Archive for Wind
To the AFP : ” Egypt announced on Wednesday it would build its planned nuclear powerplant on the Mediterranean coast of el-Dabaa which it hopes will start production in 2019, the state news agency MENA reported. “
” Egypt has already used several foreign companies as consultants, including Areva and Westinghouse Electric Co. (this) plant would be followed by three other reactors, tentatively scheduled to start production in 2025. “
This would be the fourth country in the region to build nuclear reactors. Meanwhile, the country is also willing to develop renewable energies such as wind and solar. Continue »
To the UNEP : ” In 2009, (…) both the US and Europe added more power capacity from renewable sources such as wind and solar than from conventional sources like coal, gas and nuclear. “
But this is not all as the United Nations give us more details : ” Renewables accounted for 60 % of newly installed capacity in Europe and more than 50 % in the USA in 2009.“
” This year or next, experts predict, the world as a whole will add more capacity to the electricity supply from renewable than non-renewable sources. ” Continue »
Here is my latest post for CleanTechies : ” The French government recently announced a large investment program for renewables and green chemistry. The investment, totaling $1.75 billion will be allocated over the next 4 years. ”
Named Démonstrateurs énergies renouvelables et chimie verte – or renewable energy and green chemistry demonstration – this program plans to allocate 450 million euros in subsidies and 900 million euros in low-interest loans.
As always, to read out more, please read the full article there. All ratings and comments are greatly appreciated and I look forward to reading from you there.
To CleanTechnica : ” Five years ago, when 17% of Portugal’s energy came from renewable energy – about like California now – the government made a bold decision to aim for 45% during the next five years – by 2010.”
And it worked : the country is due to reach this most ambitious goal by the end of this year. The added capacity – mostly hydro and wind power – will add little to the utility bills and the investments are due to pay themselves within ten years.
Of course, Portugal is relatively small as its population is only of 10 million, but what can be done there can be done everywhere. Continue »
I write a lot about China – and even more as it became the world’s first energy consumer – and too little about its neighbor, India. So when I find something on how the local goverment is advancing on cleantech, I have to share this.
To CleanTechnica : ” India is on target to achieve the target to set ten percent renewable energy generation capacity by 2015. “ This means the capacity of solar, wind and other low carbon energies could reach 48 GW by this date.
To date the average per capita energy consumption and greenhouse gases emissions pale in comparison to Western standards but as the economy grows, so do the CO2 emissions. Continue »
It seems that at least one country clearly understood how cleantech is important, even vital in today’s and tomorrow’s world. Indeed, the People’s Republic of China is going full speed ahead at developing all clean energy sources.
On June 19 it revealed a $738 billion dollar plan – 545 billion euros – to develop cleaner energy sources within the next decade. This takes place a few days after the IEA noted that the country became the world’s first energy consumer.
I believe this plan may solve their huge environmental problems while cutting their addiction to fossil fuels. This is much needed as the country has per capita emissions higher than France. Continue »
We have heard that before : ” Wind power is far too unreliable ” or ” Nuclear power isn’t a safe solution “. Yet the reality is most of the times far from these myths. Popular Mechanics published a long article debunking energy myths.
I wrote about some of them such as clean coal that won’t clean up our air or biofuels that won’t cure our addiction to oil or don’t even represent an alternative to oil. Some others, like algae are quite new topics here.
After debunking all these myths, this long article ends with a true fact that I have been hammering here since the beginning of this blog : ” Energy saved, it turns out, is the cheapest new source. “
After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the huge environmental catastrophe it is leading to, more and more voices are now demanding offshore wind as a paliative.
This sounds like a good idea as the important offshore wind potential is still completely untapped in the United States. Meanwhile, the European Union installed more than 500 MW in 2009 only.
The main problem with offshore wind is that it can to its detractors ruin a perfect view. I guess floating wind turbines would solve this problem as they could be implented in much deeper waters.
I have been committed for three years to bring you each month a selection of the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change and the world energy sector.
However, I don’t blog as much as I would like to and generally write around 25 posts per month. However, many more great news are worth reading and blogging about so I had to find a way to share them with you.
This solution came last year with my use of Twitter as I use my account to share with my followers news that are worth your time. Here is a selection of the most interesting ones. Continue »
I found during the past few weeks news showing that Europe is investing more and more in solving the climate / energy equation by using various solutions : energy efficiency, smart grids and renewable energies.
Here are some examples : Sweden pledged this week for the installation of 2,000 wind turbines by the year 2020 and the United Kingdom is working on efficiency in the building sector.
Additionally, several countries are due to invest 30 billions euros in smart grids to connect renewable energy sources from across the continent. Continue »
