New Countries Emerge as Renewable Energy Leaders
Although some of the heavy hitters are still major players, 2008 has shown growth in renewable energy markets that had been weak previously. New players however are entering the renewable energy field, according to Clean Energy Trends 2009 report.
France
The vast majority of the electricity generated in France comes from its 59 nuclear reactors. It has not been considered a global leader in renewable energy, but France has taken some bold steps recently to support growth in this industry.
The government plans to have 23% of its electricity generated from renewable energy sources including hydroelectric by 2020. A feed-in tariff of 30 Euro cents for commercial buildings has been introduced to encourage solar energy growth.
France now exceeds Denmark in wind energy capacity after adding 950 MW in 2008. The country currently has 3,400 MW of wind power and plans to increase this to 25,000 MW by 2020.
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Bulgaria
Russia cut off Bulgaria’s supply of natural gas for more than 2 weeks in January. With Russia supplying 96% of the country’s gas, the repercussions were severe for both residential and industrial customers alike.
Many are blaming the government for the situation and call for increased energy independence from Russia. Three planned wind farm in the northeast of the country may be a step in that direction.
Bulgaria’s Clever Synergies Investment Fund plans to finance three wind farms totaling 200 MW in northeast Bulgaria near the Black Sea. Current capacity is a mere 16.5 MW.
The government introduced a feed-in tariff in 2007 for renewable energy for a 12-year duration. The rates vary by energy source and are much higher for photovoltaic solar energy than wind power or small-scale hydroelectric.
Greece
The parliament recently approved a robust feed-in tariff for solar energy. The feed-in tariff provides $ .40 a kWh for systems that are less than 100 kilowatts.
The California-based company SolFocus recently signed a deal for 10 MW of concentrated solar power installations in Greece. These installations will be comprised of 100-80 kW solar systems.
This will enable Greece to be a leader in concentrated photovoltaic use and take advantage of its ideal solar resources.
“Greece is very committed to its renewable portfolio standards, so you’re going to see a lot of activity there,” SolFocus Vice President of Marketing Nancy Hartsoch said earlier this month. “They have some nice incentives and feed-in tariffs, so just as it drove Spain’s market a few years ago, you’ll see it drive the solar market in Greece.”
Photo Credit (upper photo)- Kiril Lozanov, Solar Service Inc of Niles, IL
(middle photo)- Wes Slaymaker, P.E., WES Engineering LLC of Madison, WI
(lower photo): SolFocus Inc.
Under Feed-in Tariffs policy, the household outfitted with sustainable energy system may be seen as a sort of sound, reliable pension plan increasing the value of the house considerably, leading to renewed construction boom.
In my mind, it might bring back the much-anticipated economic growth as a cornerstone.
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Here in Ontario Canada Feed-Tariffs were recently announced. I’m not sure if residential homes can take advantage of this. I believe in Ontario that there is some surprise that there isn’t many people applying for residential. If so then it is available for residential homes but why is there such a low response? I would guess not too many people know, or can afford to set up in Ontario’s battered economy right now.
Thanks for the excellent post!
Arent we all going to make our own energy soon ?
has anyone tried the energy homekits yet by the way?
Green Power or Michael if you bothered to use your real name - I followed your link and found it to be what I expected - step by step instructions on how to piss away money.
These instructions will help people generate very little power. I think that you are trying to make a quick buck and will manage to give the entire green community a bad name.
This is nothing but feel good junk!
With all due respect, mentioning Bulgaria and not Romania, with a bigger potential and bigger ongoing projects is not fair.
Once the Western world has forsaken the “American Dream” sales propaganda as its standard of achievement, and the day they come back down from the “Magic Enchantment” Disney-like world sold to them by the advertisers, and the propagandized “Ideal Lifestyle” from the commercial architecture magazines are recognized for the sales pitches they are, and separated from realties of every day North American life, and with both their feet firmly planted in the concrete of sound judgment, North Americans will build Zero Operating cost, Zero Maintenance, Environmentally friendly, practical, survival shelter accented realistically sized homes, complete with LED powered green houses, aquaculture spaces, composting rooms, gardens, water conservation features, Solar orientation, super-insulation to cut heating/cooling costs, Wind generators in good locations, Solar collectors, ground heat storage considerations, and payable mortgages - no “Amana Corp” power sucking fancies, self-cleaning ovens, double oven stoves, resistence element coils, automatic dish washers, counter top energy sucking toys, no ice maker doors on inefficient induction motor drive fridges, New, Einstein cycle solar powered refrigeration, Fewer massive cabinet displays, Less Glorious Lighting displays, more LED lighting used in practical ways, No vaulted ceilings, fewer Magical staircases, no 2 1/2 inch deep synthetic white rugs, no triple bathroomed floors, and more microwave/convection cookers, wastewater/graywater recouping, dry Swedish toilets, composters built in, room for Solar panels, batteries, charging stations, more triple glazed solar oriented practical heat gaining windows, more straw bale style insulation values, and mostly survivability in the hard times and for retirement on very low incomes, built right into the home-investment. Look for newfangled, high efficiency wind generators, battery utility vehicles, battery rechargeable lawn mowers with no built in planned obsolescence, We may even see homes without the 18th century styled lawns, and food gardens in their place! Everyone, having learned from the great republican depression, we have now only sampled the outer edges of, will develop a taste for practical realities far stronger than the pull of the propaganda and traditions of a day gone by, and adapt to off-grid, independent lifestyles, or parish in deep debt in a vain effort to maintain the non-sustainable lifestyle that has passed, certainly Detroit City, and soon the rest of America by! The end of the “Cheap Oil Era” is next upon us, and we have no wood to burn, just a bit of coal, for which we have no stoves! Solar, Wind, Wave, Hydro, Tidal, and Geothermal are not our “Last resorts” they are our only resorts! Nuclear fission, once started, is only one human error from Armageddon, and creates wastes that camn kill off all mankind in a few greedy generations! Until the Chinese scholars figure that one out, we must go with the sustainable, renewable, or “Perpetual” if you like, clean powers of nature to survive less glorious, but safer and happy lives. Check your bank account, Yankee Doodle, can you afford otherwise?
[...] Offshore wind turbines are currently more expensive than land turbines given technological differences. They are also currently in lower demand. Hopefully with Spain’s progress toward developing offshore wind power, this will begin to change, making the equipment less expensive for everyone as demand rises. Then perhaps other countries will also move forward with offshore wind power development, like France and Greece, emerging players in the alternative energy race. [...]