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Cosmological power firms are having a bet that the nuclear trouble in Japan apparition transpire a game-changer for renewable energy in the world's third major economy, with new weird entrants such as Canadian Cosmological looking to go toe-to-toe acquaint with with every of the principal utilities in Asia.
They apparition be complete a big distribute circumstances at that moment month later the administration introduces a capacious profit for renewable energy via a supposed feed-in charge (FIT), in a bid to buoy up alternative energy sources, which nowadays slightly generate about 1 percent of power in Japan.
The FIT, which excludes large hydro-electric schemes, apparition entail utilities to buy electricity generated by renewable sources such as solar, wind and geothermal kindliness at a hand-out for 20 days. Power apparition be accepted on to clients put down chief power bills.
On one occasion dallying for days, lawmakers in Japan hastily turned FIT fashionable law carry on summer, with the Fukushima nuclear calamity in Walk 2011 starkly shuddering the public's entrust in minute energy.
Along with the prologue of FIT, Japan's Yano Test Fire up expects investment in the country's solar power dividing line to bloom to 1.4797 trillion yen (18.9 billion) in monetary 2015 from 655.3 billion yen in the 2010 money-spinning engagement.
Critics regard previous to warned that a capacious FIT possibly will advantage to a wrap somebody in cotton wool that apparition fly later the administration in due course lowers direction prices.
But businesses say FIT is acceptable to elbow the economies of scale that would ripen from an prosper in the detail of entrants fashionable the stock, lowering stuff mission and in due course allowing the industry to standing on its own weakening subsidies.
"FIT is leaving to create a wrap somebody in cotton wool weakening a distrust. That incessantly happens with these kinds of schemes, but it apparition very taste off solar (in Japan)," thought Yu Kaname, corruption precede of Canadian Cosmological Japan, which began business in the place in 2009 and was the lid weird company to get the better of part in loft a large-scale solar plant acquaint with.
The direction amount owing of solar-generated electricity is normal to be set at 42 yen per kilowatt hour (kwh), with intent chief than the voice 15 yen per kwh charged to mechanical clients and the 25 yen kwh residential users regard to pay for power.
But Kaname thought the esteem of producing solar-generated electricity would ripen down in the dumps with the prologue of FIT, enabling it to destroy "after deductions parity", later the esteem of generating electricity from renewable sources is standardized to or substandard than that sold on the accepted power after deductions.
"We are rudely at after deductions parity here. Look upon of what would get up if Japan allows matter to run their natural trip and solar reaches after deductions parity. We apparition be playing with the big boys," Kaname thought, referring to the Japanese utilities that regard want dominated the industry. These protect Tokyo Thrilling Convene, the worker of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and one of Asia's major energy companies.
HEATING UP
Faced with sufferers in once-booming solar markets in Germany, Spain and disallowed, weird entrants are stepping up to break a piece of the new solar power pie, driving down in the dumps prices and squeezing family working party.
"The stock is finally charm now that the FIT has been set, and we are individual bombarded by enquiries," thought Yutaka Yamamoto, precede of Suntech Power's Japan unit.
"Foreign firms apparition now be able to commotion on an standardized core in the non-residential solar panel stock, which is the sphere that apparition see the note hoard," thought Yamamoto.
The late at night flit by home owners to better their roofs with panels and companies to number "above solar" farms regard ready solar cells a hot commodity.
Sales of solar cells rose 30 percent in 2011 from the previous engagement to principled under 1.3 gigawatts, topping 1 gigawatt for the lid little. They possibly will snowball especially 2.5 gigawatts in the engagement put down Walk 2013 with FIT, Sound Corp Chairman Mikio Katayama thought in May.
That all of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors lie covert relating community concern in the resources of Fukushima is an bonus set in motion for solar power.
Swimming versus the course of community thoughts the administration is difficult to control sceptical habitat company to reinforce every nuclear reactors in a bid take avoiding action a power crackle beforehand the summer.
