Environmental Capital – WSJ.com : Could More Renewable Energy Mean Lower Power Prices?

 Could More Renewable Energy Mean Lower Power Prices?
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL  October 9, 2008, by Keith Johnson The big knock against renewable energy like wind and solar power is that they are more expensive than traditional forms of power like coal and natural gas. But what if the impending explosion of renewable energy in the U.S. brings power prices down?
That’s the take from a new report by Bernstein Research. The idea? Renewable energy is poised to take off in the U.S., not because it is economically competitive today, but because so many U.S. states are pushing it (including Michigan, the latest state to join the bandwagon.) That presents a threat to earnings at U.S. utilities, Bernstein says.

Environmental Capital – WSJ.com : Could More Renewable Energy Mean Lower Power Prices?

Tags: renewables, energyefficiency

October 10, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Renewable energy: The tide is turning – energy-fuels – 08 October 2008 – New Scientist Environment

Renewable energy: The tide is turning *
New Scientist 08 October 2008 * Jason Palmer * Magazine issue 2677WELCOME to the Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada, home to the highest tides in the world. Here, 100 billion tonnes of Atlantic seawater flow in and out of the 270-kilometre-long bay every day. The sea level at Fundy rises by an average of 11 metres, reaching a maximum of 17 metres at the narrowest point, twice a day without fail, thanks to the moon’s gravitational pull. Could this tidal movement be used to generate power?The unwavering predictability and scale of the tides in some parts of the world make them an attractive renewable energy source. The World Energy Council estimates that Fundy’s tides alone could generate 17,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy per year. Some estimates put the energy in the world’s tides at as much as 1 million GWh per year, or about 5 per cent of the electricity generated worldwide, though ..

Renewable energy: The tide is turning – energy-fuels – 08 October 2008 – New Scientist Environment

Tags: renewables

October 9, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Govt stands firm on green energy promise – Breaking News – National – Breaking News

Govt stands firm on green energy promise

Sydney Morning Herald October 7, 2008 The federal government has rejected calls to dump its promise to have 20 per cent of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2020………………………..federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says the RET is here to stay.

“The government’s got a commitment to introduce a renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020 and we will remain committed to it,” he told reporters in the NSW city of Queanbeyan.

“We have work underway to actually put the system in place.”…………………………..

The Australian Industry Group on Monday called for the RET to be scrapped.

Mr Ferguson, who was visiting Queanbeyan’s new Dyesol factory which manufactures parts for solar panels, was less convinced about the need for a premium feed-in tariff for renewable energy than he was about the RET…………………..

Mr Ferguson is seen in some quarters as a staunch defender of the coal industry rather than a convert to renewable energy.

His unequivocal commitment to the RET may have recast that perception a little, but the green tinge was only partial.

Dyesol managing director Gavin Tulloch says Australia’s future lay in renewable energy.

Govt stands firm on green energy promise – Breaking News – National – Breaking News

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

October 8, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Your Renewable News – New wave of power in renewable energy market

New wave of power in renewable energy market
Your Renewable News  Oct 07, 2008Energy experts say waves could rival wind and solar as power sources. Australia – and particularly the southern coastline – has a potentially inexhaustible source of renewable energy lapping at its shores: waves.Proponents of wave power – which uses off-shore buoys and pumps to run electricity generators – claim the technology could generate at least 35% of the nation’s power needs.If embraced, it could prove as efficient as wind power and more affordable than solar options, according to the three companies that have already started harnessing Australia’s oceanic energy.And governments are warming to the idea – but not as quickly as advocates would like. The Federal Government has pumped $5 million into the Biopower company, which runs prototype wave power units in Bass Strait, and the State Government has allocated $72 million for green energy initiatives, including wave energy.

Your Renewable News – New wave of power in renewable energy market

Tags: renewables

October 8, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Tax Credit Extension Ensures Strong Future for Solar Industry – MarketWatch

Tax Credit Extension Ensures Strong Future for Solar Industry Clear Skies Solar to Benefit from Tax Credit Extension
NEW YORK, Oct 06, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Market Watch  a leading provider of renewable energy solar solutions, commends Congress for resurrecting the tax credit package that will serve as the lifeblood for the renewable energy industry in the United States. The renewable energy tax credits are seen as a critical step towards bringing the U.S. closer to becoming a progressive leader in the renewable energy industry and competing with the many foreign countries who already have sophisticated renewable energy programs.

Tax Credit Extension Ensures Strong Future for Solar Industry – MarketWatch

Tags: renewables

October 7, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

TH – Opinion Article

What energy policy should the U.S. pursue?Switch to renewable fuels best for environment, jobsWind and solar energy are cheap and abundant, and greater fuel-economy standards are possible

THonline.com By Ralph Scharnau 5 Oct 08 Global warming, caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, threatens people everywhere. Our nation’s dependency on fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) steadily pours more polluting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The United States holds about 3 percent of the world’s oil resources while consuming nearly 25 percent of the world’s oil production. With fewer than 5 percent of the world’s people, we contribute about 30 percent to the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Yet fossil fuels receive the bulk of federal subsidies for research and development, loans and tax credits. A sizeable chunk also underwrites nuclear power, which adherents claim emits no greenhouse gases. But actually the overall nuclear cycle — which includes uranium mining and milling, enrichment, fuel fabrication and disposal of nuclear wastes — produces significant greenhouse gas emissions…………………………

One of the cheapest ways to reduce carbon comes from conservation. Energy conservation covers lighting, insulation, appliances, roofs, heating and cooling equipment and cogeneration of heat and light.

