Global Coal Production Falls 6.2% in the Biggest Decline in History

19.06.2017

U.S. President Donald Trump may believe coal is the future, but newly-released statistics by BP state otherwise. According to the data, global coal production fell by an astonishing 6.2 percent last year — the largest annual decline on record. Additionally, consumption decreased for the second year in a row, dropping 1.7 percent. In wake of these findings, it should come as no surprise that once again, renewables were the fastest growing energy source, growing by a whopping 12 percent — a statistic which represents the largest annual incremental increase in output on record.

The report, entitled “Energy markets in transition: BP Statistical Review shows long-term shifts underway,” concluded that the oil market is declining because fast-growing markets are shifting “towards lower carbon fuels as renewable energy continues to grow strongly and coal use falls.” The report also showed that the shift from coal is widespread. The UK, for instance, consumed 52.5 percent less in 2016, the U.S. experienced an 8.8 percent dip in consumption and China’s reliance dropped by 1.6 percent.

Evidence to support these conclusions abound. For instance, the UK recently experienced its first coal-free day since the Industrial Revolution. India also intends to halt all coal plant production in the near future, as renewable technologies have become more affordable.

Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, said, “Global energy markets are in transition. The longer-term trends we can see in this data are changing the patterns of demand and the mix of supply as the world works to meet the challenge of supplying the energy it needs while also reducing carbon emissions. At the same time markets are responding to shorter-run run factors, most notably the oversupply that has weighed on oil prices for the past three years.”

As was previously mentioned, renewable energy was the fastest growing of all energy sources, increasing by 12 percent. Though solar, wind and other renewable energy sources provide only 4 percent of the world’s total energy, the increase represents almost one-third of the total growth in energy demand in 2016.

Despite certain leaders’ opposition to renewable energy investments, it seems clear the future is green and that consumers will continue to invest in energy sources that are beneficial for the environment, wildlife, and future generations – and their bottom line.

Source: inhabitat.com

Thrive Renewables Funds 11.5 MW of Scottish Wind

19.06.2017

British firm Thrive Renewables has supported 11.5 MW of wind power projects in Scotland with mezzanine loans, it said Thursday.

Financing from Thrive Renewables has helped Renewable Energy Ventures (REV) complete in time the construction of the 6.9-MW Gevens wind farm in Kirkcaldy, on the east coast of Scotland. The facility features three Enercon E82 turbines, each with a capacity of 2.3 MW. The second project in which the two partnered is the 4.6-MW Brotherton plant in Aberdeenshire. Its two Enercon E82 turbines are expected to commence power generation this summer.

Banks typically lend up to 80% of project capital costs and developers have to find the remaining 20% to 25%. Thrive Renewables’ mezzanine loans came to compliment the senior loan from Banco Santander (BME:SAN) for two REV projects, the financing firm explained.

Thrive Renewables, formerly known as Triodos Renewables, is willing to find and finance more renewable energy projects, including community projects “in a similar situation” in the UK. “With changes in legislation we see a growing number of projects seeking a trusted financial partner who can help them realise their project with the income from Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs),” said managing director Matthew Clayton.

Source: renewablesnow.com

Renewables Generate 5% of Luxembourg’s Energy

19.06.2017

Luxembourg’s has more than doubled the amount of renewable energy it generates since 2004, Eurostat figures show.

The proportion generated rose from 2.8% to 6.2% in 2015. As a proportion of energy consumed, in 2015 renewables generated 5% of the country’s needs, up from 0.9% in 2004.

It still has some way to go in meeting its target of generating 11% of the energy used through renewables.

Electricity generated through wind power accounted for a tenth of energy across the EU in 2016 with the biggest generators as a proportion of total energy generation being Denmark (43%), Lithuania (27%), Ireland (21%), Portugal (20%) and Spain (18%).

With 4% of energy coming from wind, Luxembourg lagged in eighth place, generating well below the EU average of 10.1% through wind.

The figures were published via Statec to mark EU sustainable energy week, from 19-25 June.

Source: delano.lu

Greene King Serves Up Zero Waste to Landfill Target

19.06.2017

Greene King is aiming to become the UK’s first major pub chain to send zero waste to landfill across the entirety of its operations, the company announced today.

The new target, which it aims to meet by 2020, covers all Greene King’s estimated 3,000 pubs throughout England, Scotland and Wales. It follows the brewer’s decision to partner with waste management firm SWR in April 2016.

Since then, a number of initiatives put in place by SWR have already helped Greene King to reduce its landfill waste by 95 per cent, including the diversion of 8,000 tonne of food waste from landfill – equivalent to the weight of 640 double decker buses.

Initiatives have included a waste recycling backhaul scheme, through which Greene King pub teams separate waste on site into dedicated bins for food, cardboard, glass, and other material.

The separated edible food waste is then returned via the brewer’s dedicated food distribution network, it said, which has helped it reduce the number of general waste bins used in its operations by 42 per cent.

It also claims the initiative has enabled it to increase its recycling rate from 49 per cent to 70 per cent in 2016, while inedible food waste has helped to produce enough energy via anaerobic digestion plants, providing power for more than 7,100 UK homes for a month.

Greene King said it was also working with waste charity WRAP towards establishing a best practice training programme for its regional managers, and reaching out to supply chain partners to improve packaging and portion control.

Matt Todd, group trading director at Greene King, said waste was becoming a “more and more” pressing issue for the hospitality industry.

“We’re delighted that, as a leader in the space, we’re able to set an example to the rest of the industry and show that sustainability and an excellent offering can work hand in hand,” he said. “The results show that we’re making real progress towards our goal, and we’re looking forward to implementing further initiatives over time.”

