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OPEC to cut oil production, tackling falling oil prices
OPEC ministers headed for Vienna on Monday to wrestle with the issue of falling oil prices, with analysts expecting them to agree to trim output to help keep crude above $100 a barrel.
The question facing OPEC, which is to hold a meeting Tuesday, is when, not if, to cut its oil production target as crude prices slide in the face of weakening global economic growth, analysts say.
Most observers expect the 13 nation cartel to agree to reduce its output informally before waiting until later, possibly at a scheduled gathering in Dec, to alter its official output target.
The informal cut will be achieved by members, mainly Saudi Arabia, agreeing to cut their excess production above their OPEC quota, which would remove oil from the market but not amount to a formal change in policy.
"Anyone that is overdoing their quota should respect it," Libya's OPEC representative, National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Shukri Ghanem, told AFP by telephone on Sunday. "The market is more than oversupplied it seems."
Under fierce pressure from the U.S, Saudi Arabia agreed in May and June to increase production to help calm the runaway crude market which reached a pinnacle on July 11, when crude struck $147 a barrel in New York.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude producer, is estimated to be producing about 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) above its quota.
The stakes are entirely different to the last time OPEC members met in March, when crude prices had broken through $100 a barrel and were on a steep upwards trajectory.
This time, oil prices are on the way down and approaching $100 a barrel - a level many members, above all the traditional price hawks of Iran and Venezuela, are keen to protect.
Economic conditions, which determine oil demand, have worsened considerably, with many European economies facing recession, the US struggling & fears growing about the emerging economies of Asia.
OPEC producers have to balance their desire for revenues from high oil prices against the danger that high prices could choke off feeble economic growth.
Analyst John Hall, who runs his own oil consultancy expects a cut in production via a crackdown on overproduction by Saudi Arabia.
"I think they'll hold up at where it is & reinforce targets. That'll bring the output number down," he told AFP.
He estimated that OPEC was pumping about a million bpd more than its output target of 29.67 million bpd, which includes new members Angola & Ecuador but excludes Iraq.
Ecuador's oil minister, whose nation is the smallest OPEC producer, said on Sunday an oil price of $110-120 per barrel was "reasonable" but he suggested OPEC should keep its output steady.
"I don't think there is a possibility of a cut to OPEC production levels in our opinion," he said as he arrived in Vienna. "The production levels are adequate."
On Monday, ministers from Algeria, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar and Venezuela are set to arrive and begin informal talks ahead of the policy meeting late on Tuesday.
The arrival time of Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi, the de facto leader of the group who is yet to comment on the meeting, is unknown.
The Washington-based energy consultancy PFC Energy believes support is growing for an outright cut to OPECs target despite the unpopularity of such a move in consumer countries where transport and heating costs are rising.
"The focus of debate among OPEC ministers gathering ... in Vienna will not be whether there is a need to cut crude oil production, but rather when," it said in a report.
If not on Tuesday, then a cut would be announced in December at the next OPEC meeting.
"Though Riyadh will not be bullied into agreeing to a production cut, the near consensus within the group that some reduction in volumes is needed ... raises the distinct possibility that the final communique in Vienna will announce an output reduction," PFC continued.
OPEC meets regularly to set its production policy, with each member assigned a quota or production target. OPEC ministers headed for Vienna on Monday to wrestle with the issue of falling oil prices, with analysts expecting them to agree to t... more -
Energy ball - a cheap and efficient wind turbine
As our dependence on fossil fuels will be reduced, we will need new ways of harnessing renewable energies. Actually, there are lots of ways to get energy - wind, solar, wave and tidal will replace oil in the future. The problem is that we have to find efficient and cheaper options to get power from the sun or from the wind.
Home Energy is a Swedish company which has designed a new wind turbine that is very silent and it’s based on six curved rotor blades attached to a rotor hub at both ends. The new and futuristic wind turbine is called Energy Ball and when it rotates it looks like a sphere and it creates a wind flow which resembles the rapids of a river - this wind flow pattern is called the Venturi effect.
