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#Post#: 3127--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: May 13, 2015, 6:08 pm
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[quote]
Jane Jones
May 13, 2015
Germany's power houses not only feel the pinch, they're done
with.
The CEO of EoN held a speech last week agreeing they're
finished.
And RWE's CEO said that all reserves are gone.
------------------------------
I wrote a posting today on:
HTML http://www.renewablesinternational.net/are-the-poor-paying-for-the-rich-in-the-energiewende/150/537/87495/<br
/>
Quote:
I don't know where to put this, so here is probably the best
place ...:
The share holder meeting of EoN was last week, CEO Teyssen
declared the Energiewende a success and says the revolution is
in full swing. The large generators are at loss, the small scale
generation is the future.
Here the speech in English:
HTML http://www.eon.com/content/dam/eon-com/Investoren/Hauptversammlung/HV15_Speech_Johannes_Teyssen_EN.pdf<br
/>
An article by Franz Alt (in German) in Telepolis:
HTML http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/44/44927/1.html
Remarkable: Teyssen hails the successful Energiewende in Canada
and Australia!
That'll give some up-swing to the people there who are still
trying to digest Mr. Abbott.
Home-made power is already the cheapest power, so Teyssen.
Well, we know that. ;D
The impact of these words should not be underestimated:
Germany's laws (and those in other states as well) demand public
money to be spend wisely, economical.
Some extracts:
- the hedging price in central Europe will drop from 2014= €
56.-/MWh to 2015= € 50.-/MWh
- batteries in combination with PV will be the cheapest power
Teyssen at page 8 :
" How should we address the heterogeneous and in some cases
mutually contradictory developments in our markets? Last year we
thoroughly analyzed this question. We talked to a lot of people:
experts in the energy industry as well as other industries,
investors, researchers, startup founders, and above all with the
many experts and practitioners across our company. We asked
ourselves what do solar panels and gas pipelines still have in
common? We asked the same question about micro CHP units and
large - scale power stations, smart meters and intraday trading.
Our answer is: not very much anymore "
........
[color=red]" It became clear to us that our company’s current
business profile is no longer viable for the future. We believe
the integrated business model is obsolete. "[/color]
----------------
This is not a won battle, this is a total surrender.
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----------------
Another one from RWE, EoN's main competitor in Europe: (in
German)
HTML http://www.sonnewindwaerme.de/panorama/kernkraft-rwe-hat-vermutlich-nichts-zurueckgestellt<br
/>
RWE has probably no financial reserves left. They should have
enough money set aside by law to pay for the demolition of their
atomic power plants.
But this money is gone says the boss. Everything they are going
to need, for demolition of atomic power plants, for
re-naturation of coal pits, for pensions and so on ...everything
has to be earned in future. They're bankrupt.
In other words: they must burn coal to finance their faltering.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183312.bmp
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end of quote
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Small-scale PV has broken the neck of Europe's utilities.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gif
The ants kicked the elephants off their back.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-280614160021.gif
And [b]they run for their lives
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared002.gif,
begging
for mercy for their souls.
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared003.gif
[/b]
For 100 years these gangsters reigned the world, the bloodiest
which mankind ever faced.[/quote]
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2015/05/germanys-powerhouse-feels-pinch-of-merkels-shift-to-renewables#comm142778
#Post#: 3145--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: May 16, 2015, 4:46 pm
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[center][img width=400
height=260]
HTML http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2491/2491210ovie015m90.gif[/img][/center]
[center]Law creates Vermont’s first renewable energy standards
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/emoticon-object-098.gif[/center]
[center] [img width=200
height=160]
HTML http://cliparts.co/cliparts/Big/Egq/BigEgqBMT.png[/img][/center]
John Herrick May. 15 2015, 10:40 pm
The Vermont Legislature passed a major renewable energy bill
late Friday despite last-minute anxiety over where new wind and
solar projects should be built.
The Senate voted 22-6 to pass H.40, a renewable energy standard
that requires utilities to buy and sell more renewable
electricity beginning in 2017. The bill received final approval
in the House on a voice vote late Friday and now goes to Gov.
