tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982454650139906542024-03-12T20:48:06.019-04:00Energy Resiliency and SecurityEnergy is essential to the way we live. Whether it is in the form of oil, gasoline or electricity, the worlds' prosperity and welfare depends on having access to reliable and secure supplies of energy at affordable prices. Improving how we acquire, produce, and consume energy is central to becoming economically and environmentally responsible and sustainable.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.comBlogger624125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-79458439038978786012018-06-20T11:02:00.001-04:002018-06-20T11:05:05.381-04:00Is New Hampshire on the verge of battery energy storage history?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdy0oYOa6sQ_iYC5SZacJyWI-hEkmRzDszxKgEKtNFITIcFHutOwRhK95FWBQfOQCntWBtJudL58bV2qfWNge4WtKGD3dxaVOWPSHJJiHZQIGG-h8P982TC222kiHNSu_yHkEe47z1Y8/s9999/IMG_6896.jpg" width="508" height="240"></div><p dir="auto"><strong><br>Is New Hampshire on the verge of battery energy storage history?</strong><br>The only question left to be settled is a big one: Should utilities own behind-the-meter batteries?</p><p dir="auto">A small investor-owned utility in New Hampshire may be on the verge of regulatory approval for one of the most ambitious U.S. tests yet of utility-owned, customer-sited battery energy storage systems.</p><p>In the process, regulators and stakeholders of the <a href="http://www.puc.state.nh.us/Regulatory/Docketbk/2017/17-189.html" target="_blank">DE 17-189 proceeding</a> are wrestling with a question of vital interest to the rest of the 3,000-plus U.S. utilities: Should a utility own customer-sited storage or is it a distributed energy resource (DER) that should be left to private sector providers?</p><p>Utilities have already seen the benefits that large-scale battery energy storage offers in shaving peak demand, providing grid services, and making systems more flexible. There is a clear opportunity to use customer-sited battery storage in the same way. But the question of how far utilities can intrude into markets so far served by private sector vendors must first be answered.</p><h3>Vermont goes first</h3><p>The only major U.S. utility-owned, behind-the-meter (BTM) battery storage is the <a href="https://greenmountainpower.com/press/gmp-launches-new-comprehensive-energy-home-solution-tesla-lower-costs-customers/" target="_blank">Green Mountain Power (GMP) pilot project</a>, according to GTM Research Energy Storage Analyst Brett Simon. GMP, the dominant Vermont electricity provider, is installing 2,000 behind-the-meter Tesla Powerwalls that will provide dispatchable energy and other grid services to New England’s wholesale electricity markets. Customers pay a one-time $1,300 fee or a monthly $15 fee to participate.</p><p>(<a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/is-new-hampshire-on-the-verge-of-battery-energy-storage-history/525876/" target="_blank">https://www.utilitydive.com/news/is-new-hampshire-on-the-verge-of-battery-energy-storage-history/525876/</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-6015339839868879352018-06-17T11:23:00.001-04:002018-06-17T11:28:22.552-04:00Financing the blue economy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVURdmQIypBTowAI-Z8x7NFnU0ZvEAcXZHIwIcW188SCGgFzZWQrzH7pmhlpCyTGLpo6zuE5XEv9yzUvO5y0hIY8jS6hjHMfZUqglTTWQ1Kxg_-sY6nUgzz8lOapuO7C3thuVcWkFf86I/s9999/IMG_6885.jpg" width="508" height="360"></div><p dir="auto"><strong>A Caribbean Development Opportunity</strong></p><p><strong>Foreward</strong></p><p>At least one-fifth of the population of the Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) remains in poverty; and one out of every 10 persons is considered “food poor” or indigent. Tackling poverty is one of our Region’s biggest challenges.</p><p>Caribbean countries have joined other members of the United Nations in adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and agreed to 17 Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.</p><p>The obligations under this global initiative closely align with CDB’s ongoing commitment, embedded in our Strategic Plan 2015-19, to help our BMCs to identify and exploit opportunities for achieving inclusive and sustainable growth and development. Being a catalyst for development resources and targeting the systematic reduction of poverty in our BMCs through social and economic development is the mission of CDB.</p><p>http://bit.ly/2yk4Y4Z<br></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-79869896034598598792018-06-14T08:57:00.003-04:002018-06-14T08:59:46.654-04:00Berkeley Unanimously Declares Climate Emergency!<p><br></p><p dir="ltr"><br><strong>On Tuesday night, Bay Area mobilizers made history.</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMmCVhVqlvQqmguTqgk1sKnzlKp4eV6RkIRpS9ml6KarRnQKHSZv0tWRRIOgknJPUKjtOuuptKOTB1G9VPLrj5eJJTR7qpBTR2s66k16j0yIlPZVV9mBaXS4M4S5MxiZ3pamMD7K59tls/s9999/IMG_6866.jpg" width="508" height="285"></div><p dir="ltr"><br>As a result of local organizers’ tireless work, the Berkeley City Council faced the truth of the climate and ecological crises and committed to protecting its residents and all life on Earth by unanimously declaring a climate emergency and endorsing a just citywide climate mobilization effort to end greenhouse gas emissions emissions as quickly as possible! <br>The resolution called for Berkeley to become a carbon sink by 2030, which the energy commission will study. It also called on all other governments to address the crisis at the speed and scale required, setting in motion a nine-county Bay Area climate emergency town hall this summer aimed at catalyzing local, regional, state, national and global mass mobilizations to restore a safe climate and a collaborative regional mobilization effort. You can read the full text of the resolution here.</p><p>In the same hearing, the council took a critical first step in realizing the mobilization by voting to refer a Fossil Free Fast resolution to the city’s energy commission. Under this resolution, Berkeley would actively oppose new fossil fuel infrastructure, making it the first municipality in California and the second in the nation to move forward such a sweeping block. You can read the full text of the resolution here.</p><p>http://bit.ly/2l9QBXP</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-58229818353521728902018-06-06T12:31:00.000-04:002018-06-06T12:33:08.499-04:00How solar power could become a victim of its own success<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1I1qecNzxBoAh-hSXK9Rqrt8oJCOj8CehG0KL1Gvgb-x2HTV8DF__GFJShV1IYVz42tICK6FiKbPyiyNu2-IeG2-l2NPgRsNv1QfNh832XwC5A0buGCZ_vxh9tPlAr94MV-WjyKaJ_SY/s9999/IMG_6808.jpg" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Solar plant in Bavaria, Germany" width="508" height="338"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar plant in Bavaria, Germany</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br></p><p>Solar is the world’s fastest growing source of new energy, outpacing growth in all other forms of renewable energy, according to research by the International Energy Agency (IEA) published in November. Renewables overall accounted for two thirds of new power added to the world’s grids in 2016, and solar even overtook coal in terms of net growth. This enormous boost has come about thanks in part to the plummeting costs of getting rigged up to wind and solar, as well as massive growth in China and India.</p><p>Good times, then, for the Earth’s long-term prospects of continuing to power itself, and taper the consumption of fossil fuels. At the end of April, 85 per cent of German electricity came from renewable sources, establishing a new national record for the country, with breezy, warm and sunny weather combining to create a renewable whammy of unseen proportions.</p><p>Last week, solar overtook biomass to become the third source of renewable energy in the US, and renewables in the country now provide 17 per cent of overall electricity, marking good progress, though there is still a way to go with solar only constituting one per cent. <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/article/solar-panels-california-germany-renewable-energy" target="_blank">Read More</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-14482795249486821662018-06-06T08:10:00.001-04:002018-06-06T08:12:18.360-04:00Hawaii just passed a law to make the state carbon neutral by 2045<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cRJhcEgsGOgfzGKWWiSX4sPHBrp8gZcfHZhol-JLgDQ_FpuiGSexu5rpvrnunkDWL7eKyxPXdOLZn0x5iSTAL3_ffrujC61GkgA9FdYQLfF-UdnYOv419ckeQuwb0faLcUl-wBBj-dw/s9999/IMG_6807.jpg" width="508" height="285"></div><p><br></p><p>In a little less than three decades, Hawaii plans to be carbon neutral–the most ambitious climate goal in the United States. Governor David Ige signed a bill today committing to make the state fully carbon neutral by 2045, along with a second bill that will use carbon offsets to help fund planting trees throughout Hawaii. A third bill requires new building projects to consider how high sea levels will rise in their engineering decisions.</p><p>The state is especially vulnerable to climate change–sea level rise, for example, threatens to cause $19 billion in economic losses–and that’s one of the reasons that the new laws had support. “We’re on the forefront of climate change impacts,” says Scott Glenn, who leads the state’s environmental quality office. “We experience it directly and we’re a small island. People feel the trade wind days becoming less. They notice the changes in rain. They feel it getting hotter. Because we are directly exposed to this, there’s no denying it.” The state’s political leaders, he says, are “unified in acknowledging that climate change is real and that we do need to do something about it.” <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40580669/hawaii-just-passed-a-law-to-make-the-state-carbon-neutral-by-2045" target="_blank">Read More</a><br></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-47645662382669940042018-06-05T23:21:00.001-04:002018-06-05T23:22:18.193-04:00Solar power plant deal signed<p dir="auto"><strong>A massive solar power plant is to be built on a vacant runway at the airport.</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicv-jYc3YPs56Ptwv0N4OwQOrn5VkJZlPQ2PrhyONfAue-K9d6aP4HoTi00z_9QSFv08ukL0I456n2pbHYQaT793LMl_p8zaD2Eti7ZQJKeqLt_kkBGrRKMpXMNSCnigWms__01JpAzBk/s9999/IMG_6804.jpg" width="467" height="350"></div><p>Saturn Solar Bermuda 1, a part of Canadian-based Saturn Power, will develop the six-megawatt power plant on “the finger”, a runway and munitions pier when the airport was run by the US Navy as a Naval Air Station.</p><p>The generating plant will be the first large-scale renewable energy resource on the island.</p><p>Walter Roban, the Minister of Transport and Regulatory Affairs, said: “Out of nine candidates, six being Bermudian, Saturn Power came in as the lowest bidder at <strong>10.3 cents </strong>per kilowatt hour.