Schwarzenegger renews commitment to increasing renewable energywww.chinaview.cn 2008-12-02  –LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger renewed his commitment on Monday to increasing the state’s renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions.

    The governor made the remarks when announcing the completion of California’s first of 150 planned commercial rooftop solar installations in Southern California.

    “Here in California, we are taking action to protect the environment by passing laws and setting standards and our companies and entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge,” said Schwarzenegger.

    The rooftop plan “is the nation’s largest solar installation program by a utility and it is just one example of how private companies are helping us reduce our emissions and meet our renewable energy goals,” he said.

    “Projects like this one show the world you can protect the environment and also pump up the economy, and I am proud to say it is happening right here in California.”

    Earlier this year, the governor participated in an event launching the plan to install photovoltaic technology to eventually cover two square miles (3.2 kilometers) of existing commercial roofs with 250 million megawatts (MW) of peak generating capacity……………………..As part of the state’s efforts to increase renewable energy, the governor’s Million Solar Roofs Plan, signed into law in 2006, will provide 3,000 megawatts of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gases by 3 million tons, equivalent to taking 1 million cars off the road. Now known as the California Solar Initiative, the 3.3-billion-dollar incentive plan for homeowners and building owners who install solar electric systems will lead to 1 million solar roofs in California by 2017.

$1.9 billion push behind wind power

The Age Mathew Murphy
December 2, 2008

SPANISH wind giant Union Fenosa will spend more than $1.9 billion developing five wind farms in Victoria and two in NSW, in a deal set to create 265 jobs in the initial stages.

Union Fenosa will develop a 130-megawatt, 68-turbine wind farm at Ryan Corner and a 60MW, 31-turbine wind farm in Hawkesdale, both in Moyne Shire in Victoria’s west, as well as a 92MW, 46-turbine farm in Crookwell in NSW. All have received planning approval.

The second phase will include further development of wind farms in western Victoria, with Tarrone, Berrybank and Darlington proposed as potential sites, although these are yet to receive planning approval. The last of the seven projects is at Paling Yards in NSW…………………………….

Trade Minister Simon Crean said the investment, facilitated by Austrade, would double Australia’s wind generation.

“The electricity produced by the first three wind farms in phase one would supply the annual consumption of 186,000 households,” he said.

“On completion in 2013, the seven wind farms will represent an additional 850 megawatts of generation capacity to Australia’s existing wind generation capacity of 824 megawatts.”

Clean Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said the investment was “what we can expect once the Government eventually passes its renewable energy target, but that passage is crucial if we are to see deployment of clean-energy technologies.”