New Zero Waste Roubaix Case Study Shows ‘Where There Is a Will There Is a Way’

09.01.2017

Last week civil organization Zero Waste Europe has released their latest case study . Demonstrating how the town of Roubaix in Northern France has been able to make significant steps towards a circular economy. The case study highlights the community projects and schemes which have tackled waste at the source, even where the town lacks competences on waste management.

This case study shows that it is vital to involve all stakeholders to change consumption patterns as well as waste generation habits for a successful implementation of a circular economy. The project was so successful that 25% of participating households were able to reduce their waste generation by over 80% and 70% reduced their waste by 50%.

In previous case studies Zero Waste Europe has demonstrated that high recycling rates combined with low generation of waste and low waste management costs are entirely feasible. Zero Waste Europe’s latest case study, highlights how a comprehensive approach has paved the way for zero waste in Roubaix. By integrating families, institutions, businesses, schools and associations Roubaix is creating a new circular system which aims to cut down waste at source and create a new culture of waste.

The case of Roubaix also showcases also the limitations faced by some municipalities in Europe. Roubaix, like other municipalities in France, lacks direct control of waste collection and management policies, meaning that all changes need to be approved by a consortium of municipalities that, in this case, has been reluctant to approve progressive policies. As a result of this the town decided to take an alternative approach reaching out to various stakeholders in Roubaix to minimise waste at its source.

Ferran Rosa, Zero Waste Europe’s Policy Officer said: “Where there is a will there is a way. By challenging households to directly cut down their waste, Roubaix has proven that we can all adjust our lifestyles to more sustainable patterns and make economic savings at the same time”.

Roubaix, which is considered to be the poorest town in France, illustrates that political will and citizen involvement can drive significant change in any situation, even when the competences and resources are lacking.

With the aim of successfully shifting towards a zero waste society and a circular economy, Zero Waste Europe illustrates best practices and supports local transition. Zero Waste Europe’s new campaign ‘Make your city zero waste!’ calls for public support in reaching more municipalities in 2017, and sharing zero waste best practices.

Source: zerowasteeurope.eu

The Solar Cooker that Seeks Its Own Place in the Sun

09.01.2017

Solar cookers need to be moved during the day, an inconvenience that leads to some being discarded. But what if a clever unit did its own sun tracking?

Solar cookers have been promoted as a safe alternative to boil water, cook food, or even sterilise medical equipment, but many require the user to move the unit so that its focal point is in direct line with the sun. It is a seemingly simple move, but critics claim it has tended to deter users from cooking with them.

Roughly 3 billion people worldwide still cook on open fires or solid fuel stoves, according to the World Health Organisation, which estimates more than 4 million people die every year because of household pollution associated with such cooking measures.

To address the inconvenience of using a standard solar cooker, South African electrical engineer Wilfred Leslie Owen Fritz has spent the past year developing a version that tracks the sun’s rays automatically, allowing the user to leave it in the same place.

“Imagine all the times in a day when you would have to move the unit – it’s annoying,” says Fritz. “If you don’t adjust the unit, then it doesn’t heat the pot or pan. So even if communities get 1,000 of these cookers donated to them, they end up using them to cover holes in their roofs or as dishes for the animals to eat from. Then they go back to their other methods for fuel: wood or paraffin or even electricity, if a grid is nearby.”

Working alongside colleagues and students at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, and Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa, Fritz has designed a solar cooker with automatic sun tracking, and temperature and timing controls. While working on the cooker, he realised it would be more efficient if it could also purify water and sterilise medical equipment – then it would have both commercial and household uses.

Water&Solar100, as they named it, is lightweight, foldable and portable, and can generate electricity, charge batteries and sterilise water and medical instruments in rural areas where alternative equipment is unavailable.

“You can place our unit anywhere in the world – from the inner city to Alaska – and when the sun comes up, it will automatically track where the sun’s rays are most concentrated and then follow that path. You do not need to move it, you just place it. You can also leave your food on [the cooker], and as soon as the temperature gets too high, it moves the focal point away [for you] so that your food remains at the temperature you have set for it.”

The oven’s combination of timer and temperature controls enables users to set a required heat (low, medium or high) for their dish along with the time required. “If you know your meal will take 30 minutes to cook, you put your pot on to our solar stove and then you can go off and do something else,” says Fritz.

