Category: renewable energy and the energy grid

Energy prices, energy transition, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, United States10 Comments

Where Wind Energy is Up, Electrical Prices are Down

katleuch

Published by Sustainable Business. View original article. 

wind_hay

Electric bills are trending down for people that live in high-wind states, according to research by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

The 11 states that get more than 7% of their electricity from wind energy have seen their electric prices decrease by 0.37% over the past five years, in contrast to all other states, where electricity prices have increased 7.79% during that time.

The 11 states are: Texas, Wyoming, Oregon, Oklahoma, Idaho, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa.

Texas is on the verge of getting 10% of electricity from wind; Iowa and South Dakota already get 25%.

The more wind capacity they have, the more rates have come down.

Wind Top States 2012

But don’t AWEA’s word for it – at least 15 studies confirm that as wind energy increases, electric prices come down. Studies have been done by independent grid operators, state governments, academic experts, and others.

For example, research from New England’s grid operator concludes that when wind provides 14% of electricity, prices drop 10%, and when it reaches 24%, prices decline 15%. Find the links to these studies in AWEA’s white paper, Wind Power’s Consumer Benefits:

 

Continue reading “Where Wind Energy is Up, Electrical Prices are Down”

Abbott Government, Australia, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, Renewable Energy Target, Rudd Government1 Comment

Is $15 a year really too much to pay for renewable energy?

katleuch

Published by The Conversation. View original article. 

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Cooling towers at Yallourn, one of Victoria’s major brown coal power generators. Flickr/ccdoh1

Australia’s Renewable Energy Target looks likely to be weakened or even axed, with the Prime Minister saying the scheme needs to be reviewed because it is causing  “pretty significant price pressure”.

But does $15 a year sound like a “pretty significant” cost to you?

According to the last national review of the Renewable Energy Target, $15 a year from now to 2031 is all that an average Australian household would save if we scrapped our national scheme to drive extra investment in renewable power. Continue reading “Is $15 a year really too much to pay for renewable energy?”

baseload power, Community solar, energy cost, Energy prices, energy transition, gas vs renewables, renewable energy and the energy grid, United States1 Comment

U.S. Solar Capacity Grew 418 Percent In The Last Four Years

katleuch

Published by ClimateProgress. View original article.

Colorado solarCREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

Solar energy is booming across the U.S., with capacity up an astounding 418 percent in the last four years alone, according to data released this week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Residential and commercial rooftop solar, along with other forms of photovoltaic (PV), have grown steadily over the past four years, specifically those that are net-metered. When customers install their own solar panels in states with a net metering policy, they are compensated for the excess electricity they send back to the grid. According to the EIA, these net metered applications have increased every year by approximately 1,100 MW since 2010. California currently has the largest net metered solar capacity with 38 percent of the nation’s total. Not far behind are New Jersey and Massachusetts, which together represent 21 percent of the total capacity in the U.S. Continue reading “U.S. Solar Capacity Grew 418 Percent In The Last Four Years”

China, coal vs renewables, energy transition, Fossil Fuels, gas vs renewables, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, Solar Energy2 Comments

Grantham: Wind, solar to replace fossil fuels within decades

katleuch

Published by REnew Economy. View original article.

renewable energy 2

Legendary hedge fund investor Jeremy Grantham says there is no doubt that solar and wind energy will “completely replace” coal and gas across the globe, it is just a matter of when.

The founder of $100 billion funds manager GMO Capital is known as a contrarian. But he suggests that the pace of change in the fuel supply will surprise everyone, and have huge implications for fossil fuel investments. Continue reading “Grantham: Wind, solar to replace fossil fuels within decades”

energy cost, energy transition, gas vs renewables, global warming, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, Wind Energy, wind energy economy, wind turbine technology2 Comments

Wind Power Is Reducing Electricity Rates; Pays Back Tax Credit 17 Times Over

katleuch

Published by Triple Pundit. View original article.

