December 14th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
A cruel twist of fate may have let the world’s major polluters off again. Unfortunately following the African nations’ walkout earlier in the 15th Conference of Parties in Copenhagen, the US and developed nations have been able to divert attention away from the serious issue of their own pollution levels, to the less important issue of controlling growth over developing countries’ emissions. Courtesy of Recharge News a new sculpture in Copenhagen captures the reality of the situation, poor nations carrying the rich, in “The Survival of the Fattest”.
December 10th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
Although China recently exceeded the US as the largest annual polluter, the US became the largest global polluter ever by overtaking the UK in 1910 with around 21bn tonnes cumulatively each at the time. US industrial growth has since given the US a cumulative carbon footprint of 334bn tonnes, as estimated in 2006 since 1751. When compared with China at 100bn tonnes, the UK at 72bn tonnes, Japan at 46bn tonnes and Germany at 41bn tonnes, it is easy to see who should take the most responsibility for global warming.
Take in to account that the US carbon footprint has tripled (from 110bn tonnes) in the past 50 years alone, during which time the exact same country has become by far the strongest economy in the World. It takes decades for carbon dioxide to have full effect on our eco-systems and these results of global warming (such as Hurricane Katrina which is recognised as a global warming influenced invent) are only now being noticed more and more in the last decade. Let’s hope that the US takes responsibility for their emissions at the Copenhagen Conference of Parties next week and make a financial commitment proportional to their impact on global warming.
Keep up to date with the COP15 progress as the US and other developed countries hopefully acknowledge their responsibilities to not only the developing World but our own children’s futures, here: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2942
December 1st, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
As the Conference of Parties in Copenhagen approaches next week, 192 nations of the World prepare to meet to solve the global pollution problem and find a workable replacement to the Kyoto Protocol. Being something that the US has still not signed up to, what was desperately needed to add weight to this gathering was an official emissions-reduction target from the United States. However the US and China, the 2 largest polluters in the World responsible for 50% of global pollution, have given us little more than a publicity stunt.
Following an historic meeting in mid November 2009, both President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China and President Obama of the United States of America, outlined their “Action Plan”. In this the US and Chinese administration agreed to invest US$150m (yes million, not billion) over 5 years in “research & development” toward mitigating climate change. Breaking it down, they will be investing $75m each over 5 years, so $15m each, each year. It doesn’t take much to see through these glossy magazine-selling statistics and realise that this is little more than a get-out-of-Copenhagen-free card.
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November 16th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
Although you may not be aware, all the World’s largest corporations are rapidly purchasing as much-endangered rainforest as possible. Why would they do this you ask? To which the simple answer is that they are all highly undervalued and so a very good investment!
All multi-national corporations have enormous global carbon footprints, and only in the coming years will this officially become a financial burden to them as global governments slowly enforce various methods of what is effectively an emissions tax. As the underlying unit of CO2 emissions is the carbon credit, and rainforests are the largest organic owner of carbon credits, the investment decision is an easy one.
With deforestation the root cause of around 20% of global carbon dioxide pollution, “reduction of emissions from deforestation and degradation” (REDD) projects should be accepted by the UNFCCC this December in Copenhagen. Once this occurs, implemented REDD projects will have carbon credit values within the Kyoto Treaty’s “Clean Development Mechanism” giving them enormous inherent financial value. Rather than wait for this decision most MNC’s have made their minds up, taken the bull by the horns, and are buying their stock at “pre-launch prices”. The Rainforest Rush is on!
As scientists worldwide perfect their analysis techniques including using satellite technologies, the carbon stock already stored and the sequestration rates of forests are being calculated and rainforests evaluated. It isn’t every forest of course. Only those that are officially endangered by a high risk of deforestation, in countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, will pass the rigorous REDD standards.
