Reneweable energy raising investment funds
Surge in renewable energy IPOs as investors hunt yields The Age, August 3, 2013 – Wind and solar companies are tapping the stock market for cash at the fastest pace in two years, led by three initial public offerings in London luring investors with dividends that beat returns on government bonds.
The offering was the biggest of three London IPOs this year by renewable companies taking advantage of investors’ thirst for income as the Bank of England keeps interest rates at record lows. Surging share prices have revived stocks as a source of funds, allowing companies that traditionally rely on banks and private equity to tap deeper pools of capital at lower costs.
“There’s really nothing out there that has more predictable cash flows than a solar farm contracted by an investment-grade utility,” said Brandon Blossman, an analyst at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. in Houston. “Everybody likes a yield vehicle that has growth potential.” http://www.theage.com.au/business/carbon-economy/surge-in-renewable-energy-ipos-as-investors-hunt-yields-20130803-2r5t3.html#ixzz2axPOWBq6
Nuclear company switching to renewable energy in USA
EDF exits US nuclear, focuses on renewables, Climate Spectator Reuters 31 Jul, French utility EDF, the world’s biggest operator of nuclear plants, is pulling out of nuclear energy in the United States, bowing to the realities of a market that has been transformed by cheap shale gas.
Several nuclear reactors in the US have been closed or are being shuttered as utilities baulk at the big investments needed to extend their lifetimes now that nuclear power has been so decisively undercut by electricity generated from shale gas.
“The spectacular fall of the price of gas in the US, which was unimaginable a few years ago, has made this form of energy ultra competitive vis a vis all other forms of energy,” EDF Chief Executive Henri Proglio told a news conference.
EDF agreed with its partner Exelon on an exit from their Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) joint venture, which operates five nuclear plants in the United States with a total capacity of 3.9 gigawatts………
International Energy Agency analyst Dennis Volk said CENG’s eastern US power plants were located in some of the most competitive power markets in the country, with high price competition, growing wind capacity and cheap gas.
“It is simply not easy to invest in nuclear and recover your money there,” Volk said.
Focus on renewables in US
Proglio said EDF would now focus on renewable energy in the United States. EDF employs 860 people in US solar and wind, and since 2010 its generating capacity has doubled to 2.3 gigawatts. It manages another 7 gigawatts for other companies……… http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2013/7/31/renewable-energy/edf-exits-us-nuclear-focuses-renewables
Electricity utilities: some fight, others join – the solar energy revolution
China’s $323 billion renewable energy program
China outlines renewable energy splurge July 30, 2013 http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/china-outlines-renewable-energy-splurge-20130730-2qx92.html#ixzz2amhMZ8XK
China may invest another 2.3 trillion yuan in key energy- aving and emission-reducing projects, Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said Tuesday at a conference in Beijing. China stands by its pledge to cut carbon emissions per unit of economic output by as much as 45 per cent before 2020 from 2005 levels, he said.
The increased reliance on renewable sources of energy fits with efforts by China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, to help mitigate the effects of pollution blanketing its major cities. Along with renewables investments, the environment ministry is considering stricter controls on vehicle and industry pollution.
The government aims to have 100 gigawatts of wind-power installed capacity and more than 35 gigawatts of solar power by 2015, Xie reiterated today. China’s targets have encouraged companies including China Petrochemical Corp., also known as Sinopec Group, to strengthen their commitment to protect the environment.
Sinopec Monday said it will invest 22.9 billion yuan on an environmental protection plan.
China asked seven cities and provinces last year to put in place regional caps and pilot programs for trading emission rights.
The country will gradually expand the regions falling under its carbon trading pilot program starting from 2015 in order to explore the potential for a national system, Xie said.
Renewable energy with Liquid Metal Batteries
Liquid Metal Batteries Would Make Renewable Energy Viable Engineering.com Tom Spendlove on July 26, 2013 Electricity demand has to be in constant balance with electricity supplied – this is the large scale problem Donald Sadoway wants to solve in this TED Talk. The constraints of this problem are immense. A solution would need to generate incredibly high power, have a long service life and come at a very low cost.
Energy storage is the solution. Giant batteries could address the problem of intermittency that prevents wind and solar from contributing to the grid like a coal burning power plant.
Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy
Sadoway knows that battery science is straightforward and that the first battery was simple. Alessandro Volta’s invention in the early 1800s only required two electrodes, metals of different compositions, and an electrolyte. ….
Through research at MIT, the battery designs evolved from a shot glass-sized cell storing 1 Watt-hour to a saucer-sized cell storing 200 Watt-hours. Sadoway started his own company to produce larger batteries that will stack to fill a forty foot shipping container.
These large scale batteries would contain 2 MegaWatt-hours, enough energy to meet the daily needs of two hundred American homes.
