Coincident with the near-formal demise of Carbon Legislation as one of many ‘intended consequences’ from the US mid term elections, a number of carbon-related topics seem to present themselves this month. Fossil Fuels and Carbon – New perspective on an ongoing issue How should Countries of the World allocate the responsibility for cutting carbon emissions …
Solar A few months ago, I wrote of my own plan to go (nearly) off grid by August. Well, the bureaucrats got in the way, but, two months later, I am 85% off grid with a 5 kw solar PV system. Thanks to the combination of Federal and State subsidies, plus the ‘certificate’ value …
Wind My father has a t-shirt that reads “from ‘zero to 80 in nothing flat.’ In the beginning (2005), China’s wind plans were modest — from a standing start to 20 GW installed by 2010. Having exceeded that target during 2009 (with 13.5 GW installed), the 2020 goal moved up …
Chinese Solar Industry Getting Rational? Earlier this year, the ’55th Chinese Solar IPO’ barely made it out the door. Five years of ‘free water, free electricity, free disposal, and free capital’ had finally wrought havoc with the business models of Chinese assemblers. As Chinese Powers that Be struggled to meet five year energy efficiency commitments, …
Big Boxes Go Solar As reported a few months ago, Its coming (finally) – Massive roof-top solar at Big Box Retail. Wal-Mart has expanded an experimental roof-top solar program with an agreement to lease panels and buy the electricity from modules on top of 20-30 stores in Arizona and California. These Big Boxes, whose footprints …
State of the Market While lower fossil fuel prices, surplus electricity (outside the Middle East!), and weak financing markets would argue against renewables fundamentals, this is not the case in many markets. a) China added almost 13 GW of wind power in 2009, and is on track for somewhat higher installations in 2010. However, of …
Spain – Backing away from a Subsidy Program Run Amock Some renewables projects have become ensnared in the Post Macondo regulatory environment. NRG Energy says that its offshore wind power project (Delaware) could take 3x longer than expected to receive approval, after the spill drove a reorganization of (all) federal offshore regulation. Spain takes another …
Renewable energy trends over the past several months have diverged, both geographically and by type. Economic pressures have accelerated the withdrawal of solar subsidies, particularly in Spain and Germany, from an overly generous level. However, despite the reduced support, project returns have been so robust (10-30% from Germany to Italy), that solar PV demand forecasts …
Renewables and Smart Grid – MIT speaks out Last week, I attended a BofA/Merrill Lynch Cleantech Seminar, featuring presentations by MIT professors on Global Warming, Solar, Wind, Smart Grid, and Storage. While an academic setting might appear to be inappropriate for practical, nearer term, investors, some views were startling: 1) Without judging the conclusions, the …
All Eyes on the Gulf of Mexico, but How about Beyond?? As failure to control the Macondo oil spill passes the six week and, possibly, half million barrel mark, frustration grows, similarly, on many fronts – with the apparent, negligence or very poor judgment which led to the explosion, with the failure of Modern Technology …