Category Archives: Other countries advances

Germans Wonder About America – Will they ever get serious

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Unfortunately I believe the answer is NO. Americans will never get serious about renewable energy until it is so far behind the rest of the world that it becomes embarrassed. By then it will be too late for us to take advantage of creating our own industries.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/how_germany_is_getting_to_100_percent_renewable_energy_20121115/

How Germany Is Getting to 100 Percent Renewable Energy

Posted on Nov 15, 2012

By Thomas Hedges, Center for Study of Responsive Law

There is no debate on climate change in Germany. The temperature for the past 10 months has been 3 degrees above average and we’re again on course for the warmest year on record. There’s no dispute among Germans as to whether this change is man-made, or that we contribute to it and need to stop accelerating the process.

Since 2000, Germany has converted 25 percent of its power grid to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. The architects of the clean energy movement Energiewende, which translates to “energy transformation,” estimate that from 80 percent to 100 percent of Germany’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2050.

Germans are baffled that the United States has not taken the same path. Not only is the U.S. the wealthiest nation in the world, but it’s also credited with jump-starting Germany’s green movement 40 years ago.

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Denmark Goes Solar Fast – Unlike the duffuses in the United States

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I know that Dufus is at the same time a village name in Ireland as well as a clan name. So excuse me if I use the America slang term for the stupidest person around. But the United States’ economy and its economic policy have been led by angry stupid old white guys for way too long. Coal is dead. Natural gas is an illusion and nuclear is a joke. I say, “let’s get on with it”.

http://um.dk/en/news/newsdisplaypage/?newsid=25147b44-3dce-4647-8788-ad9243c22df2

Denmark reaches 2020-goal for solar energy before time

12.09.2012  14:24

Already this year, Denmark will reach the 2020 Government goal of 200 megawatt solar cell capacity.

Huge interest for solar energy solutions has made the amount of solar cells multiply much faster than expected. This is made possible by favourable framework conditions. In fact the solar cell capacity will be a hundred times bigger this year compared with 2010. Currently 36 MW capacity is being mounted every month.

Danish energy sector players, Dansk Energi, Energinet.dk and DONG Energy, estimate that this development will result in 1000 MW by 2020 and 3400 MW by 2030.

 

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Solar Panels Go Plastic – Light weight and easy to mount, what’s not to like

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Here is the MIT report.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428423/new-solar-panel-designs-make-installation-cheaper/

 

New Solar Panel Designs Make Installation Cheaper

Companies in Germany and China have made simpler designs that make it easier and quicker to mount panels to roofs.

With solar panel prices falling more than 80 percent in the last few years, many solar companies are turning their attention to reducing the cost of installing them. Two leading solar companies, Solon Energy, based in Berlin, and Trina Solar, based in Changzhou, China, have announced new designs for mounting solar panels to roofs—the companies say these designs can reduce the installation time by more than half, greatly reducing labor costs. The new designs reduce or eliminate the tools and hardware needed to install solar panels, and standardize solar installations, which have largely been ad hoc, reducing the time needed to design them.

While solar panels themselves used to account for most of the cost of large solar installations on commercial rooftops, the modules now account for about 40 percent of the cost. The rest comes from things like the necessary hardware, power electronics, and labor—which alone accounts for about 30 percent of the total.

Mounting solar panels on the flat rooftops of commercial installations typically involves anchoring long metal racks to the roof to create a framework that will angle the panels toward the sun and hold them together. Installers bolt the panels to this frame, wire the panels together, and electrically ground the racks.

 

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Conservation International – An organization with a history

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These type organizations when founded (1987) were founded for “the long haul”. The belief was then that Humans might damage the Earth but not destroy it. Well here we are,  when it looks like Humans may kill off themselves and maybe permanently in some respects changing the Earth, and these organizations sort of plod on. They need to pick up the pace. While I understand the desire to do good work in the 3rd world. They may want to change the minds help the 1st world countries first.

http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx

Two Conservation International Leaders Honored by World’s Top Conservationists

September 12, 2012
Conservation International Applauds its President Dr. Russell Mittermeier and Board Member President Ian Khama for receiving Honorary Membership of IUCN at World Conservation Congress

Jeju, South Korea – Conservation International’s long time President, Dr. Russell Mittermeier, a world-renowned  primatologist, herpetologist and conservationist, was granted Honorary Membership today by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the world’s largest international environmental organization. The award was presented at the World Conservation Congress taking place this week in South Korea, on the recommendation of the IUCN Council to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to conservation.

