Opinion:
¶ What’s Ahead for Climate Change in 2016? • This year will kick off with a sense of optimism about climate change after the success of the Paris climate talks in December. Here is a set of projections for what lies ahead in 2016, including the possibility of both low oil prices and declining emissions. [Discovery News]
Lightning strikes may increase by about 12% for every degree Celsius gained. Axel Rouvin via Wikimedia Commons
World:
¶ In 2014, the government of India upped the 2022 target of the national solar mission to 100 GW, from the earlier 20 GW. And at COP21, Prime Minister Modi said that India will produce 175 GW from non-fossil sources by 2022. By 2030, 40% of India’s electricity will be renewably generated. [DEALSTREETASIA]
¶ A major EU-funded home-energy project called RealValue has been set up by an Irish consortium led by billion-euro business Glen Dimplex.Exactly 1,250 homes in Ireland, Germany and Latvia will have cutting-edge Glen Dimplex electrical storage systems installed in them as part of the project. [Irish Independent]
¶ WindStream Energy Technologies (India) Private limited, in collaboration with the US company, has started assembling small vertical turbines with imported parts in Hyderabad. The silent turbines can be installed on any rooftop along with solar panels, to produce a hybrid home energy system. [The Hindu]
Hybrid renewable home power generation using solar panels and wind turbines. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
¶ Tamil Nadu, is India’s leader in energy production using biomass fuel, with 200 MW capacity, mostly from sugar molasses as fuel. The state now houses a unique 400-kW plant on a quarter-acre spread at Mahindra World City that runs on food waste.The bio-CNG plant can process 10 tonnes of food waste every day. [Times of India]
¶ India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, said that around 18,500 villages would be electrified in 1,000 days. Now, the Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal, has said he is confident of achieving the target in around 730 days. [CanIndia News]
¶ A City financier supporting a proposed power cable between Iceland and Britain is launching a new venture to build several more links to electricity sources across Europe. Global Interconnection Group is set up to explore trading electricity among the UK and the Channel Islands, Ireland and France. [Telegraph.co.uk]
Nacelle in an Irish wind farm. Photo by Peter Giesbrecht. CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
¶ Uranium prices are expected to outperform other commodities in 2016 and beyond as a global climate change deal and growing demand from Asia bolster the prospects of the nuclear industry. The metal has been gradually recovering from a sharp decline in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Disaster. [Business Recorder]
US:
¶ Renewables were up to 13.6% of US electricity generation in October, and 13.2% for the year through November. Unfortunately, that’s slightly down from 13.3% in 2014 for the same period, due to a significant drop in hydroelectric generation and a significant rise in natural gas electricity generation. [CleanTechnica]
¶ The Maine Public Utilities Commission is refusing to release a set of energy-pricing forecasts that are at the center of allegations that it improperly scuttled a wind power contract. The PUC said it considers the forecasts a “trade secret” of the firm that generated them and will not release them. [Press Herald]
The Mars Hill Wind Farm in Maine has 28 GE 1.5-MW wind turbines. Photo by Michael Surran. CC BY-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons.
¶ Five proposed 20-MW solar projects would boost the amount of renewable power generated in Vermont, but the credit for the solar power is worth far more in other states, a recent analysis found. That means the renewable energy credits will most likely be sold elsewhere. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]
¶ Mary Powell has guided Green Mountain Power as president and CEO, while its industry undergoes massive disruption. For her impact on the power industry and Vermont’s energy future, and for courageously promoting breast cancer awareness, she is the 2015 Vermonter of the Year. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]
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