USA govt backs big solar and wind projects
Big Solar, Wind Projects Backed By U.S. Earth Techling, by Pete Danko, July 18th, 2011 @…All told, the projects will provide 550 megawatts (MW) of new electrical generation capacity, enough juice to power 185,000 to 380,000 homes, DOI said. The deparment also promoted the job-creating benefits the projects will yield: more than 1,300 construction jobs.
Continuing the Obama administration’s push for big renewable energy development, U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar has approved a batch of projects on public lands – two utility-scale solar power plants in California, a wind energy plant in Oregon, and a transmission line in Southern California that’s needed to tie nine planned solar plants to the grid…..http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/07/big-solar-wind-projects-backed-by-u-s/
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Prospects improving for renewable energy in USA
Renewable Energy Funds Boosted as House Passes Energy Funding Bill, Science Insider, by Eli Kintisch , 16 July 11, An amendment to bring proposed 2012 funding for ARPA-E, the blue-sky research arm of the Department of Energy, up to the current year level of $180 million passed the House today by a vote of 214-213. That level is far lower than the $550 million that the Obama Administration requested. But it does suggest that the likely worst-case scenario for the agency is a flat budget next year, as the Democratic-controlled Senate, which takes up the legislation next, generally supports increases for energy research. The amendment added $80 million to the $100 million approved by the House appropriations panel.
Meanwhile, a number of amendments in the House of Representatives sought to cut the renewable energy and energy efficiency research program at the Department of Energy, but they all failed. So, too, did a number of proposals to boost research into renewables or fossil fuel energy. An amendment to add $10 million to the solar energy research program passed, however, by a close vote of 212-210. ..http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/07/renewable-energy-funds-boosted-a.html
US Defense Dept supportive of renewable energy projects
Pentagon clears Kansas wind projects, July 15, 2011, BLOOMBERG, TOPEKA, KAN., The Defense Department says a half-dozen wind energy projects planned in Kansas would have little or no effect on military missions.
The Pentagon issued a report Thursday on its review of 249 renewable energy projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico. The department found no problems with 229 of the projects.The report cleared all six of the Kansas wind projects reviewed. They’re located in Cimarron, El Dorado, Ensign, Lakin, Pratt and Ulysses.
Defense officials also said in the report that renewable projects will help the U.S. maintain its energy security.http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OG64T00.htm
Offshore wind energy for France
France says ‘oui’ to offshore wind energy, Smart Planet, By Melissa Mahony | July 13, 2011, Nuclear plants often spring to mind when thinking of the French electric power regime. But the country is dipping its toes into the Atlantic and English Channel for some of its energy needs, joining a few of its neighbors in the offshore wind business. Across Europe, offshore wind farms have a total capacity of almost 3,000 megawatts, according to the EWEA. By 2020, France hopes to add 6,000 megawatts to it.
On Monday, the French government began asking for project proposals for 5 zones off the northern and western coasts near Saint-Nazaire and Le Tréport, respectively. The $14 billion call did not go unanswered. Six companies (Dong Energy, EDF Energies Nouvelles, Alstom,Nass&Wind Offshore, Poweo ENR, and wpd offshore) have been gearing up to go to sea. They announced a consortium yesterday to help get the country’s first offshore turbines built, up and whirring….
France has been looking to expand its renewable portfolio, even toying with the idea of abandoning its notable nuclear program. In 2010….its first wind turbines could hit the water as early as 2015. Alstom says it hopes to design, manufacture, and assemble the turbines all in France using French technology…..http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/france-says-8216oui-to-offshore-wind-energy/7604
New report recommends renewable energy promotion to combat climate change
Embrace renewable energy: Suzuki, Go-slow approach to fracking; Switching from coal, oil to natural gas won’t meet G8 targets, says report, If Canada wants to combat climate change, it should promote the use of renewable energies like wind and solar power instead of natural gas, a new report says, Montreal Gazette, By MONIQUE BEAUDIN, The Gazette July 14, 2011
While switching from coal and oil to natural gas would cut greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, it wouldn’t be enough to meet the G8 target of cutting emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, says the report by the David Suzuki Foundation and Pembina Institute.
