“SAUDI ARABIA KINGDOM BUILT ON OIL FORESEES FOSSIL FUEL PHASE-OUT THIS CENTURY”
via @FT
Miguel Arias Cañete @MAC_europa
EU SIGNS FINANCE AGREEMENT WITH MOROCCO FOR ONE OF THE WORLD’ S LARGEST SOLAR PROJECTS
EU AND ALGERIA LAUNCH A POLITICAL DIALOGUE ON ENERGY MATTERS FOLLOWING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THEIR 2013 STRATEGIC ENERGY PARTNERSHIP
Energy4Europe @Energy4Europe
2015-05-12
Last week @MAC_europa went to #Algeria#Morocco to talk #climate#energy co-op. All you need to know in one #Storifystorify.com/Energy4Europe/…
Title: Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete visits #Algeria & #Morocco on #climate & #energy cooperation (5-7 May 2015)
Here are three of the four first links from the section “Energy web site” at the bottom of the page.
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/news/commission-signs-finance-agreement-solar-project-morocco
Commission signs finance agreement for solar project in Morocco
The European Commission has signed a €43 million financing agreement for one of the world's largest solar energy projects in Morocco.
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/news/eu-and-south-and-east-mediterranean-partners-step-energy-relations
EU and South and East Mediterranean partners step-up energy relations
European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, and the Moroccan Minister for Energy, Abdelkader Amara, have today unveiled three new Euro-Mediterranean platforms on gas,
the regional electricity market, and renewables and energy efficiency.
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/news/eu-and-algeria-cooperate-energy
The EU and Algeria have launched a political dialogue on energy matters.
The cooperation follows the establishment of a strategic energy partnershipin
2013.
Two ‘groups of experts’ – one on natural gas and the other on electricity, renewables and energy efficiency - will be created. In addition, a business forum will be set-up with the first meeting scheduled for 2016 in Algiers.
Algeria is third biggest supplier of gas to the EU, and the EU is the biggest importer of Algerian gas.
Meanwhile, the EU has agreed to share its renewable energy and energy efficiency expertise in support of Algeria’s goal to reach 22 Gigawatts of renewable power by 2030 and a 9% reduction in energy
consumption.
e-Vehicles
e-Vehicle Policy in Norway
Article by N. Stiel, 2015-06-05, magazine Challenges (in French)
Translated information
In Oslo, Norway, every morning hundreds of electric vehicles (e-vehicles) go to the downtown 30-terminal station for free charging.
Norway Population : 5.000.000
1st producer of oil in Europe
95% of Norway’s energy comes from hydroelectricity (dams etc)
Most e-vehicles in Europe. Last year 18.000 e-vehicles were purchased which corresponds to 1/3 of European sales.
Proportion of e-vehicles: Norway 1/5, France 1/200
Charging terminals have difficulty catching up.
Advantages for e-vehicles in Norway: No VAT, free parkings, free ferries, circulating in bus lanes, TVA on leasing to be abolished on 1st July (new boom expected)
Standard (thermic) vehicles cost 50% more than in other European countries. e-vehicles cost less.
E Golf : 33.200 euros
Classic version : 37.600.
Annual maintenance of Nissan Leaf: 23.000
Annual maintenance of thermic version: 37.000
Target of 50.000 e-vehicles set for 2017 was reached in April 2015.
New target of 200.000 e-vehicles for 2020. (In total there are 2.500.000 vehicles in Norway.)
"If all our vehicles were electric, only 6% of our resources would be used."
Sales started a rally when a daring Norwegian convinced Mitsubishi to give him an export license for IMiev in 2010. The vehicle was selling itself like “bagels” and even without ads. The following year it was Nissan Leaf. And now E Golf has taken 40% of the market.
Complaints: Bus drivers complain that during rush hour their lanes are overcrowded.