“Russ Mittermeier is an innovative, proactive and scientifically informed conservationist,” declared IUCN on its website.  “A renowned primatologist and herpetologist, he has undertaken extensive field work and made major contributions to the conservation of the fauna of Madagascar, the fauna of South America (especially in Brazil and the Guianas), primates in general, and freshwater turtles worldwide.”

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Don’t Let Bayer Kill Off The Honey Bees – Contact the EPA

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I do not normally post anything that is purely environmental. I don’t have to. The energy business destroys the Earth everyday. But Honey Bee Colony Collapse is dangerous. Our food supply is under enough pressure as it is.

http://saveourenvironment.org/

Ask the EPA to ban the pesticide that’s killing our honey bees NOW.

Doug,Honey bee populations are plummeting – this is your last chance to help.

Alarming – there’s no other way to describe what’s happening to honey bees. Up to 1/3 of our food supply is pollinated by honey bees. Without them, the health of our food supply is in serious danger. The widespread use of clothiandin is likely to blame, as this pesticide, which is highly toxic to bees, has yet to be conclusively proven safe for our crops. But still, clothiandin has been used on corn – our country’s largest crop source – since 2003!

The EPA is refusing to review the safety of this dangerous pesticide until 2018. Our honey bees and our food supply cannot wait another day. Please, take action TODAY to urge the EPA to save our honey bees before it’s too late.

–Mike
Action Alert
Doug,
Honey Bees In Peril!Pesticides like clothianidin may be killing our honey bees by the billion.

Take action today!

The EPA wants to wait until 2018 to finish reviewing its safety but our honey bees can’t wait 6 more years. And every bee colony that collapses threatens the future of our food supply…

Contact the EPA to help save our honey bees today.

Since 2006, our honey bees have been dying off in droves. Billions of bees have disappeared in the U.S. with losses estimated at 30% per year.1

And if the destruction of a species is disturbing enough on its own, the collapse of honey bee populations also threatens the security of our food supply since honey bee pollination is crucial to the cultivation of a full 1/3 of our food here in the U.S.

Urge the EPA to stop dragging its feet and take steps NOW to stem the collapse of honey bee colonies across the country.

Scientists have been scrambling to figure out what is behind this crisis – termed Colony Collapse Disorder – and believe it is probably the result of many interacting factors, including one widely used class of pesticides called neonicotinoids.

One such chemical, called clothianidin, is produced by the German corporation Bayer CropScience. It is used as a treatment on crop seeds, including corn and canola which happen to be among honey bees’ favorite foods.

Unfortunately, the EPA is refusing to make any changes until it completes its review of the safety of clothianidin in 2018 – but our honey bees (and bee keepers, rural communities and farmers) can’t wait that long.

Tell the EPA: Ban the use of this pesticide that may be wiping out our honey bees before it’s too late.

Shockingly, no major independent study has verified the safety of this pesticide. While clothianidin has been used on corn – the largest crop in the U.S. – since 2003, it was officially approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2010 on the basis of a single study, conducted by Bayer.

But leaked EPA documents2 expose a more sordid story. Agency scientists who reviewed Bayer’s study determined that the evidence was unsound and should not have been allowed as the basis for an unconditional approval of the pesticide.

Additional independent studies have shown that neonicotinoid pesticides like clothianidin are highly toxic to honey bees, providing compelling evidence that they should not continue to be approved by the EPA.

France, Italy, Slovenia, and Germany have already banned clothianidin over concerns of its role in Colony Collapse Disorder.

The stakes are far too high to continue the use of this chemical without independent science verifying that it is safe to use.