The cooker is being piloted in various locations, including a Cape Town orphanage, a rural South African farming community, a low-income housing scheme and a German research lab.

Although each unit costs €200 (£168) to produce, much of that cost is due to production being in China, says Fritz, who estimates that unit costs would decrease by 50% if production were moved to South Africa.

While the oven is created to focalise the sun’s rays, Fritz has also developed a wider version that would allow for larger, more effective use. “That doesn’t create a focal point but a focal line, which means you can place pots and pans side by side,” he says. “If you let water flow through a pipe on that line, then it automatically gets purified at 100C. This is useful for rural areas where water is not potable, or for hospital systems.” The Cape Town orphanage is using the cooker to heat its water system.

For Fritz and fellow oven innovator Deon Kallis, both of whom grew up under apartheid in marginalised communities with little access to running water, electricity or proper medical services, their solar cooker is just one way to improve living conditions for millions of people across South Africa.

Ultimately, Fritz hopes to develop a system that can be used by clinics and hospitals across South Africa and the continent. “Our personal goals are to use sustainable practices, such as solar and others, to address life-threatening issues across the globe,” he says.

Source: theguardian.com

Solar Energy Growing Fast, but Night Time is Still a Problem

09.01.2017

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The idea that solar power may soon be everywhere isn’t nutty anymore. The price of solar panels has plunged more than 80% in the past five years and is expected to keep falling. Global output from photovoltaics, panels that convert light directly into electricity, has increased 40% every year for the past decade. The industry is drawing roughly $150bn in annual investment, accounting for almost half the funds committed to renewable energy. In some places where the price of power is high, solar already is able to compete with fossil fuels on cost. But the idea, pushed by some environmental groups, that solar could soon meet the world’s energy needs seems far less likely. For one thing, those big increases come on top of a tiny base — in 2013, solar accounted for less than 2% of the world’s electricity supply. For another, there are still nights and cloudy days to deal with. Since we like our power always available, that means that cost versus coal isn’t the only hurdle — there’s figuring out how to feed a lot of intermittent power into a system meant for steady production.

That could make the outlook for solar partly cloudy.

Energy generated by solar grew by a third in 2015, more than for any other power source. The global agreement reached in Paris in December on fighting climate change didn’t include specific provisions on solar, but the pact was considered certain to spur significant new investments in renewable energy. In the US, Congress reached a budget deal that extended tax credits for wind and solar power for five years. The solar credit had been set to expire at the end of 2016. Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimated that the extension will generate $38bn in new solar power investment. In addition, federal rules announced in August 2015 requiring states to reduce carbon emissions could encourage investments in renewables if they survive a court challenge. Already, 43 of the 50 states have adopted renewable power goals; California’s target is 50% of power by 2020, up from about 20% now. Elsewhere, a number of nations, led by Germany and Spain and most recently the UK, have scaled back lucrative solar incentives as prices have fallen.

Worldwide, installations are highest in China, followed by Japan. In India, plans have been announced for $160bn in solar power projects. Some big businesses have made splashy announcements, including Apple’s plan to spend $850mn on solar power.

The US invented solar cells but never had the determination to commercialize them. AT&T’s Bell Labs in New Jersey made the first photovoltaic cell in 1953. For decades, solar only made economic sense in satellites. Oil companies led by Exxon and Arco invested in solar panels — arrays of photovoltaic cells — following the oil crisis in 1973, then backed out when the price of crude crashed in the 1980s. Japan kept the industry alive through the 1990s, when Sharp, Kyocera and Sanyo were producing the majority of the world’s cells. In 2004, Germany introduced an expanded system of feed-in tariffs, fixed-price contracts for renewable power that is supplied to the energy grid. Solar installations soared, and for several years Germany led the world in solar panel manufacturing. The tariff model was copied in other countries and so many new solar panel makers sprouted up that a price war followed. That led to the crash in the price of panels – and the concentration of the industry in China, where companies led by Suntech Power built giant panel factories with loans from the government and cash from foreign investors — support that allowed them to survive a winnowing that shut many manufacturers elsewhere.

