Denmark Reaches 2020 Solar Goal Ahead of Schedule - Solar Feeds

Every month, another 36 MW of solar capacity is added to the grid in Denmark

More and more often we can read about the successes and progress made in other countries if it comes to renewable energy. One might think: Why aren't we in Australia in the headlines?

Seems that too many still believe that fossil fuels are still "cheaper" than renewables, they only need to be dug up. That this is the wrong track to a sustainable future is something many countries including Saudi Arabia have realised.

But check out Denmark's story for a moment, a nice example.

Panasonic Freezes New Investment in Malaysia PV Manufacturing | Renewable Energy News Article

Invested too much?

Something I found on Renewable Energy World shows that even the biggest companies might overdo it in investing, they too have put on the brakes occasionally:

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic, which became a major global solar PV manufacturer after taking over rival Sanyo, will freeze new investment in its state-of-the-art wafer, cell and module manufacturing plant in Malaysia amid ... Read the full article

Sydney launches $4.3M project to boost renewable energy – News Watch

A new article on National Geographic about renewable energy

Have you ever heard of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group?
I don't know, but some fantastic initiatives never make it into the mainstream news. Is it because blood and gore and guts sell better than good news?
In this case it is about a project undertaken to combat pollution and energy cost. It will allow the people in the city to breathe lighter and allow the city to spend money on more productive things than fuel.

The project economics are compelling, thanks to steep reductions in the cost of solar panels and favorable pricing on any surplus power they produce. As a result, the City was able to contract nearly twice the amount of solar PV for less than half the cost than originally envisaged in 2010.

Read more about this initiative on National Geographic's website.
To read the full press release about the project launch, click here.

 

WA's Mid West to host new solar-thermal power project

WA's Mid West to host new solar-thermal power project

Beautiful!

Things are beginning to happen out West, finally. Unfortunately this is again just a supplementary installation, there is no real attempt to finally get away from fossil fuels and their dedicated role of being the main supplier of stationary energy.
This project has only been granted - as I believe - because it is located on the fringe of the SWIS, the power grid in the South West of WA, where the reach of the "central" coal power production is weakening.

Nevertheless, this comparatively small 1.5 megawatt grid-connected concentrated thermal power station near Morawa is a great move and it can only be hoped that we will see many more of these distributed across the country. Decentralising power generation addresses power distribution loss as a side effect, and should something happen on the technical side shutting down one plant, neighbouring plants can better chip in.

Please visit the Science Network WA to read the full article!

Researchers Create 'Nanoflowers' for Energy Storage, Solar Cells

Solar Daily: Researchers Create 'Nanoflowers' for Energy Storage, Solar Cells

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created flower-like structures out of germanium sulfide (GeS) - a semiconductor material - that have extremely thin petals with an enormous surface area.

The GeS "nanoflowers" have petals only 20-30 nanometers thick, and provide a large surface area in a small amount of space.

The GeS flower holds promise for next-generation energy storage devices and solar cells.

Read the full article

Printing Solar Panels in the Backyard

Imagine this occurring on a large scale!

Check out this 4 minute video, it is just fascinating what can be achieved if you put your mind to work on it!

Germany's Renewable Energy Transition

Why a fully renewable energy system is ‘climate-friendly, reliable and affordable’

Green Chip Stocks summarise on their blog a number of arguments why the transition to 100% renewable energy makes sense. They also list a few quotes from high ranking officials of very large energy corporations, with a view on nuclear energy, e.g.:

Jeff Immelt, Chief Executive of GE – one of the world’s largest suppliers of nuclear power equipment – stated that nuclear power has become “really hard” to justify in comparison to other energy generation options.

On monetary aspects we can find a statement made by the very conservative, and traditionally fossil fuel minded International Energy Agency, who have ...:

... said that every dollar invested now in clean energy will save $3 in fossil fuel costs in the future.

 And then there are the operators of power grids who usually claim that renewable energy sources, due to their intermittent nature, would be destabilising the power grids and therefore could never deliver 100% of the power demand:

When wind turbines and solar plants are geographically widespread, to the extent that Germany’s transition entails, their output becomes far more constant and even easier for the grid to accommodate.

Read the full article