Home: Renewable Energy News: December 2008

Renewable Energy News

DECEMBER 2008 | View archive list |

Wednesday 31 December, 2008

Negawatts - Energy Efficiency Focus For Australia In 2009
While 2008 will remembered as the year when renewable energy moved from the fringe into the mainstream in Australia, 2009 will see an increased focus on negawatts and energy efficiency programs in the country.

Tuesday 30 December, 2008

Kyocera Donates Solar Power To Nepal Schools
Kyocera Corporation recently announced donations of solar power systems to schools in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

Monday 29 December, 2008

Solar Power And Salt Batteries
One of the biggest challenges of harvesting energy from wind and solar power is storage when it comes to large scale installations. That's where molten salt may hold some answers.

Friday 26 December, 2008

Japan's Renewed Solar Power Push
The world's second largest economy and fifth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases is making a renewed effort to spark uptake of solar power systems as it scrambles to meet its Kyoto obligations.

Thursday 25 December, 2008

A Coal Sludge Christmas
The coal industry has had a tough year and the bad news keeps coming after a massive coal ash sludge spill in central Tennessee, USA occurred earlier this week.

Wednesday 24 December, 2008

Record Investment In Solar And Wind Companies
According to analysis of activity in the United States, Europe, China and Israel; venture capital investment in cleantech companies reached AUD$6.74 billion in the first three quarters of 2008; an increase of 82% compared with the same period in 2007.

Controversial Carbon Target TV Ad Launched In Australia
GetUp.org.au, Australiaʼs largest independent political organisation, is seeking to raise awareness regarding the Rudd government's recently announced carbon reduction target with a controversial TV advertisement that started airing late last week.

Tuesday 23 December, 2008

American Wind Power Industry Celebrates 2008 Achievements
It's been a big year for wind power in the USA, with the country passing Germany to become the world leader in wind energy generation

Monday 22 December, 2008

2008 World Solar Power Status Report
A recent report from the European Union's Joint Research Center Institute for Energy shows continued massive increases in the annual growth rate of global solar cell production.

Australia - A Future Saudi Arabia of Coal?
Imagine a peak oil world - which isn't too far off according to the International Energy Agency. Perhaps we'll all be driving electric cars by then, recharged via our rooftop solar systems. Or perhaps they'll be powered by liquid coal fuels.

Solar Panel Council Exemption For South Australia
South Australia's Minister for Urban Development and Planning Paul Holloway announced today that many local households and small businesses won't need to seek local council approval to fit solar panels soon.

Friday 19 December, 2008

IRENA - The IEA Of The Renewable Energy Sector
A new voice for the global renewable industry, The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), will be launched on January 26, 2009 in Bonn, Germany with the goal of removing obstacles that are preventing the sector from achieving its full potential.

Thursday 18 December, 2008

Australia's Solar Credits Program - Update
The new solar credits program caught many off guard after the release of the Carbon Reduction White Paper that made no mention of the scheme. The program has been welcomed by many in the Australian solar industry and renewable energy advocates; who have been very concerned with the seeming imbalance of support for the coal industry versus incentives for renewable energy. However, some have expressed misgivings about the impact the solar credits program may have on low income earners as it will erode the benefits currently available under the current rebate arrangements.

Wednesday 17 December, 2008

Solar Credits To Replace Solar Rebate In Australia
Breaking news: The Australian Government has released further details on its 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target and a new 'Solar Credits' program that the government says will encourage the uptake of home solar power systems.

Australia's Carbon Reduction Scheme Fallout
Fallout from the release of the 800 page Carbon Reduction Scheme white paper continues to build, with the Australian government being relentlessly attacked since its release by green groups and others who expressed shock and dismay at the unconditional carbon reduction target of just 5%.

Rain Power - The Other Alternative Energy?
These days, we're all pretty familiar with various forms of renewable energy such as solar power and wind, but perhaps the rain may hold potential as another alternative energy source.

Tuesday 16 December, 2008

Oil Executives Become Renewable Energy Converts
A quiet revolution is taking place in the oil industry, with increasing numbers of oil and gas executives becoming nervous about the future of black gold and increasingly enthusiastic about renewable energy.

Monday 15 December, 2008

Australia Announces Carbon Reduction Targets
A short time ago, the Australian Government released a much awaited white paper with details of its carbon reduction targets, energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives and emissions trading scheme; due to commence on July 1, 2010.

Rudd's Biggest Day? The Australian Solar Industry Awaits
Many in the solar industry, investors and home owners will be waiting to hear further news of Prime Minister Rudd's fast tracking of funding for renewable energy announced yesterday.

