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Clean Coal? Carbon Capture and Storage is a Dud

CCS? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ CCS, by Energy Matters, 9 July 12,  While the Carbon Capture and Storage boffins struggle to make CCS commercially viable and environmentally safe – a goal that may never eventuate in time – the key to a low carbon energy future is already here.

A report released last month by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has determined renewable electricity generation using currently available technologies such a wind, solar PV, concentrating solar power (CSP), hydropower, geothermal, and biomass; combined with better electricity infrastructure, could supply 80% of total U.S. electricity generation in 2050.

The NREL says electricity supply and demand can be balanced in every hour of the year in this scenario, including nearly 50% from variable renewable generation.

The Renewable Electricity Futures Study (RE Futures) states U.S. renewable energy resources “can support multiple combinations of renewable technologies that will slash not only electric sector greenhouse gas emissions, but also water use“…..

Perhaps instead of increasingly throwing good money after bad in terms of CCS – or other expensive and questionable solutions that only further promote the mining and burning of coal and are essentially the equivalent of sweeping dirt under a rug – those investments could be re-routed towards achieving such an attainable renewables scenario and maybe even help to bring forward the time we’ll see 80% renewables in our energy mix.

The four-volume Renewable Electricity Futures Study can be downloaded here.

Established over 35 years ago, the NREL is the principal research laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The organisation is solely focused on advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies; from concept to commercial application.   http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3287

July 9, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Solar Centre opens in western Japan, many more to come

JAPAN OPENS SOLAR ENERGY PARKS 7 News, July 2, 2012 TOKYO (AFP) – Japan opened several solar energy
parks on Sunday as a new law came into force requiring companies to purchase renewable energy at a fixed price in a push for alternatives to nuclear power…. A new solar centre opened in Kyoto in western Japan, while various municipalities also started up installations able to provide energy for hundreds of thousands of households.

Japanese telecommunications Softbank chief Masayoshi Son, opposed to nuclear energy since a powerful earthquake and tsunami last year that crippled reactor cooling systems, said it had plans for 11 solar or windpower centres in Japan.

The push to invest in renewable energy resources is a mark of Japan’s search for alternatives to nuclear power, as 49 reactors out of 50 in the country have been shut down for safety checks and amid growing public protests. The new law that took effect on Sunday requiring power companies to purchase all renewable energy at a fixed tariff is aimed at encouraging firms to pursue sustainable initiatives. The government estimates the power provided by renewable energy this
year in Japan will attain 2,500 megawatts, the equivalent of two medium-sized nuclear reactors.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/14100878/japan-opens-solar-energy-parks/

July 2, 2012 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

Distributed renewable energy is now a mainstream commercial factor in USA

The data submission forms the EIA uses do not catch every last TWh, and indeed, don’t include solar photovoltaic generation from systems less than 1 megawatt in size. This smaller capacity segment includes most residential and commercial distributed PV systems.

renewable energy is clearly moving beyond “niche” status. It’s a mainstream source that will increasingly challenge existing electricity generation and provision business models, particularly as distributed solutions (electric vehicles, demand response, PV, etc.) take off

Renewable Energy Supplies 7% US Electricity, Has Anyone Noticed? SustainableBusiness.com News, by Dan Seif, Rocky Mountain Institute, 29 June 12,  Between April 2011 and March 2012, the US generated 5% of its annual electricity from renewable sources, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

To be exact, the US generated 204 terawatt-hours (TWh) out of 4,070 TWh from non-hydro renewables – solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and small hydro.

Putting this annual total of non-hydro renewable generation in context, this is:

More than the total electrical use of 197 nations (92% of all nations), including Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, and Thailand.
More than the combined electrical use of the Philippines, Switzerland, and Malaysia.
Enough electrical energy to power about 16 million American homes, deducting about 10% for transmission and distribution losses. Continue reading →

June 30, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

USA’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gives a big boost to solar energy to

Big News for Renewable Energy: FERC Rules for Wind, Solar, Storage, Forbes, 29 June 12 “.…. A year ago, Wellinghoff told me: “[North American Electric Reliability Corporation] projects in its 2010 Long-Term Reliability Assessment that approximately 60 percent of all new resources expected to be added to the bulk power system by 2019 will be new wind and solar resources.”

