UPDATE: CHINA state power firm partners with local govt to develop CO2 credits

  

(Reuters) -The State Power Investment Corporation, one of China's big five state power producers, signed a deal with the municipal government of Jiuquan on Tuesday to develop carbon credits from the city's wind and solar power plants.The partnership, the first of its kind, will give the state-owned company the opportunity either to buy carbon credits generated by local renewable energy projects or sell them to other market participants.The city of Jiuquan, home of some of China's largest wind and solar power plants, will offer the credits generated by 23 solar power projects in a single package."We will set up an institution to manage the first batch of 23 solar projects, small ones that are in need of external financing, and will aim to sell on carbon exchanges where prices are higher," said Zhou Xuehai, the city's vice mayor, speaking at a press conference. Jiuquan is planning to build a total of 5 gigawatts (GW) of wind power and 1.5 GW of solar power capacity. It is looking to China's carbon markets to make the projects more profitable. "New solar projects have better chance to be allowed for compliance use. The earlier we gain a foothold, the cheaper the costs would be," said Han Shudong, chief engineer of the carbon asset management subsidiary of the state power giant.Han said the company is also looking to packaging those credits into financial products and to setting up a green fund investing in carbon-related clean projects. To provide incentives for industries to cut emissions and shift to cleaner energies, China has already set up seven local carbon exchanges and a nationwide scheme is due to go into operation at the end of next year or the beginning of 2017.Over 10,000 Chinese companies are likely to be covered in the national carbon market, and will mostly consist of big state-owned power, oil and steel making firms.China's power sector, responsible for half of the country's emissions, is at the front line of carbon trading. The Huaneng Group, China's biggest state power generator, has reported a 16.1 percent return on its 30 million yuan ($4.8 million) carbon fund launched in 2014.China's biggest oil refiner Sinopec has traded nearly 3.9 million allowances in China's pilot carbon markets, with a market value of 140 million yuan. ($1 = 6.2084 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Kathy Chen and David Stanway; Editing by David Holmes) http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3N10834V20150728

RENEWABLE ENERGY: SOLAR FARM under construction at University of Illinois - expected to produce Power by Christmas

The 21-acre farm will be built on open land on the far south side of the Urbana-Champaign campus. It will eventually provide 2 percent of the campus' power. The first panels will go up in mid-September, said Morgan Johnston, associate director of sustainability at UI Facilities and Services. The farm is being built in partnership with Phoenix Solar of San Ramon, California. The university will pay the company $15.5 million over 10 years to run the solar farm and then take it over. University officials say that cost is $5.3 million more than buying the power from more conventional sources, but the solar farm is part of a plan to help the campus meet renewable energy commitments in its 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan. And the university says it will be able to run the farm at little cost after it takes over the facility. The university has other, smaller renewable energy projects such as a rooftop solar facility on the Business Instructional Facility.
The new solar farm's construction was initially supposed to occur in 2013 but was delayed after a state procurement officer questioned, among other things, the bidding process. The project was eventually cleared to go ahead. Some have also questioned whether central Illinois is sunny enough for the project to work as billed. University officials say other, smaller solar projects on campus and elsewhere in the area are effective.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) —http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Work-begins-on-University-of-Illinois-solar-farm-6419460.php___
Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: SEMPRA ENERGY: Sustainable Business Model on Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation

"Growing Responsibly" focuses on the company's progress in reducing air emissions, conserving water, achieving safety goals, meeting energy-efficiency standards, developing renewable energy projects and encouraging diversity among employees and suppliers."To be successful, we must provide safe and reliable service to our millions of customers and continue to grow our business in a sustainable way," said Debra L. Reed, Sempra Energy's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our corporate responsibility report this year includes substantive discussion on how we are prepared to address key industry topics. By planning for the future in a deliberate and responsible way, we enable strong performance in many key areas of our business."

