BluepointLondon Adds 1,000 EV Charge Points as Demand Accelerates

10.01.2018

BluepointLondon will add 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) charge points to the capital’s network this year, in response to seeing demand more than double over the past year to just under 50,000 charges, the firm said yesterday.

The new points will be added to the Source London network across 20 London Boroughs, including Westminster, Greenwich and Southwark, with a further six boroughs said to be considering signing up to the scheme.

BluepointLondon has only spent £25m of the £100m budget available to roll out the infrastructure, meaning further expansion is possible to keep pace with demand.

Charge point use under the Source London scheme increased steadily last year, according to data released by the company, before rising sharply between August and November, and then slightly decreasing due to the “holiday period”.

“This surge in usage shows that electric vehicle users increasingly need a far more comprehensive network of charge points,” said BluepointLondon in a statement.

The expansion of the network comes amidst similar commitments from other network operators to increase the number of chargepoints.

The move is likely to be welcomed by the government, which has earmarked EVs as a key component of its strategies to curb greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

As well as improving air quality in cities, a report by VUB University in Brussels recently confirmed that electric cars are responsible for significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional vehicles, even when reliant on dirty energy sources.

The report showed that EVs used in Poland, where 90 per cent of electricity is generated using coal power, still resulted in CO2 emissions that were 25 per cent less overall compared to diesel vehicles. EVs used in countries with cleaner grids would also deliver significantly larger emission reductions.

Many car manufacturers are now targeting the rollout of more electric cars, as sales across the sector continue to outperform the wider auto market.

Source: businessgreen.com

‘World-Leading’: UK Microbead Ban Comes Into Force

10.01.2018

The first phase of the UK ban on plastic microbeads will come into effect today, as the government moves to strengthen its crack down on marine plastic pollution.

The ban on the manufacture of microbeads in ‘rinse-off’ products comes into force today, with a further ban on selling products that contain microbeads due in six months time.

Environment Minister Therese Coffey heralded the ban as a “world-leading” move and an “important milestone” in the battle to reduce the amount of plastic entering our oceans.

“Microbeads are entirely unnecesary when there are so many natural alternatives available,” she said. “The world’s seas and oceans are some of our most valuable natural assets and I am determined we act now to tackle the plastic that devastates our previous marine life.”

Her comments came just days after Prime Minister Theresa May promised more action on tackling marine plastic pollution would be forthcoming from the government. “We want to do the same in relation to single-use plastic,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr. “Nobody who watched Blue Planet will doubt the need for us to do something.”

The Environmental Audit Committee said the ban was “a step in the right direction” but warned “much more needs to be achieved” to tackle the scourge of marine plastic pollution.

“Our seas are choked with massive quantities of polluting microplastics, which absorb chemicals, are eaten by wildlife and enter the food chain”, said Committee chair Mary Creagh.

“My committee has also recommended a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles, a latte levy for plastic-lined coffee cups and reforms to make producers responsible for their packaging.”

Her comments were echoed by WWF Head of Marine Policy, Dr Lyndsey Dodds, who said “any step to tackle the plastic problem is welcome, but to save our oceans will require ambitious action”.

Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner Tisha Brown also acknowledged the ban is a “positive first step”, but that “more work needs to be done.”

“There’s already some early stage work to look at extending the ban”, she said. “We hope that this will happen within the next couple of years, or even next year as the government seems very serious about this.”

Businesses still stocking products containing microbeads after the ban comes into force may face fines and possible legal action, Defra warned.

A guidance document has been provided to alert companies to potentially non-compliant products. Specially trained officers will also be checking goods at UK Borders to ensure they comply with the ban. A £100,000 fund for legal aid and court costs has been provided for the Ministry of Justice.

It is unclear whether the ban will extend to imports of products containing microplastics in the coming six months. Just over half of all products in the UK cosmetics market are imported, according to the CTPA or UK Cosmetic Trade Association.

The ban will not affect ‘leave on’ products such as make-up and sunscreen. The cosmetics industry said that such a change would force them to reformulate up to 90 per cent of their products.

Microbeads are tiny bits of plastic – typically formed from polyethylene, polypropylene and polymethylmethacrylate – that are too small for many sewage systems to filter them out. They are known to be accumulating in the ocean’s, causing serious damage to wildlife and entering the food chain, as shown in the recent BBC series Blue Planet II.

