Wednesday 21 May 2014

China eyes 70GW solar by 2017, by Brian Publicover, Recharge News, May 19, 2014

.By Brian Publicover in Tokyo 
 Monday, May 19 2014

China aims to have installed 70GW of solar capacity by 2017, according to a government document that sends another strong signal of the country’s ongoing ambitions in renewables
The country will ramp up solar installations over the next three years as part of a pollution-reduction programme, the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC) said in a statement on its website.
In its wider pronouncements on the issue, the NDRC also said that it wants the grid network connecting the northern cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan to draw 10% of its electricity from onshore wind farms by 2015 and 15% by 2017.
The latest statement on renewables represents “an accelerated roadmap for PV in China”, says Ray Lian, senior analyst at NPD Solarbuzz.
The authorities had already announced a target of 35GW of cumulative installations by 2015.
China installed about 10GW of solar in 2013, according to IHS. The research firm expects the country to install 4.8GW of rooftop capacity and 8GW of ground-mount PV this year.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), estimates the nation’s cumulative solar capacity at roughly 18GW by the end of last year.
In January, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) raised its target for new solar PV capacity installations to 14GW in 2014, from an initial goal of 12GW.
The fresh 2017 target raises expectations that China could exceed 100GW of installed PV capacity by 2020.
“In the past, (the authorities) officially announced 35GW by 2015 and were talking about 100GW by 2020,” Lian says. “But this is the first time that (the authorities) have set an official target for 2017.”
Distributed generation could account for more than half of the 2017 total, Lian says.
“It’s still far away, so it’s certainly achievable,” he adds. “But it will take a lot of effort by the government and the PV industry.”

Solar PV Majors see Bumper 2014, by Brian Publicover, Recharge News, May 21, 2014

By Brian Publicover in Tokyo 
 Wednesday, May 21 2014




Chinese manufacturers such as Canadian Solar, Trina Solar, Jinko Solar and ReneSola expect significant shipment growth in 2014, with the upper end of guidance surpassing 40%, according to data from NPD Solarbuzz.
Yingli Green Energy leads the pack in its bullish outlook for shipments this year, with the upper end of its guidance set at 4.2GW.
Blistering growth in Japan’s solar market is playing a key role in ratcheting up demand. Kyocera and Sharp, for example, each expect shipments to jump roughly 15% this year, mainly due to growth in their home markets, NPD Solarbuzz said.
The fortunes of the world’s top 20 solar panel makers offer insight into pricing and sector growth because they account for roughly two-thirds of total international shipments, said NPD Solarbuzz senior analyst Ray Lian in an online statement.
Lian said that the global industry’s leaders are also expected to post fatter profit margins this year as they reduce manufacturing costs and slash spending on new factories.

Sunday 18 May 2014

Australia Scraps $2.3B Renewable Energy Body by Anamaria Deduleasa, Recharge News, May 14, 2014

.By Anamaria Deduleasa in London 
 Wednesday, May 14 2014




While ARENA will maintain funds of A$1bn for about 180 projects – mostly R&D – that have been contracted since its creation in 2012, it will see its ongoing budget reduced to a scrap of its original A$2.3bn and its functions absorbed into the Department of Industry.
The move in the country's budget prompted anger among clean-energy supporters in the Australia – especially as the Coalition government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott will earmark just A$15m for the Department of Industry to fund new renewables projects and initiatives in 2015-2016 and a further A$15m in the two years after that.
The formation of ARENA was announced in 2011 when the former Labor government set it up to take over-arching control of 11 existing renewables programmes.
ARENA chair Greg Bourne said the change will leave the body with purely “token” funding – though he pointed out that the legislation that created ARENA will need to be repealed by the Australian Parliament before the government can fully implement the measures
Bourne added that ARENA will continue to work with stakeholders to deliver the already-awarded projects “as part of its mandate to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies and their uptake across Australia”.
ARENA’s Emerging Renewables Programme will apparently remain operational for now, but applicants should “take into consideration the Australian Government’s announced changes when developing applications for funding”.
According to the local Australian press, a big chunk of the funds saved from ARENA will be used to fund a huge roadbuilding programme.
Clean Energy Council (CEC) deputy chief executive Kane Thorton said “abolishing ARENA is a backwards step for the country” adding that it is “extremely disappointing to see the Federal Government withdraw its support, particularly when in opposition it had supported ARENA since its inception”.
Abbott’s government has taken a tough line with many of the renewables initiatives that a few years ago made Australia a policy favourite with global renewables advocates.
It plans to repeal the country’s carbon pricing scheme and has ordered a review of the nation’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) – with a strong suspicion the latter will be watered down.

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Renewable Energy Supports 6.5M Jobs in 2013, by Christopher Hopson, Recharge News, May 13, 2014

RE 'supports 6.5 million jobs'





The Irena report, Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2014, emphasises the important role renewables continue to play in creating employment and growth in the global economy.
The number demonstrates the substantial growth that the industry has undergone in just one year worldwide, expanding from 5.7 million in 2012, says Irena director-general Adnan Amin.
“With 6.5 million people directly or indirectly employed in renewable energy, the sector is proving that it is no longer a niche, it has become a significant employer worldwide,” adds Amin.
The growth is as a result of regional shifts in the renewables market, growing competition and advances in technology and manufacturing processes during 2013, says the report.
The agency says China saw a significant increase in annual installations and manufacturing of clean technology. It says that solar power installations rose five-fold between 2011 and 2013.
This meant China had the largest number of employees in the renewables industry, followed by Brazil, the US, India, Germany, Spain and Bangladesh.
The greatest numbers in renewables were employed by the solar industry, followed by biofuels, wind, biomass and biogas.
In the wind industry, China and Canada provided positives while the outlook for the US remains somewhat mixed because of political uncertainty.
Irena points out the offshore wind industry is still concentrated in Europe, particularly the UK and Germany.

