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EBay’s revolutionary new renewable energy powered data centre

eBay Commits to Renewable Energy for Next Data Center PC Magazine, By Stephanie Mlot June 21, 2012  EBay is continuing its green business initiatives by building the next phase of the company’s data center primarily using renewable energy.
In partnership with Bloom Energy, eBay will build the country’s largest non-utility fuel cell installation. Though renewable energy typically supplements an electric grid, eBay is building the energy source into its core, incorporating 30 Bloom Energy servers into the
new center’s architecture.
“We believe the future of commerce can be greener,” eBay president and CEO John Donahoe said in a statement. The six-megawatt Bloom installation is being designed and engineered
as part of eBay’s expanded data center in Utah, and will be installed a few hundred feet from the building. Expected to be fully functional by mid-2013, each of the 30 energy servers will generate 1.75 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, a press release said….. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406136,00.asp

June 22, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Boost for solar power in Japan

Odawara, a city of 200,000 south of Tokyo, is setting up its own power company that will install solar panels at public facilities and sell electricity to Tokyo Electric Power Co

Residents who want to install panels on their homes will also get subsidies..

Japan approves renewable subsidies in shift from nuclear power, Malaysian Insider,  TOKYO, June 18 — Japan approved today incentives for renewable energy that could unleash billions of dollars in clean-energy investment and help the world’s third-biggest economy shift away from a reliance on nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster.

Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved the introduction of feed-in tariffs (FIT), which means higher rates will be paid for renewable energy. The move could expand revenue from renewable generation and related equipment to more than $30 billion (RM90 billion) by 2016, brokerage CLSA estimates. Continue reading →

June 20, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

Progress in renewable energy across Europe

Renewable sources account for nearly 50 percent of energy consumption in Sweden, the overall EU leader in this field.
 Latvia, Finland and Austria each use energy that is more than 30 percent renewable, and Portugal’s share is nearly 25 percent,according to Eurostat.

EU Is Embracing Green Energy, Report Shows http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/06/19/47606.htm By WILLIAM DOTINGA (CN) – More than 12 percent of the energy consumed in the European Union comes from renewable sources, a new report shows.   The report from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, compiles data from 2006 to 2010, the latest year for which data is available.
Three of the EU’s 27 member states – Belgium, France and Hungary – did report 2010 data.   Lawmakers passed a directive in 2009 to derive 20 percent of final energy consumption in the EU from renewable sources by 2020. Each member state received a target to reach the aggregate 20 percent target. The individual goals take into account each country’s different
starting points, renewable energy potential and economic performance, according to Eurostat. Continue reading →

June 20, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, renewable | 1 Comment

Rapid growth of solar power in USA

In January, Macon’s Felton Homes public housing complex replaced 10 percent of its energy demand with renewable energy, using a combination of solar panels and solar hot water heaters.

Falling prices are making solar energy an economical energy choice for U.S. homeowners and businesses.

U.S. solar installations grow 85 percent in first quarter,http://www.macon.com/2012/06/17/2063556/us-solar-installations-grows-85.html, June 17, 2012  By EHREN GOOSSENS — Bloomberg News Developers installed 85 percent more solar panels in the United States in the first quarter than a year earlier, led by strong growth in commercial projects and demand, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Continue reading →

June 18, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Solar street lights for Indian city

Solar power for streets, Deccan Chromicle, June 16, 2012 By Kiran Tom Sajan | Smitha  T he city’s roads will be soon dotted with solar and wind energy powered street lights. The city corporation is in talks with a private agency for installing street lights using solar and wind energy.

To begin with, plans are afoot to install energy-efficient lights on the Edappally railway overbridge (RoB) and on Chathiyath Road….. The corporation has adopted a policy in favour of energy saving and measures like installing solar street lights will be taken for energy conservation, the mayor added.

