5 Islands Leading the Charge Toward 100% Renewable Energy. Hawaii made waves earlier this year with the announcement that it plans to transition its electric grid to 100 percent renewables by 2045. This is the most aggressive target in the U.S. and it means that the state will serve as a testbed for bringing large amounts of variable renewables onto the grid.
It should be watched closely by grid managers everywhere. It’s no coincidence that Hawaii leads the nation in its renewable ambitions. As a group of islands, Hawaii faces unique energy challenges and it has worked closely with the U.S. From one perspective, an island seems like a hard place to use variable renewable energy like wind and solar. On the other hand, most islands rely on fuel imports to run their grid. How do these two factors balance out in practice? The Growth of Renewable Islands Hybrid renewable energy technologies can provide stable power for islands. Grid management and storage solutions are also being developed and used on islands. Learning from Hawaii. China and Iran Reshape Oil Market Thinking. On Monday, I discussed how a generation of analysts have grown up never having experienced a prolonged period of weak economic growth in China.
Because these analysts were unable to imagine a sustained downturn in China, they bent their theories to fit a set of facts that have consistently pointed to more difficult times ahead since as early as 2011. The great news, as I again said on Monday, is that the consensus on China has finally shifted to where it could and should have been back in 2011.The catalyst has been the decline in local stock markets. A good example of this shift in the majority view was a 14 July article in the Wall Street Journal, which concluded with this apposite statement: 'The easy economic gains are over. Now there is no choice but to begin the hard work.' The same process is now taking place in oil markets, where the catalyst will be the historic nuclear deal between Iran and the West.
Expect this crude to come to the market in short order. ‘Energy Union’ high on European agenda - Business Review. “Energy Union” is the new buzzword in the energy departments of Brussels and columns of the trade press. Business Review takes a deeper look at the motivation behind and details of the new strategy. Laura Grigore In February, the European Commission started working on a so-called “Energy Union Package”. It consists of “the usual suspects”: energy security, solidarity, and trust; a fully integrated European energy market; energy efficiency; a decarbonized economy; and research, innovation and competitiveness. The goal of the Energy Union Package is to move away from the fragmented system to a single energy market.
The commission has set a specific minimum electricity interconnection target at 10 percent of the installed electricity production capacity of member states. In terms of energy security, Romania could become an exporter of security in the region through a policy of supporting energy interconnectors and exploiting their resources.
UCLA chemists devise technology that could transform solar energy storage. The scientists devised a new arrangement of solar cell ingredients, with bundles of polymer donors (green rods) and neatly organized fullerene acceptors (purple, tan). Image: UCLA Chemistry inShare8 June 18, 2015 The materials in most of today’s residential rooftop solar panels can store energy from the sun for only a few microseconds at a time. A new technology developed by chemists at UCLA is capable of storing solar energy for up to several weeks — an advance that could change the way scientists think about designing solar cells.
The findings are published June 19 in the journal Science. The new design is inspired by the way that plants generate energy through photosynthesis. “Biology does a very good job of creating energy from sunlight,” said Sarah Tolbert, a UCLA professor of chemistry and one of the senior authors of the research. To capture energy from sunlight, conventional rooftop solar cells use silicon, a fairly expensive material. Romania, Ukraine: Memorandum of understanding on gas sharing | EnergyWorld Magazine. Romania’s natural gas transmission system operator Transgaz has signed a memorandum of understanding with its Ukrainian peer Ukrtransgaz to develop north-bound physical deliveries, the Transylvania-based company confirmed. The memo will lead the two operators to “cooperate with a view of concluding interconnection agreements and of jointly investigating technical solutions for physical reverse flow”.
Transgaz said this work had only recently started and was currently ongoing. No details were given as to how soon Ukraine would be able to import from its southern neighbour. Last month, Ukrtransgaz said talks between it and Transgaz had started. The country is looking to buy 1-2 billion cubic metres/year from Romanian suppliers (see ESGM 19 May 2015). The two countries share two cross-border points, Isaccea and Mediesu Aurit, which according to Uktransgaz already have the capability to deliver north-bound gas, on its side of the border. Source: icis.com Comments Comments Share On. Cristian sur Twitter : "Seriously? #Energy #Biogas... EIA sur Twitter : "Today in #Energy: Projected #electric capacity additions are below recent historical levels. Projected electric capacity additions are below recent historical levels. May 11, 2015 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2015 Reference Case and Annual Electric Generator Report (Form EIA-860)Note: Other includes hydropower, geothermal, biomass, municipal solid waste, and other gaseous fuels used in end-use sectors.
In the coming decades, additions to U.S. electricity generation capacity are expected to be lower than in the recent past. In EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2015 Reference case, which reflects current laws and policies and does not include EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan, total generating capacity (including end-use generators like rooftop solar panels) increases from 1,065 gigawatts (GW) in 2013 to 1,261 GW in 2040.