</p><p><a href="#"></a></p><p>(<a href="http://www.royalgazette.com/environment/article/20180605/solar-power-plant-deal-signed" target="_blank">http://www.royalgazette.com/environment/article/20180605/solar-power-plant-deal-signed</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-24150741727362722532018-06-05T21:21:00.001-04:002018-06-05T21:23:15.751-04:00Why Solar Power Needs to Get Better: <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGcsJiy40-8ZoOlIUrDRXyeUJAaFKsEB-y86oYUUM97OiXnqTKS9cDyRxL0kyXi8eAhbKxIcbw5m9iS0rflOpSRwlpb2yIuk7OCiH_D3wNKDFqK3VLKsFGPBLQh94rKzL_lAKX8YrY3c/s9999/IMG_6801.jpg" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Elon Musk" width="508" height="336"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elon Musk</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="auto"><strong>9 Experts on the Improvements Solar Technology Needs Today - Interesting Engineering</strong></p><p>Solar is just one of many sustainable energies that could lead the way to a green power revolution. Though solar power is becoming more and more viable every day, there are still issues to overcome before entire countries can depend on the sun as a source of energy.<br>If we're to finally phase out fossil fuels for good, solar power needs to get better. Here are just some of the issues that experts are trying to address in the fight to make the world a greener place.</p><p><strong>1. Elon Musk: Solar Power Needs to be Integrated</strong><br>Elon Musk's vision of a solar-powered future doesn't stop at solar panels on roofs - he wants entire integrated systems to dominate homes and businesses all over the world. He imagines a future where solar roofing tiles feed into power walls, which in turn power electric cars.<br>Speaking in 2016, Musk said, "The key is it needs to be beautiful, affordable and seamlessly integrated." His point is clear - if solar power is to become a dominant power source, there has to be integrated infrastructure both privately and publicly to support that generation of energy. <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/why-solar-power-needs-to-get-better-9-experts-on-the-improvements-solar-technology-needs-today" target="_blank">Read More</a><br></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-68791152469423673662018-02-22T16:49:00.001-05:002018-02-22T16:50:17.689-05:00Davos: The Need for Renewables in Our Shared Future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoEVa6OoakipPtJnxwYoo3_GVkx_PQZ2noeWpj1FLpAy992RnCL-hoABsqXgw99sYE5PtW4Z65ehVXvYXTwANNbTTqOeiliJ9umaHw-QJtRPs2tGZr-1SX0hozJLibUGt-U8nPz24CB0/s9999/IMG_5820.jpg" width="508" height="339"></div><p><br></p><p>You might believe, as many people do, that the World Economic Forum in Davos is out of touch with everyday people. To me, the only thing worse than the global elite getting together to solve the world’s problems is the global elite getting together and not solving the world’s problems.</p><p>The theme this year was creating a shared future in a fractured world, which is exactly what our global leaders should be talking about. And this year the forum gathered together the most powerful aggregation of global corporate and government leaders in recent decades.</p><p><strong>Climate change at the forefront</strong></p><p>I participated in the forum and led a dialogue about the role of renewable energy in creating a shared future—a key theme at the forum, touted by many heads of state. In the opening plenary, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi named climate change the number one challenge to civilization as we know it, and shared his country’s ambitious goal of producing 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron said he wants to “make France a model in the fight against climate change,” and will shut down all the country’s coal-fired power plants by 2021.</p><p><strong>The missing voice</strong></p><p>The numerous energy tracks at the forum were largely made up of policy makers, utilities, and technology providers. The discussion around renewable energy is often thought of as a three-legged stool: technology, finance, and policy. While those three things are indeed crucial to advancing renewable energy, there is also a critical fourth element that is much harder to shift—people. Unfortunately, like many large conferences, the voice of energy consumers was largely lacking at Davos.</p><p>I participated in the Accelerating Innovation for Sustainable Energy panel, which had a rich, dynamic dialogue around accelerating technological innovation. There was consensus around the important role that government can play in both financing technological innovation to start the research and development process, and also shepherding winning technologies all the way through commercialization. However, often where technology fails is not in the early R&D phase but in pre-commercialization—a phase when a technology often requires no changes to policy or finance, but just needs buyers to take a risk and use something they haven’t used before. It’s where human dynamics really come into play. <br><a href="https://goo.gl/mLN8gR" target="_blank">https://goo.gl/mLN8gR</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-66810643023363421192017-07-20T14:08:00.002-04:002017-07-20T14:10:42.076-04:00Distributed Solar Is Less Expensive Than Delivered Coal Power <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2n-hZrYGXG4aGxr8zitIIjEFSTygIigwg1S9mMvHbvvfrtBrKIwcTNIvvhmtZV4sDHZZAs7f1abTkduT0viplyztUD3aQ52W_3xc0FXcw2yj21rSKhn3GftQ3i7VhHO8RsmIsaGpiMAU/s9999/IMG_3497.jpg" width="507" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><p>On March 22, 2017, <strong>Rocky Mountain Institute’s Shine Program</strong> released a request for proposals (RFP) for community-scale solar on behalf of a group of rural electric cooperatives in eastern and northern Colorado. The RFP was part of RMI’s ongoing work to develop the community-scale market nationwide.</p><p>Nearly 30 developers responded to the RFP, providing highly competitive bids. Prices for solar power purchase agreements were lower than the value of solar to the co-ops, and so solar is expected to result in economic savings for participating co-ops.</p><p>RFP results confirm that we have crossed a significant tipping point where distributed solar is not only a means to supply green energy and to promote regional economic development, but also an opportunity to decrease energy costs and to drive down bills for price-sensitive energy consumers. The Colorado RFP outcomes are informative to utilities nationwide, but particularly to co-ops and municipal utilities in Colorado and neighboring states that are contemplating solar development and are interested in joining a regional procurement opportunity. <a href="https://goo.gl/7vuXWq" target="_blank">More</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-6264033104819531992017-07-12T12:06:00.001-04:002017-07-12T12:07:13.386-04:00Saudi Aramco CEO Says Oil Supply Shortage Coming, Cites Steep Drop In Conventional Discoveries & Steep Drop In Investments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfI9Sl0EhuPbL-WAmfRZcgD0X0T5N-c1zHoWXDejcmusd99X9YEpXllZxJhH2Y6y_BTtjwrhzg_RWycWJ6s8N3xRcO6FaOMgXs6f2UO_OfxuH_wIJu1kPaU8jcpeQWTFhiqT5PQOc1zns/s9999/IMG_3390.jpg" width="508" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br> The CEO of Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, was recently quoted at a conference in Istanbul as saying that the world is likely heading towards an oil supply shortage before too long as a result of falling discoveries of new conventional oil reserves and steep drops in new investment.</p><p>This situation — peak oil for conventional oil fields, which was passed several years back, and the growing dependence on expensive “unconventional” options — is one that we’ve reported on numerous times now.</p><p>We’ve also reported on the way that the oil price crash of recent years has led directly to rapid increases in the debt levels at many top oil companies, and to a steep drop in new investments.</p><p>While taking an oil exec at their word when they’re discussing the oil market is probably ill-advised, in general, Nasser is more or less just stating the blunt reality of the situation here — as far as general trends go, oil is only going to get more expensive as time goes by, as cheap conventionals are rapidly being depleted.</p><p>“If we look at the long-term situation of oil supplies, for example, the picture is becoming increasingly worrying,” Nasser commented, as reported by Reuters. “Financial investors are shying away from making much needed large investments in oil exploration, long-term development and the related infrastructure. Investments in smaller increments such as shale oil will just not cut it.”</p><p>To put a figure to that, around $1 trillion in new investments have been “lost” since 2014 or so. This only compounds the situation as regards the increasing difficulty of finding new conventional oil reserves. The easiest to find and develop have been in production for a long time now — what remains are the less attractive options. <a href="(https://cleantechnica.com/2017/07/11/saudi-aramco-ceo-says-oil-supply-shortage-coming-cites-steep-drop-conventional-discoveries-steep-drop-investments/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29" target="_blank">More</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-76241218854425844252017-06-21T05:56:00.001-04:002017-06-21T05:56:50.223-04:00Could the entire American economy run on renewable energy alone?<p dir="auto"><strong>Fisticuffs Over the Route to a Clean-Energy Future - The New York Times</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9KACk25l6wrCcBrXu-KM9mRXsNdIAptdp3dCyTE73DqV1h6GEWvR1EzQ2Xn-IkDBQPiPGuYwuA_no7gMSOgOHN7BtJLMrXwx_ZKCd-S75ns4x9zcCOMgRrKfVn2pkd8VMFt0fCfzFsl0/s9999/IMG_3156.jpg" width="508" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>This may seem like an irrelevant question, given that both the White House and Congress are controlled by a party that rejects the scientific consensus about human-driven climate change. But the proposition that it could, long a dream of an environmental movement as wary of nuclear energy as it is of fossil fuels, has been gaining ground among policy makers committed to reducing the nation’s carbon footprint. Democrats in both the United States Senate and in the California Assembly have proposed legislation this year calling for a full transition to renewable energy sources.</p><p>They are relying on what looks like a watertight scholarly analysis to support their call: the work of a prominent energy systems engineer from Stanford University, Mark Z. Jacobson. With three co-authors, he published a widely heralded article two years ago asserting that it would be eminently feasible to power the American economy by midcentury almost entirely with energy from the wind, the sun and water. What’s more, it would be cheaper than running it on fossil fuels.</p><p><br>(<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/business/energy-environment/renewable-energy-national-academy-matt-jacobson.