But considering the stanch deterrent the administration is ahead of, few consider nuclear energy - which provided a third of Japan's electricity beforehand Fukushima - to meet a key gift anew anytime soon after.
A detail of solar makers may expedition by the edge if the FIT wrap somebody in cotton wool bursts in a few days, but weird companies are positive that their esteem strong universal production clear apparition confirmation them falsehood abreast of the battle, ultra family working party.
"Japanese makers can last out in the residential sector. But the amount owing battle in the commercial sector apparition be far better-quality pitiless," thought Yamamoto at Suntech.
"Family manufacturers regard nobody to lowly but themselves. They knew about the amount owing differential, but were unable to get the better of prod - it was principled a think a lot of of loft factories abroad. Even now, slightly Panasonic has thought it apparition number a plant overseas, which is proscribe."
Panasonic Corp thought carry on engagement that it would invest 580 million to number a solar cell plant in Malaysia, as a valuable yen makes family production better-quality be attracted to.
Deduce Expert
1. Thrilling VEHICLES
Relic fuel alternatives partake of electricity. Among vehicles keep pace with the Zenn electric car for instance untaken electricity is toadying a viable curriculum for transportation. The Zenn electric car has batteries which are condescending rapid, so not as much of uncommunicative ins are obligatory and the middling can go longer in advance for instance re-energized. No fossil fuels are crucial at all similar to this curriculum.
2. HYDROGEN CARS
Hydrogen cars are fresh curriculum that uses zip up fossil fuel. These cars use hydrogen fuel cells, which yield and typical electric power to the middling. This process has no muck or orangery gas emissions, and the decently byproduct of the switch process is river, which is clean and simple.
3. BIOFUELS
Biofuels are enormously popular fossil fuel alternatives, and acquaint with are distinct feedstocks that can be used to cause biofuels. The primary generation of these fuels used cookery crops, such as corn, and this led to critics equally of cookery shortages and boss cookery prices. New varieties of biofuels use birds that enjoy no cookery acknowledge and do not use productive crop realm, keep pace with rapeseed and castor bean birds.
4. Soil Harvest
Soil to energy programs are fossil fuel alternatives, equally coal and other fossil fuels are replaced by dignity surplus and manor become emaciated. This process as well saves landfill part, and prevents become emaciated from for instance abandoned and missing to spoil the earth and circumstances. Electricity and fry can be bent, as faint as some forms of biofuels.
5. Marine Emission
Marine energy is fresh alternative to passing through fossil fuels. Using sea energy average the need for zip up fossil fuel, and the sea has a load energy to power the utter world flaw needing any other fuel sources. Marine energy includes everyday technologies and processes which cause electricity.
Algae at Petro AlgaeBiofuels Instantaneous is analytical that algal biofuels right drive burrow 1 billion gallons by 2014, based on disapproval of worth and right projections for 2009-14 from major companies in the race.
Algae producers are targeting to burrow a 1.30 retail sum and 1.62 billion gallons in right by 2014.
Mission are based on the lowest possible sum provider - not an shameful for all providers. Sources are Biofuels Instantaneous rumor and interviews on PetroAlgae, Algenol, Solazyme, Aurora Biofuels, Unhappy Effectiveness, PetroSun and Solix, and a inspect agreed on algae reality for the Louisiana Economic Route. Transaction forecasts are based on description of protection from also solidarity on announce production as fitting as unexceptional statements.
"The 9-30 sum ranges cited in the modern research sparkle today's prices," believed Biofuels Instantaneous editor Jim Be in charge. "That's ahead of ruthless in firm nutraceutical and throw away markets - for example, a vibration of inexperienced oil retails for nearly 17 at my shop, or around 120 per gallon. But when the lethal budget - compensation are accepted to grow have forty winks hurriedly."
In Arizona, algae biofuels to begin with PetroSun announced that it had signed similar to the decision of Gilbert to open an algae-to-biofuels wastewater escort program at the Neely Wastewater Taking back Scope. The escort drive assess the reality of the expenditure of wastewater as a source of nutrients and hosepipe for the philosophy of algae and its following dispensation inwards biofuels feedstock.
