Wind

Can the DOE Kick-Start Offshore Wind in the US?

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While there are nearly four gigawatts of installed offshore wind capacity in Europe and China, the U.S. has no operational projects in the water, and its nine advanced-stage plans, representing 3,380 megawatts of potential capacity, face challenges, according to a new study on the industry by Navigant Consulting that was conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

To further drive U.S. offshore wind past those challenges and into commercial operation by 2017, the DOE awarded $28 million per year in Advanced Technology Demonstration funding for the next six years to seven projects that proved themselves with backing from DOE in 2011. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 14, 2012 at 3:30 PM

Australian Energy: Greening ‘Oz’ Infographic

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Australia has punched above its weight in the global energy sector for years, with its huge natural resources providing a platform for the country’s economy that allowed it to outperform much of the world throughout the lingering post-crisis recessions in the developed world.

The country’s consumers and companies are energy investors and energy leaders, and issues surrounding energy usage and regulation have been political and cultural flashpoints in Australia in recent years. That means that the focus on Australian customers by pollsters and analysts pulling together the Corporate Renewable Energy Index and the Global Consumer Wind Study on behalf of wind company Vestas, TNS Gallup and Bloomberg New Energy Finance formed some of the key figures and results for a sector eyeing a transition to a “clean” economy. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 4, 2012 at 11:15 AM

IMF Paper: China Investment Excessive

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China’s policymakers are leaning too heavily on investment to boost economic growth, a strategy that could destabilize the world’s second largest economy, according to a paper prepared by International Monetary Fund researchers. The paper, released this week, finds that China needs to lower total investment by about 10% of gross domestic product to correct course. If policymakers do not act, the authors say that “vulnerabilities will continue to build.” China, along with many other developing countries, has long depended on government-funded investment to encourage economic expansion.

 /  Published November 30, 2012 at 10:15 AM

Renewable Power Dispute Heats Up in Central Europe

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during debates at the Bundestag over the 2013 federal budget on November 21, 2012 in Berlin, Germany.

As the temperatures begin to dip below freezing in Europe, an unsightly conflict is heating up between clean-energy champion Germany and its pro-nuclear neighbors in Poland and the Czech Republic. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 30, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Decentralized Renewable Energy Systems Will Make Us Less Vulnerable to Hurricanes

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It was stunning to see just how fast Sandy shut down the northeast’s electrical systems, leaving people powerless in more ways than one. The storm’s flip of a switch effect was because our electrical generating systems are so centralized.

Not one to mince words, Governor Cuomo called New York’s electrical system “archaic and obsolete.” “The utility system we have was designed for a different time and for a different place,” he said, it “is a 1950s system. We’re going to have to look at a ground up redesign.” Keep reading →

 /  Published November 27, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Morten Albaek: renewable investment made to secure energy supply, hedge energy costs and strengthen brands #EnergyTransparency2012

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Morten Albaek: renewable investment made to secure energy supply, hedge energy costs and strengthen brands #EnergyTransparency2012 Vestas

 /  Published November 21, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Australian Renewable Energy Market Nears a Pivot

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The energy sector has transformed Australia’s economic and political fortunes in recent years, with the robust development of coal and natural gas lending it the strength of export powerhouse even as the country’s political leaders have repeatedly stressed a focus on renewable energy and carbon pricing in response to widespread concerns about environmental strain.

Pointing out that Australia had adopted an ambitious renewable energy and carbon emissions reduction campaign since 2006, International Energy Agency Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven welcomed the recent release of the Australian government’s Energy White Paper 2012. The White Paper release comes as the government’s Climate Change Authority prepares to issue a final version of its review of the country’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) program in December, and policy supported by both documents could lend much-needed certainty for renewable energy project developers like power company AGL awaiting confirmation of earlier government targets for renewable energy deployment in Australia. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 20, 2012 at 8:45 AM

What Should the US Energy Industry Expect Under a Second Obama Administration?

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Now that the votes are in and media attention has shifted from a contentious US presidential election to the looming fiscal cliff, energy companies in the oil and gas space as well as wind, solar and other sectors are keeping a sharp eye on what the next four years of energy policy might look like.

The regulatory requirements associated with developing oil and gas on federal lands became a polarizing issue during the election, with republicans claiming the process is too strict, overly burdensome and impedes companies from producing resources vital to the US economy. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 14, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Why Obama’s win won’t help renewable energy

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Barack Obama’s re-election may have seemed like a sure win for solar and wind power, given the President’s history of supporting green energy.

 /  Published November 13, 2012 at 9:30 AM

American Energy Renaissance Redraws Global Energy Map: IEA

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circa 1935: A view of oil wells in California, near Los Angeles.

America’s “energy renaissance” will redraw the global energy map and transform the oil and gas trade triggering trillions of dollars investment, the International Energy Agency forecast today. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 12, 2012 at 4:45 PM
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