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/business/energy-environment/renewable-energy-national-academy-matt-jacobson.html</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-65968176643682127102017-06-16T11:28:00.002-04:002017-06-16T11:30:37.952-04:00Bermuda Government seeks feedback on fuels policy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KIZZaPOOGK8PGeE7DCdi3lc4zTkNqWpbHGeMh2qebAfWP6-unv_HqGKTT08hvUtv589pwxR-mDxIp08B7tTEURp8quX4lZNzXpCmMHEYvHCm50-wSj6OuufrXeNzffZJmnNjOarqwrw/s9999/IMG_3104.jpg" width="508" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="auto"><br>National fuels policy is the subject of a new government discussion paper — and the Department of Energy is now seeking public feedback on it.</p><p>The policy sets out the government’s aims of achieving a mix of fuels that is cost effective and less polluting.</p><p>The document, which is available on this webpage under the heading of Related Media, can also be found on the Bermuda Government web portal or in hard copy from the Department of Energy at the Government Administration Building, 3rd floor, 30 Parliament Street.</p><p>The deadline for written comments on the policy document is close of business on July 7, 2017, submitted via e-mail to energy@gov.bm or by hand at the Department of Energy, Government Administration Building, 3rd floor, 30 Parliament Street.</p><p>The Department says it will review all information obtained and respond to each submission.</p><p>Jeane Nikolai, Department of Energy director, said: “Fuels is another essential pillar of the energy sector which directly affects the local community and economy. The New Fuels Sector Policy will mark the beginning of Bermuda’s road towards a fiscally transparent, efficient and environmentally sensitive fuel regime.” <a href="http://www.royalgazette.com/business/article/20170615/government-seeks-feedback-on-fuels-policy" target="_blank">More</a></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.royalgazette.com/assets/pdf/RG368774615.pdf" target="_blank">National Fuels Policy Document</a></strong></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-53196087273472278642017-05-08T23:08:00.004-04:002017-05-08T23:10:16.299-04:00CTEC 2017 Smart Energy Conference<p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVLxhF7j-CUIxrMKJ5ID9uo8SiuoNYcCZ_CrPw2Rx1wmAs1PXUNJRIZS2Y1iW9Yt2WfW9kAHlxeKGAKCW_PXvUv0XgPV0TlNrBgFZrva2r3yUnkjC2ffrCAPx9oEkLFsSCdtaxILJ66BM/s9999/IMG_2576.jpg" width="508" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>Be part of Cayman’s low carbon future by joining an event which seeks to set out our vision, renewable road-map and opportunities.</p><p>The event will bring together delegates from public, private and non-profit sectors, underlining our collaborative approach to a sustainable future- government officials, project developers, manufacturers, investors and key players across the non-profit landscape.</p><p>Join government official and industry leads and participate in interactive panel discussions that seek to establish what the journey ahead looks like and how we address the challenges and maximise the opportunities.</p><p dir="ltr">Make the most of key networking opportunities, bringing together local, regional and global participation.</p><p>To <a href="http://cteccayman.com" target="_blank">Register</a> and for more <a href="http://cteccayman.com" target="_blank">Information</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmYxCiURpqNhnyswUJER4DC43u-RtrYqH2AaaTHfGGogLgpQQNoKS6AbcVd9z6Njrjel2RuydMiQd1_hXn9P1WqO2Fdate87FYSSD-YgX2xqSdn7b18zXLi8TFuTTgEa0vHOCHbBPYkA/s9999/IMG_2653.jpg" width="304" style="max-width: 100%;"></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-53530442435623098392017-05-04T16:17:00.002-04:002017-05-08T23:11:02.589-04:00The Caribbean Transitional Energy Conference (CTEC)<p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSB2PwdznaZTRQ1bzCC3rsg8fi97eujrl8dGMuaLrL-fqSet8ljlyhlXM55SiFaZ_VFQXhnhMphGSTUt3Sit0L_vH1qhSowNbtoeOMJ5GrHw3-EdREJDO2TA7jAdB0rAHn5ZPFKI4vWOo/" width="508" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><strong>Caribbean economies suffer from some of the highest electricity prices in the world.</strong></p><p>Despite their abundance of renewable energy sources, Cayman has a relatively low level of renewable energy penetration; the economy continues to spend a large proportion of its GDP on imported fossil fuels and residents and businesses continue to pay some of the highest electricity bills in the region. This is a common situation among island nations.</p><p>There is a clear opportunity for Cayman to emerge as a regional leader in developing solutions to address climate change through the adoption of renewable energy which will reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and provide key environmental, social and economic benefits.</p><p>With the Cayman Islands National Energy Policy now in place, a framework for transition is complete and seizing upon that vision will be critical to affecting positive change for the Cayman Islands and all those who follow.</p><p>The recent achievements for islands at COP21 provide a strong driver for action focused on carbon reduction goals. Given that Cayman ranks highly among islands as carbon emitters, it is critical that we position ourselves as leaders in carbon reduction and meet the goals set out in the National Energy Policy and the Paris agreement.</p><p>Cayman seeks to stand with other islands in the region and across the world to embrace a low carbon future and to stand on the front line of demonstrating solutions to climate change while delivering cheaper, secure, reliable and economically feasible energy solutions.<br>Who should attend?</p><p>Be part of Cayman’s low carbon future by joining an event which seeks to set out our vision, renewable road-map and opportunities.</p><p>The event will bring together delegates from public, private and non-profit sectors, underlining our collaborative approach to a sustainable future- government officials, project developers, manufacturers, investors and key players across the non-profit landscape.</p><p>Join government official and industry leads and participate in interactive panel discussions that seek to establish what the journey ahead looks like and how we address the challenges and maximise the opportunities.</p><p>Make the most of key networking opportunities, bringing together local, regional and global participation.<br>For <a href="http://cteccayman.com" target="_blank">More Information</a> and <a href="http://cteccayman.com" target="_blank">Register</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-87754748755406477412017-04-26T16:02:00.003-04:002017-04-26T16:06:16.070-04:00Caribbean Transitionary Energy Conference (CTEC2017) 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7NGGbxPPC9LRZRoTLDoJXCLS7qVHh4OGrR5yXp445-Qh_jqAmw95cE-4IUAQmghG8nMu54E8sEkIhKXotEQjp3ipWNKED8uMeyKqgoDnMc9hVOVKLS_l2dhoFQMeLW5J7Hcu-uaz5lk/?imgmax=9999" width="508" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><strong>For <a href="http://cteccayman.com" target="_blank">Information</a> and <a href="http://cteccayman.com" target="_blank">Registration</a> <br></strong><br></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-51402855723102336482017-03-04T09:46:00.002-05:002017-05-08T23:11:30.716-04:00Chevron is first oil major to warn investors of risks from climate change lawsuits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLmJiYTeE4D1SWOyicUm_pNrgt1YJPdV-kVAFa5amoSUP-aMFr261JuZcO553l5SHOhhFvgbeisZlj1lqGgYSk7XwBEIgPdiqxLI2wGGWqE5JkmOHgnjmyGfwpCW8-3_CgmDl-bJaRzmM/s9999/IMG_1967.jpg" width="508" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="auto"><br>Big Oil’s lies about the existential risk posed by its product are now catching up with the industry and threatening profits.</p><p>For the first time, one of the major publicly owned fossil fuel companies admitted publicly to investors that climate change lawsuits poses a risk to risk to its profits.<br>You’re probably thinking that seems like an obvious admission. After all, 190 nations unanimously agreed in the December 2015 Paris climate deal to leave most fossil fuels in the ground because of the existential threat they pose to human civilization.</p><p>But this is Big Oil — the industry that has been denying or pretending to deny the existence of climate change for over half a century.<br>In the “risk factors” section of Chevron’s 2016 10-K financial performance report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — amid a discussion of how those pesky climate rules governments are enacting might hurt demand for its product — is this sentence: “In addition, increasing attention to climate change risks has resulted in an increased possibility of governmental investigations and, potentially, private litigation against the company.” <a href="http://bit.ly/2mndUir" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/2mndUir</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-26262760687506569722016-08-31T08:53:00.000-04:002016-08-31T08:53:11.010-04:00The price of oil: Saudi Arabia, the “Shi’a Crescent and Daesh (IS)<strong>The price of oil: Saudi Arabia, the “Shi’a Crescent and Daesh (IS)</strong>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJvD9gf3oxql-EI8QBMX0kcKiqw6_HPvKj_ReikM4dlck9ghPa7ENSDdu4WtWoNi2SsiKlt-O7mpkmqh-CXb6IWqXjNa9EKs7eCkaGzsXTgvhvpUf0_itIz8c1Ge3Z_Y_UTpD1Ce8Cmo/"><img class=" alignright" title="Middle East" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJvD9gf3oxql-EI8QBMX0kcKiqw6_HPvKj_ReikM4dlck9ghPa7ENSDdu4WtWoNi2SsiKlt-O7mpkmqh-CXb6IWqXjNa9EKs7eCkaGzsXTgvhvpUf0_itIz8c1Ge3Z_Y_UTpD1Ce8Cmo/" alt="" width="300" height="263" data-json="" /></a></div>
As Security Analyst Professor Paul Rogers points out, the the Middle Eastern insurgency, or as he terms it, 'Revolts from the Margins' is morphing is ways that may have an exacerbating and self-perpetrating influence throughout the region, further destabilizing oil supplies from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has major concerns over the increasing influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Middle East, seeing a “Shi’a Crescent” in process of development from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. This stretches from Hezbollah with its substantial influence in Lebanon, to the Alawi-dominated regime in Syria, through to the Shi’a-majority government in Baghdad and its suppression of the Sunni minority, and on to Iran itself. There is a further fear of Shi’a influence in the Saudi Kingdom itself where the Shi’a minority – about 15% of the population of 21 million (excluding nearly 10 million expatriates) – is located mainly in the oil-rich Eastern Province. That minority has suffered considerable suppression and control, especially since the beginning of the Arab Awakening five years ago and remains bitter in its exclusion. Furthermore, Saudi security forces have done much to support the Sunni royal family in Bahrain where the Shi’a majority (some 70% of the island’s citizens) has been suppressed.
