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Rooftop solar energy program for Los Angeles

CLEAN LA Solar program, which includes a 150-megawatt FiT, will create 4,500 jobs, generate $500 million in economic activity and offset 2.25 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2016

Rooftop Solar Energy Program Wins Critical Approval From Los Angeles, City Council, Market Watch Los Angeles Business Council applauds decision allowing LADWP to create new national model for rooftop solar energy LOS ANGELES, Apr 03, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) – The Los Angeles City Council cleared the way for the launch of an innovative rooftop solar-energy program today, approving a measure to allow the Department of Water and Power
(DWP) to move forward with the groundbreaking CLEAN LA Solar program.

The CLEAN LA Solar program will allow local property owners to sell solar power generated from rooftops and parking lots back to the DWP, using a mechanism called a feed-in tariff, or FiT. Los Angeles will be the largest city in the nation to adopt such a program, which will supply renewable energy at a reasonable cost while spurring private investment, creating high-quality jobs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and helping the state and city meet renewable power requirements. Continue reading →

April 4, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Solar photovoltaic energy going ahead in Asia and South America

Solar week roundup: China, Latin America pushing ahead with solar, Clean Energy, Chris Meehan, APR 02, 2012 News in the world of solar is increasingly becoming worldwide. As the U.S. imposed preliminary duties on Chinese silicon photovoltaics, the top 10 solar producers are looking to increase the Asian PV market for more sales. At the same time interest in Latin and South America is picking up as costs for solar continue to come down and costs for other energy sources go up.

In the U.S., the news is more mixed with some places embracing solar while others are trying to reduce incentives to support renewables. But even Minnesota could go 100 percent renewable at a small cost.  …. South America’s largest country, Brazil, is considering legislation that could grow the amount of solar in the country.

The country is considering a national net-metering program for home and small business owners, to credit PV owners for generation. And it’s considering legislation that would slash taxes on utilities by 80 percent on electricity sourced from distributed solar generation.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) increased financing for solar, renewable projects in Latin America to $736 million in 2011. That’s more than it invested over the decade between 2000 and 2010, when it invested more $663 million in renewable energy projects in Latin American and Caribbean countries. The IDB also plans to invest more than $700 million in such projects in 2012.   …. http://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energy-news/solar-energy-news-week-roundup-040212/

April 4, 2012 Posted by | ASIA, renewable, SOUTH AMERICA | Leave a comment

Bright employment and economic future for Denmark, as it moves to 100% renewable energy

Denmark Passes Legislation: 100% Renewable Energy by 2050!, SustainableBusiness.com News , 30 March 12,  Denmark’s Parliament has passed the most ambitious green economy plan in the world: it will generate 35% of its energy from renewable energy by 2020 and 100% by 2050. Continue reading →

March 31, 2012 Posted by | Denmark, renewable | Leave a comment

Scotland’s renewable energy winning success, and providing many jobs

Energy Minister delighted as Scotland beats renewable energy target Daily Record co UK, Mar 29 2012 FIGURES revealed today that an extra 45 per cent of renewable energy was generated in Scotland last year compared with 2010. The statistics published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics mean around 35% of Scotland’s electricity needs came from renewables in 2011, assuming that gross consumption in 2011 is similar to 2010.

This beats the Scottish Government’s target of 31% for last year. Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing was delighted with the news. He said: “It’s official: 2011 was a record breaker with enough green electricity being produced in Scotland to comfortably beat our interim target. ”And Scotland met almost 40% of the UK’s renewables output in 2011, demonstrating just how much the rest of the UK needs our energy.

“We are seeing great progress towards our goal of generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland’s electricity needs from renewables by 2020.” The figures show that renewable electricity generation, wind energy generation and hydro generation were all at a record high in 2011…..
Liberal Democrat Energy spokesman Liam McArthur said the figures, taken together with the Scottish Renewables report showing that over 11,000 jobs are directly related to the development of the renewables sector, confirm that Scotland is capitalising on the rewards that the renewable energy industry can bring…
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/03/29/scotland-beats-renewable-energy-target-reveals-new-statistics-86908-23806298/

March 30, 2012 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Wind energy for Japan, as nuclear energy shuts down