The FERC aims to remove regulatory barriers to ensure that all of these resources can get access the grid and play a competitive role in the energy markets.

To that end, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission passed a rule last week to make it easier for solar and wind providers to distribute their power to the grid…. FERC says the ruling also benefits electric consumers by ensuring that services are provided at
reasonable rates. Continue reading →

June 30, 2012 Posted by | Reference, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Scotland’s renewable energy success

About 35% of Scotland’s electricity needs would have come from renewables last year – assuming consumption levels were similar to 2010. This would exceed the Scottish Government’s interim target of 31%….. ”particularly encouraging when you consider that 2011 saw the highest output from renewable energy to date”.

The sector also already employs 11,000 people in Scotland

Renewable energy production doubles http://www.strathearnherald.co.uk/strathearn-news/scottish-news/2012/06/28/renewable-energy-production-doubles-64054-31281154/ Jun 28 2012 Scotland produced a record amount of renewable energy last year, almost double the total from five years ago, according to UK Government figures. Continue reading →

June 29, 2012 Posted by | renewable | Leave a comment

Southern California’s electrical grid might not need nuclear power – ever!

San Onofre: Do we really need it?   UT San Diego, 28 June 12, This summer may be just a test run for operating Southern California’s electrical grid without a nuclear plant.

The latest report on the outage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station shows the replacement of four massive steam generators was accompanied by serious design flaws, with no clear solution in sight.

Both stakeholders in San Onofre and critics of nuclear power say the start of a summer without the twin-reactor plant has forced a new accounting for its costs and benefits.

The utility industry and the state’s main grid operator are “considering a range of existing and new alternatives for mitigating the impacts of a long-term or permanent shutdown at San Onofre,” said Stephanie McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator….. the grid operator foresees only the remote chance of rolling outages during hot weather in the next three months — when San Onofre is needed the most.

That assessment alone has changed perceptions of the plant as indispensable, said Dan Sullivan, president of San Diego-based Sullivan Solar Power, which employs 65 workers designing and installing solar arrays.

The plant shutdown — along with California’s aggressive renewable-energy policies and a newly completed transmission line into San Diego — have shifted the conversation about nuclear power. The day is coming, Sullivan said, when “we can just say, ‘We’re done.
We don’t need it anymore.’ ”….

June 29, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Affordable solar energy racing ahead in Californian homes and businesses

This list shows undeniable solar growth in a diverse range of cities, debunking the common misconception that solar is only for the wealthy,” notes Stephen Torres, founder and managing director of PV
Solar Report. “Key to this diversification is third-party-owned solar, which makes solar affordable for a wider range of homeowners.”

California Residential Solar Market Has Grown 80% So Far This Year http://solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.10611 27 June 2012 Thirteen cities helped the California residential solar market grow 80% so far this year, according to a new report from SunRun.

According to the report, the top cities reflect solar adoption in median-income communities rather than in the wealthiest areas of the state.

The high-growth cities were evaluated by percent growth through May 31 as compared to the same time frame last year. While solar adoption continues to surge in traditional solar hot beds like Fresno and Bakersfield, new solar leaders like Santa Clarita, Castaic and Palmdale are also leading the charge.

The top California cities for home solar installations were as follows:  Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Powering Europe with Sunshine from Africa and Middle East

How To Power A Continent With Wind And Solar http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3271 by Giles Parkinson, editor of RenewEconomy.com.au, 27 June 12  Of all the most ambitious renewable energy projects around the world, the European Desertec Industrial Initiative ranks right at the top- some would say fantastic in both the true and the modern sense of the word.The basic plan of Desertec is to harness the wind and solar power from north Africa and the Middle East and use it- along with similar resources from southern Europe- to help Europe cut 95 per cent of its emissions from its electricity grid by 2050, and to have renewables provide 90 per cent of its power needs.

A new report released by the initiative- which is a consortium of 21 industrial giants such as Siemens, E.ON, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Enel, and Shell- says this can be done, at the same time as reducing electricity costs and making the grid more stable than it would otherwise be.