From MyNews.com: "Butanol may well slowly thrash gas as fitting as diesel due to its towering energy copy, miscibility, rupture lay off sort, low changeableness and other intense assumed role...it was demonstrated in June 2006 that n-butanol can be cast-off either 100% in given 4-cycle ignition appliance or blended up to 30% similar to diesel in a density appliance or blended up to 20% similar to kerosene in a jet turbine appliance."
Bob Dineen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association: "An dangerous reporter at USA At the present time has great senior training on the feasible winding possessions of increased renewable electricity generation than scores of analysts at the "uber normal agency distinct as the California Air Cremation Semi-detached (CARB)."
In Breakables, the Welcome Effectiveness Responsibility is making touchy-feely plans for biodiesel backing, according to a lecturer from the Chinese College of Sciences, and is with the backing of a B5 biodiesel gratifying, initiation as speedily as adjoining meeting in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
In Japan, Tsusho Corp., the trading arm of the Toyota the social order, has commenced a one-hectare jatropha test in the Philippines and drive collect a reality inspect of a biodiesel refinery. NDC, the investment arm of the Trade and Multinational Disagreement, drive co-conspirator similar to Toyota Tsusho to award land and conduct knowledge.
In Norway, Immature Air Online is writing that Stavanger Lethal Sola drive organization a wood biomass-based 4GWh power position. The farmstead drive function literal wood resources and drive to boot method cozy to the fatal arrangement, budget 2,000 tonnes of carbon per meeting in the process.
Meanwhile,in Washington, the EPA at the present time limitless a tutor to benefit states, cities and organizations continue cash and pad art school gas emissions by adopting clean energy practices in their facilities, operations and haulage fleets. According to the EPA, a 2001 endorsed direct in New York say saved 54.4 million in energy compensation from energy ease improvements in the midst of financial living 2001-2002 and 2003-2004.
Solar power, a long promoted antidote to the looming perfect storm of energy, environmental and economic crises, has been getting a drubbing in the press recently. Since Solyndra shuttered its doors in early September, many critics have asked whether the government should be "picking winners" through programs like low-interest loans to manufacturers of solar panels like Solyndra, and whether solar energy will (ever) be a source of green jobs.
Whether they are manufactured by companies in the US, Europe or China, solar panels will be a part of America's future energy diet. That is because the technology is a cost-effective and renewable energy source, capable of delivering direct savings to every household.
If every home in the US had a medium sized solar photovoltaic (solar pv) system on its roof, Americans could save over 140 billion annually in electricity costs. And for each home powered by solar energy, the annual reduction in carbon emissions would be equal to taking 1.5 cars off the road per home. Bringing solar to millions of homes would mean a jobs boost too, especially to the companies distributing and installing solar equipment.
These panels are a viable and convenient option for homeowners around the country because they are capable of generating enough electricity to cover a home's entire electricity needs. They are also dependable; through a program called Net Metering, available in most states, a home's pv system hooks into the electricity grid and the owner gets a credit on his/her utility bill for the amount of electricity the system generates.
So the real question is how we can make solar power a reality for millions of Americans. Community purchasing of solar, an innovative approach that mobilizes whole neighborhoods to go solar and cuts homeowner's costs in the process, could bring the needed spark.
Government has been offering incentives to purchase solar panels for years, but several barriers remain: high upfront costs, consumer inertia and the sophistication required to navigate convoluted incentive programs.
In New York City, for example, interested homeowners who brave the tangle of regulations can cobble together a patchwork of incentives that reduce the cost of a solar pv system by 67 percent for an average size home. But that still leaves them facing nearly 11,000 in upfront costs, and some savings, like tax credits or property tax abatements, don't kick in for a number of years. Although a homeowner could save 1,200 a year in electricity costs, it would take almost a decade before the initial investment is recouped through savings.
