A new report from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), a body affiliated with the United Nations and the International Energy Agency (IEA), says renewable energy accounts for over half of all new electricity capacity added in the United States and Europe during 2009.
The REN21 report highlights the shift in manufacturing and deployment of these new energy technologies from developed nations to growing ecnomies like China, Brazil and India.
In 2009, China produced 40% of global solar PV and 30% of all wind turbines; a massive increase from 10% in 2007.
However, despite its advances in implementing green power, China’s carbon dioxide emissions also increased in 2009. It has overtaken the United States and now claims the title of highest emitting nation in the world.
The EU has reached a unanimous decision to create a central trading platform to manage sales of the majority of EU carbon permits which are traded through the bloc’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
The central trading platform will commence during the 2013 stage of the ETS, but individual nations will also have the freedom to opt-out and hold their own auctions. The number of permits to be issued and dates of auction have yet to be determined.
During the first phase of the ETS trading scheme, most permits were distributed to industries for free. However as phase 3 begins, the majority of emissions permits will be sold to companies through auctions. This includes the aviation sector, which will be required to purchase 15% of their permits at auction when it joins the ETS in 2012.
Thanks to the implementation of an industry-friendly feed-in-tariff in 2007, the Italian solar PV market has taken off at a furious pace.
Data from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) shows that Italy installed more photovoltaic systems than the entire United States in 2009. What’s more, by the end of the year, Italy will have installed over 2,500 MW of solar PV power, more than one and one-half times the U.S. total.
Italy is now the world’s second largest solar PV market after Germany. Unlike Spain, Italy is not planning to remove its feed-in-tariff anytime soon. It has set a new target of 3,000MW for the next time period of 2011-2013, but will trim the tariffs 18% by Q3 of 2011. Italy reached its 2010 target of 1,200MW earlier this year. Most of these new installations are on rooftops or in distributed applications, and according to the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici, almost 1/4 are relatively small (20kW or less).
Many of the world’s largest developed nations experienced a drop in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2009. China and India, however, saw their own domestic emissions levels rise significantly. Has this growth in effect “canceled out” the reductions made in developed nations? According to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the answer is yes.
Global emissions levels remained relatively unchanged in 2009 largely because of Chinese and Indian contributions, despite predictions from groups such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) which thought the global economic meltdown and decrease in manufacturing would assuredly reduce emissions worldwide.
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency notes that carbon dioxide emissions per person in China are now 6.1 tons, roughly equal to France which clocked in at 6.0 tons in 2009. This figure represents a major increase for China, which in 1990 emitted only 2.2 tons per capita. Interestingly, this increase comes Chinese wind and solar energy capacity has doubled for the fifth year in a row.
Because of its use of nuclear energy, French emissions are actually on the lower end of the scale in comparison to other developed nations. Per capita emissions in other EU member nations were 7.9 tons in 2009, down from 9.1 tons in 1990, while per capita emissions in the United Sates fell to 17.2 tons in 2009, decreasing from 19.5 tons in 1990.
All in all, the Dutch agency now reports that 53% of 2009 global emissions came from developing nations, with 44% coming from the developed world. International air and sea transportation accounts for the remaining 3%.
A recent survey confirms that African nations are home to the world’s most vulnerable water supplies, and face substantial risks from climate change and population growth.
British consultancy group Maplecroft crafted a “water security risk index” of 165 nations around the world based on criteria such as access to drinking water, per capita demand and dependence on water from rivers which first travel through other neighboring nations.
The survey showed primarily African and Asian nations had the most vulnerable supplies, with Somalia, Mauritania, Sudan, Niger and Iraq leading the list of “riskiest nations.”
However, poor countries are not the only ones facing increased water risk, noted Anna Moss, an author of the study. Regions of the United States and Australia are also at high risk levels., as are European countries like Bulgaria, Belgium and Spain.
On the other end of the spectrum, the most secure water supplies can be found in Iceland, Norway and New Zealand.
The European Union (EU) Presidency announced the launch of a €6 billion public-private partnership to vastly increase the amount of wind energy used in Europe.
The European Wind Initiative (EWI) is the result of a collaboration between the European wind industry, the EU comission and EU member states. The EWI aims to supply 20% of all European energy demand with wind energy resources by 2020, 33% by 2030, and finally 50% of total demand by 2050.