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October 23rd, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
With the climate change conference in Copenhagen just 6 weeks away, these may unknowingly be the most important time of all our lives. Officials from over 190 countries are charged with the simple task of agreeing how to continue the global fight against climate change, and take over from the Kyoto Protocol. With many of the most fundamental issues still in dispute, we await with baited breath.
As a recent report from the WWF outlined that we have less than 5 years to stop uncontrollable climate change, hopefully by now the climate change scheptics would have been educated long ago. It seems however they remain steadfast in their own self-denial, be it adamant, ignorant or just stupid. With Nasa, UN and independent scientists and scholars all around the World pointing out that drastic and immediate measures need to be taken to prevent a 2˚C temperature rise, hopefully there will be no doubters in Copenhagen! And why the concern over a 2 degree increase? Only that a catastrophic breakdown of ecosystems, leading to mass migration, poverty, hunger and drought, with half of all animals and plants going extinct and a large sea level rise, and massive change in weather patterns. This has been forecast to occur at current rates WITHIN THE NEXT 35 YEARS.
Droughts, acidic oceans and melting glaciers are the most simple signs of accelerated global warming, a United Nations report said recently. Mountain glaciers in Asia are melting at such advanced rates that they could threaten water supplies far sooner than expected, including irrigation and hydropower, affecting up to 25% of the World’s population.
So with regards to Copenhagen, what is really making this all so difficult? Our complete dependence on fossil fuels and an inability to realise an affordable and scaleable replacement is the main problem. Of course this is not helped by the fact that developed nations like China and the US have such high levels of pollution, and yet dont seem willing to even announce let alone stick to emission reduction targets. A fundamental change in developed society, how we live, how we travel, how we eat, will all need to occur if society is to have any chance of preventing climate change. Our lives will change drastically in the coming years, of that there is no doubt. Are we ready and willing for this? Perhaps also the largest single issue with the Kyoto Protocol was that the developed nations need the less-developed nations to help them reach their emission reduction targets, but dont seem willing to pay for it! With just over 6 weeks to go, these are nervous times indeed.
August 29th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
Indonesia is recognised as the World’s largest greenhouse gas polluter through deforestation. With the release of CO2 in to the atmosphere through deforestation responsible for 20% of global greenhouse pollution, practically the largest single reason for global warming, Indonesia is in the limelight. Unfortunately with high levels of press exposure concerning illegal deforestation in Indonesia for the purpose of Palm Oil plantations, competing with potential food crops, the situation needs quickly addressing.
Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, or “REDD” as it is known, is one of the most crucial topics to be addressed by the UN in Copenhagen this December. It is widely accepted by experts that limiting the rise in global temperature to 2˚C above pre-industrial levels (the level at which widespread ecosystem breakdown is forecast) will be almost impossible without REDD.
Once the International Panel on Climate Change present their findings in Copenhagen to the World governments it is hoped that necessary financial mechanisms will be implemented that correctly incentivize 3rd World governments such as Indonesia to not only protect existing rainforest but replant new forests. Only then will the Kyoto Protocol’s effective successor have taken the crucial action in attempting to mitigate climate change.
Mean while, with over a billion tons of CO2 emissions from its forests and peatlands, Indonesia has pre-empted the UNFCC’s decision and officially issued national regulations on REDD. Now all forest stakeholders, be they private organisations, local authorities or indigenous people, can all acquire REDD permits for projects that prove they prevent CO2 otherwise entering the atmosphere.
Should a large %age of Indonesia’s current deforestation be prevented, and if REDD is accepted in to Kyoto’s existing CDM system, then the potential carbon credit trading value for Indonesia will run in to US$ bns. We can only hope that in Copenhagen this winter the World’s governments can reach an agreement for this vital solution to global climate change, and financially motivate everyone to protect their forests.