The move follows a host of ambitious sustainability, waste and emissions goals announced by Danish brewing giant Carlsberg earlier this month, including a target to completely wipe out the carbon footprint of its breweries worldwide by 2020.

Source: businessgreen.com

MILINKO SAPONJIC: Hydropower Potential of Nova Varoš Municipality

18.06.2017

The municipality of Nova Varoš has a considerable hydropower potential. Hydro power plants ‘Uvac’, ‘Kokin Brod’, ‘Potpeć’ and reversible hydro power plant ‘Bistrica‘ are located on the territory of the municipality. In order to present the potential of the municipality, the Energy Portal has talked to an independent expert associate for Agriculture and Rural Development of Nova Varoš municipality, Mr Milinko Šaponjić.

The hydro power plant ‘Bistrica’ is the first hydro power plant built on the river Uvac, in the municipality of Nova Varoš. The plant was put into operation in 1960, and the type of hydro power plant is an impoundment facility. The power of HPP ‘Bistrica’ is 104MW and this is the largest hydro power plant on the Uvac river. HPP ‘Kokin Brod’ with powerhouse at the toe of the dam was put into operation in 1962. This hydro power plant has two generators of total power of 22.5MW. HPP ‘Potpeć’ with powerhouse at the toe of the dam was put into operation in 1967. This power plant is also located on the Uvac river, and it has the power of 54MW. It annually produces about 180 million kWh of electricity. The last built HPP on the Uvac river is eponymous HPP ‘Uvac’. This HPP was put into operation in 1979, and it has the power of 36MW. This power plant is of diversion type, and it produces around 70 million kWh of peak energy annually.

EP: What are the main hydro potentials of Nova Varoš municipality?

Milinko Šaponjić: The main hydro potential of the municipality are three hydro power plants located on the rivers Uvac and Lim, the impoundment hydro power plant ‘Bistrica’ but also the small ones.

EP: How many SHPP are in the possession of Nova Varoš municipality?

Milinko Šaponjić: The municipality owns three small hydro power plants which are located on the Bistrica river. Those are SHPP ‘Rečice’ of the installed power of 930kW, SHPP ‘Crkvine’ of the installed power of 850kW and SHPP ‘Hydra-electro’ of the installed power of 100KW.

EP: Spatial Plan of Nova Varoš municipality envisages the construction of 20 small hydro power plants. How far did you come with the implementation of these projects?

Milinko Šaponjić: Our municipality is competent for issuing permits for construction of 6 SHPP, while the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of the republic of Serbia is competent for the other 14, due to the fact that they are within the limits of the Spatial Plan for the special purpose areas of the Uvac Special Nature Reserve. So far, building permits for four small hydro power plants have been issued that are under the jurisdiction of Nova Varoš municipality.

EP: There is a plan for the construction of HPP ‘Bistrica 2’. At what stage is the implementation of the project?

Milinko Šaponjić: There are still no requests for issuing the necessary permits for the implementation of this project. In the local energy plan the construction of this project has been defined as one of the priority projects of the municipality and the corresponding Ministry. There is a huge interest of investors, and at the moment we are negotiating on developing of the Feasibility Study with Preliminary Design and Environmental Impact Assessment on the environment. It is expected that HPP ‘Bistrica 2’ will have the installed power of 680MW, while the investment value is 600 million euros.

In addition to hydro potential, biomass represents huge energy potential of Nova Varoš municipality. Thus the municipality developed the Study ‘The Potential and Possibilities of Using Biomass for Energy Production and Economic Development of Nova Varoš, Priboj and Prijepolje’ in 2009. This study showed that the wood biomass energy potential of Nova Varoš is higher compared to the heavy fuel oil energy for 4.95 million kWh. This means that the available quantities can fully meet the users’ need for energy, but also that they can enable the expansion of existing capacity and the network of users or running cogeneration plants for the production of electricity and heat which will use biomass as an energy source.

This text was originally published in the Energy Portal bulletin “Renewable Energy “, which was released on June 1, 2016.

Interview by: Sandra Jovićević

BP: Global Carbon Emissions Flat for Third Year in a Row

18.06.2017

Global carbon emissions remained flat for the third consecutive year during 2016, as a sharp fall in coal use, rapid growth in renewables, and energy efficiency improvements all combined to hold down emissions levels.

That is the conclusion of the latest annual Statistical Review of World Energy from oil giant BP, which was released yesterday.

“The combination of weak energy demand growth and the shifting fuel mix meant that global carbon emissions are estimated to have grown by only 0.1 per cent – making 2016 the third consecutive year of flat or falling emissions,” the company said. “This marks the lowest three-year average for emissions growth since 1981-83.”

The influential annual review found that renewables retained their position as the fastest growing energy source, rising 12 per cent last year, not including hydroelectric projects.

The company said while renewables still only met four per cent of total primary energy demand globally, the growth in renewables represented almost a third of the total growth in energy demand in 2016.

More than half of the growth in renewable power came from wind, which rose 16 per cent, while solar energy grew by 30 per cent as costs continued to fall sharply.

The report also noted that 2016 saw China seize the US crown as the world’s largest single producer of renewable power, overtaking the US, while Asia Pacific overtook Europe and Eurasia to become the largest producing region for renewable power.

In contrast, the challenges faced by the global coal industry continued, with coal use falling 1.7 per cent on the back of weak demand from the US and China – a trend experts are increasingly sceptical can be reversed.

World coal production fell by a record 6.2 per cent, while in the UK coal consumption more than halved. “UK coal consumption has now fallen to levels last seen at the start of the Industrial Revolution around 200 years ago,” BP said.

