. Adding to the misery is the cold weather and a lack of fuel.

Greenpeace has sent in Rolling Sunlight to lend a bit of a helping hand.

Built in 2001, Rolling Sunlight is a mobile power station fitted with 2.4kW of solar panels and a 50kWh deep cycle battery storage system. The truck itself is powered with biodiesel. After reaching a site, Rolling Sunlight can start cranking clean electricity within 15 minutes.

The truck has been generating power in a variety of locations, including acommunity store in Rockaway. Residents have also been able to drop by to get a much-needed charge for their mobile phones.

“We are happy to work with the community relief effort to bring solar power to New York. Today, solar power can help bring a small degree of comfort and a cell phone charge to the people left without electricity in Sandy’s wake,” said Greenpeace climate campaigner Robert Gardner.

“Tomorrow, the same solar power can help us slow down the global warming that is supercharging storms like Sandy, and prevent us from further loading the dice toward even worse extreme weather.”

In a nation where the term “climate change” is such a thorny issue that the topic was never raised during the recent series of presidential debates, attitudes are rapidly changing as a result of the storm.

While in a blackout scenario grid connected home solar power systems are also crippled as a safety measure, the Next Big Thing for solar is energy storage for residential applications; which will allow households to still generate power in such circumstances and enable people to further reduce their dependence on the mains grid.

November 7, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

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