Fly ... er ... float like the wind.

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First deployment of a commercial semi-submersible floating platform
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In just 3 human lifetimes.

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100% renewable energy in Europe [& America] by 2050

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Now we're talkin!

Once upon a time, long ago, some people had a wonderful dream, of a Europe [& America] running on green, renewable energy. However, there seemed to be no way of doing this, so they were mostly dismissed as idealists and hippies.

However, many years later in 2011, renewable energy technologies had developed so much and become such a normal part of life that a 100% renewable energy economy was considered an economically and technologically realistic vision for Europe [& America] in 2050 [if not sooner] and supported by 200 companies.

The case for 100% renewables is plain. In July 2009, the G8 leaders agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% before 2050. The EU countries have already unilaterally agreed to cut emissions by 80% in 2050 and by 95% if other countries sign up to similar action. Given that transport and agriculture will still produce emissions the power sector will need to be 100% carbon free.

Supporting 100% renewable energy in 2050

Past time for all patriotic red-blooded Americans to sign a Declaration of sustainable prosperity, employment & technological leadership:

The answers to today’s challenges do not lie beyond our reach – they lie in the palm of our hands. By promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, we will be able to tackle both security of energy supply and climate change, while at the same time creating a future-oriented sustainable economy with high-quality green jobs.

The availability of renewable energy sources is vast enough to meet our energy needs many times over, while respecting ecological limits and social justice. In one day, the sunlight which reaches the earth produces enough energy to meet the current global power needs for eight years.[2] Numerous studies demonstrate the technical and economic scope of the EU’s energy efficiency and renewable energy potential: 100% renewable energy is entirely feasible in 2050 if the right measures are taken today!

Supercar

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Wind Power 1 & 2

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Shine, baby, shine!

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In [the] future, German solar module makers will not only be forced to export more but also rely on their image when they expand their international presence. This works for some industries. The question is whether it will work for the solar sector.

Is there a "Made in Germany" premium for solar?
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The Wind Power of Exponential Growth

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And 22.8% annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years to 447.7 GW by Dec 31, 2014. That's equivalent to approx. 447 nuclear plants worth of generating capacity.

BTM estimates that global installed cumulative capacity will increase at a CAGR of 22.8% between 2009 and 2014, reaching 447,689MW by the end of 2014.

45 GW more projected for 2011 alone.

Wind turbine installations will bounce back in 2011 after stalling this year, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Turbines with an electricity-generation capacity of 45 gigawatts are likely to be erected next year, up from about 37.7 gigawatts this year.

Wind Power Turbine Installations Forecast to Rebound in 2011 After Slump
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Feed-in Tariffs USA

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And the walls come tumbling down.

In a ruling 21 October 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) effectively cleared the way for multi-tiered feed-in tariffs for various renewable energy technologies, like the programs found in Ontario, Canada and across Europe. FERC's ruling "clarified" an earlier decision that had roiled proposed feed-in tariff policies at the state level in the US.

"The FERC decision clears the way for State utility regulatory commissions to implement FITs and we look forward to working with California utilities to implement FITs in a responsible way that creates local jobs and clean renewable generation."

Federal Regulator Blasts Open Door to Differentiated Feed-in Tariffs in USA
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Keep Texas Oil Money Out of California Politics

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NO on Proposition 23: Proposition 23 is the Dirty Energy Proposition sponsored by Big Oil that would halt implementation of AB 32. Because California establishes economic and social trends for the nation, this election will tell the world whether the US is ready to lead the clean global economy of the 21st Century.

NO on Proposition 26: Proposition 26 is a dangerous initiative that eliminates the ability of state agencies and the legislature to hold polluters accountable for harm caused by their activities. Prop 26 would redefine environmental and health fees as "taxes" and requiring them to pass by a two-thirds supermajority.

YES on Proposition 21: When it comes to state park protection, NRDC Action Fund supports Proposition 21, a measure that will help keep our state parks open and accessible to all.

YES on Proposition 25: We support Proposition 25, which would help end budget gridlock by removing the two-third vote requirement to pass the state budget, making it a simple majority vote.

