7 replies to this topic

[E3 wise]

AFP News -By Ali Khalil | AFP – Tue, Jan 17, 2012

A global economic slowdown and the euro zone debt crisis have curbed government investment in renewable energy, experts warned Tuesday.

  "There are already some signs that government support may be slowing down in Europe," chief economist at the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, warned participants in the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

  Birol named Germany and Spain as countries that have where support for renewables has apparently declined.  He said that although the renewable energy sector was continuing to grow, its expansion was "far slower" than it should be to meet demand.  "The energy sector needs long-term planning," he said, arguing that "it would be a pity" if governments fail to fully support the development of renewables.

  The IEA, which promotes stable energy supply among its 28 developed nation members, in November, issued a report saying that if governments implemented promised policy changes, the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources would increase from 13 percent to 18 percent by 2035.

  The percentage of primary energy generated from fossil fuels worldwide would also fall to 75 percent from the current 81 percent level, it said.  Jacob Wallenberg, chairman of Sweden's Investor AB, also lamented the economic slowdown's impact on renewable energy investment.

  "Economic difficulties have contributed to diverting investments away from renewables," he told the summit.  The European Union is battling a two-year-old debt crisis that has prompted Standard and Poor's to cut the credit ratings of nine euro zone economies and the EU's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

  But other experts and officials argued that developing countries have boosted investment in renewables as more advanced economies have cut back.  "We talk about a slowdown in the renewable energy sector, but that is mainly in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries," said Mohamed El-Ashry, Chairman of REN21 policy-network organization.  Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, addressing the WFES on Monday, boasted that his energy-hungry nation has "become the world's fastest-growing region in wind and solar power."

China also ranks first in global hydropower generation, Wen said.

  Adnan Amin, the head of Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), said that despite declines in public investment, private investment was still fueling the renewable sector.
  "Despite a global economic slowdown, investment in renewable energy has grown worldwide," he said, adding that 90 percent of current investment is coming from private sources.

"What is needed is an enabling framework and that is the role of governments," Amin said.
More than 26,000 people are attending the four-day WEFS conference and exhibition which displays top clean energy technologies, according to organizers.

Shared by E3 Wise

[eds]

Energy Subsidies: Oil versus Renewables

Quote

In a world that must reduce its dependency on fossil fuels,
. . . replacing oil subsidies with renewable energy subsidies makes sense.
Although this is undeniably difficult,
. . . it would produce both environmental and economic benefits.
Putting an end to oil subsidies would free public money
. . . that could be used to promote clean energy and
. . . make renewables more competitive.

 US-energy-subsidies.jpg   15.27K   2 downloads

Source: Global Warming is Real (http://s.tt/15i1i)

[E3 wise]

Thank you so much for this quote and source. I strongly think you should post the full story from this source because people need to read these stories for themselves. Understanding the facts regarding our energy economy helps everyone understand what is truly at stake and how we need to change. Simply, when people come to the realization of what is spent to shore up the fossil fuel addictions, suddenly providing energy from renewable local sources that keeps jobs, money, technology here at home to benefit us, and helps save our planet at the same time makes real sense. People like myself have been trying to bring America to this message for decades so I am glad to finally see reporters sharing these realities. Here is an older article that I read earlier this month. There Are Over 250 Different Kinds of Fossil Fuel Subsidies We Need to Kill. Treehugger.com- Brian Merchant - 01/04/2012 Over the years, the subsidies doled out to the fossil fuels industry have become numerous, entrenched, and quite complex. Which makes them not only quite difficult to remove for political reasons, but often nearly invisible to the average citizen. In fact, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, there are at least 250 different kinds of subsidies for the fossil fuels industry. That's a lot. And it should make you wonder why renewable energy has such trouble maintaining even the most modest of tax breaks: The Department of the Treasury’s Section 1603 cash grants program for clean energy projects just expired at the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, of course, the American oil industry alone reaps literally tens of billions of dollars in annual subsidies. But it's not just the massive yearly tax breaks for Big Oil that comprises the advantage fossil fuels have over renewables–it goes deeper than that. GigaOm has an extensive report on fossil fuel subsidies, which helps to explain: "when an industry has been subsidized for almost a century, as is the case with the fossil fuel industry, the ways in which those companies are supported get numerous and complex. The OECD’s report counted at least 250 mechanisms. Unlike the 1603 Program of the Department of the Treasury for clean power, most subsidies are far more opaque." And here's Grist's Chris Mims: "And unlike federal subsidies for renewables, which are constantly haggled over in spending bills, a lot of these are sneaky. They include everything from direct subsidies to tax loopholes and government spending on infrastructure on which fossil fuel industries depend. Worse, these subsidies are actually growing from year to year." All this means that a) fossil fuels have an even more massive advantage over clean energy than is conventionally understood, and removing that advantage is going to be a tricky, forebodingly uphill battle. It means that even if for some reason Congress began acting rationally–and the very same conservative politicians who espouse anti-government spending rhetoric everywhere else applied it to the oil industry too, to do away with its generous subsidies–we'd still have a long ways to go. And not just because of some nefarious, overarching Big Oil agenda; simply because modern society has developed to rely on fossil fuels for so long that our institutions have been built to favor and depend on them. Deals have been cut over the years to help prop up drilling operations, distribution infrastructure, exploration efforts, and so forth. Many such subsidies are specific to states, regions, municipalities. Striking each of those down will take ages, and means disrupting the fossil fuel-centric culture that has persisted for over a century. It means, essentially, that we have a hell of a lot of fossil fuel subsidies to overcome before solar, wind or geothermal will truly get a fair shake. Source http://www.treehugge...-need-kill.html Shared by E3Wise

