My specialty is wind energy, but I work with all forms of renewable energy. Over the years I've written about a number of renewable technologies, including solar and geothermal energy. In recent years I've focused on comprehensive renewable energy policies that develop a mix of renewable resources.
The links below lead to articles on renewable energy policy.
The links to the left lead to more specific topics.
Paul Gipe
That equates to about 31 percent of Japan's total energy production in fiscal 2013, which stood at 939.7 billion kWh. In fiscal 2013, renewable energy accounted for just 2.2 percent of the total.
The best news about this study is not its findings, though they will no doubt be widely circulated. Rather, it is a sign that Siemens has moved from unrealistic criticism of the Energiewende to...
Creationism, climate denial and anti-vaccination rage: long before the measles outbreak in the US, a deep mistrust of scientists infected some strands of the American conservative movement.
In an e-mail to Brown in January 2014, Cherry dangled PG&E’s backing for CPUC Chairman Peevey’s pet project — a $4 billion coal-gasification plant planned in Kern County — as a possible reward for...
Big energy firms such as Total, Iberdrola, E.On and Enel have together adopted a dominant position in trade bodies such as the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) and European Photovoltaic...
A country report published by IRENA finds that the United States could have 27 percent renewable energy (not just electricity!) by 2030, up from 7.5 percent in 2010 – and much higher than the 10...
In comparison to its European neighbors, France has fallen off the renewable energy bandwagon, according to the most recent report by Bernard Chabot. In 2014 wind produced 3.6% and solar PV only 1.3%...[more]
Despite lavish talk about increasing renewable energy and the start of renewable mandates in 2002, the PUC has authorized more fossil-fueled energy than renewable energy during Peevey’s tenure, with...
So, in short, the new CfD system replicates the existing ability of the electricity majors to siphon off up to 30 per cent of the incomes supposedly paid by electricity consumers for renewable...
Alan Simpson blasts Britain's ruling party and government bureaucrats for an ideologically driven rush to a "capacity market" in response to a "manufactured," that is, imaginary, crisis.[more]
The North-to-South transmission lines are not needed; they are a waste of money, designed to increase the cost of the rnergiewende and thus do discredit it, and to split the environmental community...
This mountainous city has moved another step toward its goal of supplying all of its energy needs with the area’s most visibly abundant resource.
All these developments have resulted in Germany generating less electricity from fossil fuels in 2014 than in the last 35 years.
DECC’s auction reflects GB’s current energy policy: wasteful, thoughtless, parochial and supporting the status quo. This was a real opportunity to implement a radically different, demand focused...
The government could have chosen a better way, by prioritising measures that really do solve the energy trilemma – incentivising interconnection, treating demand-side management as a priority,...
Climate disruption jumped to the fore of the global political agenda in 2014 and a series of developments cemented both renewable energy and carbon pricing as lead solutions to the crisis.
The institutions through which Japan’s energy technocrats are adapting Germany’s lessons to Japanese circumstances are potentially very powerful. They may be rebooting some of the mechanisms that...
Steps such as the feed-in tariff, though still incomplete, are generally viewed as progress toward increasing green energy in Egypt. The rapid advance of coal projects has shown what can be...
For example, in mathematical terms, if over a 20 year period a wind turbine produces 7 million kWh of electricity annually, its construction will consume approximately 3.5 million kilowatt hours — or...
The investigation is in response to complaints from four Ontario-based firms; Eclipsall Energy Corporation, Heliene, Silfab Ontario and Solgate. Ontario removed the 60% domestic content requirement...
Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political...
We seem to have been scared into believing that a further increase in the use of renewable energy would cost us dearly.
The more an article contains evidence-based findings, the more it moves away from propaganda to professional analysis.
'Forum For the Future', in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University, blow away the alleged conservatism of British farmers by indicating how large quantities of British electricity supply (much...
The call for a coal phaseout has been in the foreground for the past month in Germany. It all started with a leak about a discussion proposal to switch off between 5 and 10 GW of coal plant capacity,...
