Southern Africa: Exxaro Targets 2,000 Mw From Renewable Sources By 2030

Mining group Exxaro Resources is planning to significantly grow its energy generation projects up to 2030, Exxaro Growth Energy manager said on Tuesday. Speaking at the Southern Africa Energy Week conference, Garner said that the group was aiming to become a cleaner energy independent power producer (IPP) in the Southern African region. The group has set itself a target of growing its renewable energy power generation capacity to 2 000 MW by 2030. It had already initiated a number of projects, including a 50 MW wind farm on South Africa's West Coast, a 40 MW wind farm in Tsitsikamma, a 210 MW solar plant in Lephalale and a 200 MW solar plant in Upington. Garner noted it was currently working on a prefeasibility study (PFS) for the west coast wind farm and a concept study for the Tsitsikamma wind farm project.

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World: Developing Nations Should Shift Towards Clean Growth

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said that governments of countries in the developing world should eliminate market barriers and policies that prevent the flow of capital into the sectors of energy efficiency, sustainable agricultural methods and renewable energy. In a report released on Monday, Unctad said that "if approached intelligently", improvements in these sectors could yield savings that pay for themselves and even generate quick profits, as well as creating jobs. The 2009/10 ‘Trade and Environment Review' (TER) stated that contrary to previous actions, the current global financial crisis was not a time for ‘belt tightening', but rather a chance for poorer nations to redirect resources to economic growth that was more economically efficient, better for the environment, more socially equitable and more promising over the long term. The TER highlighted the importance of more proactive government roles and the more pronounced use of industrial policies, reversing the trend of government passivity advocated under neoliberal growth policies. "Such a shift to active industrial policies may require greater 'policy space' than is available under current rules of the multilateral trading system," the report said.

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Kenya: Makes Key Step To Tap Into Biofuels Market

Efforts to turn Kenya into Africa’s principal producer of biofuels made significant steps last week with the completion of a draft policy for cost-effective and safe production and commercialisation. Aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, the proposed policy hopes to establish the principles that will enable Kenya to gain from rising demand for clean energy without social and economic shockwaves. Fossil fuels — currently accounting for nearly a half of global energy consumption — is the major contributor to the deadly greenhouse gas emissions that have been linked to climate change. Biofuel has been touted as the panacea to the world’s perennial energy crisis, a silver bullet that would quench the growing global demand for oil with limited negative impact on the environment The proposed policy was the subject of discussions in a conference in Nakuru, which was attended by officials from the Ministry of Energy, researchers and environmentalists.(Business Daily Feb 11th 2010 Page 12)

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Queensland: Government Backs Mackay Sugar Clean Energy Project

The Queensland Government has reaffirmed its commitment to use renewable energy sources by providing $9 million towards Mackay Sugar.Announced yesterday, contracts have been issued for Mackay Sugar to construct a $120 million power plant which will generate more than 90 megawatts of electricity from sugar cane waste. Minister for Mines and Energy Stephen Robertson says up to 30 percent of Mackay's annual electricity supply may be generated through the innovative cogeneration project at Mackay Sugar's Racecourse Sugar mill and refinery. "This is an innovative, clean energy project that will deliver important benefits for the company, the city of Mackay and the environment," Robertson says. He says Mackay Sugar plans to replace the existing plant at the Racecourse Mill to generate enough clean, renewable power each year to achieve energy self-sufficiency and export electricity to the local grid.

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China: China's Edge In Renewable Energy

There's a prospect that the West might someday trade its dependence on oil from the Middle East for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear made in China, which is moving to dominate the global manufacture of renewable energy technologies. "Most of the energy equipment will carry a brass plate, 'Made in China,'\u2009" said K.K. Chan, chief executive of Nature Elements Capital , a private equity fund in Beijing that focuses on renewable energy. President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech last month, sounded an alarm that the United States was falling behind other countries, especially China, on energy. "I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders — and I know you don't either," he told Congress. The United States and other countries are offering incentives to develop their own renewable energy industries, and Obama called for redoubling American efforts. Yet many Western and Chinese executives expect China to prevail in the energy technology race.