Thanks to the Venturi Effect, the Energy Ball is more efficient aerodynamically as it also catches low-winds to generate electricity. Although the costs seem to be cheaper than for a conventional wind turbine, for the moment we don’t know when Home Energy will start manufacturing and when they will deliver the first Energy Ball wind turbines. As our dependence on fossil fuels will be reduced, we will need new ways of harnessing renewable energies. Actually, there are lots of... more -
House Dems to yield on offshore drilling
"House Democrats are ready to propose an expansion of offshore drilling as part of a broader energy bill they plan to introduce this month, according to a top Democrat.
Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman John Larson (Conn.) said the majority is prepared to back “responsible” offshore drilling through a bill that could be brought to the floor as early as next week.
But the Democratic energy bill will also include past provisions pushed by the party – but that failed to pass the House with the two-thirds majority required under the procedural rules that Democrats chose to use – including the “use it or lose it” provision and a release of oil from the strategic reserve.
“We will consider responsibly opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling while demanding that Big Oil companies use the leases they have already been issued or return them to the public,” Larson said Saturday in the Democratic response to the President’s radio address.
Larson said the legislation will also seek to curb excessive oil market speculation and call for a reinvestment of government royalties into alternative energy technology.
“Democrats support drilling, but a ‘drill only’ plan would do nothing but drill deeper and deeper into your wallet. And look, while the oil companies have remained flush, your wallet is running dry,” Larson said.
Should the Democratic bill contain language lifting the ban on offshore drilling, it will mark a dramatic shift since July, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was adamant in refusing to allow her chamber to vote on any offshore drilling proposal.
Over the August recess, Republicans stayed behind in Washington to protest Pelosi’s position. Pelosi has since softened her position, saying she could support some, responsible drilling provided it rode in tandem with a host of other energy provisions." "House Democrats are ready to propose an expansion of offshore drilling as part of a broader energy bill they plan to introduce ... more -
What the hell is this guy talking about?!
To listen to the pundits, America is no longer the land of opportunity. Turn on the TV or pick up the newspaper, and you hear Americans can no longer expect to work hard and get ahead.
It's true we are enduring trying economic times. The fact that filling up your car for under $4 a gallon now seems a bargain only shows how painfully expensive energy has become. The collapse of the housing bubble has cost homeowners hundreds of billions in home equity. These troubles have weighed down the economy, and job losses have mounted.
But the ups and downs of the business cycle do not mean the American dream has died. The U.S. economy has always experienced highs and lows. Today's economic woes are nothing compared to the stagflation of the 1970s. Those problems didn't herald an end to the American dream, and neither will our current ones.
Quite the contrary: Today's economy gives workers more opportunities to advance than a generation ago. Good jobs are actually more available today than in the past.
This is largely because of technological changes that have transformed the American workplace. Machines have automated many rote, repetitive tasks formerly done by hand. Bad science fiction aside, however, machines can't think for people. Brains trump brawn, and jobs are moving from the assembly line into the office. To listen to the pundits, America is no longer the land of opportunity. Turn on the TV or pick up the newspaper, and you hear American... more -
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson urges Americans to break addiction to oil
Senator Nelson points out that our addiction is costing us heavily and that drilling for more in the Gulf will not abate that addiction. What we need is heavy investment in alternative energy sources, and for that we need both parties to cooperate. Senator Nelson points out that our addiction is costing us heavily and that drilling for more in the Gulf will not abate that addictio... more
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Microbes in dirt provide electricity for African villagers
Providing electricity to people in countries where either the grid is not reliable, or nonexistent and unlikely ever to be built, can make a huge difference in people’s quality of life in very practical ways. We’ve written before about companies such as D.Light Design which have solar-powered replacements for kerosene lanterns , and efforts to bring small-scale solar panels to off-grid villages in Laos. Hand cranked cell phone chargers, radios and flashlights are other proven options that have received attention.