The use of wind energy (both onshore and offshore) was investigated with regard to the consumption of neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy), which are increasingly being employed in high field strength...
German clean energy policy expert Dr. David Jacobs paid Canada a visit this week to dispel a few myths about the Energiewende. While addressing potential downsides, Jacobs talked about the lessons...
If the policy is implemented... The renewables sector has come to see the current Social Democrats as a party of coal power; the party traditionally represents unions, including coal miners. But this...
Indeed, the law of the Japan’s Feed-in Tariff system allows utilities to refuse requests of renewable electricity producers for grid access “when securing a smooth supply of electricity by said the...
To accelerate the spread of power generated from renewable energy sources, the government must take responsibility for expanding the capacities of utilities to take on energy.
A new study by Fraunhofer IWES investigates how much natural gas could be offset by renewables and efficiency, and one graphic indicates the implicit message that the energy transition could make...
Hawaii’s utilities just resubmitted long-term energy plans to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, and there was at least one very nice surprise: Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO), the utility...
Meeting 100% requires citizen and business engagement, no question. It will also require institutional innovation, like renewable energy cooperatives and green bonds that allow people to invest...
Publications investigating a 100 percent supply of renewable energy continue to pour in. Last week, the World Future Council produced a Policy Handbook that is unique in two ways. First, it covers...
A recent study commissioned by Agora Energiewende comes to the conclusion that the German Energiewende does not need new electricity storage within the next 20 years. Instead, flexible fossil-fueled...
The goal of fully transitioning the world’s total energy mix toward renewable energy sources is no longer a utopian ideal: it is being achieved in a number of places around the world today. Hundreds...
This year electricity generation from coal is down in Germany and last month only 14.45 TWh. This is not only a hefty 20% decline compared to the previous year, but also the lowest monthly coal power...
the U.S. has made renewable energy mandates an option for the states, who in turn have almost all given control of the mandates to their electricity monopolies (e.g., utilities). Typically, these...
The results of a three-year project investigating what a purely renewable power supply would look like have been published. The findings could be a roadmap for the coming years bar unforeseen...
In other words, since 2006 we have witnessed a stabilization of Germany’s impressively reliable grid even as some 35 gigawatts of solar and 35 gigawatts of wind were installed on a grid with peak...
There is a pattern among these examples of politicians rejecting the full body of available scientific evidence and the consensus among climate experts – each is in an English-speaking country.
The people of El Hierro envisioned a new possibility for their island community and have achieved self-reliance supplying their electricity demand with a combination of wind and hydro-power.
According to the FT, National Grid said the closures should not affect the UK’s energy supply. “Demand is low at this time of year, and a lot of wind power is being generated right now,” it said.
In the short to medium term the fossil fuel interests and their supporters – both witting and unwitting — are fighting the battle of their corporate lives to preserve the privileged position they’ve...
Nonetheless, some pretty significant patterns are apparent. Perhaps most notably: Not only is the United States clearly the worst in its climate denial, but Great Britain and Australia are second and...
“The popularization of renewable energy has increasingly allowed local municipalities to produce electricity on their own,” said Tetsunari Iida, director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy...
Nonetheless, some pretty significant patterns are apparent. Perhaps most notably: Not only is the United States clearly the worst in its climate denial, but Great Britain and Australia are second and...
Japan is indeed poor in fossil fuels—but among all major industrial countries, it’s the richest in renewable energy like sun, wind, and geothermal. For example, Japan has nine times Germany’s...
Rejecting the previous idea of “the faster the better” sure sounds like putting on the brakes.
The renewable energy sources solar, wind, hydro and biomass produced a total of about 81 TWh and accounted for approximately 31% of electricity production.
I argue that nuclear energy ceased to be a viable option in the world's energy mix as the result of the disappearance of the subsidies it received in the form of plutonium purchases by the military....
It is becoming increasingly clear that no German politician is holding the baton for renewables policy in Germany, especially after the recent amendments were approved on a Friday. Today, we take a...
