Continuing on from yesterday’s “Renewable Energy Big Pic” post, here’s Renewable Energy Big Pic: Part 2. As noted yesterday, this two-post series is basically a presentation I gave to a class of renewable energy graduate students this week. Enjoy this second part, and chime in below if anything interesting or … [continued]
Quick question. Your state has good sunshine, lots of open rooftops, and the cost of solar energy has been falling by 10% per year. Do you think it will take 13 years to double the 10 megawatts (MW) of installed solar power? Yes, if you’re the largest corporate utility … [continued]
Now that renewables are receiving some of the same incentives that fossil fuels have enjoyed for nearly one hundred years, we’re suddenly being inundated with calls for a purely “free-market” approach to energy development from politicians on the right and companies concerned about the growth of clean energy. Their … [continued]
This is a great recent post from Herman Trabish of Greentech Media. As the lead-in well summarizes: “A new study ‘blows apart the notion that the ITC is somehow welfare for the solar industry.‘” Here’s the piece: The honeymoon is over, a European regulator recently reportedly observed about renewables. … [continued]
Energy and Environment News has a very long story on a new angle for the federal wind tax credit debate: a phaseout. This article raises several issues, apart from that policy strategy, that are worth a quick discussion. 1. Why Would Wind Compete with Natural Gas? The article waxes … [continued]
Here’s a great recent post from Dana Nuccitelli, via Skeptical Science: The International Energy Agency (IEA) made headlines recently by concluding that fossil fuels received far more global subsidies than renewable energy in 2010. However, it appears that the IEA survey only included data from the countries with the largest fossil fuel subsidies, which are … [continued]
You know the line — “Renewable energy shouldn’t receive government support. If it can’t stand on its own in the free market, it doesn’t deserve to grow.” The answer — total freakin’ hogwash, horsefeathers, balderdash! First of all, as you might have gathered from the title, fossil fuel’s historical … [continued]
Ah, FOX News and GOP politicians at the federal level will harp on clean energy subsidies all day… but won’t drop fossil fuel subsidies for anything (note: many local- and state-level Republicans are actually supporting clean energy industries). But the fact remains: fossil fuel subsidies are much larger than … [continued]
Vestas’ sale of its Varda wind tower factory to China’s Titan Wind Energy is to save Danish green jobs and confer numerous benefits for both companies. It’s also clear evidence of the effectiveness and success of China’s industrial policy drive to dominate wind and solar PV manufacturing worldwide, one that’s “hollowing out” U.S. and E.U. manufacturing well before they’ve had the chance to mature. […]
It seems that every day I’m reading (or even writing) about solar and wind energy’s prices and potential without government subsidies — but it is really ridiculous that dropping government subsidies should even be on the table. Amongst the political right (especially politicians and media), there’s a common argument … [continued]