Saudi fears of Iran stem partly from the Sunni/Shi’a divide but more significantly from its view of Iran, with a population of 80 million compared with 21 million Saudis, as a state that sees itself as the regional leader. By contrast, successive Saudi kings have regarded their role as the Keeper of the Two Holy Places as giving them the true leadership of the Islamic world. <a href="http://goo.gl/iS8qqO">More</a>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-54388651320349581692016-04-02T08:14:00.000-04:002016-04-02T08:15:15.547-04:00SE4All Highlights Plans for Implementing SDG 7<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>25 March 2016: The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), Rachel Kyte, highlighted challenges to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 (Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all). </strong></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAl3gD40I8EBMIRWLGcjA7uS3RjS8ROrDvptPSvaBJglxIu3XLFWSgRvZSj2rJIz0EeeHnjBwuyRmxpHOonRZt_CBPR7a7IiFbcLLg1StUqf0G15n9S7uL909_ht4213sREX4gxPdvE4c/s205/Photo%25252020160402071425971.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAl3gD40I8EBMIRWLGcjA7uS3RjS8ROrDvptPSvaBJglxIu3XLFWSgRvZSj2rJIz0EeeHnjBwuyRmxpHOonRZt_CBPR7a7IiFbcLLg1StUqf0G15n9S7uL909_ht4213sREX4gxPdvE4c/s205/Photo%25252020160402071425971.jpg" id="blogsy-1459599270373.444" class="alignright" width="266" height="113" alt=""></a></div><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Briefing UN Member States and civil society, she also provided an update on the SE4All initiative's plans for supporting implementation of the Goal.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Kyte emphasized that Goal 7 has three “pillars,” addressing energy poverty, technological advancement, and investment in energy efficiency. Stressing the interlinked nature of the Goal, she said the first pillar, addressing energy poverty, is essential to leaving no one behind, noting that the electricity access gap undermines education, productivity and economic growth, while the gap in access to clean cooking fuels is detrimental to health and gender inequality. On technological advancement, Kyte noted the past decade's reductions in the cost and complexity of renewable energy, which makes on-shore wind, solar photo voltaic, and other technologies more competitive with fossil-based energy sources. On energy efficiency, she said greater investment has made it possible to provide basic electricity services using much less power.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Despite this positive progress, Kyte warned that global economic trends have slowed the momentum for electrification, renewables, efficiency and clean cooking. She said the global energy transition is not taking place at a sufficient pace to meet the temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change, or the broader development goals expressed in the 2030 Agenda.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Kyte also stressed that the financial needs to achieve SDG 7, which are estimated at over US$1 trillion annually, will need to come from both private and public sectors. She highlighted the importance of small-scale, private investments to develop renewable energy in many African countries.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On the role of the SE4All initiative in supporting the achievement of SDG 7, Kyte said the Forum's 2017 meeting will assess progress and provide substance for the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF) and the UN system as a whole in its review of progress towards the SDGs. In the meantime, SE4All is developing a framework for addressing challenges faced by Member States in achieving SDG 7. Member States will have opportunities to provide input on this framework throughout May 2016, Kyte said, and the SE4All Advisory Board will consider the framework at its meeting, on <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1">15-16 June 2016</a>. [<a href="http://www.se4all.org/content/video-sdg7-briefing-srsg-rachel-kyte" style="text-decoration: none;">Event Webcast</a>] [<a href="http://www.se4all.org/" style="text-decoration: none;">SE4All Website</a>]</span></p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© Climate War Room" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© Climate War Room</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-43077937595586198992016-03-24T12:51:00.001-04:002016-03-24T12:51:37.253-04:00Caribbean Green Economy Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_408Bq4TywM3-Sj0whXPmerokVhqxDDd0fis2mFYRrQsvyEUra4ov3UFeQ7nSMiADnpcTNT6kRJaq1-gUNSHRqiWvJTkFSML9eM1BIa9eWqGXK8cDudJa0otlEsxIkT16rwH4gr2VXbQo/s2047/Photo%25252020160324115118031.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_408Bq4TywM3-Sj0whXPmerokVhqxDDd0fis2mFYRrQsvyEUra4ov3UFeQ7nSMiADnpcTNT6kRJaq1-gUNSHRqiWvJTkFSML9eM1BIa9eWqGXK8cDudJa0otlEsxIkT16rwH4gr2VXbQo/s300/Photo%25252020160324115118031.jpg" id="blogsy-1458838295746.7004" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="506" height="351"></a></div><p nodeindex="144" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Within the Caribbean, there is a growing awareness of the need for a new economic paradigm for inclusive and sustainable development, in order to deliver solutions for the most pressing challenges which are made worse by international economic and environmental crises.</span></p><p nodeindex="146" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the backdrop of the limited diversification of the countries’ economies and their dependence on natural resources, green economy offers a viable option to increase competitiveness and resilience of the region’s economies and merge prosperity and growth for all with sustainability.</span></p><p nodeindex="147" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span nodeindex="270" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em nodeindex="271" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"I commit my Government to working assiduously with the Social Partnership to ensure that the measures indentified in Barbados’ Green Economy Scoping Study, which can contribute to a more prosperous and environmentally sensitive Barbados, will be implemented expeditiously"</em></span> said Freundel J. Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados.</span></p><p nodeindex="148" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span nodeindex="272" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em nodeindex="273" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“We see a green economy not only as the area of renewable energy, but we see the green economy as a means of providing new opportunities for our people in St. Kitts,”</em></span> said Earl Asim Martin, Deputy Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis.</span></p><p nodeindex="149" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span nodeindex="274" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em nodeindex="275" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"We are also showing that it is possible to create a better, environmentally sustainable national economy without compromising our citizens’ legitimate aspirations for increased prosperity,"</em></span> said Bharrat Jagdeo, Former Prime Minister of Guyana</span></p><p nodeindex="150" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Effective green economy strategies and programmes must address barriers to change that affect the whole Caribbean region. In searching for alternatives to “business-as-usual”, emphasis should be placed on redirecting investments and creating economic incentives that lead to sustainable development and poverty eradication.</span></p><p nodeindex="151" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">UNEP, in cooperation with the CARICOM Secretariat and with financial support of the European Union, is supporting the region through a Caribbean Green Economy Initiative.</span></p><p nodeindex="152" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The outcomes of project, as well as the experiences and lessons learned during its implementation should offer ideas and opportunities for scaling up green economy transition in other countries and regions especially in island states in the Pacific, Africa and elsewhere.</span></p><p nodeindex="153" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Please download the project flyer on green economy in the Caribbean <a href="http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/CARIBBEAN/CaribbeanProjectFlyer_lowres.pdf" target="_top" nodeindex="276" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">here</a>.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSi1xP8lV7F5S_T9C58W_Ya7kTE4C5X11Wcs09We3xt4q7HazZYMVYm0D9BMLNTqmP17IqFgY-Z8nIdqjyNGhgEaPyQBmv8fCPsjyulU2RS4GE6Odso_VZ-SQsR2u5jts195F8BWkLP8Y/s640/Photo%25252020160324115118076.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSi1xP8lV7F5S_T9C58W_Ya7kTE4C5X11Wcs09We3xt4q7HazZYMVYm0D9BMLNTqmP17IqFgY-Z8nIdqjyNGhgEaPyQBmv8fCPsjyulU2RS4GE6Odso_VZ-SQsR2u5jts195F8BWkLP8Y/s300/Photo%25252020160324115118076.jpg" id="blogsy-1458838295698.828" class="aligncenter" width="506" height="302" alt=""></a></div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© Climate War Room" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© Climate War Room</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-52876473051539905302016-03-22T17:04:00.000-04:002016-03-22T17:05:04.726-04:00CARICOM's Commercialization of energy efficiency programs and projects in the Caribbean.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh184Ok5MPw8sqiMlHF6B9ACBvkjPj9OBNIsHSBHf_uIIZzXtbYpjWexaggSXvFPV2snsqBuRvBoyLXvKIW1VPn5sZxe9mm1_-c0SCWGW2VsOkHUxxPBhTdI1SaX-3FXoe6UR1wYTwINt-m/s1300/Photo%25252020160322160402509.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh184Ok5MPw8sqiMlHF6B9ACBvkjPj9OBNIsHSBHf_uIIZzXtbYpjWexaggSXvFPV2snsqBuRvBoyLXvKIW1VPn5sZxe9mm1_-c0SCWGW2VsOkHUxxPBhTdI1SaX-3FXoe6UR1wYTwINt-m/s300/Photo%25252020160322160402509.jpg" id="blogsy-1458680659493.841" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="506" height="107"></a></div><p>As part of its mandate to promote resilient energy matrices region-wide, CARICOM has identified the promotion of investment into energy efficiency programs and projects as a priority action item.<br></p><p><a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0">On April 5th at 10.00am EST</a>, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and New Energy Events will co-host a webinar focused on new approaches to the commercialization of energy efficiency programs and projects in the Caribbean.</p><p><strong>Confirmed panelists:</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGCaBoCM6dcFfh_HL203kNHd1SPBZTg2kVxwUHc3AqhA7jY0qIu36lrT87v9UNQv9sZYwP31GBskQhiNlzoRAL_6TEc12IfY1Km4TIlgHcJQ8wHiZZW3E5MQt2TnIjpBzwC-Kn5DqTXF9Q/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402537.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGCaBoCM6dcFfh_HL203kNHd1SPBZTg2kVxwUHc3AqhA7jY0qIu36lrT87v9UNQv9sZYwP31GBskQhiNlzoRAL_6TEc12IfY1Km4TIlgHcJQ8wHiZZW3E5MQt2TnIjpBzwC-Kn5DqTXF9Q/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402537.jpg" id="blogsy-1458680659449.0515" class="alignnone" alt="" width="144" height="144"></a></div><p><strong>Jacob Corvidae, Manager, Rocky Mountain Institute</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7gyLscQbJm_yLpJT5jd7xpGLkTALg8p8BKjeLXxToGtuzOq5HSor9zSF9MGH1dni5ieHqhsSPvVlTdCmPcvo9tWuXooWT597iqG62ZTO6_hp3bRurFTkKCuUInHZ5t5bnV6GN8zss37FS/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402565.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7gyLscQbJm_yLpJT5jd7xpGLkTALg8p8BKjeLXxToGtuzOq5HSor9zSF9MGH1dni5ieHqhsSPvVlTdCmPcvo9tWuXooWT597iqG62ZTO6_hp3bRurFTkKCuUInHZ5t5bnV6GN8zss37FS/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402565.jpg" id="blogsy-1458680659490.4722" class="alignnone" alt="" width="144" height="144"></a></div><p><strong>Kelly Tomblin, President & CEO, Jamaica Public Service Co</strong>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiW7G0ZYIMbc8EGwB926JPADkNHswZBxt-eVXwfzSpPpqBa8ED2x4rPGYXc8qBW_BbqxXhMtHtMdzYiw761JLEOvE1zhfX3fIJMD3aGVoCcyxyKOGawPa5t8MPmEXr1X5DLBKpHjmyT2XV/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402592.