Many cosmetics companies have already stopped using microbeads. The Body Shop stopped using them in 2015 while Clearasil and Neutrogena products aimed to phase them out by the end of 2017.

However, green groups remain concerned that many non ‘rinse-off’ cosmetic products and textiles continue to contain microbeads and threads that are polluting marine environments.

Source: businessgreen.com

BNEF: Global Offshore Wind Market to Surge Six-Fold by 2030

10.01.2018

The global offshore wind market is set to grow 16 per cent a year through to 2030, delivering a six-fold increase in capacity compared to today’s levels, according to the latest analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

Global generation capacity from offshore wind today stands at 17.6GW, but BNEF is forecasting significant growth over the next decade or more, reaching a cumulative capacity of 115GW by 2030.

Separate previous forecasts have suggested Europe’s total installed offshore wind capacity alone could surge to 140GW as soon as 2025, while IRENA has put the global capacity figure at 100GW by 2030.

Today’s offshore wind market is led by the UK, but as early as 2022 China is expected to overtake as the market leader, while the US and Taiwan will also emerge as significant, gigawatt-strong markets in the next decade, yesterday’s analysis suggests.

However, BNEF expects annual installations to peak in 2027, after which the expiry of offshore wind subsidies and lack of regulatory transparency is set to result in a slowdown in global capacity rollout.

BNEF’s outlook report is just the latest to signal positive forecasts for the offshore wind sector, after a record-breaking year in 2017.

In particular, the UK’s Contracts for Difference auction delivered record-breaking low price of £57.50/MWh in last year’s UK Contracts for Difference auction, a price cut of 50 per cent compared to the previous auction two years earlier. Meanwhile, the first bids were placed in a subsidy-free auction for offshore wind in the Netherlands.

The report came amid further positive news for the growing market yesterday, with turbine manufacturer Vestas announcing a rise in its free cashflow expectations – operating cash flow minus capital expenditures – for 2017, following a sudden flurry of orders at the end of the year.

The global market leader said yesterday it now expected its free cashflow for 2017 to be around €1.15-1.25bn, marking a significant increase from its previous guidance of €450m-€900m.

The announcement prompted a five per cent jump in shares in the Danish firm, which surpassed 10GW in orders during 2017, according to the Financial Times.

In other recent renewables news, the African Development Bank said it achieved a 100 per cent investment in renewable energy across its energy-related investments last year, with 1.4GW of renewable power generation projects approved during 2017.

Source: businessgreen.com

Byton Unveils Electric Vehicle to Rival Tesla

10.01.2018

Byton has revealed the first look at the high-tech electric car it claims will ‘perceive more than what a human being will ever do.’ The firm finally unveiled its first drivable prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, after teasing the so-called Smart Intuitive Vehicle (SIV) since September.

The Nanjing-based company plans to roll out the mid-sized crossover vehicle with level 3 autonomy in China in 2019, starting at $45,000, before hitting the US and Europe in 2020. The car will respond to conditions on the road to avoid potential threats; for example, ‘if the exterior lighting conditions change, your Byton will adjust to your needs automatically,’ the co-founder said. also has voice control with Amazon’s Alexa, and an intuitive gesture control system that responds to 5 different hand commands. The base model will be able to achieve 250 miles (400 km) on a charge, while the higher end variant will go up to about 325 miles (520 km) – and, the firm claims it will charge incredibly fast.

Byton claims it is on the verge of achieving a fast-charging system that will ‘get enough charge for a whole week of urban commuting’ in just the amount of time it takes you to have a cup of coffee. Onstage at CES, co-founder Dr Carson Breitfeld said the car will recharge to a range of 150 miles (250 kilometers) in just 20 minutes. And, in just 30 minutes, the battery will be 80 percent full.

Its cars are designed to be ‘the next generation of smart devices for shared mobility and autonomous driving.’ As a result, much of the focus has been put into its smart human-vehicle interface.

The car is essentially a ‘smartphone on wheels,’ a Byton test driver said during the Las Vegas event.

Source: Daily Mail

Huge China Reforestation Campaign Kicks Into High Gear

09.01.2018

If you want a feel-good story about a country that takes climate change seriously and is willing to take significant steps to protect the environment, China is a good place to start. Long the poster child for poisonous air, foul waterways, and coal-fired power plants, the country declared a war on pollution back in 2014, before the Paris climate accords were agreed to.