Monday 12 May 2014

European Wind Energy Association Backs Green Free Trade by Christopher Hopson, Recharge News, May 9, 2014

EWEA backs 'green goods' free trade






The EU this week signalled its support for a new international free trade agreement designed to speed-up the roll-out of clean energy technologies.
“The Council supports the liberalisation of trade in environmental goods and services, given the important contribution this can make to the international environmental protection agenda and to action on climate change, as well as growth and jobs,” says the Council statement.
Earlier this year 14 World Trade Organisation members, including the EU, the US, China and Japan, agreed in Davos to commit to the “global free trade in environmental goods”.
EWEA says ending restrictions on the movement of key components used in wind turbines will help reduce the cost of wind energy by eliminating duties, which would create a more favourable investment climate.
The association welcomed a decision by EU foreign affairs ministers to back the so-called green goods initiative.
“Going forward, policymakers must work to ensure this initiative extends to all of the world’s major trading partners and not just a select few,” says Justin Wilkes, deputy CEO of EWEA.
“The next step is to broaden the negotiation to barriers other than tariffs which impede the globalisation of the wind energy supply chain – such as local content requirements,” he adds.
The aim of the initiative is to eliminate tariffs on a broad list of green goods. The discussions will not start from scratch, but build upon the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation’s list of 54 green goods.
Green goods are seen as a vital component in sustainable development, covering areas as diverse as tackling air pollution, managing waste, or generating renewable energy.

Friday 2 May 2014

Shale Oil and Gas: Neither Abundant nor Cheap by Jeremy Leggett, Recharge News, May 1, 2014

OPINION: Jeremy Leggett

Anti-fracking protesters in New York
Anti-fracking protesters in New York



Their research leads them to the view that we are “predictably irrational” in our thinking, individually and collectively.
This is a sobering analysis that most of us will immediately be inclined to reject, since another finding of neuroscience is that we tend to hate uncomfortable narratives. We much favour the comforting versions. Indeed, we are so predictably irrational that where a comforting narrative doesn’t exist, many of us tend to invent it.
Let us test these thoughts by looking at developments in energy and world affairs in recent weeks. Russia has invaded Crimea. The US and the EU are aghast. Hawks advocate a return to the Cold War, talking of an “energy weapon” with which to face down Vladimir Putin: exports of plentiful American oil and gas to Europe.
The US is, after all, well on its way to becoming Saudi America, self-sufficient in oil and gas, so the oil and gas industry professes. Hence, it can rid Ukraine, and others in Europe, of dependency on Russia’s pipelines.
This narrative has spread with the speed of a viral infection on both sides of the Atlantic. Pause for a touch of rationality, a few top-line facts.
The US consumes 18.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil. It produces 8.9 million bpd. Just which parts of that equation will it generously export?
Ah, but America is fracking vast amounts of oil from shale, I hear the hawks saying. National production will exceed consumption soon.
Will it indeed. The US has lifted production by a little over two million bpd in recent years, and done that by relying on shale regions where many of the sweet spots have already been drilled. That is why some people who are seeking to be rational predict declining overall US oil production from shale, starting in 2016.
fracking_quote.jpgThen what about gas? There is just so much American gas production — that can surely be exported and used in transport?
Yes, there is a lot of American gas. But not enough for significant exports. Conventional production has been dropping for years. Shale-gas production has reached its peak and is dropping, in every one of the major US productive areas save one, the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. When that peaks — expected soon by some observers with a taste for numbers — how is US production going to be maintained?
Because billions are being invested, cry the hawks. This is a bonanza!
It is a bonanza in your world of hype. In the real world, there are some inconvenient truths: $35bn of past investments have been written off by 15 of the main companies involved in shale since the “boom” began. Investment is falling fast as investors begin to smell a rat.
But let us not allow mere facts to get in the way of a comforting narrative. On 26 March the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission implored Barack Obama to free up some oil and gas exports to help them in confronting Putin.
Obama did not rule out such a generous act. However, the Europeans should get on with their own fracking programmes as well, he said.
Had a novelist dreamt all this up a decade ago, he or she would have been dismissed as an unrooted fantasist. But for sad energy-watchers like me, these days life seems stranger than art on a recurrent basis. It really does look as though those neuroscientists have a thing or two to teach us.
In the UK, half the government is desperate to frack its way to prosperity. One day in January, Prime Minister David Cameron went to the World Economic Forum and announced that he would be bringing manufacturers back to Britain with cheap fracked gas.
Wait a minute, PM, has anyone told you that American shale gas is only cheap because the industry is spending far more drilling it than it gets back from sales? The industry desperately needs a price rise. Otherwise, a huge bust could be just around the corner from the “boom”.
As for progress, the fracking industry in the UK is, by its own admission, years from any possibility of production — years wherein conservative rural Britain can easily gear itself up for the kind of protest that poses such great difficulties for wind power.
The true-blue protesters shouldn’t find it too difficult to find flash points. For example, the frackers are so desperate that they have lined up one of their candidate wells on a former munitions site. This is the truth.
And I mean, what could possibly go wrong fracking with explosives on a former munitions site, in a world in which rationality is predictably so rare, and where life is stranger than art?
All the evidence for this article can be found at www.jeremyleggett.net
Jeremy Leggett is founder and non-executive chairman of international PV company Solarcentury. His latest book, The Energy of Nations: Risk Blindness and the Road to Renaissance, is published by Routledge