Microbial Fuel Cells Provide Enough Power for Small Devices
One option which is being investigated in a pilot project by Cambridge, Massachusetts company Lebônê Solutions is using microbial fuel cells to provide electricity to villagers in Tanzania. While the power produced by microbial fuel cells isn’t great, it does provide enough electricity for the small DC powered devices that the villagers want to run, Lebônê co-founder Hugo Van Vuuren told Technology Review. Compared to other renewable energy options such as solar panels or small-scale wind turbines they are also less expensive to produce and easier to set up.
A What Type of Fuel Cell?
Lebônê gives us a very basic rundown on how microbial fuel cells work:
These inexpensive fuel cells run on animal and plant waste and naturally occurring soil microbes, and are framed around a flexible substrate (wood, steel, etc) that can vary by geographic availability. This is truly electricity right out of the ground. These fuel cells are used to charge a battery or cheap supercapacitor, which in turn will be used to power a high-efficiency efficient LED or PLED lamp.
And Technology Review gives us a bit more detail:
To make the fuel cell, the team put graphite cloth--the anode--in the bottom of a bucket along with chicken wire--the cathode--and microbe-laden waste, either mud, cow manure, or residue from coffee crops. A layer of sand acts as an ion barrier while salt water helps the protons travel more easily. The team adds a power management board (the only device that the villagers will most likely have to import, says [Lebônê co-founder Aviva] Presser) to regulate the power and send it to a battery. Such a fuel cell can run a cheap, efficient light-emitting diode (LED) for four to five hours per evening. "We're hoping the entire system will be around $10 when we're ready," says Presser.
Namibia Next Up For Fuel Cell Trial
After Tanzania, Lebônê’s second trial, funded by a $200,000 grant from the World Bank, will be an 18-month pilot project in Namibia where the the firm will couple their fuel cell design with the the next generation of LEDs. Providing electricity to people in countries where either the grid is not reliable, or nonexistent and unlikely ever to be built, can ... more -
U.S. House Price Decline Could Be Worse than Great Depression
Declines in home prices are nearing Great Depression-era levels, and could get even worse.
Eight years ago, Yale superstar professor and MacroMarkets chief economist Robert Shiller famously called the top of the stock market in his book Irrational Exuberance. Then, a year before the housing bubble peaked, he predicted the colossal bust we are now experiencing.
If you recognize Shiller's name, it’s because the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price indexes, which he developed with Wellesley College economist Karl Case, have become the nation's most authoritative source for home price trends.
In part one of my one-on-one with Shiller, we discuss the grim outlook for U.S. housing, which he tackles in-depth in his new book The Subprime Solution. Highlights of our first discussion include:
Home price declines are already approaching those in the Great Depression, when they plunged 30% during the 1930s. With prices already down almost 20%, it's not a stretch to think we might exceed that drop this time around.
There are about 10 million homeowners whose debt is higher than their home value, which has broad implications for how Americans feel about their wealth and spending habits (read: more pressure on consumer spending).
The current hopeful consensus -- that house prices will bottom soon and then begin to recover -- is most likely a dream. Housing markets don't usually have "V-shaped" recoveries. And even if house prices stabilize in nominal terms, after adjusting for inflation, most homeowners will continue to lose money. Declines in home prices are nearing Great Depression-era levels, and could get even worse. ... more -
Who is the Handler? (Palin's, of course)
Sarah Palin's small-town-girl-takes-on-Washington act is a brilliant success, for today anyway. But anytime political parties bring their aw-shucks, folksy Gomer Pyles out in front of the klieg lights, it's time to suspend disbelief. And that's especially true when the Republicans, party of corporate America and Big Oil, are casting the show.
Yes, Governor Palin was born and raised in a town called Wasilla, hunts caribou, married "her guy" from high school who races, in her words, "snow machines" (when did they graduate from being snow-mobiles?) and apparently knows how to load and shoot a gun. She also really is a mother, a mother of a hockey player too, and a member of the PTA.
However, one need only check out Jim Yardley's enlightening reportage from Wasilla in yesterday's New York Times to smell the rat. Sarah Palin is no average Jane, much as she looks and sounds like one. On the contrary, Sarah Palin's entry into politics and subsequent rise has all the hallmarks of having been engineered, coached and groomed by bigger outside forces with a bigger plan.