Friday 12 December, 2008

Shadow Over Solar Legislation In Australia
As Australia moves towards becoming a solar nation, a local renewable energy firm has identified a gaping hole in current legislation.

$25m Solar Farm For Western Australia
Two solar farms are to be constructed in Western Australia's Pilbara region in the townships of Marble Bar and Nullagine at a cost of 25 million dollars, reducing the dependency of the communities on fossil fuel for electricity production, namely diesel generators.

Thursday 11 December, 2008

Study: Wind And Solar Trump Clean Coal And Nuclear Power
According to the results of an exhaustive study by Professor Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University, the best energy options for addressing climate change and lowering air pollution aren't nuclear power or clean coal, but from wind energy and solar power technologies.

Revolutionary Solar Panel Hits Australian Market
Energy Matters today announced a partnership with Sanyo for the distribution of Sanyo's 205 Watt HIT Solar Panel; a revolutionary hybrid solar module designed specifically for grid connect solar power systems.

Wednesday 10 December, 2008

EU Reaches Agreement On Renewable Energy Targets
Members of the European Parliament and the Council's Presidency have arrived at an informal compromise to ensure that the EU will reach its climate target of at least 20% renewable energy share of total energy consumption by 2020.

Clean Energy Council Encouraging Green Bonus Spending
The Clean Energy Council (CEC), a representative body for the clean energy sector in Australia, is encouraging Australians to invest their Federal Government provided bonus into improving home energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.

Tuesday 09 December, 2008

IBM Wants Your PC For Solar Power Research
In an effort to discover materials for cheap but efficient solar cells, IBM and researchers From Harvard University have launched a distributed computing initiative called the Clean Energy Project and are asking for people to participate in the program.

Israel's Largest Solar Farm Inaugurated
A 50 kilowatt grid connected rooftop solar farm has been brought online in the town of Qazrin in Northern Israel, the largest solar power plant in Israel today.

Monday 08 December, 2008

Al Gore On The Clean Coal Illusion
While Australia's coal industry has distanced itself somewhat from the oxymoronic term of "clean coal", favouring labels such as low emissions or new generation coal, it was a term that featured heavily in the runup to the recent US elections.

Friday 05 December, 2008

Australian Solar Power Feed In Tariff Update
It was with great anticipation that many awaited the results of the Council Of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting last weekend on the issue of feed in tariffs. Emerging from meeting was a set of what some described as vague principles and a seemingly very much watered down scheme.

Thursday 04 December, 2008

Renewable Energy Could Phase Out Coal Within 20 Years
According to the WorldWatch Institute, clean energy could topple coal fired power generation within the next 20 years. The group states cleaner energy sources could see the retirement of hundreds of coal-fired power plants by 2030, reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by a staggering 33%.

A Sobering Energy And Emissions Report For Victoria
Victoria’s first comprehensive State of Environment Report was recently released with unsettling statistics on energy consumption in the state, particularly in relation to coal fired electricity generation and the lack of solar power uptake.

Wednesday 03 December, 2008

Getting Serious on Rooftop Solar
In any town or city, there's a massively under utilised resource - rooftops. The rooftops of all our homes, industrial areas, schools and public buildings are potential emissions-free solare power plants. Recently in the United States, Southern California Edison (SCE) has engaged in an ambitious rooftop solar project to install 150 solar photovoltaic systems on local commercial buildings.

Tuesday 02 December, 2008

UN Climate Chief Advocates Solar, Warns On Coal
On the opening day of the Poznan climate conference, the U.N.'s climate chief Yvo de Boer expressed fears of governments continuing to invest in the construction of high-polluting coal fired electricity generation facilities, which would ultimately need to be decommissioned to build new low-carbon solar power plants or wind energy farms within the next couple of decades.

Solar powered walking house
Growing out of a project initiated by Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire in the UK and constructed by German based N55, Walking House does just what its name implies - it walks; courtesy of solar power.

Monday 01 December, 2008

UK And Australia Progress On Feed In Tariffs
With royal assent last week granted to Britain's controversial Energy Bill, Britain is now committed to the implementation of feed in tariffs. In Australia, a COAG meeting held on the weekend agreed to a set of national principles to apply to new feed-in tariff schemes.

Polymer Solar Cell Breakthrough
Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new type of polymer solar cell that has improved efficiency and will be far cheaper to produce than the cells used in traditional monocrystalline, polycrystalline or thin film solar panels

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