Renewable Energy News

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/17/body-global-wind-power-capacity-increased-19-percent-in-2012.jpg" /pWind power surged to a new record in 2012 with nearly 45 gigawatts (GW) of new installations, a 10 percent increase from 2011, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)'s Annual Market Update. Global installed capacity increased roughly 19 percent to 282.6 GW, which is slightly below the 22 percent average annual growth rate over the last 10 years./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/17/body-lockheed-reignwood-to-build-ocean-thermal-power-plant-for-china.jpg" /pLockheed Martin Corp. and China's Reignwood Group will build a plant to generate electricity from differences in ocean temperatures, using technology the U.S. defense company previously worked on in the 1970s./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/17/body-kiva-makes-microfinancing-for-solar-energy-available-in-developing-nations.jpg" /pImagine this: You’re in a developing nation with little access to electricity. In fact, you don’t have access to a grid, or enough electricity to keep a refrigerator and a light on and water filtered in your home. Or, if you have a generator, you can barely afford to pay for the expensive diesel that keeps it running. Now imagine that you’re in the/p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/17/body-renewables-are-bright-spot-in-bleak-low-carbon-outlook.jpg" /pToday in New Delhi the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed the latest figures from its annual report on global progress towards a low-carbon future. The agency addressed its report to a meeting of the Clean Energy Ministerial, a group of ministers representing nations that collectively emit four-fifths of global greenhouse gases./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/17/body-solar-trade-war-finding-pv-peace-amidst-clashing-factions.jpg" /pSolar has the potential to reinvent the way the world powers itself. Already a $100 billion industry, solar must be considered a key element in the world's response to climate change and the global need to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Global trade issues, however, threaten the ability of the solar industry to make a major contribution to the most pressing issue of our time. While countries try to fine-tune and engineer fair trade policies, the world grows warmer. We need to find a way through the current crisis and mobilize all stakeholders in the industry — and that includes just about everyone — to help resolve trade conflicts and remove trade barriers that thwart the rapid adoption of renewable energies. If we're serious about solar energy adoption, we need solutions to the world's current trade conflicts./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/4/body-overhauling-the-third-power-plant-at-grand-coulee-dam.jpg" /pWork several years in the making is about to commence at the Third Power Plant of the 6,809-MW Grand Coulee project in Washington. Rehabilitation of all six units, including potential uprating of three of them, will ensure continued reliable operation of this valuable asset and a possible extra 240 MW in generating capacity./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/12/body-building-a-solar-database-to-give-investors-tlc.jpg" /pOne of the recurring themes in solar energy projects -- and for renewable energy projects writ-large -- is making them attractive to investors and capital. Put another way, it's giving investors some "TLC": Transparency, Longterm/Longevity, and Certainty./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/12/body-nrel-and-doe-announce-10-teams-in-national-collegiate-wind-competition.jpg" /pLet the competition begin. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released the 10 schools that will compete in the inaugural National Collegiate Wind Competition (NCWC). NCWC is unlike many other energy innovation challenges we’ve seen in the past, which tend to focus on technology design and de/p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/12/body-five-takeaways-from-2012s-record-wind-performance.jpg" /pOn Thursday the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) offered more insights into the U.S. wind industry's record-setting performance in 2012, showing trends in project development, geographic proliferation, offtaker and investor activity, and transmission./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/12/body-australias-ballooning-gas-exports-may-lead-to-record-investment-in-renewables.jpg" /pAustralia's $65 billion of projects to export liquefied natural gas from the east coast are set to push up domestic prices, opening the way for record investment at home in competing energy sources to produce power./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/12/body-utility-solar-business-model-flaws-cps-energys-suncredit-isnt-the-answer.jpg" /pAs an owner of a small (16 kWp) PV plant, the local utility recently informed me that they would soon be discontinuing net metering in favor of a fixed payment per renewably produced kWh (cheerily termed a SunCredit), which is to be determined annually. Specifically, the retail value of a grid-delivered kWh is 9.9 cents while the value of a PV produced kWh is only 57% of that (5.6 cents). The remaining 4.3 cents per kWh is absorbed in the costs of transmission lines, transformers, administration, maintenance and the like./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/12/body-arundo-is-better-than-switchgrass-for-biomass-power-generation.jpg" /pArundo donax, the ancient species of Giant Reed that may have hidden Moses along the Nile River more than 3500 years ago, could also go a long way in solving the U.S.' 21st century biomass to energy needs. That is, if it can overcome regulatory hurdles and environmentalists bent on characterizing this tall grass as an "out of control" invasive species./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/8/body-nevada-renewable-energy-roundtable-barriers-to-development-and-future-prospects.jpg" /pNevada's alternative energy sector has seen a plethora of hills and valleys in recent years. From federal funding challenges to educating the general populace about alternative energy, the sector has seen its share of challenges. Recently, executives representing various alternative energy interests throughout the state met at the Reno offices of City National Bank to discuss these issues and the future of alternative energy./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/12/body-geothermal-energy-capacity-expected-to-more-than-double-by-2030.jpg" /pGeothermal energy capacity will more than double by 2030 as developing economies including Indonesia, Chile and Kenya take advantage of natural resources, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/11/body-shared-solar-do-you-pre-qualify.jpg" /pChoose any of the following that may apply: A) Do you have a shaded roof or one that is not structurally designed to bear load? B) Do you rent or share your roof with other households or businesses? C) Is your home or business in an historic district or one with strict aesthetic building codes? D) Do you have little interest in maintaining an on-si/p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/11/body-better-monitoring-and-diagnostics-tackle-algae-biofuel-pond-crash-problem.jpg" /pSandia National Laboratories is developing a suite of complementary technologies to help the emerging algae industry detect and quickly recover from algal pond crashes, an obstacle to large-scale algae cultivation for future biofuels./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/3/26/body-what-does-warren-buffett-see-in-solar.jpg" /pEveryone wants to see inside Warren Buffett's head. One of the world's most successful investors, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is a rock star among those who check the markets before their breakfast. His annual shareholder letters are famous, generating the kind of hoopla among his followers as a just-released Harry Potter novel does among children. Even U.S. President Barack Obama listens to Buffett, or at least he quotes him often. In fact, headline writers have come to call Buffett the 'Oracle of Obama', a play on the Nebraska native's nickname of the 'Oracle of Omaha'./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/3/23/body-new-turbine-technology-the-future-is-larger-offshore.jpg" /pWith annual market growth of almost 10 percent, and cumulative capacity growth of about 19 percent according to the latest figures from the Global Wind Energy Council, the wind sector continued to make robust progress in 2012. But while these figures suggest a relatively buoyant market for installations, perhaps a more accurate way to judge the health of the wind sector is to consider investment in RD, and more specifically the products of that research, development and testing./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/10/body-the-next-challenge-for-geothermal-turning-the-corner-towards-private-investment.jpg" /pEarly this year, the U.S. geothermal industry caught a rare win with the passage of a PTC provision that allows projects to qualify for the tax credit as long as they are "under construction" by the end of the year. Many had been hopeful that the provision would help kickstart geothermal development in the U.S. Today, however the industry is still waiting for a clear definition of what "under construction" means, which is making it difficult for investors to feel confident enough to pull the trigger on new projects./p

img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2013/4/10/body-first-solar-acquires-tetrasun-announces-plans-to-target-rooftop-solar-market.jpg" /pFirst Solar Inc., the solar manufacturer that gets almost two-thirds of sales from building and selling utility-scale power plants, agreed to buy TetraSun, a startup developing photovoltaic technology for rooftops./p