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Kenya: Researchers Map Areas Suitable For Green Energy Crops

The International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) has completed the initial phase of mapping areas suitable for production of feed stock to the country’s nascent alternative fuel industry, a key step to ensuring the new activity does not compromise food production. The research identified Western, Central and the Coastal regions as the most suitable for at least 11 feed stocks namely jatropha, croton, sugar cane, cotton, sunflower, canola, sweet sorghum, coconut, pangamia, caster and cassava.  Speaking at a bio-fuel stakeholders workshop held recently in Nakuru, the project manager for the Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security (PISCES), Dr Benard Muok, asked the government to relax taxes so as to encourage more investment in bio-fuels. Such a move would encourage a shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy that the country requires.  PISCES is one of the organisations that are refining the Bio-fuel Policy.

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Europe: Getting Connected: Europe's Green Energy 'Supergrid'

It is a criticism frequently leveled at those promoting wind or solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels: what happens when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine? Well, now there is a smart answer, at least in Europe -- we'll simply and instantly switch to another source of clean, green power. Plans for a massive electricity grid dedicated to uniting the varied sources of renewable energy available in northern Europe have taken a step forward in January as nine countries formally agreed to work together on the project. Using thousands of miles of high-tech undersea cables the 'supergrid' will unite wind farms on blustery British coasts with Dutch and Belgian tidal power, the vast hydroelectric potential of Norway fjords and Germany's massive solar arrays. The gird should mean that when one source falls short, another takes up the slack to ensure continuity of supply.

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Indonesia: Renewing Support For Renewable Energy

Indonesia is at a crossroads. With the impressive rate of growth of its economy - leading to a dramatic increase in the level of energy consumption - and its ambition to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it needs to come up with a way to reduce its reliance on carbon-fueled energy. According to the World Energy Outlook 2009 published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Indonesia is the largest energy producer and consumer in the region, the world's leading thermal coal exporter, a substantial liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, and until 2004 was a net oil exporter. If no new oil reserves are found, and with the increasing demand for energy, scientists expect Indonesia will be a significant oil importing country within less than two decades. By 2030, Indonesia will remain an exporter of natural gas and coal, but will import 1.3 million barrels of oil per day. Energy demand will increase in line with regional economic development and population growth.

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World: Copenhagen Accord Passes Major Test As Most States Respond

The United States has officially promised the world that it will reduce global warming pollution about 17 percent below 2005 levels in the next decade. Now the question is whether President Obama can deliver. In an announcement yesterday, U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern submitted America's target to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change as part of a Jan. 31 deadline negotiated in Copenhagen last year. In doing so, Stern made a point of noting that the final figure could change depending on the outcome of U.S. legislation. "The U.S. submission reflects President Obama's continued commitment to meeting the climate change and clean energy challenge through robust domestic and international action that will strengthen our economy, enhance our national security and protect our environment," Stern said in a statement.

But a bill cutting carbon and creating a cap-and-trade system faces deep uncertainties in the Senate right now. Analysts are warning that could pose a major problem for Obama abroad as other countries gear up to fulfill the emission promises they made at America's urging.

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Africa: Jatropha Farmers Walk On Slippery Ground

“Biofuel production has a great potential to change the face of our Arid and Semi Arid areas because it has a return of Sh66,000 per acre compared to the Sh40,000 per acre from maize fields,” Mr Isaac Kalua, the founder and chairman of the Green Africa – one of the NGOs that promote oil plant production in the country said. Over the years, oil fuel bubble has burst with the international petroleum prices tiptoeing at affordable ranges - hitting the rock bottom level of USD36 dollars per barrel in 2009 before rising steadily to USD83 this week. To jatropha farmers, the waning global interest in oil plants comes at a time that poor storage of the harvested seeds in the worm-infested region has been blamed for causing losses to farmers. But even as they wait endlessly for the biofuel money, the Majiwa farmers say interspersing jatropha with crops such as maize or beans have improved their food crop yields. They also experimented with the Jatropha oil for medicinal purposes with claims it eliminates jiggers. More importantly, the farmers have found out that the oil is a suitable substitute for paraffin in its raw form.