On e-Vehicles and thermal (standard) vehicle efficiency
Miguel Arias Cañete @MAC_europa
2015-06-18
A new car today in the EU is 22% more efficient than in 2007.Targets work. #CO2road conference buff.ly/1GJHq5B
2015-06-18
"By 2025 we expect to double fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon—saving American families $1.7 trillion at the pump." -VP Biden
2015-06-11
Kudos to the winners of our #hydrogen and #fuelcell program awards! 1.usa.gov/1dzjAy3 #H2AMR pic.twitter.com/TaWRRPN2cg
2015-04-18
Big breakthrough in #cleantech: New electric vehicle motor that doesn't use #rareearths → 1.usa.gov/1EaRIwa
“While most plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) use motors with rare earth metals, these materials are expensive, their prices have been highly volatile (from $80/kg to $750/kg), and their supply may fall short with potentially high market demand in the future. “
.@NREL tool helps you analyze benefits of #hydrogen stations for fuel cell vehicles → 1.usa.gov/1ESKLcN #H2AMR pic.twitter.com/qYfqBrNgO1
2015-04-17
Electric vehicle projects have recieved a boost under the #CDM bit.ly/1CWcb0r @UN_CarbonMechs pic.twitter.com/GEeweG7YIa
VEHICULE ENVIROMENTAL TECHNOLOGY
Today a group from Toyota visited NREL to learn about our sustainable transportation and hydrogen fuel cell research. pic.twitter.com/LCqCN2hVdQ
SOLAR TECHNOLOGY
UNFCCC @UNFCCC
2015-05-20
.@MIT says solar power fields with trillions of watts of capacity are on the way bit.ly/1AePsTcpic.twitter.com/Pn8gNh97bE
“The MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) released results of the study in a 356-page report, The Future of Solar Energy, on Monday. The study found that even with today's crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) technologies, the industry could achieve terawatt-scale deployment of solar power by 2050 without major technological advances.”
Reading Note: Alternative materials are better absorbers; less material is required and flexibility is increased
Achim Steiner Stepped out of #FFD3 to see Ethiopia's shift to green economy. Adama windfarm's 170MW helping w 100% renewable target
https://twitter.com/ASteiner/status/621359520183386112
Cuba is to build 7 wind farms financed by foreign investors http://bit.ly/1I2v4pD #cleantech
INCREASE IN RENEWABLE ENERGY EMPLOYMENT BY 20% COMPARED TO LAST YEAR
.@IRENA: Renewable energy already employs 7.7 million people world-wide bit.ly/1EiXsxg #REjobs pic.twitter.com/S6MYTHW6V0
UK ENERGY POLICY
"UK Energy Secretary Amber Rudd to “unleash solar revolution” "
Miguel Arias Cañete @MAC_europa
2015-05-17
Good and promising start! - #Energy secretary @AmberRuddhr plans to 'unleash solar revolution' - via @Telegraphbit.ly/1IBYRa4
Quoting:
Energy secretary Amber Rudd plans to 'unleash solar revolution'
By Emily Gosden @emilygosden
Amber Rudd, the new energy secretary, says more households should have solar panels on their roofs
The Telegraph @Telegraph
Excerpts:
“I want to unleash a new solar revolution - we have a million people living under roofs with solar panels and that number needs to increase,”
"The Coalition government introduced a generous subsidy scheme to encourage households to install solar panels, triggering a boom that far exceeded ministers’ expectations (...)“
"A typical solar panel installation of 16 panels on a large family home could cost in the region of £6,000 but an owner could expect to recoup that cash within 7 to 8 years and thereafter make profit, according to the Solar Trade Association."
"If the panels produce more power than the home needs, the owner can get paid for selling it on to the National Grid."
"Aside from solar, Ms Rudd told the newspaper that she wanted to “shout loud about the benefits of switching energy tariffs” and to improve home insulation."
PETERSBERG CLIMATE DIALOGUE
Excerpt from link:
Petersberg Climate Dialogue VI
"On 17-19 May 2015, about 35 Ministers and their representatives, the Co-chairs of the ADP, as well as the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, and high-level representatives of the UN Secretary General met in Berlin at the invitation of the governments of France and Germany. In an informal setting Ministers discussed how to accelerate progress towards an ambitious agreement at COP21 in Paris and how to enhance climate action in their respective countries."
Joint statement | France, incoming Presidency of COP21, and Germany, Presidency of the G7
UNFCCC @UNFCCC 2015-05-19 See the Petersberg #Climate Dialogue joint statement by Angela Merkel @fhollande bit.ly/1JWsYWR#COP21 pic.twitter.com/lAOI9ukKTi
Excerpts from first link:
ON THE “ENERGETIC TRANSITION”
“We are committed, through the “Energiewende” in Germany and the “transition énergétique” in France, to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95 % in 2050 compared to 1990.”
