One of the biggest banks in the Middle East and the oil-rich Gulf countries says that fossil fuels can no longer compete with solar technologies on price, and that the vast bulk of the $US48 trillion needed to meet global power demand over the next two decades will come from renewables. Meanwhile, in Dubai, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, has won the world’s largest ever solar tender with the cheapest ever price: one-third below the cost of gas-fired … [Read more...]
IRENA pushes for 160 GW energy storage plan
A group of experts is expected to finalise details this week of a road map to install 160 Gigawatts (GW) of battery storage worldwide in 2030, reports Jason Deign of Energy Storage Report. The plan, being developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), would see nearly four times as much battery storage being deployed in the next 15 years as all the solar power installed worldwide to date. … [Read more...]
“Supersonic electrons could produce future solar fuel”
Researchers from institutions including Lund University have taken a step closer to producing solar fuel using artificial photosynthesis. In a new study, they have successfully tracked the electrons’ rapid transit through a light-converting molecule. … [Read more...]
The myth of the dark side of the Energiewende
Critics of renewable energy have mocked the Energiewende, claiming that it has led to an increase in coal power and related CO2 emissions in Germany. But Conrad Kunze and Paul Lehmann of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ show that this is a myth. German coal generation and CO2 emissions rose not because of but in spite of the Energiewende. They would have been even higher if Germany had not phased out its nuclear power and … [Read more...]
European demand for renewable energy surges in 2014
The European market for renewable energy, documented with Guarantees of Origin, increased by 26.5 % in 2014 compared to 2013. For the first time, the demand surpassed 300 TWh, according to statistics from the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB). This is nearly one tenth of all electricity demand in Europe (ca. 3,300 TWh) and one third of all electricity from renewable sources in Europe (ca. 900 TWh). … [Read more...]
Vindication for Allan Hoffman: the US has turned the corner on renewables
It has been 37 years since Dr Allan Hoffman gave President Jimmy Carter the plan that could have started America’s renewable revolution. The idea was shelved after Reagan was elected. Hoffman waited, as administration after administration ignored the potential, until Barack Obama was elected. The retired senior Department of Energy executive views the growth of US renewables during 2014 as a vindication of what he and his colleagues saw decades … [Read more...]
Wood MacKenzie wonder: is solar the next shale?
“Just as shale extraction reconfigured oil and gas, no other technology is closer to transforming power markets than distributed and utility scale solar.” That is the main conclusion of a new report from energy consultants Wood MacKenzie. The report is significant as Wood MacKenzie has a solid reputation in the oil and gas sector. … [Read more...]
India’s energy and climate change challenge
The US and India have signed a deal to "enhance cooperation" on cutting emissions and investing in low carbon energy sources. The agreement is much weaker than the historic pact signed between the US and China last year. But there are a number of good reasons India is reluctant to take strong action to curb its emissions in the short term. Mat Hope of the Carbon Brief describes India's huge energy and climate challenge. … [Read more...]
How Pope Francis could tip the balance against fossil fuels
Six years ago, Pope Benedict XVI installed more than 1,000 solar panels on the Vatican’s audience hall, helping him earn him the sobriquet of the “Green Pope”. Soon his successor Pope Francis may just go one step further: in April he is expected to issue a papal encyclical on climate change. His actions could tip the balance against fossil fuels, as the world’s wealthiest institution takes on the world’s most powerful industry. Meanwhile, Vatican … [Read more...]
Want to avoid oil’s gloom? Turn to the sun, says Outsider Nick Hodge
While some celebrated shale oil as a "boom," Nick Hodge, founder and director of investment community the Outsider Club, derided it as a "Ponzi scheme." Today the shale sector quivers before the specter of falling oil prices, and the oil majors that have invested heavily in shale may be humbled. In this interview with The Energy Report, syndicated by Energy Post, Hodge argues that nuclear energy is about to reassert itself, and that solar power … [Read more...]
New clean energy investment surges 12% in 2014
New investment in the global clean energy sector rose 12% last year to $274.2 billion, the highest annual investment volume since 2011, reports Clean Energy Pipeline, the online financial news and data service dedicated to the clean energy sector in a report released on 21 January. … [Read more...]
Deutsche Bank: solar at grid parity in most of world by 2017
Investment bank Deutsche Bank is predicting that solar systems will be at grid parity in up to 80 per cent of the global market within 2 years, and says the collapse in the oil price will do little to slow down the solar juggernaut. Giles Parkinson of the Australian-based website Reneweconomy.com reports. … [Read more...]
Why Google gave up on renewables (hint: because they don’t know much about energy)
The two scientists responsible for Google’s failed attempt to launch a renewable energy revolution have written an article explaining what, according to them, went wrong with their project. They have come to the conclusion that fighting climate change with today’s renewable energy technologies won’t work – but they present no evidence for it, writes Energy Post editor Karel Beckman. … [Read more...]
SunPower: "solar the greatest market opportunity world has seen”
The head of one of the world’s leading solar PV manufacturers and developers, SunPower’s Tom Werner, predicts that solar will be a $US5 trillion industry within 20 years, and represents one of the greatest ever opportunities in the history of markets. Giles Parkinson of Reneweconomy.com reports on a recent investment briefing given by Werner. … [Read more...]
What are we to make of the US and China’s "historic" climate deal?
The US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change made on 11 November, has given rise to a lot of commentary in the media worldwide. In this article, Mat Hope of The Carbon Brief provides an excellent critical overview of some of the most significant analyses. Energy Post chief editor Karel Beckman adds some insights of his own. … [Read more...]
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