Wind is the number one source of new electricity-generation installations in both Europe and the U.S. and has been for the last year or two, according to green energy analysts.
“Wind is the one renewable energy source that, currently, is competing directly with coal and natural gas for electricity from new power installations.” says GreenTech Opportunies analyst Peter Cox.
Wind and natural gas combined accounted for about 80% of new capacity added to the U.S. electrical grid.
“Wind energy is now so cheap that residential customers in Germany and Texas are receiving rebates on their utility bills because such a large proportion of their power is coming from wind.”
Wave Power is coming to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Independent Natural Resources, has received a permit to contstruct an offshore platform that will use wave power to desalinate water, off Freeport, Texas. The company says it’s the first to receive a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to operate a wave generator in the U.S.
The facility is expected to be operation later this year.
A picture of the planned offshore platform which would have underwater 18 pumps moving water through a water wheel to make electricity.
(Credit: Independent Natural Resources)
The US government is committed to supporting Indonesia in developing renewable energy resources by providing both technological expertise and competitive financing scheme, says a minister.
“We stand ready to partner and create win-win opportunities to help both Indonesian government and companies not only achieve their energy efficiency targets but also create jobs,” visiting US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke told journalists yesterday during his two-day visit to Jakarta.
“We are eager to do more businesses in Indonesia because it’s a place, a country that has the potential to be one of the world’s leading producers and users of clean energy,” he said.
He said that in the list of global pressing challenges, energy was certainly at the top because it would shape the fate of the planet, its economies and nations.
He said that by mid-century, global energy use would double, theoretically needing two new 1,000 MW power plants every week for the next 30 years to meet the increasing energy demand.
“The new energy generation has to be clean to avoid catastrophic climate change. It should also be affordable to keep our economy growing,” he said.
He said the Obama administration had done more in mitigate climate change by investing more in clean energy than any other US president in history.
“It has allocated US$30 billion in clean energy investment and established top new efficiency standards for automobile, appliances and customer electronics,” he said, while praising Indonesia’s efforts in developing clean energy.
Indonesia, he said, had set greatly desirous energy efficiency targets in terms of reducing its greenhouse gas emission by 26 percent by 2020, even 41 percent reduction with foreign assistance, and would double its renewable energy from the current 7 percent to 15 percent by 2025.
