QUICK NEWS, 4-13: WORLD WIND TO KEEP ON GROWING; DOW JONES INVESTS IN SUN; DOE GRANT FOR WAVE ENERGY PROJECT; PUBLIC STILL IGNORING CLIMATE - GALLUP

WORLD WIND TO KEEP ON GROWING
No slowdown for global wind energy…with the world's wind power capacity increasing by 160% over the coming five years…

12 April 2010 (Global Wind Energy Council, GWEC)

"GWEC expects that the global installed wind capacity will reach 409 GW by 2014, up from 158.5 GW at the end of 2009. This assumes an average growth rate of 21% per year, which is conservative compared to the 29% average growth that the wind industry experienced over the past decade. During 2014, the annual market will be more than 60 GW, up from 38.3 GW in 2009.

"GWEC will present its full annual Global Wind 2009 Report at the European Wind Energy Conference in Warsaw on 21 April 2010, which will include a five year forecast for the development of the global wind energy market. In the past, these projections have regularly been outstripped by the actual performance of the industry and have had to be adjusted upwards. Despite the ramifications of the financial crisis, 2009 was no exception…"

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"The two markets leading global wind power expansion will continue to be the US and China, whose markets have exceeded all expectations in recent years…[I]n the US, the development for 2010 will be hampered by continued tightness in the financial markets and the overall economic downturn, the provisions of the US government's Recovery Act, and in particular the grant programmes, will continue to counteract the impacts of the crisis. Coupled with legislative uncertainty at the federal level in Canada, the result is that the North American market is forecast to stay flat for the next couple of years, and then pick up again in 2012, to reach a cumulative total of 101.5 GW by 2014 (up from 38.5 GW in 2009). This would translate into an addition of 63 GW in the US and Canada over the next five years.

"In China, growth is set to continue at a breathtaking pace. Already in 2009, China accounted for one third of total annual wind capacity additions, with 13.8 GW worth of new wind farms installed. This took China's total capacity up to 25.9 GW, thereby overtaking Germany as the country with the most wind power capacity by a narrow margin."

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"China will remain one of the main drivers of global growth in the coming years, with annual additions expected to be over 20 GW by 2014. This development is underpinned by a very aggressive government policy supporting the diversification of the electricity supply and the growth of the domestic industry. The Chinese government has an unofficial target of 150 GW of wind capacity by 2020, and with the current growth rates, it looks likely that this ambitious target will be met well ahead of time.

"Until 2013, Europe will continue to host the largest wind capacity. However, GWEC expects that by the end of 2014, Europe's installed capacity will stand at 136.5 GW, compared to Asia's 148.8 GW. By 2014, the annual European market will reach 14.5 GW, and a total of 60 GW will be installed in Europe over this five year period…"


DOW JONES INVESTS IN SUN
Dow Jones plans large solar system for its N.J. campus
April 11, 2010, (USA Today)

"…Media giant Dow Jones is the latest [company to tout its greenness by the size of its solar installation]. It says it expects to install a 4.1-megawatt solar power system at its 200-acre campus in South Brunswick, N.J., next year…[It] will be one of the largest solar installations at a single commercial site in the U.S…The panels will cover nearly 230,000 square feet of parking space on the campus in numerous contiguous parking lots — but won't be on a roof.

"Last year, FedEx Ground announced what it said was the largest single commercial rooftop installation. The 2.42-megawatt solar energy system was finished in December atop a distribution hub in Woodbridge, N.J. FedEx's site is slightly bigger than the 2.36-megawatt installation atop the roof of the Atlantic City Convention Center, touted, when announced in 2008, as the biggest single ‘roof-mounted array’ in the U.S."

The 2.36-megawtt Atlantic City rooftop installation. (click to enlarge)

"Dow Jones' solar energy system, which it says will be finished next spring, is big. On average, it'll provide 15% of the power for the campus, which holds nearly 2,000 employees. At peak conditions, meaning high sun, solar is expected to provide 50% of the campus' power.

