"1. As Fukushima swayed Japan away from nuclear towards the sustainables, so, too, will France by the election of Francois Hollande. This is like Obama replacing Bush (liberal for conservative"), for Nicolas Sarkozy ("conservative") was pro-nuclear and anti-green, while Hollande ("liberal") is an avid backer of renewable energy. France is now 75% dependent on nuclear for electricity. Hollande wants to reduce this percentage to 50% by 2025.
2. The first major American offshore wind project, Gamesa's 5 MW prototype, off Virginia, was scrapped. Mention was made of a few uncertainties with federal regulations, but when you come down to it, the uncertainty of the Production Tax Credit, and, as seems to be growing nationally, public protests, are checking the market. While articles are beginning to appear indicating that pro fossil fuel organizations have been behind the dissent, there are also sincere not in my backyard remonstrations, as in Hawaii. Even the fishermen of Fukushima have rallied against offshore wind energy. Two Massachusetts offshore efforts remain on schedule.
"3. Biomass projects are also running into opposition. In Massachusetts, the 2010 Manomet Center for Conversion Sciences study was used to argue that biomass electricity is NOT carbon neutral. Many feel this report is flawed, and I do too. The problem with biomass is that all the carbon dioxide (and more, because methane is 25 times worse") is returned to the atmosphere when the tree dies. You gain some time when the tree is alive, but every bit of the captured carbon returns into the atmosphere over time. Thus, if the comparison is between coal and biomass for electricity, it makes a lot more sense to use the latter. I've been asked to support a civic group on the Big Island of Hawaii opposed to biomass electricity, but won't because I think, on balance, it is far better to use biomass than fossil fuels for power. The European Union has also targeted Indonesian and Malyasian palm oil importation by re-defining what is bad. Something to do with biofuels from food crops are not good. About time!
4. American photovoltaics company, First Solar, lost 449 million just in the first quarter of this year. It has closed its German manufacturing facility and reduced its Malaysian operation. The firm blames China, maybe for good reason, as the country is reducing tax breaks for exporting companies. Their 550 MW Topaz Solar Farm in San Luis Obispo remains on track.
"5. This is all preliminary, but Japan appears to be rushing headlong into renewable energy. Click on Proposed Tariffs to read the considerable details. I've said this before, and I will say it again. Japan has poor solar potential, barely satisfactory wind prospects, mostly low temperature geothermal and no biomass opportunity on land. Plus, these are mostly for electricity only. If they are abandoning nuclear (and no such powerplants are today operating--Tomari right was the final one"), they need a major sustainable energy source, and the Blue Revolution is their only hope.
So solar energy is experiencing growing pains. That should have been expected. Compared to the fossil fuels and nuclear power, certainly, I applaud most efforts at advancing the sustainables. However, as Germany is learning, providing excessive incentives can backfire. Also, it was clear from the beginning that ethanol was dumb, and I continue to worry about plug-in electric cars.
How best, then, can government support a risky, sometimes intermittent, expensive, but clean, energy option over troublesome conventional options? If you're a Republican, you keep avoiding this certainty. If you're a Democrat, you do almost nothing. That is expected, for lobbyists control our government, and pro-renewable advocates have no clout. It's a simple matter of money, as just one sector, the oil industry, spends five times more than the Green Movement.
"Then there is clean coal. People actually are beginning to believe this. In short, I fear that, if anything, government is not moving fast enough, for the double hammer of Peak Oil and Global Warming will strike (soon, but maybe as long as a decade away") and viciously. At that point decision-makers will act irrationally. But such is the nature of our human society.
FINALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT YOU CLICK ON
RENEWABLE HYDROGEN (RH2)
CHEERS TO RINA, CHOONEUI, HARUYOSHI AND GUY ("PLUS THE REST OF THE TEAM") FOR PRODUCING THIS WEBSITE.
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