18 Responses to Solar Technology: A “Blue/Green Alliance” Is Still Possible

1. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 11:35 am «

   Isn’t Denmark using wind and Israel sun for their solar cars and building battery changing stations nationwide in both countries to extend the batteries range?
2. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 11:41 am «

   California start-up Better Place and Danish utility Dong Energy said Tuesday they have lined up financing to bring an electric car charging network to Denmark by 2011.
   The two organizations have secured almost $103 million in equity and convertible debt that will go toward constructing stations where drivers can swap in fresh batteries for electric cars.

   Better Place’s business plan focuses on building a network of automated battery-swapping stations along driving corridors. Places to rapidly charge or get fresh batteries will address the range limitations of existing car batteries, according to Better Place.
   Although Better Place has announced customers with the governments of Israel, Hawaii, Portugal, and San Francisco for its network of charging stations, Denmark appears to be the first to secure financing to build the charging infrastructure.
   Once a network is set up, state-controlled Dong Energy said its excess wind power capacity can be used for charging electric cars. Denmark now gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind turbines, but a portion of that electricity is exported because it can’t be stored economically.

   http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10150716-54.html

   Denmark now has so much wind energy their power grid can’t absorb it all and they have to build electric cars to use the extra power? Because I assume somedays are very windy and they can’t export all the extra power?
   I wish America had these kind of problems.
3. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 11:43 am «

   Any word on if this will pass this or next year?
• Knoxville November 18th, 2009 at 1:38 pm «

  The House already passed H R 3585 by a wide margin.

  From what I understand, the time from when it was presented in committee to the time the House passed it on Oct 22 was less than a month and a half. Then it was referred to the Senate committee four days later.

  I think it will move out of committee and onto the Senate floor this year.
• ThingsComeUndone November 19th, 2009 at 4:27 am «

  We need to link green energy to a big jobs stimulus bill!
4. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 11:49 am «

   New building codes
   New building code laws in Spain are now mandating solar hot water for new and remodeled private residences, and photovoltaics to offset some power requirements for all new and remodeled commercial buildings. The new laws also reflect increased awareness of the importance of better building insulation and the use of daylighting.[10]
   [edit]

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Spain

   My bold imagine if we had these same laws in place when Bush and Greenspan created the housing boom. If we had these laws then at least power would be cheap.
5. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 11:57 am «

   Spain is one of the most attractive countries for the development of solar energy, as it has more available sunshine than any other European country. The Spanish government is committed to achieving a target of 12 percent of primary energy from renewable energy by 2010 with an installed solar generating capacity of 3000 megawatts (MW)

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Spain

   America better move quick Knox
6. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 11:59 am «

   Wind power provided 19.7 percent of electricity production and 24.1% of capacity in Denmark in 2007[1], a significantly higher proportion than in any other country.[2] Denmark was a pioneer in developing commercial wind power during the 1970s, and today almost half of the wind turbines around the world are produced by Danish manufacturers such as Vestas.[3]

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Denmark
7. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 12:02 pm «

   Germany is the world’s first major renewable-energy economy. [1]
   The share of electricity from renewable energy in Germany has increased from 6.3 percent in 2000 to about 15 percent in 2008. More than 9 billion euros (US$11.31 billion) was invested in new renewable energy installations in Germany in 2006. Some 214,000 people in Germany were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2006, especially in small and medium sized companies. Over half of these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act.[2][3]

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Germany

   My bold
8. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 12:11 pm «

   Renewable energy is helping China complete its economic transformation and achieve “energy security”. China rapidly has moved along the path of renewable energy development.[1] About 16 percent of China’s electricity came from renewable sources in 2006, led by the world’s largest number of hydroelectric generators.[2] Total installations of hydropower reached 145,000 MW in 2007. China has set a target of 190,000 MW for 2010.[3] Technology development and increased amounts of investment in renewable energy technologies and installations has increased markedly throughout the 2000s in China, and investment in renewables is now part of China’s economic stimulus strategy.[4] Researchers from Harvard University and Tsinghua University have found that China could meet all of their electricity demands from wind power through 2030.[5]

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_China

   My bold however

   Chinese energy experts are estimating that by 2050 the percentage of China’s energy requirements that are satisfied by coal fired plants will have declined to 30-50% of total energy consumption and that the remaining 50-70% will be provided by a combination of oil, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power, biomass and other renewable energy sources.[38]
9. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 12:14 pm «

   India is both densely populated and has high solar insolation, providing an ideal combination for solar power in India. Much of the country does not have an electrical grid, so one of the first applications of solar power has been for water pumping, to begin replacing India’s four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatts, and off-grid lighting. Some large projects have been proposed, and a 35,000 km² area of the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 gigawatts.
   The Indian Solar Loan Programme, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme has won the prestigious Energy Globe World award for Sustainability for helping to establish a consumer financing program for solar home power systems. Over the span of three years more than 16,000 solar home systems have been financed through 2,000 bank branches, particularly in rural areas of South India where the electricity grid does not yet extend.[1][2]
   Launched in 2003, the Indian Solar Loan Programme was a four-year partnership between UNEP, the UNEP Risoe Centre, and two of India’s largest banks, the Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank.[