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiW7G0ZYIMbc8EGwB926JPADkNHswZBxt-eVXwfzSpPpqBa8ED2x4rPGYXc8qBW_BbqxXhMtHtMdzYiw761JLEOvE1zhfX3fIJMD3aGVoCcyxyKOGawPa5t8MPmEXr1X5DLBKpHjmyT2XV/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402592.jpg" id="blogsy-1458680659484.1765" class="alignnone" alt="" width="144" height="144"></a></div><p><strong>Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, Energy, CARICOM</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuDIGo2_hLrZRyPJIBlqsiru_i9zSoJiJvqiiiVAuZ2uXH54GgNx6byabJEufL2nRLNbAhBXkuXqXI5V46SUuJomI1iA1AuWu3Df-h1cu6334gagq0w6oCD-X2LACLuBDTwl_4B425Xpg/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402617.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuDIGo2_hLrZRyPJIBlqsiru_i9zSoJiJvqiiiVAuZ2uXH54GgNx6byabJEufL2nRLNbAhBXkuXqXI5V46SUuJomI1iA1AuWu3Df-h1cu6334gagq0w6oCD-X2LACLuBDTwl_4B425Xpg/s144/Photo%25252020160322160402617.jpg" id="blogsy-1458680659503.028" class="alignnone" width="144" height="144" alt=""></a></div><p><strong>Joseph Williams, Sustainable Energy Advisor, Caribbean Development Bank</strong></p><p>Despite the obvious potential for investment in energy efficiency across the Caribbean, the markets are yet to take off in any meaningful way. The unavailability of sustainable and affordable financing is widely recognized as the most significant hurdle to commercialization. The webinar will explore an emerging alignment of stakeholders around energy efficiency investments, and examine a number of innovative approaches to financing.</p><p><strong>Topics will include:</strong></p><p>• How do we introduce investment in energy efficiency into the mainstream?</p><p>• How do regional utilities look at investment in EE initiatives from a long-term ROI perspective? How can we align economic incentives to motivate utilities to invest in EE?</p><p>• What can we learn from the experience of other markets and other utilities? Hawaii, for example?</p><p>• What is the Integrated Utility Service (IUS) model? What can we learn from the initial experience in Fort Collins?</p><p>• How might utility-centric EE programs align with public sector and multilateral objectives and with what implication for the financing of EE programs?</p><p>• How do we de-risk EE investment?</p><p>• What are the opportunity costs associated with the inability of the current "market will deliver" philosophy to tap the regional EE potential?</p><p>• What are the key stakeholders - utilities, utility regulators, governments, multilaterals and private investors - prepared to do in order to deliver clean, efficient, reliable and cost-effective energy services to end-users? <a href="http://us13.campaign-archive2.com/?u=24c9046ba8d84876210aa4d51&id=5ea997665a&e=09f34c6b0b">More</a></p><p><a href="https://newenergyevents.webex.com/ec3000/eventcenter/mobile/eventInfoMobile.do?siteurl=newenergyevents&confID=1755617800&meetingKey=661772528&backUrl=%2Fmw3000%2Fwireless%2Fmeetinglist.do%3Fsiteurl%3Dnewenergyevents&t=a&rnd=0.5184114167029297" target="_self" title="">Register Now!</a></p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© Climate War Room" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© Climate War Room</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-21206959429743589142016-03-08T11:52:00.000-05:002016-03-08T11:53:00.842-05:00A Take-No-Prisoners World of Oil<p style="margin-top: 11px; margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It’s evident that we’re still on a planet where oil rules. The question increasingly is: What exactly does it rule over? After all, every barrel of oil that’s burned contributes to a fast-approaching future in which the weather grows <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/05/mercury-doesnt-lie-weve-hit-troubling-climate-change-milestone" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">hotter</a> and more extreme, droughts and <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/impacts/infographic-wildfires-climate-change.html#.VtxgOSntWHk" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">wildfires</a> spread, sea levels <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/08/sea-level-rise-could-last-twice-as-long-as-human-history" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">rise</a> precipitously, ice continues to <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34276-the-melting-arctic-s-dramatic-impact-on-global-weather-patterns" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">melt away</a> in the globe's coldest reaches, and... well, you know that story well enough by now. In the meantime, Planet Earth has a glut of oil on hand and that, it turns out, doesn’t mean -- not for the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/business/energy-environment/oil-company-earnings.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">major oil companies</a> nor even for the major oil states -- that the good times are getting ready to roll.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Of all the powers struggling with that oil glut and the plunging energy prices that have gone with it, none may be more worth watching than Saudi Arabia. While exporting its own extremists and its extreme brand of Islam from Afghanistan to Syria, and lending a decades-long hand to the destabilization of the Greater Middle East, that kingdom has itself been a paragon of stability. Nothing, however, lasts forever, and so keeping an eye on the Saudis is a must. That’s especially so since the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/20/saudi-royals-best-of-the-worst-yemen-king-salman-saudi-arabia" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">latest version</a> of the royal family has also made what might be called the American mistake (with the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/obama-adminstration-guilt_b_8916380.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">backing</a> of the Obama administration, no less) and for the first time plunged the Saudi military directly into a typically unwinnable if brutal war in neighboring Yemen. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Combine the destabilizing and blowback effects of wars that won’t end, including the Syrian one, and of oil prices that refuse to rise significantly and, despite the kingdom’s copious money reserves, <strong>you have a formula for potential domestic unrest.</strong> Already the royals are <a href="http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Saudi-Arabia-Cuts-Subsidies-As-Budget-Deficit-Soars.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">cutting</a> their domestic subsidies to their own population, pulling billions of dollars in aid <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-cuts-billions-in-aid-to-lebanon-opening-door-for-iran.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">out of Lebanon</a>, and exploring a possible <a href="http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Saudis-Turn-To-Capital-Markets-For-10-Billion-Loan.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">$10 billion</a> bank loan.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As <em>TomDispatch</em>’s invaluable <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176089/tomgram%3A_michael_klare,_the_look_of_a_badly_oiled_planet/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">energy expert</a> Michael Klare suggests today, when oil prices began plummeting in 2015, the Saudis launched an “oil war of attrition,” imagining that others would be devastated by it (as OPEC <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c85238a6-d963-11e5-a72f-1e7744c66818.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">partners</a> Nigeria and Venezuela already have been) but that the royals themselves would emerge triumphant. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Should the unimaginable happen, however, and should the kingdom itself begin to come unglued in a Greater Middle East that is increasingly the definition of chaos -- watch out. <em>Tom</em></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em><br></em></span></p><p style="margin-top: 11px; margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>Energy Wars of Attrition </strong><br><strong>The Irony of Oil Abundance </strong><br>By <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/authors/michaelklare" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Michael T. Klare</a></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Three and a half years ago, the International Energy Agency (IEA) <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/business/energy-environment/report-sees-us-as-top-oil-producer-in-5-years.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">triggered headlines</a> around the world by predicting that the United States would overtake Saudi Arabia to become the world’s leading oil producer by 2020 and, together with Canada, would become a net exporter of oil around 2030. Overnight, a new strain of American energy triumphalism appeared and experts began speaking of “<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323894704578114591174453074" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Saudi America</a>,” a reinvigorated U.S.A. animated by copious streams of oil and natural gas, much of it obtained through the then-pioneering technique of hydro-fracking. “This is a real energy revolution,” the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> crowed in an editorial heralding the IEA pronouncement.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The most immediate effect of this “revolution,” its boosters proclaimed, would be to banish any likelihood of a “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">peak</a>” in world oil production and subsequent petroleum scarcity. The peak oil theorists, who flourished in the early years of the twenty-first century, warned that global output was likely to reach its maximum attainable level in the near future, possibly as early as 2012, and then commence an irreversible decline as the major reserves of energy were tapped dry. The proponents of this outlook did not, however, foresee the coming of hydro-fracking and the exploitation of previously inaccessible reserves of oil and natural gas in underground shale formations. <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176112/">More</a></span></p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© Climate War Room" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© Climate War Room</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-62276601952272816862016-02-20T09:14:00.000-05:002016-02-20T09:15:07.053-05:00Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency inaugurated in Barbados<p><strong>BRIDGETOWN, 28 October 2015 - The Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) was today inaugurated during a ceremony held in the capital of Barbados.</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NCx025RaeukYaHkR4u1JcKcsoVMjAPmoxFUmVTiCukMit3Rjtb8G7QQRwp5ugAZyHoqcVW4AehSdhtKfzcrhQQjY7vx_PyOA_V48cQJzZNzboknunoMI3ZI8BdnEo6rpcQMOu7DHenan/s850/Photo%25252020160220091426397.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NCx025RaeukYaHkR4u1JcKcsoVMjAPmoxFUmVTiCukMit3Rjtb8G7QQRwp5ugAZyHoqcVW4AehSdhtKfzcrhQQjY7vx_PyOA_V48cQJzZNzboknunoMI3ZI8BdnEo6rpcQMOu7DHenan/s300/Photo%25252020160220091426397.jpg" id="blogsy-1455977673957.5444" class="alignright" width="300" height="109" alt=""></a></div><p>This follows the decision of the 36th Regular meeting of the heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to establish the centre as a regional implementation hub, with Barbados as the host country. The regional centre was developed and promoted by the CARICOM Secretariat in close partnership with the Small Island Developing States Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Initiative (SIDS DOCK) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).<br></p><p>Financial support is being provided by the governments of Austria and Germany. CCREEE will be part of a wider network of regional sustainable energy centres for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Africa, the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean. Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, stressed that the urgent establishment of the centre was in line with the region’s strategic goals and focus on sustainable development. Confirming his country’s support for the centre, he added that “the CCREEE will act as a regional hub and think-tank for sustainable energy issues and activities in the region”.