Floating Windmills in Japan Help Wind Down Nuclear Power: Energy Bloomberg, By Chisaki Watanabe – Mar 29, 2012  Japan  is preparing to bolt turbines onto barges and build the world’s largest commercial power plant using floating windmills, tackling the engineering challenges of an unproven technology to cut its reliance on atomic energy. Continue reading →

March 30, 2012 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

Success of solar photovoltaic power is worrying utility companies

Why power generators are terrified of solar http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/03/27/why-generators-are-terrified-of-solar/   Crikey.com by Giles Parkinson, of RenewEconomy, 28 March 12,  “….. the merit order effect and the impact that solar is having on electricity prices in Germany; and why utilities there and elsewhere are desperate to try to rein in the growth of solar PV in Europe. It may also explain why Australian generators are fighting so hard against the extension of feed-in tariffs in this country….. that solar PV is not just licking the cream off the profits of the fossil fuel generators — as happens in Australia with a more modest rollout of PV — it is in fact eating their entire cake…..

Deutsche Bank solar analyst Vishal Shah noted in a report last month that EPEX data was showing solar PV was cutting peak electricity prices by up to 40%, a situation that utilities in Germany and elsewhere in Europe were finding intolerable. “With Germany adopting a drastic cut, we expect major utilities in other European countries to push for similar cuts as well,” Shah noted.

Analysts elsewhere said one quarter of Germany’s gas-fired capacity may be closed, because of the impact of surging solar and wind capacity. Enel, the biggest utility in Italy, which had the most solar PV installed in 2011, highlighted its exposure to reduced peaking prices when it said that a €5/MWh fall in average wholesale prices would translate into a one-third slump in earnings from the generation division……

 

March 28, 2012 Posted by | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

UK farmers welcome govt support for renewable energy projects on farms

Farm renewable energy boost, Farming News, (UK) , March 25, 2012 FARMERS’ leaders have welcomed Government plans to exempt small-scale renewable energy schemes on farms from planning regulations. Continue reading →

March 26, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, UK | Leave a comment

Global competition for modern clean energy is under way

The Great Renewable Energy Race  (excellent interactive graphics)  http://go.bloomberg.com/multimedia/the-great-renewable-energy-race/ BLOOMBERG MARCH 18, 2012   Global investment in renewable energy climbed to a record $260 billion last year, and the race for clean power is just getting started.

We reported last week how new solar and wind technologies are approaching price parity with traditionally cheaper coal- and gas-burning power plants. Today, the world’s regions go head-to-head….

Where the Wind Blows

The wind energy market started in the U.S. in the 1980s, in a drive for greater energy independence. Investment shifted to Europe  in the 1990s, drawn by grants, incentives and so-called feed-in tariffs,  which encourage cost reductions by locking in long-term prices  at favorable rates.

Turbine installations moved to Asia in 2009. By 2011, China, the world’s biggest wind investor, was installing 20 gigawatts of wind power a year, three times as much as the U.S., the second biggest investor. Asia will remain the most active region for wind investment until 2019, according to BNEF estimates.

Where the Sun Shines

Japan dominated solar installations in the 1990s, when the market remained small. In 2004, European feed-in tariffs abruptly shifted the solar focus to Europe, where it remains today.

The decline in crystalline solar silicon prices has been dramatic. As the cost of producing solar approaches parity with retail electricity purchased from the grid, installations are expected to shift from utility-scale solar fields to smaller-scale rooftop projects. The biggest share will move to Asia next year, according to BNEF: China’s total solar capacity is expected to climb to 272 gigawatts in 2030 from less than 1 gigawatt today. http://go.bloomberg.com/multimedia/the-great-renewable-energy-race/

March 21, 2012 Posted by | renewable, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Wind energy in full sail in China

Winds of change blow through China as spending on renewable energy soars World’s biggest polluter spends £4bn a year on wind and solar power generation in single region as it aims to cut fossil fuel use Jonathan Watts in Jiuquan Guardian UK,   19 March 2012  “….. the landscape has started to undergo a transformation as Gansu has moved to the frontline of government efforts to reinvent China’s economy with a massive investment in renewable energy. Continue reading →

March 20, 2012 Posted by | China, renewable | Leave a comment

Spain’s Andalusia solar power station produces electricity day and night

Solar power station in Spain works at night  Yahoo Finance 19 Mar 12, A unique thermosolar power station in southern Spain can shrug off cloudy days: energy stored when the sun shines lets it produce electricity even during the night.