NRDC Action Fund Recommends: NO on Props 23 & 26; YES on 21 & 25
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Wind Energy 101

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Energy 101 - Wind Turbines from U.S. Department of Energy on Vimeo.

Death is the Road to Awe.

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Timescapes: "Death is the Road to Awe" from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

China outpaces the U.S. in wind power, too.

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Taxpayers subsidize global warming to the tune of hundreds of billions.

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A Sept. 2009 study by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) confirms that:

Despite the national dialogue on energy use and climate change, the U.S. government has continued to subsidize greenhouse-gas emitting fossil fuels to a significant degree, while directing substantially less support to renewable energy sources. A large portion of the $72 billion in fossil fuel subsidies derives from just a few provisions in the U.S. Tax Code. These figures raise the pressing question of whether scarce government funds might be better allocated to move the United States towards a low-carbon economy. Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 2002-2008

The federal government provided substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewables. Subsidies to fossil fuels — a mature, developed industry that has enjoyed government support for many years—totaled approximately $72 billion [between 2002 & 2008], representing a direct cost to taxpayers. U.S. Tax Breaks Subsidize Foreign Oil Production

Applying a conservative approach, the study finds that Energy Subsidies are Black, Not Green:

• The vast majority of federal subsidies for fossil fuels and renewable energy supported energy sources that emit high levels of greenhouse gases when used as fuel.
• Subsidies for renewable fuels, a relatively young and developing industry, totaled $29 billion over the same period.
• Subsidies to fossil fuels generally increased over the study period (though they decreased in 2008), while funding for renewables increased but saw a precipitous drop in 2006-07 (though they increased in 2008).
• Most of the largest subsidies to fossil fuels were written into the U.S. Tax Code as permanent provisions. By comparison, many subsidies for renewables are time-limited initiatives implemented through energy bills, with expiration dates that limit their usefulness to the renewables industry.
• The vast majority of subsidy dollars to fossil fuels can be attributed to just a handful of tax breaks... The largest of these, the Foreign Tax Credit, applies to the overseas production of oil through an obscure provision of the Tax Code, which allows energy companies to claim a tax credit for payments that would normally receive less-beneficial tax treatment.

Earth Track is a primary sourse for understanding & monitoring environmentally-harmful subsidies.

Earth Track works to make government subsidies that harm the environment easier to see, value, and eliminate. There are thousands of environmentally-harmful subsidies throughout the world, contributing to global challenges such as overfishing, excessive clearing of forests, water depletion, and climate change. The subsidies alter market prices and investment incentives, distorting wide ranging market decisions on what to buy, what to build, and when and where to do it.

Subsidies 101: Gross subsidies to oil + Gross offsets = Net subsidies to oil

And, in Feb. 2010, the International Monetary Fund issued its Staff Position Note on the upward trend in oil subsidies:

Petroleum product subsidies have again started to rise with the rebound in international prices. In 2003, global consumer subsidies for petroleum products totaled nearly $60 billion. They are projected to reach almost $250 billion in 2010. Tax-inclusive subsidies, reflecting suboptimal taxation, are estimated to be much larger—$740 billion in 2010, or 1 percent of global GDP. Petroleum Product Subsidies: Costly, Inequitable, and Rising

AWEA on Renewable Energy Standards & American Jobs

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re: "Our economy is at risk, because these jobs are being created overseas."

Utter disinformed tea party palin-beck propagandic nonsense, pilgrim. Our economy is at risk because we haven't yet invested in sufficient manufacturing base necessary to produce the sheer volume of electrical components needed for wind turbine farms here & in foreign markets.

While the Bush/Cheney administration pumped trillions of our taxpayer dollars into foreign oil subsidies & foreign oil wars & foreign EXXOM mega-profits, Europe & China provided the necessary government regulatory infrastructure & stimuli to attract 100s of billions of investment dollars into renewable energy manufacturing capacity & demand.

So again, thanks to the utter stupidity of the Party of No-Way, No-How, No-Jobs criminal malfeasance & disgovernance to line the pockets of EXXOM Rex Tillerson's & Denier-in-Chief James Inhofe's Saudi billionaire buds, we're now relegated to playing catch up.