<br></p><p>Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General, Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said: “The centre’s main role will be to assist CARICOM Member States in implementing the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS), as well as their respective national energy strategies and targets. The centre is an important contribution of CARICOM to the upcoming Climate Summit in Paris.”<br></p><p>Ambassador Vince Henderson, Chairman of SIDS DOCK, added: “We consider CCREEE and the wider network of centres for Small Island Developing States to be an essential contribution to make the Sustainable Energy for All initiative a reality for our economies and societies. The centres are expected to cooperate closely on the SIDS-SIDS energy agenda and will form not only a strong advocacy, but also a strong cooperation group.”<br></p><p>Pradeep Monga, UNIDO Director and Special Representative of the Director General on Energy, called “CCREEE a critical mechanism for up-scaling national efforts, particularly in the areas of project execution, capacity development, and knowledge and data management, as well as investment and business promotion, within the sustainable energy sector”.Ambassador Mikael Barfod, Delegation of the European Union to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, highlighted the creation of CCREEE as a major milestone and pledged support for the initiative.</p><p>According to Martin Ledolter, Managing Director of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), “the centre will empower local people within the Caribbean to benefit from the growing global sustainable energy markets and participate in the emerging opportunities for south-south and north-south technology and knowledge transfer”.<br></p><p>The inauguration of CCREEE will also be part of the Caribbean Energy Week, which will be observed across the region <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2">from 8 to 14 November</a> under the theme “EmPOWERING our Sustainable Development”.” <a href="http://www.ccreee.org/article/caribbean-centre-renewable-energy-and-energy-efficiency-inaugurated-barbados" target="_self" title="">More</a><br></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© Climate War Room" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© Climate War Room</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-35506858838296027132016-02-16T14:16:00.001-05:002016-02-16T14:16:22.536-05:00What’s at Stake in an Economy with Low Oil Prices <p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>In the past, low oil prices have been seen as a boon, particularly at the gas pump. They’ve been credited with boosting economies and stirring growth. But recently oil prices have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/business/energy-environment/oil-prices.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration: none;">dropped so low</a> that warning bells rippled through global markets, and they remain <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35564492" style="text-decoration: none;">volatile</a>. What does all this mean for countries and companies? How big is the risk?</strong></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6wnEzODjOpE/VsN1gxRjp8I/AAAAAAAAeCI/LL53DuuMukQ/s1200/Photo%25252020160216141613314.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6wnEzODjOpE/VsN1gxRjp8I/AAAAAAAAeCI/LL53DuuMukQ/s300/Photo%25252020160216141613314.jpg" id="blogsy-1455650180679.4268" class="alignright" width="300" height="169" alt=""></a></div><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For answers, I talked to <a href="http://www.ianbremmer.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">Ian Bremmer</a>, president of Eurasia Group and author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Superpower-Three-Choices-Americas-World/dp/1591847478/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455220748&sr=1-1&keywords=superpower" style="text-decoration: none;"><em>Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World</em></a><em>.</em> An edited version of our conversation is below.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700 !important; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">HBR: Do you see sustained low oil prices as a risk? How so, and how large?</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Bremmer: Markets have been diving on low oil prices recently not because the traditional understanding is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/business/energy-environment/this-time-cheaper-oil-does-little-for-the-us-economy.html" style="text-decoration: none;">broken;</a> it is still true that low oil prices are good for the U.S. economy as well as for Europe, China, India. All of these consumers are going to benefit. The problem is that the IMF has been <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/imf-again-cuts-global-growth-outlook-1453197604" style="text-decoration: none;">downgrading growth</a>. They’re concerned about monetary supply, a Chinese slowdown, crises around Europe, and also that U.S. growth is not quite as robust as you’d like it to be.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The risks in lower energy prices have a lot more to do with sustainability of some of the governments around the world that are really dependent on commodity revenues for their own legitimacy and power. Venezuela is going to default in the next six months if the Chinese don’t find the wherewithal to bail them out significantly. Russia, as a big oil producer, is feeling real strains — nothing destabilizing yet, and Putin is in total control, but taxes and inflation are going up. Nigeria is going to need a new IMF program.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Most worryingly, of course, are the petro states in the Middle East and the emerging-market producer countries with brittle institutions that are trying to stay stable when the one thing that provided them legitimacy — the ability to write really big checks — is falling apart. Plus, we have Iranian sanctions coming off, which is going to lead to a lot more Iranian production, a lot more Iraqi production, and more Libyan production. These prices are going to stay low for some time. This is structural.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700 !important; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There has been hand-wringing about a possible connection between sustained low oil prices and the <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21688854-low-energy-prices-ought-be-shot-arm-economy-think-again-whos-afraid-cheap" style="text-decoration: none;">risk </a>of another global recession. Could oil prices actually be driving increased risk of a slowdown?</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I don’t think so. I know people say that every 7–8 years on average we’ve had a recession in the postwar era, and the last one was in 2008, so we’re due. People see all of the economic constraints in growth around the world. These gain some momentum in the news, then seeing oil prices dive makes people grow more negative. But that’s very different from saying we’re on the cusp of another global recession, and it doesn’t feel like we’re entering that kind of environment right now, oil prices or no.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700 !important; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Do you think lower oil prices could slow the transition away from fossil fuels, the demand for electric vehicles, the shift to wind and solar, and other renewable sources of energy?</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Clearly, the shift in price pushes out the date that you expect these things to really expand and become large market participants globally, but I don’t think there’s any possibility the transition to renewables will just stop or slow dramatically. We’re well beyond that point. Governments around the world are very much onboard with the notion of climate change and believe that it’s going to get worse. Industrial renewables are still going to be huge.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Keep in mind that if you’re China, you need everything. The growth and energy demand in China is immense. They’re investing <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/china-to-build-40-nuclear-power-plants-over-the-next-five-years-a6795401.html" style="text-decoration: none;">more in nuclear</a> than anyone around the world. They’re not going to stop doing that because energy prices are low. They know they need it. They’re going to do huge amounts of wind, a huge amount of solar, and that’s going to continue to drive a lot of research and to generate technological benefits in the economy as well.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700 !important; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In your <a href="https://twitter.com/ianbremmer" style="text-decoration: none;">tweets</a> and commentary from Davos, you remarked on something called the “<a href="http://whitehatmag.com/2016/01/23/ian-bremmer-eurasia-group-technology-is-the-end-of-oil/" style="text-decoration: none;">Fourth Industrial Revolution</a>.” How is this connected to what’s going on with oil?</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” people mean things, like automation and AI and genomics and 3D printing, that are going to transform every sector and take jobs out of economies. Most people I spoke to at Davos thought that this transformation would happen within 10 years, that we’ll see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Second-Machine-Age-Prosperity-Technologies/dp/0393350649/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455288142&sr=1-1&keywords=second+machine+age" style="text-decoration: none;">dramatic changes</a> in the way we think about these sectors and in labor.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I generally agree, but the revolution is already hitting energy, right now. Seems like just yesterday we thought we had peak oil, we thought we were running out, that it was in the hands of traditional producers. Suddenly, overnight, it’s in the hands of a number of entrepreneurs unleashed on the U.S. market. Within the course of just a few years, <a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=growth%20of%20fracking&es_th=1" style="text-decoration: none;">fracking</a>went from being viewed as never-going-to-happen to a world-changing technology.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">America is now <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/u-s-ousts-russia-as-world-s-top-oil-gas-producer-in-bp-report" style="text-decoration: none;">the largest energy producer</a> in the world. The problem is, if you’re Saudi Arabia, it’s not labor that makes your economy work, it’s oil. A year ago, if you talked to Saudi leaders, they would have told you, “Oh, this is a pipe dream,” pardon the pun. They didn’t prepare for this over the past decades when times were good. Now time has suddenly turned against them very quickly. For them, this Fourth Industrial Revolution is not only disruptive, it’s disruptive in a big way, immediately. <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/02/whats-at-stake-in-an-economy-with-low-oil-prices?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29">More</a></span></p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© Climate War Room" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© Climate War Room</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-61252401929021603922016-01-31T11:29:00.000-05:002016-01-31T11:31:22.295-05:003 Ways Wind and Solar Can Continue To Grow In a 21st-Century Grid
