MORE NEWS, 4-19 (VATICAN TO BUILD BIG SUN; GRAND CLIMATE DEAL COULD HAPPEN; IRELAND’S WAVES NEED FINANCING)

VATICAN TO BUILD BIG SUN
Pope to Pursue Heavenly Power in Europe’s Biggest Solar Plant
Flavia Krause-Jackson and Flavia Rotondi, April 17, 2009 (Bloomberg News)

"The world’s smallest state now intends to build the biggest solar plant in Europe for 500 million euros ($660 million)…near the medieval village of Santa Maria di Galeria, project engineer Mauro Villarini said…Advised by German solar-panel maker Solarworld AG, the Holy See is running counter to many governments that say harnessing sunlight on a grand scale is too costly to help curb global warming, especially in the deepest recession since World War II…

"European nations, daunted by spending needed to stimulate their economies, find it harder to invest in clean power generation…Italy is balking…By contrast, the Roman Catholic city-state is going greener. Advantaged by its small size, the pope will also count on revenue and solar aid from Italy after 2014. That’s when the new plant is scheduled to turn the Vatican into an electricity exporter to the nation that surrounds it…"

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"The 100 megawatts unleashed by the station will supply about 40,000 households. That will far outstrip demand by Pope Benedict XVI and the 900 inhabitants of the 0.2 square-mile country nestled across Rome’s Tiber River…

"The Vatican hasn’t decided how much to rely on photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, and on thermal devices that heat water for generators, Solarworld Chief Executive Officer Frank Asbeck…The Bonn-based company in 2008 may have gained an inside track for a future contract by donating $1.5 million of panels for a 6,300-seat dome used for the pope’s weekly audiences to the world’s Roman Catholics…A public tender for suppliers and builders is likely…Including installation costs and products from other suppliers as a “turn-key project,” a 100-megawatt plant would cost 350 million euros to 400 million euros to build if it only used Solarworld modules…"

On this earth, the lord's work is our own. (click to enlarge)

"The Germany-born Benedict has been outspoken on environmental issues since becoming pope in 2005…The Vatican listed pollution as one of seven “social” sins in an effort last year to update the cardinal vices that date to the 6th century…

"The 5,000-square-meter roof of the Paul VI auditorium -- built in 1971 by Pier Luigi Nervi, the architect who designed Milan’s Pirelli Tower -- was covered with 2,400 solar panels to produce 300 kilowatt hours of energy a year…The Vatican’s 300-seat cafeteria for staff will be decked out this summer with a solar-heating system to provide air conditioning and heating for the whole building…The pope’s own Castel Gandolfo summer residence, a 17th- century palace south of Rome in the Alban hills, may be the site of a renewable-energy project to break down biodegradable waste material to produce methane and gas…"


GRAND CLIMATE DEAL COULD HAPPEN
Copenhagen climate signs positive: Australia, China
Reuters/David Fogarty, 15 April 2009 (Thomson Reuters Carbon Market Community)

"There are positive signs a climate summit in December will forge a broader pact between rich and poorer nations to fight global warming, a top Australian official and an influential Chinese expert said…But the "wasteful and luxurious" lifestyles of rich nations could yet alienate poorer nations, with developed countries like the United States and Australia needing to curb energy use and first set an example, China climate expert Pan Jiahua said.

"Australia's centre-left government…began sparring with key Green rivals over its plan to slash carbon emissions between 5 and 15 percent by 2020, with the Greens demanding much deeper cuts as the price of support in parliament…"

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"Delegates from nearly 200 countries are trying to agree by December in Copenhagen on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations' main weapon in fighting climate change.

"A key aim of the post-Kyoto deal is to find a formula that leads to big developing nations such as China and India to sign up to emissions curbs from 2013. China is the world's top greenhouse gas emitter after the United States. India is ranked fourth…[R]ecent U.N. climate talks in Bonn, Germany, broke up with little progress and fears of a widening split between developed and developing nations on a course forward, with poorer countries demanding more support. Kyoto only commits rich nations to emissions curbs up to 2012.

"Hopes among developing countries were dashed that the meeting would set a range of emissions reduction targets for industrialised nations as a whole. The Bonn talks are one of a number of rounds of negotiations this year…The final round in December, Pan said, would likely see a broad political agreement struck, but with little detail and leaving efforts to fight climate change to move forward in small, incremental steps lasting possibly for years…"

Will Australia's net capture greenhouse gases? (click to enlarge)

"Australia's senior climate negotiator Robert Owen-Jones said he was optimistic because the new Obama administration had helped re-energise talks ahead of Copenhagen…

"The meeting was clouded by evidence from three government climate scientists to a Senate panel that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's greenhouse emission cut targets would not have any impact, even if they passed parliament later this year…Wong, in a conciliatory offering ahead of meeting Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne, said the government was flexible on its longer-term emissions reduction target of 60 percent by 2050 over 2000 levels…"


IRELAND’S WAVES NEED FINANCING
Funding shortfall may hinder wave energy – report
Lorna Siggins, April 15, 2009 (Irish Times)

"Wave Energy will not develop significantly in Ireland “for at least a decade” due to investment difficulties and the “unproven nature” of the technology, according to an energy audit…The study by the Sustainability Institute…says investors are “pulling out of renewable energy projects, blaming the global recession and world energy prices”.

"It says biomass from forestry and biogas from waste and silage offer a more secure long-term alternative as fossil fuels deplete."

Ireland's wave energy resource demands development. (click to enlarge)

"North Mayo has been selected as the location for the Government’s full-scale trials on wave energy, spearheaded by the Marine Institute and Sustainable Energy Ireland with private investors. Over a year ago, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan initiated a €26 million ocean energy programme, which is central to the Government’s aim to provide 40 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

"…[F]ormer US ambassador to Ireland Thomas C Foley criticised the slow pace of development in wave energy here last year, warning that US investment would be lost…[despite] Ireland’s natural advantage, due to latitude, weather, Atlantic location and current sources of fossil fuel-based electrical power…"

A possible time line for war energy development. (click to enlarge)

"The audit…focused on Mayo as a county with wind and wave energy potential. As the third-largest county, it has the third-lowest population density…[It] says ocean energy technology “will not contribute significantly to energy security in the short or even medium term” as investors are withdrawing and technology development is still at an early stage. It also says that a recession may “put paid to many proposed new wind projects”.

"…[The report] says Mayo’s coniferous forestry resource is “potentially of major significance” in fuel terms, while good opportunities exist to produce biogas from renewable or waste sources…It says that unless the cost of installation of solar energy equipment can be reduced, this sector will grow relatively slowly. Micro-wind production is constrained by the “poor quality of product available”…The Irish Wind Energy Association has called for a national action plan to realise Government targets on renewable energy and to facilitate a €12 billion private investment initiative."