Greenpeace says solar “could meet the world’s energy demands many times over.” The more cautious International Energy Agency says photovoltaics might generate 16% of the world’s electricity by 2050 — if policy encourages the technology. Fossil fuel backers say photovoltaic power will never be a practical source because it can’t work when the sun doesn’t shine and because it’s too expensive. Solar power’s cost is now almost double the cost of the same energy from coal. But a longer view may be more favourable to solar, whose cost is falling as the price of coal goes up.

Utility officials and regulators make decisions on the basis of decades-long projections, and price is only part of the equation. There are technical considerations, like whether the grid can absorb variable flows of electricity from renewables. The biggest question is ultimately political: What countries are willing to pay now for an energy source that may be cheaper and will undoubtedly be cleaner in the long run. The logic of the Paris agreement suggests the amount could be substantial. And if there’s a breakthrough in solar’s biggest weakness — an affordable way to store electricity for use at night — all those calculations could be upended.

Source: full.gulf-times.com

£6.5m Boost for Orkney Campus

09.01.2017

wind-energy — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Orkney Islands Council (OIC) are to create a £6.5m R&D centre in Stromness to support marine renewables activity.

The two organisations have formed a partnership to create Orkney Research and Innovation Campus. Work on the 3.75-acre campus will start by the end of the year.

The campus will be located at the Old Academy, already home to the European Marine Energy Centre, Heriot-Watt University’s International Centre for Island Technology and marine consultants Aquatera.

The two adjoining buildings will be refurbished, updated and extended to create the campus.

HIE said the aim of the campus is to attract academic institutions and businesses with an interest in carrying out a wide range of research projects in an island setting.

OIC will also transfer the ownership of the Old Academy and former Stromness primary school to the new partnership. HIE Board is to contribute £5.15m for the project, with OIC £1.5m.

Source: renews.biz

Germans Get Almost One-Third of Electricity from Renewables in 2016

09.01.2017

In another shining example of renewable energy leadership, in 2016, Germany used more renewable electricity than ever before, receiving 32 percent of the gross amount of electricity consumed in the country from sun, wind and other renewable sources.

The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) arrived at this figure in an initial estimate in late 2016. If the projections are correct, more than 191 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity will have been generated from renewables by end of the year. This would mark an increase from the previous year during which the country consumed slightly more than 187 billion kWh, which is 31.5 percent of the gross amount of electricity consumed that year. The federal government’s energy targets call for renewables’ share in gross electricity consumption to arrive at 35 percent by 2020 and the country is clearly on track to achieve that goal.

The energy sources breakdown as follows:

Offshore wind 13B kWh – up 57 percent over 2015

Onshore wind 67B kWh – down 6 percent from 2015

Solar PV 38B kWh – down 1 percent from 2015

Hydropower (including pumped storage hydro) ~22B kWh – up 13 percent from 2015

Biomass and waste 52B kWh – up 3 percent over 2015

Geothermal power 0.2B kWh – up 12 percent over 2015

Stefan Kapferer, Chairman of BDEW’s General Executive Management Board said that while the growing share of renewables in the mix is positive, the country still needs conventional sources of power to back up the ongoing conversion of the country’s energy supply. He also stated that the grid expansion is necessary.

“The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs has just confirmed in its monitoring report on the Energiewende [Germany’s energy transition] that the grid expansion is clearly lagging behind established and necessary goals. The gears of grid and renewables expansion have to be meshed more closely to reduce the enormous costs of stabilizing grids,” he said in a press release.

Prof. Frithjof Staiss, Managing Director of ZSW, said that the use of fossil fuels in the country is still too high, especially in the transportation sector.

“This is why policymakers, businesses and society will have to make a more determined effort to achieve climate protection targets and successfully transform the entire energy system,” said Staiss.

Source: renewableenergyworld.com

Paris Mayor Unveils Plan to Restrict Traffic and Pedestrianise City Centre

09.01.2017

paris-pollution — Photo-illustracija: Pixabay

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has unveiled plans to restrict traffic in the French capital and pedestrianise the city centre in an attempt to halve the number of private cars on the roads.

The move comes as arguments continue over the closure of roads along the Seine last summer and other traffic reduction measures introduced after dangerous spikes in pollution led to a cloud of smog over the city.