July 5th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
In April 2009 timber prices had fallen 28% year-on-year, the biggest price decline in the last decade. Many investors baulked, however forestry investment still outperformed both real estate and equities over a three-year annualised basis, according to the Investment Property Databank. However experienced timber investors will ignore this knee-jerk reaction and remain confident with their knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals that separate the timber market from other investment classes that have suffered so much recently. With biological growth rates, relatively accurate forecasts can be made from historical data to predict a tree’s wood volume delivery rate. Considering the long slow and stable growth period between planting a seed to harvesting the asset, the timber market supply is therefore a relatively stable one. Only in the past decade as a result of the construction industry boom has some instability crept in to the demand-side of the market, rallying the market and driving prices faster than previously expected. Some believe that due to the halt in construction a knock-on effect will make timber market values plummet, however a few crucial factors need considering that will prevent this occurring;
Timber growth is a long slow process and a housing construction crash now will not affect today’s timber production cycle in any way. Wood will either be harvested and sold at current slightly lower market prices, giving investors a slightly lower IRR when considering the number of years the investment is made, otherwise it will be stored rather than sold. Neither of these actions will directly drive prices down.
Timber plantations and investments also have a much lower gearing level than that of all other financial instruments during recent years, such as COO for equities and mortgages for real estate. Lower gearing within both the supply and demand-side of any market directly results in a much less volatile price market. With very little credit entering the marketing, rallying and driving prices and attracting price speculation, and subsequently deserting and in turn deflating the market, timber prices are so much more stable.
One more crucial difference between the timber markets and other investment assets is the ability to create complex financial instruments. In the equity markets all number of derivative and option markets, hedge funds and funds of funds, have skewed the perceived true value of the underlying assets and enabled the derivative market to become more “valuable” than the asset itself. In the real estate world, the off-plan investment model was devised that was dangerously exacerbated by off plan financing, further enabling re-writing of short-term contracts and falsely inflating market prices.
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June 20th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Renewable Energy
Hefty upfront costs and heavy bulky units with installation issues are the two main problems restraining the proliferation of traditional solar panels in decentralized locations. Due to technological breakthroughs this may soon now change.
Lightweight and flexible thin-film technology discovered by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in conjunction with the Department of Energy in the 1990’s is now being applied specifically to solar panels. Traditional solar panel systems physically limit any installations’ capacity, whereas the flexible thin-film technology is expected to have far greater architectural applications, potentially integrated in to all large building surfaces.
Researchers at Vitex, owners of the technology license, are investigating how to apply their encapsulation and moisture-barrier technology to solar panels made from Cadmium Telluride, CdTe, the latest in efficient photo-voltaic panels. For building applications the new think-film flexible solar panels will need to withstand harsh UV light and also 25 years of Mother Nature’s worst. Their second major challenge is making this a commercially viable alternative by enabling mass production in order to reduce the costs and make the electricity produced challenge current utilities $/KW.
Governments and major companies continue to focus on centralized solar power stations using combinations of Solar Thermal Energy Generation (Concentrated Solar Power using mirrors) and traditional photo-voltaic cells. PG&E for example have over 300MW of solar capacity installed and almost 2 GW under planning. However this thin-film technology is a giant leap forward towards de-centralising the supply and therefore reducing transportation and storage losses.
Companies such as Evolution Solar Corporation see solar as the major growth industry as our economies move towards more green energy solutions. “With prices dropping and efficiency rising, we see solar as the next big thing in alternative energy at a time when demand is being pushed hard by Congress and the Obama administration” stated Robert Keepke, CEO of Evolution Solar Corp. EVSO commercialise alternative solar energy and related photo-voltaic technologies, equipment and next generation appliances. They expect to grow rapidly along with competitors such as Sun Power, First Solar, Trina Solar and LDK Solar Co.
June 19th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Renewable Energy
The inspirational DESERTEC foundation has recently received a boost to its program from a consortium of German energy companies dedicated to constructing enormous solar thermal plants in North Africa.
DESERTEC itself is a foundation set up to support, assist and advise all those interested in developing energy projects in global deserts. DESERTEC’s Founder Dr Gerhard Knies states “Within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year”.