The Bundestag just voted overwhelmingly in favor of the governing coalition’s proposes to change the country’s renewables policy. The grand coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats got...
Interestingly, Ireland recently saw its share of wind power peak at 50 percent of power demand, an issue that went largely unreported (why is everyone so focused on Germany?).
The former East German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern became the first German state to generate more electricity with renewable energy than its own domestic consumption. In 2013 the state on the...[more]
It remains to be seen how board members will vote on upcoming issues. But philosophically, renewable-energy proponents seem to hold a 7-5 advantage.
On the border to Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein is a largely rural state – and Germany’s windiest area. It is home to the country’s only Energiewende Minister, and it will produce as much green...
Looks like the Wind Turbines won! Overall, supporters of renewable energy landed almost 70% of the vote, and the PC's, who made a big campaign issue of killing off renewable energy via the Green...
A tongue-in-cheek review of Baedeker's new guidebook: Deutschland--Erneuerbare Energien erleben (Germany--Experience renewable energy) by geographer Martin Frey. The book is an update of his...
Germany has experienced a boom in local energy initiatives aiming at 100% renewable energy. The webinar will offer an overview of progress, and highlight the strategies that have worked, including...
Here, we have the coal conundrum of the Energiewende: is Germany building new coal plants to replace nuclear despite the country’s green ambitions? This paper finds that the concern is based largely...
An in-depth look reveals that coal is not making a comeback in Germany. The current addition of new coal projects in Germany is a one-off phenomenon. Recent projects started in 2005-2007 as part of...
I frequently find myself feeling somewhat schizophrenic in the world of the American media. I will be looking at a reality which has very clear features (to me), and I will find it being nearly...
A large-scale shift away from coal to a variety of electricity sources including solar, wind, and geothermal power, could be accomplished in 20 years with only a slight price increase in the first...
President Obama plans to reduce carbon emissions from power plants by 30 percent by 2030. At first glance, it sounds impressive – but the reference year is 2005, and emissions from electricity are...
The Danish Energy Agency has published an energy-scenario report and five sub-analyses on the energy system of the future and the challenges that need managing up to 2050 as fossil fuels are phased...
Former prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Morihiro Hosokawa on Wednesday established a new entity to promote renewable energy as part of a joint antinuclear campaign that previously led Hosokawa...
System size distribution of total Italian solar PV installations through 2013. 17% of total installed solar PV capacity is in systems less than 20 kW in size. Another 21% of capacity is in the range...[more]
In 2013 Spain generated nearly 44% of its electricity with renewable sources, 30% from new renewables. Wind energy alone provided nearly 21% of Spain's electricity--as much as nuclear. [more]
In 2013 Italy generated nearly 34% of its electricity with renewable sources, 17% with new renewables. Solar PV provided nearly 5% of Italy's electricity. [more]
As retired Navy Rear Admiral David Titley, an expert on climate change, wrote in a Fox News editorial in an effort to shake some sense into the heads of denialists: “The parallels between the...
This week, a coalition of companies that provide leasing contracts for solar to home and business customers declared war on this “value of solar” policy, and pretty much every financial model for...
As detailed below, the Government's survey shows that the public is much more supportive of onshore wind - the technology they are determined to curb - compared to the technologies to which they want...
Some thoughts about the role of the church in Germany’s switch to renewables and lower consumption driven by citizens, energy cooperatives, and communities. While energy policy is a divisive issue in...
Alone among the major economies, Germany is moving purposefully to phase out fossil fuels while also shuttering nuclear power. Germany’s energy makeover, or “energiewende,” appears to be thriving, as...
Last week, the EU adopted new rules on “public support for environmental protection and energy.” The outcome is a clear compromise; though still containing misleading labels such as “market-based,”...
The Stiftung Umweltenergierecht has published an 89 page analysis (in German language) explaining how the recent move by the European Commission to violate Germany’s legislation competences is...
The UK has successfully lobbied to have a clause removed from the new EU state aid guidelines that would have hampered support for fossil fuels.
