Climate Vulnerable Island States Get Boost For Moving Into Renewable Energy

13/12/2010

Some of the smallest and most vulnerable island nations in the world will benefit from a new initiative signed off in Cancun last week, aimed at increasing these countries' access to renewable sources of energy.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the Government of Denmark, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), recognising the disproportionate harm of climate change for small island developing states and aims to support island countries to scale up their renewable energy efforts and shift to greater energy efficiency.

An 80 million Danish kroner (EUR11 million) pledge of support from the Government of Denmark has helped kick off the initiative, which is expected to help island states from the Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific Islands regions transition to low-emission, climate-resilient development paths.

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick jointly signed the agreement with Tillman Thomas, Prime Minister of Grenada and head of AOSIS; Lykke Friis, Denmark's Minister for Climate and Energy; and Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator. Zoellick said the initiative supports a group of nations that have been among the most active and most vocal at climate negotiations for many years.

"Small island developing states have been sounding the alarm about climate change for years now and have earned the title of 'the conscience of the climate convention'," Zoellick said. "They are leaders in taking actions on adaptation, and the World Bank Group has increased support to them for this purpose. This new initiative extends this support to clean energy, which will contribute to mitigation and also help reduce the islands states' very high import bills for fuel."

BREAKING OIL DEPENDENCE

Because of their size and remoteness, most small island developing states are heavily dependent on imported petroleum for their energy needs. Some countries spend an estimated 25 - 50 percent of their GDP on imported oil, which leads to very high domestic electricity costs.

"Reducing fossil fuel consumption is a 'win-win' for small island developing states", said Helen Clark of the UNDP. "It reduces the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for the rise in global temperatures, while at the same time improving energy security and freeing up national spending for investment in climate-resilient development."

One of the expected benefits from this renewable energy initiative will be the freeing up of "fiscal space" for governments to spend on development and climate-resilient action.

"Climate change has the potential to derail all the good work that countries have undertaken for decades to overcome poverty and boost growth," Zoellick said. "In countries with the possibilities of renewable energy sources, overall development is undermined if governments are spending so much on imported fossil fuels."

The World Bank and the UNDP will facilitate the trust fund that will be established from the memorandum of understanding.

For additional information: http://bit.ly/fzaVI0

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Benefits Of Solar Power

The sun is responsible for the production of high levels of heat that travels to the surface of the Earth. These sun rays are not as intense, due to the redirection of the heat before it reaches the atmosphere of the Earth. During summer, it's easy to take this fact for granted as we complain about the heat. Instead of complaining about it, we should be thinking about the benefits of solar power. People grouse about the high temperatures do not realize is that without the redirection of this heat, the temperatures would become unbearable.

THE BENEFITS OF SOLAR POWER

As a result of the sun's vast levels of heat production, we have access to the suns solar power. Solar energy provides enough power to ventilate large buildings, heat your home and water supply, charge batteries, cook food and light in both indoor and outdoor areas. The BENEFITS OF SOLAR POWER has been around for at least a century now and its popularity has significantly risen worldwide in recent years.

COMPANIES TURN TO SOLAR POWER

Companies and businesses are learning how to harness solar power, by concentrating the energy into solar sources. Once this is achieved, the solar energy can then be used to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels, people are realising the BENEFITS OF SOLAR POWER. While many homes and businesses continue to depend on the old way of powering their day to day existences, the benefits of solar power and its relevancy in the modern world is on the rise.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AND SAVES MONEY!

Many officials and scientists are hopeful that we can begin to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels and learn to live using the BENEFITS OF SOLAR POWER. Not only is it better for the environment, but it saves a great deal of money for the consumer. Rather than paying high gas and electricity bills each month, the only bill the consumer is responsible for is their solar energy source.

THE BENEFITS OF SOLAR POWER PANELS

The most effective usage of solar power takes place when the user has the proper solar energy panels. Without the correct resources, solar power is extremely difficult to harness and put to use in your daily life. However, these resources are easy to access and every home and business owner should be able to establish a regular source of solar power without too much effort.

MAJOR BUSINESSES TURN TO SOLAR

Solar power is already being utilized by some of the most important factions in our society, such as the space exploration program. Several major businesses and companies have also begun to realise the BENEFITS OF SOLAR POWER, including Apple, Google, General Motors Costco, IKEA, and Wal-Mart. The increased use of more efficient forms of energy leads to lowered costs for all parties involved.

FOSSIL FUELS CONTINUE TO DWINDLE

As the world's supplies of fossil fuels continue to dwindle, becoming more reliant on solar power takes on even greater importance. The BENEFITS OF SOLAR POWER is one of our greatest renewable resources that has yet to be fully tapped into. Hopefully, more and more people will discover what many home and business owners have already figured out: solar power is better for the environment and better for your wallet. Visit our homepage for more information on energy saving products.