As part of its cleanup campaign, China has been installing vast amounts of renewable energy from wind, solar, and hydroelectric sources and decommissioning coal-fired power stations as quickly as possible. It is also pushing the EV revolution hard with both financial and regulatory tools and may be one of the first nations to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines. It’s fair to say that China is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to getting its own house in order.

Now China has announced a new reforestation program that will plant enough trees in 2018 to cover an area the size of Ireland. Forests already cover 21.7% of the country. That figure is set to increase to 23% by 2020 and 26% by 2035, according to a report in The Telegraph. Zhang Jianlong, head of China’s State Forestry Administration, says, “Companies, organizations and talent that specialize in greening work are all welcome to join in the country’s massive greening campaign. Cooperation between government and social capital will be put on the priority list.”

Zhang says China has invested more than $65 billion in new forests in the past 5 years. That push has brought the total amount of forested land in the country to 208 million hectares — or just over 800,000 square miles. The new reforestration program will take place in Hebei province in the northeast, Qinghai province on the Tibetan plateau, and in the Hunshandake Desert in Inner Mongolia.

To preserve its forests, China has promulgated “ecological red line” policies intended to prevent local governments from engaging in “irrational development” and construction near forests, rivers, and national parks. That is in sharp contrast to the United States, where irrational development near forests, rivers, national parks, and offshore areas is now considered desirable.

Source: cleantechnica.com

44% Wind — Denmark Set New Wind Energy Record In 2017

09.01.2018

wind-turbin-vetroturbina — Photo illustration: Pixabay

Numbers have just come out this week from danskenergi.dk, the Danish energy organization whose members support companies in delivering steady green power to the Danes, with an impressive uptime of 99.99% at competitive prices.

Wind turbines delivered power equivalent to 43.6 percent of Denmark’s electricity consumption in 2017. This is a new milestone in the effort to transition the energy supply system in the country to be carbon neutral.

2017 ended in a stormy December and the year totaled an output of about 14,700 GWh derived from data from Energinet.dk. Thus, 2017 became a new record year for wind in Denmark.

Lars Aagaard, CEO of Dansk Energi, emphasizes that it is very important we utilize the combination of this amazing wind resource and the ability to supply incredibly stable power supply. “Electricity must replace gasoline, oil and gas,” he says.

Although wind turbines deliver a steadily increasing share of the Danish electricity supply, that does not mean that the number of turbines increases. On the contrary, today there are about 20% fewer wind turbines in Denmark than in 2001, when the number of wind turbines peaked. In 2017, about 6,100 wind turbines were in service according to the Danish Energy Authority.

The turbines have become bigger and more efficient. In addition, the majority of Denmark’s offshore wind turbines have been installed since 2001. Overall, capacity in Denmark has more than doubled since 2001, with today’s 5.3 GW wind capacity installed on land and water.

By 2020, wind is expected to reach 50 percent of the electricity consumption in the country. In total, renewable energy, including solar and sustainable biomass, will cover 80 percent of electricity consumption in Denmark.

Source: cleantechnica.com

2017 Second Hottest Year On Record, After Only 2016

09.01.2018

climate-change- — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

2017 was the second hottest year on record with regard to global average temperatures — after only 2016 — according to a new report from the Europe-based Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The high level of heat was accompanied by abnormally high levels of wildfires, very abnormally low sea ice extent and thickness, and high levels of drought in various parts of the world.

To be more specific, the new report states that 2017 saw a global temperature average of 14.7° Celsius (58.46° Fahrenheit) at the Earth’s surface — which is roughly 1.2° Celsius (2.2° Fahrenheit) above that of pre-industrial times.

“It’s striking that 16 of the 17 warmest years have all been this century,” stated Jean-Noel Thepaut, the head of Copernicus, in an interview with Reuters.

Reuters provides more: “The Copernicus study is in line with a projection by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in November that 2017 would be second or third warmest behind 2016. … In 2016, an extra dose of heat came from El Nino, a natural event that releases heat from the Pacific Ocean every few years. But last year was the hottest year without an El Nino, according to Copernicus, run by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.”

I suppose this story is likely to get buried, though, by all of the media spectacle concerning the winter storm hitting the northeastern US — with people apparently forgetting that the summer exists when the winter is ongoing.

