Opinion:
¶ Stuck in the Sixties: Power grid modernization remains elusive • Nearly half of all electricity generated in the world today comes from power plants that use steam turbines built in the days of rotary telephones and manual typewriters, operating at thermal efficiencies of around thirty-percent. [Intelligent Utility]
¶ NYU Study: Economics Of Climate Change Is A No-Brainer • A new study by the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law casts needed light on the socioeconomic factors and indicates consensus among economists on most critical subjects relating to climate change. [CleanTechnica]
Science and Technology:
¶ Growing installations of solar batteries will bring benefits to all power consumers, according to independent researchers Prognos AG. Power generated and used at home will reduce the input – and strains – of electricity being into the national grid, the research group said in a report released on Friday. [Bloomberg]
¶ Chemists in the US have created a catalyst system that they say is the first to make methanol straight from the tiny concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. The approach is an initial step towards a goal of making fuel from nothing but gases from the air and renewable energy. [Royal Society of Chemistry]
CRI’s George Olah Renewable Methanol plant in Reykjavik,
Iceland has an output of 4000 tonnes per year © CRI
World:
¶ Brazil’s new 2024 solar energy targets are roughly double those of the earlier plan for 2023, according to recent reports. The new targets from the country’s government call for 7 GW of utility-scale solar by 2024, up from 3.5 GW by 2023, and 1.32 GW of distributed solar photovoltaic PV, up from 665 MW.[CleanTechnica]
¶ Wind power in Denmark met 42.1% of national consumption in 2015 and the figure would have been even higher if not for cable issues at the 400-MW Anholt and 209-MW Horns Rev 2 offshore wind farms. This represents an increase of over 2014’s 39.1% share and is a new record for the country. [SeeNews Renewables]
¶ Canada’s BluEarth Renewables Inc said its 29.2-MW Bull Creek wind farm in Alberta is now fully operational. The facility in Provost consists of 17 General Electric wind turbines that can generate enough power to supply the annual power demands of some 10,000 average Alberta homes.
[SeeNews Renewables]
The Bull Creek Wind Facility.
Source: BluEarth Renewables Inc. All Rights Reserved
¶ The EnAppSys report shows that the significant growth in renewables seen in recent years in the UK continued during 2015, with capacity of 7.5 GW and generation of 65.4 TWh, or 21% of total electricity, only marginally below the contribution from nuclear plants which provided 21.1% of the total. [Renewable Energy Focus]
¶ Two Belgian nuclear reactors which were temporarily shut down due to structural problems should never have been restarted, according to a study commissioned by a pro-environmental group in the European Parliament. The study feeds into an ongoing debate about the safety of Belgium’s ageing nuclear plants. [BizNews]
US:
¶ US utility-scale solar PV costs plummeted 17% in Q3 of 2015, and declining PV costs are fuelling greater demand. According to an EnergyTrend report, US utility-scale solar costs fell in the third quarter of 2015 to $1.38/W, compared to $1.66/W twelve months earlier. Further drops are expected. [CleanTechnica]
Aston Field Solar Plant by Stausifr
via Wikimedia Commons (Some Rights Reserved)
¶ According to GTM Research, the US solar industry will install more than 10 GW of solar PV in 2016 for the first time ever, pushing the number of homeowners with solar installed past the 1 million mark. GTM Research is predicting that solar installations could reach 20 GW per year by 2020. [CleanTechnica]
¶ SunEdison announced it has signed solar power purchase agreements with 25 California elementary, middle, and high schools. SunEdison plans to install high-performance solar parking canopies at each of their campuses. The schools expect to save more than $30 million over the next 20 years. [IT Business Net]
SunEdison solar parking canopies provide both shade for
parked cars and cost-effective, clean solar energy.
¶ The Sutter Energy Center near Yuba City, California, is shutting down for the rest of 2016, amid continuing viability struggles. The 578-MW natural gas-fired power plant will be placed in lay-up status with operations will be suspended, so it can restart if necessary, while Calpine assesses its future. [Appeal-Democrat]
¶ Acciona Energia has acquired a 93-MW Texas wind project and started construction work. The San Roman wind farm will feature 31 Acciona Windpower AW125/3000 turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 125 meters. Acciona says San Roman brings its wind power capacity in the country to 721 MW. [North American Windpower]
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