Highlights from the 2014 report include:

• Emissions: The Sempra Energy family of companies' 2014 carbon-dioxide emissions rate was more than 40-percent below the U.S. average.
• Renewable energy: Through its subsidiary Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, Sempra Energy has developed nearly 1,100 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy and expects to be invested in 2,000 MW by 2018.
• Safety: The Sempra Energy companies achieved a consolidated recordable incident rate 15 percent better than the company's target.
• Diversity and inclusion: More than half of Sempra Energy's U.S. workforce is comprised of ethnic minorities. In 2014, SoCalGas and SDG&E achieved 48.4 percent and 44.4 percent, respectively, in spending with diverse business enterprises, exceeding targets established by the California Public Utilities Commission.
• Charitable contributions: In 2014, Sempra Energy and its core businesses made charitable contributions of $18.6 million. Employees contributed another $3.2 million and volunteered 20,500 hours in their communities.

Sempra Energy's corporate responsibility report is available online at sempra.com/responsibility.

Sempra Energy's four principal subsidiaries are Southern California Gas Co., San Diego Gas & Electric, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and Sempra International.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2014 revenues of $11 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 17,000 employees serve more than 32 million consumers worldwide.

  

SAN DIEGO, July 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sempra-energy-releases-2014-corporate-responsibility-report-300121963.html

RENEWABLE ENERGY: BRAZIL: Greenpeace use Crowdfunding to Finance Solar Systems for Schools in São Paulo

They also selected 30 people from 2,000 applicants to train as “solar multipliers.” These people got 3 days of training on “how to cook using solar energy, how to produce electricity with it, how to install a PV system, how to lobby, and how to do creative interventions to better spread this knowledge.”
---------------------------------------------
Bárbara Rubim, a lawyer and a climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace Brazil, gave a truly inspiring presentation during the opening night of the Renewable Cities Global Learning Forum. It was moving, informative, and highlighted great initiatives that could be replicated around the world. You may remember that she made a comment during my workshop on “communicating renewable energy” that prompted me to write this piece on the importance of the human side of cleantech… and that’s something she nailed in her presentation. I’ll summarize and discuss it a bit below, but if you want to jump straight to the chase, here’s the presentation: Bárbara started out by discussing the critical issue of our time, and perhaps the critical issue of all of human history — global climate change. As part of that, she noted that the last 3 years “held 25% of all the extreme weather events” in Brazil’s recorded history, the kind of thing we are seeing in all corners of the world. (I know, the world is round, but whatev.) Bárbara also mentioned absurd solar taxes in Brazil, which increase the cost of rooftop solar by 30–40%. That’s something that deserves a story of its own!
But the highlight of her presentation concerned children and schools, where Greenpeace has worked to get solar power systems installed via quite innovative and empowering means. Bárbara and other visionaries at

©Greenpeace/Caio Paganotti

One month after the 3-day training, Greenpeace took these solar multipliers to the two schools initially selected to receive PV systems, where they helped to install the systems and also engaged with the communities there to educate them about solar energy and climate change.
In total, after 4 days in each of the schools, they had worked with 1,800 children, 125 parents, and 20 teachers, informing them about the many benefits of solar energy.
But that’s not the end of this inspirational story. The Greenpeace crew also trained four youth from a community known for crime and drugs to help install the system, one of which was later hired by the solar company that was overseeing the installations. That provided the young man, who had already lived through more than his fair share of prejudice, with his first job.
The solar systems will produce approximately $10,000 a year at each school, with all of this money going back to the schools for the next 10 years to give students more of what they want and need…

As if that wasn’t enough… through this work, Greenpeace got the state of São Paulo to implement a tax exemption for solar, something that is now influencing the whole country.

The wonderful Bárbara Rubim is 4th from the left in the 2nd row here.

The overall campaign reached about 15 million people, surely inspiring similar action and progress elsewhere. Four people initially had the idea for the solar multipliers, with the number working on it reaching 34 in March, and then nearly 2,000 in May!

