It’s an all-too-familiar refrain in the United States these days: “Solar is too expensive.” Supporters of solar power have long had to face the argument that conventional energy sources are simply cheaper. This economic reality is a substantial portion of what underlies the sizable government subsidies to solar companies such as Solyndra in the U.S., and why the Chinese government is vigorously subsidizing its own solar industry. A poll conducted in the U.S. by clean-tech communications firm Tigercomm reflects this as well: The majority of respondents said solar power is too expensive, will remain an intermittent source of power, and can’t truly compete directly with coal or natural gas. A mere 41% believed solar was affordable, and only 34% believed it was reliable. But new solar cell technology–specifically improvements involving nanotechnology–may change minds with surprising speed.
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The tactic du jour for environmentalists trying to sell a skeptical public on tighter regulations is this: spin the thing as a job creator. Last week a Maryland-based environmental group said efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay would actually create 240,000 jobs over the next several years, mainly by employing people to upgrade sewage systems. In a recent report defending stricter mercury pollution limits on power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency said 8,000 more people would be needed to build and run the pollution control equipment than would be laid off as a result of older plants shutting down. Economists that aren’t aligned with either industry or activist groups say that, when it comes to creating or destroying jobs, environmental regulations come out somewhere near neutral — adding costs to industry but producing benefits in public health or other areas.
Trying to find the silver bullet in energy is not an easy task. Developing a power source that is clean and widely available, yet also cheaper and more reliable than fossil fuels or intermittent wind and solar has led to a great deal of expensive research but few commercially successful technologies.
Proponents of ocean power, in which converters capture the power of the constant energy provided by high and low waves and tide flows, believe they have the answer – but pricing, infrastructure prejudiced to existing generation types and lack of data all form robust challenges for the still-small sector. Keep reading →
As the solar market continues its dramatic growth, the future outlook for manufacturers is changing. While US photovoltaic module manufacturers were working on technology development and manufacturing strategies, their competition, mainly in Asia, was able to line up financing and build new factories more rapidly. The Chinese government also has been developing a set of subsidies to boost solar energy production in-country.
As a result, a great deal of industry buzz has been generated by the precipitous slide in solar module prices, which dropped approximately 40 percent from 2007 to 2010 and by another 40 percent in 2011. Most industry experts predict that solar module price will eventually bounce back from its lowest level of 2011 once demand catches up with supply as evidenced by steadily growing solar energy demand in the future. Keep reading →
A flagship Enova biomass power project in the Northeastern US has cleared a string of financial hurdles following an agreement between private equity giant The Carlyle Group and SAIC.
The 37.5MW Plainfield, Connecticut project will cost $225 million and will consume recycled wood materials, removing it from an industry debate over the use of fresh-cut biomass for power generation. Keep reading →
The European Union’s threatened boycott of crude oil imports from Iran is likely to have little effect on global oil prices, the Iranian economy, or its controversial nuclear program because the country will be able to find other buyers such as China, analysts said.
The EU agreed the measure in principle on January 4 in the latest effort to persuade Iran to suspend its enrichment of uranium in a nuclear program which Iran says is purely for peaceful domestic purposes but which the UN, US and EU say has aggressive intent. Keep reading →
Two recent wins for General Electric’s Grid IQ offering signal not just where GE is headed. They also suggest two important trends for 2012. First, the move to “cloud-based” hosted services is under way in earnest. Second, many of the sector’s biggest players are targeting coops and municipals for their next round of deals.
Hosted services are here (and to stay). Keep reading →
NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), plus the State Department, NIKE, Inc. and other private-sector partners, have been collaborating on a unique venture that identifies and provides support for innovative ideas and technologies dealing with such global challenges as water resources, clean air, health care and energy. Led by Diane Powell of NASA, the program known as LAUNCH brings scientists, entrepreneurs and inventors to the Kennedy Space Center for intensive two-to-three-day forums to focus attention on their innovations and to help them accelerate the adoption of their breakthrough ideas.
The @CFTC’s #DoddFrank final rule on real-time reporting was published in the @FedRegister today: http://t.co/7g5HToFI
By Peter GardettThe CFTC’s #DoddFrank final rule on real-time reporting was published in the FedRegister today: http://t.co/7g5HToFI CFTC
New Jersey lawmakers moved to boost the state’s booming solar market by supporting the market price for certificates issued for solar-generated power.
The state legislature’s Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee on Thursday approved two bills that seek to reverse a recent sharp fall in the value of the tradable Solar Renewable Energy Certificates. Keep reading →