According to experts, wind could be a potential energy source that could be used to power even homes and businesses. Earlier, the civic body has decided to install energy-efficient street lights on selected stretches of the roads in the city. It has invited tenders for installing energy saving LED lights along the MG Road and Marine Drive.

The ministry of new and renewable energy has recently included the city in its ‘solar city’ programme, which aims at promoting the use of renewable energy in urban
areas.http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/solar-power-streets-028

June 16, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, India | 1 Comment

Storage of solar energy at home

In a test building, they were able to increase “own consumption” – solar power used directly within the household without being exported to the grid

Home Solar Power Storage — Another Option Clean Technica, JUNE 15, 2012 BY ZACHARY SHAHAN  In addition to the home storage option recently announced by Panasonic, below is another story about a some storage option that could greatly benefit those with cheap solar power on their rooftops in Germany (and some other locations). This is a full repost from the awesome site Renewables Continue reading →

June 16, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised, energy storage | 1 Comment

Renewable energy pledge of the small Pacific island nations

Pacific pledge to switch to renewable energy, June 15, 2012 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-15/pacific-ministers-commit-to-renewable-energy/4006638   Pacific Island nations have pledged to dump diesel and similar fuels they use to produce energy and replace them with renewable power sources.

Tuvalu, Tokelau and Cook Islands’ leaders outlined their renewable energy targets this week. The Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Kausa Natano has told Pacific Beat the implementation of renewable energy schemes in small island states is very important. ”I think everyone’s supported the idea of energy efficiency as it will save a lot of funds from their budgets and could be used for other social developments in respective countries,” he said.

Their pledges came at a meeting of small island states in Barbados, West Indies. Their nations plan to rely on sources like coconut biofuel, solar energy and wind energy by the end of the decade.
Their declaration will be taken to the Rio Plus 20 Earth Summit in Brazil next month. Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, of the United Nations Development Program, told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat  it was “tremendous leadership on the part of small island developing states.” “They have stepped out, they have set themselves targets that they are willing to work towards to achieve,” she said.

“We had some donor partners – Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom – that actually also made the commitment to support these small island states as they move forward to try and support the transformation of their societies.”

He says donor partners – Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom – have committed to support the small island states in their transformation.

June 16, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, OCEANIA | Leave a comment

International Energy Agency predicts a radical transition to renewable energy

 A 685-page analysis released this week by the agency contains two important conclusions: renewable energy sources can do the job, and whichever way you cut the cake for a carbon-free grid by 2050 or 2070, with more or less nuclear power or carbon capture and storage, renewable energy sources will be providing at least 50 per cent of those electrons. And it won’t be expensive.

We are missing the boat on clean energy, BY: GILES PARKINSON  : The Australian June 15, 2012, THE International Energy Agency was created 40 years ago, soon after the first major oil crisis, to ensure that OECD countries continued to have a secure supply of energy.

In the past few years, however, it has emerged as one of the loudest and most powerful advocates of clean energy.

The more it looks at the issues of climate change and energy security, the less it likes oil, gas and coal, and the more it is attached to what its secretary-general, Maria van der Hoeven, describes as a radical and early transformation of the world’s electricity systems. Continue reading →

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

Middle East nations to go for solar energy in a big way

Gulf states seek solar energy,  Gulf news, 14 June, Dubai: After decades of relying on fossil fuels to build their cities in the desert, some oil and gas rich nations of the Gulf are now turning skywards to the sun to meet future energy demands.
Ambitious multi-billion-dollar projects to harness the power of the region’s year-round blazing sun have already been announced by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, renewable | Leave a comment

Solar power the leader in rising renewable energy investment

the performance of solar owed most to “booming” rooftop PV installations in Germany and Italy, as property owners took advantage of falling panel prices.

