QUICK NEWS, November 5: POLITICS CAUSES & SPOILS GE’S RECORD WIND YEAR; MORE NEW ENERGY ALL THE TIME; MORE AND MORE JOBS IN SOLAR

POLITICS CAUSES & SPOILS GE’S RECORD WIND YEAR GE to set US record in 2012 for wind turbine installations

Richard A. Kessler, October 19, 2012 (ReCharge)

“General Electric this year will set a company record for wind capacity installations in the US, breaking its previous high of 3.99GW in 2009, the most for any turbine vendor there in a calendar year…GE also has the four next highest US wind capacity installs including 3.58GW in 2008, 2.54GW in 2010, 2.34GW in 2007 and 2GW last year…Vestas is in sixth place with 1.96GW installed in 2011.

“…GE’s own market research aligns with AWEA’s forecast that the US will add between 12GW and 13.5GW in wind capacity this year, which would easily surpass the 10GW record set in 2009. Original equipment manufacturers added 6.81GW of capacity in 2011…Developers are racing to complete wind farms and get them grid-connected to qualify for the [$22 per MWh, ten year] production tax credit (PTC) that [was instituted in 1992 and] expires on 31 December…[It is wind industry’s] main federal subsidy…”

The Choice, Part 1 This is what he said.

TheChoice, Part 2

This is what he said.

“…[GE’s leaders are] optimistic that Congress will renew the tax credit after 6 November national elections…[I]t traditionally has gained bipartisan support…[because over] 80% of US installs are in Republican districts…President Barack Obama wants to make the PTC permanent while his Republican opponent Mitt Romney is urging Congress not to renew it…Even if lawmakers extend the PTC for another year, the US market in 2013 [is expected to] be the worst for new wind capacity since 2.54GW in 2006. GE has three turbine production facilities in the US. The company won’t discuss employment or activity levels at them.

“More than 70% of wind turbine deals so far this year have been overseas. GE has tripled its share in Europe since 2010 and has scored several large sales in Brazil…[S]ales of GE’s flagship 1.6MW platform have been strong in the US and globally…The 2.75MW platform is an evolutionary development of the 2.5MW series wind turbine, GE’s largest onshore offering at the moment. The company recently announced installation of its 1,000th 2.5MW series unit in Romania…The company’s technology development arm continues to work on designing a ‘next generation’ direct-drive wind turbine of up to 15MW using superconducting magnets…[for] offshore wind.”

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MORE NEW ENERGY ALL THE TIME Americans use more efficient and renewable energy technologies

Anne M. Stark, October 8, 2012 (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

“Americans used less energy in 2011 than in the previous year due mainly to a shift to higher-efficiency energy technologies in the transportation and residential sectors. Meanwhile, less coal was used but more natural gas was consumed according to the most recent energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

“Wind power saw the biggest jump from .92 quadrillion BTU, or quads, in 2010 up to 1.17 quads in 2011. (BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy and is equivalent to about 1.055 kilojoules)…Hydroelectricity also saw an increase going from 2.51 quads in 2010 up to 3.17 quads in 2011…Hydroelectricity jumped significantly in 2011 because 2011 saw large amounts of precipitation in the Western U.S…keeping reservoirs full…”

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“Overall, U.S. energy use in 2011 equaled 97.3 quads compared to the 98 quads used in 2010. Most of the energy was tied to coal, natural gas and petroleum…From 2010 to 2011, use of coal fell dramatically, use of oil (petroleum) fell slightly and use of natural gas increased slightly from 24.65 quads in 2010 to 24.9 quads in 2011…

“The majority of energy use in 2011 was used for electricity generation (39.2 quads), followed by transportation, industrial, commercial and residential consumption. However, energy use in the residential, commercial and transportation sectors decreased while industrial energy use increased if only slightly…”

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MORE AND MORE JOBS IN SOLAR The Solar Foundation Reports 13% Growth in U.S. Solar Jobs; Annual National Solar Jobs Census finds more than 119,000 employed by solar industry

November 2, 2012 (The Solar Foundation)

“The Solar Foundation (TSF)…third annual National Solar Jobs Census found that the U.S. solar industry employs 119,016 Americans…[an] addition of 13,872 workers and a 13.2% employment growth rate over the previous year…TSF also revised the 2011 total jobs number from 100,237 to 105,145…

The National Solar Jobs Census 2012 measured employment growth in the solar industry between September 2011 and September 2012. During the same period, employment in the overall economy grew at a rate of 2.3% (BLS), while the fossil fuel electric generation industry shed 3,857 jobs or 3.77% of its workforce (EMSI)…”

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“Nearly one third of employers who responded to the survey cited the continued decline in component prices as the primary driver of employment growth. State legislation enacting Renewable Portfolio Standards or authorizing third-party system ownership and federal tax incentives were other leading drivers of growth…

“The Solar Foundation and BW Research used an improved version of the Solar Energy Industries Association’s National Solar Database to refine the methods used in the Census and reach more employers…[T]he survey examined employment along the solar value chain, including installation, wholesale trade, manufacturing, utilities and all other fields and includes growth rates and job numbers for 31 separate occupations…”

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