And extracting natural gas – especially controversial shale gas – will likely have other environmental impacts such as water contamination, increased air pollution and increased water consumption, the report says. Canada is the third-largest producer of natural gas in the world….. You can download Is Natural Gas a Climate Change Solution for Canada atdavidsuzuki.org/publica tions/reports/2011 or pembina.org/pubs
Renewable energy supplied almost 20% of world’s electricity jn 2010
The sector also delivered close to 20 per cent of the world’s electricity production,…“More and more of the world’s people are gaining access to energy services through renewables, not only to meet their basic needs, but also to enable them to develop economically,”
UN-backed report shows strong performance by renewable energy sector, UN News Centre, 13 July 2011 – The renewable energy sector has continued to perform well despite the global economic slowdown, cuts in incentives, and low natural-gas prices, according to a United Nations-backed report unveiled today, which shows that the sector supplied an estimated 16 per cent of global energy last year. Continue reading
Wave and Tidal Power for UK Cost Competitive with Nuclear
Marine energy ‘could compete with nuclear on cost‘, Low Carbon Economy.com 13 juil. 2011 Marine energy could supply almost 20 percent of the UK’s energy needs and be cost competitive with onshore wind and nuclear sources. This is according to a new report from the Carbon Trust, which sets out a three-year research and development programme for the marine energy sector.
The document claims the best marine energy sites in the UK could produce energy at a comparable cost to that generated from onshore wind and nuclear sources, once cost reductions following the first gigawatt of installation come into force.
Wave energy could provide 50TWh of power and tidal power could provide 20.6TWh, equating to 13 percent and five percent of the UK’s energy needs ……http://www.lowcarboneconomy.com/profile/the_low_carbon_economy_ltd/_low_carbon_blog/marine_energy_’could_compete_with_nuclear_on_cost’/14825
Japanese billionaire takes the lead in promoting renewable energy
His goal is to encourage local governments to shift to renewable energy sources and to provide land for mega-solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal, small hydropower generators, and other renewable energy forms.
Investment would come from Son’s fund as well as other public and private sources…..
As it takes a minimum of 10 years to build a nuclear plant, and given that the cost of solar power in other countries like the United States continues to fall thanks to ever more efficient solar panels, Son is betting that, by 2020, renewable energy technology will have developed to the point where it is extremely cost-competitive on a per kilowatt hour basis compared with nuclear power. And renewable energy would not have the social and environmental problems of nuclear power..
SON’S CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVE, Son’s quest for sun, wind has nuclear interests wary, Japan Times, 12 July 11, By ERIC JOHNSTON, In late March, while engaging in volunteer work and making efforts to restore telecommunications networks in the quake-stricken Tohoku region, Softbank Corp. founder and Chairman Masayoshi Son met with evacuees from the area surrounding the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Days later, he returned to Tokyo and declared pursuit of a new energy policy, one emphasizing renewable sources, such as solar, wind and thermal energy, was needed. Continue reading
France moving towards renewable energy, despite AREVA and other nuclear lobbies
Critics have accused France’s nuclear lobby – made up of the industry’s powerful unions and its state-controlled companies EDF and Areva – of impeding renewable investment.
France aims to rebalance its energy mix, FT.com By Peggy Hollinger, 10 July 11, France will on Monday begin a big push on renewable energy that could signal a weakening in the traditional hold of nuclear power over a country that has long led the field in atomic energy.
“Our objective is to rebalance the energy mix in favour of renewables,” said Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, ecology minister, in an interview with the Financial Times as she prepared to launch a €10bn ($14.2bn) tender for five new offshore windpower farms. Continue reading
Honolulu’s new law to help consumers get renewable energy
New law focuses on energy financing, Legislation provides for a study on renewable energy for consumers, Honolulu Star Advertiser, By Derrick DePledge , Jul 09, 2011
Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into law Friday a bill directing the state Public Utilities Commission to study a program to encourage more consumers to move to renewable energy.