Wind energy- California’s quiet achiever
Wind, the ‘workhorse’ of renewable energy Oakland Press, July 26, 2013 By Dana Hull The San Jose Mercury News When it comes to renewable energy, Californians hear a lot about solar power. Massive solar power plants are under construction in the desert and will soon be online. Solar panels adorn the roofs of a growing number of homes and commercial buildings. PG&E alone has 90,000 solar customers. Gov. Jerry Brown recently spoke at Intersolar, the solar trade show that met in San Francisco this month, and the state’s solar industry lobby is increasingly influential.
100,000 solar panels installed by UK supermarket chain
UK Supermarket Chain Installs 100,000th Solar Panel by Energy Matters, 26 July 13 Sainsbury’s says it has now installed 100,000 solar panels, representing 22MW capacity across 210 of its UK stores.
Enough to cover 35 football pitches; the company says the modules will reduce its carbon impact by an estimated 9,785 tonnes per year.
The company has also extended its renewable energy efforts to other technologies, including solar hot water and ground source heat pumps. A recently installed heat pump at its Crayford store supplies 30 per cent of that supermarket’s energy requirements…..http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3859
Big buildings with Solar Skins are on the way
Switched on: solar cladding takes off SMH July 24, 2013 From stadiums in Brazil to a bank headquarters in Britain, architects led by Norman Foster are integrating solar cells into the skin of buildings, helping the market for the technology triple within two years. Continue reading
World Bank to fund renewables, energy efficiency, in fight against poverty
World Bank fights poverty with renewable energy, EcoSeed 19 Jul 2013 The World Bank is now promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, limiting its financial support for coal-fired power plants so as to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity.
The World Bank released a paper back on July 16, titled “The Energy Sector Directions Paper,” which sets a principles-based course for the Bank Group’s work in the energy sector that will focus on expanding energy access and sustainable energy.
Based on the new course of the bank, the institution aims to expand access to energy, along with accelerating energy efficiency and renewable energy, Continue reading
Renewable energy up – nuclear down – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Renewable Energy Sources On the Rise ENN,July 18, 2013 Each year the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) releases energy flow charts in an effort to track the United States’ consumption of energy resources. So what seems to be the trend from the past couple of years? Well, renewable energy is on the upswing.Compared to 2011, Americans used more natural gas, solar panels and wind turbines and less coal to generate electricity in 2012, according to the LLNL charts……
The reasons why we are turning to renewables isn’t purely environmental as the rise in renewables is tied to both prices (the underlying cost of solar panels and wind turbines has gone down) and policy (government incentives to installers of equipment or renewable energy targets in various states), Simon said.
Overall, Americans used 2.2 quadrillion BTU, or quads, less in 2012 than the previous year (BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy; 3,400 BTU is equivalent to about 1 kW-hr).
Out of the renewables, wind power saw the highest percentage gains, going from 1.17 quads produced in 2011 up to 1.36 quads in 2012. New wind farms continue to come on line with bigger, more efficient turbines that have been developed in response to government-sponsored incentives to invest in renewable energy.
Solar jumped from 0.158 quads in 2011 to 0.235 quads in 2012. This can be attributed to declining prices of photovoltaic panels.
The charts also show that 2012 is the first year in at least a decade where there has been a measurable decrease in nuclear energy.
“It is likely to be a permanent cut as four nuclear reactors recently went offline (two units at San Onofre in California as well as the power stations at Kewaunee in Wisconsin and Crystal River in Florida),” Simon said. “There are a couple of nuclear plants under construction, but they won’t come on for another few years.”…. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/46227
USA farmers increasingly support renewable energy mandates
supporting renewable energy mandates, and thus ensuring that states uphold that portion of climate mitigation, makes sense for farmers, who are increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change.
Down On The Farm, Clean Energy Requirements Are Opportunities, Not Burdens http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/07/18/2320481/farmers-support-clean-energy-requirements/ By Katie Valentine on Jul 18, 2013 American farmers aren’t usually seen as champions of climate causes — in fact, they’re often known for their climate change skepticism. But farmers across the country have begun standing up for clean energy mandates in their states because they see them as an opportunity for profit in an increasingly uncertain industry.
This year, at least 14 of the 29 states with renewable energy mandates, which require utility companies to purchase a certain amount of their energy from renewable sources, have considered bills to weaken or repeal the requirements, none of which have passed. That’s due in part to farmers, who have teamed up with environmentalists and other pro-green energy groups to push legislators to keep the mandates. Their voices, along with the voices of some local businesses and the prospect of new clean energy jobs, have made it difficult for local lawmakers to repeal the standards.