The EWI will support research on advanced turbine and component technology to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. The Initiative aims to speed deployment of both on- and off-shore wind installations, and ease integration of large-scale systems into the grid.
“The European Wind Initiative is a big step forward in our efforts to maintain and strengthen Europe’s global leadership in wind energy technology,” remarked Christian Kjaer, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).
The United Kingdom’s offshore renewable energy capacity could one day generate as much electricity every year as would one billion barrels of oil, according to a recent report from the Offshore Valuation Group.
The Group projects that utilizing just one third of the available wind and tidal resources off the UK coast could eventually transform the nation from a net importer to a net exporter of electricity by 2050. At the same time, deploying these resources would result in a savings of 1.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions and create infrastructure with a positive net present value of £35 billion.
“We have long been saying that the North Sea will become the Saudi Arabia of wind energy,” says Peter Madigan, head of offshore renewables at industry advocacy body RenewableUK.
Turkey and Russia signed agreements on Wednesday for the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant and the development of a pipeline project to carry Russian oil from the Black Sea, through Turkey to the Mediterranean.
Turkey, a U.S. ally, served as NATO’s foremost base during the Cold War, but its relations with Moscow have rapidly developed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Both countries have vowed to triple their bilateral trade volume to around $100 billion in the next five years.
The power plant construction, near Turkey’s Mediterranean coastal town of Akkuyu, is expected to take seven years, said Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who oversaw the signing with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The two leaders also signed an agreement to work on a pipeline project that would pump Russian oil from the Black Sea port of Samsun in northern Turkey to the Ceyhan oil terminal on the Mediterranean in southern Turkey, where an oil refinery would be set up. From there, the oil would be shipped to Europe.
The goal of the project is to bypass Turkey’s Bosporus strait to alleviate the congested oil tanker traffic through the narrow waterway that bisects Istanbul en route from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Russia’s gas exports have made it the second largest trading partner of Turkey. Both sides have recently been working to improve their diplomatic relations and trade ties.
“By taking these steps, Turkey is taking its position as an energy hub to a much different level,” Erdogan said. “The solidarity with Russia on this issue is of utmost importance.”
On Wednesday, Turkey and Russia also agreed to mutually lift entry visa requirements for visits of up to 30 days in an effort to boost tourism and business. About 3 million Russian tourists visit Turkey annually.
“It is a historical agreement that will before anything else ease the life of millions of people,” Medvedev said.
Arguing that the public discourse surrounding climate change has deteriorated, a group of 14 “eclectic” academics from Europe, North American and Japan have come together with a host of new ideas, namely shifting global focus away from carbon dioxide mitigation and towards more “quick fix” climate solutions.
The “Hartwell Paper” urges the world to look beyond the UN climate negotiating platform, beyond the disappointing outcome of Copenhagen, and beyond the so-called “ClimateGate” scandal to see the true complexities, and importance, of the issues at hand. ”Climate change has been represented as a conventional environmental ‘problem’ that is capable of being ‘solved,’” said Mike Hulme, an author of the report. ”It is neither of these. Yet this framing has locked the world into a rigid agenda that brought us to the dead end of Kyoto, with no evidence of any discernible acceleration of decarbonization whatsoever.”
Hulme and his fellow authors believe the best way to move forward is by concentrating on ways to curb pollution from “black carbon” – a warming agent which is emitted from the incomplete burning of fossil fuels mainly in diesel engines and wood stoves. This substance, the scientists say, may be the second most significant human-contributed warming agent after carbon dioxide.
The authors concede that carbon dioxide emissions will have to be reined in if long term warming is to be mitigated. To do so, they advocate an agreement among developed countries to contribute 0.7% of GDP to support low-carbon technology development and deployment in developing nations, where a carbon tax would be instituted.
This report, however, has been harshly criticized by many other climate scientists who believe it is a mistake to shift global attention away from carbon dioxide. ”The paper’s focus away from CO2 is misguided, short-sighted and probably wrong,” remarked Bill Hare from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
Climatic change will increase water stress in many places, the report says
The amount of water used to produce food and goods imported by developed countries is worsening water shortages in the developing world, a report says.
The report, focusing on the UK, says two-thirds of the water used to make UK imports is used outside its borders.
The Engineering the Future alliance of professional engineering bodies says this is unsustainable, given population growth and climate change.