The so-called on-bill financing, if deemed viable and implemented by the PUC, would allow consumers to finance renewable energy systems over time through their electricity bills…..http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110709_New_law_focuses_on_energy_financing.html
Worldwide increasing popularity of renewable energy, especially wind
With transparency, consumers prepared to pay for wind energy, Reve, July 09, 2011, More than 50 percent of 31,000 people surveyed worldwide say they would pay more for products made with clean energy. In addition, 90 percent want more renewable energy and 79 percent have a more positive perception of brands produced using wind power.
More than 90 percent want more renewable energy and 79 percent have a more positive perception of brands produced using wind power. The poll, conducted in May 2011 by TNS Gallup and commissioned by wind turbines manufacturer Vestas, points to the importance ordinary people place on finding solutions to climate change – a full “53 percent of Chinese consumers rank climate change as the world’s greatest single challenge”, according to the poll.
One way to mitigate climate change is renewable energy, and this is obvious to a majority of people polled. They are prepared to pay more and make an effort to protect the environment. “The citizen and the consumer is coming together as a new stakeholder that is engaged in development and one that knows it can influence societal development through buying habits,” ……http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=12361
Australia sets up new renewable energy agency
Global green energy investments up as Australia consolidates action, Voxy News, NZ, 8 July, 2011 , Investments in renewable energy globally are up 32% increase in in 2010, according to a new United Nations report. Significantly, developing nations spent more on renewable energy utility projects, $72 billion, than developed ones, at $70 billion.
China led all nations with $49.8 billion in investments in 2010, ahead of German spending of $41 billion and U.S. spending of $29.6 billion.
The report has been released at the same time Australia has announced new independent statutory body, to be named the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), to lead the Australian Government’s investments in renewable energy…. http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/global-green-energy-investments-australia-consolidates-action/5/94521
California’s solar electricity exceeds nuclear by 6%
California rooftop solar installations surge; renewable energy approaches oil output, reports say, LA Times 6 July 11 Renewable sources in the U.S. are starting to produce enough energy to rival oil output, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
Biomass and biofuels along with geothermal, solar, water and wind-power generation were responsible for nearly 12% of the country’s energy production during the first quarter of the year. That’s nearly 6% more than nuclear’s output and 77% of the amount coming from domestic crude oil, the agency said. Continue reading
Baseload solar energy is here
The dawn of baseload solar energy, 6 Jul 2011, Climate Spectator, Giles ParkinsonSolar energy and baseload power are not usually two words that detractors of renewable energy allow to be included in the same phrase, unless it is accompanied by the word “not.” From now on though, they may become indelibly linked. Continue reading
Decentralised solar energy boom taking off in India
solar technology presents an elegant and immediate solution to powering everything from light bulbs and heaters to water purifiers and pumps…….most new grid capacity will be sucked up by industry, leaving little for the poor who live in off-grid desert outcrops, mountain hamlets and jungle villages like Nada. For them, the surest way to get electricity anytime soon may be to get a solar panel and make it themselves.
Fuel for solar boom could come from rural India, where thousands give up on grid, buy panels, Washington Post, 2 July 11 “……….Across India, thousands of homes are receiving their first light through small companies and aid programs that are bypassing the central electricity grid to deliver solar panels to the rural poor. Those customers could provide the human energy that advocates of solar power have been looking for to fuel a boom in the next decade.
With 40 percent of India’s rural households lacking electricity and nearly a third of its 30 million agricultural water pumps running on subsidized diesel, “there is a huge market and a lot of potential,” said Santosh Kamath, executive director of consulting firm KPMG in India. “Decentralized solar installations are going to take off in a very big way and will probably be larger than the grid-connected segment.”…… Continue reading
1 This Month
26 September – International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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