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Kenya: Kenya, Ethiopia To Inter-Connect Their Power Grids

Business Daily Feb 3rd Page 2

Kenya’s quest to tap additional electricity from Ethiopia to fix an energy supply shortfall has inched closer following a bilateral pact between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi reached on Tuesday. The heads of state, both attending the 14th AU Summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, instructed their Energy ministers to speed up inter-connection of the national power grids. The inter-connection will enable Kenya to access additional electricity to bolster its wavering supply which keeps fluctuating with weather patterns. Kenya also need addition energy to power its high speed economic growth. Apart from energy supply, the two leaders also reviewed plans on other infrastructural projects including the envisioned construction of a transport corridor which comprises of a road link, railway line and oil pipeline stretching from the proposed Port of Lamu along the Kenyan coast to Ethiopia and Sudan. At the turn of the year, President Kibaki announced that Kenya was now ready to begin works on the corridor.

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Kenya: Wind Farm Deal To Trim Cost Of Electricity

Power prices could come down in the near future with the signing of an agreement between Kenya Power and Lighting Company and Lake Turkana Wind Power, where the power distributor will buy 300 megawatts from the firm's wind generated electricity expected to be ready by March 2012. According to the power purchase agreement signed on Friday in Nairobi, KPLC will pay Lake Turkana Wind Power 7.22 euro cents (Sh7.70) a kilowatt-hour. This is expected to translate into lower energy prices for consumers because half the amount of electricity produced currently comes from independent power producers who use diesel power generation. "We have been relying on thermal power and that is why fuel cost charges remain high," KPLC managing director Joseph Njoroge said during the ceremony. "But with geothermal and wind energy, we expect these charges to go down." The current high energy prices are a result of passing on to consumers the cost of buying heavy diesel at high foreign currency-denominated costs for the emergency thermal generators. Currently, KPLC is charging Sh7.22 a kilowatt-hour as fuel cost charge and this item carries the largest amount on any power bill.
 

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India: Is India's 'Miracle' Biofuel Crop Too Good To Be True?

INDIA - To its fans, jatropha is a miracle crop, an eco-friendly answer to India's growing energy needs, but some experts are starting to question whether the wonder-shrub is too good to be true. The seeds of the wild plant, which grows abundantly across India, produce non-edible oil that can be blended with diesel, to make the biofuel that is part of government efforts to cut carbon emissions and combat climate change. That, combined with the shrub's much vaunted ability to flourish on poorly irrigated land, should make it the perfect crop for wasteland in the drought-prone nation. New research shows jatropha, which has received huge government backing in recent years, yields less than experts had first predicted and is now being grown on fertile farmland - undermining two of its best selling points.

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Britain: Public supports ambitious scheme for micro-scale renewable energy: poll

The public overwhelmingly support a much more ambitious scheme to push renewable energy for homes and communities, a new poll shows today ahead of a key government announcement next week. Government officials are putting the finishing touches to plans to boost the take-up of renewable energy in Britain - which is the lowest in Europe - through a system known as the "clean energy cashback", or feed-in tariff. In July last year the government unveiled the scheme which has been used successfully for years in other European countries and pays above-market rates for green electricity produced by consumers. But the proposed tariff levels for power produced by small wind turbines, solar panels and micro hydro schemes were criticized by green campaigners as not being high enough to encourage businesses, households and communities to invest.

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India: May Start Renewable-Energy Credits Trade In May

India may let power companies start trading renewable-energy credits in May in a push to create a multibillion-dollar market to encourage reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. India is pressing ahead with its own efforts to fight climate change after last month’s Copenhagen talks failed to reach a new global climate treaty. The move puts the world’s fourth-largest emitter ahead of China and other developing nations in creating a domestic emissions-trading market to boost investment in solar, wind and other clean-energy projects. “This will become one of the most progressive regimes as far as renewable energy is concerned,” said Vinod Kala, managing director of Emergent Ventures India, a New Delhi-based consulting company that estimates trade in renewable energy credits could rise to as much as USD10 billion by 2020.

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Africa: Wind Energy Earnings To Hit Sh32b By 2015

The Standard Jan 15th 2010 Page 33

Revenues from wind energy investment in Africa are projected to hit Sh32 billion by 2015, a new study has shown. The study, conducted by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan titled African Large-Scale Wind Turbine Market, said companies manufacturing wind turbines raked in Sh12 billion in revenues. And with increased investments in renewable energies, particularly wind, the revenues are estimated to reach Sh32 billion by 2015. In effect, this has pushed governments in the continent to invest more resources into exploring renewable energy after successes in Europe and the United States convinced them that wind power can alleviate some power shortages. The study comes only days after Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) floated tenders for the design, manufacture, supply, deliver, erect, test and commission a 10 MW wind project.

