hello irena

IRENA: International Renewable Energy Agency:  the first multinational agency focused solely on spreading clean energy across the globe, officially launched this week, according to the Environmental News Network

The expectation of this group is that they will assist countries and private industries in the expansion of alternative energy installations.  “IRENA will help to remove the many obstacles which up to now have delayed the rapid expansion of renewables,” said Sigmar Gabriel, the German federal environment minister, in a conference address [PDF]. “The market is still distorted by subsidies for conventional energies, technological know-how is inadequate, information is not always correct.”

The initial conference was attended by 120 delegates from various nations, and the resulting treaty was signed by 75 countries, including Germany, Spain, United Arab Emirates and Kenya.  The United States, United Kingdom, Japan, China and Australia have yet to join, but have stated that they may still join in the future.

As was reported a month back, the United Arab Emirates is taking a stand for renewable energies and stated that it joined IRENA to provide energy expertise to the renewable energy sector and broaden support for its Masdar City project - a plan to create an entirely carbon-neutral, zero-waste city.

The increase in renewable energy installations is very positive.  In 2008 alone, about 12,000 megawatts of wind power capacity were installed, bringing the global total to 106,100 megawatts, according to the World Wind Energy Association. In addition, 9,740 megawatts of cumulative solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and at least 6,000 megawatts of geothermal energy projects have been installed, according to the Worldwatch Institute and U.N. Environment Programme, respectively.

As always, we are pleased with the increase of attention on taking action and fixing this problem, instead of arguing about is it real and where the responsibility lies.

* photo by Robert Scoble via Flickr

the power of the ocean

I have posted about this before, which you can find HERE, but I felt it was worth repeating since so many periodicals have been talking about it this week.

There has been a release of more data that shows harnessing the flow of rivers and the ocean, we can generate electricity on a level that could power the homes of many billions of people.

Systems could be sited on river beds or suspended in the ocean. The scientists behind the technology, which has been developed in research funded by the US government, say that generating power in this way would potentially cost only around 3.5p per kilowatt hour, compared to about 4.5p for wind energy and between 10p and 31p for solar power. They say the technology would require up to 50 times less ocean acreage than wave power generation.

I think that this news continues to be very promising. But, I am also at the point where I am tired of the talk and want more action. So, let’s start seeing these revolutionary devices built and creating electricity and the levels they are expecting.

You can find the latest article, HERE, via The Telegraph

a new renewable energy source

Hey.. this is pretty cool, and slightly ironic. A researcher at the University of Michigan has discovered a way to harness energy out of the small motions created by offshore oil drills.

When ocean currents flow over any kind of cylinder, like the long cables that hold drilling platforms in place, small vortices are created. They eventually spin away, or shed, causing vibrations that over time can destroy an oil rig’s moorings.

The engineer has found a way to trap that energy and turn it into a renewable source of power. It could account for 10% of US demand.

Still in the research phase, and subject to a long approval process and regulation, there are signs that this will move as quickly as possible, especially since the bailout bill provides for tax credits for this project.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Missouri Proposition C

Continuing series on Election 2008. This one is from Missouri.

Proposition C: Clean Energy Initiative

If it is approved by voters, it will create a renewable electricity standard in the state. The standard would require utility companies to gradually increase their usage of renewable energy annually until 15 percent of the energy used in the state is renewable. The initiative would also require that energy rates not increase by more than one percent annually.

This is what I have found out:
A “yes” vote will amend Missouri law to require investor-owned electric utilities to generate or purchase electricity from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass (including ethanol) and hydropower. The required renewable energy sources must equal the following percentages of retail sales:

• 2% by 2011
• 5% by 2014
• 10% by 2018
• 15% by 2021.

Of the total renewable energy sources required to be sold, at least 2% shall be solar sources. Also, any rate increase to consumers resulting from this measure must be no more than 1%.

A “no” vote simply means that utilities will not have to purchase from a renewable source.

These is no impact on taxes fore this to pass.

My recommendation:
This proposition seems very straight forward, so I am recommending a YES vote. Aside from the fact that there is no fiscal impact, and the utility companies have 3 years to comply with a 2% increase, which seems more than reasonable, the main point of this is that we have to move to renewable resources. HAVE TO. Also, from what I can tell, there is not one publication, utility, newspaper, etc., that has publicly opposed this measure.

There are no website for either position.

green is the new black

This is great!

The Center for American Progress released a new report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists, in which they demonstrate how a new Green Recovery program that spends $100 billion over two years would create 2 million new jobs, with a significant proportion in the struggling construction and manufacturing sectors.

This paper shows the impact of a swift initial investment in climate solutions that would direct funding toward six energy efficiency and renewable energy strategies, including:

* Retrofitting buildings to increase energy efficiency
* Wind power
* Solar power

As well as:

* Create 2 million new jobs nationwide over two years
* Create nearly four times more jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than a similar amount of spending directed toward household consumption.
* Create roughly triple the number of good jobs—paying at least $16 dollars an hour—as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.

You can read the article HERE.