It says countries such as the UK must help poorer nations curb water use.
“We must take account of how our water footprint is impacting on the rest of the world,” said Professor Roger Falconer, director of the Hydro-Environmental Research Centre at Cardiff University and a member of the report’s steering committee.
“If we are to prevent the ‘perfect storm’, urgent action is necessary.”
The term perfect storm was used last year by the UK government’s chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, to describe future shortages of energy, food and water.
Forecasts suggest that when the world’s population soars beyond 8bn in 20 years time, the global demand for food and energy will jump by 50%, with the need for fresh water rising by 30%.
But developing countries are already using significant proportions of their water to grow food and produce goods for consumption in the West, the report says.
“The burgeoning demand from developed countries is putting severe pressure on areas that are already short of water,” said Professor Peter Guthrie, head of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Cambridge University, who chaired the steering group.
“If the water crisis becomes critical, it will pose a serious threat to the UK’s future development because of the impact it would have on our access to vital resources.”
Key to the report is the concept of “embedded water” – the water used to grow food and make things.
Embedded in a pint of beer, for example, is about 130 pints (74 litres) of water – the total amount needed to grow the ingredients and run all the processes that make the pint of beer.
A cup of coffee embeds about 140 litres (246 pints) of water, a cotton T-shirt about 2,000 litres, and a kilogram of steak 15,000 litres.
Using this methodology, UK consumers see only about 3% of the water usage they are responsible for.
The average UK consumer uses about 150 litres per day, the size of a large bath.
Ten times as much is embedded in the British-made goods bought by the average UK consumer; but that represents only about one-third of the total water embedded in all the average consumer’s food and goods, with the remainder coming from imports.
The UK is not unique in this – the same pattern is seen in most developed countries.
The engineering institutions say it means nations such as the UK have a duty to help curb water use in the developing world, where about one billion people already do not have sufficient access to clean drinking water.
UK-funded aid projects should have water conservation as a central tenet, the report recommends, while companies should examine their supply chains and reduce the water used in them.
This could lead to difficult questions being asked, such as whether it is right for the UK to import beans and flowers from water-stressed countries such as Kenya.
While growing crops such as these uses water, selling them brings foreign exchange into poor nations.
In the West, the report suggests, concerns over water could eventually lead to goods carrying a label denoting their embedded water content, in the same way as electrical goods now sport information about their energy consumption.
The Engineering the Future alliance includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).
NEW YORK — Commodities prices fell sharply Tuesday as new doubts about Europe’s ability to resolve the Greek debt crisis sparked a global flight from risky investments.
Crude oil and other energy contracts tumbled, a day after oil hit an 18-month high. Prices for copper and other industrial metals also fell sharply.
The declines in commodities were made worse by a spike in the dollar as investors sought safe places for their money. The rising dollar tends to sap demand from foreign investors for commodities, which are priced in dollars.
Oil fell 4 percent, as did heating oil.
Copper fell more than 3 percent, and silver prices were off nearly 5 percent.
The dollar rose sharply against other currencies, especially the euro, which has been battered by the Greek debt crisis.
The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six other currencies, jumped 1.2 percent to 83.26.
The seemingly endless saga of finding a solution for Greece’s debt crunch has unnerved investors, sending stock prices down around the globe Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average was down as much as 283 points, its biggest drop since Feb. 4, before it closed down 225.
“There seems to be a wholesale run for the exit for risky assets,” said Evan Smith, co-manager of U.S. Global Investors’ $800 million Global Resources Fund. “It appears to be concerns about Greece and the impact on the euro zone. We thought that fire had been put out, but it keeps reigniting, it seems.”
European nations agreed to a bailout package for Greece over the weekend, but street protests broke out in Athens Tuesday as unionists opposed the sweeping budget cuts the country agreed to in order to qualify for the aid. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s debt to junk last week and also lowered its ratings on debt issued by Spain and Portugal, confirming fears that Europe’s sovereign debt woes were spreading.
Copper’s decline was made worse by another factor: China. Beijing imposed more restrictions on its banks, leading investors to worry that its hunger for copper, oil and other industrial commodities might wane as its economic growth moderates. July copper dropped 11.5 cents to $3.1785 a pound.
Other metals also tumbled.