Fifty years on from now, I wonder if people will still be claiming that climate warming isn’t occurring because the temperatures during the winter are 50° Fahrenheit on average in NYC rather than 100° Fahrenheit like during the summer? Perhaps the US won’t exist as a country by that point, though?

The World Meteorological Organization will be releasing its own report on 2017 in a few weeks, which may provide more context on the matter.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Nikola Rajaković: Will Conventional Energy in Serbia Be Able to Respond to the Challenge of Electromobility?

09.01.2018

It became clear to all of us that the Republic of Serbia is seriously preparing for the transport transformation – from traditional fossil fuels vehicles to sustainable electric and hybrid cars, buses, trucks.

The network of charging stations in Serbia has started developing rapidly this year. As road infrastructure will soon no longer pose a problem for electric car drivers, it is expected that by 2025 there will be 100,000 such vehicles on the roads in our country.

Benefits arising from the above-mentioned changes are multiple, but for the use of power distribution grid for the purpose of charging batteries of electric vehicles, the goodwill of drivers, to replace the existing vehicles with more modern electric vehicles, is not enough.

We talked to Nikola Rajaković, Ph.D., Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the University of Belgrade and one of the leading experts in electrical power engineering in Serbia, about the capacities of our power distribution grid and the impact of the wide use of electric vehicles on its undisturbed operation. He gave us his predictions on the development of sustainable transport and infrastructure for electric vehicles in our country.

– The community of experts in Serbia to a large extent supports the transition of the energy sector towards the energy without fossil fuels, i.e. without the emission of harmful greenhouse gases. At the beginning of these changes there were some open questions, but today it is certain that conventional energy cannot respond to the challenges it faces. These challenges are mainly reduced to major environmental problems, the limitation of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal…) and a steady increase in energy demand – said Rajakovic, Ph.D.

Possible answers lie in the optimal energy mix (hybrid energy solutions with renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, energy storage).

– In such complex energy systems, the need for the introduction of smart grids becomes primary because it is necessary to integrate renewable variable production (primarily from solar power plants and wind farms) in the system in the best possible way. In addition, smart grids enable the flows of energy, gas, and heat to be monitored and controlled and, if necessary, stored, and allow electric batteries to be integrated in the best possible way in the power grid – explains the Professor.

In the curricula at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, technologies and ways of integrating renewable energy sources have been studied for almost two decades, and in parallel, smart grid technologies have also been introduced.

– The strategic importance of electric vehicles and energy infrastructure for charging electric vehicles in the context of modern energy is enormous. Namely, a large part of the open issues of modern energy and in particular, electricity is solved through the massive introduction of electric transport. In this way, the issue of energy efficiency (as one of the most important levers of modern energy) and the total energy needs are solved very successfully. In the context of widespread use of electric vehicles, it is important to adjust our regulations because a lot of charging station appear, and thus electric transport becomes definitely a new area for which the high technological level of smart power grids is again needed – added Professor Rajaković.

We also learned that within the University of Belgrade, they identified the needs for studies which would examine and prepare the power distribution grid for the upcoming increase in the use of electricity for the purpose of charging vehicle batteries.

– The connection of electric vehicles involves the analysis of two options. The first refers only to the possibility of power flow from the grid to the battery of the vehicle, and the second to the possibility of two-way power flows, that is, the battery can serve both as a consumer and as an energy source. This second option provides the opportunity for the grid to have the backup sources in electric car batteries in case of need and in this way energy storage in significantly diversified. However, it is important to note that simultaneous connection of a large number of batteries to the power grid can bring significant technical problems (voltage drops, higher harmonics…), but these problems can be successfully solved by using optimization algorithms. New load in grids, along with distributed variable renewable energy sources (solar and wind) will require additional development of methods based on stochastic laws in order to successfully integrate into the grid – explained Professor Rajaković.

Feasibility studies in several scientific research institutes, as well as in Elektroprivreda Srbije, are in the pipeline, and we hope that future research will provide full support to sustainable transport in Serbia.

Prepared by: Marija Nešović

This content was originally published in the eighth issue of the Energy Portal Bulletin, named ECOMOBILITY.