Peter Shumlin’s desk.
The bill incentivizes the build out of 400 megawatts of new
renewable energy generation by 2032, according to the Shumlin
administration. It also encourages utilities to reduce
customers’ fossil fuel consumption through the use of heat pumps
and electric cars.
Proponents say the bill puts the state on a track to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, generate its own power supply and save
on energy costs.
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif
Critics
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say the
bill does little to address local concerns about how and where
wind and solar projects are built. [img width=40
height=40]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-051113192052.png[/img]<br
/>
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp
After days of squabbling in the Senate over policy proposals
that would change how energy projects are developed, the issue
was resolved temporarily with a summer study committee that will
lead to siting legislation next year.
The Senate’s version of the bill put in place a requirement that
solar projects meet statewide solar setback limits and local
screening measures. It also makes it easier for towns to
participate in the Public Service Board permitting process by
giving them automatic party status.
The bill also addresses a concern that electric rates could rise
due to legal issues with Vermont’s current renewable energy
incentive program, known as SPEED.
At the start of the session, the Shumlin administration told
lawmakers electric rates could rise 6 percent statewide if no
action was taken. That’s because SPEED allows Vermont utilities
to sell renewable energy credits and count them toward a state
goal in 2017. Because these credits could be “double counted,”
the state of Connecticut has said they may not purchase them
after 2017.
[i]
Vermont utilities sell about $50 million worth of credits,
largely from wind and solar projects, to keep electric rates
down.[/i] Losing the ability to sell them could increase
electric rates. The renewable energy standard passed Friday
would repeal SPEED, which would eliminate the risk of double
counting, according to Connecticut regulators. Because Vermont
would now have its own energy standards, utilities could not
count them toward their Vermont goals and sell them on the REC
market.
“That’s a risk for ratepayers that we want to take off the
books,” [img width=25
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-080515182559.png[/img]<br
/>said Darren Springer, deputy commissioner for the Department o
f
Public Service, before the House vote Friday. “This bill
resolves that issue.”
H.40 requires utilities to offer incentives to customers to
reduce their fossil fuel consumption. ;D The program is
designed to replace gasoline fueled cars with electric vehicles
and oil-fired furnaces with electric heat pumps.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gif
Weatherization would
also count toward the requirements.
Utilities can petition regulators for a waiver from the
regulations if they prove it would increase electric rates.
There is also an annual reporting requirement on the rate impact
of the program.
Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, D-Windsor, was slow to
move the bill through the Senate. He says he supports renewable
energy development, but some developers have been irresponsible.
He wanted towns to have more say in project siting.
Before the vote, Campbell said he would not support the bill
without a strong siting provision, but he later voted for the
bill and sent it over to the House.
“I could have killed it, but I’m not going to do that,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s tough to be a leader and a statesman.”
The bill requires the Shumlin administration to report back on
the impacts of renewable energy development on forest
fragmentation, wildlife habitat and agricultural soils.
HTML http://vtdigger.org/2015/05/15/law-creates-vermonts-first-renewable-energy-standards/
#Post#: 3153--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: May 17, 2015, 12:12 pm
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7 Facts That Prove the Renewable Energy Revolution Has Arrived
Earth Policy Institute | May 17, 2015 10:54 am
The global transition to clean, renewable energy and away from
nuclear and fossil fuels is well under way with remarkable
developments happening every day. The Great Transition by Lester
Brown, Janet Larsen, Matt Roney and Emily Adams of Earth Policy
Institute lays out a tremendous range of these developments.
Here are seven that may surprise you:
Over the past decade, world wind power capacity grew more than
20 percent a year. Photo credit: Shutterstock
1. Solar is now so cheap that global adoption appears
unstoppable.
•The price of solar photovoltaic panels has declined 99 percent
over the last four decades, from $74 a watt in 1972 to less than
70 cents a watt in 2014.
•Between 2009 and 2014, solar panel prices dropped by three
fourths, helping global PV installations grow 50 percent per
year.
•See more solar power facts here.