<p nodeindex="42" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>Earlier this year, <a href="https://mitei.mit.edu/futureofsolar" target="_top" nodeindex="157" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">MIT researchers</a> were the latest in a series of analysts to raise alarm about the perceived limitations of solar PV’s continued growth. In short, these analysts propose that variable renewables will depress wholesale prices when they run, thereby <a href="http://www.theenergycollective.com/jessejenkins/2233311/look-wind-and-solar-part-2-there-upper-limit-intermittent-renewables" target="_top" nodeindex="158" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">limiting</a> their own economic success.</strong></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQiUj3SNzpSVzQxPzsUUrj8z0UFQcX_tX58jFGVkVZd-VZ35Qtc3LgDTk1wVKz6Av0bVvwHPdoWoQN26rE0gkWzUkE00TGSa243W_PE7JCJwY_ASgmb_dxHoPBX9FjgCeWdPqcyMF9Hs/s1000/Photo%25252020160131112934241.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQiUj3SNzpSVzQxPzsUUrj8z0UFQcX_tX58jFGVkVZd-VZ35Qtc3LgDTk1wVKz6Av0bVvwHPdoWoQN26rE0gkWzUkE00TGSa243W_PE7JCJwY_ASgmb_dxHoPBX9FjgCeWdPqcyMF9Hs/s300/Photo%25252020160131112934241.jpg" id="blogsy-1454257783042.667" class="alignright" width="300" height="225" alt=""></a></div>
<p nodeindex="42" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">These concerns have garnered coverage in other venues (including <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/6/24/8837293/economic-limitations-wind-solar" target="_top" nodeindex="159" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><em nodeindex="160" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Vox</em></a>, <em nodeindex="161" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-wind-and-solar-will-blow-up-power-markets" target="_top" nodeindex="162" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Greentech Media</a></em>, and <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f2eca2e2-3754-11e5-bdbb-35e55cbae175.html#axzz3r264zNjk" target="_top" nodeindex="163" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><em nodeindex="164" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Financial Times</em></a>), leading observers to suggest that the future prospects for renewables may be dim.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="43" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But are these concerns really justified, or do they rely on outdated assumptions about the grid and about electricity markets? We argue that these critiques, assuming a static grid and unchanging market mechanisms, can be used to make any innovation look bad. However, more integrative assessments of a least-cost, clean, and reliable power system of the future will factor in high fractions of variable renewables, along with more-efficient markets (and usage) and new technologies to integrate these resources seamlessly and resiliently.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="44" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In this article, we argue that falling wholesale prices is a good problem to have, and that concerns about economic limitations ignore remedies available from supply-side evolution, demand-side resources, and updated market mechanisms. As the world gathers in Paris for COP21, these messages are as important as ever for charting and pursuing a low-carbon clean-energy pathway.</span></p>
<h3 nodeindex="45" style="margin-top: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Understanding the "Problems"</span></font></h3>
<p nodeindex="46" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There has been increasing concern that variable renewables such as wind and solar may face an upper limit to adoption in the U.S. grid. The argument is that large amounts of variable renewables will create excess supply concentrated at the particular times of day when they produce. The <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2013_10_29_renewables_bird_problem" target="_top" nodeindex="165" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">notorious "duck curve"</a> is an example of this—the duck-like shape of a particular, daily demand curve modeled for California’s grid when the production of large amounts of solar photovoltaics (PV) is netted out.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="47" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Critics argue that this technical characteristic of variable renewables, specifically PV—a daily generation pattern that is not perfectly matched with load—can have economic consequences for all forms of generators, especially the renewable resources themselves. Large amounts of renewable resources can sell a glut of power when it’s available, offsetting production from higher-marginal-cost resources (like gas-fired power plants). Since power prices are generally set by the resources with the highest marginal cost that clear in the market, additional generation from renewables tends to lower market prices.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="48" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This "<a href="https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/setting-power-price-merit-order-effect" target="_top" nodeindex="166" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">merit order effect</a>" often decreases revenues for fossil generators. This impact has <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21587782-europes-electricity-providers-face-existential-threat-how-lose-half-trillion-euros" target="_top" nodeindex="167" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">been particularly dramatic in Europe</a>, where generation from costly-to-run thermal plants during the daily solar peak was formerly very profitable for fossil generation owners. PV has decreased energy prices so much there that the top 10 EU utilities lost half their market capitalization. However, the merit order effect also means that variable renewables themselves may also earn lower profits as their adoption rises. A common conclusion is that variable renewables can play only a modest role in power production, marginalized by declining wholesale value at higher adoption levels.</span></p>
<h3 nodeindex="49" style="margin-top: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Other Half of the Thought Experiment: Three Factors That Can Accelerate Renewable Energy Adoption</span></font></h3>
<p nodeindex="50" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Analysts who have put forth these arguments have elaborated only the first half of a microeconomics thought experiment. The problems they hypothesize hinge upon the laws of supply and demand, but omit important aspects of both, drastically overstating the perceived "problems." Let’s see how.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="51" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><em nodeindex="168" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong nodeindex="169" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1) Supply is changing holistically, not incrementally</strong></em></p>
<p nodeindex="52" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Many of these thought experiments consider adding just a single supply resource (often solar PV) without considering many of the other supply-side changes happening at the same time. In reality, <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=17891" target="_top" nodeindex="170" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">solar PV, wind, and natural gas are all joining the supply mix</a> in a big way at the same time; the first two are often complementary and the third is dispatchable, so together, they can do a lot to mitigate the "duck curve" often portrayed.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="53" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At the same time, retirements of uneconomic assets will provide a countervailing buoyancy to wholesale prices. For example, even though old, dirty plants often have low production costs, they may exit the market anyway due to <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=15491" target="_top" nodeindex="171" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">high costs of compliance upgrades</a> or other fixed costs that erode their profits. The resulting less-abundant supply can cause the marginal supply curve to contract in quantity, leading to higher prices and higher profits for renewables and remaining fossil generators—unless demand drops too, as it’s doing in the industrialized world.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="54" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><em nodeindex="172" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong nodeindex="173" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2) Demand is increasingly flexible, not fixed</strong></em></p>
<p nodeindex="55" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Analysts arguing that renewables’ variability will limit their growth often assume perfectly efficient wholesale markets, but unchanged retail markets and fixed demand profiles. This incomplete and asymmetrical treatment ignores the <a href="http://www.rmi.org/electricity_demand_flexibility" target="_top" nodeindex="174" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">emerging capability</a> to harness the demand side of the equation. For example, <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_04_21_california_utility_explores_time_sensitive_electricity_pricing" target="_top" nodeindex="175" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">people like</a> and <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_04_21_california_utility_explores_time_sensitive_electricity_pricing" target="_top" nodeindex="176" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">respond to</a> time-varying pricing programs, and these programs are <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_06_05_california_flattens_rate_blocks_rolls_out_default_time_of_use_pricing" target="_top" nodeindex="177" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">starting to roll out at scale</a>. The electricity demand of many appliances including <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_06_03_why_tankless_water_heaters_might_not_hold_water" target="_top" nodeindex="178" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">electric water heaters</a> and <a href="http://www.utilitydive.com/news/how-sdge-wants-to-power-the-electric-vehicle-market/315887/" target="_top" nodeindex="179" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">electric vehicles</a> is inherently flexible without disrupting the service provided. Furthermore, new business models (from both <a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/ranking-the-opportunities-and-challenges-in-future-utility-business-models" target="_top" nodeindex="180" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">utilities</a> and <a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Californias-Demand-Response-2.0-Creates-New-Competitive-Markets" target="_top" nodeindex="181" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">third parties</a>) are driving this convenient flexibility by providing seamless solutions, unobtrusively, conveniently, and without requiring customers to become part-time energy traders.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="56" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">These factors together increase flexibility of demand, an important low-cost resource, and enable what is the most natural response to changing prices in an efficient market where consumers find ways to use and benefit from cheap electricity from wind and solar. In other words, as renewables reduce energy prices during certain times of day, demand flexibility allows customers to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/business/energy-environment/a-texas-utility-offers-a-nighttime-special-free-electricity.html?_r=0" target="_top" nodeindex="182" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">shift demand to those times</a>, which will both reduce energy prices at other (peak) times and <a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/strategies-mitigate-decli" target="_top" nodeindex="183" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">raise the price paid to renewables</a> during times when they produce the most.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="57" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><em nodeindex="184" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong nodeindex="185" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">3) Storage makes renewables dispatchable, not variable</strong></em></p>