However, BP chief executive Bob Dudley warned significant new efforts were required to ensure greenhouse gas emissions start to fall. “While welcome, it is not yet clear how much of this break from the past is structural and will persist,” he said in a statement. “We need to keep up our focus and efforts on reducing carbon emissions. BP supports the aims set out in the COP21 Paris meetings and is committed to playing our part to help achieve them.”

The report also highlighted how the energy market appears to be shifting towards slower growth in overall demand, as efficiency measures become more popular. BP said global energy demand was weak for the third consecutive year last year, growing just one per cent – around half the average growth rate for the past decade.

Almost all the growth in energy demand came from emerging economies, with China and India accounting for half of global growth. Both countries have vowed to significantly increase investment in renewables, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency measures, potentially leading to further downward pressure on energy demand in the coming years.

Indian energy demand grew 5.4 per cent last year, in line with recent growth rates, but China’s energy use rose by just 1.3 per cent, representing around a quarter of its 10-year average growth. Average growth during 2015 and 2016 was the lowest over a two-year period since 1997-98, BP said.

“Global energy markets are in transition,” Dudley said. “The longer-term trends we can see in this data are changing the patterns of demand and the mix of supply as the world works to meet the challenge of supplying the energy it needs while also reducing carbon emissions. At the same time markets are responding to shorter-run run factors, most notably the oversupply that has weighed on oil prices for the past three years.”

Dr Jonathan Marshall, energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think tank, said the report highlighted the scale and the pace of the transformation underway in the global energy market.

“Striking in this year’s data is the scale of the shift away from coal, especially in China and the USA,” he said. “The US saw an astonishing nine per cent fall in demand, while Chinese hunger for energy is being tempered by moves to a more sustainable growth pathway and the rapid expansion of renewables, which spells even further trouble for coal in the years to come.

“On a global scale, the surge in renewable generation puts it within touching distance of overtaking nuclear power as a major contributor to world energy use.”

Source: businessgreen.com

Researchers Develop Solar Paint That Turns Water Vapor Into Hydrogen

18.06.2017

It may be getting cheaper and easier to install solar panels onto your rooftop but what if you could generate clean energy for your home with just some paint?

This reality is inching ever closer after researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia developed a “solar paint” capable of pulling water vapor from the air and splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen using energy provided by sunlight.

The hydrogen can be stored and then used as clean fuel source, touts Torben Daeneke, RMIT researcher and author of the study introducing the technology.

“Hydrogen is one of the cleanest fuels, since it turns into water when burned,” Daeneke told ResearchGate. “Hydrogen can be used either in fuel cells or directly in combustion engines. The first hydrogen fueled cars and busses can already be found in some cities around the globe. The key advantage here is that no harmful side products are emitted. This can drastically reduce smog, which is a serious issue in today’s megacities, and greenhouse gases if the hydrogen is produced from renewable energy sources.”

The paint contains a new, silica-gel-like compound—synthetic molybdenum-sulphide—that not only absorbs moisture from its surroundings but can also trigger chemical reactions that splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

“We found that mixing the compound with titanium oxide particles leads to a sunlight-absorbing paint that produces hydrogen fuel from solar energy and moist air,” Daeneke said in a statement. “Titanium oxide is the white pigment that is already commonly used in wall paint, meaning that the simple addition of the new material can convert a brick wall into energy harvesting and fuel production real estate.”

The technology is also ideal because the hydrogen created by the solar paint is not produced by fossil fuels nor is a constant supply of clean water necessary.

“The technique we developed avoids the use of liquid water altogether,” Daeneke explained to ResearchGate. “Instead, our system captures water vapor from air … This avoids all of the issues arising from the use of liquid water.”

Theoretically, the solar paint could be applied or sprayed onto any surface where water vapor is present. Even evaporated moisture from salty or waste water would be sufficient, Daeneke noted.

Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, a professor at RMIT, added that “this system can also be used in very dry but hot climates near oceans. The sea water is evaporated by the hot sunlight and the vapor can then be absorbed to produce fuel.”

Daeneke envisions that the paint could one day be used in conjunction with other renewable energy technologies.

“Photocatalytic paints may find application in multiple settings, one obvious one could be the local production of hydrogen as an energy carrier, side by side with photovoltaics generating renewable electricity,” he told ResearchGate. “Further steps are necessary in order to fully see the scope of this technology. For example, our next targets are to incorporate this system together with gas separation membranes that will allow selectively harvesting and storing the produced hydrogen.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Renewable Energy Enables EU Climate Target Achievement At Lower Cost

17.06.2017

Ideja, Planeta, klimatske promene — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Renewable energy can be developed in Europe at significantly lower cost than assumed in the modelling assessments accompanying the “Clean Energy for All Europeans”-Package. Since wind and solar energy are by far the cheapest energy sources for the low-carbon production of energy, the EU climate targets — 40% lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels — can be achieved at lowest cost by combining the deployment of renewable energy with energy savings. The EU renewable energy target — currently to achieve a 27% share of renewable energy in final energy consumption by 2030 — can be considerably raised without additional cost. These are key conclusions of a new Discussion Paper by the think-tank Agora Energiewende, which analyses the assumptions underlying the European Commission’s impact assessment for the “Clean Energy for All Europeans”-Package.

The Discussion Paper provides a detailed assessment of the factors that have led to the Commission’s distorted modelling results. In particular, these include a lower operational efficiency for renewable energy installations, especially for offshore wind, and simplified cost of capital assumptions for investments into renewable energy that are higher than those found in Europe’s leading markets. As a result, the Commission’s cost assumptions for wind and solar electricity for 2030 are already being underbid in recent competitive auctions by 50% or more.

Furthermore, the analysis finds that the scenarios developed by the Commission overestimate the significance of the European Emissions Trading System as a driver for the development of renewable energy in Europe. The price assumptions for CO2-certificates are significantly higher than those predicted by market analysts.