Platinum fell $43.10 to settle at $1,685.80 an ounce, while palladium for June delivery fell $33 to $515.25 an ounce. Both are used in making catalytic converters for cars and therefore respond to shifts in sentiment about economic growth.
July silver fell 99.8 cents to $17.842 an ounce. Gold was the least hurt among metals in the selloff, falling $14.10 to settle at $1,169.20 an ounce.
In energy trading, crude oil prices dropped $3.45, or 4 percent, to settle at $82.74 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude had traded at its highest level in a year and a half on Monday. Oil prices are also taking a hit from growing crude inventories, which may have gained an additional 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
In other Nymex trading in June contracts, heating oil fell 8.56 cents to settle at $2.2595 a gallon, and gasoline lost 11.29 cents to settle at $2.3222 a gallon. Natural gas added 1.3 cents at $4.013 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Agricultural commodities were mixed. Wheat for July delivery rose 9 cents to settle at $5.1075 a bushel. June soybeans rose half a cent to $9.87 a bushel, while corn fell 2.5 cents to $3.69 a bushel.
Recent estimates expect the global automobile fleet to double over the next 20 years – growing from 800m today to over 1.6bn in 2030. This massive growth is occurring as developing powers like China and India increase levels of individual car ownership. However, the extra emissions resulting from millions upon millions more vehicles on the world’s roadways could be dramatic, and adversely affect global efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
The European Commission has launched a “green transport” initiative in an effort to reach their emissions reductions goals. By 2050, the EU is aiming for an 80 to 95% decrease in transport-related emissions. The Commission believes widespread deployment of green transportation options, such as electric vehicles, public transportation and low-carbon and sustainable fuels will go a long way to achieving this goal.
The initiative calls for, among other things, Europe-wide standards for electric vehicle charging by 2011, continued research into low-carbon and energy efficient methods of transportation, financial incentives to encourage consumers and will work with the European Investment Bank to catalyze funding for green vehicle infrastructure and services.
European Union countries aim to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050; keeping within scientific recommendations to limit global temperature increases to 2°C. Major new investment will be needed to achieve cuts on this scale, specifically in renewable power projects and electricity infrastructure upgrades.
However, despite these costs, a new report from three leading consulting firms predicts that the cost of electricity in Europe in 2050 would be no higher than it would under a “business as usual” plan with no carbon-reduction action taken.
The study, jointly published by McKinsey, European Climate Foundation and E3G, highlighted the following 3 points:
- Renewable power infrastructure is capital-intensive at the onset, yet over time costs less to run than do traditional power plants.
- Replacing outdated coal-fired power plants with new ones is actually more expensive that substituting wind or solar farms instead
- Smart grid investment continent-wide will provide major savings in energy efficiency, and help improve the reliability (and price) of renewables.
According to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the global solar PV sector grew by 44% in 2009, bringing on 6.4 GW of new power capacity – a yearly record. This brings total global capacity to over 20 GW.
The German market led the world in demand, closely followed by Italy, Japan and the United States. The EPIA predicts Germany will remain the largest demand market in 2010, however propsed cuts in government subsidies – which had been very favorable to the sector – may reduce that demand.
Despite its strong showing last year, solar PV represents only 0.5 % of total installed electricity capacity worldwide, and remains more expensive per kWh than other types of power generation.
Sustainable investments in Switzerland rebound strongly to hit new peak
Sustainable investments run by Swiss fund managers rebounded after the financial crisis to reach a new high of CHF34.1bn (€23bn) during 2009 – with investment inflows outstripping the market average – according to a report from Zurich-based consulting firm onValues. The rise in sustainable assets managed by fund managers at the end of last year represented a 63% increase over the figure at the end of December 2008. The figures comprise assets in investment funds, segregated mandates and structured products.
In a 12-page report surveying 19 asset managers, onValues said the net asset flow into sustainable funds was approximately 22.9%, during 2009 compared to 4.5% seen by the average Swiss fund provider over the same period. The report said the sustainability asset inflows were “particularly marked” for thematic equity funds and new funds in the real estate and emerging market equities.
In a breakdown of Swiss sustainable assets, onValues said funds accounted for approximately 55% of the total, segregated mandates for 40% and structured products 5%. Institutions account for 45% of the sustainable assets market, with the balance invested by retail/private banking investors. However, the report said fund manager respondents believe institutional investors will drive the main growth in the sector in the next three years. OnValues said it set out to assess the market for specialist sustainable investment products and not the degree to which ESG factors are being used in mainstream investment portfolios. It said this means there are probably more total assets in Switzerland run via broader sustainability criteria.