On Tuesday, Germany announced some new policy reforms to its high-profile 'energy revolution'. Some reports have suggested the country is slamming on the brakes to prevent renewable energy further...
On Friday, German power provider Eon confirmed that it will shut down a nuclear plant ahead of schedule. The premature discontinuation of lignite excavation also announced that day, however, is a...
Natural gas in storage in the US continued its decline in the most recent update from the US Energy Information Agency. (Why doesn’t Canada publish this type of data?) The ongoing cold winter reduced...
Areas with periodic droughts, like California, Australia, and even the US and Canadian west (remember the dust bowl) need to preserve their rivers and aquifers, or face severe economic consequences....
Japan added 7,044 megawatts of clean energy capacity since it began an incentive program in July 2012 through the end of last year.
In any normal situation, such hard facts would simply be reported – it's not like there's no way to say "carbon emissions are slightly down year-over-year" in German.
Some have forecast that the fracking boom may be close to running it’s course. The depletion rates for fracked gas are very high – that is, the well stops producing very quickly. We may not have the...
Bernard Chabot is back today with an update of his overview of power data from California for 2013 as a whole. The statistics are taken from CAISO, but you may find slightly different data elsewhere....
We should get on with building the pipeline of wind and solar projects now.
Why can’t the U.S. propose and take the lead in a new Marshall Plan — this one targeting Eastern Europe — that would: weatherize millions of homes; install combined heat-and-power systems in tens of...
The transition to a sustainable energy economy and its deliberate and unconscious sabotage . . .
Three years after the Fukushima/Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Global100RE Ambassadors are highlighting the need to refrain from using hazardous nuclear and fossil energy sources and instead shift...
Over at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), Michael Liebreich now claims responsibility for the cost breakthroughs of renewables. Adding insult to injury, he then argues that the policy that...
Angela Merkel’s visit to London yesterday is being widely reported in the context of David Cameron’s efforts to secure EU reform.However, the presence of Europe’s electorally most successful leader...
The United States, where powerful industries are skilled at downplaying environmental risks, appears to have embraced the skeptic movement first, in the run-up to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Back then,...
At the same time, the open cut coal mine that provides fuel to the power station is burning; a slow, intense fire that sits at the coal seam face. The fires, suspected to have been deliberately lit,...
Beckman writes that "analysts" speak of "gross inefficiencies" in national schemes: "wind and solar power get built where subsidies are highest rather than where there is most wind or sun in Europe."...
As someone with a moderately open mind, I promote the sharing of best practices. If you support renewables, feed-in tariffs (FITs) seem an obvious choice; they have been used successfully – even...
In solidarity with BWE, I’ve endorsed their campaign by taking the small step of including one of their themes in the banner of my web site. I’ve posted one banner in the original German and one...[more]
We show, using policy analysis and socioeconomic considerations including uncertainty, that in the first phase, it is beneficial to focus on establishing support policy instruments which reduce risk...
The German Government is also critical of the substance of the draft guidelines. They say that it is too early for transiting to an auction model immediately. - See more at:...
The push against renewables is also a desperate attempt to protect incumbent firms on a market that might trend away from big business and towards small producers if market forces and democracy...
California’s over reliance on fossil fuels for generating electricity, notably natural gas, led the state’s electricity system operator to call an emergency on Thursday, 6 February. The move called...[more]
A shortage of natural gas triggered by extreme cold weather in much of the United States and Canada is impacting fuel supplies to Southern CA power plants and reducing electricity generation. The...
Most Americans now believe that there is enough recoverable natural gas lurking under our feet to heat and power this country well into the next century. A fairy tale to be sure, but as long as it is...
Local governments across Japan are seeking to supply their regions with 100% renewable energy, three years after the major earthquake which resulted in a nuclear disaster. At the Community Power...
In his State of the Union, President Obama added to the conventional wisdom that supplanting coal with natural gas will act as a bridge toward a climate solution. Unfortunately, gas is more of a...
