Renewable Energy
All Articles Dealing with Wind,Solar,Geothermal,Biomass,Tidal,Wave and other sources of Renewable Energy
August 19, 2010
The Tres Amigas Facility will be the first of its kind in the world and would be profitable allowing sale of power between the Three Grids.This unique initiative has received support from numerous stakeholders like utilities,transmission operators,Green Energy Suppliers etc.Extreme Power has been selected to provide Energy Storage Facilities and Energy Management Technology for this project.If this project gets built it will lead to the building of similar such facilities in the rest of the world and be a big boon in the quest of Mass Adoption of Green Energy.Note this Project seems to deserves a DOE Grant much more than the Billion Dollar Loans to Abengoa and Solyndra.
August 19, 2010
Nuclear Energy currently accounts for 21% of the electricity supply and would be replaced by renewable sources by that timeframe.However utilities which have a huge amount to lose want the reactors to stay.They are using the common language of anti-Green lobbies that it would lead to Job Losses and Energy Insecurity.They don't think that Renewable Energy can replace the cheap Nuclear Power.This is the same argument being used by the opponents of California's AB32 Law.Like the Solar Feed in Tariff Controversy earlier in the year,this fight too promises to be an interesting one though I think the Nuclear Lobby will lose.
August 19, 2010
Ontario had ample opportunity to learn from past experience and its Renewable Energy Subsidy Policy is on the whole quite good.However one part of the FIT program which gave a very generous 80.2c/KwH to micro installations of solar projects under 10 KW was faulty.It led to 160 MW of project applications which were ground mounted with very high production as they used trackers.There was no discrimination between roof and ground mounted micro installations leading to this problem.Note its not possible to install trackers on roofs which can increase the energy by 30-35%.The large number of applications were not factored in by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) which proposed to retroactively cut those tariffs by 27% for ground plants.
August 18, 2010
Now Blackstone has decided to gamble on India's Power Deficit Story by investing $300 million for an undisclosed stake in the company.With investment plans of $6.5 billion and parent company sinking under loads of debt,Moser Baer Projects desperately needed equity which has been provided by Blackstone.Its previous track record in Solar and Optical Media does not inspire a lot of confidence.But India's 8-9% Growth Rate is like a Rising Tide which will lift all sorts of Boats.Blackstone is perhaps gambling more on that rather than on Moser Baer.
August 18, 2010
But with the imminent visit of President Obama to India,the government wants to put the final touch to the deal during November.The government has raised the cap Three Fold to $330 million in order to win the support of the main opposition party the BJP.However Greenpeace the international Green NGO has opposed the cap.The reason is there should not a be cap as it increases the moral hazard of the companies.With a cap on their liability,their is an incentive for the private players to loosen their safety standards.There is no cap on liability for any other type of industrial hazard so a nuclear cap also does not make much sense .The recent BP Oil Spill is estimated to cost BP around $20-30 billion despite the Disaster being of lesser magnitude than a Nuclear Accident like Chernyboyl.
August 13, 2010
rance has very low percentage of its energy mix being generated by non-nuclear Green Energy forms as most of its power is derived from Nuclear Energy.The low cost of abudant nuclear power has made France relatively immune from the Energy Insecurity faced by the rest of Europe.While Germany and Spain have installed large amounts of solar and wind energy,France remains a laggard in this respect.Unlike the other EU heavyweights,it has few companies in the field of Green Energy due to lack of a vigourous domestic market.
August 6, 2010
ote Nuclear Energy is seeing a Renaissance after being in cold storage for the last 2 decades.China and India have been in the lead signing contracts to build several Tens of Gigawatts of Nuclear Power.Enrichment of Nuclear Fuel which is a crucial component of making Nuclear Weapons will not be done in Vietnam.Many countries are forgoing this right to access Nuclear Technology.
August 5, 2010
Thailand has proposed to generate 20% of its electricity from Renewable Energy by 2022 and has implemented an "adder" electricity tariff for Green Energy plants.This "adder" tariff is similar to the Feed in Tariff (FIT) schemes prevalent in other parts of the world which gives a higher electricity payment to Renewable Energy Power Generators.Under this policy Thailand is set to give the "adder" tariff for 500 MW of plants till 2020 after which the tariff might be reduced
August 3, 2010
India’s Green Energy Sector got an unexpected boost when the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) mandated that utilities all over India will have to compulsorily generate […]
August 2, 2010
Spain has been in the media spotlight for its proposed retroactive solar subsidy cuts which were strongly opposed by the Solar Industry Association in Spain.These Feed […]
July 29, 2010
Rare Earth Minerals have been in the news because of their necessity in production of Clean Technology products and a virtual Chinese monopoly which controls almost […]
July 21, 2010
Climate Change Mitigation and Global Warming have been put in cold storage by world’s major countries like USA and China.While Europe and Japan are pushing initiatives […]
July 20, 2010
China surpassed the USA as the largest emitter of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in 2006 when it produced 6.2 billion tons of CO2 overtaking the USA at […]
July 20, 2010
India has ambitious plans for the growth of its Nuclear Energy Industry to meets its increasing Energy Demand.India’s Economy has been growing at a scorching pace […]
July 19, 2010
India’s Nuclear Energy Growth plans has been facing obstacles from China which is using Pakistan as a proxy.Note Pakistan is the recepient of huge aid from […]
July 17, 2010
India’s Western state of Gujarat is one of the most developed regions in the country and has shown tremendous economic growth over the past decade.The state […]
July 17, 2010
Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) are one of the popular subsidy measures used by government around the world to promote Green Energy.However the market pricing of these […]
July 16, 2010
Green Energy has increasingly become mainstream rather than a niche category supported by some environmental activists and hippies.This is proved by the fact that almost half […]
July 15, 2010
European Power Utilities are increasingly looking towards private capital in order to fund their renewable energy projects.The European Union has a target of generating 20% of […]
July 15, 2010
Germany’s EEG program instrumental in bringing Solar Energy Close to Grid Parity Germany has been the poster child for Feed in Tariff success in promoting renewable […]
July 15, 2010
World’s biggest Oil company Exxon Mobil has opened a Greenhouse facility to grow and test algae which will be used for producing biofuels.Algae based Biofuels is […]
July 15, 2010
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a cesspool of Corruption and Waste Fannie and Freddie Mae which would long have gone bankrupt after the Lehman crisis had […]
July 14, 2010
US Export Import Bank (Exim) is a government owned financial institution which helps support US trade through credit financing of exports/imports of US companies.The Bank is […]
July 5, 2010
Landmark Nuclear Deal between US and India removes India’s pariah status The landmark Nuclear Energy deal signed between USA and India was supposed to herald the […]
June 26, 2010
European countries have been hit hard by the Greek Contagion and are trying to outdo each other in reducing their fiscal deficits.Renewable Energy which is looked […]
June 23, 2010
The Oil Industry which had gone on the defensive with questions being raised about their commitment towards environment and society has learned nothing from the BP […]
June 22, 2010
Fossil Fuels form the main Energy source for humanity due to their abundance,general ease of extraction and high energy density.However the Environmental costs and the Loss […]
June 20, 2010
Andarko Petroleum is a 25% owner of the the Deephorizon Oil Rig which exploded recently leading to a huge ecological and economic disaster in the US […]
June 18, 2010
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are being deferred and canceled as market volatility increases due to the Greek Contagion.Green IPOs have been no exception with IPOs of […]
June 18, 2010
Toshiba aims to Double Nuclear Exports in next 5 years Toshiba the No.2 players in the Nuclear Equipment markets is planning a major investment to double […]