The post Benefits Of Solar Power appeared first on Reviews.

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Community Energy Shines

TRESOC is poised to launch the Shine Project! This is an extensive social housing roof-top solar project in the South Hams. It is worth noting that in 2014, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), more than 125,000 homes in the UK installed roof-top solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The Shine Project alone will add over 70 homes to the 2015 tally. The installations will benefit from the feed-in tariff (FiT) offered by Ofgem, which gives a set income for each unit of electricity generated for the next 20 years. At the same time the tenants of the homes benefit from reduced electricity costs. Looking more broadly, the Solar Trade Association stated that 700MW of PV FiT projects were completed in 2014 in the UK. That is equivalent to about 58 million low-energy light bulbs! Ofgem reports that overall in the UK the FiT scheme has passed 3GW of installations. That is equivalent to an impressive 250 million low energy lights bulbs or 1.2 million electric kettles! The 3GW is made up of over half a million projects of which 99% are PV projects. By the way, the SW comes about tops with 16% of all FiT projects (London and the SE comes in second with 14%).

The scale of FiT installations is twice the number forecast by DECC. Clearly when these schemes are introduced there is good uptake. This reduces the need for building additional power stations - large infrastructure projects taking years to complete and at increasingly huge budgets. The 3GW FiT 'power station' was completed in 4 years. How's that for keeping the lights burning! I have just returned from South Africa where the lights are not always burning due to a lack of capacity. Load shedding is happening and South Africans are subjected to electricity cuts for 2 hours a day on a rotational basis - and this is expected to go on for 2 to 3 years at huge cost to business and inconvenience residents. You may think, "Ah, but that is a developing country". Well, the UK is getting dangerously close to the same situation - in winter 2011 there was a 17% reserve margin, this winter it is at only 4%. Generally a reserve margin of 15% is accepted as robust and able to handle any unforeseen power station failures - 4% seems quite a bit below this! In addition to helping with capacity, the uptake of FiT clean energy projects would also contribute to climate change mitigation. The UK Climate Change Act of 2008 sets out to reduce carbon emissions by 80% from the 1990 baseline by 2050. Any electricity generated by clean energy would help reach this target.

Decentralised locally owned power generation creates a more stable network and better power security. For this reason, and those above, it should be encouraged, right? So why then is the FiT programme being scaled back? The residential roof top solar FiT will fall for the first time since 2012 after April this year - that may well reduce the uptake. While it is widely thought that solar will become the cheapest form of energy there is a transition period where schemes such as the FiT will encourage the installation by community groups or individuals and clean energy will be fed into the national grid.

Despite the regression of FiT the growth of community energy continues to increase. Recently Albion Community Power in Scotland received a lb50million loan from the UK Green Investment Bank and a further lb10million from the Strathclyde Pension Fund. Albion is looking for lb100million to invest in various renewable energy projects such as run-of-river hydro projects - that is flow through a hydro turbine and back into the river without major damming, similar to the proposed hydro plant at the River Dart weir in Totnes. The first Albion project is a 2MW hydro scheme in Chaorach north of Loch Lomond. The project pipeline also extends to onshore wind on previously used, and often contaminated, sites as well as projects of biogas from organic waste.

Business Secretary Vice Cable said in relation to Albion's plans: "Renewable energy is the future". Indeed, a Mintel study stated that 77% of people in the UK want more renewable energy and that 78% support PV on new houses. The survey stated that if we have to have an electricity generating plant in our backyard, then the most desirable is a solar farm while a large portion said that nuclear was the least desirable. It seems the sun is indeed shining on community and renewable energy!

Thanks to reNEWS (renews.biz) for much of the information regurgitated here -a newsletter appears daily in my inbox!

Alastair GetsProject OfficerTRESOC

Origin: renewable-energy-world.blogspot.com

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Vote Top 6 Finalists In Heatsprings Solar Startup Competition

IT'S TIME TO START THE VOTING FOR HEATSPRING'S SOLAR STARTUP ALLEY COMPETITION.

On December 1st, 2014, we introduced our online solar startup competition. We received more than 30 submissions and during December we picked the best 6 to go to the next round based on specific criteria.

WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS COMPETITION FOR TWO REASONS: First, we like to keep our readers up to date with the latest innovations in the industry. Second, we're excited to help new businesses get some more business.

The winner of the competition will get access to our Solar Startup Accelerator, A FREE PRODUCT/SERVICE TRAINING ON OUR WEBSITE AND SOME GUEST ARTICLES.