The 2050 Desert Power report released late last week, co-authored by the Fraunhofer Institute, says that by importing 20 per cent of its energy needs from the Middle East and north Africa (MENA), Europe can save €33 billion a year, or €30 for each megawatt hour of imported electricity. Continue reading →

June 27, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, Reference, renewable | Leave a comment

Growing interest in UK for farming the wind and the sunlight

UK: Concern about energy security ‘sparks rise in interest in developing renewable schemes’ EADT 24, UK , June 24, 2012  Growing concern about climate change and energy security has sparked the country-wide development of renewable energy facilities and commercial interest from landowners and developers, says surveyors’ organisation RICS. Continue reading →

June 25, 2012 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Bank assists Indian village communities by providing solar power

Using solar energy to create viable livelihoods The Hindu, V. K. RAKESH REDDY , 22 June 12, Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank uses a centrally-sponsored scheme for people in Obulapuram and surrounding villages

The sun, which is the one resource that is abundant in Anantapur district, is creating viable livelihoods for the poor of Anantapur district with visionary banking by the Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank (APGB). Continue reading →

June 23, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, India | Leave a comment

Clean energy pledges at Rio Conference

The commitments from the private sector totaled over $50 billion, according to the UN

Rio+20 summit: UN chief Ban Ki-moon unveils clean energy pledges, investments Economic Times, 22 June 12RIO DE JANEIRO: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that more than 50 governments have launched new energy strategies, while private investors have pledged more than $50 billion to help carry out his goal to double the share of global renewable energy and the rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030. Continue reading →

June 23, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

Renewable Energy Report for USA – 80% of electrical energy by 2050

Renewable Energy to Power 80% of the U.S.
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/renewable-energy-to-power-80-of-the-us/2266 New Report Proves Renewable Energy’s Superiority By Swagato Chakravorty, June 22nd, 2012 The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently studied how renewable energy can respond to the electricity demands of the U.S. in the coming decades.

The report, titled Renewable Electricity Futures Study (RE Futures), looks at the effects of renewable electricity generation levels between 30% to 90%, envisioning 80% renewable electricity by 2050. It considers key factors such as physical geographies and output
fluctuation, things that could disrupt certain renewable sources.
The report concluded that 80% renewable electricity by 2050 is a viable option with existing renewable technologies, mainly requiring advances in the electric system to meet standard electricity demand per hour. Continue reading →

June 23, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Another long distance solar-powered flight

Solar plane makes successful flight over Moroccan desert Herald Sun,  AFP June 22, 2012 A SOLAR-powered plane has completed a flight over the Moroccan desert to showcase renewable energy, as a key summit in Rio discussed “greening” the world economy. Continue reading →

June 23, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

Indian Country communities to strengthen economies by hosting solar energy project

“Tribal lands hold great renewable energy potential, and smart development of these resources has the power to strengthen tribal economies, create jobs and generate clean electricity for communities across Indian Country,” 

Solar energy project approved on tribal land near Las Vegas, Las Vegas Sun, By Conor Shine , June 21, 2012  The federal government on Thursday approved a massive 350-megawatt solar energy project to be built on land in Clark County belonging to the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians Tribe.

It would be the first utility-scale solar project on tribal lands. The project, covering about 2,000 acres, would be located 30 miles north of Las Vegas and occupy about 3 percent of the tribe’s land, which is held in trust by the U.S. government.
The operation would generate enough electricity to power 100,000 homes, the Department of the Interior said in a statement. Continue reading →

June 22, 2012 Posted by | indigenous issues, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear power to be replaced by big solar energy plant

Mixed Greens: Big solar to replace Fukushima nuclear, REneweconomy, By Sophie Vorrath  21 June 2012, Toshiba Corp has announced that it will begin building solar plants with a total generating capacity of 100MW on its northeastern coastline – the region that last year was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami, which then triggered a nuclear disaster – making it the biggest solar project in Japan.

Reuters reports that the Japanese electronics conglomerate will spend around ¥30 billion ($379.6 million) to build several large-scale solar plants in Minami Soma – located around 25km from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Continue reading →

June 22, 2012 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

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