QUICK NEWS, July 1: U.S. SOLAR NEEDS INVESTMENT; WIND FARM GETS FED APPROVAL ON EAGLES; THE BATTERY MARKET NOW

U.S. SOLAR NEEDS INVESTMENT Going for the green

Editorial, June 25, 2014 (North Jersey Media)

“…[Germany’s] renewable energy generation surged to a record portion — nearly 75 percent — of the country's overall electricity demand for part of [one day this month and electricity prices plummeted. On a different day] for an hour solar power provided half the country's electric power…[I]n the first quarter of 2014, renewable energy met 27 percent of the country's electricity demand, which is up from 6 percent in 2000 and 20.5 percent in 2011. That's compared to about 13 percent of the U.S. total…Renewable energy is not yet the panacea. There are still fluctuations in renewable power but improvements in batteries and solar panels are among the technologies starting to meet this challenge…[The] renewable energy sector [in which the German government has invested heavily] provided in excess of 300,000 German jobs at good wages, something our country sorely needs…Yet in this country there is an effort meant to damage the roof-top solar energy industry…Proposals to tax the financing of home solar panels are creeping up in legislation…[and] there's the Obama Administration proposal to get rid of the 30-percent tax credit…This country has to invest in its infrastructure…” click here for more

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WIND FARM GETS FED APPROVAL ON EAGLES Feds Nix Eagle Penalties for California Wind Farm

Scott Smith, June 26, 2014 (AP)

“…The Shiloh IV Wind Project LLC, 60 miles east of San Francisco, will [become the first in the nation to] receive a special permit [from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] allowing up to five golden eagles to be accidentally killed over five years. Previously, such a violation could potentially draw criminal charges and discourage private investment in wind farms known for catching birds in their rotors…The permit will require the facility to take steps to prevent eagle injuries and deaths from electrocution by retrofitting 133 power poles. The permits are not required of wind farms, and federal prosecutors have only once filed criminal charges against a wind farm, in Wyoming…[T]he permit encourages development of renewable energy while requiring the wind company to take steps to protect eagles from turbines and power lines…Birds on the hunt can become distracted by what's on the ground and fly into the rotors…Federal wildlife officials in California, Nevada and Southern Oregon are working on two more applications for five-year eagle permits and one for 30 years…” click here for more

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THE BATTERY MARKET NOW Advanced Battery Tracker 2Q14; 2013 Global Shipments of Advanced Batteries by Application Segment: Automotive, Stationary Energy Storage, Consumer Electronics, Medical, Defense, and Power Tools

2Q 2014 (Navigant Research)

“The advanced batteries industry saw continued growth in 2013…[T]he industry shipped 47.4 GWh of batteries in 2013, the majority of which went to consumer electronics…[but] emerging sectors such as automotive and stationary energy storage also earned relatively large market shares…[M]ore than 99% of [cell shipments for] advanced batteries were made with lithium ion (Li-ion) chemistries in 2013…[for] consumer electronics, power tool, automotive, medical, and defense applications. Global Li-ion manufacturing capacity has expanded in the last few years, as several governments have subsidized factories in North America and Asia Pacific to boost supplies for electric vehicles. The only major application segment with significant penetration by other chemistries is stationary energy storage, where some systems utilize flow, sodium metal halide, sodium sulfur, and aqueous sodium ion batteries…” click here for more

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