<p nodeindex="58" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Diverse supply and flexible demand will play a big role in easing renewable integration concerns but, to the extent that issues remain, the <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_06_11_tesla_hitting_the_battery_accelerator" target="_top" nodeindex="186" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">continuing decline in battery prices</a> and the <a href="http://www.rmi.org/electricity_battery_value" target="_top" nodeindex="187" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">range of values available from batteries</a> means that remaining variability issues can probably be addressed at modest incremental costs. At the retail level, this can lead to <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_10_16_hawaii_just_ended_net_metering_for_solar_now_what" target="_top" nodeindex="188" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">increasing self-balancing of distributed generation</a> (we’ve already seen this in <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/1012/Germany-eyes-new-kind-of-net-metering-self-consumption" target="_top" nodeindex="189" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Germany</a> and <a href="http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/em3861/" target="_top" nodeindex="190" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Australia</a>, and it may <a href="http://www.rmi.org/electricity_load_defection" target="_top" nodeindex="191" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">affect utility business models</a> in the U.S.). At the wholesale level, as variable resources begin to saturate the market, high-priced hours will incentivize developers to begin to look at storage. Already, <a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/NextEra-on-Storage-Post-2020-There-May-Never-be-Another-Peaker-Built-in-t" target="_top" nodeindex="192" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">storage is seen as a near-term replacement for peaking generation</a>, and batteries installed for peaking capacity can also be used to smooth the economic impact of renewables on power prices.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="59" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Storage is already a common feature of concentrating solar power (via molten salt), and becoming an increasingly common feature of solar PV. <a href="http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/renewables-clean-up-at-chile-energy-auction-including-24-hour-solar-10549" target="_top" nodeindex="193" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">For example, the all-renewable winning bids</a> in the latest Chilean auction for unsubsidized electricity included not just solar power as low as $65/MWh in the daytime, but also nighttime solar power—via thermal or electrical storage—for $97/MWh at night. With storage, variable renewables become dispatchable, and dispatchable renewables do not have nearly the same merit order effect as variable ones. To be sure, our recent <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/2015_10_07_year_of_the_battery_but_storage_can_do_much_more" target="_top" nodeindex="194" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">demonstration</a> that 13 kinds of benefits of behind-the-meter distributed storage can make batteries cost-effective does not necessarily make them competitive with the many other ways to achieve grid flexibility, but similar reasoning suggests an abundant range of options for averting the problems that narrowly constrained models imply.</span></p>
<h3 nodeindex="60" style="margin-top: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Whole-System Thinking Illuminates a Path Towards Least-Cost Outcomes</span></font></h3>
<p nodeindex="61" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Analysts arguing that renewables will economically limit their own continuing adoption generally leave out the considerations listed above—and more importantly, these arguments are built on incremental thinking, assuming that today’s grid and markets are fixed and only one thing changes (e.g., PV or wind-energy market share). A more holistic, integrative, and accurate analysis would start with the ultimate objectives (reliable, resilient, and least-cost energy services), and promote a whole-system design to get there promptly.</span></p>
<p nodeindex="62" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With this perspective in mind, the characteristics of renewable energy that have caused so much hand-wringing—variable output and near-zero marginal costs of production—simply add to the list of design considerations for a market design that rewards efficient investment. Given supply diversity, demand flexibility, and emerging technologies like storage, variable renewables are unlikely to face any practical limit to growth even under current grid paradigms and market structures.</span></p>
<h3 nodeindex="63" style="margin-top: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nothing Sacred About Existing Markets</span></font></h3>
<p nodeindex="64" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But even if renewables do face adoption limits in current markets, there is <a href="http://www.powermarkets.org/blog/power-markets-on-the-energy-transition-podcast" target="_top" nodeindex="195" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">no reason we have to keep these markets the way they are</a>. Wholesale power markets are largely a product of historical coincidence, formed out of the paradigms of the last century in which thermal power plants competed only with each other. Modern market design that reflects the realities and changing resource mix of the 21st century grid, being <a href="https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/what-we-can-learn-from-germanys-windy-sunny-electric-grid/" target="_top" nodeindex="196" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">pioneered in Germany already</a>, can go a long way towards aligning incentives for least-cost resource mixes. Particularly, incorporating behind-the-meter distributed energy resources and flexible loads into energy markets—as is being done in <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/8/13/9145501/california-solar-aggregation" target="_top" nodeindex="197" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">California</a> and <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_08_27_new_york_REV_distributed_platform_breaks_new_ground" target="_top" nodeindex="198" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">New York</a>—can bring new capabilities and a refined level of control to the grid.</span></p>
<h3 nodeindex="65" style="margin-top: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An Integration Challenge?</span></font></h3>
<p nodeindex="66" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Evolving supply, flexible demand, storage, and updated markets can remove the limits to increasing renewable energy on the grid. In a later post, we will highlight how these same levers can address the common concerns—and misunderstandings—about "integration costs" of renewable energy. For example, a much-hyped recent <a href="http://www.neon-energie.de/Hirth-Ueckerdt-Edenhofer-2015-Integration-Costs-Revisited-Framework-Wind-Solar-Variability.pdf" target="_top" nodeindex="199" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">paper</a> claims that high-penetration renewables must incur steeply rising integration costs. But that turns out to be an artifact of extremely restrictive assumptions in the models used, combined with an assertion that competitive harm to thermal-plant incumbents is an economic cost of the renewables that beat them.</span></p>
<h3 nodeindex="67" style="margin-top: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Renewables Are Here To Stay</span></font></h3>
<p nodeindex="68" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The "problems" with renewables often brought up by analysts may be real in isolation, but are overstated when the full range of options is considered. Indeed, these are good problems to have: they’re the natural forces of supply and demand acting to send signals to market participants to diversify resource choice, incentivize demand flexibility, and invest in storage and other emerging technologies. Arguments against wind and solar PV conclude that these resources will need greater subsidies to survive in the "duck curve" era. But instead, we can tap the latent power of supply diversity, demand flexibility, storage, and market design to level the playing field for all resources, rather than clinging to the premises of the 20th century grid. Protecting the old system is far inferior to enabling the new one so that innovation can flourish, entrepreneurs can thrive, and all options can compete fully and fairly. <a href="http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_11_30_3_ways_wind_and_solar_can_continue_to_grow_in_a_21st_century_grid">Source</a></span></p>
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<div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© Climate War Room" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© Climate War Room</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-398245465013990654.post-61192355981747307092016-01-26T10:51:00.001-05:002016-01-26T10:51:48.474-05:00Grenada hosting inaugural Caribbean Waste to Energy conference<p><strong>A four-day inaugural Caribbean Waste to Energy Conference and Exposition began here on Wednesday with Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell indicating that Grenada is fully committed to working towards a zero-waste economy.</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3QRcx9abXmBllqwY33dUFanGlsbV0QoZTzbaMdR9eNC0U2JDpO8McvCW4wMDgwRll00Fn_r1ttPAC1BQzea4diK17J7_2VIefiLsesG-Fi8b1D3XJzyTjZQiWJV9u22Sfu3fw9qZciM/s504/Photo%25252020160126105108771.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3QRcx9abXmBllqwY33dUFanGlsbV0QoZTzbaMdR9eNC0U2JDpO8McvCW4wMDgwRll00Fn_r1ttPAC1BQzea4diK17J7_2VIefiLsesG-Fi8b1D3XJzyTjZQiWJV9u22Sfu3fw9qZciM/s300/Photo%25252020160126105108771.jpg" id="blogsy-1453823477817.73" class="alignright" width="300" height="198" alt="PM Dr. Keith Mitchell"></a></div><p>He told delegates attending the conference, which is intended to improve understanding that effectively managed waste can be a renewable resource, that it was necessary for the island to develop such a policy, which will provide the framework for sustainable management of waste in the region.<br></p><p>“We recognise that waste is a valuable resource, an important source of energy, and that the current waste management practices are resulting in an economy and citizenry that are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,” Prime Minister Mitchell said.<br></p><p><em>“A critical issue is that in the majority of Caribbean countries, imported petroleum is the chief source of primary commercial energy, while vast renewable energy resources remain to be developed.”</em><br></p><p>The conference is being held under the theme ‘Energy Services From Waste: The Development of a Regional Integrated Organic Waste Management Sector, and is being organised to promote improved management of waste for environmental protection and strengthening coastal resilience to climate change impacts.<br></p><p>Mitchell said that while global oil prices are now at their lowest levels in over a decade, high and generally unpredictable oil prices have consistently retarded the competitiveness of regional goods and services.<br></p><p>“<em>Scarce foreign exchange earnings that are being spent by our countries to pay for energy imports could be otherwise directed to alleviating poverty, adapting to climate change and sea level rise, or finance other critical interventions which are necessary for building our social, economic and climate resilience; thus increasing our ability to recover and respond which is the cornerstone of sustainable development,” he suggested. </em><a href="http://caribbeanclimateblog.com/2016/01/26/grenada-hosting-inaugural-caribbean-waste-to-energy-conference/)" target="_self" title="">More</a><br></p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="© " style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />© </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00568422578494853037noreply@blogger.com0