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_India

   my bold sounds like a good program.
10. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 12:17 pm «

    The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or the US, a combination of domestic policy support for wind power and the rise of Suzlon (a leading global wind turbine manufacturer) have led India to become the country with the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.[3]
    As of November 2008 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 9587.14 MW, mainly spread across Tamil Nadu (4132.72 MW), Maharashtra (1837.85 MW), Karnataka (1184.45 MW), Rajasthan (670.97 MW), Gujarat (1432.71 MW), Andhra Pradesh (122.45 MW), Madhya Pradesh (187.69 MW), Kerala (23.00 MW), West Bengal (1.10 MW), other states (3.20 MW) [4] It is estimated that 6,000 MW of additional wind power capacity will be installed in India by 2012.[5] Wind power accounts for 6% of India’s total installed power capacity, and it generates 1.6% of the country’s power.[6]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_India

    My bold
11. ThingsComeUndone November 18th, 2009 at 12:28 pm «

    A quite fascinating read in the New York Times about the cross-section of much of what is broken in America. We’ve often statee the focus on green energy as a “new dawn of jobs” is a bit over the top, considering Germany is about 15 years ahead of the U.S. in “green tech” and Japan about a decade ahead. Even China is now revving ahead of us…. so how are we going to have a new wave of work in the U.S. based on green energy again? [Aug 25, 2009: UK Telegraph - China Powers Ahead as it Seizes the Green Energy Crown from Europe] [Aug 28, 2008: China to Subsidize Wind Turbines] [Jun 19, 2009: Reuters - Incentives Add Shine to China's Solar Drive] As you can see, China for example (and Germany… and Japan) have heavily subsidized long range plans to go green, pretty much impossible to compete with on a global footprint if the home country refuses any similar form of subsidization.

    However we are not allowed to have an industrial policy in the U.S. because to do so would make us “socialist” – like those darn Germans. Instead we’ll let much of our manufacturing rinse away to cheaper locales because well, that’s just how it works. Except in Germany apparently. The statistic that caught my eye in this story was due to this lack of manufacturing capability 84% of the money thus far allocated for “green” is going to foreign companies.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/171090-america-is-creating-green-energy-jobs-in-china

    The only way we can get the lead again in green power is if we throw everything we have into it but given the unemployment rate a green stimulus is possible.
• Knoxville November 18th, 2009 at 1:48 pm «

  No doubt that China, India, Denmark, Germany, Spain and several other countries have been doing a lot more than we have to date.

  A couple of months ago, Jim Cramer of CNBC’s Mad Money even took the unprecedented step of telling his viewers to start buying stock in Yingli Green Energy, a solar company in China, because the Chinese government start an initiative to subsidize development and production of solar tech.

  The United States definitely needs to get back out in front on developing solar technology, but I’m going to write to Sen. Bob Corker (my senator, who is on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources) to see if it’s still possible to make sure that this Solar Technology Roadmap Act also creates green jobs in the United States.
• ThingsComeUndone November 19th, 2009 at 4:30 am «

  Cramer is suggesting China stocks now I’m positive he never used to do that 2 years ago are American green stocks that bad? The Chinese do not lead in solar tech they are low tech cheap labor producers unless they have stepped up the tech recently?
• Knoxville November 19th, 2009 at 7:52 am «

  Jim Cramer’s shift last July to bullish on Yingli Green Energy, the solar company in China (a huge shift for a guy who always said “stay away” from Chinese tech), was based on the news that the Chinese government has started pumping money into solar.

  From vsinvestor.com (7/27/09):

  Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (NYSE: YGE) shares are up 5 percent to $15.90 in premarket trading of about 5,000 shares as of 8 a.m. Eastern. The company was recommended by CNBC’s Jim Cramer on his “Mad Money” show after Friday’s close, as the China-based solar energy company could benefit from new Chinese subsidies for solar installations in urban areas.

  I focused on First Solar and especially Evergreen Solar in the diary because they either have moved factories overseas (First Solar) or will start doing so if something isn’t done by the US government – now in the process of thinking hard about subsidizing solar – to stop them from moving factories overseas (Evergreen Solar).
12. Jason Rosenbaum November 18th, 2009 at 2:41 pm «

    Great piece, Knox, and yes, I do still hold out the hope of a blue/green alliance. We shall see.
13. Frank33 November 18th, 2009 at 3:13 pm «

    The solution to solar energy is under our feet. Use the roads and highways as solar collectors. Those huge wind turbines are obsolete. Portable wind generators can be put anywhere. Even the US Army thinks that is a good idea.

    The real problem is the Oil Companies and their monopoly on energy and bought politicians. Exxon is the enemy who gives us all a dirty environment and dirty politics.