Ask the EPA to ban the use of clothianidin NOW, not in 2018.

Thanks for helping to protect our bees.

Mike Town
Director, SaveOurEnvironment.org
info@saveourenvironment.org

1. http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Bees&Pesticides_SOS_FINAL_May2012.pdf

2. http://grist.org/article/food-2010-12-10-leaked-documents-show-epa-allowed-bee-toxic-pesticide/

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Barack Obama’s Energy Policies – They are great but have left me a bit disappointed

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This election offers a clear choice if you are into the environment and advancing energy policies towards a clean energy future. Barack wants to go to clean energy and Mitt wants to go back to the past. I have been disappointed in some of Barack’s decisions or should I say his administration’s decisions. I was totally unhappy with his decision to back the two nuclear power plants in Georgia. I also thought that the Sylendra loan was totally political. Still his strong backing for Wind and Solar is deeply appreciated. More historic however, he has moved the military towards alternative energy. Like I tell people who are you gonna vote for? The other guy?

http://www.barackobama.com/record/environment?source=primary-nav

  • President Obama has made protecting the environment a priority, moving us toward energy independence, investing in clean energy jobs, and taking steps to improve the quality of our air and water. As of November 2010, the Obama administration’s policies have helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the clean energy industry.

  • President Obama enacted the largest expansion of land and water conservation and protected wilderness in a generation. He also created the America’s Great Outdoors initiative to develop a community-led conservation and recreation agenda for the 21st century.

  • President Obama is committed to putting in place an “all-of-the-above strategy” to develop every available source of American energy while making sure we never have to choose between protecting our environment and strengthening our economy.

In his most recent State of the Union address, President Obama reiterated his commitment to lessening America’s dependence on foreign oil and investing in clean energy to protect our environment and create jobs.

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America 9th In The World – I am not sure whether I believe this or not

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ACE3 rarely ever gets very much wrong.  But the idea that the UK was the most efficient country in the world and the USA was 9th? There is something very wrong about that.

http://www.energycircle.com/blog/2012/08/15/us-takes-9th-place-energy-efficiency-out-of-12

U.S. Takes 9th Place in Energy Efficiency! (Out of 12).

By Will – August 15th, 2012

A new report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ranked the energy efficiency of the world’s 12 largest economies. The U.S., unfortunately, ranked 9 out of 12.

So while we were out dominating at the Olympics, we were quietly slipping behind on a metric that, if improved, would yield a substantial benefit  for our country — economically as well as environmentally.

So how did we do on the specifics?

  • 9th overall in energy efficiency
  • 9th in terms of “national effort” in energy efficiency
  • 6th in industrial energy efficiency
  • 4th in building energy efficiency
  • 12th in transportation efficiency

With our penchant for gas guzzlers and the unpopularity of public transportation over here, it’s easy to see how we came in dead last in transportation.

But a shimmer of hope there is the 4th place ranking we got in building energy efficiency — our best category, and not all that shabby really. (We would have almost gotten a medal if building energy efficiency were an Olympic event.) While we’ve previously lamented our slow progress in implementing energy efficiency in buildings, and have shaken our heads as federal tax credits have been cut and legislation aimed at improving energy efficiency has stalled, it looks like we’re actually doing okay in the field of building efficiency compared to the rest of the world’s developed countries.

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Solar Power Plants In China – They are beating us like a broken drum

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Because of the power of the coal industry and the oil industry, China is so far out in front of American that it is not even funny. It so pitiful that we let all of this happen under George Bush’s watch. He built the biggest wind farms in Texas and then dropped the ball at the Federal level. We never may actually be able to catch up.

http://www.sungrowpower.com/sungrow-english/product.php?page=6&menu=1&cate=1&case=1&item=16