Hidalgo told the Journal du Dimanche she wanted to “divide by around half the number of polluting private cars” in Paris as part of her ongoing campaign to “reconquer the public space” for pedestrians, cyclists and other non-polluting transport, including electric cars and scooters.

A 1km stretch of road along the river from Place de la Concorde and Pont Royal is scheduled for closure.

City authorities also plan to restrict traffic on two main roads running from east to west: the upper highway on the right bank and the rue de Rivoli, on which City Hall is located.

Hidalgo is planning a new electric tramway, increased bicycle lanes on busy roads and the pedestrianisation of central areas.

She said urgent environmental concerns and the challenge of making the transition to clean transport were absolute priorities.

“The deluge is imminent and we cannot wait for it to sweep us all away … there are too many cars in Paris,” she told those gathered for her traditional new year wishes on Friday.

The mayor said from September 2018, an electric tram-bus – nicknamed the “Olympic tramway” in honour of Paris’s bid for the 2024 Games – would run next to part of the upper highways along the Seine in both directions.

The news will spark anger and dismay among Paris’s motorists, and Hidalgo’s political critics, who are already furious over the river highway closures.

In the summer, two miles (3.3km) of highway from the Tuileries in the 1st arrondissement and the Arsenal port near Bastille in the 4th arrondissement along the right bank of the Seine were closed to traffic. The highway on the left bank had been closed previously.

Drivers’ organisations were furious and complained that lengthy traffic jams caused by the closure were increasing pollution. The police have said the roads will be reopened if there are long-term problems, but City Hall insists they will remain closed.

Hidalgo said she was “acting for future generations” and would not be diverted by critics’ attacks. In December, Paris banned half of all cars for several days and offered free public transport as pollution choked the city.

Hidalgo said: “The pedestrianisation of the city centre is starting… the idea is to go step by step towards the pedestrianisation of the city centre. It will remain open to vehicles belonging to local residents, the police, emergency services and for deliveries, but not to all comers.

“We say clearly that our aim is the significant reduction in car traffic, as all the world’s large cities are doing. We must constantly remind people: the fewer cars there are, the less pollution there is.”

Source: theguardian.com

London Exceeds Annual Air Pollution Target in Just Five Days

09.01.2017

London broke the annual limit for air pollution just five days into 2017, according to data from the capital’s main monitoring system.

A site on Brixton Road in south London surpassed hourly limits for nitrogen dioxide concentrations 24 times so far this year, breaking the European Union’s annual permitted limit of 18 breaches, according to provisional data on King’s College London’s Air Quality Network website. The pollutant come from diesel engines in cars, trucks and other sources.

“Road traffic is the biggest culprit, and diesel is the worst,” Jenny Bates, a campaigner at the environmental group Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. “This is why the Government must take much bolder and quicker action including planning to phase out diesel by 2025. It’s scandalous that air pollution limits for the entire year have already been breached.”

The data show the UK is still far from complying with EU air quality regulations, which it has broken since 2010. Last year, it took eight days to pass the limit at a different London site on Putney High Street.

The World Heath Organisation estimates air pollution annually costs the UK £62bn pounds, and Mayor Sadiq Khan has made tackling the problem a priority of his administration. His office estimates illnesses stemming from long-term exposure to airborne pollutants cause as many as 9,400 deaths in the capital each year.

Mr Khan on Friday said in a statement he plans eight new low-emissions bus routes that will deploy the “greenest vehicles.” They include a route along Putney High Street and another one starting near Brixton Road. He also announced a £50m programme to give buses priority over other traffic, reducing so-called idling, where they keep their engines running while stopped because of lights or congestion.

ClientEarth, an environmental law firm, has successfully challenged ministers on air quality strategy twice, and the High Court ruled in November that the UK has broken the law by failing to adequately deal with pollutants. It ordered the Government to revise current plans to rein in toxic emissions to comply with EU standards.

Source: independent.co.uk

Diesel Cars are 10 Times More Toxic than Trucks and Buses, Data Shows

06.01.2017

auspuh, auto, zagadjenje — Photo: Pixabay

Modern diesel cars produce 10 times more toxic air pollution than heavy trucks and buses, new European data has revealed.