2. Wind power adoption is rapidly altering energy portfolios
around the world.
•Over the past decade, world wind power capacity grew more than
20 percent a year, its increase driven by its many attractive
features, public policies supporting its expansion and falling
costs.
•By the end of 2014, global wind generating capacity totaled
369,000 megawatts, enough to power more than 90 million U.S.
homes. Wind currently has a big lead on solar PV, which has
enough worldwide capacity to power roughly 30 million U.S.
homes.
•See more wind power facts here.
3. National and subnational energy policies are promoting
renewables, and many governments are considering a price on
carbon.
•Unfortunately, governments worldwide still subsidized the
fossil fuel industry with over $600 billion, giving this aging
industry five times the subsidy that went to renewables.
•But by the start of 2014, some 70 countries, including many in
Europe, were using feed-in tariffs to encourage investment in
renewables.
•See more energy policy facts here.
4. The financial sector is embracing renewables—and starting to
turn against fossils and nuclear.
•The financial services firm Barclays downgraded the entire U.S.
electricity sector in 2014, in part because in its view U.S.
utilities are generally unprepared for the challenges posed by
distributed solar power and battery storage.
•In January 2013, Warren Buffett gave solar energy a huge
financial boost when his MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company
announced an investment of up to $2.5 billion in California in
what is now known as the Solar Star project. At 580 megawatts,
it will become the world’s largest PV project when complete in
late 2015. MidAmerican had earlier bought the Topaz solar farm
in California, now tied with Desert Sunlight, another California
project, as the world’s largest at 550 megawatts. As of its
completion in late 2014, Topaz can generate enough electricity
to power 180,000 California homes.
•See more financial sector facts here.
5. Coal use is in decline in the U.S. and will likely fall at
the global level far sooner than once thought possible.
•U.S. coal use is dropping—it fell 21 percent between 2007 and
2014—and more than one-third of the nation’s coal plants have
already closed or announced plans for future closure in the last
five years.
•Major U.S. coal producers, such as Peabody Energy and Arch
Coal, have seen their market values drop by 61 and 94 percent,
respectively, as of September 2014.
•See more coal facts here.
6. Transportation will move away from oil as electric vehicle
fleets expand rapidly and bike- and car-sharing spreads.
•Bike-sharing programs have sprung up worldwide in recent years.
More than 800 cities in 56 countries now have fully operational
bike-share programs, with over 1 million bikes. In the U.S., by
the end of 2012 some 21 cities had 8,500 bikes in bike-share
racks. By the end of 2016, this is expected to climb to over 70
cities with close to 40,000 bikes.
•The share of carless households increased in 84 out of 100 U.S.
urban areas surveyed between 2006 and 2011. And as urbanization
increases, this share will only rise.
•See more transportation facts here.
7. Nuclear is on the rocks thanks to rising costs and widespread
safety concerns.
•For the world as a whole, nuclear power generation peaked in
2006 and dropped by nearly 14 percent by 2014.
•In the U.S., the country with the most reactors, nuclear
generation peaked in 2010 and is now also on the decline.
•See more nuclear facts here.
HTML http://ecowatch.com/2015/05/17/renewable-energy-revolution/
#Post#: 3197--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: May 22, 2015, 7:57 pm
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Renewable Power Can Now Flow All Over Europe
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Eight years in the making, EU energy stakeholders are
celebrating because flow-based market coupling is now
functioning in the EU.
May 20, 2015
By Rachel Morison and Weixin Zha
London and Frankfurt -- After almost two years of delays,
Germany, France and their neighbors in central-western Europe
connected their electricity markets on Wednesday under a system
that lets prices dictate where power flows between countries.
Flow-based market coupling matches supply and demand across
borders, sending electricity to where prices are highest.
Average day-ahead rates are expected to rise in Germany, and
decline in Belgium and the Netherlands, according to data
compiled by Energy Brainpool GmbH, a Berlin-based consultant.
