QUICK NEWS, October 1: GOOGLING WIND; THE YEAR SUN TRANSITIONED; CARS ON LPG

GOOGLING WIND Google signs wind-power agreement with Oklahoma's Grand River Dam Authority; The search-engine giant will buy some of the wind energy from GRDA's interest in a wind farm under development in central Oklahoma.

Paul Moine, September 27, 2012 (The Oklahoman)

“Search-engine giant Google Inc. has signed an agreement with the Grand River Dam Authority to buy electricity from a wind farm under construction in Canadian County…Google will buy up to 48 megawatts of wind power from GRDA's interest in the Canadian Hills wind farm [bringing the total amount of renewable energy for which Google has contracted to over 260 megawatts]…

“…The 300-megawatt wind farm is expected to be complete by the end of the year and will be Oklahoma's largest wind farm with 135 turbines…Google will use the electricity to operate its data center in Pryor in northeastern Oklahoma. The data center began operations in 2011…”

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“Google last year signed a deal with NextEra Energy Resources to buy electricity directly from NextEra's Minco II Wind Energy Center in Grady and Caddo counties…With the expansion of cloud computing, data centers have become large consumers of electricity…

“…The Electric Power Research Institute estimates electricity use by data centers doubled from 2006 to 2011. Data centers now consume about 3 percent of the nation's electricity…Google said it uses renewable energy for about 30 percent of its worldwide data center electricity. The company can't use renewable energy around the clock because data centers need to be operational 24 hours a day…”

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THE SUN TRANSITION 2012: Transitioning to the Next Phase of PV Industry Development

Michael barker, September 28, 2012 (SolarBuzz)

“Spurred by lower than expected second-half demand, most major PV module manufacturers lowered shipment guidance in the most recent round of quarterly earnings calls [from 30% growth]…[I]n late Q3’12] it appears…European markets in total have declined throughout the year. This fact has led manufacturers to…[lower] industry expectations by half.

“Along with changing seasonal demand profiles, lower Y/Y growth – less than 10% in 2012 compared to 42% in 2011 – has combined with the continued oversupply situation to make 2012 a difficult year for manufacturers. The oversupply persists despite an initial wave of liquidations, primarily Western firms…[I]t is now being felt by Chinese manufacturers…[It]is likely to hit tier 2 and 3 – and maybe even a few tier 1 – Chinese manufacturers.”

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“…Current projections show an industry stabilization period beginning in the next 4-8 quarters. The time period is indefinite as, until now, many of the tertiary production players have enjoyed benign financing sources. As such they could continue to live on ‘borrowed time’ or could fall out more quickly per the decisions of financiers.

“…[As this happens,] there will be less pressure on ASPs, and the task will fall to the remaining players to use any breathing room to refocus efforts on cost reduction…[and] margin recovery. This period of industry change could lead to a market in which there are significantly fewer players, each of whom may have a larger market share. The task at the moment for firms that have the capability is to survive…”

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CARS ON LPG Propane Autogas Vehicles; Liquefied Petroleum Gas Vehicle Availability, LPG Refueling Infrastructure, Engine Technology, and Fuel System Components: Market Analysis and Forecasts

Q3 2012 (Pike Research/Navigant)

“Autogas...[is the common term] for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used as an automotive transport fuel…[It is] approximately 9% of the global consumption of LPG…

“…While LPG is relatively clean-burning, easy to store and transport, has high energy content, and is widely available in many countries, supplies of natural gas have become much more abundant over the last few years as new extraction process have been developed, and natural gas now challenges autogas as an alternative vehicle fuel to gasoline and diesel.”

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“…[T]he penetration for use [of autogas] as a vehicle fuel varies widely around the world. Few countries have created a refueling infrastructure to rival that for gasoline/diesel, but in most places batch delivery is well established, making it an ideal fuel for short range fleet operations if the cost per gallon is kept low…

“Some OEMs offer factory installation of autogas and dual-fuel systems, but only in countries where the market is mature and volumes have been steady for some years. Most conversions are done in the aftermarket. Pike Research anticipates that by 2020 there will be more than 23 million autogas vehicles operating on roads worldwide.”

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