Presented by Energy Matters team member Virginia, we take a look at some of the stories from Australia and around the world recently added to our renewable energy news section.
In this episode, Virginia reports on one million renewable energy jobs in Europe, Queensland shooting for 9000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy generation, new Australian Government energy efficiency programs launched and NASA awards a solar electric propulsion system contract.
In this episode:
– According to a recent report, the European renewable energy sector had more than a million people employed by the end of 2010. This is a jump of 25 percent on 2009 figures. The report states that the biggest employer was solid biomass at 273,000 jobs, followed by photovoltaic solar with over 268,000 jobs. With sales of over 45 billion Euro in Europe’s markets in 2010, solar eclipsed wind power as the top earner. Read more.
– Queensland Energy Minister Stephen Robertson has launched the state’s Renewable Energy Plan. The plan includes up to $8.9 billion in renewable energy investment and should deliver 9000 gigawatt hours by 2020. Mr Robertson said the Plan would build upon Queensland’s success with small scale solar initiatives such as the state’s solar feed in tariff and solar hot water rebate scheme. Under the Plan, the Queensland government will also seek to accelerate deployment of medium and large scale projects. Read more.
– The Australian Government has announced the opening of a series of energy efficiency initiatives and assistance targeted at business, local government, households and communities. The programs include $200 million dollars towards Communities, $100 million towards Low Income households and $40 million to support small and medium sized businesses and community groups. The programs are designed to enable Australians regardless of where they live or how much they earn to benefit from energy efficiency. Read more.
– NASA has awarded a contract to study high power solar electric propulsion flight system technology for its deep space and human exploration missions. The contract has gone to Northrop Grumman Corporation, a developer of aerospace, electronic and information systems. NASA’s ultimate goal is to develop a solar electric propulsion system for space tugboat applications, such as ferrying satellites from Low Earth Orbit to Geosynchronous Earth Orbit. This would save fuel and secondary booster costs, plus permit much heavier payloads. Read more.