Our competition is slightly different than normal competitions in that we're not using judges. The company that gets the most votes will win the competition. A vote in our competition is a company scheduling a demo or sales call with a specific company. We feel that this provides a much more accurate picture of the usefulness of these new products in the industry.

The entire competition and prizes are built around connecting these new companies with potential buyers.

RULES AND TIMELINES.

* See below for the details on each company.

* Vote at the end of the article. Remember, a vote is you scheduling a product demo or sales call with the company. This means you should be really interested in the product. It also means that we'll be collecting your work and contact information.

* VOTING STARTS TODAY AND WILL END ON JANUARY 30TH.

HERE ARE THE 6 SOLAR STARTUPS IN THE FINALS:

* GridShare

* Faze1

* Greenlancer

* Aurora Solar

* QuickSolar

* Energy Tariff Experts

Each company has submitted a few pieces of addition information for you to review:

* 5 minute video

* Picture or description of their product or service

* Their team bios

* A client testimonial or case study.

HERE ARE THE SOLAR STARTUPS' IN-DEPTH SUBMISSIONS

FAZE1

https://about.faze-1.com/

VIDEO:

PRODUCT PICTURE:

TEAM:

The 3 co-founders all have backgrounds selling and building renewable energy projects.

Marc Guy, center, CEO, previously worked at SunEdison in their DG division and started Empower Solar Consulting in 2008, where he focused on developing and financing commercial rooftop solar projects throughout North America. Marc holds a BA from St. Lawrence University and a MBA from Babson College.

Adam Hanna, right, CTO, has a background in systems integration, GIS, and data architecture with a focus on assessing the potential of utility-scale wind projects with Black & Veatch and PG&E. He holds a BA from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from Harvard (exp. 2015).

Eliot Goodwin, left, CCO, has spent his career designing sales and marketing strategies. He was an early employee at GroSolar and was part of their residential sales division that was acquired by SolarCity. He holds a BA from Marlboro College and an MBA from Babson College.

GREENLANCER

http://www.greenlancer.com/
GreenLancer.com provides solar installers an e-commerce experience for purchasing preliminary designs and permitting documents. Installers add a service to their shopping carts, fill in the project details (hardware and on-site pictures), and in 24-72 hours a PDF deliverable is returned. All pricing, templates, and turnaround come standardized - so installers know "WHAT IS INCLUDED, WHEN IT WILL BE RETURNED, AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS", before an order is ever placed!

VIDEO:

PRODUCT PICTURE:

* Feasibility Study Example

* Permit Package Example

TEAM:

Our team of 10+ is comprised of 2 cofounders (CEO & CTO), a COO, CFO, sales team, engineering team, and 100+ Greenlancers (Green Energy FreeLancers) in our network.

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL(S):

"GREENLANCER PROVIDES ME THE HIGHEST QUALITY AND FASTEST DELIVERY TIMES AT THE MOST COMPETITIVE PRICE." - "Dylan Kautz, KC Green Energy

"WE USE GREENLANCER BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE THE BEST DESIGN SUPPORT AVAILABLE. THEIR PRICES ARE PREDEFINED SO I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M GOING TO GET, WHEN I'M GOING TO GET IT, AND HOW MUCH IT'S GOING TO COST BEFORE I EVER PLACE AN ORDER." - "Jason Loyet, Clean Power Design

QUICKSOLAR

https://www.quicksolar.com/

VIDEO:

PRODUCT PICTURE:

TEAM:

ALEX LANDAU, LEFT. CEO & Co-Founder Age: 28 Education: Master & Bachelor of Architecture, Tulane University School of Architecture (2009) E-mail: alex@quicksolar.com Alex is CEO and co-founder of QuickSolar. Alex graduated from Tulane University's School of Architecture in 2009 with a Masters Degree in Architecture (M.Arch) and a Bachelors Degree in Architecture (B.A.). His Master's Thesis entitled "Solarscapes: Integrating Solar Energy into the Built Environment" explored the usage of existing and developing solar technology as aesthetic and energy-producing components of building and urban design. As a Senior System Designer for 3 years at South Coast Solar (2009-2012), he designed thousands of residential and commercial rooftop energy systems using remote imagery and drafting tools such as AutoCAD. After searching endlessly for a practical software based solution for solar design for his colleagues to employ and finding nothing he decided to develop his own vision for a simpler method of design. Thus, QuickSolar was born. In addition to CEO and co-founder of QuickSolar, Alex is also the lead graphic designer of the site, working proficiently in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

SCOTT OMAN, RIGHT. CMO & Co-Founder Age: 40 Education: B.S., University of New Orleans E-mail: scott@quicksolar.com Scott Oman is a licensed Electrical Contractor in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee and is also a NABCEP Certified Solar Installer (Certificate #031409-105). Along with 20 years of experience in the electrical trade Scott brings an extensive database of distributor, installation, training, and government contacts. Scott's experience as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operations Officer at South Coast Solar involved customer interaction, PV system optimization and monitoring, online lead generation, sales management, website development, and search engine optimization and marketing. In addition to QuickSolar, Scott has earlier experience in the management, development, and operation of complex database driven web applications as well as in the creation and rollout of online marketing and search engine optimization campaigns.