“Renewable energy is considerably less costly than assumed in the Commission’s assessment. The development of renewable energy should, therefore, happen more quickly in order to achieve the EU climate targets in a cost-effective manner,” says Matthias Buck, Head of EU Energy Policy at Agora Energiewende and co-author of the discussion paper. “From an economic perspective it can be strongly welcomed that the European Parliament is now discussing raising the target for renewable energy consumed in Europe to a share of 35 or even 45 percent, up from the 27 percent proposed by the Commission. For the discussion on the ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’-Package it is also important to recognize that a cost-optimal development of renewable energy is achieved through a combination of several conditions.

These conditions include competitive auctions, a stable regulatory framework, technology-specific development pathways, the removal of inflexible and fossil-fuel based generation overcapacities, as well as the setting of a meaningful price on CO2-Emissions,” says Buck.

With the ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’-Package the European Commission aims to increase the share of renewable energy across all sectors (electricity, heating & cooling and transport) to 27% by 2030, while also reducing CO2 emissions by 40% by 1990. In its Impact Assessment for the Package, the Commission assesses its policies and measures towards achieving these goals, as is the standard procedure in the EU-legislative process. The modelling underlying this assessment was provided by variations of the ‘PRIMES’ energy system model maintained by the National Technical University of Athens. The assumptions for the cost of renewable energy underlying this model were, however, significantly above the real-world values seen today and projected by energy experts into the future. For example, the cost of electricity from solar photovoltaic technologies in Northern Europe was estimated at roughly 12.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for 2017; the recent cross-border auction between Germany and Denmark for projects to be realised in the same year resulted in a price of 5.4 cents. Onshore wind was projected at 8.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for 2020; the recent German auction resulted in a price of 5.7 cents. The differences for offshore wind are even more significant.

“In working towards the achievement of the Paris Agreement it will be important to not only significantly accelerate the development of renewable energy in Europe, but also raise the overall ambition level of Europe on climate policy,” says Matthias Buck. Then Europe could get on a realistic pathway towards decarbonizing the European economy by mid-century. As it currently stands, we have still failed to establish an adequate framework for charting this course.

Source: cleantechnica.com

BNEF: Renewables to Provide Nearly Half of Global Power Capacity by 2040

16.06.2017

WINDMILLS — Photo - Illustration: Pixabay

The dramatic collapse in renewable energy costs is showing no sign of abating, according to the latest report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

The influential analyst firm yesterday published its annual New Energy Outlook (NEO) Report, setting out its projections for the global clean energy market through to 2040.

It predicts solar power costs are set to fall a further 66 per cent by 2040, while onshore wind energy costs are expected to fall 47 per cent. As a result, renewables are tipped to undercut the majority of existing fossil fuel power stations as early as 2030.

The sharp cost reductions prompted BNEF to bring forward the date it expects emissions from the world’s power system to peak to 2026. However, it acknowledged a further acceleration of the clean energy market will be required to meet the emissions goals set out under the Paris Agreement.

Seb Henbest, lead author of NEO 2017 at BNEF, said the report suggests that “the greening of the world’s electricity system is unstoppable, thanks to rapidly falling costs for solar and wind power, and a growing role for batteries, including those in electric vehicles, in balancing supply and demand”.

The report is based on announced project pipelines around the world and forecasts for the economics of electricity generation and power systems.

It concludes solar and wind will “dominate the future of electricity” with $7.4tr invested in new renewable energy plants through to 2040.

The report comes in the same week as the latest statistical review from BP, which detailed how coal demand is falling as renewables continue to retain their position as the fastest growing energy source. It also came as a survey from Deloitte revealed overwhelming public and business backing for new clean energy projects in the US.

BNEF predicts renewables dominance of the energy will continue, with renewables accounting for 72 per cent of the $10.2tr that is projected to be spent on new power generation worldwide through to 2040.

Solar is expected to attract $2.8tr of investment as capacity grows 14-fold, while wind projects are tipped to attract $3.3tr as capacity grows four-fold.

Overall, wind and solar are expected to make up 48 per cent of the world’s installed capacity by 2040, delivering 34 per cent of electricity generation.

The report assumes energy policies around the world “remain on their current bearing”, but it also expects subsidies to play less of a role in the clean energy market in the future as costs continue to fall.

“Solar is already at least as cheap as coal in Germany, Australia, the US, Spain and Italy,” BNEF said. “By 2021, it will be cheaper than coal in China, India, Mexico, the UK and Brazil as well.

Similarly onshore and offshore wind costs are expected to keep falling, with offshore costs expected to drop a “whopping” 71 per cent by 2040.

The report is also optimistic many of the challenges presented by the intermittent nature of wind and solar power can be overcome through the use of batteries and new technologies for delivering grid flexibility.

BNEF predicts the lithium-ion battery market for energy storage will be worth at least $239bn between now and 2040, while electric vehicles are also expected to play a major role in providing grid balancing services.

“This year’s forecast shows EV smart charging, small-scale battery systems in business and households, plus utility-scale storage on the grid, playing a big part in smoothing out the peaks and troughs in supply caused by variable wind and solar generation,” said Elena Giannakopoulou, lead analyst on the NEO 2017 project.

Consequently, BNEF predicts a bleak outlook for the global coal industry. Coal use is expected to fall 87 per cent and 45 per cent in the US by 2040, while coal use in China is predicted to peak in 2026.

“Globally, we expect 369GW of planned new coal plants to be cancelled, a third of which are in India, and for global demand for thermal coal in power to decline by 15 per cent over 2016-40,” BNEF said.