The stark difference in emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) is due to the much stricter testing applied to large vehicles in the EU, according to the researchers behind a new report. They say the same strict measures must be applied to cars.

NOx pollution is responsible for tens of thousands of early deaths across Europe, with the UK suffering a particularly high toll. Much of the pollution is produced by diesel cars, which on the road emit about six times more than allowed in the official lab-based tests. Following the Volkswagen “dieselgate” scandal, the car tests are due to be toughened, but campaigners say the reforms do not go far enough.

The new report from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a research group that played a key role in exposing Volkswagen’s cheating, compared the emissions from trucks and buses in realistic driving conditions with those of cars.

It found that heavy-duty vehicles tested in Germany and Finland emitted about 210mg NOx per kilometre driven, less than half the 500mg/km pumped out by modern diesel cars that meet the highest “Euro 6” standard. However, the buses and trucks have larger engines and burn more diesel per kilometre, meaning that cars produce 10 times more NOx per litre of fuel.

The ICCT analysis showed that manufacturers were able to ensure that heavy duty vehicles kept below pollution limits when on the road, but that emissions from cars soar once in the real world.

Official EU tests for cars are currently limited to laboratory measurements of prototype vehicles. “In contrast, for measurement of NOx emissions from trucks and buses, mobile testing devices became mandatory in 2013. As a consequence, randomly selected vehicles can be tested under real-world driving conditions,” said Peter Mock, managing director of ICCT in Europe.

Changes to the car testing regime in the EU are due to start in September, with mobile devices, called portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS), attached to vehicles as they drive on real roads.

But Mock warned: “Manufacturers will still be allowed to carefully select special prototype cars for emissions testing. Instead, it would be much better to measure the emissions of ordinary mass-production vehicles, obtained from customers who have had been driving them in an ordinary way.”

Such a system is used in the US where the dieselgate scandal first emerged. It will also be put forward for discussion by the European commission on 17 January in Brussels, but the ICCT said it faces resistance from some vehicle manufacturers and EU member states.

In December, the European commission started legal action against the UK and six other EU states for failing to act against car emissions cheating in the wake of the dieselgate scandal. But later the same month, a draft European parliament inquiry found the European commission itself guilty of maladministration for failing to act quickly enough on evidence that defeat devices were being used to game emissions tests.

Evidence that some diesel cars emitted up to four times more NOx pollution than a bus was revealed in 2015. Catherine Bearder, a Liberal Democrat MEP and a lead negotiator on the EU’s air quality law, said “It is disgraceful that car manufacturers have failed to reduce deadly emissions when the technology to do so is affordable and readily available. The dramatic reduction in NOx emissions from heavier vehicles is a result of far stricter EU tests, in place since 2011, that reflect real-world driving conditions. If buses and trucks can comply with these limits, there’s no reason cars can’t as well.”

Source: theguardian.com

Tesla just Kicked off Battery Production at its Massive Nevada Gigafactory

06.01.2017

Tesla just took a big step towards realizing CEO Elon Musk’s vision of a sustainable energy future by kicking off the mass production of lithium-ion battery cells at its Gigafactory near Sparks, Nevada. Tesla has set an ambitious target of eventually producing 150 GWh of lithium-ion battery cells annually – enough batteries to support up to 1.5 million electric vehicles. Tesla also plans on manufacturing as many as 500,000 cars per year before 2020. There are more than 400,000 pre-orders for the Model 3 so the demand is certainly there.

The electric vehicle maker and clean energy storage company partnered with Panasonic to design, engineer and manufacture the “2170 battery cell” (21 millimeters in diameter and 70 millimeters in length). The 2170 cells that began production Wednesday will be used in Tesla’s Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy products. The batteries for the Model 3 — the company’s first affordable EV, which is priced at $35,000 and expected to hit the assembly line this year — are set to start production in the second quarter.

Tesla said that by 2018 the Gigafactory will produce 35 GWh/year of lithium-ion battery cells, “nearly as much as the rest of the entire world’s battery production combined.” The Gigafactory is being built in phases, with nearly 30 percent completed — a footprint of 1.9 million square feet. When the 10 million square foot structure is completed, Tesla expects it to be the biggest building in the world. A second Gigafactory is planned for Europe, with the location yet to be announced.

