QUICK NEWS, 2-4: EURO WIND STILL BOOMING; SILICON VALLEY GROWING NEW ENERGY; HAWAII IS ALL ABOUT NEW ENERGY; MASSACHUSETTS GOES FOR EFFICIENCY

EURO WIND STILL BOOMING
More wind power capacity installed last year in the EU than any other power technology
February 3, 2010 (European Wind Energy Association)

"More new wind power capacity was installed in the EU in 2009 than any other electricity-generating technology, new statistics published…by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reveal. 39% of all new capacity installed in 2009 was wind power, followed by gas (26%) and solar photovoltaics (16%). Europe decommissioned more coal and nuclear capacity than it installed in 2009. Taken together, renewable energy technologies account for 61% of new power generating capacity in 2009.

"Investment in new European wind farms in 2009 reached €13 billion, including €1.5 billion offshore. 10,163 MW of wind power capacity was installed across the European Union – a 23% increase compared to 2008 installations – made up of 9,581 MW onshore (up 21% from last year) and 582 MW offshore (up 56% from last year)."

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"2009 is the second year running that more wind power capacity has been installed than any other electricity-generating technology, and wind’s share of newly installed capacity increased from 35% in 2008 to 39% in 2009. It is also the second year running that renewable energies have accounted for the majority of new investments…

"The countries with the biggest share of new capacity installed in 2009 were Spain (24% - 2459 MW), followed by Germany (19% - 1917 MW), Italy (11% - 1114 MW), France (11% - 1088 MW) and the UK (10% - 1077 MW)."

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"Wind power’s total capacity in the European Union has now reached 74,767 MW, up from 64,719 MW by the end of 2008 with Germany remaining the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain, Italy, France and the UK.

"The wind capacity installed by the end of 2009 will in a normal year produce 163 TWh of electricity, meeting 4.8% of total EU power demand…"


SILICON VALLEY GROWING NEW ENERGY
Cleantech: Silicon Valley's next great wave of innovation
Scott Duke Harris, February 2, 2010 (San Jose Mercury News)

"Silicon Valley…[was] the cradle of the computer age…[and] a launching pad for the Internet age. Now…[it is part of] the global competition to develop renewable energy and other clean, green technologies…[its] third great wave of innovation…perhaps the biggest thing ever…

"How big? Consider that the sum of America's yearly utility bills, one component of the nation's overall energy costs, exceeds $1 trillion — or nearly triple the annual global revenues of the semiconductor industry. The solar and wind energy markets, which totaled about $80 billion in 2008, are projected to nearly triple in size in 10 years, employing 2.6 million people worldwide…"

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"…Silicon Valley may someday be called Solar Valley…But solar represents just one aspect of the cleantech revolution…[S]ome former e-commerce and software mavens are now busy trying to electrify the automobile industry while other techies are developing energy-efficient glass, drywall and cement…Still others are introducing cutting-edge information technology to the 20th-century electricity grid, working on biofuels and fuel cells, and pioneering new methods to recycle waste, protect air and water quality and enhance agriculture and aquaculture.

"The payoff: progress toward a "low-carbon economy," tens of thousands of new jobs in the valley — and perhaps a new set of corporate titans…Will Tesla Motors become the Apple of automakers? Will Serious Materials become the Intel of green building materials? Will Silver Springs Networks be the Cisco of the smart grid electricity management technologies — or will that be Cisco itself?"

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"…Globally, venture capital investments in the sector grew from $908 million in 164 deals in 2002 to $8.5 billion in 567 deals in 2008…California corralled nearly 40 percent of the $5.6 billion in cleantech venture investments worldwide in recession-ravaged 2009. Over the past six years, cleantech's portion of venture investments has grown from merely 3 percent to more than 25 percent…While venture funding overall dipped in 2009, many governments around the world stepped in to fund cleantech projects…The Obama administration has bolstered the cleantech sector with more than $70 billion in economic recovery funds…But the valley…is hardly alone in its cleantech quest. Texas, for example, is a hub of wind power… Germany is a leader in solar and Japan in energy efficiency…China…has embarked on a massive cleantech initiative…

"…[S]olar cells are a simple form of semiconductor, and smart grid innovators are essentially integrating 21st-century software efficiencies into a wasteful 20th-century electrical infrastructure. The valley's expertise in biotechnology is vital to biofuels and its work in nanotechnology is critical to new materials…The valley's greatest advantage is its culture of innovation…The catalyst for all this investment and innovation is clear…Much of Silicon Valley has embraced the environmental and economic arguments voiced by former Vice President Al Gore…But even skeptics acknowledge that national security and the nation's global economic competitiveness would be enhanced by technologies that wean the United States from foreign oil…The challenge is huge. Valley technologists are accustomed to developing disruptive technologies…But re-engineering an economy that has run on fossil fuels since the dawn of the Industrial Age is a daunting task…Yet few cleantech business leaders express discouragement…"