India Tenders 1.2 Gigawatts Of Solar Capacity In First Week Of 2018

09.01.2018

photovoltaic-system solar — Foto: Pixabay

Giving an overview of what to expected over the next few months, the Solar Energy Corporation of India announced three tenders for solar power projects within the first week of this year.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India announced three separate tenders to set up solar power projects in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The announcements are part of an accelerated program to auction at least 77 gigawatts of solar power capacity by March 2020.

The tender for the Kadapa solar power park in Andhra Pradesh offers 750 megawatts of capacity to project developers under the open category (developers are free to use domestic or imported modules). Initially, the SECI had planned to auction 150 megawatts of capacity under the domestic content requirement program wherein developers would be obligated to buy Indian-made modules.

The Kadapa solar power park will eventually have an installed capacity of 1,000 megawatts (AC). In the first auction for the solar park, Solairedirect secured rights to develop 250 megawatts of capacity at Rs 3.15/kWh (¢5.00/kWh). Power generated from the project will be bundled with thermal power generated from NTPC power plants before being sold to utilities in Andhra Pradesh.

The fresh tender of 750 megawatts of capacity will be offered under the Viability Gap Funding, wherein the project developers willbid for the lowest capital cost subsidy they will need per megawatt capacity to set up the project. The tariff is fixed at Rs 2.93/kWh (¢4.6/kWh) but developers can quote a lower tariff as well. Recent trends have shown that developers have opted not to get any capital cost subsidy and quoted a lower tariff than that fixed by SECI for individual tenders.

A similar tender has been announced for the Pavagada solar power park in Karnataka. A capacity of 200 megawatts is on offer under the open VGF category with a fixed maximum tariff of Rs 2.93/kWh (¢4.6/kWh). The central government, through NTPC, auctioned 300 megawatts of capacity at the solar park at a tariff of Rs 4.80/kWh (¢7.6/kWh). A 200 megawatt tender was launched last year but had to be cancelled. Karnataka, itself, launched a tender for 860 megawatts last month.

SECI has also launched its first-ever tender for utility-scale solar power projects in the state of Uttar Pradesh. A total of 275 megawatts of capacity is on offer under the open VGF category with a maximum tariff of Rs 3.43/kWh (¢5.40/kWh). Uttar Pradesh significantly lags behind other large Indian states in terms of installed solar power capacity due to several reasons including lack of infrastructure and land availability issues. As a result, the tariff offered here is higher and developers may even ask for subsidies while bidding.

SECI recently auctioned 750 megawatts of capacity in the neighboring state of Rajasthan, which has adequate infrastructure, land, and solar radiation sources. These projects will supply electricity to utilities in Uttar Pradesh at a tariff of just Rs 2.48/kWh (¢3.90/kWh).

Uttar Pradesh auctioned several solar power projects in 2015 under its own solar power policy. The utilities recently agreed to sign power purchase agreements with those projects at Rs 7.02/kWh (¢11.00/kWh).

Source: cleantechnica.com

Report: US Records ‘Lowest Renewables Plus Storage Bids’ to Date

09.01.2018

energy-storage — Photo-ilustration: Pixabay

The growing attractiveness of the US renewables sector was again underlined last week, as a new analysis detailed how wind and solar projects in Colorado are set to undercut the cost of existing coal power even when storage costs are included.

Influential think tank Carbon Tracker published a research note last week analysing a recent Colorado filing from leading US utility Xcel Energy.

The filing, known as an Electric Resource Plan, contains over 350 proposals for new renewables projects.

Carbon Tracker said the median bid price for wind plus storage was $21/MWh and for solar plus storage was $36/MWh. “As far as we know, these are the lowest renewables plus storage bids in the US to date,” the analyst group said in a blog post.

The analysis acknowledges that several details relating to the projects “remain unknown”, but it calculated that the median bid for wind plus storage appears to be lower than the operating cost of all coal plants currently in Colorado, while the median solar plus storage bid could be lower than 74 per cent of operating coal capacity.

“Details on the bids are sparse,” Carbon Tracker said. “Crucially, the amount of storage is currently unknown. The combination of renewables plus storage bids are $3-$7/MWh higher than standalone wind and solar bids, suggesting a limited amount of storage. The capacity, if accepted, will also be online by 2023. However, as far as we know, these are the lowest renewables plus storage bids in the US to date. The previously lowest known solar plus storage bid price was $45/MWh in Arizona in May 2017.