Several discussions of the working group pointed to feed-in tariffs (FITs) as an important tool with which to approach price-parity between incumbents and newcomers in the renewable energy...
The German Environmental Agency announced official figures today, unfortunately for 2012, not 2013. They confirm that Germany exceeded its Kyoto target by a wide margin. Nonetheless, it remains...
In other words, we pay twice for bad solar policy in America. Complicated tax incentive, interconnection, and contract policy makes solar cost more to install than in mature markets like Germany....
You heard it here first, because the forecast is mine – CO2 emissions from German power consumption are likely to decline this year for a number of reasons. But the coal phaseout is unlikely to begin...
Just before Christmas, Spanish grid regulator REE published a PDF in English with quite a bit of interesting information. The bit of news that has gone viral is that wind power was the biggest source...
Between 1 and 2 PM, December 31 2013, the last coal fired generating station in Ontario stopped producing power. No more coal will be burned in Ontario to produce power. The coal shutdown is the...
Japan’s energy policy is at a watershed; the country must now decide which form of energy to adopt as its foundation of the society. Japan Renewable Energy Foundation is urging the government to take...
Richard Miller was particularly critical of the UK government's policies, including abandoning large-scale wind farm projects, the reduction of feed-in tariffs for renewable energy, and support for...
The fact that Robert Habeck is the first Energiewende minister in Germany – in its northern-most state, Schleswig Holstein – is only one of the attributes that distinguishes the 43-year-old,...
In a remarkable display of how renewable energy has come of age in Germany, renewables--primarily wind and biomass--generated one billion kWh in two days.
Before the election, the CDU was the party advocating a faster transition, and the FDP coalition partner was always hitting the brakes full force. . . Now the CDU is the slower partner, and the SPD...
One marvels at how different the situation is in Germany, where both historic power production and forecasts are available from the Transparency EEX website (in English and German), and you can also...
The knowledge from Faust’s book was translated into an active solar building program in the 1820s through the 1850s in Lower Bavaria, Hessen and Prussia. . . Faust’s ideas were implemented in...
Over 16,000 demonstrators from across Germany took the streets of Berlin to demonstrate for renewal energies. They tired to send a clear signal to the government to move toward the defined goals.
Early visions of what a competitive market would look like included the separation of generation and supply, liquid and transparent energy wholesale markets as well as real consumer choice between...
Sometimes, Der Spiegel misconstrues issues so well that even experts have trouble understanding what is meant.
"I wanted to step back and celebrate what has been achieved so far by reminding everyone that Germany is not only switching to renewables and lower consumption, but also to energy democracy -- normal...
Over the years I’ve noted more than once the observation that most major environmental groups in Germany give a full-throated endorsement of renewable energy, the energiewende, and wind energy in...[more]
Ed Davey's excuse for limiting wind power contracts to 15 years whilst Hinkley C gets a whopping 35 year contract is blown away by some elementary history checking. Lots of wind turbines in Altamont...
The UK government’s announcement of a preliminary deal with EDF and its financial partners on the Hinkley Point C European Pressurised-water Reactor (EPR) project, was met with a mixed response. ...
It was one of the most ambitious renewable energy programs in the world when it launched in 2009, committing the Canadian province to buy power from thousands of new renewable energy systems. It was...
Major English-language media have been propagating a false narrative about the stunning success of Germany’s transition to renewable energy: the Energiewende. To hear them tell it, the transition has...
Over the past year, we have heard a lot of charges that Germany is switching to coal. Many of us have noted that this effect is quite temporary. Now, Germany’s most prominent coal field, Garzweiler,...
Japan's electricity customers are seeing this electricity folded into their rates, and prices ARE rising. Of course, as the saying goes, necessity can be a real mother..... and no electricity, no...
The logic of asking for plans to achieve 100% renewable generation is the certainty that, as imported fuels get scarcer and more expensive, sooner or later these imported fuels will stop flowing to...
A survey taken last month and published in the week before Germany's parliamentary elections over the weekend provides even more evidence that the Germans stand behind their energy transition, though...