The firm also expresses scepticism President Trump can deliver on his goal of reviving the US coal industry. “NEO 2017 indicates that the economic realities over the next two decades will not favor US coal-fired power, which is forecast to see a 51 per cent reduction in generation by 2040,” it said. “In its place, gas-fired electricity will rise 22 per cent, and renewables 169 per cent.”

BNEF predicts gas will play a role in the global power mix as a “transition fuel”, but argues its main market will be provided by peaking plants, rather than baseload power plants.

The net result is BNEF thinks global power sector emissions will decline from 2026 onwards, but it warns further action is needed by governments and businesses to bring the sector into line with the temperature goals agreed in the Paris Agreement.

“Globally, emissions will have dropped to four per cent below 2016 levels by 2040, not nearly enough to keep the global average temperature from rising more than 2C,” BNEF states. “A further $5.3tr investment in 3.9TW of zero-carbon capacity would be consistent with keeping the planet on a 2C trajectory.”

However, there are some reasons to be optimistic this further investment can be mobilised. A number of countries have already signalled they will strengthen their climate policies in the wake of the Paris Agreement, while BNEF’s report provides an insight into how quickly projections for the clean energy sector can change.

The firm said it now expects India’s emissions in 2040 to be fully 44 per cent lower than it predicted in last year’s report thanks to the government’s plans to invest $405bn in delivering 660GW of new solar PV capacity.

Source: businessgreen.com

Phoenix Launches a Hub for the Circular Economy

16.06.2017

Reciklaza-otpad — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The city of Phoenix and nearby Arizona State University are teaming up to launch a public-private incubator focused on finding new uses for waste from textiles, food scraps, batteries and more.

Housed at the university’s Resource Innovation and Solutions Network (RISN), the program, announced Wednesday, officially will be called the RISN Incubator. There, organizers will look to harness momentum around the concept of a circular economy, or business models built on eliminating waste by continually cycling materials back through supply chains.

Ji Mi Choi, an associate vice president at Arizona State University, said in a statement that the incubator’s backers see supporting young waste-reduction ventures as “essential to the development of a strong economy at local, regional and global scales.”

Locally, the concept aligns with a city goal to divert 40 per cent of waste that otherwise would go to landfills by 2020, as well as the university’s various academic programming related to sustainability. The circular economy has gained wide traction thanks to unconventional manufacturing and production efforts from companies such as Adidas, Ford and Dell, plus third-party initiatives such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s CE100 and Circular Cities Network.

Organizations such as the Closed Loop Fund have pointed out, however, the structural limitations of local infrastructure are often an obstacle for scaling promising waste-reduction efforts – or even more basic recycling systems. Since launching in 2014, the fund, backed by $100m earmarked to improve municipal recycling, has found that many companies looking to access recycled materials still have trouble finding adequate supply.

Setting aside for a moment more nascent advanced materials markets, just look at the long-established recycled paper industry.

“Demand, domestically and overseas, has been strong,” according to a recent article in trade publication Recycling Today. “Supply, on the other hand, has experienced a shortage among various grades. As demand has grown, supply has lessened.”

In Phoenix, the city hopes the incubator ultimately will help create economic opportunity and new jobs in related industries. There are plans, for instance, to eventually locate the incubator and the broader RISN at a $13m city-backed Resource Innovation Campus currently under construction.

Among the types of early-stage companies the Phoenix accelerator program will look to support are “ventures that focus on waste diversion and improvements in processing or utilization of waste as a raw material for new products or energy,” according to a press release.

In addition to common classes of materials such as plastic and textiles, the incubator seeks entrepreneurs working with broken furniture, mattresses, compost and plastic film, among other possibilities.

An initial round of applications will be accepted through July 24, with a design challenge slated to run from August through October. The winner or winners of the challenge, along with applicable later-stage ventures, will be invited to set up shop longer-term at the incubator.

Among the participation perks promised are training from mentors, access to technical experts, assistance with business plan development, use of feedstocks at Phoenix waste transfer system and “pre-qualification” for funding opportunities.

Phoenix is also far from alone when it comes to cities looking for new ways to both reduce waste to landfill and encourage business activity.

In Austin, Texas, the city has supported the US Business Council for Sustainable Development’s efforts to kickstart a business-to-business materials marketplace to sell or swap everything from extra carpet to spent barley from local breweries.

Worldwide, agencies such as the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions are exploring how key tenets of the circular economy can be applied to the built environment in cities. Among the possibilities being explored are using seaweed found in local waterways as a feedstock for 3D printing-based urban manufacturing.

“The rapid growth in global urban populations increases the pressure to find more sustainable ways of producing,” an explainer on the institute’s website noted. “Local and biobased supply chains have the ability to make metropolitan areas more independent.”

Source: businessgreen.com

Report: There is Enough UK CO2 Storage Capacity for Decades to Come

16.06.2017

There is ample capacity for storing captured carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new report that argues low cost storage sites could support a series of carbon capture hubs along the east coast of the UK.

The report from the government and industry-backed Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) details how large scale storage sites under the North Sea could be accessed using shared infrastructure that would provide “the lowest cost route to developing carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the UK”.

Entitled Taking Stock of UK CO2, the report calculates the UK has more than enough potential CO2 storage sites to meet its needs out to 2050, adding that a substantial number of prospective sites have already been fully or partially appraised.

“There appears to be no significant technical barrier that would limit the CCS industry developing at scale in the UK from a number of strategic shoreline hubs,” the ETI said.

The study should provide a boost to plans to develop a series of CCS hubs in the north east, which could capture emissions from industrial sites and power stations in the region.

The government is currently working on plans for a new approach for supporting the sector, after a high profile £1bn demonstration fund was controversially cancelled in 2015.