The Gemasolar station, up and running since last May, stands out in the plains of Andalusia.

From the road between Seville and Cordoba, one can see its central tower lit up like a beacon by 2,600 solar mirrors, each 120 square metres (28,500 square feet), that surround it in an immense 195-hectare (480-acre) circle.

“It is the first station in the world that works 24 hours a day, a solar power station that works day and night!” said Santago Arias, technical director of Torresol Energy, which runs the station. The mechanism is “very easy to explain,” he said: the panels reflect the suns rays on to the tower, transmitting energy at an intensity 1,000 times higher than that of the sun’s rays reaching the earth.

Energy is stored in a vat filled with molten salts at a temperature of more than 500 degrees C (930 F). Those salts are used to produce steam to turn the turbines and produce electricity.

It is the station’s capacity to store energy that makes Gemasolar so different because it allows the plant to transmit power during the night, relying on energy it has accumulated during the day.

“I use that energy as I see fit, and not as the sun dictates,” Arias explained.

As a result, the plant produces 60 percent more energy than a station without storage capacity because it can work 6,400 hours a year compared to 1,200-2,000 hours for other solar power stations, he said.

“The amount of energy we produce a year is equal to the consumption of 30,000 Spanish households,” Arias said, an annual saving of 30,000 tonnes of CO2.

Helped by generous state aid, renewable energies have enjoyed a boom in Spain, the world number two in solar energy and the biggest wind power producer in Europe, ahead of Germany. … http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/solar-power-station-spain-works-020347254.html

March 20, 2012 Posted by | renewable, Spain | Leave a comment

In UK, 102 business leaders urge government to back renewable energy

Sir Branson and fellow entrepreneurs ask Cameron to back renewables http://www.eaem.co.uk/news/sir-branson-and-fellow-entrepreneurs-ask-cameron-back-renewables   Energy and Envronment Magazine 16 March 2012

Sir Richard Branson is one of 102 top business signatories of an open letter to David Cameron urging him to back wind and other renewable forms of power generation.

“March’s budget provides one of the biggest opportunities to tackle climate change in the UK,” the Virgin tycoon says. “We must ensure it encourages investment rather than creates uncertainty and delays further serious investment in the renewable sector. As a country we need to be better prepared to deal with rising energy prices.”

The so-called ‘102 letter’ is conceived partly as a response to the actions of 101 backbenchers who last month wrote to the Prime Minister attacking wind power, and a call to the Treasury to re-establish a stable investment platform for renewable energy as a driver of the recovery out of the recession.

It is published on the website of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO), the global network of more than 7,500 business owners in 38 countries.

“Cutting support for green energy is a false economy,” comments Dale Vince, Founder and CEO of Ecotricity, one of Britain’s most successful new energy companies trying to muscle in on the territory controlled by the Big Six.

His angle is energy security. “Britain needs to become energy independent once more, and with the North Sea all but depleted of fossil fuels we need to look to other forms of indigenous energy. We have them in abundance, in the wind the sun and the sea, enough to power our country many times over.

“While Britain remains dependent on global energy markets, our bills can only go one way: upwards.”

His analysis is that the level of current support for green energy sources is relatively small in comparison to that for oil and gas.

In the last 12 months roughly £30 of our household energy bills has been spent on green energy support. Of this, the Renewables Obligation (RO) added just £15.15 to the annual energy bill of the United Kingdom’s 26.3 million households, with onshore wind power adding only £4.68, according to Ofgem’s recently published RO annual report for 2010/11and Ecotricity’s analysis.

The RO is the main support mechanism for encouraging the growth of renewable energy in the UK.

Meanwhile, the rising cost of imported gas added around £120 to energy bills last year, according to Ofgem’s Electricity and Gas Supply Market Report.

“We need to reverse those proportions; it’s an incredible false economy to throw money at energy market speculators while penny pinching over the one thing we can do to solve the problem long term: make our own energy,” concludes Mr Vince.

The letter says that “as entrepreneurs, investors, economists, scientists, engineers, energy providers, community builders and Members of Parliaments, we are increasingly concerned about the lack of clarity around the future of government support for land-based renewables, such as solar, wind and biogas.”