HAWAII IS ALL ABOUT NEW ENERGY
For Hawaii, big push to go green is natural; The resource-rich state depends almost entirely on imported oil to fuel its vehicles and stoke its power plants. It aims to obtain 70% of its total energy needs from clean sources within 20 years.
Alana Semuels, February 4, 2010 (LA Times)

"…Tiny Hawaii is gunning for the title of the nation's green energy capital. It's aiming to obtain 70% of its total energy needs from clean sources within 20 years…That ambitious target blows the solar panels off California's mandate to get a third of its electricity from renewables by 2020. But Hawaiian officials have concluded their state has little choice.

"This tropical paradise is an energy beggar that depends almost solely on oil…[is] vulnerable to spills, price swings and geopolitics. Hawaii residents already pay the highest pump prices and electricity rates in the country. The state imports around 51 million barrels of oil, costing billions annually…[and climate change’s] threat of rising seas and pounding storms linked to climate change has put Hawaii on a collision course with Mother Nature."

A New Energy dynamo. (click thru for complete info on the initiative)

"…[Hawaii's] environmentalists hope the state can [show it is possible] to transform the nation's most energy-dependent state into its cleanest and most sustainable…The state this year began requiring that all new homes be built with solar water heaters…[and] working with electric transport firm Better Place…to jump-start mass use of electric vehicles on the islands. Meanwhile, the state's public utilities commission is devising a compensation system to encourage homeowners and businesses to go solar…

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"The policies stem from an agreement Hawaii signed with the Department of Energy in 2008…to obtain 70% of its total energy needs by 2030 -- 40% from renewable electricity generation and the remaining 30% from energy efficiency. Known as the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, that agreement has since been strengthened with binding legislation…About 6.5% of Hawaii's electricity came from renewable sources other than hydroelectric power in 2007…"

click thru for complete info on the interisland cable

"…Hawaii's small size and unique geography could prove advantageous…[I]ts energy consumption is small. The islands have abundant solar, wind, geothermal and wave resources. And Hawaiians are less likely to object to the cost of renewables since they already pay high energy prices…The state is looking into building a 30-mile undersea cable to link proposed wind farms on Lanai and Molokai into the electric grids on Oahu and Maui. A local company is working to provide air conditioning in 40 downtown Honolulu buildings using chilly sea water pumped from three miles out in the ocean. And Hawaii's own Gas Co. is using municipal solid waste and animal fat to make synthetic natural gas…

"The Big Island's grid already obtains about one-third of its power from renewables…including solar, wind and geothermal…[and is experimenting]…Hawaii's other islands are getting on board…The military is also experimenting…"


MASSACHUSETTS GOES FOR EFFICIENCY
Massachusetts Sets Ambitious Energy Standards
Leslie Kaufman, January 29, 2010 (NY Times)

"Massachusetts… announced new energy efficiency standards for utilities that aim to be the most ambitious in the nation.

"The plan calls for a statewide reduction of 2.4 percent in electricity use and 1.15 percent in natural gas use annually for three years…through $1.6 billion in incentives for utility customers who take certain steps to conserve energy, like insulating their houses or replacing conventional light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones."

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"The reductions were mandated by the Green Communities Act, passed by the state legislature in 2008…Utilities, regulators and energy advocates haggled for months to reach the 2.4 percent annual reduction goal, a figure considered to be close to the upper limit of what can be achieved annually…

"At the heart of the plan is a quadrupling of annual spending for consumer outreach and conservation incentive programs to about $600 million from $150 million. Money will be available to consumers for services like free energy audits, and rebates will be offered for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances and air-conditioners…[T]he state will surpass California in spending per person on conservation measures…[that] will translate reliably into energy savings…"

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"…[The Massachusetts] plan’s upfront cost of more than $1 billion would be covered partly through fees paid by consumers and partly through auctioning pollution allowances and through other revenue sources. Massachusetts auctions these allowances as part of the 10-state carbon trading system called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative…Eighty percent of revenue from the auction in Massachusetts is intended to go into the efficiency program.

"Consumers will eventually reap $6 billion in savings on their utility bills from the efficiency plan, even after accounting for the added fees…[A recent study] estimated that putting the measures into effect would also create 25,000 jobs…"