Capacity additions through 2017, much of which are under construction, average about 17 GW per year and about half are nonhydro renewable plants (mainly wind and solar) prompted by federal tax incentives and renewable portfolio standards. Principal contributors: Jeff Jones, Laura Martin. Turkey: A natural magnet to Moscow. Last December Moscow took Europe by surprise with an announcement that South Stream, a 63 billion cubic metre (bcm) pipeline designed to bring Russian natural gas to southern Europe across the Black Sea would be scrapped and replaced with a pipeline of similar capacity that would cross Turkey and stop at its border with Greece.
Some energy analysts hailed the new project –Turkish Stream – as a geopolitical asset for Turkey, allowing it not only to source more natural gas at a time when its energy consumption is growing, but also to secure a position of influence in the region, as it would become a key transit route.[1] Others suggested that Turkey’s partnership in the project that will bring 15.75bcm/year to its domestic market and earmark the remaining 47bcm for European customers would give Ankara a leverage position in its negotiations with Russia.[2] Gas curtailments New concerns Firstly, the project aims to completely redesign the energy supply landscape in Turkey and Eastern Europe.
Why Fusion Will Never Work | Peak Energy & Resources, Climate Change, and the Preservation of Knowledge. IEA sur Twitter : "Natural gas infrastructure in Europe (2014) #IEAFocus #Energy #Gas... EU2014SUM.pdf. IEA sur Twitter : "Major unconventional natural gas resources in Europe #Shale #Fracking #Energy #Environment. WEO2012_GoldenRulesReport.pdf. Eesti Energia records huge profits despite falling turnover. European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Statement by Vice-President Šefčovič following the trilateral meeting EU-Ukraine-Russia on 2 March. Vice-President Mr Maroš Šefčovič today chaired trilateral talks on energy between the EU, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation was represented by the Minister for Energy, Mr Alexander Novak. Ukraine was represented by the Minister for Energy and Coal Industries, Mr Vladimir Demchyshyn. Vice-President Šefčovič said: "I am satisfied that we managed to safeguard the full application of the Winter Package for the supply needs in Ukraine.
We also agreed to take up trilateral negotiations on the follow-up to the Winter Package. Witter / ? EU can cut natural gas imports by half, achieve 49% carbon reductions. Published: 20/10/2014 By ramping up cost-effective investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency the European Union can cut its dependency on natural gas imports in half, according to new analysis released today. Carbon reductions of 49% or more could be achieved below the 1990 level by 2030 – far more than currently proposed. The analysis arrives just days before the European Council meets to set new climate change targets. The study was written by Ecofys as part of the Open Climate Network (OCN), a global network of independent research institutes and civil society groups for which World Resources Institute (WRI) serves as secretariat.
Please find additional details in our press release. Romania: Nuclear energy produced at Cernavoda, essential for the country | EnergyWorld Magazine. Electricity produced by the nuclear reactors in Cernavoda, south-eastern Romania, is essential for Romania, in keeping with the draft energy strategy for up until 2035. Currently, units 1 and 2 of the power plant in Cernavoda are operational, using CANDU technology. Units 3 and 4 are planned to be finalized by 2019 and 2020 respectively, while reactor 5 is under conservation. The nominal installed power of reactors 1 and 2 is 706.5 MW each, and together they ensure some 20% of Romania’s energy consumption needs. The General Director of the Energy Department of the Romanian Government, Elena Popescu stated: „ Nuclear energy is a major component of the energy mix, as it accounts for 20% of the energy consumed in Romania.
Against the background of the new energy and environmental policies that are being drafted for 2030, nuclear energy will become even more important for Romania, just like it is and will be for other European and world countries. Comments Comments Share On. Witter / ? EC Audiovisual Service - EbS. Toshiba Starts Vegetable Production at Toshiba Clean Room Farm... - Toshiba Corporation. TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (Tokyo: 6502) today announced that it has begun production of vegetables at the Toshiba Clean Room Farm Yokosuka, a plant factory in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture. Shipment of the first crop is scheduled for the end of October. Located in a formerly idle facility, Toshiba’s closed-type plant factory uses state-of-the-art technology to raise crops and operates under almost aseptic conditions*1.
Toshiba aims for annual output of three million bags (one bag is equivalent to a head of lettuce) of leaf lettuce, baby leaf greens, spinach, mizuna and herbs per, and targets annual sales target of 300 million yen. Plant factories grow vegetables in close to sterile conditions in almost germ-free cleanrooms. Minimizing the entry of germs and the damage that they can do considerably extends the freshness and shelf-life of vegetables, a major concern for retailers of cut vegetables and salads. Note: Overview of Toshiba Clean Room Farm Yokosuka About Toshiba. As U.S. Shuts Its Door On Nigeria's Oil Exports. Analysis By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Nigeria has become the first country to completely stop selling oil to the United States of America, the world's largest oil producer and consumer, due to the impact of the shale revolution - an astounding reversal - as the country was only four years ago one of the top five oil suppliers to America.