Her first election to mayor in 1996 was based on "wedge Issues" - abortion, gun control, and proof of hard-core religiosity - issues that had never been discussed before in the town of 7,000, where politicians had run on where they stood on bingo revenue and fixing muddy roads.
Listen to the shell-shocked fellow she beat in that first election, the three term incumbent Mayor of Wasilla, John C. Stein. "Sarah comes in with all this ideological stuff, and I was like, 'Whoa. But that got her elected: abortion, gun rights, term limits and the religious born-again thing. I'm not a churchgoing guy, and that was another issue: 'We will have our first Christian mayor.'"
There was a time when America's small town governments were about local civics and its churches really were mainly about spirituality. That quaint era vanished, within living memory, with the rise of the "Christian right" which literally infected mainstream American Christianity with hateful brochures about gays, guns, and abortion.
For the rest of this story & more on Palin, please visit:
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2008/09/wi... Sarah Palin's small-town-girl-takes-on-Washington act is a brilliant success, for today anyway. But anytime political parties bri... more -
New underwater turbines promise clean energy from UK tides
Harnessing the vast energy of the UK's coastal tides could become much simpler and cheaper with a new design for the next generation of underwater turbines. The device, unveiled by a team of engineers from Oxford University, re-thinks the way power is generated underwater and the inventors believe it will be more robust, more efficient and cheaper to build and maintain than anything in operation today.
There is an immense potential resource of clean energy from the tidal flows around the UK: conservative estimates suggest there is at least five gigawatts of power, but there could be as much as 15GW, equivalent to 15 million average family homes. Tidal generators can harvest the energy of these moving streams, with the added advantage that the resource is, unlike wind, predictable.
There are only a few underwater turbines in operation today and they all operate like underwater windmills, with their blades turning at right angles to the flow of the water. In contrast, the Oxford team's device is built around a cylindrical rotor, which rolls around its long axis as the tide ebbs and flows. As a result, it can use more of the incoming water than a standard underwater windmill.
*CONTINUES* Harnessing the vast energy of the UK's coastal tides could become much simpler and cheaper with a new design for the next generat... more -
Alaska Gov. Palin GOP's newest star
Palin cast herself as a political outsider scornful of the Washington establishment she will join if elected vice-president in November. Palin cast herself as a political outsider scornful of the Washington establishment she will join if elected vice-president in Novembe... more
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Carbon Capture & Storage
My blog post on the first CCS power plant (in the world, I think) that goes into operation near Berlin, Germany, next week.
Pros and cons of course to this new technology, but certainly worth consideration.
Really good collection of media at the BBC that helps explain the process: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7584151.stm My blog post on the first CCS power plant (in the world, I think) that goes into operation near Berlin, Germany, next week. ... more -
Hope of mankind: Oxyfuel Boiler
Beneath the gargantuan grey boiler towers of Schwarze Pumpe power station which pierce the skies of northern Germany, a Lilliputian puzzle of metal boxes and shining canisters is about to mark a moment of industrial history.
This mini power plant is a pilot project for carbon capture and storage (CCS) - the first coal-fired plant in the world ready to capture and store its own CO2 emissions.
Next week the pilot - an oxyfuel boiler - will be formally commissioned.
A cloud of pure oxygen will be breathed into the boiler. The flame will be lit. Then a cloud of powdered lignite will be injected.
The outcome will be heat, water vapour, impurities, nine tonnes of CO2 an hour… and a landmark in clean technology.
Because the CO2 will then be separated, squashed to one 500th of its original volume and squeezed into a cylinder ready to be transported to a gas field and forced 1,000m below the surface into porous rock where it should stay until long after mankind has stopped worrying about climate change.
This is the technology once lavishly described by the former UK Chief Scientist Sir David King as "the only hope for mankind"; and the plant operators, Vattenfall, have worked furiously for two years to get the pilot running.