One of DESERTEC’s major stakeholders is TREC, the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Corporation, whose goals are to supply European energy demands by harnessing the enormous solar energy potential within North Africa.
The German consortium including around 20 major energy and financial groups such as Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Munich Re, intend on investing up to €400bn on developing solar thermal energy projects in the most politically stable regions of North Africa. It is believed that over the course of ten years, the ultimate potential could be to provide up to 15% of Europe’s total energy demands.
Fingers crossed for an incredibly ambitious project that could have significant impact on reduction of Carbon Dioxide from alternative coal-fired power stations.
June 18th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Renewable Energy
With over 5 Trillion MWh per annum received from the sun every year, India’s future solar power production potential is obviously enormous.
Thankfully the Indian government have been working on a “National Solar Mission”, which outlines the plans for a national target of 10% of national grid supply by 2012, 20GW solar power production by 2020, 100GW by 2030 and an enormous 200GW by 2050.
India already possesses a solid PV manufacturing base, with 19 PV module manufacturing planets and total annual production around 300 MW, however 85% is currently exported. India also already has 33 solar power plants connected to its grid however with transmission and distribution losses large over long distances, many more in distributed locations are required. The plan encompasses a broad range of implementation from building large-scale solar plants, both PV and CSP, installing solar power units in existing power plants to onsite rooftop installation of PV cells on major buildings including telecom towers.
To finance these dream targets, the government requires around $20bn over the next 30 years which will be generated by taxing fossil fuel industries and supply chains as well as funds already promised from developed nations. India also plans to remove taxes on imported solar equipment and subsidize semi-conductor industries to ignite the local PV manufacturing market.
With a booming high-tech manufacturing industry and a skilled labour base, India hopes that within the next 10 years their mass production and technological improvements will have pushed solar energy production down to $8 cents /KWhr, making it a financially competitive alternative to fossil fuels.
With over 5 Trillion MWh per annum, India could easily survive on solar power alone, so we watch with anticipation as this program rolls out.
June 17th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Bio-fuels
A leading Los Angeles bio-fuel company has recently filed numerous patents for unique processes developed for the mass production of photo-synthetic micro-algae cultivation and oil extraction. Previously discarded as impossible to reproduce on an industrialized commercial scale, these latest technologies appear scale-able and if proven could revolutionise the bio-fuels market.
Micro-algae is proven to produce 100’s of times more oil per acre than soybeans - currently the U.S leading biodiesel source - and like its other green relatives only requires water, sunlight and CO2 to grow. Not only does micro-algae produce far more oil per acre, and ABSORB CO2 during its growth (making it carbon-neutral once burnt in combustion engines), it also grows very fast - doubling in volume every few hours under the right conditions.
With the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007, the US is required to quadruple its biofuel production to 36 bn gallons by 2022, less than half of which can come from corn-based ethanol. With an agricultural land-war occurring and resultant surging food prices, Origin Oil’s timing is crucial and their technological advances could make history.
So what have Origin Oil done that no scientists before could? Several important things; Firstly, using a technique they call “Quantum Fracturing”, they create a slurry of micron-sized water, CO2 and nutrient particles which can then be introduced to the algae in a low-pressure environment without disrupting it. The pressure differential and also the micron-sized bubbles ensure a very high absorption rate and a much greater volume of hydrocarbons are produced. Secondly the “Quantum Fractured” CO2 slurry is introduced in the “Helix BioReactor”, a rotating vertical shaft that maximises the algae growth by carefully positioning low energy lights in a helix spiral, essentially multi-layering the growth layers. Thirdly, as algae grows exponentially through cell division, 10% of the algae produced is in effect “recycled” back in to the Helix BioReactor to ensure swift continuation of the growth-phase of the next batch. Finally, whereas oil extraction has previously been costly and energy-intensive, Origin Oil this time “fracture” the algae cells using pulsed electromagnetic fields to “crack” the algae membrane, then allowing gravity to take effect and release the oil. To see the amazing separation in action over a 1 hour time period, visit and watch the extraordinary process at www.originoil.com
June 16th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Renewable Energy
Following much resistance from local campaigners and negative publicity and fines due to illegally de-foresting beyond the necessary limits, the “Energia Sustentavel do Brasil” have finally been awarded the environmental licence to complete the 3.3 GW Amazonian hydro plant.