I am here today because this past spring we held a small conference in San Francisco. At the conference, Pathways To 100% Renewable Energy, we heard from Europeans, such as Bertram Fleck from the...[more]
Supporters of renewables have reason to rejoice this week, for the FDP has failed to get 5% of the vote, the limit required to enter parliament. It is the first time in the history of the German...
With the FDP out, that leaves exactly zero parties in the Bundestag supporting the proposal of replacing the successful feed-in tariff with a renewable portfolio standard, recently floated again by...
The New York Times published an astonishingly misleading article, depicting Germany as a country in which poor people are suffering from the high cost of renewables. Here's what you need to know.
In a report released today, the Pembina Institute and Greenpeace Canada questions Ontario’s commitment to new and refurbished nuclear plants. The groups say that a mix of conservation and renewables...[more]
But the cat is out of the bag: once renewable energy reaches a critical mass, its impact on power systems is pretty much irreversible and no amount of lobbying by utilities is going to get them their...
One of the topics in this election season is the price of electricity. There is a lot of confusion around. Many people don’t understand that the renewable revolution caused by the German feed-in...
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has published on August 1, 2013 the 2012 data for the whole California power system [1]. This analysis completes the preliminary analysis from the California...
Goldman Sachs says Spain is a good example of how increases in renewable energy production has to be offset by a lower average load among fossil fuel plants. “Rising generation from solar plants in...
In a previous article for The Conversation I reported on the initial results of computer simulations by a research team at the University of New South Wales that busted the myth that renewable energy...
Moreover, comparative evidence from Europe on non-technology specific quota mechanisms and technology specific feed-in tariffs for wind energy suggests that the former have higher costs, are less...
Wind turbines tend to be overshadowed by solar power projects, which get most of the attention from the public and policymakers. . . Despite its second-class status, wind is a much bigger producer of...
Below are some excerpts from are recent public opinion survey on attitudes toward energy policy. Renewable Energy Among the British public we find a strong preference for a shift to renewable...[more]
A comprehensive survey published by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) of attitudes of the British public has found low support for nuclear power as a solution to the UK's problems compared to...
The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is inevitable. It will happen whether we take action or not. Fossil fuels are—by definition--finite. They are a one-time gift to humanity. Long...[more]
Solar and wind are by far the most popular, and wind gained the most support from the previous year, jumping from 59 per cent to 67 per cent. Coal and nuclear were the least popular, with nuclear...
Anyway, it’s progress that the enemies of solar like the Breakthrough Institute are now reduced to hoping that other countries will be unable to match Germany’s cost reductions. A couple of years...
Just as power demand is peaking in the area, California is losing its nuclear plants. At the beginning of June, a decision was made not to reopen the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant, and just this...
Between 1990 and 2000, the UK’s grid carbon factor fell by almost 30%, but in the decade 2000 to 2010, it fell only 3%. By contrast, while Germany’s decarbonisation trend has been slower, is has been...
Recent translation of the position statement by LandFrauen on the phase out of nuclear power in Germany and the role of rural women in the energy transition and increasing energy efficiency in...
While many countries still discuss whether or not a 100% renewable energy system – or “just” a 100% renewable electricity supply – is even theoretically possible, Germans seem no longer bothered by...
Overall, the Left generally speaks out for the poor in Germany. . . Yet, their study entitled "Poverty risks from the Energiewende" is subtitled "myths, lies, and arguments." It addresses 20 claims –...
Solar and wind generation do not contribute to climate change, respiratory illness, brain damage or cancer.
Since the introduction of the Feed-in-Tariff in 2011 in Japan, the demand for Solar PV has risen for industrial and business purposes. . . Countries like India can follow this model to beat the...
A total of 1.5 gigawatts (GW) worth of PV systems were installed in Japan in the first quarter of 2013, up from 0.4 GW during the same time last year, according to a new report entitled “The...
“It’s clear that we’ve made real progress. But the energy sector is constantly evolving, especially as energy consumption habits and economic conditions change. So our Long-Term Energy Plan must also...