Eight years ago, a group of 29 energy ministers, regulators,
exchanges and grid operators from Germany, France, Belgium and
the Netherlands first agreed to improve their cross-border
flows. The project, originally scheduled to start in 2013,
better manages the way power networks are used, which means that
on a breezy day in northern Germany, power from a wind turbine
can reach a hospital in France.
“Flow-based market coupling, which is finally starting, might
lead to higher exports from Germany into neighboring countries
and definitely would be a supportive element for wholesale power
prices in Germany,” Alfred Hoffmann, vice president for
portfolio management at Vattenfall AB’s energy trading unit in
Hamburg, said by phone on May 11, without being more specific.
In flow-based coupling, all cross-border paths between grids are
taken into account to maximize capacity. Traditionally, flows
are based on the available interconnection capacity at each
border, which can hamper price convergence between national
networks.
Popping Corks [img width=140
height=080]
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“After the successful start and intense preparation, we are
popping the corks here,” Andreas Preuss, a spokesman at German
grid operator Amprion GmbH, said by phone from Dortmund on
Wednesday. Hourly prices for tomorrow were calculated according
to the new system, he said, without being specific.
Germany has the lowest power prices in the central-west region
of Europe, with an average day-ahead rate of 32.11 euros
($35.90) a megawatt-hour for the past year, exchange data show.
That compares with 36 euros for France, 41.35 euros in the
Netherlands and 43.46 euros for Belgium.
Prices can turn negative when electricity supply outstrips
demand, especially when it’s windy and sunny. Germany, Europe’s
biggest renewable-energy producer, had 109 hours of negative
prices this year, double the amount in the same period of 2014,
Epex Spot SE data show.
Flow-based market coupling means negative prices would be “more
subdued” because it’s possible to export more from Germany,
Preuss said.
Cheaper Rates ;D
Belgian prices would have been 8.7 percent lower on average and
Dutch prices 5.8 percent cheaper under market coupling last
year, according to Energy Brainpool.
“We won’t see a visible jump in the spot market from one day to
another,” Philipp Goetz, a consultant at Energy Brainpool, said
by phone on May 13. “In the long run, it will show up” with
higher prices in Germany in off-peak times and during the night
when demand is lower, he said.
Fluctuating German renewable power generation may still have a
bigger effect on prices than market coupling, according to Omar
Ramdani, head of analysis at RheinEnergie Trading GmbH in
Cologne.
“On average, prices will rise 1 to 2 euros if we don’t see
counter-effects from wind and solar production,” Ramdani said
Wednesday by phone.
While coupling may improve cross-border flows, the European
Commission estimates Europe still needs to spend 200 billion
euros on energy infrastructure by 2020, including new power
links between countries.
“Market coupling will have some impact but we need more
investment in cross-border capacity and interconnectors to see a
big difference,” Elchin Mammadov, European utilities analyst at
Bloomberg Intelligence, said Monday. “Once these are built the
traders will follow.”
©2015 Bloomberg News
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/05/renewable-power-can-now-flow-all-over-europe.html
#Post#: 3198--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: May 22, 2015, 8:33 pm
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The developing world is beating the U.S. at clean energy
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/301.gif
:(
By Tim McDonnell on 19 May 2015
[img width=640
height=620]
HTML https://grist.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/screen-shot-2015-05-18-at-2-51-03-pm.jpg[/img]
[img width=75
height=50]
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/reading.gif[/img]
HTML http://grist.org/climate-energy/the-developing-world-is-beating-the-u-s-at-clean-energy/
#Post#: 3205--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: May 26, 2015, 3:50 pm
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Wind and Solar Provide 100% of New Generating Capacity in April
Sun Day Campaign | May 26, 2015 10:00 am
In what is becoming a frequent occurrence, if not predictable
pattern, renewable energy sources once again dominate in the
latest federal monthly update on new electrical generating
capacity brought into service in the U.S.