March 17, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron on renewable energy

Richard Branson letter to David Cameron on renewable energy http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/16/renewableenergy-energy 

The letter in full from Dale Vince, Juliet Davenport and Caroline Lucas and other signatories backing green power, in response toa recent letter in which 101 Conservative backbenchers rubbished wind power

Dear David Cameron,
As entrepreneurs, investors, economists, scientists, engineers, energyproviders, community builders and Members of Parliament, we are increasingly concerned about the lack of clarity around the future of government support for land based renewables, such as solar, wind and biogas. Continue reading →

March 17, 2012 Posted by | politics, renewable, UK | 1 Comment

With or without tax credits, renewable energy is set to grow

renewable energy production will more than double by 2035 even without federal tax credits.

Renewable Energy Industry Poised for Growth Regardless of Tax Credits Market Watch, ,   NEW YORK, NY, Mar 08, 2012 –– Clean energy stocks have struggled considerably over the last month as concerns about a loss of subsidies and tax credits have led to growth concerns. The PowerShares Wilderhill Clean Energy Portfolio (PBW) is down more than 13 percent over the last month.

Despite the downswing, a recent report from the Energy Information Agency argues that renewable energy production is poised for growth regardless of tax credits. Continue reading →

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

Fukushima to get off shore wind farm

Mixed Greens: Offshore wind for Fukushima REnew economy, By   7 March 2012 Almost one year after an earthquake and tsunami hit Fukushima and sent three out of six of its nuclear reactors into meltdown, the Japanese government has announced plans to install two Mitsubishi Heavy 7MW turbines, and a 2MW turbine made by Fuji Heavy, at a floating wind farm off the coast of the  devastated prefecture. Recharge News reports that the estimated ¥12.5 billion project is part of a government plan to kick-start the country’s offshore wind sector and rejuvenate the Fukushima region. Tokyo has flagged plans to install 1GW of offshore wind power in the Fukushima region, and Japan’s Wind Power Association estimates potential for 519GW of floating offshore wind capacity in Japan. “The Tokyo area has good potential for offshore. It’s easy to get grid connections. The Fukushima nuclear power plants will never operate again so there’s a vacant grid line there,” says Yoshinori Ueda, assistant general manager at MHI.

The floating wind farm will be located between 20-40km offshore, where ocean depths range from 100-150 metres, the average wind speed is more than 7-metres per second and wave heights are 10-15 metres. It will be built by a consortium including Japanese trading house Marubeni, MHI, Mitsubishi Corp, IHI Marine United, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Nippon Steel, Hitachi, Furukawa Electric and Shimizu; with consultation from the University of Tokyo and Mizuho Information & Research Institute. The first phase of the project, due to be completed by March 2013, will see the installation one of Fuji Heavy’s Subaru80 2MW turbines with a four-column, semi-submarine type floater and a 66kV floating offshore substation. In the second phase, from 2013-15, Mitsubishi Heavy will install two of its new 7MW turbines, with a three-column, semi-submarine type floater.

Mitsubishi Heavy’s 7MW turbine, known as the ‘SeaAngel’ and developed with about ¥5 billion in backing from the Japanese government, uses a hydraulic transmission system to eliminate the need for a gearbox. The first prototype is set to be installed onshore in the UK next year, ahead of the Fukushima offshore project…. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/mixed-greens-offshore-wind-for-fukushima-64769

March 7, 2012 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

25 renewable energy projects getting underway in New Zealand

Several New Zealand Renewable Power Projects Scheduled to Begin Construction in 2012-13, an Industrial Info News Alert Market Watch, PERTH, AUSTRALIA, Mar 06, 2012  — Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia  — Industrial Info is currently tracking 25 New Zealand renewable energy projects in the planning and engineering phase that are scheduled to begin construction from 2012 onward. The projects total more than US$4.87 billion in investment value and indicate that New Zealand is predominately investing in wind, geothermal and hydro generation projects…..http://www.marketwatch.com/story/several-new-zealand-renewable-power-projects-scheduled-to-begin-construction-in-2012-13-an-industrial-info-news-alert-2012-03-06?reflink=MW_news_stmp

March 7, 2012 Posted by | New Zealand, renewable | Leave a comment

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