Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 9 April 2014

Successful conference opens door to enhanced solar PV in Africa
01 April 2014 - The first Africa Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (AfricaPVSEC) in Durban, South Africa has ended, but its organizers are trumpeting the event as a significant success.

In all, some 280 people attended from 40 different countries, 14 of them on the African continent. The African delegates represented 66 percent of the total number of participants.

“The inaugural AfricaPVSEC was successfully concluded and fulfilled its important promise and mandate to link Africa-based PV professionals and academics with their global counterparts," said Prof. Vivian Alberts, of the University of Johannesburg and a PV industry representative. read more>>>

Moapa Indian reservation to develop solar energy centre
31 March 2014 - The Moapa Band of Paiutes Indians (Moapa Band) is intending to build a solar energy generation centre on the Moapa River Indian Reservation in Clark County, Nevada

The Moapa Solar Energy Center Project would develop up to 1,000 acres of the reservation to construct a solar farm capable of generating approximately 200MWs of solar energy. This facility will help to provide a long-term, diverse, and viable revenue stream with accompanying job opportunities for the Moapa Band while also helping Nevada and neighboring states to meet their State renewable energy needs. read more>>>

Green Transition Scoreboard® Tops $5.3 Trillion Privately Invested In The Green Economy
Mar 31, 2014 - Again for 2014, the Green Transition Scoreboard® (GTS) finds, with $5.3 trillion in private investments and commitments since 2007, the green economy is on track to reach $10 trillion in investments by 2020 to effectively scale innovations and reduce costs in green technologies as the world transitions to the Solar Age.

The 2014 GTS report Plenty of Water! focuses on the many water investment opportunities as global policy makers, businesses and civic society realize water is critical to environmental, social and human capital, and must be integrated into financial markets rather than overlooked as an externality. The Water sector added $484 billion to the GTS, 9% of the overall total and more than either Green R&D or Cleantech. read more>>>

Energy-saving homes an important buying factor
March 31, 2014 - As environmental awareness grows, prospective homeowners are looking for houses that are energy efficient and sustainable. Atlanta builders are up to the challenge, as they continue to design and construct more green-friendly homes.

“Homebuyers are increasingly interested in well-built and sustainable homes,” said Beth Fore, Vice President of Operations and Consulting at Cablik Enterprises. “Buyers are becoming aware of the way that a home’s structure affects their utility bills, and they’re looking for proper insulation techniques and products.” read more>>>

Wind and Weather

Positive clean energy sentiments on upswing
April 1, 2014 - U.S. consumer favorability for 10 concepts -- including solar energy, wind energy, hybrid vehicles, and electric cars -- has rebounded, according to a national annual consumer survey. Navigant Research has conducted this survey to gauge public perceptions of energy and environmental concepts since 2009.

Of particular interest, the survey found that overall impressions of solar energy are increasingly positive among 79 percent of respondents. Positive sentiments had dropped since 2009 when 81 percent of the respondents had a favorable view of solar energy but now appear to be on an upswing.

"Solar energy is one of the most popular and least controversial green technologies in the eyes of consumers," said Clint Wheelock, managing director with Navigant Research. "But it is followed closely by wind energy, which gained a favorable response from 72 percent of Americans." read more>>>

"Sleeping dragon" of solar market awakens
April 1, 2014 - In 2014, for the first time, China will install more PV capacity than the whole of Europe, according to IHS Inc., largely due to recent policy changes. Those changes include a recent announcement by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) that it would increase its target for ground-mount PV projects, as well as its total installation goal, was key in driving up the forecast.

"IHS previously expressed its doubts about the Chinese government's capability to reach an ambitious target of 8 GW worth of rooftop solar projects in 2014," said Ash Sharma, senior director of solar research at IHS. "While IHS still predicts this goal will not be met, China's recent announcement that it will shift its focus to ground-mount projects and increase its installation target for this segment to 6 GW has led us to raise our forecast for 2014." read more>>>

Africa: Lopes Says Green Energy Is the Way for Africa's Industrialisation, Panel Explains Why
31 March 2014 - The United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Africa, Mr. Carlos Lopes, urged African countries to prioritize renewable energy and develop leap-frogging capability to ensure that Africa does not make the same mistakes as developed countries deed in their industrialisation process.

Mr. Lopes was speaking at the opening session of a high-level panel discussion on the theme Greening Africa's economies to achieve structural transformation: the role of new technologies and innovation held at the weekend in Abuja, Nigeria. The event was held in the margins of the joint ECA-AU Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on the theme: "Industrialization for inclusiveness and Transformative Development in Africa." read more>>>

Swinerton Renewable Energy scores Duke Energy contract
26 March 2014 - When complete, the 40MW solar project will power 10,000 California homes.

The Pumpjack and Wildwood solar power projects, located near Bakersfield, Calif., will each comprise a standalone 20 MW AC photovoltaic facility and a new 115 kV substation for interconnection to the grid. The projects’ technology package features 171,000 x BYD 305 W polycrystalline modules, 40 x 1 MW NX Advanced Energy inverters, and Array Technologies Inc. single-axis trackers.

“Swinerton is thrilled to be working with the team at Duke Energy Renewables,” said George Hershman, Renewable Energy vice president and division manager for Swinerton. “Their deep experience and professionalism make them an ideal project partner." read more>>>

Senvion installs prototype of new 6.2M152 offshore turbine
26 March 2014 - Senvion SE, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Suzlon Group, has begun the process of installing the prototype of its new 6.2M152.

In a first step, the access routes to the Langen-Neuenwalde location (20 km north of Bremerhaven, Germany) are being built. The turbine is scheduled to begin operations at the end of October 2014.

Starting in 2015, the Senvion 6.2M152 will enter commercial production. read more>>>

A think tank tests the performance of west-facing photovoltaics
March 2014 - The Mueller Community is a redevelopment of Austin’s former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. The transit-oriented neighborhood, located three miles from downtown, thoughtfully mixes housing, open space, and commercial uses according to a green master plan that will surely be replicated by cities and towns across the U.S. But sustainability aficionados who visit the Mueller Community will notice that something feels slightly different from a best-practices model. For one, the place boasts a large concentration of Chevy Volts. For another, rooftop photovoltaics are not facing unanimously south, the installation convention for the Northern Hemisphere.

Pecan Street is responsible for the anomaly. This University of Texas at Austin–based think tank promotes a smarter energy grid through two divisions: Its Pecan Street Research Institute analyzes utility system reliability, renewable energy integration, and especially customer resource-use behavior, while the Pike Powers Laboratory and Center for Commercialization incubates new companies pioneering smart-grid and other clean technologies. read more>>>


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.