Ministers are understood to be concerned about the relatively high cost of CCS technology. But advocates of the technology maintain costs are falling and the approach is likely to be essential for curbing emissions from heavy industry and capturing carbon from biomass power plants to deliver negative emissions.

The ETI report also cites recent research carried out with Heriot Watt and Durham Universities, Element Energy and T2 Petroleum Technology, which shows that brine production can increase storage capacity and injection rates cost effectively.

Dennis Gammer, the ETI’s CCS strategy manager and the report’s author, said the study suggested that a route to market for new CCS projects could be developed.

“Following the closure of the government’s CCS commercialisation competition, we have reassessed options for developing the UK’s possible CCS transport and storage infrastructure and found that there is no shortage of potential storage sites, either fully or partially appraised,” he said in a statement.

“Any attractive CCS projects to developers and the government will need to realise economies of scale at, or relatively shortly after start-up, and because of this are most likely to be large gas power stations delivering strategic infrastructure to enable the later tie-in of industrial emissions. For some potential matches of emitter and store options to start small and build quickly may reduce the size of any initial commitment at risk and this offers an additional approach to building a CCS network.”

Source: businessgreen.com

Could the Coldest Days Provide a Wind Power Boost?

16.06.2017

A new study released yesterday suggests concerns about the impact the cold days have on wind power output may have been overblown, and provides new evidence wind power output exceeds the winter average on the coldest days.

The study, which involved scientists from the Met Office Hadley Centre, Imperial College London and the University of Reading, will be published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The report analyses wind power availability and electricity demand during the winter months.

Critics of wind energy have long argued that turbines struggle to provide power on the cold, still winter days when power demand across the UK is at its highest.

However, Hazel Thornton of the Met Office Hadley Centre said the study had provided evidence “contrary to what is often believed.

“During winter in the UK, warmer periods are often windier, while colder periods are more calm, due to the prevailing weather patterns,” she said in a statement. “Consequently we find that in winter as temperatures fall, and electricity demand increases, average wind energy supply reduces.

“However, contrary to what is often believed, when it comes to the very coldest days, with highest electricity demand, wind energy supply starts to recover.”

The research team found that during the highest five per cent of energy demand days, one third produce more wind power than the winter average.

“The very coldest days are associated with a mix of different weather patterns, some of which produce high winds in parts of the UK,” Hazel explained. “For example, very high pressure over Scandinavia and lower pressure over Southern Europe, blows cold continental air from the east over the UK, giving high demand, but also high wind power. In contrast, winds blowing from the north, such as happened during December 2010, typically give very high demand but lower wind power supply.”

The report suggests that a spread of turbines across Great Britain could exploit the varied wind patterns associated with the coldest days, and ensure renewable power can play a role in meeting peak winter power demand.

The report also suggests that during high demand periods offshore wind power provides a more secure supply compared to onshore, as offshore wind is sustained at higher levels.

“A wind power system distributed around the UK is not as sensitive to still cold winter days as often imagined,” said Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, of the University of Reading and Chair of Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment. “The average drop in generation is only a third and it even picks up for the days with the very highest electricity demand.”

However, the report does highlight the risk associated with concurrent wide-scale high electricity demand and low wind power supply over many parts of Europe. It warns that in such a scenario neighbouring countries may struggle to provide additional capacity to the UK, when the UK’s own demand is high and wind power low.

Catherine Mitchell, Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Exeter, said the report was “a welcome reminder that renewables are a fundamental part of the solution, but are not able to fully solve the problem on their own”.

“Highlighting the potential issues that would be caused by over-reliance on supply of wind power, this research emphasises the value of flexibility in electricity networks, balancing out changes in both supply and demand to keep the lights on at the lowest cos,” she said. “There are numerous flexibility tools in use and many more in the pipeline – such as demand-side measures, interconnection and storage.

“Rolling out mechanisms to expand these in the UK, perhaps through the Clean Growth Plan, will unlock further progress in the decarbonisation of our energy system and help consumers realise the £8bn per year savings highlighted by the National Infrastructure Commission.”

The report came as National Grid issued its annual update revealing that it expects its spare capacity margin for this winter to increase to between 7.2 per cent and 9.9 per cent, compared to 6.6 per cent last year.

A number of newspapers and think tanks have repeatedly warned the UK’s increased reliance on renewables will lead to greater blackout risks throughout the winter months. However, National Grid, Ofgem, and the government have all insisted these concerns are overblown and there is evidence the UK can support significantly higher levels of renewables capacity without jeopardising grid reliability.

“The impeccable reliability of our own electricity network should give ministers confidence to open the market to a wave of technologies set to ease the energy revolution currently taking place,” said Mitchell.

Source: businessgreen.com

US Wind & Solar Accounts For 10% Of March Electricity For 1st Time

16.06.2017

solar-panels- — Photo-ilustration: Pixabay

For the first time ever, US wind and solar electricity generation exceeded 10% of the monthly total in March, according to figures published by the country’s Energy Information Agency this week.

The EIA published a short update on its website on Wednesday, revealing that electricity generation data from March showed that wind and solar energy together generated 10% of the month’s total share of electricity, the first time this has ever happened in the country. In 2016, wind and solar accounted for 7% of the year’s electricity generation, so this new record might presage bigger things to come from the US renewable energy industry.

The EIA also predicts that electricity generation from wind and solar will exceed 10% of total US electricity generation in April as well, given the time of year. Wind powered generation from states like Texas, Oklahoma, and other nearby states, experience their peak during the spring months, while Californian wind energy sees its peak happen during summer months. Considering that Texas has the country’s largest amount of installed wind capacity, nearing 22 gigawatts (GW), it is therefore unsurprising that March and April would be strong months for wind energy generation.