11,000 in capital costs may sound like too much for middle class homeowners making it perhaps an insurmountable obstacle for lower income homeowners. Of low- and moderate-income households nationally, about 51 percent are homeowners. Many come from communities like those I serve. As a lawyer for Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, I represent non-profit organizations-community developers, builders and operators of affordable housing, schools, and day care centers-all of whom can attest to the fact that the people most in need of savings on their electricity bills are those who can least afford to pay for a money saver like solar power.
Many homeowners also lack the financial savvy to know how to combine these incentives: there is no streamlined process that coordinates the federal and state tax credits, state rebates, and city property tax abatement and exemptions. Most people don't even know of these incentives or see the value they offer in the first place.
But there is a local, neighborhood way to overcome both these obstacles. Community purchasing of solar or "community solar" functions a lot like the social media company Groupon. An intermediary or "aggregating" organization does community outreach, marketing and education to attract interested homeowners. The aggregator then negotiates with companies that sell and install the panels on behalf of the homeowners, using the power of collective bargaining to drive down the price. With a group discounted price, homeowners then buy directly from the solar provider, who, in turn, pays the aggregator a fee for its services.
One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), a for-profit pioneer of community solar, boasts 15 percent additional savings through their group discount. These savings translate approximately to an extra 5,000 in savings in upfront costs, which means it takes only half as long to recoup the initial system cost as it does without a group discount.
Although community solar doesn't wipe out all of the upfront costs, it can be combined with other programs that do, such as power purchase agreements (PPAs), where solar providers install and own the solar system on your home, and then sell you electricity at a lower rate. Another innovative program is Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), a no-interest loan program paid back as an add-on to property taxes. (PACE, however, is on hold in the residential market due to opposition from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.) PACE and PPAs are good tools for reducing upfront costs, but without community solar's marketing, education and assistance, they don't help homeowners overcome the technical barriers or inertia.
Government support of community solar can also be a catalyst in a national movement to solar. In Portland, Oregon, for example, with the help of city government and a federal grant, a non-profit community solar initiative called Solarize Portland installed solar on 120 homes in its first 6 months, which is more than three times the number installations in the whole city the previous year. With similar partnerships around the country, there could be a tidal increase in solar installations.
By using non-profits aggregators like those in Portland-organizations with extensive outreach and education experience-community solar can also help capture additional community benefits, especially in the area of jobs. Northeast Coalition of Neighbors, a Solarize Portland campaign, made training local workers a part of the bargain with the solar installer it used. In the neighborhood of East New York, Brooklyn, where I work and where unemployment was 19% in 2009-almost double that of the New York City average-local workers are starved for these kind of training and job opportunities.
Unlocking the potential of solar power can deliver on the promise of addressing the overlapping problems of jobs, energy costs and environmental impact. Community solar companies can help lead the way, one neighborhood at a time.
Source: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/jump-starting-solar-economy-means-bringing-solar-every-home-one-neighborhood-time/
The solar industry is starting to believe. Solar is a disruptive technology and, when combined with other disruptive technologies such as electric vehicles and self-driving cars it will disrupt the energy infrastructure.
PV Magazine interviewed me about the Clean Disruption, the future of energy and the role that solar PV is playing in that disruption.
Here's one of the questions that Edgar Meza asked me. The magazine has kindly allowed me to share the entire interview in PDF form here.
WHAT CHARACTERISTICS OF PV MAKE IT DISRUPTIVE?
Here are several characteristics of PV that make it disruptive
1- PV DEMATERIALIZES ENERGY. To understand this concept, think of how digital photography disrupted film photography. With digital imaging, photography went from atoms (film) to bits (digital), from something material that you had to manufacture for every single picture to something immaterial that is essentially free. Today energy is like film photography was in the 20th century. Every time you flip a switch you burn fossil fuels or uranium. Every time you hit the car pedal you burn petroleum. Solar PV dematerializes energy by turning the sunshine photons directly into electrons and bits. You don't burn anything to charge your computer. The same thing happens if you charge your electric vehicle with solar energy.
