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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (6993)	4/8/2009 9:13:33 AM
From: RetiredNow	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86356

The market has spoken. All the growth is in renewables... Prometheus Institute: Renewables Likely to Represent 90% of New Capacity by 2012 seekingalpha.com By Michael Kanellos The U.S. still derives the vast majority of its electricity from coal, natural gas and nuclear reactors, but the growth is all in renewables. Approximately 90 percent of the new electrical capacity that will be brought on line in the U.S. in 2012 will come from renewables like solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydroelectric power, according to a new study from the Prometheus Institute. The vast majority of the 18.6 gigawatts of renewable capacity that will come on line that year will consist of wind power. Wind capacity will grow by 15.9 gigawatts in 2012 while solar will trail with 2.1 gigawatts. Still, even solar should do better than fossil fuels in 2012, according to Travis Bradford, president of Prometheus. Fossil fuel capacity should grow by just over a gigawatt. (Disclosure: The Prometheus Institute and Greentech Media collaborate on several research projects but did not work on this one together.) Although the growth rates may sound outlandish, they come as a result of pre-existing circumstances and trends. States, such as California, are mandating that utilities increase the power they harvest from renewable resources and a national renewable standard seems likely. By contrast, banks have pulled away from funding coal plants out of fears that carbon trading or taxing may come soon and increase the cost of power. Ironically, in the U.K., researchers are building wind turbine facilities on old coal mines. Then there is simple construction time. Solar utility fields take time to permit and build, but not as long as nuclear or fossil plants. The study, though, assumes wind will grow at 17.5 percent and biomass will grow by 10 percent annually. Nonetheless, renewables have been growing rapidly. In 2000, renewables accounted for a whopping 1 percent, or 279 megawatts of new generation capacity. In 2005, it jumped to 2.7 gigawatts or 17 percent. Fossil fuel plants, meanwhile, dived in 2003 from 44 gigawatts of new capacity to 15.9 a year later. The flip occurred last year. 9,015 megawatts worth of renewable capacity was added last year while only 8,407 megawatts worth of fossil fuel capacity was added. An additional 720 megawatts of "other" power, i.e., nuclear and fuel cells, was added to bring the total of new capacity to 18.1 gigawatts. Overall, though, renewables account for only a small fraction of the U.S. energy diet. Renewables accounted for only 7 percent of all of the energy consumed in America in 2007, including petroleum, which clocked in a number one with 40 percent of the pie, according to the Energy Information Administration. That 7 percent almost entirely consisted of hydroelectric power and biomass. Solar and wind together represented only 6 percent of the seven percent.

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (6993)	4/8/2009 9:15:39 AM
From: RetiredNow	Respond to of 86356

Green Stimulus by Nation seekingalpha.com Here is a look at what % of the fiscal stimulus packages of various nations has been devoted to "Green Projects": (From the Economist): " How green is your stimulus package? THIS week HSBC, a big bank, published a report ranking 17 countries by the green elements of their economic-stimulus packages. South Korea is apparently allocating a whopping 81% of its fiscal stimulus to greenery and China is setting aside 34% for eco-friendly projects. By contrast, India is investing nothing of its $13.7 billion stimulus plan for green ventures. Italy and Japan are the least green of the rich G7 countries, allocating just 1.3% and 2.6% respectively." One of my long-term concerns about the current financial crisis, is that the temporarily "lower" price of oil will cause the world to lose focus on the need to develop alternative sources of energy. This potential loss of focus will not only contribute to a future energy crisis, but remove needed investment from a future growth engine. Better yet the time to invest in alternative energy is right here and now while we still have fossil fuels to depend on, as opposed to just making small casual investments in the present and letting things slip until we have a full blown crisis on our hands. While this is not the case with all nations, several of the world's economic powers missed a rare opportunity to kick start the development of alternative energy sources. Sources: The Economist: "Green Shoots" -- April 3, 2009.