Energia Sustantavel do Brasil won the rights to the R$9bn dam on the Madeira river after offering to sell electricity at just over R$71 per MWhr. Having won the project however they then tried to move the site 9km downstream and the projects environmental license had to be re-assessed.
The State of Rondonia will receive R$90m in environmental compensation funds, including a land swap for alternative existing forest and also R$69m to go to Porto Velho some 120km from the dam, to go toward schools and public housing.
The dam is expected to start producing energy in 2012.
June 12th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
Its not all good news in the evolution of the voluntary carbon markets. Papua New Guinea has the highest deforestation rates in the World, significantly affecting PNG’s and global carbon sequestration levels.
With illegal and legal logging rife in PNG and Indonesia, financial incentives are crucial to prevent further deforestation and motivate reforestation. Forests carbon credit value are already calculated and traded on the Voluntary Carbon Markets, however the Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) initiative must be ratified at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December 2009 to make these valuations official and regulated.
In the mean time, considering the potential financial / carbon-offset value these forests may have in the future, developed countries are jostling for control over developing countries forests and reforestation opportunities. Should the carbon credits be accredited or not, distribution and sales of these credits is also a highly pursued market. In PNG suspicious government activity has cast a shadow over the future forest carbon credit market and even attracted the attention of Interpol. Peter Younger from Interpol told Reuters that he expected to see fraudulent trading of carbon credits, as organised crime infiltrates the systems of companies and countries in the developed world’s buying rights to the stored carbon.
The PNG government “Office of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability” OCCES recently awarded two brokers the opportunity to sell $500m of carbon credits allocated to one rainforest “April Salome” in return for a payment of US$8m to assist the agency set-up. In the memo seen by Reuters, the officer requesting sign-off from the PNG Prime Minister also highlighted that the OCCES would receive 20% share of the brokers ongoing profit.
April Salome is expected to generate up to 1m tonnes of avoided carbon dioxide emissions, and with the voluntary market valuing these credits around $8/tonne, the annual revenue to be generated from the credit sales is significant. Whilst the PNG government have now stated that an “open tendering” system will be in place for brokers to win the business, one broker firm “South Pole Carbon Asset Management” claims to have all the legal documents giving it rights to sell April Salome. They are already selling the carbon rights despite the project not yet approved or validated by any third party according to Reuters.
With the UN Conference in Copenhagen still a long way off, this will be a very interesting summer and will hopefully show all the weaknesses the existing market has. Fingers crossed this will enable policy makers to make the critical decisions in implementing the right system to motivate a fully global movement toward forest protection and sustainable reforestation.
June 11th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
Alarming news was released recently following an imperative study by some of the World’s leading scientists. A collective from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), some of whom have been studying climate change for decades, produced startling results from their “Integrated Global Systems Model”.
This model is the most detailed computer simulation ever designed and studies the interaction between the most important aspects of global economic activity and the resulting climate change occurrences. In this recent test the model was programmed to run over 400 computational iterations, each one input with different variables and simulating the resulting climate change over the coming century.
Results were extremely alarming. From the iterations ran, the “best case scenario” for global surface temperature by the year 2100 was an increase of 3.4 degrees Celsius. This is less than a century away, in our grandchildren’s lifetimes. It is widely accepted that a temperature increase of this proportion will drastically change the face of global weather patterns, in a negative manner. Should this occur, and the Worlds leading scientists predict it will, then we can expect far more floods, monsoons, hurricanes, droughts and wild-fires.