"We need a fundamental shift of investments into low-carbon infrastructure, technologies and climate friendly land use."
A few of the points from the statement:
- Intended nationally-determined climate contributions (INDCs) well before the UN climate conference in Paris
2. Establishing initiatives for investment in low-carbon technologies, especially in renewable energies and resource efficiency, and sustainable land use.
3. Introducing carbon markets and pricing
4. Mobilizing climate finance for developing countries reaching USD 100 billion per year goal by 2020 from a wide variety of sources, both public and private, for action on mitigation and adaptation
UN Environment @UNEP
2015-05-19
.@UNEP Inquiry's Nick Robins in a live Q&A for #CWParis - read the recap here: bit.ly/1EUvngw @ClimateGroup
2015-05-19
#Solar panel makers globally prepare for great year, as production forecast to grow by almost third in
2015 bloom.bg/1GkuIKu
Excerpts:
"Solar panel makers globally are preparing for their best year since 2011"
"Panel production is forecast to grow by almost a third this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."
"China, in a pact with U.S. President Barack Obama, agreed in November to get 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, with its total carbon emissions peaking the same year. To reach that goal, the Chinese government earlier this year boosted its target for 2015 solar installations to17.8 gigawatts from about 12 gigawatts."
"Japan may install as much as 12.7 gigawatts of solar power this year, the most after China."
"Cheaper solar has also made the technology more economically viable for emerging economies such as India and South Africa. In India, for instance, developers are installing panels to replace diesel generators that cost more to fuel."
"Shares have responded, with the NYSE Bloomberg Global Solar Energy Index of 132 companies gaining 65 percent this year, outpacing the 3.4 percent gain for the S&P 500."
“We see a boom this year and next,” said Ash Sharma, a senior research director at IHS.
The Climate Group @ClimateGroup
2015-05-19
We get as much energy from sun in 1 hour as from oil in 1 year. Imagine a world where tech gives us capacity to store it - .@algore#CWParis
Global investors present #climateaction via new online platform bit.ly/1Hs48AD#CWParis#COP21pic.twitter.com/aK2dd9v424
INCR @INCRnews
2015-05-19
Launched today! new Investor Platform for #Climate Actions investorsonclimatechange.org @CeresNews#CWParis#ActOnClimate
The Press Release in pdf is available here: http://investorsonclimatechange.org/global-investors-launch-platform-for-climate-actions-and-commitments/
Excerpts:
"The Investor Platform for Climate Actions is a joint project of IIGCC in Europe, Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) in North America, IGCC in Australia/New Zealand, ASrIA’s Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), PRI, CDP and UNEP FI."
"The Investor Platform for Climate Actions covers three primary action areas: - Measurement (e.g. carbon footprinting of portfolios) - Engagement (e.g. with fossil fuel and energy intensive companies) - Reallocation (including investment in low carbon assets and shifting capital from emissions intensive activities)."
"The platform also enables the identification and recording of actions not falling within the three primary action areas, such as policy advocacy."
' Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said:
“It is very encouraging to see key investor groups coordinate efforts and establish a joint platform for investor action. Ahead of the UN climate change conference in Paris, cities, regions, companies and investors must continue to increase their active participation in the global efforts toward a low emission, highly resilient world. Over the next 15 years some $90 trillion are likely to be invested in infrastructure world-wide. Investments that are de-risked and green will be crucial for ensuring we do not lock in a high emission future but instead unlock a healthy and prosperous one that delivers the twin aims of climate stability and reliable development for the poor and the needy”. '
CLIMATE WEEK PARIS 2015
http://www.climateweekparis.org/
THE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM PERFORMS A FINANCIAL SYSTEM INQUIRY:
GREENING THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Pre-condition for climate success: greening the financial system
ClimateGroupWeek Tweeter Q&A session on 2015-05-18
Co-director of UNEP Inquiry, N. Robins: “Thanks for the Qs & looking fwd to #climatefinanceday launching our new report http://www.unep.org/inquiry/@UNEP @fininquiry #CWParis”
"Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System: Policy Innovations for a Green Economy"
"Catalyzing Policy Options to align the Financial Systems with the Long-Term Health of the Real Economy"
22nd MAY IS #ClimateFinanceDay
UNFCCC retweeted
2015-05-18
Christiana Figueres @CFigueres
Delighted that @FT announcing #climatefinanceday. Shifting trillions only way to transform w/ safety & growth for all pic.twitter.com/Fbfm9vCrRC
UNFCCC @UNFCCC
2015-05-13
It's sunny today! At this rate, our building could power 90 Tesla electric cars for their daily commute (30km)
pic.twitter.com/Jg0JEdSLuO
SOLAR ENERGY
Article link tweeted by UNFCCC@UNFCCC on 21 Apr 2015
China Adds Solar Power the Size of France in First Quarter
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-20/china-adds-solar-the-size-of-france-s-capacity-in-first-quarter
Climate Reality @ClimateReality
3 Apr 2015
MT @EcoWatch: #France Mandates New Roofs Must Be
Covered in #SolarPanels or Plants ecowatch.com/2015/03/25/fra… …
pic.twitter.com/4ntGZstUOL
Image tweeted by Climate Reality @ClimateReality on 4 Apr 2015
(France says "Au revoir" to air pollution)
ON THE RENEWABLE ENERGY SHIFT
UNFCCC
@UNFCCC
24 Apr 2015
World is finally shifting to #renewable energy on an industrial scale - @UNEP's Achim Steiner bit.ly/1DrAiWj
pic.twitter.com/uNqL8BQEAg
'The world is finally producing renewable energy at an industrial scale'
Renewables are finally becoming a globally significant source of power, according to a United Nations Environment Programme report released in Marchby Frankfurt School UNEP Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
For example, a large-scale solar plant in Dubai has recently bid to provide electricity at less than $0.06 per kilowatt-hour. To put this in context, this is less than what the vast majority of consumers around the world pay to keep the lights on. It’s a third of the cost of electricity in Africa.
When it came to investment, China led with $83bn in clean energy funding, but many other countries followed closely behind. Some of the most promising states – like Brazil, India and South Africa – are expected to lead the way. Others, like Kenya, which boasts one of the largest solar rooftop system on the continent and shortly the largest wind farm, are more of a surprise.
Meanwhile, America’s big banks are bundling thousands of rooftop solar systems into Wall Street-friendly investment opportunities. On the other end of the economic spectrum, crowdsourcing and community financing is also taking hold and driving growth at the grassroots level.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-14/fossil-fuels-just-lost-the-race-against-renewables
The shift occurred in 2013
(...) by 2030 more than four times as much renewable capacity will be added.
Solar (…) could be the world’s biggest single source by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency.
The Economist @EconEconomics
Apr 11 2015
Plummeting prices are boosting renewables, even as subsidies fall http://econ.st/1Jvz1ls
GLOBAL investment in renewable energy, chiefly wind and solar power, rose by a sixth in 2014, to $270 billion. This was partly because of subsidies in the rich world, such as America’s 30% federal tax credit for solar projects.
But even if the tax credit is cut, as expected, solar electricity could displace 9.7% of American retail electricity sales by 2019,
Renewables, excluding large hydropower schemes, now account for nearly a tenth of global power generation. On current trends they will make up a fifth by 2030.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-30/seven-reasons-cheap-oil-can-t-stop-renewables-now
Oil is for cars; renewables are for electricity. The two don’t really compete. Oil is just too expensive to power the grid, even with prices well below $50 a barrel.
Demand is so strong that the biggest limit to installations this year may be the availability of panels. (ref Aug 2014)
It’s the most important chart. It shows the reason solar will soon dominate: It’s a technology, not a fuel.
Dubai’s government-owned utility this week awarded a $330 million contract for a solar plant that will sell some of the cheapest electricity in the world.
Electric cars are still in the early-adopter phase, and someone paying $100,000 for a Tesla doesn’t care that gasoline costs a buck less per gallon.
Let’s bookmark this conversation for two years from now, when Chevy and Tesla plan to release the first affordable mass-market plug-ins* with a range of 200+ miles per charge.
*Plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle
SOUTH AFRICA ENERGY POLICY
Climate Reality
@ClimateReality
21 Apr 2015
Could South Africa become the biggest global market for renewables? We hope so. bit.ly/1aLJ0Xp#ClimateHope
https://twitter.com/ClimateReality/status/590509289749504001
The Climate Reality Project – founded by former Vice President of the US and Nobel Laureate, Al Gore: http://climaterealityproject.org/whoweare
“We are cultural leaders, marketers, organizers, scientists, storytellers and more, and we are committed to building a better future together.”
SOLAR POWER
"Solar Power Comes of Age"
"How Harnessing the Sun Got Cheap and Practical"
DEMOCRATIZING ENERGY
THE WORLD WIDE ENERGY WEB: A GLOBAL SMART POWER GRID
POLITICAL APPROACHES FROM THE WORLD: THE EUMENA region (Europe, Middle East, North Africa) DESERTEC PROJECT
"Within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year."
"In order to meet today‘s global power demand, it would suffice to equip about three thousandths of the world‘s deserts with solar collectors of solar thermal power plants. About 20 m2 of desert would be enough to meet the individual power demand of one human being day and night (see below) - all this absolutely CO2 free."
http://www.desertec.org/en/foundation/
POLITICAL APPROACHES FROM THE WORLD: THE EUROPE POLITICAL APPROACH
Europe Plans a North Sea Grid
Europe Plans a North Sea Grid
Undersea cables will transport wind, hydro, and solar power"Energy produced at night in UK wind farms, for instance, could be stored in Norway’s hydropower facilities and released the following day"
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/the-smarter-grid/europe-plans-a-north-sea-grid
By John Blau (March 2010)
Denmark to power electric cars by wind in vehicle-to-grid experiment
The project will use electric car batteries to store excess energy and feed electricity back into the grid when the weather is calm
________________________________________________________________________________
Duncan Graham-Rowe
guardian.co.uk, Friday 19 June 2009 16.33 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/19/denmark-wind-electric-cars
________________________________________________________________________________
Cars could be the solution to the intermittent nature of wind power if a multimillion European project beginning on a Danish island proves successful.
Buckminster Fuller's Global Electrical grid
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Energy_Network_Institute)
Martin I. Hoffert, et al.
Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability: Energy for a Greenhouse Planet
Science 298, 981 (2002)
DOI: 10.1126/science.1072357
"Spanning the world electrically evokes Buckminster Fuller’s global grid (Fig. 2B). Even before the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity (42), Fuller evisioned electricity wheeled between day and night hemispheres and pole-to-pole (43). Worldwide deregulation and the free trade of electricity could have buyers and sellers establishing a supply-demand equilibrium to yield a worldwide market price for grid-provided electricity."
DESIGNING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION:
The Four Pillars of the Third Industrial Revolutionby Jeremy Rifkin
http://www.foet.org/tir_materials.html
The First Pillar: Renewable Energy
The Second Pillar: Buildings as Positive Power Plants
While renewable energy is found everywhere and new technologies are allowing us to harness it more cheaply and efficiently, we need infrastructure to load it. This is where the
building industry steps to the fore, to lay down the second pillar of the Third Industrial Revolution.
The Third Pillar: Hydrogen Storage
The Fourth Pillar: Smartgrids and Plug-in Vehicles
"If just 25 percent of drivers used their vehicles as power plants to sell energy back to the intergrid, all of the power plants in the US and the EU could be eliminated."
NVESTIR A LA TRANSITION VERTE: VÉHICULE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT ÉCONOMIQUE MONDIAL
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Inde: Future géant de l’énergie solaire
Article de Julien Bouissou – Le Monde Bilan de la Planète 2009
Le pays devrait assurer 8,3% de sa consommation électrique grâce au photovoltaïque en 2020.
Organisme de recherche indépendant, www.earth-policy.org
"L' Afrique a les moyens de fournir plus de la moitié de la demande énergétique européenne, elle peut devenir un fournisseur de premier plan."
"Le potentiel éolien de la Chine est sept fois supérieur à ses besoins en électricité selon nos estimations."
«Si les Etats-Unis s'y mettent, les autres suivront»
Version imprimable