[img width=640
height=480]
HTML http://ecowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/fercrenewables.jpg[/img]
Wind and solar accounted for all new generating capacity placed
in-service in April. Photo credit: Shutterstock
According to the recently-released “Energy Infrastructure
Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s
(FERC) Office of Energy Projects, wind and solar accounted for
all new generating capacity placed in-service in April. For the
month, two “units” of wind (the 300-megawatt (MW) Hereford-2
Wind Farm Project in Deaf Smith County, Texas and the 211-MW
Mesquite Creek Wind Project in Dawson County, Texas) came on
line in addition to six new units—totaling 50 MW—of solar.
Further, wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower combined have
provided 84.1 percent of the 1,900 MW of new U.S. electrical
generating capacity placed into service during the first third
of 2015. This includes 1,170 MW of wind (61.5 percent), 362 MW
of solar (19.1 percent), 45 MW of geothermal steam (2.4 percent)
and 21 MW of hydropower (1.1 percent). The balance (302 MW) was
provided by five units of natural gas.
FERC has reported no new capacity for the year-to-date from
biomass sources nor any from coal, oil or nuclear power.
The total contribution of geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind
for the first four months of 2015 (1,598 MW) is similar to that
for the same period in 2014 (1,611 MW—in addition to 116 MW of
biomass). However, for the same period in 2014, natural gas
added 1,518 MW of new capacity while coal and nuclear again
provided none and oil just 1 MW. Renewable energy sources
accounted for half of all new generating capacity added in 2014.
Renewable energy sources now account for 17.05 percent of total
installed operating generating capacity in the U.S.: water—8.55
percent, wind—5.74 percent, biomass—1.38 percent, solar—1.05
percent and geothermal steam—0.33 percent (for comparison,
renewables were 13.71 percent of capacity in December 2010—the
first month for which FERC issued an “Energy Infrastructure
Update”).
Renewable energy capacity is now greater than that of nuclear
(9.14 percent) and oil (3.92 percent) combined. In fact, the
installed capacity of wind power alone has now surpassed that of
oil. [img width=25
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-080515182559.png[/img]In<br
/>addition, total installed operating generating capacity from
solar has now reached and surpassed the one-percent threshold—a
ten-fold increase since December 2010.*
“Members of Congress and state legislators proposing to curb
support for renewable energy, such as Renewable
Portfolio/Electricity Standards and the federal Production Tax
Credit and Investment Tax Credit, are swimming against the
tide,” noted Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY
Campaign. “With renewable energy’s clear track record of success
and the ever-worsening threat of climate change, now is not the
time to pull back from these technologies but rather to greatly
expand investments in them.”
*Note that generating capacity is not the same as actual
generation. Electrical production per MW of available capacity
(i.e., capacity factor) for renewables is often lower than that
for fossil fuels and nuclear power. According to the most recent
data (i.e., as of February 2015) provided by the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA), actual net electrical
generation from renewable energy sources now totals 13.4 percent
of total U.S. electrical production; however, this figure almost
certainly understates renewables’ actual contribution
significantly because neither EIA nor FERC fully accounts for
all electricity generated by distributed renewable energy
sources (e.g., rooftop solar).
HTML http://ecowatch.com/2015/05/26/wind-solar-april-capacity/
#Post#: 3239--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: June 2, 2015, 9:31 pm
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06/02/2015 04:03 PM
Finally, An Apollo Program to Combat Climate Change
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gif
SustainableBusiness.com News
We've needed an Apollo program on climate change for a long
time, and now we are getting one.
The UK-based Global Apollo Programme to Combat Climate Change
has this goal: Within 10 years, baseload wind and/or solar
energy will cost less than coal in every country, and oil and
gas too.
The overarching goal is for the world to get 100% of electricity
from renewable energy by 2050. We can only get there if the
price is irresistible.
[img width=640
height=440]
HTML http://cdni.wired.co.uk/620x413/s_v/Screen-Shot-2015-06-02-at-11.36.49.jpg[/img]
Recognizing that country commitments are not enough to keep
world temperatures from exceeding 2C, a handful of eminent
people have come together to coax them into a mission that
rivals Apollo - the race to put a man on the moon in the 1960s.
To get there, founders are calling for countries to invest the
same amount spent on the Apollo program - $23 billion a year in
today's money for accelerated research, development and
demonstration of solar, wind, energy storage and smart grid
technologies.