“These changes highlight the dramatic declines in storage costs and reveal just how uncompetitive coal has become.”

The analysis came in the same week as new figures from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) confirmed coal use contracted last year and revealed that over the next three years 74 coal units are set to be retired across the US, with a total generation capacity of more than 20GW. In their place, just four coal units are scheduled to be built over the same period, representing just 1,927MW of capacity. It means the US will experience a six per cent net decline in its generation capacity over the period.

In contrast, projections for renewables deployment remain broadly positive, despite hostility from the Trump administration, as falling wind, solar and storage costs help drive investment in the sector.

Source: businessgreen.com

Chicago Fires Up $160m LED Street-Lighting Plan

08.01.2018

Chicago is set to become one of the largest cities in the world to switch its street lighting infrastructure to LEDs, after officials confirmed plans to replace 85 per cent of its street lights with energy-saving alternatives over the next four years.

The plan will see 270,000 high pressure sodium lights, which give a distinctive orange glow, switched to significantly more energy efficient and longer lasting LED lights.

The scheme, which began last year, is estimated to cost $160m. However, it is also slated to deliver major energy costs to Chicago City Council.

Manufacturers of LEDs typically claim the technology can curb energy use by between 60 and 80 per cent, delivering returns on investment in two years or less.

The roll out will also include a smart grid that indicates when a light is not working, so that residents no longer have to report faults.

“This project is a win-win – it will deliver one of the largest lighting modernisation programs in the country while addressing one of the top reasons residents call 311,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, referring to the number used by residents to make a complaint to the council.

“Under this proposed project we will be delivering modern, reliable and high-quality lighting that will improve quality of life in every Chicago neighbourhood,” he added in a statement.

The move is part of a global trend that has seen a growing number of city authorities around the world switch to LEDs in a bid to cut costs and carbon emissions.

Source: businessgreen.com

India Plans To Increase Rooftop Solar Subsidy By 5X, To $3.7 Billion

08.01.2018

The Indian government is planning to revamp its incentive program for rooftop solar power systems in an attempt to expedite implementation of the capacity across various segments of power consumers.

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has proposed a new-look rooftop solar power incentive program that targets commercial, industrial, residential, and institutional consumers. Known as the Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India (SRISTI), the program will have a financial support worth Rs 23,450 crore ($3.7 billion) from the government.

The Ministry plans to offer a maximum financial assistance of Rs 18,000 per kilowatt with a maximum covered capacity of 0.5 kilowatts in the residential sector. Similarly, for the institutional, commercial and industrial sector consumers will receive a maximum financial assistance of Rs 5,500 per kilowatt with a maximum covered capacity of 2.62 kilowatts.

Consumers in the commercial and industrial sector will set up 20,000 megawatts of capacity while consumers in the

government, residential, social, and institutional sectors will set up 5,000 megawatts of capacity each.

The new proposal would replace the current policy which earmarked Rs 5,000 crore ($770 million) for the rooftop solar power program, a 30 times increase from the preceding planned subsidy. Apart from the nearly 5 times increase in financial support in the latest proposal the government also plans to include commercial and industrial consumers in the subsidy scheme.

The expansion of the the subsidy scheme in terms of total financial support and consumers covered is essential if the government hopes to achieve an installed rooftop solar power capacity of 40 gigawatts by March 2022.

While the utility-scale solar power capacity has grown tremendously over the last few years due to cheaper debt, increased competition, supportive policies, and the fall in module prices, the rooftop solar power sector has significantly lagged behind.

As of the October 31 2017, India had a total installed solar power capacity of 15.5 gigawatts, including just 0.8 gigawatts of grid-connected rooftop capacity. To encourage the residential sector to adopt rooftop solar power systems the government recently proposed a ‘rent a roof’ policy.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Trump Plan to Reduce Marine Monuments Could Put Vital Ecosystems at Risk

08.01.2018

coral-reef- — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

A report from United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke recommends shrinking three ocean monuments and opening them up to commercial fishing. The monuments, two in the Pacific Ocean and one in the Atlantic Ocean, are undersea treasures according to Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 2009-2013. Lubchenco told The Guardian, “These ‘blue parks’ harbor unique species, a wealth of biodiversity, and special habitats.”