Global investment in solar power jumped 52% in 2011: Report Startup Smart, By Michelle Hammond, 13 June 2012 Global investment in the renewable energy sector surged by 17% to a record $257 billion in 2011, a new report reveals, while total investment in solar power jumped by a whopping 52%. Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

Solar panels for IKEA’s buildings in China

IKEA To Use Solar Power on Buildings in China, Market Watch, June 12, 2012, IKEA Group partners with Hanergy to install solar panels on IKEA buildings  BEIJING, Jun 12, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — IKEA Group today announced that, as part of its goal to only use renewable energy to power its buildings, it will partner with Hanergy, one of China’s leading clean energy companies, to install solar photovoltaic panels on IKEA owned buildings in China. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | China, decentralised | Leave a comment

Solar energy investment soaring in world wide renewable energy growth

$257 billion invested in renewable energy in 2011 SMH, FRANK JORDANS, June 12, 2012 Global investment in renewable energy reached a record of $257 billion last year, with solar attracting more than half the total spending, according to a U.N. report released Monday.

Investment in solar energy surged to $147 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 52 percent thanks to strong demand for rooftop photovoltaic installations in Germany, Italy, China and Britain.

Large-scale solar thermal installations in Spain and the United States also contributed to growth during a fiercely competitive year for the solar industry. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

Private enterprise is the major funder for new renewable energy

Who’s funding the green energy revolution? By Eoghan Macguire,   June 12, 2012 – (CNN) — Money invested in renewable energy reached new heights last year, topping $257 billion.

So is the world finally going green?

The figures come from The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2012 report, a UN Environment Program backed study that has tracked the finance flowing into green energy across the world since 2004.

It found that renewables accounted for 44% of all new energy generation capacity added last year, up from 34% in 2010 and just 10.3% back in 2004.

The source for most of this finance came from the private sector, according to the report. Investment from the private domain in research and development of new technologies was almost double that of governments and public bodies.

While Europe attracts most of the investment, the renewable energy sectors of emerging economies such as India and China have been given the biggest boost.

China overtook the U.S. in terms of total annual investment in renewable energy in 2009 and attracted more money than any other country ($52.2 bn) in 2011.

India meanwhile saw the fastest expansion rate for any large renewables market last year, with a 62% increase in capital funding…… http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/12/world/renewables-finance-unep/

June 13, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, renewable | Leave a comment

Solar energy brings clean drinking water to 10,000 Indian villages

A solar energy based drinking water supply system has already changed lives of villagers in naxal affected Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra where solar energy based dual pump piped water supply system has been installed.

10,000 Naxal villages to get 24 into 7 water supply, courtesy solar http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/10-000-Naxal-villages-to-get-24-into-7-water-supply-courtesy-solar/Article1-868921.aspx Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times New Delhi, June 10, 2012 You in India’s top cities may envy around one-fifth of total villages in 78 naxal affected districts set to get around the clock tap water supply, courtsey solar energy. Three Central government ministries — New and Renewable Energy, Drinking
Water and Sanitation and Finance — have come together to provide 24 into 7 clean drinking water to 10,000 villages in the Naxal affected districts under the Integrated Action Plan of the Central government. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, India | Leave a comment

Decentralised solar energy is transforming the economics of providing electricity

One of the reasons why the German government has reversed its decision in the energy changeover. It wants to give the companies more time to get out of their old investments and enter new ones.

The conventional energy industry will have to adapt to a more decentralized energy supply system very soon.

Photovoltaic solar energy may get even cheaper, Reve, June 11, 2012 What does the trend towards cheaper solar electricity mean for the energy industry? Interview: Gero Rueter / nh. Editor: Sean Sinico. www.dw.de

For the conventional energy industry it means a change of paradigm, that’s for sure. It’s something you can see very clearly when you look at the statements made by Germany’s big energy suppliers lately. When he retired, Jürgen Großmann, former CEO of Essen-based RWE, said photovoltaics essentially ruin the business for the conventional energy industry, because they’re pushing the prices down on the energy stock markets.

A member of E.ON’s executive board said a couple of days ago that building power plants in Germany is no longer financially viable because of the economic framework conditions, with renewable energies advancing fast and forcing down prices. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

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