In fact, if we look at new capacity added during the first quarter (which would not inherently have contributed to March’s record generation figures), we see that Texas led the way with 724 megawatts (MW) of new wind capacity, followed by Kansas with 481 MW. The first quarter was the most successful quarter for new wind capacity additions since 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association, and overall 908 utility-scale wind turbines totaling 2 GW were installed during the quarter.

Further, figures published in early-May revealed that wind and solar provided the majority of first quarter new generating capacity additions. Interestingly, the numbers provided by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) differ from those published by the AWEA, suggesting only 1,479 MW of new wind was installed, alongside 939 MW of new solar capacity. This would suggest that, in fact, the first quarter saw close to 3 GW of new wind and solar installed.

Things get even more confusing when you integrate figures published this month by GTM Research and the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), which claim 2,044 MW of new solar PV was added in the first quarter — double the figure suggested by FERC. Given that FERC published its figures a month ago, it is possible that the reason organizations like the SEIA, GTM, and AWEA wait to publish their figures is due to the need to wait for all the information to filter in.

The story, however, regardless of which figures you subscribe to, shows that wind and solar generation is booming in the United States. While Donald Trump’s Presidency has not yet had the time to impact installation figures, the industry can rest a little easier knowing that it would take a massive effort to restrict and hamper the existing momentum already in effect. The US renewable energy industry might be hampered over the next four years, but existing pipelines, combined with the existing economic argument that can be made for clean technology, are both likely to keep the industry ticking over until a more sensible Administration is installed in the White House.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil Reports Surge in New Members

15.06.2017

The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has this week revealed that efforts to ensure palm oil companies are adhering to environmental best practices have extended their reach in the past year, with the group’s membership base swelling by around 10 per cent.

The not-for-profit group said it had added almost 300 members in the past year, taking its total membership base to over 3,400 companies across the palm oil supply chain.

New figures released at the RSPO’s annual summit in London this week also revealed that almost 67 per cent of members submitted their annual communication on their progress on certified sustainable palm oil (ACOP). Moreover, a further 255 smaller companies in the palm oil supply chain reported voluntarily taking the total number of firms reporting on their progress against sustainability standards to 1,322, an increase of nearly 200 on the previous reporting period.

The update came as the group also announced a new partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to promote business practices on children’s rights and workers welfare in the palm oil sector.

“It’s important for the industry to acknowledge the social issues it faces, if we want to find sustainable solutions,” said Darrel Webber, chief executive officer at RSPO, in a statement. “The partnership with UNICEF represents an opportunity to collaborate, promote best practices across the industry and address some of the existing gaps in our sector.”

In addition, RSPO unveiled a new interactive mapping service which has been developed with the World Resource Institute and provides detailed satellite mapping information on RSPO members’ certified mills, land concessions, overlaid with information on tree cover, topography and any fire alerts.

The group said the new data and initiatives highlighted “the broad commitment among palm oil stakeholders to continue the market transformation process led by the RSPO”. It also confirmed work was on-going on the second five-year review of the principles and criteria RSPO uses to certify palm oil as sustainable.

Critics have argued the standards used to judge whether palm oil can be classified as sustainable need to be strengthened and policing of RSPO members needs to be improved.

The industry is also under mounting pressure from multinational customers who have themselves faced campaigns highlighting the way in which demand for palm oil can fuel deforestation and biodiversity loss.

However, the RSPO has consistently maintained it is working closely with its members and the wider industry to ensure sustainability best practices are embraced.

The news came in the same week as some of the world’s largest palm oil companies launched a new initiative alongside a series of environmental NGOs to improve the management of orang-utans and other wildlife in areas of Borneo where palm oil concessions and natural habitats co-exist.

Dubbed the Palm Oil & NGO (PONGO) Alliance, the group argues the palm oil industry and orangutans can coexist and aims to promote a raft of best practices that minimise impacts on local biodiversity.

However, some environmental campaigners maintain wider effort should also be made to curb demand for palm oil, given its potential impact on natural habitats, and they received a boost earlier month when the Norwegian parliament voted to ban the public procurement and use of biofuel based on palm oil.

“Palm oil- based biofuel is a bad choice for the climate and drives rainforest destruction,” said Nils Hermann Ranum of Rainforest Foundation Norway. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a country bans all use of palm oil biofuel by public entities. Norway’s decision is an important step towards removing environmentally damaging goods from the market. It also demonstrates the need for a serious reform of the world’s palm oil industry.”

Source: businessgreen.com

US Solar Industry Creates Jobs 17 Times Faster Than Rest Of The Economy

15.06.2017

A new report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reveals that solar jobs in the U.S. (and other nations) are expanding quickly. As of November 2016, the American solar industry employed 260,077 workers. This is an increase of 24.5% from 2015, with a growth rate that is 17 times faster than the United States economy as a whole.

The lion’s share of these jobs (241,900) were in solar photovoltaics, with an additional 13,000 in solar heating and cooling, and the remaining 5,200 in concentrated solar power (CSP). More than half of all solar jobs in the U.S. were in installation. Another 15% were in manufacturing, with 13% in project development, 12% in sales and distribution, and a final 6% in other areas, including research and development.

The sunlight that is harvested by solar systems is, obviously, free. This makes labor costs and materials the main areas of spending in the solar industry. As costs for materials continue to drop, solar jobs remain a well-compensated area for blue-collar workers. The solar labor force is also becoming more diverse, with the number of women workers at 28% in 2016, up from 19% in 2013, with up to 33.8% in the sales and distribution area. This means more women have jobs in solar than in the conventional energy industry, although women in solar still lag behind their representative 47% of the U.S. economy.