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South Africa: Cheerful new for wind and solar power

More cheerful news came from South Africa, where two developments suggested intensifying interest in renewables. The country has been a slow starter in clean energy - not surprising given its access to coal and the political imperative to boost capacity quickly to prevent power cuts. But last week local mining group Exxaro said it is undertaking pre-feasibility studies for a 100MW wind farm and 200MW solar plant in Western Cape and Limpopo. Meanwhile UK-based project developer and constructor RES Group said that it had bought a portfolio of wind projects totalling 300MW from a company called South African Green Renewable Energy.

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World: Expanding Use of Wind Power Feasible, but May Be Costly

Wind could replace coal and natural gas for 20 to 30 percent of the electricity used in the eastern two-thirds of the United States by 2024, according to a study released Wednesday by the Energy Department. Wind turbines in Elkton, S.D. The cost of revamping power grids for wind in the eastern United States is estimated at USD93 billion. But doing so would require a reorganization of the power grid and a significant increase in costs. And it would have only a modest impact on cutting emissions linked to global warming, the study found. The Energy Department under President Obama has been a proponent of renewable energy, and the study tackles one of the biggest questions involving wind energy: How much can the power system use and still remain stable, given that the amount of electricity generated by wind turbines is as fickle as the breeze?

The answer, according to the study, is that heavy reliance on wind energy is “technically feasible” but will require significant expansion of the power grid.

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World: Leaders Make New Call For Clean Energy Commitments

World leaders raised a fresh alarm on global warming Monday, urging international action to increase use of clean energy at a four-day forum that opened in the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi.

"If we don?t act now, our coral reefs and rainforests will die, desert countries will become unbearably hot and low lying countries like the Maldives, will slip beneath the rising seas," said the president of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed. Tackling climate change is not like dealing with other global issues, such as trade or disarmament. We do not have the luxury of time to meet, year after year, in endless negotiations, the leader of the low-lying Indian Ocean nation told participants at the World Future Energy Summit. Nasheed was referring to the Copenhagen climate talks last month, which ended with a non-binding agreement to reduce rises in global temperatures, seen as a lukewarm commitment to save the planet.

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World: IEA Sees World Oil Use In 2010 Highest Since 2007

Saturday Nation Jan 16th 2010 Page 26

Global oil demand this year will reach the highest level since 2007, with rising consumption led by faster growth in emerging economies in Asia, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. The Paris-based adviser to 28 industrialized economies revised upwards by 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) its expectations for the rise in global oil demand this year. It now sees demand increasing by 1.4 million barrels per day in 2010. Outright demand will be 86.3 million bpd, still lower than the 86.5 million bpd used in 2007. Consumption has fallen for the last two years.

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Eastern Africa: Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya To Build Power Link

The Guardian January 17th 2010 Page 15

Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya will next year start work on a 400 Megawatt (MW) power line to boost trade in electricity between them and ensure security of supply, a Zambian energy official said on Wednesday. Teddy Kasonso, permanent secretary in Zambia's energy ministry, told Reuters in an interview that officials in the three countries were preparing formal proposals for funders and donors for the project, which would begin in 2011. He said commissioning of the inter-connector, initially planned for next year, had now been pushed to 2014 due to delays caused by slow government approval procedures in Kenya and Tanzania. Letters to potential lenders and western donors, which were initially drafted in 2007, also needed to be revised, taking into account new requirements, Kasonso said.

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Kenya: Blending Rule To Cut Pump Fuel Prices

Daily Nation January 14th 2010 Page 24

Kenya’s import bill for fossil fuel is set to come down drastically after the government made blending of petrol with ethanol produced by local sugar firms mandatory. Regulations for the blending to produce gasohol were gazetted on November 27 last year and will take effect on March 1, 2010, said agriculture minister William Ruto. Mr Ruto on Wednesday explained that the move would reduce the country’s dependence on petroleum products and cover motorists against unpredictable prices of fuel. More importantly, the minister said, it would provide a ready market for the ethanol that will be produced by sugar factories and take the country closer to attaining the goal of preserving the environment through the use of green energy. The move will also enhance competitiveness of the sugar sector. The draft Bio-Ethanol Strategy paper argues that bio-ethanol presents one of the best options for the country in view of dwindling global oil reserves and unpredictable fuel prices.

