Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
To Cleantechies : ” Renewable energy investments in India increased by more than 52 percent in 2011, the fastest growth among major global economies, according to a new report.”
“More than $10.3 billion was invested in renewable energy projects in India last year, with about $4.6 billion targeting wind energy projects and another $4.2 billion going toward solar projects. “
This could be just the beginning as the New Scientist gives many reasons why renewable energy sources – and especially solar – are due to keep growing and growing. Continue »
Remember my post on how a trillion had been invested in cleantech ? Well, the trend is accelerating as $260 billion (approx. 200 billion euros) were invested in 2011 alone as Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported.
So, everything wasn’t so bad last year and especially not for the United States, which reclaimed their leadership from China in this sector. This was a first since 2008. What would happen if the US Governement was backing cleantech ?
America invested $56 billion and China $47 billion. Global investments in solar grew by 36 percent to reach $137 billion in 2011. Continue »
To GreenTech Media : “ Germany installed more than 2 gigawatts of solar in the month of December alone. (…) Installations for the full year will be nearly 7 gigawatts according to the German Solar Industry Association (BSW).”
The article goes further : “ According to the BSW, solar power contributes approximately three percent of the German electricity supply, with a goal of 10 percent by 2020. “
The European leader in renewables installed in a single month more solar photovoltaic capacity than the whole United States of America installed in a whole year ! Continue »
I came across two news today that could revolutionize solar panels by drastically increasing their efficiency. Given the current potential of this energy source with today’s technology, tomorrow will be bright for solar !
To the MIT Technology Review :” Replacing flat panels with three dimensional structures (see left) can significantly change the economics of solar power generation, say engineers. “
The second news that came to me was from the University of Texas where a scientist found a way to increase the efficiency of solar cells to 66 percent, compared to around 20 % today. (via Grist)
According to an International Energy Agency official, a third of ALL global energy needs could be answered by solar energies within the next five decades. (photovoltaic, concentrated and thermal)
And this could be a low estimate : as Climate Progress notes : ” Solar is clearly proving itself without a price on carbon. With an effective pricing regime in place, a 30% penetration would almost certainly be low. “
Today, oil is accounting for around a third of the energy we use. I wonder how our world would look if solar became this ubiquitous. I hope I will be able to see this ! ( I would be 77 years old then…)
We already saw that solar PV is due to compete in terms of costs with fossil fuels by around 2017 as this energy source is gaining momentum so fast that the Holy Grail – grid parity – might soon be within reach. These are sure great news…
But there is more as to Bloomberg New Energy Finance : ” The cost of electricity from onshore wind turbines will drop 12% in the next five years thanks to a mix of lower-cost equipment and gains in output efficiency. “
” The best wind farms in the world already produce power as economically as coal, gas and nuclear generators; the average wind farm will be fully competitive by 2016 “
Cleantechies published last week a tremendous article on solar thermal and why it is “is about to see explosive growth”. I am not entirely surprised of that as I have been a strong advocate of this solution for more than five years.
Presenting the industry, the article goes on and gives no less than seven reasons why solar thermal could soon take off in the USA. Many of these reasons could apply elsewhere as it is more efficient and cheaper than solar PV.
Just as 2011 saw an increase of interest in energy efficiency, I hope 2012 will see an increased interest in solar thermal. Continue »
Currently, the world is relying massively on coal to generate electricity as it is cheap, awfully cheap – if you don’t take into account the negative externalities as it is polluting our air, our soil and is one of the main factors to climate change.
But what if solar became even cheaper than coal ? What if if became the cheapest solution ? We would then have a renewable, clean and cheap alternative to produce gigawatts of electricity.
Kees van der Leun – A Dutchman who has been dedicating himself to renewables for the past 25 years – wrote on Grist an excellent post on that very topic. Continue »
Here is another post I wrote on Cleantechies : ” While I was visiting my family in the Region of Lorraine – North Eastern France – I came across two distinct news illustrating the possible future of the region, and in a way, of the whole country. ”
” The first one is about dirty polluting fossil energy as to Elixir Petroleum, an Australian company, there would be massive quantities of shale oil and gas in Lorraine’s soil. ”
As always with guest posts, to keep reading, please check out their website. I look forward to reading your comments and thoughts there.
You might have heard or read about it : Solyndra, one of the largest solar companies in the United States – it received half a billion in federal loans – has filed for bankruptcy. It has laid off 1,100 people…
From there, you might be tempted to say that the US solar industry is going down. This is exactly the opposite as several factors are proving. 1. To Climate Progress solar is the “fastest growing industry in America” ;
2. To GreenTech Solar, the United States exported for nearly two billion USD of solar products in 2009 alone ; 3. TreeHugger noted that the industry is employing 100,000 people and will continue to hire. Continue »