USWindTurbMtnsACORE

Higher performance turbines, lower manufacturing costs and lower prices for consumers drove new U.S. wind energy construction to record heights in early 2014 — despite the U.S. Congress still debating whether or not to renew the federal renewable energy production tax credit (PTC), which expired Dec. 31. In many parts of the U.S., wind energy is now the cheapest form of electricity generation – cheaper than natural gas and even coal, NextEra chief financial office Moray P. Dewhurst recently stated on an earnings call. Continue reading “Wind Power Is Reducing Electricity Rates; Pays Back Tax Credit 17 Times Over”

Carbon price, climate change, energy cost, Energy prices, energy transition, global warming, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, Wind Energy, wind energy economy, Wind Energy Mythbusting1 Comment

Wind Energy is a Key Wedge in the Fight Against Global Warming

katleuch

Published by Energy & Policy Institute. View original article.

Wind farms reduce green house gas emissions in the overall electrical grid on close to a 1:1 basis. Typical grids produce 800 g of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per KWh generated by their mixes of fossil, nuclear and renewable generation, and wind energy displaces virtually all of that. It’s difficult to imagine the mindset in which one would assert that black is white and that wind energy actually increases greenhouse gas emissions or does not reduce them. Yet many anti-wind commentary continues to make this claim based on an overlapping and baseless set of myths. Continue reading “Wind Energy is a Key Wedge in the Fight Against Global Warming”

offshore wind energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, The U.S. and wind energy, United States, Wind Energy1 Comment

Wind Energy: A Mature Business Challenging Fossil Generation Profits

glasssarah

Source: Utility-Scale Land-Based 80-Meter Wind Maps Original article posted by Mike Barnard in the Energy and Policy Institute website on 4th April 2014. Wind energy is a rapidly growing and profitable business worldwide, usually at the expense of fossil fuel generation revenue … Continue reading Wind Energy: A Mature Business Challenging Fossil Generation Profits

baseload power, energy transition, renewable energy and the energy grid, Solar Energy, Wind EnergyLeave a comment

Flexible backup capacity is better option; Need for power storage overstated

katleuch

Published by Renewables International. View original article

A recent publication by Fraunhofer ISE shows how little wind and solar power would need to be stored at various levels of grid penetration. We are years away from such situations. Before we need power storage, we will need flexible backup capacity. In fact, that’s what we need already.

For my international audience, I should probably point out that Fraunhofer is not a single institute, but a “research society.” The other study I have been talking about this week was done by Fraunhofer IWES of Kassel. Today, I focus on a paper published in November by researchers at Fraunhofer ISE of Freiburg.

The researchers took a look at how much of Germany’s current installed capacity is must-run, meaning that the power plants technically cannot be ramped down any further. While prices on the power exchange plummet as soon as conventional power generation dips below 25 GW, the researchers estimate that the technical lower limit is 20 GW. Now take a look at this chart: Continue reading “Flexible backup capacity is better option; Need for power storage overstated”

energy efficiency, Fossil Fuels, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, South Australia, Uncategorized, Wind Energy, Wind Energy MythbustingLeave a comment

The Laws Of Physics Not Consciously Aware of Human Behaviour, Reports The Australian

janinebrownen

Published by www.etwasluft.blogspot.com.au. View original article.

There’s a clever way of criticising something, without needing to adhere to logic or reality. For example:

“I purchased this vehicle recently. Unfortunately, after a week using the vehicle, I found that it was unable to fly. I deem this vehicle to be a failure.”

Set your own criteria. If you really want the subject of your criticism to fail, intentionally shape those criteria to guarantee failure.

It’s this fallacy that drives criticism of the generation output of wind energy on hot days. As with all fallacies, it’s convenient, simple and palatable. Continue reading “The Laws Of Physics Not Consciously Aware of Human Behaviour, Reports The Australian”

biomass, coal vs renewables, geothermal energy, hydro power, renewable energy, renewable energy and the energy grid, Solar Energy, The U.S. and wind energy, United StatesLeave a comment

Renewables dominate new U.S. electrical capacity

glasssarah

solar-farm

By Ben Adler, published in  Grist.Org  20th March 2014.

First, the good news — break out the champagne! The overwhelming majority of new U.S. electrical capacity is coming from wind and solar, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC just released its monthly analysis for February, and the Sun Day campaign, a research and advocacy organization promoting sustainable energy, summarizes the findings:

Continue reading “Renewables dominate new U.S. electrical capacity”