"We are very proud - we think this is the future for coal," says Vattenfall's Hubertus Altmann.
They funded the 70m-euro project themselves because they wanted to lead a technology they believe solves the conundrum of providing energy security through plentiful coal supplies whilst avoiding the CO2 emissions officially blamed for climate change. ACCESS ALL AREAS
In video: Inside the CCS plant
Green-carpeted marquees are currently being furnished for the guests who will swell the applause at the grand inauguration. But big questions hang over this technology overall, particularly over where the CO2 will be stored and who will pay the high costs of building and running the CCS plants.
The EU wants to see 10-12 full-scale power plants demonstrating CO2 capture within the next few years, but although a number of other firms will soon join the race with pilot projects, no full-scale CCS coal plant has yet been commissioned.
The British government has promised a decision in October on how it will fund a full-scale CCS in the UK. It hopes to avoid landing the taxpayer with the bill, but questions over CCS funding in Europe are as yet unresolved by the European Commission and the European Parliament.
*** click the link for the continuation of the story**** Beneath the gargantuan grey boiler towers of Schwarze Pumpe power station which pierce the skies of northern Germany, a Lilliputian pu... more -
Green Marketing- Are Your Claims Sustainable?
This article shows how the UK is leaps and bounds ahead of the US on legislating on climate change. We can't even pass a nationwide cap, while they are already figuring out the rules of low-carbon marketing of products. This article shows how the UK is leaps and bounds ahead of the US on legislating on climate change. We can't even pass a nationwi... more
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States make way for low speed vehicles
Ken Pringle could be driving his Jaguar. But the senior elected official in Belmar, N.J., mostly chooses to silently cruise town roads at 25 miles per hour – top speed for his all-electric “Mayor-mobile.”
That’s what kids in his tiny, oceanside borough dubbed Mayor Pringle’s bulbous “neighborhood electric vehicle” or NEV after he bought it on eBay for $5,000 in 2004.
Way back then, gas was just $2 a gallon and only a couple of dozen states allowed NEVs on state roads where the speed limit was under 35 miles per hour. But now, with gas hovering around $4 a gallon, more states are moving to allow them and Pringle’s NEV predilection looks prophetic.
That’s right: In America, land of the muscle car, the hot new way to strut your stuff on the road is gliding in electric near-silence at 25 miles per hour. From Belmar to Lincoln, Calif., the big car buzz is all about down-shifting to the slow lane.
Continues...... Ken Pringle could be driving his Jaguar. But the senior elected official in Belmar, N.J., mostly chooses to silently cruise town roads... more -
Paintless Car Saves Energy
Energy can be saved in surprising places, but let’s meander a bit first
If you own a new car, built in the last decade or so, take look around the wheel wells or perhaps the door sills. You might see pieces of clear plastic film adhered to the bodywork. If you have them they’re put there by the manufacturer to protect the paint in that area from scuff marks or stone chips. The plastic film is a lot tougher than paint is.
That plastic film might make you wonder. If a stone resistant film can be applied to a few small areas why not the same film to protect a whole car? And why only in clear plastic? Why not in colors?
According Soliant, of Lancaster, South Carolina, the film could be applied to whole cars and in an infinite number of color options, including two-tones, metallics, pearlescents, special effects and finishes including chrome and brushed chrome. Soliant says it can match any color car makers throw at them. Cars wouldn’t have to be painted, just a snazzy film applied, including graphics. Why don’t the big car companies do this? Stubbornness. Slow to change. Huge investments in assembly-line paint shops that they don’t want to scrap.
But that’s just big car companies. Little ones, especially startups, might be more open minded and willing to “paintfilm” a car rather than paint it conventionally. (Paintfilm is the name Soliant gives its product.)
As it turns out, one startup, Carbon Motors Corporation, which is developing and will manufacture the world's first purpose-built law enforcement patrol vehicle, the E7 will give paintfilm a go. In building its production facility for the diesel engined, plastic and aluminum patrol car the company will skip building a paint shop, saving as much as 40 percent of the cost of the new production plant.