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Kenya: State Sets Privatization Deadline For Sugar Firms

The Standard January 14th 2010.

By James Anyanzwa

The Government will sell 51 per cent of its stake in each of the five struggling sugar millers to strategic investors by June this year. Agriculture Minister William Ruto, however, said that 30 per cent of the shares in Chemilil, Muhoroni, Miwani, Nzoia and South Nyanza (Sony) sugar companies would be reserved for farmers. Ruto said the remaining 19 per cent would later be offloaded to the general public through an initial public offering (IPO), after the companies become profitable. He said Government was shopping for either foreign or local investors to inject sufficient capital, and provide expertise, to revive the millers. Already a local sugar miller, Mumias Sugar Company (MSC), has expressed interest in buying out Nzoia Sugar Company and Muhoroni Molasses plant. Ruto said strategic investors are expected to modernise the companies and broaden product base.

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World: Importing Solar Power With Biomass

Every six hours the sun bathes the lands of the earth in as much energy as the world consumes in a year. If we could just find a way to collect and distribute that energy our energy problems would be solved. Unfortunately, most of our energy consumption is in the places with the least sunshine. Biomass captures and stores the suns energy for later use. In tropical zones biomass grows year round and can be five times more productive than in the temperate zones. Biomass can be converted to denser forms and shipped to where it is needed surprisingly economically. For example, ocean shipping of coal priced at USD73/ton from Australia to China only adds about USD12/ton to the final cost. Wood chips are bulkier, but they can be made as dense as coal by heating and compressing them into torrefied pellets.

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World: Communications Turns Totally Green

January 11, 2010 – The world took a big step closer today to a green and more sustainable communications future with the launch of Green Touch, a global consortium organized by Bell Labs whose goal is to create the technologies needed to make communications networks 1000 times more energy efficient than they are today. A thousand-fold reduction is roughly equivalent to being able to power the world’s communications networks, including the Internet, for three years using the same amount of energy that it currently takes to run them for a single day. Green Touch brings together leaders in industry; academia and government labs to invent and deliver radical new approaches to energy efficiency that will be at the heart of sustainable networks in the decades to come. With its launch, the consortium also has issued an open invitation to all members of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) community to join forces in reaching this ambitious target. This is a particularly crucial area of focus because of increasing usage of ICT and the Internet. The worldwide Green Touch consortium will open the way to generating major technological breakthroughs.

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World: Trucking Along, Renewable Energy Industry Waiting For Resurgence

The state's renewable fuels industry is down, but not out. Biodiesel and ethanol plants statewide had a rough 2008 and ‘09. Politics, volatile commodity and energy prices and crushing debt transformed a once thriving industry into one struggling for survival. Congress allowed the USD1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit to expire at the end of the year, essentially shuttering plants that turn soybeans, yellow grease and animal fat into fuel. Two more ethanol plants in the state filed for bankruptcy a few days before Christmas, bringing the total to at least seven in a little more than a year. Congress assured demand for biofuels by passing the renewable fuels standard in 2005 and updating it in 2007. The RFS requires 12.95 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be used this year, of which 650 million gallons needs to be biodiesel.

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California: Approves Renewable Energy Grid Extension
 

Major transmission project gets go-ahead in order to access new renewable energy sources. California's electricity regulator last week approved a proposal to build another 173 miles of new transmission line in order to connect new renewable energy systems to the grid. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said the new infrastructure would represent the first major transmission project in California built for the specific purpose of accessing renewable sources in remote areas. Under the plans, Southern California Edison will build the USD1.96bn grid extension to connect the wind rich Tehachapi region north of Los Angeles to the state's main grid.
 

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World: Importing Solar Power with Biomass
 

Every six hours the sun bathes the lands of the earth in as much energy as the world consumes in a year. If we could just find a way to collect and distribute that energy our energy problems would be solved. Unfortunately, most of our energy consumption is in the places with the least sunshine. Biomass captures and stores the suns energy for later use. In tropical zones biomass grows year round and can be five times more productive than in the temperate zones. Biomass can be converted to denser forms and shipped to where it is needed surprisingly economically. For example, ocean shipping of coal priced at USD73/ton from Australia to China only adds about USD12/ton to the final cost. Wood chips are bulkier, but they can be made as dense as coal by heating and compressing them into torrefied pellets.