While Musk has discussed how increasing automation will likely lead to a universal basic income for displaced workers, he is doing his part to create jobs. Tesla and Panasonic said they will hire several thousand employees this year and at peak production, the Gigafactory will employ 6,500 people and indirectly create another 20,000 to 30,000 jobs in the surrounding area.

Source: inhabitat.com

World’s Tallest Solar Tower Could Help Make Israel a ‘Sunshine Superpower’

06.01.2017

Construction of the world’s tallest solar tower is underway. The 820-foot tower, which stands in the middle of a 121-megawatt concentrated solar complex in Israel’s sun-drenched Negev desert, is slated for commercial operation by the end of 2017.

The Ashalim Solar Thermal Power Station, built and operated by Megalim Solar Power Ltd, consists of more than 50,000 computer-controlled heliostats, or mirrors, that track the sun and reflect its rays onto a boiler on top of the tower. The boiler creates superheated steam that then feeds a steam turbine for power generation.

Like other concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, the beauty of the Ashalim complex is that it’s designed to produce energy even when the sun isn’t shining.

“Compared to solar photovoltaic (PV) applications, direct steam CSP has the advantage of being able to produce electricity for longer periods of time during the solar hours,” General Electric, a Megalim shareholder, explained in a brochure. “The ability to operate during peak demand times reduces the need for utilities to build power plants to operate only during peak times—thereby lowering the overall system’s electricity production costs.”

The electricity generated at the Ashalim facility will be enough to supply 120,000 homes with clean energy and avoid 110,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year.

“When operational, the Ashalim Solar Thermal Power Station will help Israel achieve its goal of having 10 percent of its electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2020,” the developers tout on its website.

As the Associated Press reported, the solar tower is a symbol of Israel’s renewable energy ambitions. Renewable sources currently make up only 2.5 percent of the country’s energy mix and the Ashalim plant will help increase Israel’s energy security by reducing its dependence on fossil fuel imports from other countries.

The Ashalim plant is made of three plots in the Negev desert. It will expand to a fourth plot by 2018. Once the four plots are online, they are set to generate about 310 megawatts of power. That amount of energy can fulfill 1.6 percent of the country’s energy needs, or about 5 percent of Israel’s population.

“It’s the most significant single building block in Israel’s commitment to CO2 reduction and renewable energy,” Megalim CEO Eran Gartner told the AP.

Israel’s Finance Ministry told the AP that if Ashalim is successful, the government will aim to develop more of these facilities.

As Leehee Goldenberg, director of the department of economy and environment at the Israel Union for Environmental Defense said, “Israel has a potential to be a sunshine superpower.”

Source: ecowatch.com

China and India Tipped for Multi-Billion Dollar Renewables Investment Surge

06.01.2017

The Asian renewables market can expect a dual boost this year, as the Chinese and Indian governments both look to step up investment in clean energy infrastructure.

According to Reuters’ reports, China’s energy agency today announced plans to invest 2.5 trillion yuan ($361bn) in renewable power generation by 2020 as the government looks to accelerate its transition away from coal-power.

The move comes in the same week as the government confirmed plans to cut ‘outdated’ coal capacity by 800 million metric tons a year by 2020 and increase the use of cleaner coal by 500 million tons.

The National Energy Administration’s (NEA) new five year plan running from 2016 to 2020 said the new investment in will help create over 13 million jobs in the renewable energy sector as the country looks to ensure around half of all new electricity generation comes from low carbon sources by 2020.

The plan follows a similar blueprint from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which last month published proposals to invest 1tr yuan in solar projects over the next five years, alongside 700 billion yuan of investment in wind farms, and 500bn for new hydro power projects.

The unveiling of China’s latest clean energy plans comes in the same week as a new report from consultancy Bridge to India predicted the Indian solar market will enjoy a “bumper year” throughout 2017, establishing it as the world’s third largest solar market after China and the US.

The report predicts the market could see 90 per cent growth over 2016 with 14GW of utility scale solar projects in the pipeline, including 7.7GW which are expected to be commissioned this year.