From the 400 iterations, the “worst case scenario” calculated that if we do nothing to prevent our current CO2 emissions growth rates that the potential surface temperature could increase by as much as 7 degrees Celsius.
If anyone is equipped enough and wishes to challenge the MIT teams‘ results and theories, then they should step forward urgently. However in the mean time I think we should all be investing everything we have in to saving our environment.
June 10th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Bio-fuels
An interesting announcement was released last Thursday in Washington DC at an eco-aviation conference, concerning tests that were conducted by Air New Zealand at the very end of 2008 in which they blended natural Jatropha oil 50/50 with standard jet fuel on a Boeing 747 flight.
During a 12-hour flight the bio-fuel blend required 1.4 TONS LESS of this jet-fuel-blend than with standard jet fuel, and more importantly this weight saving and energy efficiency also resulted in a REDUCTION OF 4.5 TONS of CO2 EMISSIONS. Whilst this only represents a 1.2% improvement in fuel burnt, Air New Zealand believe that with fuller Jatropha-blended jet fuels the weight and efficiency savings could potentially result in up to 60% REDUCTION IN GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS compared to existing petroleum-based jet fuels.
Most within the industry all concur that bio-fuels should be integrated in to the aviation fuel regulations, however those drafting the regulations are concerned with bio-fuel inadequate supply. Billy Glover, Head of Environmental Strategy for Boeing, says the problem is not with bio-fuel’s performance, however whether they can grow, refine and supply it fast enough!
For this reason various alternatives to Jatropha are being investigated such as babassu, algae and camelina. With our recent affinity, or addiction, for air-travel, it seems to me we should be making as much as humanly possible.
May 25th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon, Electric Vehicles, Renewable Energy
Popularity for, and the future of, the high-spec electric car industry is now further confirmed as Daimler invest US$50m for just 9% of Tesla Motors Inc. Daimler follow behind several other wise investors such as Musk, founder of PayPal Inc, who invested US$70m in Tesla last year along with the owners of Google Inc.
This latest investment now gives Tesla Motors a market value of around US$550m – nearly half the value of automobile giant General Motors. Considering Tesla have sold less than 500 cars in total, whilst GM sold over 8m vehicles in 2008, this valuation seems unusual. However with GM supposedly facing bankruptcy later this year, these latest valuations show the reality of the changing market sentiment. Supported by Obama’s latest bill, larget monster gas-guzzling trucks are now “out” and super-healthy super-slick environmentally conscious electric cars are most definitely “in”.
Stuttgart-based Daimler are owners of the european popular Smart Car and as such are increasingly interested in the most advanced electric car battery-technology. This investment displays their intent on pursuing this industry and Daimler’s realisation that the high-end electric car market will also be one for capture.
May 23rd, 2009 Posted by Admin in Renewable Energy
Brazil’s current installed wind turbines delivers just 341 MW, a tiny fraction of the global wind output of over 100GW and miniscule compared to Spain the World’s 3rd largest producer with a 17GW capacity. However things look set to change.
In the north-east states of Ceara and Rio Grande do Norte the windswept coastlines provide the perfect opportunity for wind farm development. Previously the costs related to storage and transportation from more remote locations have hindered progress, however the long-term benefits from this free renewable energy source are now finally appreciated.
This November the Brazilian government will hold its first wind power auction in which it is expected to buy around 1GW of generating capacity from competing firms …. enough to power 1m average Brazilian homes. With over 4500 miles of blustery coast, Brazil has the potential to deliver up to 140 GW of wind energy – enough to power 140m homes. Considering Brazil’s population is a “mere” 190m at the moment, wind energy production on this scale would have a significant influence on the grid.
The government intend on delivering 1GW per annum taking it to 10GW within the decade, making it 5% of national energy supply and a significant step towards their climate change plans. Whilst Brazil has no formal target of renewable energy supply by 2020, Brazil does have the significant advantage of having enormous solar power, hydro power and bio-fuel projects and ongoing potential, so we expect to see Brazil taking a leading role in renewable energy development over the years to come.