 

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Kenya: KPLC Starts Energy-Saving Bulb Distribution In January

Distribution of more than one million energy-preserving bulbs in exchange for the ordinary ones is set to begin in January, the national power distributor has said. The KPLC, which is managing the exercise on behalf of the Eneryg ministry, says the first lot of the consignment of 1.2 million bulbs is expected at the Mombassa port on January 10th. The exercise is targeted at KPLC’s domestic power users in mainly low-income areas. The managing director said that each household would receive between two and three bulbs and r expected to discard their standing bulbs at designated points in exchange for the energy saving ones.
 

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Uganda: Government To Expand Palm Oil Growing

The Government plans to extend the growing of oil producing palm trees to districts outside Kalangala. Currently, the trees are only grown in Bugala islands in Kalangala district.  A study has indicated that palm oil trees can also grow in Mukono, Mayuge, Oyam, Amolatar, Dokolo and Bundibugyo districts. Local government leaders, meeting at a workshop funded by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala recently, recommended that the second phase of the project to be extended to some districts in the mainland. The IFAD interim evaluation report indicated significant success in eradicating poverty and increasing incomes among households where the project is being undertaken.

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America: Natural gas a clean energy source

New technology has allowed us to find clean, abundant natural gas resources that will propel North America toward energy independence. Natural gas is 50 percent cleaner than coal, and recent discoveries, such as those in the Marcellus Shale, have led us to abundant, homegrown supplies that can meet our nation's energy needs for generations to come. Natural gas also plays an integral role in advancing renewable energy - serving as a reliable partner when the wind isn't blowing and sun isn't shining. Just as important are the economic benefits. According to an IHS Global Insight study, the natural gas industry is responsible for more than 36,000 jobs in New York and over 2.8 million across the nation today.

 

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World: Cutting Carbon Emissions Will Not Rescue The Suffering Poor

New Vision Dec 15th 2009 page 16

Cutting carbon emissions will not cut death and suffering. More than 75 world leaders are meeting in Copenhagen to attempt an agreement on climate change. They should start by admitting the political and economic failure of the Kyoto Protocol: its prohibitive costs will prevent us from addressing other, more pressing problems. The current Kyoto agreement expiring in 2012 committed countries to reducing their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% from the 1990 level by 2008-2012. But major countries like Australia and Canada are expected to miss their targets. And many will only meet them through so-called “additional measures”, which are of dubious efficiency and subject to abuse. For example, the Clean Development Mechanism allows rich countries to invest in low-carbon projects in poor countries instead of cutting their own emissions.

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World: Aviation industry says bio fuel will help it meet targets

Global aviation industry has said use of biofuels will play a key role in helping it meet its carbon dioxide emission reductions targets to ease the pace of climate change, offering a major opportunity to farmers in countries like Kenya now venturing to growing biofuels crops. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) which passed a resolution last month to use the alternative fuels said it is keen to see an outcome in Copenhagen that will enable the world to work with the industry on such issues as use of alternative fuels. A new report released by the Committee on Climate Change of the United Kingdom said for that country's aviation industry to meet its targets fuel efficiency and operational improvements to achieve a 30 per cent reduction in carbon emissions per seat kilometer flown, biofuels must account for 10 per cent of aviation fuel use in 2050.
 

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Breakthrough in Renewable Diesel Production

Hawaii Joule Biotechnologies, has developed a process for direct microbial conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into hydrocarbons via engineered organisms, powered by solar energy. Joule is advancing a new, photosynthesis-driven approach to producing renewable fuels, avoiding the economic and environmental burden of multi-step, cellulosic or algal biomass-derived methods. The company employs a novel Solar Converter system, together with proprietary; product-specific organisms and state-of-the-art process design, to harness the power of sunlight while consuming waste CO2. Its pioneering technology platform has already been proven out with the conversion of CO2 into ethanol at high productivities, a process that enters pilot development in early 2010.
 