The analyst firm said that combined with an expected 1.1GW of new solar rooftop capacity, the country should add 8.8GW of capacity in 2017, establishing it as one of the world’s leading markets with around 18GW of total installed capacity expected by the end of the year.

The market is being aided by a favourable policy environment – with further announcements expected on how the government plans to support domestic solar manufacturers – and the plummeting cost of solar power, which has helped make solar technology the most cost effective source of new generating capacity in some parts of the country.

“There has been some concern about weak power demand growth in India and growing incidence of grid curtailment and what it means for growth of solar power,” the report notes. “But we believe that continuing reduction in module prices and downward trend in domestic interest rates will provide strong ongoing demand impetus to the market. Solar tariffs are expected to fall below the critical INR 4.00 (USD 0.06)/ kWh mark making solar power the cheapest new source of power.”

“We expect sustainable demand of 6-8 GW for utility scale solar in the coming years,” the report adds. “As the Indian market ramps up, it will become a key pillar for demand growth when demand in other leading countries including China, Japan and even possibly the USA is expected to slow down. We already see leading international equipment suppliers paying more attention to this market and developing specific pricing and product strategies for India.”

Source: businessgreen.com

France Submits 2050 Emission Reduction Plan to the UN

05.01.2017

France has become the fifth country to submit plans to the United Nations detailing how it plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions through to 2050, setting a 75 per cent emissions reduction target for mid-century against 1990 levels.

France’s long-term plan was presented last week, setting out how the country would need to cut around 9-10Mt of emissions annually over the next 35 years to achieve the target.

The country is currently reducing its greenhouse gases at a rate of around 8Mt per year, but “the rate of reduction must be stepped up, without jeopardising the economic development of France, or merely exporting these emissions by relocating the most emission-intensive activities”, the plan states.

The plan outlines how France can achieve a low carbon economy over the next 35 years across each of its major sectors, including transport, buildings, industry, energy, waste, agriculture, and forestry.

“The key issue at stake here is France’s carbon footprint,” the plan states. “Huge investments are required and it is essential to rethink our modes of production and consumption.”

France has already submitted plans outlining how it intends to achieve a 40 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 against a 1990 baseline as part of the Paris Agreement, which reached the threshold for international ratification late last year.

Long-term 2050 emissions reduction strategies were also submitted by the US, Canada, Mexico and Germany last November.

The news comes as the French government also confirmed it is aiming to launch its first green bond by the end of the month, which would see proceeds earmarked for financing environmentally-friendly projects.

Mews agency Reuters quoted the country’s finance minister Michel Sapin this week as saying the country would be aiming for a maturity of 15-25 years depending on investor demand.

He declined to say how much France intended to raise through the issuance, but the figure is expected to be larger than the $750m green bond issued by Poland last month – the first state-backed green bond of its type – and could be as much as $2.5bn.

The move follows the first direct green bond issued by French bank BNP Paribas in November, with the $500m issuance attracting strong demand from investors.

Source: businessgreen.com

China to Invest £292bn in Renewable Power by 2020

05.01.2017

China will plough 2.5tn yuan (£292bn) into renewable power generation by 2020, the country’s energy agency has said, as the world’s largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power towards cleaner fuels.

The investment will create more than 13m jobs in the sector, the National Energy Administration said in a blueprint document that lays out its plan to develop the nation’s energy sector during the five-year 2016 to 2020 period.

The NEA said installed renewable power capacity including wind, hydro, solar and nuclear power would contribute to about half of new electricity generation by 2020. The agency did not disclose more details on where the funds, which equate to about £58bn each year, would be spent.

Still, the investment reflects Beijing’s continued focus on curbing the use of fossil fuels, which have fostered the country’s economic growth over the past decade, as it ramps up its war on pollution.

Last month, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s economic planner, said in its own five-year plan that solar power will receive 1tn yuan of spending, as the country seeks to boost capacity by five times. That is equivalent to about 1,000 major solar power plants, according to experts’ estimates.

The spending comes as the cost of building large-scale solar plants has dropped by as much as 40% since 2010. China became the world’s top solar generator last year.

“The government may exceed these targets because there are more investment opportunities in the sector as costs go down,” said Steven Han, renewable analyst with securities firm Shenyin Wanguo.