"There are no technical barriers for a future without oil, gas or coal", Martin Faulstich, Chair of the German Advisory Council on the Environment, said in his speech for the WRF Energy Conference,...
Inter-annual Wind Variability Less than that of Hydro--Steady Growth of Non-Hydro Renewable Penetration in European Markets--US Renewable Energy Penetration: Little Progress Since 1983 . . .[more]
Over the past two years, Renewables International has repeatedly argued that there will be no shift to coal power as a result of the nuclear phaseout. So it's nice to see that other independent...
Fifteen years ago, processes were set in motion that would turn Germany’s energy market on its head. The main catalysts: liberalization of the energy market and passage of the Renewable Energy...
The study finds that the peak fossil fuel risk will start to be critical by 2020. If however the future growth rate of wind and solar energy production follows that already achieved for the world...
18 years ago, a skeptic of wind power reviewed a German book on the history of wind power in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ). The journalist still publishes for the paper. His comments...
In English, the current German energy policy debate sounds like no one likes the Energiewende. The Social Democrats and the Greens, who first implemented the Renewable Energy Act, don't like what...
The Energy Transition is becoming a fashion item! Painted fingernails are a popular adornment for women of all ages. Kirsten Hasberg announced the launch of her crowd-sourced venture...
Germany has doubled the renewable share of its total electricity consumption in the past six years to 23% in 2012. It forecasts nearly a redoubling by 2025, well ahead of the 50% target for 2030, and...
At 2030 technology costs and with excess electricity displacing natural gas, we find that the electric system can be powered 90%e99.9% of hours entirely on renewable electricity, at costs comparable...
Every new solar panel installed on European rooftops chips away at power utilities' centralized production model. Unless they reinvent themselves soon, these giants risk becoming the dinosaurs of the...
For the Amount Spent on the Iraq War the US Could be Generating 40% to 60% of its Electricity with Renewable Energy[more]
Increasingly countries and regions are leapfrogging timid renewable targets and moving toward full 100% integration of renewables into electricity supply. Some thought leaders, politicians, and...[more]
Yet, in absolute terms, the top three subsidizers across the world are the United States (US$ 502 billion), China (US $279 billion) and Russia (US$ 116 billion). . .
Danes are consuming more renewable energy and less fossil fuels and emitting less CO2, 2012 energy statistics show. . .
You can see some arguments in favour of a 'Fixed' Feed-in Tariff on the FOE website, http://www.foe.co.uk/blog/energy_bill_will_give_more_38654.html, and a report I wrote for Friends of the Earth on...
The city’s Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest municipal-owned utility, will phase out the electricity it imports from the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona and Intermountain Power...
Apparently my article last October documenting the growth of renewables in Germany while nuclear generation continues to decline got under the skin of pro-nuclear bloggers. So at the request of a...[more]
It is almost common place to hear statements like ‘Germany is in trouble’; or that ‘the energiewende is going to have to be significantly cut back’. This is, however, wishful thinking on the part of...
Just Because a Better Mousetrap is Known Doesn’t Mean it will be Used When There’s a Vested Financial Interest in the Status Quo . . .[more]
Presentations at the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation's International Conference
Whether it is Climate Change or Feed-in Tariffs for Renewable Energy . . .[more]
Overall, the total amount of lignite power production capacity in Germany fell from 19,100 megawatts in 2012 to around 17,800 megawatts at present. The IWR therefore expects power production from...
A decade ago, cities, regions, and businesses aiming for 20% renewable energy were on the cutting edge. Few believed that a higher target in a few decades was an achievable goal. Anyone even...
An unpublished briefing paper drawn up by the European Climate Foundation (ECF) takes a look at charges of a "coal renaissance" in the EU and confirms our recently published findings for Germany,...
As solar and wind energy grow in market share, electricity markets will need to change.
Since the long-term targets are in place – the big question remaining to be answered is how to accomplish these goals. Namely, how to manage the transition from a fossil nuclear system to a mainly...
