Washington Post (April 7)
Numerous conflicts are “pitting the environment against, well, the environment. Solar plants and wind farms, transmission lines and carbon-capture projects face opposition from conservationists and other environmental groups asking courts to stop new infrastructure from encroaching on wetlands, forests and other ecosystems.” Trade-offs like these “generally lean against developers,” but they were “written in an era before those developers included promoters of the green power that humanity needs to stave off climate change.” Things need fixing. We should not “let environmentalism sabotage green energy.”
Tags: Carbon capture, Climate change, Conservationists, Ecosystems, Environmentalism, Forests, Green power, Opposition, Solar, Trade-offs, Transmission lines, Wetlands, Wind
New York Times (February 24)
“The energy transition poised for takeoff in the United States amid record investment in wind, solar and other low-carbon technologies is facing a serious obstacle: The volume of projects has overwhelmed the nation’s antiquated systems to connect new sources of electricity to homes and businesses.” The interconnection system now faces a multiyear logjam of over 8,100 projects (mainly clean energy) “waiting for permission to connect to electric grids,” up from 5,600 a year earlier.
Tags: Antiquated, Electricity, Energy transition, Grids, Interconnection, Investment, Low-carbon technologies, Obstacle, Record, Solar, U.S., Wind
New York Times (January 8)
“It is not just fusion. The advance of wind and solar and battery technology remains a near miracle. The possibilities of advanced geothermal and hydrogen are thrilling. Smaller, modular nuclear reactors could make new miracles possible…. Clean, abundant energy is the foundation on which a more equal, just and humane world can be built.”
Tags: Abundant, Advance, Advanced, Battery technology, Clean, Energy, Fusion, Geothermal, Hydrogen, Just, Miracles, Nuclear, Possible, Solar, Thrilling, Wind
Bloomberg (May 31)
“Power-hungry, fossil-fuel dependent Japan has successfully tested a system that could provide a constant, steady form of renewable energy, regardless of the wind or the sun.” The Kairyu prototype is designed to harness the Kuroshio current. “The advantage of ocean currents is their stability. They flow with little fluctuation in speed and direction, giving them a capacity factor…of 50-70%, compared with around 29% for onshore wind and 15% for solar.”
Tags: Capacity factor, Dependent, Energy, Fossil fuel, Japan, Kairyu, Kuroshio current, Ocean, Power-hungry, Prototype, Renewable, Solar, Steady, Tested, Wind
Industry Week (December 4)
“Investments in electric cars may soon begin to do to the transportation sector what wind and solar have done to the power sector: turn the pollution curve upside down. The price of battery packs has been plummeting by about 8 percent a year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and electric cars are now projected to become cheaper, more reliable, and more convenient than their gasoline-powered equivalents around the world by the mid-2020s.”
Bloomberg (April 4)
“Foxconn’s chairman won’t have long to celebrate.” The takeover of Sharp will prove far easier than its turn around. “With a sprawl of businesses making appliances, solar equipment and flat panels for mobile devices, Sharp is seeing its earnings deteriorate every quarter, yet as part of the rescue deal, Gou pledged to keep the company intact, respect its independence and try to preserve jobs.”
Tags: Appliances, Earnings, Foxconn, Gou, Panels, Rescue, Sharp, Solar, Takeover, Turn around
Financial Times (June 14)
“The slow pace of the shift away from fossil fuels is evidence of their compelling advantages in terms of cost and convenience. Tackling the threat of catastrophic climate change cannot rely on wind and solar power alone but requires multiple changes, including a shift within fossil fuels away from coal towards gas.”
Tags: Advantages, Climate change, Coal, Convenience, Cost, Fossil fuels, Gas, Shift, Solar, Wind power
LA Times (March 12)
“California leads the pack with the share of electricity from renewable sources, more than doubling from 12% in 2008 to 25% today. In that period, private companies invested more than $20 billion in new renewable power plants here. California is home to the largest geothermal, wind, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic power plants in the world.” By2030, California is aiming to reach 50% renewable energy, after which fossil fuels will become “the alternative energy.”
Tags: Alternative energy, California, Electricity, Fossil fuels, Geothermal, Photovoltaic, Power plants, Renewable sources, Solar, Thermal, Wind
Business Green (April 18)
A new report from McKinsey “predicts solar power will be cost competitive with fossil fuels in hot countries within two to three years.” Capacity is likely to double within five years. The consulting firm’s report also predicts that costs will decrease 10% annually through 2020 when “costs could decline to $1 per watt peak (Wp) for a fully installed residential system.”
Tags: Capacity, Costs, Fossil fuels, McKinsey, Solar
Bloomberg (May 26)
Solar is sliding down the cost curve even as cell efficiency climbs. Solar may soon beat the electricity rates set by utilities. “The cost of solar cells, the main component in standard panels, has fallen 21 percent so far this year, and the cost of solar power is now about the same as the rate utilities charge for conventional power in the sunniest parts of California, Italy and Turkey.”
Tags: Cost, Efficiency, Electricity, Solar, Utilities