The survey was backed by Bank Sarasin, Bank Vontobel, Ethos, Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen, INrate, Kaiser Ritter Partner, SAM, Swisscanto, UBS and Zürcher Kantonalbank.
China and India have formally agreed to ratify the Copenhagen Accord, the global climate agreement which stemmed from last year’s U.N. climate change convention in Copenhagen.
Over 100 countries have already approved the Accord, which aims to limit the increase in global temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels. The Accord also calls for spending on the scale of $100 billion a year to assist emerging countries in making adaptations to climate change.
China and India are two of the world’s fastest growing economies, and in recent years their rates of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have skyrocketed. By joining the Accord, China and India have added legitimacy to the treaty and have demonstrated to the rest of the world that they are serious about addressing these important climate issues.
Although Norway is one of the globe’s top producers of oil and gas, the nation is dedicated to advancing alternative forms of power generation. It currently generates most of its own power from large hydroelectric power plants, and scientists at the Norwegian company Sway are now working on building the largest wind turbine in the world.
According to working plans, the turbine would stand 533 feet tall, with a proposed rotor diameter of a staggering 475 feet. Because of its massive size, this wind turbine would be floated out in open ocean waters to capture strong winds. Sway plans to install this turbine in 2011, and will likely spend $65.7 million on the prototype.
As part of the Renewable Energy Directive of 2009, the European Union pledged to generate 20% from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2020. According to a new analysis by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the EU is on track to meet those targets.
“Europe has witnessed a sea-change since the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive was agreed as in 2008 many countries were stating that their target would be difficult to meet – now the majority are forecasting that they will meet or exceed their national target,” said Justin Wilkes, Policy Director of EWEA.
A number of countries, including Spain and Germany, are expected to exceed their national targets. Spain, for example, is predicting a nearly 3% increase over its 20% target with 22.7% of energy coming from renewables by 2020.
Before the year is up, Italian solar developers are planning to double the nation’s solar capacity. Favorable goverment tax incentives will expire at the end of the year, and projects are moving ahead at full speed to take advantage of these programs.
“This year, at least 800MW, if not 1,00MW will be added,” said Gerardo Montanino, head of operations at energy management agency GSE. ”It will be a year of a strong boom.”
A new report from the 
Thanks to the implementation of an industry-friendly feed-in-tariff in 2007, the Italian solar PV market has taken off at a furious pace.
Many of the world’s largest developed nations experienced a drop in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2009. China and India, however, saw their own domestic emissions levels rise significantly. Has this growth in effect “canceled out” the reductions made in developed nations? According to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the answer is yes.
A recent survey confirms that African nations are home to the world’s most vulnerable water supplies, and face substantial risks from climate change and population growth.
The European Union (EU) Presidency announced the launch of a €6 billion public-private partnership to vastly increase the amount of wind energy used in Europe.
The United Kingdom’s offshore renewable energy capacity could one day generate as much electricity every year as would one billion barrels of oil, according to a recent report from the Offshore Valuation Group.
Recent estimates expect the global automobile fleet to double over the next 20 years – growing from 800m today to over 1.6bn in 2030. This massive growth is occurring as developing powers like China and India increase levels of individual car ownership. However, the extra emissions resulting from millions upon millions more vehicles on the world’s roadways could be dramatic, and adversely affect global efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the global solar PV sector grew by 44% in 2009, bringing on 6.4 GW of new power capacity – a yearly record. This brings total global capacity to over 20 GW.
Sustainable investments in Switzerland rebound strongly to hit new peak
Although Norway is one of the globe’s top producers of oil and gas, the nation is dedicated to advancing alternative forms of power generation. It currently generates most of its own power from large hydroelectric power plants, and scientists at the Norwegian company Sway are now working on building the largest wind turbine in the world.
As part of the Renewable Energy Directive of 2009, the European Union pledged to generate 20% from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2020. According to a new analysis by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the EU is on track to meet those targets.
Before the year is up, Italian solar developers are planning to double the nation’s solar capacity. Favorable goverment tax incentives will expire at the end of the year, and projects are moving ahead at full speed to take advantage of these programs.