TESTIMONIAL:

From Justin Schram, American Solar Direct:

"Hi Alex,"

"I would like to provide some feedback on your product, QuickSolar. It is one of the most intuitive and user friendly solar products I have used! The production estimates are extremely accurate and your design makes it very easy for customers to visualize and understand what their home will look like, and how moving panels to different roof slopes will affect their production and long term savings. The customer service from you and your team is top notch and very professional."

"Thanks for all you do!"

GRIDSHARE

http://www.gridshare.com/

GridShare is an independent online funding platform for renewable energy projects and cleantech companies. It is totally free to post your renewable energy project or cleantech company on our platform. A hosting fee will be due only when you actually raise money.

VIDEO:

PRODUCT PICTURE:

TEAM:

The GridShare executive team is made of renewable energy business and legal experts. Jack Jacobs (left) is the President of GridShare. He also founded and is managing partner of a global mid-sized law firm and has served as in-house counsel for a leading solar company. Jon Norling (right) is COO and General Counsel. Jon is an accomplished renewable energy advocate and leader and has developed numerous renewable energy projects.

TESTIMONIAL:

"For too long, large banks have controlled which solar projects can be financed. Finally, project developers like Samba Energy can rely on GridShare to offer high quality solar investments to investors nationwide. Samba Energy can now complete more installations, and private investors can gain strong, predictable returns from solar power projects." - Michael Hidary, Managing Director, Samba Energy

AURORA SOLAR

http://www.aurorasolar.com/

VIDEO:

PRODUCT PICTURE:

TEAM:

TESTIMONIAL:

"I have been using the Aurora software modeling and design program for some weeks now with success.We have sold several roof top systems without doing a site visit prior to proposal. This has cut our costs and has served (and will serve) to lower our carbon footprint. Further, our customers have a much better idea now what their system will look like."

"-Jim, CEO CalPaso Solar"

ENERGY TARIFF EXPERTS

VIDEO:

PRODUCT:

Energy Tariff Experts provides expert consulting, analysis, and data services for retail electric rates. We provide insight into the avoided costs of generation from solar or other renewables based on the value of avoided kWh, demand charges, net metering rules, and other rate tariff elements. We replace fuzzy 3% YoY projections with robust scenario analysis supported by references.

TEAM:

Jim Bride has over a decade of experience in the energy and environmental industries and has spent his career advancing sustainable business solutions to the challenges facing society. In November 2012, Jim launched Energy Tariff Experts, LLC to address an unmet need in the marketplace for accurate utility rate and tariff information to enable more informed energy investment decisions. Prior to Energy Tariff Experts, Jim spent over four years as a leader in EnerNOC's world class SupplySmart consulting practice where he advised large energy consumers on energy price risk management decisions. At EnerNOC, Jim served as a subject matter expert on North American power and natural gas markets and developed a deep expertise in utility rates and energy cost drivers. Before transitioning into the energy sector, Jim worked as a Geologist at Tetra Tech EMI focused on remediation and restoration of hazardous waste sites for public and private sector clients. Jim has a B.S. degree in Geophysics from Boston College, an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University, and holds dual U.S. - EU citizenship (Irish).

IT'S TIME TO VOTE!

Please fill out the below google form to submit your vote.

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Should You Invest In Solar Stocks

"Historically, I have discouraged friends from jumping into hydrogen and solar stocks. Well, once dissed as hippie energy and Obama power, Wall Street has gone green. Some notes:

* Christian Zabbal: solar and wind have become so safe and overcrowded that they're no longer attractive to cutting-edge investors. Black Coral Capital, where he is managing director, is getting out of solar. Apparently, the clean-power revolution is for real.

* Green electricity is no longer avant-garde (hint: this is good")

* earned steady returns
* produced more than half of new U.S. generating capacity this year.
* wind has tripled since 2008
* solar is up by 1200%
* green bonds have exploded from 2 billion in 2012 to 16.7 billion in just the first half of this year.