[tri-n-b-helpful]

This is really worthwhile stuff to know. So what's the answer? People-power? Should we, each & every one of us, aim to become self-sufficient in terms of energy generation versus consumption without any incentives? It's an uphill battle, but there are more affordable ways than just solar and wind power at our disposal. These technologies are incredibly expensive for such a tiny output. Surely there must be a better approach?

[eds]

How much coal is required to run a 100-watt light bulb 24 hours a day for a year?

Divide 876 kWh by 2,460 kWh/ton. That equals 0.357 tons.
. . . Multiplying by 2,000 pounds/ton we get
. . . 714 pounds of coal,
. . . a non-renewable resource, that causes pollution and cost money.

Oil is used primarily in transportation,
. . . another non-renewable resource, that causes pollution and cost money.

The cheapest and easiest thing to do, is
. . . use less non-renewable resource, that cause pollution and
. . . your incentive is, you'll save money.

Source: Coal

[Kate Merrick]

It's all about Politics, 100%, which means it's all about Money in the pockets of the big energy companies, like oil, natural gas, etc.  I was hoping the OccupyWallStreet effort would stick together long enough to steamroll a dialogue world-wide on more sources of alternative energy.  How about the vehicles that run on cooking oil, esp used cooking oil which already some fast food restaurants are selling cheap to those that want it?  I have read about some towns that power their municipal vehicles on just that.  WHY isn't more of that being done?  Americans are great at this kind of thing.  If I knew anything about building such a machine, I'd do it.  Germany is way ahead of us on Green enterprises.

[jasserEnv]

The economy does have a factor in terms of limiting access to capital for investing in these projects. Too many investors only see the short term returns instead of the large gains that can be made long term if they do manage to get a really good technology in place. While Americans do have the know how to solve the problems, there is also the problem of shopping at Walmart and essentially having all of our goods made in the third world. This limits the ability of those creating new innovations to actually sell them once they are made.

[Kate Merrick]

I'm afraid that most Americans are still too comfortable with the status quo to make the big changes we need.  Too many can't think beyond the television set.  They are basically asleep and not thinking at all.  It's a pity with the potential for big change right here.  Jeremy Rifkin is a real forward thinker.  I read his whole plan (well, without lots of detail, that is) on one of these forums.  He talks about turning all buildings, inc. homes, into green micro power plants, with solar from the roof, wind energy trapped in the walls, geothermal from below ground, and garbage digested anaerobically.  Ocean tides on the coasts could be turned into energy, as well.  Energy would be stored in every possible way, from batteries, fly wheels, capacitators, with the basic element, hydrogen, used for it's lightness, etc etc.  He has a book out called, I think, The Next Industrial Revolution, or something close to that.  I'll have to look it up again; Very Inspiring!