Below are some excerpts from the report:

1. Electric Vehicles: Worldwide hybrid electric vehicle sales predicted to double by 2014.  Exponential growth predicted in Europe, Australia and South Korea.  New market opportunities in India & China.
2. Enhanced Oil Recovery: Practice can improve oil producing methods by 70 – 90%.  Oil viscosity is improved through steam, gas or injection of chemicals.
3. Green Building: Use of recycled materials, sustainable sources, efficient building insulation and improved construction techniques contribute to sector growth.  Predicted to grow to $580bn by 2015, a 21% combined annual growth rate.
4. Offshore Wind: Installations expected at higher rate than land-based turbines.  U.K. in particular may more than double offshore market value to $5bn by 2015.
5. Smart Grid: Growth in grid infrastructure, information and communications technology and software and applications slated to grow as more renewables come online.  Predicted growth to $171bn by 2014.
6. Solar: Concentrated solar power (CSP) market to jumpstart by 2012.  This fastest-growing segment of solar may grow to $3bn by 2014 from $700,000 in 2010, representing a 42% annual growth rate over the time period.

Read more here…

After a 2 ½ year-long environmental review, the Beacon Solar Energy Project will be constructed on a 2,012 acre plot of former farmland.  Solar thermal plants generate electricity by using long trays of parabolic mirror to reflect the sun’s rays and heat a tube of liquid.  The super-heated liquid then creates stem to fire a turbine which generates electricity.

“I hope this is the first of many more large-scale solar projects we will permit.  This is exactly the type of project we want to see,” said an Energy Commission member.

However, the Beacon project still has more hurdles to overcome, including environmental concerns about impact on limited water supplies and vulnerable wildlife.  Beacon must also secure a contract to sell the electricity they generate.  The project supporters are optimistic about obtaining this type of contract, considering California’s utilities are required to purchase 20% of the electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Read the full article here…

Renewables

• Total renewable power capacity in China reached 226GW in 2009, representing 1/4 of the nation’s total.  The government is calling for a total of 500GW of renewable power capacity by 2020, or about 1/3 of total power capacity.
• Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) for Chinese utilities require 8% of all capacity and 3% of power to be generated from non-hydro renewables by 2020.
• Revisions to the 2005 Renewable Energy Law will require increased cooperation between new renewables and the grid to ensure the generated power is transmitted efficiently.  The revisions also strengthened the Ministry of Finance’s renewable energy fund, which collects a tax on all electric power sales.

Wind

• Chinese wind power in particular grew thirty times over between 2005-2009.   China is now just behind the U.S. in total installed wind capacity.  Its turbine manufacturing industry grew to the world’s largest in 4 years.  The government has amended the wind power Feed-in-Tariff, and aims for 150GW of new installations by 2020.

Solar

• The “Golden Sun” program, introduced in 2009, will provide generous subsidies for solar PV installations.  Currently 300 projects have been proposed, totaling nearly $2.9 billion in investment.

Nuclear

• China has expanded its pledge to achieve 15% of all primary energy from “non-fossil fuel sources” by 2020.  This expanded directive will allow nuclear power to be included in the total accounting.

Carbon

• New carbon intensity targets were announced in Dec 2009, which aim to reduce the carbon intensity of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 relative to 2005 levels.

Energy Efficiency

• The 5 Year Plan for 2006-2010 aims to increase energy efficiency by 20%, including pumps, fans, boilers and the production of materials like steel and cement.

Read the full article here ….

Panasonic has placed an Y820bn ($9.4bn, €7.2bn, £6bn) bet on the future of green energy by offering to buy out minority shareholders in two subsidiaries specialising in lithium-ion batteries, solar cells and other environmental technology.

The Japanese electronics group, which is seeking to reduce its reliance on more conventional products such as televisions and refrigerators, on Thursday said it would seek to acquire all the shares it does not already own in Sanyo and Panasonic Electric Works.

It currently owns just over 50 per cent of both companies.

The move is part of an effort by Panasonic and by other Japanese electronics manufacturers to carve out new market niches as profit margins shrink in older businesses and foreign competitors, such as Samsungof South Korea, grab market share with lower prices and increasingly high-quality products.

Panasonic spent Y400bn last year to buy control of Sanyo from an investment consortium led by Goldman Sachs, which had bailed out then-struggling Sanyo in 2006…….

Read full article

Sworn in last month to replace previous leader Kevin Rudd, Gillard said she is “committed to Australia’s largest ever investments in solar and other renewables.”

Gillard has not made specific mention of the controversial carbon cap-and-trade system which former PM Rudd had championed.

Read more here…

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.

Read more here…

Abengoa Solar is the recipient of the first offer, $1.45 billion to help finance the construction and start-up of a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Arizona.  Once operational, the “Solana” plant would add 250MW of electric capacity to the grid, enough to power 70,000 homes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 475,000 tons.

A loan of $400 million was also offered to Abound Solar Manufacturing to for the manufacture of thin-film cadmium telluride solar panels, the first time such manufacturing will be deployed anywhere in the world.  When completed in 2013, the manufacturing plant will be capable of producing enough panels to support up to 840MW of new solar every year.

Read more here…

Data from The Cleantech Group and Deloitte shows that solar energy garnered about 40% of all investments, attracting about $811 million in funding.

“There’s been a very clear resurgence in solar activity and that is largely responsible for the strong quarter,” notes Richard Youngman, head of global research for the Cleantech Group.

Scott Smith, Deloitte’s U.S. clean tech leader believes this VC investment trend will have a positive impact on renewables and low carbon industries.    “The significant strengthening of corporate and utility investment into the clean tech sector, relative to 2009, is very encouraging, given the key role they will play in enabling broader adaptation of clean technologies at scale,” he said in a statement.

Read the full article here…

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).

Read the full article here…

Pike predicts that global solar demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 24% between now and 2013.  A confluence of factors, including a new abundance of polysilicon, government stimuli in response to the global economic crisis and increased cost efficiency of solar panel modules, have come together to change solar from a “supply-constrained” to a “demand-driven” industry.

“Solar prices are plunging quickly, and lower pricing will fuel a surge in demand in 2010 and beyond,” says senior analyst Dave Cavanagh.  Cavanagh predicts to see a “significant shakeout amongst solar suppliers in the next two years” as companies face increased pressure due to pricing trends and oversupply of solar modules.

Read the full article…