QUICK NEWS, December 1: LESS SOLAR, MORE DEFENSE IN INDIA; WHY CONGRESS SHOULD SAVE WIND; ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL ON THE VERGE

LESS SOLAR, MORE DEFENSE IN INDIA India Slashes Solar Energy Goals For Defence Forces

Mridul Chadha, November 29, 2014 (Clean Technica)

“…The Indian defence forces have clarified to the government that they do not have any surplus land available to set up large-scale solar power projects. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had initially planned to set up 1 GW of solar power capacity at currently unused land owned by the defence forces…The Department of Defence and Services has now clarified that it would use the large tracts of unused land for military purposes only. This has forced the Ministry to reduce its initial capacity addition target to just 300 MW…This capacity is expected to be fully installed by 2019, and the Ministry would provide a viability gap funding of Rs 750 crore ($125 million). These projects will sell electricity at a fixed rate of Rs 5,500 ($91.7) per MWh for a period of 25 years…In order to support domestic solar module manufacturers, the government decided to ask its own institutions like the defence forces and public sector companies to set up solar power plants…[T]he government may now have to ask state-owned power companies like NTPC, BHEL, and NHPC to enhance their own solar power capacity addition targets.” click here for more

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WHY CONGRESS SHOULD SAVE WIND Congress could revive tax credit for wind energy

Sammy Roth, November 27, 2014 (The Desert Sun)

“…The production tax credit for wind and other renewables expired at the end of 2013, bringing wind development in the United States to a screeching halt…[Wind advocates say] the production tax credit has made wind power in the United States more reliable because [by paying 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity produced over the first 10 years of the project life] it incentivizes developers to produce — unlike wind subsidies in some countries, which reward investment or equipment installation… China had 50 percent more wind-generating capacity than the United States last year. But the United States produced about 20 percent more wind energy than China did…Bringing back the production tax credit is a rare renewable energy priority with significant Republican support…But [Congressional efforts in the next two weeks’ lame duck session] to bring back the production tax credit…have faced stiff opposition from groups backed by the fossil fuel industry… [though] coal, oil and natural gas received about $594 billion in incentives between 1950 and 2010 [while solar], wind and geothermal received about $81 billion during those years…Wind advocates are pushing for the production tax credit to be extended through at least the end of 2015, including a retroactive extension allowing projects that started construction this year to qualify…” click here for more

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ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL ON THE VERGE The Newberry Volcano Enhanced Geothermal Project: The Most Important Power Plant In The Country?

Peter Kelley-Detweiler, November 6, 2014 (Forbes)

“…On the Newbery Volcano, AltaRock Energy is engaged in a project to mine the earth’s heat two miles down and turn it into a reliable and cost-effective supply of electricity…EGS works by drilling a hole into the ground, and pumping water – with a biodegradable diverter, which enhances the fracture process – into a closed loop system to create fractures in the rock. Additional water is added (once the reservoir is saturated, very little water is lost in the closed loop) to absorb heat from the rock, which turns to steam at the surface and drives a turbine…

“…[An MIT study] noted, EGS is attractive for several reasons, including the fact that it provides virtually carbon free baseload (round the clock) electricity and the source rock resource exists widely throughout the United States. The plants are also highly scalable because they are modular…[and concluded that with] a combined public/private investment of about $800 million to $1 billion over a 15-year period, EGS technology could…produce more than 100,000 MWe of new capacity by 2050… EGS is a very different technology than hydro-fracking for natural gas…EGS stimulations result in seismicity that is lower than a packed football stadium during a big NFL game…[and] AltaRock is using a closed loop…With the development of the greenfield Newberry Volcano site, AltaRock is working to morph theory into reality… Newberry is a proof-of-concept well…” click here for more

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