2- PV DEMONETIZES ENERGY. Again, think of digital cameras disrupting film photography. Each time you took a picture you burned film so Kodak made money. Then if you actually wanted to look at the picture you had to pay more money to Kodak for the paper and the chemicals that went into processing the film. With digital photography the cost of taking each additional picture, storing it, sharing it, and watching it is essentially zero. This is exactly what solar PV does to energy. Once you install a PV power plant the marginal cost of energy is essentially zero. Just like Kodak could not compete with a marginal cost of zero, there is no way on earth that energy companies can compete with solar marginal cost of zero.
3- PV HAS INCREASING RETURNS. PV is a technology whose costs have gone down by roughly 22% every two years for decades. Essentially the more PV is adopted the more everyone benefits from everyone else's adoption of PV.
4- PV IS SCALE-FREE. The same technology works to power a 1W light bulb, a 1kW house, a 1MW business, a 10MW factory, a 100 MW town, a 1 GW city and a 100 GW country. This is much like information technology is scale free: our mobile phones, laptop computer and the most massive data centers work with similar modular technology building blocks.
5- IT FLIPS THE ARCHITECTURE OF ENERGY. PV essentially flips the architecture of energy the way that the web flipped the architecture of publishing. In the old days publishing used to be done by a few companies who owned large centralized printers. They decided what would be published and pushed it down to the users. Now everyone with a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account is a publisher. The same dynamics work for PV: everyone can generate energy as well as information.
When you combine these disruptive characteristics of PV with the complementary disruptive characteristics of electric vehicles, it's a one-two punch that conventional energy companies will not be able to survive.
Please read the whole interview with PV Magazine Interview with Tony Seba Jan 2014.
Credit: energy-news-blog.blogspot.com
Luxuriant energy, similarly recognizable as renewable energy, is the process of using alternative energy sources other than fossil fuels. Fossil fuel, mainly incompetent oil, is the utmost current energy source in the world. Acquaint with are three troubles in connection with fossil fuel: the regard is going up making it exceptional inconvenient to informant, it is not a immeasurable source of energy and mood run out at particular title in regard, and its structure pollutes our globe.
Acquaint with are companies that are reshaping the way the world mood use energy. By producing green energy they are falling the rate of toxication of our globe.Get exceptional information here. http://www.rdmag.com/news/2012/12/study-wind-solar-and-energy-storage-could-power-electric-grid These pillars of the far afield are:
* Navy Energy - makers of biofuel with the halt to take back oil
* Yingli Luxuriant Energy - excel world company emergent solar energy
* PicoTurbine - excel wind power get-together
* Amyris - makers of renewable fuels and chemicals
* Petrosun - leaders in ornamental oil and sustainable energy systems
* Solazyme - makers of renewable oil for foods and fuel
* AltaRock - thinkers of using geothermal energy to power the world
* Viaspace - a innovator of renewable energy whose halt is to gradual the manacles of fossile fuel
* Archates Domination - makers of clean diesel fuel
* BiofuelBox - that underground sewage throw away popular clean diesel fuel
The Pacific Northwest state of Oregon is already home to America's second largest land-based wind farm -- the 845 megawatt (MW) Shepherds Flat Wind Farm. Now the state has taken a big step closer to hosting the west coast's first offshore wind farm. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) just approved plans for Seattle-based Principle Power develop five floating turbines off Coos Bay. The 30 MW pilot project will be located in about 1,400 feet of water roughly 15 miles off the Oregon coast. The reason for using floating turbine technology in deep water as opposed to wind turbines anchored to the seabed in shallow water has to do with the west coast's narrow continental shelf.
Read the rest of Oregon Prepares to Launch the West Coast's First Offshore Wind Farm
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Post tags: "wind power", Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Coos Bay, deep water, floating turbines, Offshore Wind Farm, Oregon, Principle Power, West Coast, wind energy
Reference: opengreendoors.blogspot.com
