QUICK NEWS, March 19: SOLAR FARMS VS FARMERS; GOLDWIND GATHERS GOLD; BETTER CHEAPER EV BATTERIES BY 2017

SOLAR FARMS VS FARMERS
Solar debate heats up as CA farmland is targeted
Tracie Cone, March 14, 2012 (San Jose Mercury News)

"In the debate pitting photovoltaic power stations against agriculture, all eyes have been on Fresno County, where the abundance of sunshine that make it the No. 1 agriculture-producing county in the nation also makes it ideal for solar arrays…This week Fresno County, with 29 projects on 11,000 acres in the pipeline, approved its plan to balance food security with green energy with a decision that falls short of what both sides wanted…

"…Under the new regulations, authorities will consider the prior agricultural productivity of farmland in deciding whether to issue conditional use permits…but they will not automatically direct development to marginal and retired land lacking adequate water supplies, as farm organizations had wanted…Some on the board of supervisors view solar as the economic wave of the future, providing increased tax revenues and hundreds of construction jobs..."

Solar farm and farmland side by side in Germany (click to enlarge)

"…Environmental obstacles to solar keep popping up in places like California's expansive Mojave Desert. Developers now are eyeing farmland as easier places to build because plowing and planting thwarts endangered species such as kit foxes and kangaroo rats from taking up residence…California laws such as the Williamson Act that protect prime soils from development are being challenged by some local governments that are issuing temporary use permits for the arrays with the idea that the land could be returned to production down the road…The issue is critically important in a county with an annual agricultural production of $5.8 billion and an economy dependent upon packing, shipping and growing hundreds of products… [It is hoped] the new guidelines will be used to protect farming…

"A joint policy paper issued last year by the law schools at UCLA and UC-Berkeley says that California must balance a secure national food supply and energy production by identifying marginal farmland and guiding solar development to it or risk consequences...The state lost 200,000 acres of irrigated farmland to development between 2006 and 2008, and 1.3 million acres since 1984…Critics of the supervisors' decision point out that the region has 200,000 acres of retired land contaminated with selenium perfectly suited for sun energy…The state farm bureau has a lawsuit pending…A judge is expected to decide next week whether the state farm bureau has the right to sue…"


GOLDWIND GATHERS GOLD
Goldwind makes CNY 3 billion bond offering
Wu Qi, 16 March 2012 (Windpower Monthly)

"Goldwind is to issue CNY 3 billion yuan ($476 million) corporate bonds in Shenzhen Stock Exchange…This is the first phase of a total of CNY 5 billion bonds that the company's stockholders approved at its 2010 general meeting.

"The capital raised will be used to supplement working capital of the company and its subordinates and repay CNY 800 million bank loans…Goldwind will have CNY 27.1 billion yuan working capital, compared with CNY 24.9 billion yuan on September 30, 2011."

Goldwind is one of the biggest and best run wind companies. If it is looking for funding, the others are too. (click to enlarge)

"…[T] his will to a certain extent alleviate cash flow pressure on the company and ensure smooth progress of production scheduling…In the first three quarters of 2011, Goldwind had CNY 6.843 billion operational cash flow, down 261.48% year-on-year.

"Goldwind is concerned that along with business expansion, its liabilities and financial costs might continue to expand…[T]he company's operating profits fell 74% in 2011, compared with the previous year, to CNY 697.8 million…[due] to slower growth in the Chinese wind-power industry, and falling turbine market sales prices…"


BETTER CHEAPER EV BATTERIES BY 2017
Prices for Lithium Ion Batteries Will Fall by More Than One-Third by 2017, Helping to Drive EV Adoption
March 12, 2012 (Pike Research)

"Managing transportation emissions and reducing energy insecurity due to a volatile oil industry are on the top of the agenda of many countries across the world. Electric vehicles (EVs) have a significant role to play in both...EVs will continue to be a niche market through the remainder of this decade…[but] the global automotive industry is beginning to move away from the internal combustion engine and toward electric drivetrains…

"…For auto manufacturers, the key to this shift will be the continual advancement in the capabilities of the vehicles’ batteries, which will be led by lithium ion (Li-ion) chemistries…The convergence of the automotive industry toward battery power and the engineering of safe, reliable, and economical Li-ion batteries will slowly reshape the automotive industry as it moves toward electrification. According to a recent report from Pike Research, as manufacturing efficiencies improve and access to lithium expands, the installed cost of Li-ion batteries will fall by more than one-third by the end of 2017."

click to enlarge

"In terms of revenue, the market for Li-ion batteries for transportation will grow from $2.0 billion annually in 2011 to more than $14.6 billion by 2017, the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts…

"…[M]ost plug-in electric vehicles today have a range of between 40 and 100 miles…[but] concerns over range and the availability of charging infrastructure remain among the biggest impediments to the wider adoption of Li-ion batteries. On the supply side, challenges such as achieving higher energy density, better safety, and greater discharge/charge rates linger…[No Li-ion chemistries available today can] claim to be the ideal solution…"