QUICK NEWS, Sept. 15: SOLAR SUCCEEDING ON PRICE; EVEN MORE WIND THAT HONDA EXPECTED; THE HUGE UNRECOGNIZED BENEFITS OF EFFICIENCY

SOLAR SUCCEEDING ON PRICE Solar Continues Trumping Fossil Fuel Pricing, With More Innovations To Come

Chip Register, Sept. 11, 2014 (Forbes)

“…America’s energy landscape looks significantly different. Natural gas has come well off its pre-recession highs and is now trading steadily around $4 per mmBtu, with little to no volatility. Oil and coal prices dropped as well…[But] advances made in photovoltaic (PV) cells, combined with an explosion in solar panel manufacturing in China, helped send solar prices down far faster than fossil fuels. The average solar panel now costs around 75% less than it did just five years ago and…the more solar that is put in, the faster prices drop. Citibank estimates that the price of an average solar panel falls by 30% whenever installed solar capacity doubles in a given area…[B]y 2020, they believe solar will be…successfully competing with fossil fuels on an unsubsidized basis…America’s reliance on expensive oil, relatively dirty coal and troubled nuclear power will inalterably change now that solar has become so competitive…[Until power can be stored efficiently], solar is best used to cover peak demand during the day. The backbone of the grid will shift from coal to cheap natural gas to provide the baseload generation…until grid-level battery storage becomes available somewhere toward the end of this decade. Then watch out [for solar]…” click here for more

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EVEN MORE WIND THAT HONDA EXPECTED Honda Pounds Another Nail Into Fossil Fuel Coffin

Tina Casey, Sept. 13, 2014 (Clean Technica)

“…[In their first six months of operation, two] wind turbines at Honda Transmission Mfg. of America, Inc…were supposed to produce about 10,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year…[and cover] about 10 percent of the plant’s needs…[They] met expectations in two of the first six months…outperformed in four months…[and] peaked in April, when they provided more than 16 percent of power for the plant…Overall, in the six-month period wind turbine efficiency at the facility exceeded expectations by 6.3 percent…Juhl Energy…[installed, owns, and operates the $8 million wind turbines] under a power purchase agreement…[Honda is] paying for the electricity…[Other auto manufacturers are doing] on site energy harvesting (typically, rooftop solar), energy efficiency, and energy storage…” click here for more

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THE HUGE UNRECOGNIZED BENEFITS OF EFFICIENCY IEA lauds energy efficiency 'social, economic boosts'

Sept. 12, 2014 (The Australian/Business w/The Wall Street Journal)

“The benefits of energy efficiency go well beyond the simple scaling back of energy demand…[ Capturing the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency from the International Energy Agency] reframes the discussion…[and] shows how energy efficiency has the potential to support economic growth, enhance social development, advance environmental sustainability, ensure energy-system security and help build wealth...IEA analysis has previously shown that energy efficiency has the potential to boost economic growth while reducing energy demand…[But] under existing policies, two-thirds of the economically viable energy efficiency potential available between now and 2035 will remain unrealized…because energy efficiency is routinely and significantly undervalued…[Only] when the value of productivity and operational benefits to industrial companies were integrated into their traditional internal rate of return calculations, the payback period for energy efficiency measures dropped from 4.2 to 1.9 years…[B]y making homes warmer, drier and healthier, [unrecognized] energy efficiency measures can dramatically improve health and well-being. When monetised, for example through the cost of medical care or innovative metrics such as the value of lost work time or child care costs caused by illness, these benefits can boost returns to as much as four dollars for every one dollar invested…” click here for more

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