“It’s hard to be conservative when it affects your district,” Rep. Mike Hager, the majority whip in the North Carolina House, told the Wall Street Journal. Continue reading
Britons can cut their electricity bills, even make money, in switching to renewable energy
if you feel like you’re getting taken for a ride every time you open up your energy bill then boycott the big six energy companies and switch to renewable energy today.
Battling the ‘Big Six’: The Best Way to Boycott Extortionate Charges from Energy Companies Greener Ideal, Gabriella Johnson is JULY 18, 2013 “……the recent 
publication of a new in depth investigation into renewableenergy, ‘The Offshore Valuation’, has thrown out the gauntlet to renewable energy nay-sayers by attempting a complete economic evaluation of the offshore renewable energy resource available in the
UK, which produced some startling results.
Transforming UK Energy
According to the study, the UK could become a net electricity exporter and be generating the equivalent of a million barrels of oil by 2050 by developing just a third of the total tidal, wind and wave power available around the country.
This could have a huge number of benefits including insuring against the volatility of fossil fuel prices, creating over 140,000 new jobs and generating more than £30 billion in revenue through exporting electricity to Europe. Continue reading
Free solar power to 2 million poor citizens in Peru
Peru to Provide Free Solar Power to its 2 Million Poorest Citizens http://inhabitat.com/peru-solar-power-program-aims-to-give-electricity-to-the-countrys-2-million-poorest-citizens/ by Timon Singh, 07/16/13 The country of Peru is looking to provide free electricity to over 2 million of its poorest citizens by harvesting energy from the sun. Energy and Mining Minister Jorge Merino said that the National Photovoltaic Household Electrification Program will provide electricity to poor households through the installation of photovoltaic panels.
The first part of the program aims to provide solar systems to 500,000 extremely poor households in areas that lack even basic access to the power grid. Unsurprisingly, it is a massive opportunity for domestic solar installers, and Merino has said that bidding for the contract will open later this year to fix the rest of the panels.
The project was first started in Contumaza, a province in the northeastern region of Cajamarca, where 1,601 solar panels were installed. The energy minister has said that when the project is finished, the scheme will allow 95% of Peru to have access to electricity by the end of 2016.
Speaking to the Latin America Herald Tribune, Merino said: “This program is aimed at the poorest people, those who lack access to electric lighting and still use oil lamps, spending their own resources to pay for fuels that harm their health.”
If Peru can do this for its people, it makes you wonder why more prosperous countries can’t do the same. Peru to Provide Free Solar Power to its 2 Million Poorest Citizens | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
Fiji’s solar expert grandmothers show the way
AUDIO Fijian grandmothers educating locals on solar panel installation http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-17/fiji-grandmothers-educating-younger-generation-on-solar-pane/4826594 Jul 17, 2013 A group of grandmothers in Fiji are educating the younger generation on solar panel installation to generate electricity in their villages.
The elderly women underwent training at the Barefoot College in India, an NGO that provides rural communities with training and education. Fiji’s Womens Minister, Dr Jiko Luveni, has told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat program the training programme was specifically for grandmothers.
“The idea behind it is that these women are already established in the villages,” Dr Luveni said.
“They have their homes and they are not likely to leave the village as soon as they come back with their skill. Dr Luveni says the elderly women are now celebrated as solar experts and are supervising their young trainees as they install the solar equipment.
“After the training, it was these young people who actually installed the equipment in each house,” she said.
“The grandmothers were merely supervising what they did.
She says the initiative is bringing about various other social benefits to the villages.
“In this particular village that I went into, I could see that the moral of the villagers were boosted as they have a product that is an evidence of development in their villages,” Dr Luveni said.
“That village has gone into some income generating activity…They are more development oriented in their thinking.
“That particular village now has established a canteen and he young people are being recruited to help in the assemblage and installation of the solar equipment in those villages. Thereby, gaining an income,” she said.
India: wind energy production is beating nuclear
“Since 2007, with almost 100% investment from the private sector, wind energy production is more than that of nuclear energy,”
Why nuclear when wind energy is better? http://www.dnaindia.
com/bangalore/1861294/report-why-nuclear-when-wind-energy-is-better , Jul 15, 2013, : Bangalore | Agency: DNA Malavika Velayanikal Members of Parliament interact with renewable energy experts at the Climate Parliament meet in the city. What happens when a bunch of intelligent and well-informed Members of Parliament get thrown into a room full of renewable energy experts?
This, in nutshell, is what happened at the first day on Climate Parliament meet in Bangalore on Saturday.
“When both nuclear energy and wind energy each contribute 3% of the total energy production in the country, why is the government promoting and investing in nuclear energy, and not wind energy, which is almost entirely funded by the private sector?” This was one of the hard questions that came up during the meet. Continue reading
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