Read article at: http://cleantechnica.com/2015/07/18/story-of-solar-social-inspiration-from-brazil-video/. Story Of Solar & Social Inspiration From Brazil (Video) July 18th, 2015 by Zachary Shahan

UPDATE: JAPAN to slash its Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 26 percent by 2030

The plan to be submitted to the United Nations as its contribution to a global summit on climate change in Paris in November. The target is based on the government's power generation plan for 2030 that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) finalised on Thursday. The plan calls for relying slightly less on nuclear power than on renewable energy following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.Using 2013 as a baseline, Japan's 26 percent cut would be higher than an 18 to 21 percent cut by the United States by 2025 and a 24 percent cut by the European Union by 2030. Japan - the world's fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases - saw its emissions rise to 1.41 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, the second-highest on record, in the year through March 2014. That was up 10.8 percent from 1990, reflecting a rise in coal-fired power after the indefinite closure of nuclear power plants.Green activists and some other countries that are calling for even bigger cuts say Japan will be blamed by global communities not only for a low target, but also for plans to build more coal-fired plants at home.The trade ministry said the government would plan to make nuclear energy account for 20 to 22 percent of Japan's electricity mix in 2030, versus 30 percent before Fukushima. It set the target for renewable energy at 22 to 24 percent of the mix, liquefied natural gas at 27 percent and coal at 26 percent. Japan's Federation of Electric Power Companies, whose members include the 10 main power monopolies, and 25 other firms said they had voluntarily set a goal to curb CO2 emissions per 1 kilowatt of power by 35 percent from 2013 levels to around 0.37 kg in 2030.By installing fossil fuel-fired plants using the best available technology, the power companies see a potential to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 11 million tonnes a year, they said.The Paris summit in November aims to finalize an agreement as part of efforts to limit the global average temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Tom Hogue)http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/17/us-japan-carbon-idUSKCN0PR0A220150717

RENEWABLE ENERGY: ISRAEL to build $1.1 billion Thermo-Solar Power Plant to be financed by EIB & US OPIC

Thermo-solar plants differ from photovoltaic plants because they do not convert sunlight into electricity. Instead, they focus on the sun's rays to produce heat and drive a conventional generator.  Israel signed a deal to build a 4 billion shekel ($1.05 billion) thermo-solar power plant in the country's south, aimed at boosting electricity production from renewable energy sources, the Finance Ministry said on Sunday. The 121 megawatt plant, which will also be able to store electricity, will be built by a consortium of Israel's Shikun & Binui and Spain's Abengoa in Ashalim in Israel's southern Negev desert near another solar plant.The plant, to be built under a build, operate and transfer program, is expected to come online in the first half of 2018, the ministry said.Both plants - along with a planned photovoltaic power plant nearby - will provide 2 percent of total electricity production in Israel, which has a target of 10 percent coming from renewable sources by 2020.They will be financed by the European Investment Bank and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp.The ministry said it plans to publish a tender for another plant to help it meet its renewable energy goal. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Susan Thomas) http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/19/us-israel-energy-solar-idUSKCN0PT09S20150719

UPDATE: Future Solar panels will be transparent, lightweight, flexible, and ultra-efficient

It’ll be as cheap as putting up wallpaper.” One principal advantage they have over conventional solar technology is that they can be engineered to react to many different wavelengths of light. That lets them convert more of the sunlight that strikes them into electricity.
Wow! That is some pretty exciting stuff. Why don’t we have perovskite solar panels right now? One answer is, there is often a huge difference between performance in the lab and performance in the real world. Another thing is that many perovskite solar cells use lead as a principal ingredient. And they deteriorate rapidly in the presence of moisture. Silicon solar cells may be clunky, but they last 25 years or more.

Siravam says that very few scientists are working on solutions to these problems. Instead, they are devoting their efforts to establishing new solar cell efficiency records in the lab. Read more: http://cleantechnica.com/2015/07/05/perovskite-solar-cells-what-this-breakthrough-needs-to-get-to-market/