News Roundup
‘An influx of new entrants, combined with dramatic capacity expansions from established manufacturers, has meant that crystalline silicon-based PV has become an increasingly crowded and commoditized space over the last two years. Add to that a recession-driven demand slump and an expected thin-film ramp over the coming years, and there is little doubt that competition in this segment will be extremely fierce.’
via GTM Research.
‘The successful arrival of solar’s gigawatt/terawatt future depends on a ever-more-challenging combination of cost cutting and technology enhancement, with a large portion of public policy behavior modification thrown in. But there’s another piece of the GW/TW scaling puzzle that sometimes gets left out of the conversation—the need for a large, well-trained workforce to do the thousands and thousands of jobs that will sprout up across the photovoltaic production and system value chain.’
‘Acknowledging the easing of the silicon shortage and an overall improvement in the sector, he [Hemlock Semiconductor VP Gary Homan] wondered about how the effect of price erosion will drive demand and how future costs may affect the expansion plans of some poly manufacturers. He believes that all of the extra capacity coming online—essentially a 100% pop over the past year, enough to support 10GW of solar production—is contributing to driving silicon costs closer to grid parity levels.’
‘A furious battle over the aesthetics of wind energy has erupted in North Carolina, where lawmakers are weighing a bill that would bar giant turbines from the state’s scenic western ridgelines.’
via North Carolina to Ban Mountaintop Wind? – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com.
‘PARIS AFP – One of the biggest glaciers in the southern hemisphere shrivelled by a fifth in 40 years, French scientists said on Wednesday.’
via Massive glacier in sub-Antarctic island shrinks by a fifth – Yahoo! News.
‘OSLO (Reuters) – The United States is by far the biggest greenhouse gas emitter ahead of China if consumers in rich nations are given responsibility for energy used to make imported goods, a researcher said on Wednesday.’
via U.S. top greenhouse gas emitter, counting imports | Green Business | Reuters.
This analysis challenges China’s recently acquired position as the world’s greatest greenhouse gas emitter by shifting the focus from production to consumption. The article goes on to quote these statistics:
‘In the ranking of 73 nations, Americans have the biggest annual “carbon footprint” at the equivalent of 29 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita, ahead of Australians on 21 tonnes and Canadians on 20 tonnes.
Each Chinese citizen in the survey, based on 2001 data, accounts for just 3.1 tonnes. Adjusted for China’s much bigger population, U.S. emissions were 7.9 billion tonnes and China’s 3.9 billion.’
‘LONDON Reuters – Americans can save some of the 225 billion gallons of water 852 billion liters wasted each year through over-watering by installing smart systems which deliver just the right amount of moisture.’
via Smart tech could save billions of liters of water | Green Business | Reuters.
This article goes on to include interesting factoids from a RiverNetwork.org report:
“U.S. water-related energy use is at least 521 million megawatt hours a year — equivalent to 13 percent of the nation’s electricity consumption,” said a River Network Carbon Footprint of Water report published in May.
“The carbon associated with moving, treating and heating water in the U.S. is at least 290 million tonnes a year.”
‘Three non-governmental organizations — Amigos da Terra Amazônia Brasileira, the ethno-environmental Kanindé defense association and the co-ordination of Brazilian Amazon indigenous organizations — have together filed two civil suits against Ibama, the Brazilian institute for the environment and natural renewable resources.’
‘WASHINGTON Reuters – China and other developing nations must help “pay” for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Monday, backing off a recent statement that put a greater burden on the United States.’
via U.S. says China must pay to cut greenhouse gases | Green Business | Reuters.
‘The United States got about 2800 megawatts of geothermal energy in 2006, or 0.3 percent of the total. But it only costs 4 to 6 cents per kilowatt hour to make on average, according to DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy division – close to the ultra-cheap price of energy made from coal, but without coal power’s massive carbon emissions.’
via Greentech Media: For Cheap Clean Energy, Go Geothermal, Study Says.