About 700bn yuan will go towards wind farms and 500bn to hydro power, with tidal and geothermal getting the rest, the NDRC said.

The NEA’s job creation forecast differs from the NDRC’s in December that said it expected an additional 3m jobs, bringing the total in the sector to 13m by 2020.

Concerns about the social and economic costs of China’s air pollution have increased as the northern parts of the country, including the capital Beijing, have battled a bout of hazardous smog.

Illustrating the scale of the challenge, the NEA repeated on Thursday that renewables will still only account for just 15% of overall energy consumption by 2020, equivalent to 580m tonnes of coal.

More than half of the nation’s installed power capacity will still be fuelled by coal over the same period.

Source: theguardian.com

Hazardous Waste Incineration Project Rounds off Busy 2017 for China Everbright

05.01.2017

China Everbright International Limited rounded off 2017 with the signing of an $37.5 million agreement to invest and construct the Mianzhu Hazardous Waste Treatment Project.

The company said that the deal was reached with the People’s Government of Mianzhu City in Sichuan Province and that once operational the plant will have an annual industrial hazardous waste incineration processing capacity of 20,000 tonnes.

Everbright added that he project will be constructed on a BOO (Build-Operate-Own) model with a concession period of 30 years and gas emissions will fully comply with the Euro 2010 Standard.

The project will serve the Chengdu Economic Zone and will be adjacent to the Group’s Mianzhu Urban-rural Integration Project, resulting in a synergetic effect in management.

“During 2016, Everbright International set another record by securing nearly 40 new projects with a total investment of over RMB14 billion,” commented Mr Chen Xiaoping, CEO of Everbright International.

He added that the Group is proactively expanding its environmental protection business in Hubei, Jiangxi, Vietnam, Poland etc.

“The Group’s management has also proactively explored new business areas, including sponge city construction, river-basin ecological repair, industrial waste water treatment, the harmless treatment of the animal carcass etc., which will foster new sources of growth in the future, make its business more diversified and further enhance the Group’s leading position in environmental protection market,” continued the CEO.

Government Policy

Mr Chen explained that the Chinese government promulgated a number of environmental protection policies in 2016, including the 13th Five-Year Plan for Eco-environmental Protection, the Opinions on Further Enhancement of Municipal Household Waste Incineration Work, the 13th Five-Year Plan for Biomass Energy Development, and the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law (Draft Amendment).

“We believe China’s environmental protection industry will grow rapidly with an enhanced development momentum in the new year based on the strengths it has accumulated,” he concluded.

Source: waste-management-world.com

Solar Power Becoming World’s Cheapest Form of Electricity Production, Analysts Say

05.01.2017

Solar power is becoming the cheapest way to generate electricity, according to leading analysts.

Data produced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) showed the cost of solar in 58 lower-income countries – including China, Brazil and India – had fallen to about a third of levels in 2010 and was now slightly cheaper than wind energy.

In August, an auction to supply electricity in Chile achieved the record low price of $29.10 (£23.30) per megawatt-hour – a record low price and about half the price of a coal competitor.

BNEF chairman Michael Liebreich said in a note to clients: “Renewables are robustly entering the era of undercutting [fossil fuel prices].”

Renewable energy is cheap in developing countries that are looking to add more electricity to their national grids.

“Renewable energy will beat any other technology in most of the world without subsidies,” Mr Liebreich said.

However, in rich nations where new renewable energy generators must compete with existing fossil fuel power stations the cost of carbon-free electricity can be higher.

The dramatic plunge in price had partly been produced by the economies of scale, with China in particular adding a vast amount of new solar capacity.

Ethan Zindler, head of US policy analysis at BNEF, said: “Solar investment has gone from nothing – literally nothing – like five years ago to quite a lot.

“A huge part of this story is China, which has been rapidly deploying solar.”

Beijing has also been helping other countries to pay for solar projects.

A BNEF report, called Climatescope, found China, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, and India were the emerging markets most likely to attract investors in low-carbon energy projects.

Solar power has proved a godsend for remote islands such as Ta’u, part of America Samoa, in the South Pacific.

Once reliant on imports of vast amounts of diesel, it is now powered completely by 5,000 solar panels and 60 Tesla batteries.

Source: independent.co.uk

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