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World: From Dirty Fuels to Clean Technology

Tomorrow’s polluters are today’s emerging economies. To develop without retracing the polluting steps of the West, requires green technology, an expensive option for Africa. Research and development, application of technology, energy policies, intellectual property rights, the vested interests of the fossil fuel industry, and diffusion of green technology constitute the negotiating nightmare that is clean technology. And, of course, how to pay for all this. The main obstacle to get a deal on technology is finance. Developed countries are at best very reluctant to come up with serious money that can lead to dissemination of climate technologies in developing countries. The World Bank estimates that 85 percent of the cost of climate change will fall on developing nations. A total of USD400 billion a year is needed for mitigation, including green technology. Currently such transfers average USD8 billion a year under Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

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Nine European nations agree on wind energy initiative

The energy ministers of nine European Union nations signed a deal to develop a massive offshore wind power grid in the North Sea and Irish Sea, as UN climate talks got underway in Copenhagen. The text was signed on the margins of an EU energy ministers' meeting by Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden. This very ambitious project is not just of interest to the countries bordering the North seas. It is important for the future energy mix providing the needs of the European Union. The plan, which will now be examined by experts, foresees “the major part of offshore wind energy development in Europe will be focused on the North Seas region.”

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Nigeria: Bill Delays Nigeria’s Energy Sector Revamp

Nigeria's plan to revamp Africa's biggest energy sector could stall if a key oil reform bill does not pass by early next year, a scenario which some oil firms fear will further delay investment decisions in the country. Lawmakers are working to finalize energy legislation that would rewrite Nigeria's decades-old relationship with Royal Dutch Shell and other oil companies. The reforms aim to break state oil firm NNPC, long hampered by funding shortfalls, into profit-driven units able to tap international capital markets. The move could bring some of the biggest financing deals of their kind ever undertaken in Africa. But under the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) approved by President Umaru Yar'Adua last year, the government would also be allowed to renegotiate old contracts, impose higher costs on oil companies and retake acreage that firms have yet to explore.

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Uganda: To Extract Biodiesel From' Wonder Plant' Jatropha

The National Forestry Research Institute has embarked on a project to test the viability of biodiesel from jatropha, a drought resistant crop. According to a senior researcher at the institute, Dr Peter Kiwuso, they planted jatropha three months ago, and from it they will find out how long it takes to seed, the quantity and quality of the seeds and the diesel and how much a farmer and a processor can earn from jatropha. They want to find out what comes out from these seeds so as to do field trials in different agro-ecological zones and see which ones do the best. Currently, Uganda imports 70 million litres of fossil fuel per month. If fuel from jatropha is proven viable, the fuel imports may significantly reduce with production of biodiesel and eventual extraction of the oil in the numerous wells already confirmed. The government energy policy advocates increased research and use of modern renewable energy sources.
 

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President Obama Proposes Home Energy Retrofit Program for Job Creation

President Barack Obama proposed a new rebate program to reward homeowners for making their homes more energy efficient, while also proposing additional federal investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. As part of a speech about jobs and the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., the president noted that home energy retrofits create jobs, save money for families, and reduce the pollution that threatens our environment. President Obama also called for aid to small businesses and new investments in infrastructure.

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Will Climate Deal Boost Alternative Energy ETFs?

Over the past two years, the primary focus of world leaders has been the series of economic crises that have threatened to erase years of progress and growth. With all available resources dedicated towards avoiding a prolonged downturn, many social and environmental issues have been moved to the back burner. Now, with a seemingly stable recovery underway, issues that had been pushed aside are returning to the forefront. One of these issues is climate change. Various initiatives have been discussed in a variety of different settings, but these efforts have produced more frustration than progress, as heads of both developed and emerging markets have failed to agree on any actionable next steps. These emerging markets have reportedly expressed a willingness to slow the rate at which their emissions are growing, while most developed economies have pledged to reduce emissions. There are several ETFs offering targeted exposure to alternative energy sectors, including funds focusing on solar (TAN, KWT), wind (FAN), and nuclear (NUCL) energy production.

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Technology critical to China's low-carbon plans

If China adopts the low-carbon road map proposed by international experts in its next five-year plan (2011–2015), it could lead the new global carbon economy. The road map presents options for reducing emissions — to 13 billion, nine billion or five billion tonnes by 2050 — while maintaining economic growth, with the goal of creating a low-carbon society by 2050. Efficiency measures and clean energy sources could reduce emissions by 20–23 per cent per unit of gross domestic product during the next five years.