And the savings won’t end there. Year after year there will be continued energy savings.
Carbon Motors, by using paintfilm instead of sprayed-on paint, estimates it will save 150,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year; the equivalent power consumption of 17,000 average US homes. (Imagine what a big manufacturer building millions of cars and trucks would save.)
Soliant claims another manufacturer using paintfilm is saving an estimated 23 gigawatt hours of energy equal to 13,200 barrels of petroleum. Further, water savings for the unspecified company using paintfilm is 115,000 tons per year. Using paintfilm cuts air pollution too. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are reduced up to 98 percent on the production line as compared with traditional painting.
Soliant’s products, Fluorex(R) Paintfilm and Bright Film (chrome alternative), can be used with a variety of plastic and metal substrates including stainless steel and aluminum.
The possibilities with the wide spread use of paintfilm would grow if car manufacturers abandoned sprayed-on paint for paintfilm. Auto body shops could apply new paintfilm for accident repairs with a perfect color match. Older cars could be rejuvenated with a new paintfilm. Body shops would save money on energy costs and eliminate what is now a health and environmental hazard — spray painting. Energy can be saved in surprising places, but let’s meander a bit first ... more -
Opposition to Offshore Drilling May Fade
One January morning in 1969, eight kilometers off the coast of southern California, all hell broke loose.
A drilling accident at an offshore oil rig led to the leakage of 11 million liters of oil in the nearby Santa Barbara channel. Thousands of seabirds, fish, and marine mammals were killed.
As clean-up volunteers rushed to the beach, the day's events led to the start of a new environmental movement in the United States. The nation's first Earth Day was launched one year later, and an offshore drilling moratorium was imposed in 1982.
Nearly 40 years after the Santa Barbara spill, public opinion has shifted. Drilling technology is less accident-prone, and the United States is desperately searching for domestic oil sources to combat rising energy prices.
The U.S. Congress is likely to debate an energy package this month that would lift the offshore drilling ban. It could also offer financial support for renewable energy technologies and policies that reduce fossil fuel consumption. Politicians in both chambers of Congress who previously opposed offshore drilling are now expressing support for expanded energy policies. Even Santa Barbara County supports offshore drilling.
The political showdown has forced environmental groups to decide between staunchly opposing offshore drilling or supporting legislation that furthers their wider goals in addressing the climate crisis. While most environmentalists oppose offshore drilling, some leading environmental groups may ease their opposition in favor of clean energy policies that have so far floundered in Congress.
In the Senate, bipartisan support is growing for a bill that would allow offshore drilling. Led by a coalition of 16 Senators, the bill would open the Outer Continental Shelf and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. It would also remove environmental barriers to nuclear power plant construction, support alternative fuel sources, provide consumer tax incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles, and extend renewable energy tax credits.
If Congress does not vote on offshore drilling legislation, the Republican leadership has threatened to hold-up funding for the next federal budget - essentially shutting down the government. Given the fact that the moratorium also has to be re-enacted annually through an appropriations bill, the Sierra Club supports Pelosi's strategy despite the group's opposition to offshore drilling. One January morning in 1969, eight kilometers off the coast of southern California, all hell broke loose. ... more -
Italy next solar hot spot, Spain cools
Italy could be Europe's next big solar power market after Spain, which will slash generous subsidies later this month, a leading solar industy figure told Reuters on Tuesday.
Ernesto Macias, managing director of Spain's biggest solar panel maker Isofoton, was hopeful that the solar market in Italy could expand to reach 1,200 MW next year, the cap on solar power output entitled to subsidies under existing regulations.
"I personally think Italy will reach its cap in 2009. Much will be derived from Italy, so we will saturate Italy," said Macias, also head of the European Photovoltaic Industry Assocation (EPIA).
"But what we need is a plan to coordinate between the various countries, and we are working with the (European) Commission on that," Macias added, on the sidelines of a solar power conference in Valencia, eastern Spain.
Spain's solar power market this year has grown to 1,000 megawatts -- one of the world's biggest -- on the back of "feed-in" tariffs designed to gradually make solar electricity competitive with convential power sources.