Anonymous billionaires donated $120m to more than 100 anti-climate groups working to discredit climate change science
The government aims to triple the nation's supply capacity of electricity generated through wind power to 7.5 million kilowatts by developing transmission grids in Hokkaido and the Tohoku region, it...
Yes, you read that right. At the current rate the US will meet 100% of its electricity demand within 170 years--give or take a few decades. . .
Jordan's recent move toward feed-in tariffs adds to the controversy surrounding the role of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in future energy policy. The respected German Institute of Economics...[more]
Germany is currently in the forefront of this transition - their Energiewende - but this was not always the case. Only a few short decades ago, it was the United States who was leading the world away...
Days after Ohio regulators set back the largest proposed solar power installation in the eastern U.S., the Canadian province of Ontario announced that it will shut down its last coal-fired power...
An 80% reduction in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions is achievable by 2050, according to the Trottier Energy Futures Project (TEFP)’s review of low-carbon scenario research from eight industrialized...
Germany likes to sell itself as a leader in environmental protection, but not everyone is convinced. In particular, the Anglo world remains devoted to nuclear power and criticizes Germany for not...
All the provinces coal-burning power plants will be shuttered by 2014, making the Canadian province the first coal-free jurisdiction in North America . . .
“In announcing the closure of Lambton and Nanticoke, by the end of this year Ontario will become the first jurisdiction in all of North America to shut down its coal fleet. . .
Nearly 2% of Land Area Set Aside for Wind Energy Not 100%, Not 200%, But 300% Renewable Energy by 2020 Says Government The German state of Schleswig-Holstein recently approved doubling the land...[more]
BDEW says that renewable energy has now a share of 23%, which would mean around 136 TWh generated over the year, assuming with BDEW a 594 TWh electricity consumption. Solar is up the most, to 28.5...
I touch on the fact that Germany, which in 2011 had 7,090 digesters, is the leading country for both the quantity of plants and the amount of installed capacity of 2,394 MW of electricity. Most of it...
WNET: We want to ask you some questions about alternative energy. Gipe. Whoa. Stop right there. "Alternative energy?" Wind, solar, and biomass haven't been called "alternative energy" for three...[more]
Debunking Another Myth about Germany's Electricity Revolution--Solar Energy Now Rivals Hydro Generation--Renewable Generation Now Exceeds Generation from Hard Coal . . .[more]
Renewable energy sources are commonly believed to be incapable of offering a stable power supply, but biomass, made from wood and animal-based materials such as livestock waste, is a source that has...
Germany's long support for wind and solar energy is delivering zero-cost electricity at times. In contrast, the UK's new energy policy seeks to underwrite the rising cost of nuclear. . .
New policy agreement by Denmark to dramatically expand renewable energy. . .[more]
In a startling development widely reported across Europe in the English-, French-, and German-language press, France imported electricity to meet peak demand during a brutal cold snap February 7,...[more]
and build more wind and solar, increase efficiency, implement reverse block rate structure, and in effect emulate German industrial development. . . However, Aubry has to win her party's nomination,...
Physicians for Social Responsibility has released a groundbreaking medical report, “Coal’s Assault on Human Health,” which takes a new look at the devastating impacts of coal on the human body. Coal...
France will have to submit a detailed plan by June 2010 for how it plans to meet its EU renewable targets.
The Directive binds EU members to renewable energy targets. The target for France is 23% of final energy consumption, that is, heat, electricity, and liquid fuels, by 2020.
Our good friends at Media Matters jumped right on the case yesterday when Fox News cited a Spanish "study" about how green jobs somehow destroy other jobs. . .
A brilliant and scathing critique of the so-called Spanish "study" on renewable energy and jobs
New Zealand could become the world's first nation with a sustainable energy system based on renewable resources.[more]
Having been disparaged as a "Cassandra," I was reluctant to read a book on the topic, especially one with a subtile about optimism. "Oh no," I thought, "another enviro bashing book catering to...[more]
