Renew Economy. Queensland network operator Ergon Energy last week said it would likely encourage some of its customers to go off-grid, because the cost of the network was so high in regional areas that localised renewable energy and battery storage would provide a cheaper option. While home owners in regional … [continued]
In Friday’s wee hours, the 28-nation European Union committed itself to fight climate change by rolling back dangerous carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 to at least 40% less than their benchmark 1990 levels. The EU has already almost met its existing goal of a 20% cut by 2020. The unanimous move … [continued]
It will come as no surprise to most to read that the Australian renewable energy industry is in hot water — and like the unlucky frog from urban legends, the water is steadily boiling the industry alive. Mixed metaphors aside, this week has seen several indicators to back up the … [continued]
March 2011—when the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami devastated four reactors and endangered two others at Fukushima 1—forced a radical rethinking of Japan’s energy picture that continues today with a Japan feed-in tariff program. In the latest round, the utilities are pushing back against the feed-in tariffs and the fruitful development … [continued]
The authors of the latest Global Green Economy Index have raised concerns about the “perceptions” of developed countries such as Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, suggesting that “perceptions of their green economic performance dramatically exceed their actual performance on the [Global Green Economy Index].” First published in … [continued]
The newest edition of the Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme report was recently released by the IEA — detailing a huge quantity of different aspects of the global solar PV market as well as country- and region-specific solar PV markets. This 19th edition of the report provides a number of highly interesting/useful … [continued]
RenewEconomy. Queensland network operator Ergon Energy is looking to take some remote customers off-grid rather than continuing to pay for the maintenance and upgrade of part of its sprawling network of 65,000kms of poles and wires. Ergon Energy CEO Ian McLeod says the costs of new technology – such as … [continued]
RenewEconomy. Ergon Energy has announced the winner of its first tender to provide ground-breaking grid-based battery storage, in what could be the first of hundreds of such installations across its vast network in Queensland that will reduce its need to build more poles and wires. Ergon Energy says 20 systems … [continued]
China, a major strategic investor in fossil fuels, has set itself a 2014 target of slashing imports of thermal coal, and it looks as if that plan is on track. Guest contributor Justin Guay reported here in August, with a deep analysis, why consumption of Chinese coal had decreased during … [continued]
RenewEconomy. There have been several instances in recent months when wind energy has accounted for all, or nearly all, electricity demand in South Australia. Last Tuesday, however, set a new benchmark – the combination of wind energy and rooftop solar provided more than 100 per cent of the state’s electricity … [continued]