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Kenya: Last gasp for clean energy

He simply started at KenGen as a manager in-charge of geothermal development. But little did he realise his passion for research may possibly yield answers to Kenya’s perennial power problems. The chief executive of the newly formed Geothermal Development Company (GDC) believes Kenya’s deteriorating energy situation is neither hard nor easy to be resolved. He says although the country continues to suffer from inadequate and costly power, the economy has the capacity to generate enough power from steam to offset the growing demand. Certainly, barely a year at the wheel of the state-owned geothermal company, Dr Simiyu, a highly experienced Geophysicist and Seismologist has devised a cheaper and faster method of extracting energy from steam. The new technique called Geothermal Early Generation (GEG) is specifically designed to reduce the gestation period for geothermal power generation from seven years to just less than a year and cut the unit cost of power generation by 50 per cent.

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PTL SOLAR - Solar Power Solutions takes first place on track to go green at Abu Dhabi grand prix

PTL SOLAR an award-winning solutions provider specializing in solar energy-efficient technologies for sustainable growth has currently supplied solar lights and windsock to be installed at Yas Island, where the track is under construction situated on a 2,550 hectare. The lights will provide zero carbon energy lighting that maintains the safety of operations on the track. The lights are ruggedly designed to be compact, self-contained solutions that provide green energy lighting. The solar windsock utilizes proven solar technology to provide a flexible and adaptable windsock solution that can be placed anywhere it’s needed and determines wind direction from a greater distance. The solar lights and windsock will produce clean and safe energy, which will be utilized by the track across Yas Island.
 

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Africa: Let power flow across borders and Africa will no longer be a 'dark continent'

Looking out of the window when flying over large parts of Africa at night, one sees large swathes of darkness. In contrast, flying over Asia, you see large areas of darkness are interspersed with interesting patches of light below, which are more noticeable in Europe and North America. One in every six people in the world lives in Africa, but the continent generates only four per cent of the world's energy, much of it in North and South Africa. Most of the Africa's populations have to do with darkness or poorly lit environments, as electricity is still a preserve of the rich. Satellite images show most of Africa as being dark with minute dots of light appearing over large cities. Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, and Dakar on the Atlantic coast, for example. In Eastern Africa, Addis Ababa, Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam might just be noticed, depending on the power of the satellite cameras and weather conditions.

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Kenya: Low Pricing Keeps Private Investors Off Green Energy

Low bulk power purchase tariffs are blocking private investors from developing low cost sources of electricity such as geothermal and wind power. An energy conference in Nairobi concluded on Monday that private investors were shying away from geothermal and hydropower because current tariffs could not cover the huge capital requirements and offer a return on the investment.

Most investors opt for thermal power which, though is cheaper to develop and has high returns, gets expensive in the long run when its impact on power bills inflation and the environmental damage it causes are factored in.

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Uganda: Biogas: The Untapped Resource In Uganda

New Vision Nov 12th 2009 page 14

Deforestation is a rising problem in Uganda. It has led to very long drought seasons in central and south- western Uganda. Drought was unheard of about 15 to 20 years ago. In Uganda almost everybody uses firewood and wood charcoal, it is very scary and worrying that one-day it may become a desert because of the deforestation going on everyday. The significant part of Uganda’s population, especially those who live in villages, lack access to modern cooking fuels and technologies and breath indoor smoke everyday. It is now scientifically consensual that women and young children are at the greatest risk, because they spend the most time near the indoor cooking fires daily. Dumping of waste without proper treatment creates dangerous, unsanitary and unhealthy conditions in urban areas. Accumulation of waste also creates severe long-term environmental problems like climate change and global warming.

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Kenya: New Policy To Boost Kenya's Bid To Go Green

Daily Nation 15th Nov 2009 Page 29

Kenya has come up with a new strategy for developing biodiesel industry as a clean source of energy. The move is aimed at reducing over dependence on fossil fuel imports. Biofuels have global significance as they attempt to address changing patterns in energy supply and demand as well as cut down emissions of green house gases articulated by the Kyoto Protocol. Kenya’s five year strategy developed by the Ministry of Energy aims to drive processing and marketing environmentally friendly green fuel made from Jatropha curcas among other trees grown locally. According to the ministry, the government is aware of the current developments across the globe in search of green energy and the strategy provides a framework of activities to develop the industry.

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