At a summit in Brussels, leaders of the EU endorsed a target date to cut greenhouse gases by at least 40% from 1990 levels by 2030. Based on current progress, the goal’s outlook is positive despite the fact that meeting the goal by the deadline will cost $48 billion a year to implement the increased deployment of solar and other green energy. This agreement now puts pressure on other nations such as the United States and China to respond. For a full article, click here:: EU Leaders Agree to Tough Carbon Regulations to Spur Renewable Energy Development and Fight Climate Change
Can We Power Up Over 11 Billion People?
Experts have estimated that by 2100, Earth’s population will reach up to 12 billion people. In 2014, we have enough trouble (not to mention wars) finding and extracting energy sources such as oil, coal, etc.
Keep in mind that we’re only at 7 billion people today and nearly 2 billion of them are living without electricity. Oil and coal are finite and with carbon emission policies spreading through most nations (apart from Abbott’s Australia), their use will become as fossilized as the fuel itself.
Renewable energy obviously has a huge part to play in powering the growing population.
But electrification is also key. Using renewable energy (and possibly nuclear fusion), electricity can replace liquid fuels from being used in lights, cooking, and, as the electric car has shown, transportation. It is imperative that we must continue to innovate to support the incoming crowd.
For the full article from the Energy Collective, click here:: How Would We Provide Enough Energy for 11 Billion People?
Could Solar Roadways Provide a Worthwhile Energy Path?
Scott Brusaw and the small American town of Sandpoint, Idaho have come together to form a potentially-revolutionary way to collect solar power. Using Scott’s design and know-how, Sandpoint will be the first town to use its roadways to collect solar power! A 20-year veteran of electrical engineering, Brusaw found that heated glass not only could collect solar energy but could still support even double the weight our roadways are currently designed for.
For a full article on this story, click here: Solar Roadways could produce over three times the electricity we use in the United States
Danny Broad Enters the ARENA
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced that commercial manager, Danny Broad, has been appointed by the Australian government to ARENA’s Board. Broad is expected to help ARENA in its efforts using the 2.4 billion dollar mandate to improve competiveness and use of renewable energy in Australia. For more on this story, read the full article here:: Danny Broad appointed to the board of ARENA
Bottom Line: Wind and Solar Are Cheaper
The European Commission has published a thorough study regarding the different types of energy their cost. The result? The cheapest sources of energy come from solar and wind power.
While many argue that coal is cheap and government support for renewable energy is costly, fossil fuels have again been shown to cost more in the long term when taking into account health impacts, climate change, and resource depletion. While many state that those costs shouldn’t count since they are not within the realm of direct cost, it is hardly illogical to include them in the research for the overall cost, unless your vision only extends to the next election!
With that said, there are many variables at play both in the use of energy and variables in energy standards from country to country. For a more in-depth look, click here.
Why Labor Need To Hold Firm On The RET
The government’s starting RET offer which reduces the legislated, previously bipartisan, and pre-election commitment of 41,000 gigawatt hours per year of renewable energy down to 27,000 has been turned down by the Labor Party. Why? Not just because of the environment, but because of economics.
By cutting the target almost in half, billions of dollars invested in the creation of solar and wind power generating devices will go to waste, and billions of dollars of investment will not happen. The 100 job losses at a wind turbine component manufacturer in Portland, Vic announced yesterday is just the beginning. Not to mention that power prices would continue to climb due to expensive fossil fuels picking up the slack.
Abbott and his cronies are trying to destroy a policy they promised not to touch. Then when Labor won’t co-operate they blame the opposition for the uncertainty that is destroying businesses. Read more about this story here.
Experts Say Savage RET Cuts Will Line The Pockets Of Big Energy
Ian McFarlane and environmental minister Greg Hunt have proposed a huge reduction in the RET from the legislated (and previously bi-partisan) 41,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy to 27,000 gigawatt hours by 2020. However, doing this will put billions of dollars worth of renewable energy investment at risk while boosting the profits of their mates in the fossil fuel business. For more information, click here.
They have taken a baseball bat to a policy that has been stable and bipartisan for 4 election cycles, and are blaming the opposition for the mess, because Labour refuse to join in the savage beating. It is very clear that the whole RET policy has been corrupted by the politics of fear and anger. Fear that renewable energy champions (in their eyes: all Greenie Hippies who are somehow “anti electricity”) might have been right all along and anger that anything might challenge the supremacy of the coal industry that has lined their biggest supporters’ pockets for so long.
(They have also promised that solar will be “untouched”. Which is rubbish. Although they are not proposing changes to the residential (small scale) solar scheme, they are still proposing a reduction from 100kW to 10kW in the maximum size of a commercial system that is eligible for rebates. This would really hurt the commercial solar market. Not to mention that meddling with the system could cause the price of STCs to plunge)
Is Greg Hunt running scared?
Greg Hunt’s taxpayer funded whiteboard yesterday.
Ever noticed how shrill Environment Minister Greg Hunt is getting these days readers? The man once considered the smiling face of the Abbott’s administration’s policy of dismantling of renewable energy appears to have lost all control in recent weeks.
I refer of course to Gregory’s extraordinary attack on John Grimes, the head of the Australian Solar Council this week on the ABC’s Mornings program in Brisbane. The minister sank the boot into the respected chief executive of the Council saying he should be “ashamed” of hinself and accused him of duplicity. Which sounds quite funny coming from a politician.
So what disturbed the minister so much to resort to this type of debating technique? [Read more…]
Is Abbott about to axe the Solar Rebate (and push solar prices through the roof) ?
What does Abbott have in store for solar?
Well, I woke up this morning to a beautiful spring day. Only to see an inbox full of emails telling me that, according to the Australian Financial Review, Tony Abbott has already decided to scrap the Renewable Energy Target (RET) no matter what his review panel advises.
Bummer!
Let’s see what the rest of the papers have to say on the matter. Well, the most recent article I can find, published at 9am, is telling me that the government maintains it has absolutely no intention of scrapping the RET.
Hmmmmm. [Read more…]
Big Energy Has a Big Problem…But They Want YOU to Fix It
Big energy has a big “problem”. What’s the problem?
Competition. Competition from whom? From Australian citizens like you who’ve told the big power companies, “We’ll generate our own power, using solar technology. Thank you very much. Shut the door on your way out.”
Why is this “big a problem”? Well, it’s simple economics that whenever a supplier generates way more “product” than the market demands, that product’s price drops through the floor. And simple economics is biting Big Energy in the arse.
Like a pit bull terrier.
But it’s their fault. They stuck their arse out to be bitten. [Read more…]
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