Solar jobs aren’t the only thriving area in the U.S. economy right now. Wind industry employment produced around 102,500 jobs in 2016, which IRENA projects will grow to 147,000 jobs by 2020. Jobs in ethanol declined despite increased production due to rising labor productivity; most ethanol-related jobs (about 161,700) were in agriculture, with about 35,000 jobs in actual ethanol production. 23% more biodiesel production in 2016 meant a corresponding 23% in jobs, about 61,100 total, with almost 80,000 total in direct and indirect employment in solid biomass. Finally, there were about 7,000 biogas jobs in the U.S. in 2016.

Jobs in fossil fuels are going away as the sources of the fuels become scarcer and less expensive options become available. As R&D overcomes more of the stumbling blocks to bringing power from renewable sources into the grid and prices continue to drop, we can expect to see more jobs in renewables. They are safer, healthier, and more sustainable than jobs in the fossil fuel industry, so this is great for our labor force as well as the planet.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Duke Energy Behind North Carolina’s Proposed Solar Policy Change

15.06.2017

Izgradnja solarne elektrane — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Alongside Highway 401 in northern North Carolina is a 21st-century twist on a classic rural scene. A few miles outside of Roxboro, sheep graze among 5,000 panels at the Person County Solar Park, keeping the grass tidy on the rural installation.

Fields like these aren’t just scenic settings for roadtripping tourists to snap photos. Solar has “been some of the only economic development to happen in rural North Carolina in the last 30 years,” explained Richard Harkrader, CEO of a local solar company.

For companies like Harkrader’s Carolina Solar Energy, the Tar Heel State is a great place to do business. Abundant sunshine, ample support for clean energy, and smart public policy have spurred the rapid growth of solar. Today, North Carolina boasts more solar capacity than every state except California. In the first quarter of 2017, North Carolina added more solar than any other state, and its solar industry employs more people than Wake Forest University.

But, despite — or perhaps because of — its success, solar is facing a battle in the state.

North Carolina solar companies owe much of their success to an obscure federal law passed in the wake of the 1973 OPEC oil crisis, when shortages produced lines around the block at gas stations and tipped the U.S. economy into recession. At that time, Americans got about one-sixth of their electrical power from burning petroleum, much of it imported from the Middle East. In a bid for greater energy independence, lawmakers approved The Public Utility Regulatory Policy of 1978, known as PURPA.

Among other things, PURPA required utilities to buy renewable power from independent producers if it cost no more than electricity from the conventional power plants owned by the utility. The aim was to source more power from small renewable facilities, like the Person County Solar Park, easing demand for electricity from coal, gas and — in particular — petroleum-fired power plants.

In the 1970s, PURPA didn’t do much for renewables. In the era of bellbottoms and disco, cheap solar power was a distant dream, and the fledgling solar industry was peddling clunky technology at sky-high prices. But solar has taken off over the past decade, and PURPA has become far more important — especially in North Carolina. Some 92 percent of the state’s solar projects have been supported by the decades-old law.

While PURPA is a federal law, state regulators have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to implementation. North Carolina regulators have historically required longer contracts from utilities, making solar an especially attractive option. That’s because while solar poses high upfront costs, it pays for itself over the long term through savings on fuel. With conventional power plants, by contrast, operators continue to pay for coal or gas over the life of the plant.

But just when PURPA is beginning to do what its drafters intended, utilities in North Carolina want to hobble the policy.

Utilities make money in part by owning and operating power plants. But when utilities are required to source power from independently owned solar arrays, their own coal- and gas-fired power plants generate less electricity — and less revenue. Moreover, the need for additional capacity is shrinking. North Carolina’s electricity demand has flattened in recent years.

Duke Energy, the largest utility in North Carolina, is now leading the charge against PURPA. Duke currently is required to buy power from any cost-competitive small-scale solar installation. The utility wants to change the policy so that it would solicit bids to build new solar arrays only when it needs additional generating capacity.

Duke also wants to shorten power purchase agreements so that the company isn’t locked into long-term solar power agreements if the price of coal or gas falls, or if a new solar installation proves cheaper.

“Their argument is that renewables will be cheaper than they are today, so [Duke] shouldn’t have to pay” for power from existing solar installations under PURPA, said Chris Carmody, executive director of North Carolina Clean Energy Business Alliance. “But they’ll turn around and establish a 10-year contract to buy natural gas, which is volatile and has heavy fluctuation. Utility-scale solar has no fluctuation — once the project is built, that’s it.”

Duke also claims that solar farms are flooding the grid with power on sunny days. This forces the utility to ramp down and then ramp up coal- and gas-fired power plants, which is less efficient than letting generators run at a constant rate. Complicating matters, developers are mostly building solar farms in the rural, eastern part of the state, far from hydroelectric storage systems that could bank surplus solar power.

But renewable-energy advocates say this isn’t a problem with solar. It’s a problem with the aging power grid — some places haven’t seen an update in more than 50 years. North Carolina, they contend, needs better transmission lines and more energy storage.

Solar companies are hopeful they can reach an agreement with utilities. Steve Levitas, a lawyer for Cypress Creek, said that the solar industry “has been trying to work toward consensus” with Duke, and is open to new policies that allow solar to continue its impressive growth.

Last week, the state House passed a sweeping, bipartisan, Duke-backed energy bill that would curtail PURPA while creating new incentives for solar. The bill would shorten contracts for solar installations, cap the volume of renewable energy that utilities are required to buy from third parties, and create a competitive bidding process for new solar projects. At the same time, the bill allows ratepayers to buy power directly from community solar arrays, and it would establish a rebate program for rooftop solar, among other changes. On balance, the bill appears to favor the utility. Solar firms have largely kept quiet on the measure.

Solar companies say they are accustomed to the sweeping changes in public policy. Harkrader said that, for small firms, “new challenges and new markets” are a normal part of the equation. “We call it the solar coaster.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

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