Calling it the "greatest scientific challenge facing the
world," they simply want to double the tiny 2% of R&D budgets
the world spends each year on this research.
Among the seven founders are: Sir David King, UK's climate
change envoy; Lord Nicholas Stern, Professor of Economics and
Government at London School of Economics and Chair of the
Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the
Environment; ecologist Sir David Attenborough and Lord John
Browne, former CEO of BP Petroleum!
Many countries are interested, they say: US, UK, India, Japan,
China, Korea, Mexico and UAE. It's on the agenda for next week's
G7 meeting and they plan to launch right before this year's
Climate Summit in Paris.
Nations that join the program commit to spend 0.02% of GDP on
R&D through 2025, and they get a seat on the global "roadmap
committee" that coordinates and oversees the process.
Some countries, like the UK, are spending this amount now, but
many aren't, and there is no coordination to maximize results,
they say.
Research isn't all that's needed, carbon must be priced, they
say. And prices have to come down even further to displace
existing fossil fuel infrastructure.
Also in the UK, SolarCentury CEO Jeremy Leggett is asking
corporations to contribute 5% of annual profits to the 5%
For-Climate-and-Development Club, to eradicate poverty and stop
climate change at the same time. Many are showing interest
without being solicitied, he says.
Read our article, 100% Renewable Energy Indeed Possible, say
Stanford U. Researchers.
HTML http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/22215<br
/> [img width=100
height=60]
HTML http://cliparts.co/cliparts/Big/Egq/BigEgqBMT.png[/img]
Read the Global Apollo plan: [img width=75
height=50]
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Website:
HTML http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/special/Global_Apollo_Programme_Report.pdf
HTML http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26324
#Post#: 3256--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: June 5, 2015, 8:32 pm
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Big Oil Soon to Be Extinct ;D
Posted on Jun 5, 2015
By Pamela Alma Weymouth
(First published by 3BL Media Media/Justmeans)
What do Big Oil and whale oil have in common? According to Amory
B. Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of the
sustainability-focused Rocky Mountain Institute, Big Oil is soon
to follow whale oil’s downward trajectory toward extinction. At
the Ceres Conference 2015 for sustainable business, Lovins
challenged big businesses to rethink the outdated belief that
investing in fossil fuels remains the safest way to get rich
(dolphins, seabirds and humanity be damned).
At first look, Lovins appears to be a nerdy, middle-aged
scientist in a suit, but once he starts talking, it becomes
clear that he’s actually a brilliant revolutionary. Lovins’
message hasn’t changed much in the four decades he’s been
doggedly trying to get the world to embrace renewable energy,
but he’s accumulated more data to prove his point to a host of
unlikely converts, from communist China to Arab sheiks and
presidents of companies like Texaco.
Even if you don’t care much about the environment, Lovins makes
the case that you’d be economically foolish not to invest in
renewable energy, because green technology today is akin to the
discovery of petroleum and its effect on the whaling industry of
the 19th century.
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In 1850, oil from the whaling industry lit most homes. Yet only
nine years later, Edwin Drake, an ex-railroad conductor, drilled
what is widely considered to have been the first oil well in the
U.S., ushering in the oil rush and the effective end of whaling
for oil. Even before Drake, coal and kerosene had begun to
replace whale sperm oil, because those natural resources were
more affordable and efficient—just as today, hybrids, electric
vehicles and biodiesel are beginning to replace gas-guzzling
cars and trucks.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191258.bmp<br
/>
Amory Lovins / Rocky Mountain Institute
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Lovins teaches us history in order to wake us up to the notion
that renewable energy isn’t just a matter of what’s good for the
planet. What’s more, it’s foolish, bad for our collective
pocketbooks and naïve to ignore the obvious: Alternative energy
and advanced technology vehicles (and renewable energy sources
in all sectors) are becoming more affordable and better for
national energy security, and they’re creating a huge influx of
new jobs.