According to the US Department of Energy, Nigeria did not export a single barrel of crude to US-based refiners in July for the first time since records started in 1973. Preliminary data suggest the trend continued in August and September, the London-based Financial Times reported thursday. Many oil producers have seen their exports to the US drop as domestic production rises thanks to the use of new technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. At its peak in February 2006, the US imported 1.3 million barrels per day (mb/d) from Nigeria - equal to roughly one super tanker the size of the Exxon Valdez every day. RFE/RL sur Twitter : "Moldova's new gas interconnector is complete...ly empty. #energy...
Empty Pipeline Shows Difficulty Of Breaking Moldova's Gazprom Addiction. CHISINAU -- Moldova faces a tough road in its bid to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas. That's about the only thing that is clear so far in the strange story of the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline from Romania to the western border region of Moldova. The gas interconnector -- which cost 28 million euros, including 7 million from the European Union -- was opened to great fanfare at a ceremony on Moldova's National Day -- August 27.
The event was an important photo op for Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, both of whom are in the midst of tough election campaigns. The catch is that the shiny pipeline was there, but the gas wasn't. Leanca announced that it would be at least until October 1 before Romanian gas would flow because of foot dragging by Moldova's natural-gas provider, Moldovagaz. That firm is controlled by Russia's Gazprom, which is eager to remain Moldova's exclusive source of gas. Leanca has been working to assuage Gazprom. Gazprom monopoly broken in Moldova | EurActiv.
The Republic of Moldova has broken Moscow-backed Gazprom’s gas monopoly after completing the first phase of a new pipeline connecting it to the EU energy market. The part EU-funded Ungheni-lasi pipeline between the east of Romania and west of Moldova provides the first alternative to Gazprom gas in the former Soviet state. Gas in Romania, an EU member state, is 40% cheaper than in Moldova, which will receive about 50 million cubic metres of gas a year at unregulated tariffs. That only covers 5% of Moldova's total needs and is a fraction of the 11 billion cubic metres Romania produces annually. But once finished, the 43 km pipeline could reach an annual capacity of 1.5 billion cubic metres and fully cover Moldovan needs. This could decrease Gazprom’s energy prices and make Moldova less vulnerable to the Russian pressure.
Russia has put the pro-European Moldovan government under increasing pressure since it signed an association agreement with the EU last year, including cutting gas supplies. North Dakota and Texas now provide nearly half of U.S. crude oil production. July 1, 2014 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly U.S. crude production in April 2014 was 8.4 million barrels per day (bbl/d), with two states, Texas and North Dakota, accounting for nearly half of this total.
Texas production topped 3.0 million bbl/d for the first time since the late 1970s, more than doubling production in the past three years, and North Dakota production broke 1.0 million bbl/d for the first time in history, nearly tripling its production over the same period, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Petroleum Supply Monthly report. Combined crude oil production volumes from Texas and North Dakota reached 4.0 million bbl/d.
Source: U.S. Principal contributors: Meg Coleman, Mike Ford. Euractiv. Energy production from water and sunlight by artificial leaf - ABO - About Oil and Energy. Cooperation needed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Switch. Hehkulamppuhuijaus (The Light Bulb Conspiracy) Off the Grid - Documentary 2012 Dutch subs.flv. Will The Stars Align for Small Nuclear Reactors?
German Government Opposes Shale Gas Production. DBL Investors: Oil Subsidies Far Higher Than Federal Renewables Support. Siemens Joins Trend to Quit Nuclear :: POWER Magazine. ECAT.com - Andrea Rossi's Energy Catalyzer, E-Cat - ECAT. VIDEO: The Dirty Energy Propaganda Of Saudi-Owned Fox News. Bushehr nuclear plant back online. Like Button for Twitter. Log In - The New York Times. Game Over for Keystone XL, Game On for Making History. Europe's green energy chaos. Democracy Now! Mobile. NuScale Power. The Incredible Shrinking Greenland. This Is What Global Warming Looks Like. Scientists: Alloy will Revolutionize Energy by Generating Hydrogen on the Cheap. Snsanalytics. SOLAR IMPULSE - AROUND THE WORLD IN A SOLAR AIRPLANE. Solar Frontier Opens Largest Thin-film Plant in the World.
The Four Biggest Lies About Gas Prices | BNET. Power Shift 2011 | Power Shift 2011. The energy [r]evolution has begun. NASA Research Finds 2010 Tied for Warmest Year on Record. Engine Could Reduce Foreign Oil Demand. Arizona Solar Tower Will be Largest Building in World. The Oil Crash - Part 1 of 9 Ukraine and a Tectonic Shift in Heartland Power, The USA Russia. News Feature - Energy Saving A/C Conquers All Climates.