May 22nd, 2009 Posted by Admin in Carbon
China issued a surprisingly pleasant statement last week outlining that developed nations should aim to cut their GHG emissions by 40% by 2020 from 1990 levels.
China is believed to be one of the largest GHG emitters with a thriving industrialised economy powered by coal-fired power stations. China’s coal-fired energy is predicted to continue growing for the next few decades however China is also leading the way in carbon sequestration technology development.
The statement, issued by the National Development and Reform Comission, was intended to lay out China’s opinion prior to the Copenhagen summit this December, which will attempt to take over from the previou Kyoto protocols. They also clearly stated that the new policies resulting from Copenhagen must ensure to include all countries which did not previously ratify the Kyoto Agreement – a direct jibe at the US.
Hopefully the next 6 months will see the power players jostling for position and control, each country hoping to enter the Copenhagen conference seen as the leader in order to direct policies to their benefit. Either way, as long as aggressive targets are agreed upon such as this recent one from China, the results will be positive!
May 21st, 2009 Posted by Admin in Electric Vehicles, Renewable Energy
At the current rate of global emission, drastic changes in our habits and lifestyles are needed now. US President Obama seems more than aware of this, and has taken the bold step in forcing through a bill which has been under argument in the US for the past 5 years.
As of 2012, all US car manufacturers will have to improve their fuel efficiency by 5% per annum and reach a target of 39mpg for all cars by 2016. This is estimated by the US administration as the equivalent of removing 177 million cars off America’s road systems and cutting GHG emissions by 900m tCO2 … aka a significant amount! This net 40% efficiency increase is the equivalent of shutting down 194 coal plants, and will almost definitely mean the death of the gas-guzzling SUV’s - which have always been nothing less than an extravagance.
Not only forcing manufacturers to focus design and manufacture on smaller lighter vehicles, and move away from the “bigger is better” attitude, this is also an additional incentive for manufacturers to invest more time and effort in to the alternative fuel markets. Countries like Brazil have already successfully rolled out bio-fuel cars operating at better efficiencies than petrol, and with BMW, GM, Mitsubishi and Nissan all rolling out mass production electric cars, this will hopefully add the necessary impetus for further development in these fields.
Undoubtedly frustrating to many with personal interests in the oil industry, this is a hands down positive move by Barack Obama and just the kind of swift decisive action we need.
May 20th, 2009 Posted by Admin in Renewable Energy
At a cost of around €1.2bn, the 300MW solar energy plant being developed in the Andalucian countryside may eventually deliver enough energy to power 180,000 homes - the size of Sevilla itself.
Solar Thermal Electricity Generation is a far cheaper / kwh electricity generation method than photo-voltaic cells therefore this technology is certain to thrive in hot sunny environments with plenty of land. Mirrors track the sun’s path during the day, reflecting the light to a central tower at which point the thermal energy heats water pipes which in turn drive turbines to generate electricity. Whilst the technology is still being perfected, and STEG systems can only last up to 25 years, this will certainly be a major player in the future.
In Andalucia, various technologies are combined for the power plant, from low and high concentration photovoltaic to tower thermoelectric and parabolic-trough collectors. The PS10 solar power plant uses 624 enormous mirrors reflecting light to a central 115m high tower. Already under operation this system is working well and delivering electricity to Seville. An additional 1000 of these 120sqm mirrors are being installed to concentrate solar beams on a larger 165m tower. An additional 154 photo-voltaic receivers are also being integrated to deliver more power to the system before it reaches maximum capacity in 2013.
With enormous tracts of land available for energy development projects, Spain is already the 2nd biggest producer of Wind Energy in Europe, and as the sunniest country in Europe with several global solar-power leaders based here, Solar Power energy in Spain is already becoming very big business. Abengoa Solar is the Spanish company behind this development project, who have installations in America and North Africa also.