Wind and solar power represent the two fastest-growing clean energy sector renewables. And much of the technology for wind and solar power already exists.

One report estimates that solar energy could make up 50 percent of the nation’s power supply by 2050. Wind is cheap, carbon-free, abundant and inexhaustible. Some 30 states now have commercial-scale wind farms.

TH – Opinion Article

Tags: rernewables

October 6, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Power from the People | Hard News

Power from the People

“HARD NEWS 4 October 08………..Geussing, a tiny Austrian town of less than 30,000 people……………..the entire renewable energy experiment took off and Geussing’s 27 different decentralised power plants became the talk of the towns elsewhere. Today, the energy turnover here is worth about 14 million euros, providing power to 1,500 households, schools and a hospital. The industrial and commercial sectors are heated by a biomass plant while 50 farmers are responsible for the distribution of fuel to different sectors in the city and electricity generation is a 150 per cent.Much of the profit is naturally invested back into more renewable energy projects. The town is famous now for using clean energy that is affordable. People are flooding back into the area where similar enterprises provide thousands of new job opportunities even as the place remains unaffected by the rising price of oil and gas elsewhere.Two decades ago, none would dream of associating an ill-lit Geussing with the glamorous world of tourism. Today, the region’s reputation as an eco-tourism destination is soaring.Nearly 30,000 visitors from all over the globe came here in 2007, mostly to find out how Geussing’s switch to solar power, biomass and bio-diesel could eventually help the entire country to meet more than 50 per cent of its energy needs from renewables by 2020.

Power from the People | Hard News

Tags: renewables

October 4, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

GMANews.TV – WWF lauds Senate passage of renewable energy bill – Nation – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News – BETA

WWF lauds Senate passage of renewable energy bill – Nation – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News – BETA
MANILA, Philippines – Another environmental group lauded the Senate Tuesday for finally passing the renewable energy bill.

The World Wildlife Fund said the 18-0 vote to unanimously approve Senate Bill 2046, or the Philippine Renewable Energy Act, is a milestone.

“In passing this landmark legislation, the Senate has just paved the way for the country’s drive towards energy independence and low-carbon growth. By tapping our massive reserves of clean energy resources – a competitive advantage that was largely neglected in the past – the Philippines now stands a far better chance of attaining sustainable development whilst contributing to global efforts to prevent dangerous climate change.” said WWF’s Asia Pacific Energy Policy Manager Raf Senga.
GMANews.TV – WWF lauds Senate passage of renewable energy bill – Nation – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News – BETA

Tags: renewables, renewableenergy

October 2, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Report: Global Green Job Market Expected To Explode

Global Green Job Market Expected To Explode
September 29, 2008 Report: New York, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]Last week four international organizations released a report on the global impact of the green economy. The report, entitled Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World, says that millions of new green jobs will be created across the globe in the coming decades around efforts to mitigate climate change.

The UN Environment Program (UNEP) under a joint Green Jobs Initiative with the International Labor Office (ILO), as well as the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE) funded and commissioned the report, which was ultimately produced by the Worldwatch Institute, with technical assistance from the Cornell University Global Labor Institute.

Many sectors are already experiencing job growth around such efforts, notes the report, indicating that changing patterns of employment and investment resulting from efforts to reduce climate change and its effects are already generating new jobs in many sectors and economies, and could create millions more in both developed and developing countries. Sectors that will be particularly important in terms of their environmental, economic and employment impact are energy supply, in particular renewable energy, buildings and construction, transportation, basic industries, agriculture and forestry.

Specifically the report says that 2.3 million people have, in recent years, found new jobs in the renewable energy sector alone, and the potential for job growth in the sector is huge. Employment in renewable energies may rise to 2.1 million in wind and 6.3 million in solar power by 2030. Projected investments in renewable energy of US $630 billion by 2030 would translate into at least 20 million additional jobs in the renewable energy sector.

In addition, the report says that a worldwide transition to energy-efficient buildings would create millions of jobs, as well as “greening” existing employment for many of the estimated 111 million people already working in the construction sector. Investments in improved energy efficiency in buildings could generate an additional 2-3.5 million green jobs in Europe and the United States alone, with the potential much higher in developing countries.

The report provides examples of massive green jobs creation throughout the world, such as: 600,000 people in China who are already employed in solar thermal manufacturing and installing products such as solar water heaters

Report: Global Green Job Market Expected To Explode

Tags: renewables, renewableenergy

October 2, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia’s leading newspaper.

Small sacrifice can save the planet
Sydney Morning Herald Marian Wilkinson and Ben Cubby
October 1, 2008

AUSTRALIANS will be driving clean electric cars, giving up their lamb roast and rump steaks for chicken and pork, living in higher-density cities and swapping cheap air flights for interstate trains.

