Author: katleuch

Carbon pollution, gas vs renewables, renewable energy, The U.S. and wind energy, Wind Energy2 Comments

Wind energy is one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways states can meet carbon pollution rule for existing power plants

katleuch

Published by Global Wind Energy Council. View original article.

Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release its first-ever proposed rule limiting carbon dioxide pollution from existing power plants on June 2. The good news is wind energy is already helping nearly every state make progress toward whatever reductions the EPA will require and is an affordable and reliable compliance option for further reductions. Continue reading “Wind energy is one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways states can meet carbon pollution rule for existing power plants”

Clean Energy, renewable energy, renewables & employment, Solar EnergyLeave a comment
CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

No Thanks To Congress, America Has Added 5,600 New Clean Energy Jobs In 2014

katleuch

Published by Climate Progress. View original article.

Despite Congressional refusal to extend tax benefits for clean energy producers, the American economy is still adding thousands of clean energy jobs — just way less than it did when those benefits were intact.

According to a report released Thursday by nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), about 5,600 new clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced throughout the country in the first three months of 2014, a huge decline from the 12,000 such jobs reported in the first quarter of 2013. Part of this decline is due to Congress’ failure to renew the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy, a $13 billion tax break to the wind industry to help them compete with fossil fuels. Continue reading “No Thanks To Congress, America Has Added 5,600 New Clean Energy Jobs In 2014”

Abbott Government, Australia, Australian Renewable Energy Agency, energy transition, renewable energy, Wind EnergyLeave a comment

Siemens Says Australian Cuts May Hurt Wind-Power Plans at Mines

katleuch

Published by Bloomberg. View original article.

Siemens AG (SIE), Europe’s largest engineering company, said it’s concerned that Australia’s plans to scrap its renewable energy agency may hurt efforts to bring wind turbines to remote mines.

Siemens is considering projects to provide wind power to mining and resources operations, and wants to move forward with its first plant this year, David Pryke, its vice president of energy in Australia, said by phone. The first wind-diesel projects probably depend on government funds, he said.

Featured Image -- 8633 Continue reading “Siemens Says Australian Cuts May Hurt Wind-Power Plans at Mines”

energy transition, Europe and wind energy, offshore wind energy, renewable energy, Wind Energy3 Comments

WORLD’S LARGEST WIND FARM TO BE BUILT OFF DUTCH COAST

katleuch

Published by The Climate Group. View original article.

offshore-wind-(Andy-S-D)

LONDON: The European renewable energy market received a significant boost with the announcement that the world’s largest wind farm will be built off the coast of the Netherlands.

When fully operational, the 600MW Gemini offshore wind farm will be able to meet the power needs of 1.5 million people, while cutting carbon dioxide by 1,250,000 tons. The project will also be crucial for reaching the Netherlands’ 14% renewable energy target by 2020. Continue reading “WORLD’S LARGEST WIND FARM TO BE BUILT OFF DUTCH COAST”

energy cost, Energy prices, Europe and wind energy, gas vs renewables, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, Wind Energy3 Comments

European utility says wind now cheapest form of generation

katleuch

Published by REneweconomy. View original article.

The falling cost of renewables is not news to those who have paid attention to analysis from green-focused think tanks, or groups like Bloomberg New Energy Finance. But it is when a major European utility, with equal exposure to fossil fuels, wind, and hydro, says that onshore wind is the cheapest of any new utility scale technology.

That is the assessment of Portugal’s EDP, which has around 24GW of generation, of which around 8.7GW is in onshore wind. Continue reading “European utility says wind now cheapest form of generation”

coal vs renewables, gas vs renewables, renewable energy, Renewable Energy Target, Solar Energy, Solar PV, Wind Energy, wind energy economy, wind farms1 Comment

Renewable energy target can go all the way to 100% – if we let it

katleuch

Published by The Conversation. View original article.

Australia has a possible path to 100% renewables – if governments and business can be persuaded to take it. AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Australia has a possible path to 100% renewables – if governments and business can be persuaded to take it. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

The political outlook for renewable energy is not great – and I’m not just talking about the view out of Joe Hockey’s car window.

The Renewable Energy Target (RET), which aims to deliver 41 million megawatt-hours of extra renewable energy by 2020, is under review by the federal government. The signs are not promising for preservation of the target, given the views espoused by the Treasurer and the composition of the Review Committee. Continue reading “Renewable energy target can go all the way to 100% – if we let it”

Wind Energy, wind farms & birds1 Comment

World’s Top Serial Bird Killers Put Infamous Windmills to Shame

katleuch

Published by Bloomberg. View original article. 

Photographer: Gallery Stock
Photographer: Gallery Stock

Pity the birds.

As if cats weren’t bad enough, humans have invented all sorts of torture devices for our winged friends. We’ve paved over their nesting sites to make room for Olive Gardens and have broken up their skyscapes with glass buildings and radio towers.

Then came the most infamous bird killer of all: the wind turbine. As you can see in the chart below, these sky blenders top the list. Continue reading “World’s Top Serial Bird Killers Put Infamous Windmills to Shame”

energy efficiency, energy transition, renewable energy, Solar Energy, The U.S. and wind energy, United States, Wind Energy2 Comments

Obama’s Move On Solar Is Equivalent To A Year Without 80 Million Cars

katleuch

Published by Climate Progress. View original article.

President Barack Obama speaks after touring Sempra’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility, Wednesday, March 21, 2012, in Boulder City, Nev. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/JULIE JACOBSON
President Barack Obama speaks after touring Sempra’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility, Wednesday, March 21, 2012, in Boulder City, Nev.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/JULIE JACOBSON

President Obama is expected to announce a series of executive actions and agreements on Friday morning that will advance solar power and energy efficiency in the United States, part of his pledge to tackle climate change without having to go through a gridlocked Congress.

According to a statement from the White House, the initiatives will represent an 850-megawatt increase in solar power deployed, or enough to power 130,000 homes. They will also lead to more $2 billion in energy efficiency investments in Federal buildings, $26 billion in savings for businesses on energy bills, and a 380 million metric ton decrease in carbon pollution — the equivalent of taking about 80 million cars off the road for a year, the statement said. Continue reading “Obama’s Move On Solar Is Equivalent To A Year Without 80 Million Cars”

Anti-wind farm campaigning4 Comments

Olympic Cherry Picking – An Attempt to Cram Blinders Onto Readers

katleuch

Published by Some Air. View original article.

The anonymously-authored blog unironically named ‘Stop These Things’ proudly claimed that 2014 would be the year that they ‘go viral‘. In 2013, the blog published death threats directed at wind industry workers.

Unsurprisingly, they’re not going viral. Yesterday, they published a post directly attacking a couple of wind farms I’m quite fond of, because they’re owned and operated by my employer. The argument is familiar: output varies, therefore destroy all wind farms. You can read a copy here.

They cite a few days in the past month, giving the wind farms a supercilious ‘report card’, without really delving into how they chose those days – the 8th of April, 9th of April, 16th of April, 17th of April, 19th of April and the 1st of May.

They’re arrogantly and unashamedly trying to cram blinders onto their readers. Let’s have a look at publicly-available generation output for the two wind farms for April and the first three days of May:

Continue reading “Olympic Cherry Picking – An Attempt to Cram Blinders Onto Readers”