But the scheme has left the government with a multi-billion euro bill on top of the ballooning costs of subsidising household electricity bills, and the tariffs are due to end later this month.
Solar power stocks globally have fallen on Spanish plans to cut back to 300 MW the capacity of new solar power plants entitled to feed-in tariffs next year, which will also be cut.
Macias was less hopeful about growth prospects in Germany, where leading solar panel makers Suntech say they have been unable to meet demand due to growth in Spain.
"There is a lot of uncertainty in Germany due to the reduction in feed-in tariffs. That could force prices down and untimately benefit Asian industries," he said.
COMPROMISE STILL POSSIBLE IN SPAIN
Regarding Spain's subsidy cuts, Macias said the industry had been "out of control" and a new scheme was needed, but the current proposals put a fledgling industry.
However, he still saw room for negotiation on the proposals.
"I don't want caps, but if I want to compromise, to open talks, OK, we will accept a cap of 400 MW for plants bigger than 100 kilowatts. But please don't apply any caps on the retail market," said Macias.
Macias saw growth opportunities for solar panel makers in rural electrification projects in lesser developed countries, a market he estimated at 300 MW worldwide last year.
He said the advantage of solar power was that avoided the need to build costly power grids and had low maintenance costs.
"It is also an energy that doesn't need fuel -- no need to transport coal, oil or gas, and there you have competitivity," he sad.
EPIA and a number of European renewable energy companies and industry groups have formed the "Alliance for Rural Electrification" to promote what they say are affordable and sustainable small-scale generation projects in poorer countries. (Reporting by Martin Roberts) Italy could be Europe's next big solar power market after Spain, which will slash generous subsidies later this month, a leading ... more -
Coal plans go up in smoke
Environmentalists in the US have halted a huge new wave of coal-fired power stations. What lessons can Europe learn from them?
One day, historians might speculate that it was the ambition of the companies that sought to profit by building coal-fired power stations that triggered the beginning of the end for humans' most polluting habit.
Four years ago, campaigners in the US raised concerns over plans to build 150 coal-fired power stations nationwide. Today, nearly half those plans have been defeated in the courts or abandoned, while half of the remaining proposals are being actively opposed. Just 14 of the 150 plants are being developed, and environmental lawyers are all still pursuing them.
"The enormity of what they were proposing to do provided a platform to have that whole debate about pollution, including global-warming pollution, " says Bruce Nilles , director of the national coal campaign for the Sierra Club, America's biggest grassroots environment group.
Firmer action
In a few years, the backlash against coal power in America has become the country's biggest-ever environmental campaign, transforming the nation's awareness of climate change and inspiring political leaders to take firmer action after years of doubt and delay. Plants have been defeated in at least 30 of the 50 states, uniting those with already strong environmental records, such as California, with more conservative areas, such as the southern and central states.
The success of the US campaign is also now inspiring a global wave of protests, many in Europe, against similar schemes that plan to build coal-fired generators before carbon capture technology exists. If the European protesters succeed, Nilles believes US legislators will be likely to support presidential candidates' promises to join international efforts to cut emissions. By implication, though, if the protesters fail in Europe, the impact on a US or international deal would be disastrous.
The US anti-coal campaign is being linked to protests against similar plans in Australia, Germany, Italy and the UK, where there are demonstrations at almost every public appearance by E.ON, the company that plans to build Britain's first new first new coal power station for two decades in Kingsnorth, Kent, where protesters set up a protest camp against the new development in August.
US campaigners say they are concerned that if the UK and other European countries go ahead with new coal plants, the momentum to tackle climate change will be lost. " The rest of the world has been leading on this, particularly Europe," says Nilles. "Building new coal makes it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to meet [emissions] targets, so it's critical the European community countries do not fail."
Continues... Environmentalists in the US have halted a huge new wave of coal-fired power stations. What lessons can Europe learn from them? ... more -
BC Hydro will charge two-tier rates
System will reward those who conserve energy and penalize those who don't
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