Lovins understands that big money, big companies and the
governments of big countries don’t respond to abstract arguments
about values or future doom—they respond to cost and consumer
demand, hard facts.
These are points that even Republicans can get behind. While our
government remains too paralyzed to collaborate across party
lines, Lovins is a bridge-builder between unlikely coalitions.
In 2005, Robert C. McFarlane, President Reagan’s National
Security advisor, writing in The Wall Street Journal, described
the Rocky Mountain Institute as “a respected center of
hard-headed, market-based research.”
The institute’s research suggests that lack of consumer demand
may bring the oil industry to its knees. Though this seems
impossible to believe now, while gas-guzzling minivans are still
the norm in many parts of North America (and elsewhere around
the world), Lovins sheds light on where the tide is turning.
From Zipcar and the explosion of similar shared car services now
available in cities like San Francisco, to electronic bicycles
in China, to Uber and Google’s self-driving cars, he shows us
the emerging trend that’s pointing away from single-family cars
and toward a different kind of ownership model: a rental model,
a bus-bicycle-walking model. In San Francisco today, bike
rentals are all the rage; parents are biking kids to school on
all kinds of fancy two-wheel contraptions that weren’t seen 20
or 30 years ago, when clunky old Chevys and Fords were more
often the people-movers of choice.
Big auto companies are following Europe’s lead in producing
smaller cars and lighter-weight electric vehicles, as
governments from across Europe to the U.S. are offering
financial incentives for residents who buy environmentally
friendly vehicles. They’re recognizing that some members of the
millennial generation are more interested in new tech,
car-sharing apps and living a simpler, more eco-friendly
lifestyle.
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#Post#: 3290--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: June 12, 2015, 4:45 pm
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06/12/2015 02:37 PM
[img width=100
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/>Vermont Shoots For 55% Renewable Energy in Two Years, While
Wisconsin Fires Climate Scientists
SustainableBusiness.com News
Governor Shumlin of Vermont signed the most aggressive renewable
energy law in the US this week.
It requires utilities to use 55% renewable energy for
electricity by the end of 2017, 75% by 2032, and 90% by 2050.
There's also a carve-out for small renewable energy systems of 5
megawatts or less - they must provide at least 1% of electricity
in 2017 and 10% by 2032.
Utilities must own this renewable energy or renewable energy
credits (RECs) - they can't sign power purchase agreements to
buy it elsewhere.
The bill also establishes an "Energy Transformation Program"
under which utilities have to provide leasing or on-bill
financing options that help customers pay for efficiency
improvements for their homes.
"Under this bill, Vermont will pioneer a new model where
utilities will be in the business of helping customers use less
energy, save money, and ensure the energy they do use is from
renewable sources. That's the future of energy in America, and
it's starting right here in Vermont," says Governor Shumlin.
"With the signing of H.40 Vermonters will now have one stop
access for services and financing to weatherize their homes and
businesses, add on-site solar and replace or upgrade their
current heating systems with state-of-the-art air source heat
pumps," says Rep. Tony Klein, one of the sponsors.
The policies are expected to create 1000 new jobs, save
Vermonters $390 million on energy costs, in addition to
combating climate change. ;D [img width=25
height=30]
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Last year, Vermont raised the cap on net-metering to greater
reward homeowners and businesses that install solar systems.
Vermont is part of the "Under 2 MOU" group - 12 governments that
commit to joint action to keep global temperatures from reaching
2°C.
MyLife.com ranking of state emissions
HTML http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26340<br
/>shows Vermont produces the least in the US!
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/>
[quote]Agelbert NOTE: Per person, New York has the lowest
emissions and Wyoming has the highest. No wonder Cheney loves
Wyoming.[/I]
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/>[/quote]
Meanwhile in Wisconsin
The striking difference between red and blue governors rears its
head. After being told not to mention the words "climate change"
or "global warming," lawmakers decided to fire those scientists.
Scientists that focus on climate change, pollution and mining
are being laid off from the Department of Natural Resources
(DNR). They want to refocus the department on hunting and
fishing, they say! [img width=40
height=40]
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/>[img width=40
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/>
Ultra-conservative Governor Scott Walker - who is running for
president - slashed 18 research positions in the state budget,
leaving the department's Science Services Bureau with 13
research positions. Why? Because the positions no longer serve
DNR's core mission.
