US: Alternative-Energy Quest Is Blocked by a 1953 Law
A 51-year-old state law requires cities to use the least expensive energy source for a commodity.
Renewable Energy
Fossil fuel subsidies ‘must end’
The only way to meet international poverty targets is by a massive switch to renewable energy, such as solar power, a UK think-tank says.
POWER FROM THE SUN
Overview of photovoltaics: costs, government policies, potential. Has a pretty good description of the current state of the industry. See original for several nice figures.
World Bank rebuked for fossil fuel strategy
The World Bank’s drive to promote fossil fuel-generated power for 1,6-billion people lacking electricity will drive developing countries deeper into debt, a report by a development think tank claims on Monday.
Australia: Sun and wind going to waste
In this vast, burned continent, where the sun shines seven out of 10 days and anticyclones pump wind steadily out to sea in winter and on to shore in summer, Australians sate their rapacious hunger for energy by digging underground and fouling the air.
Raymond: Facing Some Of The Hard Truths About Energy
For a variety of reasons, we expect fossil fuels to provide about 80 percent of the energy used in 2020, and to increase — and I emphasize increase — in absolute magnitude by about 65 million oil equivalent barrels per day. Just how much is 65 million barrels per day? Well, it is close to eight times Saudi Arabia’s current crude oil production.
Wind power buffeted by technical and economic challenges
US: The vagaries of economics and energy policy have compounded those of the winds. After the oil embargo passed, tax credits for alternative power fell away in the mid-1980s. Many wind companies withered.
Canada: Province Moves Toward 100% Electricity from Wind Power
The province of Prince Edward
Island (PEI) plans to introduce renewable tariffs
later this year, the first jurisdiction to do so in
North America. The tariffs will be used to develop
community-owned wind generation on the island.
Quest for energy is race against time
New forms of energy need to be developed quickly or else the world faces a cataclysmic economic and environmental future writes Jeremy Leggett
Raymond urges “constructive relationships” with oil-producing nations
“We simply do not yet have the economic solutions or technologies that would permit us to meet future energy demands without carbon emissions growth,” Exxon Mobil chairman Lee R. Raymond said.
Solar power city offers 20 years of lessons
A 20 year experiment in renewable energy leaves some unclear answers. Has solar power worked here? Has it worked around the country? Can it help us get beyond our dependence on fossil fuels? Yes and no, to all three questions.
The answer’s not just blowing in the wind
SCOTTISHPOWER chief executive Ian Russell has warned that the government’s ambitious targets for green energy are at risk unless other forms of renewable energy other than wind power are developed.