"Dow Jones won't reveal the system's cost nor financing specifics. But Chief Operating Officer Stephen Daintith says the system will pay for itself within three years, an especially aggressive time frame thanks to ample financial incentives, including a loan from…New Jersey utility PSE&G…Since 2008, PSE&G has lent $49 million for solar projects in its territory and expects to close another $200 million in loans the next three years..."

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"…PSE&G says it offers businesses loans covering up to 60% of solar installation costs. The companies use the [solar] energy…But the utility gives customers a credit for producing green energy…assigns a monetary value to that credit, and it can be used to repay the loan…If systems produce as much power as they're supposed to, borrowers don't need to come up with cash to repay loans. The program, funded by PSE&G electric ratepayers, is part of the utility's bid to increase use of renewable energy.

"New Jersey and California lead the nation in terms of solar incentives…The states also lead in terms of solar photovoltaic installations. California accounted for 67% of the photovoltaic solar that's connected to an electric grid in the U.S. at the end of 2008, followed by New Jersey at 9%…"


DOE GRANT FOR WAVE ENERGY PROJECT
Wave energy hydro firm Ocean Power Technologies wins grant for PowerBuoy development
April 12, 2010 (HydroWorld)

"Wave energy hydropower developer Ocean Power Technologies Inc. has won a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the development of the next generation of OPT's PowerBuoy ocean energy hydropower device.

"The DOE grant will help fund the scale-up of the power output per PowerBuoy from the current level of 150kW to 500kW…"

The OPT wave energy buoy. (click to enlarge)

"…Previously, OPT received $2 million…[from DOE] for the construction of a PB150 PowerBuoy to be deployed in connection with the company’s project at Reedsport, Oregon. The Reedsport project is a commercial U.S. wave energy farm off the Oregon coast."

Schematic of the OPT wave energy system. (click to enlarge)

"OPT has chosen Oregon Iron Works to construct its first commercial wave energy PowerBuoy system in North America. Nine additional PowerBuoys will be constructed and installed under the second phase of the Reedsport project.

"Issued to OPT under a competitive process, this latest award was made in support of innovative renewable water power technologies."


PUBLIC STILL IGNORING CLIMATE - GALLUP
Voters Rate Economy as Top Issue for 2010; Majority of registered voters say it will be extremely important to their vote
Jeffrey M. Jones, April 8, 2010 (Gallup)

"Fifty-seven percent of registered voters say the economy will be extremely important to their vote for Congress this year, making it the top issue in the 2010 elections. Healthcare, unemployment, and the federal budget deficit rank behind the economy in importance, with the environment the least important of the seven issues tested…

"The top issues voters say they will take into account when voting this year are similar to the ones Americans currently cite as the most important problems facing the country. But they are quite different from those in the last midterm elections, in 2006, when international matters like Iraq and terrorism topped domestic concerns in voters' minds. Today, as the United States continues its recovery from the economic downturn that developed in 2008-2009, the economy is the top issue for Democratic (58%), independent (57%), and Republican (54%) voters."

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"Democrats also assign a high degree of importance to healthcare and unemployment. For Republicans, terrorism and the federal budget deficit are the next-most-important issues after the economy. The deficit ranks as the second-most-important issue for independents…"

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"Much of Congress' work this year has focused on healthcare, and Americans have been divided on the legislation both before and after it passed. But it is unclear how much of a voter backlash there may be against the Democratic Party this fall…Republican and independent voters are much less likely than Democratic voters to say healthcare will be important to their vote for Congress. Moreover, among voters who say healthcare is extremely important to their vote, roughly equal percentages say they would vote for the Democratic (47%) and the Republican (48%) candidate in their district…

"Democratic candidates may be more vulnerable on government spending, as both Republicans and independents rate the federal budget deficit as a more important issue than healthcare. And among those who say the deficit is extremely important to their vote, 56% would vote for the Republican candidate and 36% for the Democrat."