The Bureau of Science Services' research plan calls for
extensive study on how climate change is affecting the Great
Lakes, Wisconsin's river ecosystems, and the state's forests,
wildlife and fish. It also calls for research on "emerging"
water pollutants such as prescription drugs, hormones and
industrial additives and agents. Another line of research would
develop ways to predict and mitigate the impact of sand, iron
and sulfide mining on air and water, plants and animals, along
with monitoring strategies for newly permitted mines, reports
Wisconsin Gazette.
"All of those issues are politically inconvenient for
Republicans, whose donors are involved in pollution-producing
businesses that are costlier to operate under environmental
regulations. Republicans, including Walker, don't allow staff to
even talk about climate change, let alone the fact that an
overwhelming preponderance of scientific evidence shows it's
happening," says the Gazette.
"Let's offer more opportunities for sportsmen rather than going
off on something that's theoretical [referring to climate
change]," says Republican state Senator Tom Tiffany, who led the
charge to dismantle Wisconsin's mining regulations. The mining
company that benefited donated $700,000 to Walker and state
Republican campaigns.
Walker is a member of ALEC and is loved by the Koch Brothers
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/acigar.gif.
He's the most
anti-environment governor in the state's history.
Read our article, Wisconsin Governor Walker's Record on Clean
Energy, Environment.
HTML http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26340
[i]Agelbert NOTE: Governor Walker, like the Koch Crooks, suffers
from Empathy Deficit Disorder.
#Post#: 3309--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth
By: AGelbert Date: June 16, 2015, 1:59 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
06/12/2015 05:32 PM
Scotland Makes Energy Efficiency Its Preferred Fuel, Indonesia
Announces Renewables Target ;D
SustainableBusiness.com News
Although Scotland has missed its aggressive climate targets in
each of the past four years, the government issued a policy to
decarbonize heating fuels by 2050.
The policy designates energy efficiency as a national
infrastructure priority along with renewable energy. Heat
accounts for more than 50% of Scotland's energy use and
emissions, according to The Scotsman.
One of the goals is to connect 40,000 homes to district or
communal heating by 2020.
"Reducing our dependence on volatile fossil fuels to heat our
homes is a huge opportunity to cut bills, lift people out of
fuel poverty, enhance energy security and cut emissions," Sam
Gardner, head of policy at WWF Scotland told The Scotsman.
But the commitment needs to be backed by clear goals, milestones
and a strong funding package, he says. The government says it
will work out a detailed plan over the coming year, but that it
would require more than £100 billion to replace outdated
equipment and to make energy retrofits through 2050.
Scotland's Energy Efficiency Programme will provide support to
upgrade all buildings in Scotland, and the Low Carbon
Infrastructure Transition Programme launched this year to
support infrastructure projects.
Scotland's goal is to reach 100% renewable energy and banned
fracking this year . It is leading on tidal energy and offshore
wind.
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Indonesia Announces Renewable Energy Target
Indonesia announced that renewable energy will provide 19% of
all energy by 2019 and 25% by 2025. The country currently gets
5-6% of energy from renewables, reports Jakarta Post.
As of last year's Climate Summit, Indonesia is on track to cut
emissions 26% by 2020.
The government plans to put solar systems on government
buildings, map areas of greatest geothermal potential, and
create "energy forests" (doesn't sound good) and energy gardens.
It plans to invest $304 billion to meet the goals over the next
five years.
We have long heard about the country's geothermal potential -
about 40% of the world's total - but it still has only 1.2
gigawatt (GW) of capacity out of a potential of 29 GW. 4-5 GW
will come online this year, and the goal is for 10 GW by 2025,
employing as many as 800,000 people. It has strong feed-in
tariffs that support development.
Surprisingly, Indonesia ranks among the top 10 countries for
renewable energy jobs. [img width=40
height=40]
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/> [img width=25
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