President Donald Trump may not just take aim at land-based national monuments, but at the following three marine monuments. The over 490,500-square-mile Pacific Remote Islands monument, created by George W. Bush and expanded by Barack Obama, includes largely untouched coral reefs and is “the last refugia for fish and wildlife species rapidly vanishing from the remainder of the planet,” per the Fish & Wildlife Service. The 10,156 square mile Rose Atoll monument “protects diverse marine ecosystems and the millions of wildlife dependent upon the Central Pacific.” And the 4,913 square mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument is the United States’ only protected area in the Atlantic Ocean, featuring underwater mountains and canyons, deep-sea coral, and endangered whales and sea turtles.

In his report Zinke said, “While early monument designations focused more on geological formations, archaeological ruins, and areas of historical interest, a more recent and broad interpretation of what constitutes an ‘object of historic or scientific interest’ has been extended to include landscape areas, biodiversity, and viewsheds.”

Fishing organizations aren’t always pleased about the monuments. In March, a New England coalition sued the federal government over fears fishers would be out of a job due to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument. The challenge is based on the idea Obama exceeded his authority in designating the monument.

Conservation groups worry activities like seabed mining or oil drilling could be next if monuments are opened for fishing. Pew Charitable Trusts Director of U.S. Oceans, Northeast Peter Baker told The Guardian, “It shouldn’t be too much to ask to protect two percent of the U.S.’s exclusive economic zone off the Atlantic coast for future generations.”

Lubchenco said, “Creation of highly protected blue parks like these monuments is beginning to re-establish the all-important balance of places to be used and places to be treasured. We need both.”

Source: inhabitat.com

Sweden Hails New Climate Act as ‘Most Ambitious in the World’

08.01.2018

klimatske-promene — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Sweden’s ambitious new climate change legislation entered into force this week, setting out a framework for the Scandinavian nation to become a net zero greenhouse gas emitter by 2045.

The new Climate Act, which became law on 1 January 2018, means Sweden’s government for the first time has an obligation to pursue climate policies based on goals set by an independent Climate Policy Council.

The legislation works along similar lines to the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008, with the new independent Council requiring Sweden’s government to review progress against its emissions goals every four years.

Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation, Isabella Lövin, described the Act as the “most important reform for our children and grandchildren”.

“From now on it will be illegal not to prioritise the climate,” she said in a statement. “This is a day I will tell my stepgrandchild about when she gets a little older.”

Each year, the Swedish government must produce a climate report in its Budget Bill and draw up a climate policy action plan every fourth year to describe how the emissions targets are to be achieved.

The legislation strengthens a previous goal to become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2050.

It was passed by the nation’s parliament in June last year by 254 votes to 41, after the proposals were developed by a cross party commission featuring seven of Sweden’s eight parliamentary parties. Only the far right Swedish Democrats sat out the process.

As part of its budget for 2018, Sweden’s government also announced plans last year to invest SEK5bn (£485m) on tackling climate change, safeguarding the environment and boosting sustainable development both at home and abroad.

Source: businessgreen.com

California Becomes First US State to Ban Incandescent Lightbulbs

05.01.2018

California became the first US state to completely ban incandescent light bulbs on Monday, after new energy efficiency standards for lighting came into effect.

The rules, which California is introducing two years ahead of the rest of the US, effectively outlaws traditional incandescent and halogen designs in favour of greener, more efficient technologies such as Light Emitting Diodes (LED).

The minimum standards – which require every bulb to produce at least 45 lumens of light per watt of energy – are expected to see around 250 million sockets across the state switch to more energy efficient bulbs, a shift which could save consumers $1bn a year in energy bills.

“The minimum standards are difficult to meet with incandescent or halogen technology,” Commissioner Andrew McAllister, the California Energy Commission’s energy efficiency lead, said in a statement. “Ten years ago manufacturers chose to focus on much more efficient products – LEDs and compact fluorescent lightbulbs – to meet consumer needs. The new technology improves the mix of products available to people so that lighting is vastly improved.”

Alongside the new federal standards, California also introduced new standards for LEDs and small-diameter directional lamps, as part of its goal to reduce energy use in home lighting by 50 per cent and cut businesses’ lighting energy use by 25 per cent against 2007 levels by 2018.

Stores in California will be able to sell any remaining stock of old lightbulbs, but will not be able to order any more. The move follows in the footsteps of the EU, which phased out the sale of incandescent lightbulbs in 2012.

Source: businessgreen.com

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