In the outback, millions of beef cattle and sheep will disappear from the marginal rangelands, farmers will grow grasses and eucalypts for carbon trading and kangaroos will dominate the bush, potentially becoming one of the nation’s biggest export meats.

This image of a sustainable future for Australia has now become a mainstream view with the release of Professor Ross Garnaut’s final sweeping report on how the nation can take up the fight against climate change. It can be achieved for a modest increase in our electricity bills – but the overall cost will be less than the impact of the GST.

The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia’s leading newspaper.

Tags: renewables

October 1, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia’s leading newspaper.

China is open to renewable power
Sydney Morning Herald Ben Cubby, Environment Reporter
October 1, 2008

THE solar power magnate and Chinese-Australian billionaire Zhengrong Shi has not made his fortune by being pessimistic.

While China’s attitude to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions loomed large over Ross Garnaut’s climate change report, Dr Shi believes China is well on the road to becoming a renewable energy superpower.

Dr Shi, an Australian citizen, last night returned to the University of NSW, where he used to teach, to address graduating students. He said he would not be surprised if China did commit to binding targets for reducing its soaring emissions at the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen next year.

“I think China will be heavily involved. It is already very high on the Government agenda,” he said………………………

Dr Shi called for the Federal Government to heed Professor Garnaut’s suggestion that a national feed-in tariff be introduced to encourage people to adopt renewable energy.

The tariff works by paying people with rooftop solar panels more than the market rate to feed electricity back into the power grid. Similar schemes in several European nations have fuelled a boom in renewable power.

Dr Shi’s solar panel manufacturing empire, Suntech Power, could benefit handsomely from a tariff, but he insists any government subsidy would only need to last a few years because solar costs will soon be competitive with coal.

The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia’s leading newspaper.

Tags: renewables, renewableenergy

October 1, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Bloomberg.com: Australia & New Zealand

Australia Could Get 35% of Power Supply From Waves, Study Shows
By Angela Macdonald-Smith Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — Australia could economically get 35 percent of its needs for continuous power supply from energy generated by waves, helping cut greenhouse gases, said Carnegie Corp., an Australian clean-energy technology company.The country has a wave energy resource in near-shore areas where water is less than 25 meters deep of about 171,000 megawatts, Perth-based Carnegie said today, citing a report. That’s about four times total installed power generating capacity, it said, citing research from RPS MetOcean, a unit of Abingdon, England-based RPS Group Plc.

Bloomberg.com: Australia & New Zealand

Tags: renewables, renewableenergy

September 30, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Green Energy Sector Gets Boost From Senate – TheStreet.com

Green Energy Sector Gets Boost From Senate
TheStreet.com 24 Sept 08 by Ucilia Wang

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved about $18 billion of renewable-energy tax credits after repeated failed attempts to do so this year.

The 93-2 vote cleared a major hurdle for extending a set of tax credits for businesses and residents investing in renewable energy, from building and operating power plants to installing small wind turbines on residential properties………………………………..Consumers who want to install solar panels on their properties would benefit from the bill, which extends investment-tax credits for eight years and eliminates today’s $2,000 cap on the credits. It would also allow homeowners installing small-wind equipment and geothermal heat pumps to take advantage of the credits, but the amounts would be capped at $4,000 for wind and $2,000 for the heat pumps.

Green Energy Sector Gets Boost From Senate – TheStreet.com

Tags: renewable

September 25, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Community groups call for climate action – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Community groups call for climate action

ABC News 22 Sept 08 Environmentalists have rallied in Canberra to support a climate change bill drafted by community action groups.

The Climate Change Protection Bill contains 19 recommendations aimed at cutting greenhouse emissions and building a clean energy future.

It is written and endorsed by more than 65 community-based climate change groups.

Philip Sutton from the Greenleap Strategic Institute says pressure needs to be put on politicians to act.

“So we’re right on the knife’s edge of a runaway development of greenhouse warming, this is incredibly serious,” he said.

“In terms of a threat to people’s life and well-being, it really is literally equivalent to the Second World War in terms of damage that could occur to our human societies.”

Thousands of postcards from around Australia supporting the bill were collected at the rally at Parliament House.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has promised he will deliver them to the Parliament.

Community groups call for climate action – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

September 22, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Energy measures could save $40b: report – Breaking News – National – Breaking News

Energy measures could save $40b: report

Sydney Morning Herald 21 Sept 08 Renewable energy targets and energy efficient measures need to be included in an emissions trading scheme to save the electricity sector more than $40 billion, the Climate Institute says.

Modelling commissioned for the Climate Institute reveals improvements to energy efficiency and the federal government’s renewable energy target (RET) would reduce the long-term cost of reducing emissions from Australia’s electricity sector by billions of dollars.

Introducing an emissions trading scheme without such measures could cost the sector more than $40 billion, the Climate Institute said…………………..Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said the modelling showed the most cost effective way to clean up Australia’s electricity generating sector was to tap into energy efficiency opportunities.

Energy measures could save $40b: report – Breaking News – National – Breaking News

Tags: renewables, energyefficiency

September 22, 2008 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment