The implications of the global water footprint of energy generation are phenomenal, writes Gary Bilotta of the University of Brighton. He warns that if policy makers fail to take into account the links between energy and water, we may come to a point in many parts of the world where it is water availability that is the main determinant of the energy sources available for use. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
A fundamental transformation: ârenewables win race on costsâ
The cost of wind and solar power will continue to fall massively over the next 25 years, bringing about a fundamental transformation of the global electricity sector, according to new reports from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Electric cars will boom, cheap batteries will be everywhere and there will no Golden Age of Gas, despite continued low gas prices, BNEF predicts. … [Read more...]
Europe can retrieve its lost clean energy leadership by moving away from subsidizing renewables
Europe can win back its lost clean energy leadership by moving away from subsidy-powered renewables, writes Christopher Burghardt, Vice-President Business Development Europe at First Solar and a member of the Board of Directors of Solar Power Europe. Rather than subsidizing renewables, Burghardt argues, Europe should stimulate utility-scale energy production by independent power producers, just as other markets around the world are … [Read more...]
Renewable energy versus nuclear: dispelling the myths
Donât believe the spurious claims of nuclear shills constantly putting down renewables, writes Mark Diesendorf, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at UNSW Australia. Clean, safe renewable energy technologies have the potential to supply 100% of the worldâs electricity demand â but the first hurdle is to refute the deliberately misleading myths designed to promote the politically powerful but ultimately doomed nuclear … [Read more...]
Renewables in China and India: two Asian giants struggling with inflexible power system operations
China and India are building huge amounts of solar and wind power, but a lot of this capacity is wasted as it cannot be integrated into the grid. In China the problems stem mostly from rigid planning processes and compensation systems. In India, the stumbling block is state-owned distribution operators that have an incentive not to increase access to electricity. In both countries, reforms are contemplated but will be difficult to achieve. This … [Read more...]
Oil giants pile into “new energies”
Major oil companies like Total, ExxonMobil, Statoil and Shell have announced moves into ânew energiesâ, writes Jason Deign, editor and publisher of Energy Storage Report. But according to Deign, it is hard to see how they can fight their way back into a renewable industry already sewn up by large players. The one remaining niche may be energy storage, which is still dominated by cash-hungry startups. … [Read more...]
Elena Bou, KIC InnoEnergy: âIf we want our energy companies to succeed, we need one European marketâ
We are at the beginning of a new era of innovation in the European energy sector. Energy companies will be opening up to new collaborations, investing in startups, creating new technologies and developing new business models that will be much more service and customer oriented. Thatâs the conviction of Elena Bou, Innovation Director at KIC InnoEnergy, an EU-wide company investing in renewable energy technology. What worries Bou is the … [Read more...]
KIC InnoEnergy: âSolar PV will be one of lowest-cost electricity sources in Europeâ
Solar photovoltaics (PV) will be one of the cheapest sources of electricity generation in Europe by 2030. That is a major conclusion that can be drawn from a report on future cost reductions in solar PV recently published by KIC InnoEnergy. … [Read more...]
How to scale up renewables in 10 steps: a quick guide for policymakers
After the signing of the Paris Agreement, governments of both developed and developing countries must design and implement policy instruments to drastically scale up the use of renewables in the energy sector, write Jan Frederik Braun and Nicole de Paula. The authors provide a quick guide to effective policymaking for renewable energy and explain why they are optimistic about the future. … [Read more...]
How much can the next president influence the US energy system?
There have been dramatic changes in the U.S. energy system under our current president â a big drop in the use of coal, a boom in domestic oil and gas development from fracking, and the rapid spread of renewable energy. But in terms of influencing energy technology deployment, the next president will have a lot less influence than you might expect, writes Carey King, Research Scientist at the University of Texas. … [Read more...]
Chinaâs electricity mix: changing so fast that CO2 emissions may have peaked
China installed a world record of 32.5 gigawatts (GW) of wind power last year, and a world record 18.3 GW of solar power, according to official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of China on 29 February. Coal consumption fell 3.7%, nuclear power grew 30% and natural gas 3.3%. These trends mark a rapid diversification of Chinaâs electricity generation capacity with reduced dominance of coal. Some even believe Chinaâs CO2-emissions have … [Read more...]
What comes after solar PV? BIPV
The time of ugly solar panels is over. Make way for building-integrated photovoltaics. Fereidoon Sioshansi, president of Menlo Energy Economics and publisher of the newsletter EEnergy Informer, notes that BIPV not only look stunningly better, they also reduce costs. They can even lead to energy-producing buildings. … [Read more...]
The moral case for fossil fuels? Let them eat solar panels!
In the wake of the Paris climate accord, there has been much discussion of the so-called âmoral caseâ for fossil fuels, particularly in countries such as India. But according to professor John Mathews of Macquarie University in Australia, rolling out renewable energy in developing countries should be the real legacy of the Paris climate agreement. Renewables offer them the best chance to break into manufacturing value chains. … [Read more...]
How far can renewables go? Pretty darn far
This is part 4 of a series looking at the economic trends of new energy technologies by the famous author and thinker Ramez Naam. Part 1 looked at how cheap solar can get (very cheap indeed). Part 2 looked at the declining cost and rising reliability of wind power. Part 3 looked at how cheap energy storage can get (pretty darn cheap). Now Naam discusses how far renewables can go. … [Read more...]
What Energy Efficiency can learn from Solar, Uber and Spotify
The âas-a-serviceâ business model, which substitutes pay-as-you-go options for ownership  with its high upfront costs, is conquering such diverse sectors as solar panels, digital music and transport. It will also be increasingly applied to energy-efficiency projects, writes Angela Ferrante of US-based financial technology company SparkFund. The long-awaited energy efficiency breakthrough may finally be here. … [Read more...]
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