* Householders are signing 20-year mortgages...for solar PV, just like for homes. As these systems do not need much maintenance, security is now an expectation.

* However, while capital costs are quickly dropping, they're still too high, and federal incentives need to be continued.

So, according to Renewable Energy World, here is the September 2014 update for ten clean energy stocks:

The top three:"

* Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure (HASI")
* PFB Corporation ("TSX: PFB, OTC: PFBOF")
* Capstone Infrasture Corp ("TSX: CSE, OTC: MCQPF")

Oh, you never heard of any of them. I never buy high, so I wouldn't leap into these stocks. But many are doing just so. I purposefully posted this article today so that you'd have a weekend to reconsider any possible rash move.

The Motley Fool says it well:

"SOLAR ENERGY IS ONE OF THE GREATEST INVESTING OPPORTUNITIES OF OUR GENERATION WITH WELL OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS IN ANNUAL MARKET POTENTIAL AROUND THE WORLD. BUT WITH ALL THAT POTENTIAL COMES TREMENDOUS RISK, PARTICULARLY AS NEW TECHNOLOGIES EMERGE."

While the focus in that article is pure solar ("PV and solar thermal") the details are worthy of your perusal if you are contemplating a future investment in this specific technology.

Otherwise, here is a list of the better known renewable energy companies. Warren Buffet has jumped in, purchasing 15 billion of solar stocks, and plans to double his involvement. Yes, solar has become mainstream. But be very careful. Personally, I recently got out of stocks because I have an uncomfortable sense that there will be a major correction sometime this year or next. I should note, however, that the Dow Jones Industrial Average just about reached another all-time high during the past week, and, even though it suffered a recent minor decline, continues to show unusual resistance.

-Practically overnight, seven ocean storms popped up:

In the Atlantic Tropical Storm Edouard, now at 60 MPH, will become a Category 2, but not threaten the USA:

In the East Pacific, Hurricane Odile, now at 90 MPH, will strengthen into a Category 3, weaken, then skirt Baja:

An interesting phenomenon is that Tropical Depression 16E seems headed to cross the track of Odile, and if they meet, interesting things could happen.

In the West Pacific, Typhoon Kalmaegi at 75 MPH will become a Category 2, cross over the northern portion of the Philippines, then head towards China:

-

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Rich Nations Fossil Fuel Export Funding Dwarfs Green Spend

Rich nations provided around five times as much in export subsidies for fossil-fuel technology as for renewable energy over a decade, according to OECD data seen by Reuters.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) figures on export credits are central to a debate on targeting funding ahead of UN climate talks in Paris at the end of the year.

Just when the European Union is leading the push for a new global deal on curbing emissions and is phasing out domestic coal subsidies, the documents underline the scale of the developed world's investment in exporting technology for the most polluting fossil fuel.

Earlier this year, a document seen by Reuters provided the closest yet to official figures on coal export credits.

Further documents give the context of all energy export subsidies.

One, dated 4 March, when the OECD held closed-door talks on the issue, shows OECD governments provided preferential loans and state-backed guarantees worth 36.8 billion between 2003 and 2013 for exporting fossil fuel power-generation technology, including almost 14 billion for coal.

A document from October 2014 shows another 52.6 billion in export credits was allocated for the extraction of fossil fuels, including coal, taking the fossil fuel total to 89.4 billion.

Export credits for technology for renewable energy, which has no extraction costs, were 16.7 billion.

An OECD spokesman said he could not comment on documents marked confidential. But the documents themselves say the data should be public.

"There would seem to be a pressing need to issue coherent, complete and accurate figures on official export credit support that is relevant to climate change issues," the 4 March document says.

EU officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the March talks made little progress and the issue would be raised again at OECD level in June.

The OECD has said it wants a decision on how export credits can help tackle climate change in time for the UN summit that begins on 30 November in Paris.

A debate within the EU, which accounts for two thirds of OECD nations, is deadlocked because Poland has blocked as too ambitious a compromise to allow export funding for only the most efficient coal technology, the EU officials said. Britain and France objected, saying the compromise was not ambitious enough.

Germany, the biggest EU user of export credits both for coal and renewables, the data shows, is planning measures to make operators of coal plants, such as RWE, curb production at their oldest and most-polluting power stations as part of efforts to achieve climate targets.

A letter to the European Commission from industry associations, the European Power Plant Suppliers Association, EU Turbines and Germany's VDMA, said halting coal export credits would lock developing nations into less-efficient technology and curtail European industry's competitiveness.

Environment campaigners dismiss those arguments.

Sebastien Godinot, an economist at WWF, said the industry had "failed to bring any concrete evidence that the OECD export finance policy drives more efficient technology".

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