Project name: Shilin 10 MW Model PV Power Plant Project of Yunnan Provincial Power Investment Co., Ltd.
Location: Shilin, Yunnan
Installation capacity: 4MW
Model: SG500KTL
Brief introduction: On May 25th, 2010, Kunming Shilin solar energy PV grid connected experimental model power plant with a designed installation capacity ranking the first in Asia had the first-stage project connect the grid officially. The model power plant has a gross installation capacity of 166 MW, which is invested and developed by Huaneng Group and Yunnan Provincial Power Investment Co., Ltd. Large grid connected inverters of Sungrow series independently developed by Sungrow Power Supply Co, Ltd have been used in this grid connection. These inverters have reached international advanced level in terms of reliability, conversion efficiency, power quality and other technical indexes and could satisfy the latest demand of State Grid. They have passed Golden Sun, CE, KEMA and other product certifications and have been successfully applied in many large PV power projects including Shanghai Expo, Dunhuang franchise bidding 20MW model power plant, Ningxia Sun Mountain, Ningxia Shizuishan, etc.
20 MW project in this grid connection uses large grid connected inverters of Sungrow series independently developed by Sungrow Power Supply Co, Ltd. These inverters have reached international advanced level in terms of reliability, conversion efficiency, power quality and other technical indexes and could satisfy the latest demand of State Grid. They have passed Golden Sun, CE, KEMA and other product certifications and have been successfully applied in many large PV power projects including Shanghai Expo, Dunhuang franchise bidding 20MW model power plant, Ningxia Sun Mountain, Ningxia Shizuishan, etc.

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Even In Botswana They Like Solar – Though this one is smaller than the first proposal

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About 2 years earlier there is evidence in the literature that the Botswana government let bids for a 200 megawatt facility. So why this one is for a little over a meg., I got no idea. And there are no pretty pictures either.

http://www.botswanaguardian.co.bw/newsdetails.php?nid=3400&cat=BG%20News

Category Name BG News
News Name Solar plant boosts relations with Japan
Author BY LETTY MASUNGA
Date 17-02-2012

BG correspondent The P85 million 1.3MW Photovoltaic Power station in Phakalane will not only serve to diversify the country’s energy sources but also boost the country’s economic relations with Japan. The Japan-sponsored clean energy plant is expected to be complete in September this year. The plant is part of government’s investment in the energy sector. Speaking during a progress tour of the Power Station on Wednesday, Mineral and Water Affairs minister, Ponatshego Kedikilwe said: “This arrangement will not only boost our economic relations with Japan but will be beneficial in the diversification of energy sources,” as it will lessen the pressures of rampant energy shortage. Phillimon Dhafana, the Manager of the Planning and Projects in Rural business unit from Botswana Power Corporation, explained that the power plant would generate uncultivated solar power. Dhafana told the Botswana Guardian that, “our country experiences plenty of heat that these power plant will harness and convert to solar energy that will benefit the whole country.”

Dhafana said the difference between Morupule power station and this new project is that the solar power plant produces clean energy while the Morupule plant emits coal gases, which destroy the greenhouse. The power station is expected to be complete in September.

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Spanish Solar Facilities Are Cool – They claim the rain in Spain

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falls mainly on the plain. But really it is the sun casting photons from afar that has the biggest impact.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/current/abengoa-solar-inaugurates-second-generation-high-temperature-solar-power-tower.html

Abengoa Solar inaugurates second-generation high-temperature solar power tower

Abengoa Solar’s (Seville, Spain) first high-temperature power tower, dubbed “Eureka,” was unveiled on June 19th, 2009 by Martín Soler Márquez, Director of Innovation, Science and Enterprise for the Andalusian Regional Government, the company reports in a press release. According to the press release, this power tower is intended to test a new type of receiver on an experimental basis and it is expected that the receiver can achieve the higher temperatures needed for higher-efficiency thermodynamic power cycles. The aim of this new technology is to increase plant performance, thereby reducing generating costs as well as the area of the solar field, Abengoa reports.

The new experimental plant occupies a 16,000-squarefoot portion of the Solúcar Platform and uses 35 heliostats and a 164-foot tower which houses the experimental superheating receiver. The capacity of the experimental plant which features a thermal energy storage system is estimated to be about 2 megawatts (MW).

Solúcar Platform solar thermal and PV installation complex to offset 185,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

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Go there and see the pretty picture. More next week.

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