And catch up we'd better, else trillions more of our taxpayer dollars will flow to Prince Al-Walid & Prez. Chavez & EXXOM boardroom bonuses, instead of building a strong manufacturing base in renewable clean technologies to provide jobs for 100s of thousands of long-unemployed construction & industrial American workers.

"Rather than adopt policies that will kill American jobs, Congress should enact policies that will create jobs by encouraging manufacturers to invest in U.S. plants. That means passing a Renewable Electricity Standard now."

"The Recovery Act has been creating jobs by helping finance new American wind energy projects that have broken ground or been completed since the Act was passed. The proposed moratorium and legislation would kill this effort and destroy the momentum for one of the few industries that has been creating jobs and economic growth."

"It is unfortunate that the proponents of this moratorium and legislation are using a deeply flawed study as the basis for a policy that would destroy tens of thousands of American jobs."

"We support the goal of continuing the rapid expansion of U.S. wind manufacturing. More than half of the value of wind turbines used in U.S. wind projects is domestically produced, and that percentage is increasing every year as more turbine makers build U.S. manufacturing capability. We do not have the capability today to produce 100% of wind turbine components in the U.S., but we can grow our manufacturing base and add 274,000 American jobs if Congress passes a strong Renewable Electricity Standard." AWEA

10,000 nuke plants worth of wind power.

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New NREL studies show that the U.S. could generate 20% of our electric power with 300 GW (300 nuke plants worth) of wind power as early as 2024. And we are blessed with the wind resources to ultimately produce 10,000 GW (10,000 nuke plants worth).

The assessment of onshore wind energy potential found that the U.S. could produce almost 37 million gigawatt-hours yearly. According to the American Wind Energy Association, that’s nine times our current annual electricity consumption.

New Wind Resource Maps and Wind Potential Estimates for the United States

In a single year, the U.S. wind resource potential could produce 364.9 quadrillion btus, the energy equivalent of all proven oil and natural gas reserves in the U.S. as estimated by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). A renewable resource, wind resource will not be depleted and will continue to provide energy year after year.

U.S. WIND RESOURCE EVEN LARGER THAN PREVIOUSLY ESTIMATED

This new analysis confirms that America is blessed with vast wind resources that can energize our economy, create jobs, and avoid carbon for years to come -— if we give ourselves the policy tools to do so, including a strong national Renewable Electricity Standard with aggressive, binding near- and long-term targets. A national Renewable Electricity Standard would not only ensure that we tap our nation’s vast wind resources, but create thousands of new American jobs today, manufacturing the 8,000 component parts that go into a modern wind turbine. The wind resource is there, vast and inexhaustible, waiting for us. Meanwhile, the economy can’t wait, job creation can’t wait, and America can’t wait. We need Congress to act now and pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill that includes a strong national Renewable Electricity Standard.

Jobs, jobs, & jobs! What the hell are we waiting for? For China to take over Texas?
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Sun gonna rise in the West.

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Leading French & German nuclear engineering companies going solar? What's with that?

Solar-thermal power to grow 30 times in only 10 years. And that doesn't even include solar PV or wind power.

Areva SA of France predicts the global use of solar-thermal power will grow by about 30-fold this decade, a forecast that spurred the world’s largest maker of nuclear reactors to buy a California-based equipment maker. Areva wants to use Ausra’s solar-thermal equipment to build projects for independent power producers, utilities and industrial customers. The company will target markets including southwestern U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

Europe's largest engineering company is already onboard.

Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, agreed last year to a $418 million purchase of Beit Shemesh, Israel-based Solel Solar Ltd.

And Spain is already building 13 solar-thermal plants.

Abengoa SA, also an engineering company, is building 13 solar-thermal plants in Spain that will benefit from consumer subsidies for clean energy.

And the DOE wants to run solar thermal as baseload. Now we're talking.

The U.S. Department of Energy is ramping up research into what´s also called “concentrated solar power,” funding almost 30 projects and working with companies including New York-based Alcoa Inc. and Spain’s Abengoa [now Siemens CSP] with the aim of making the technology competitive in the baseload power market by 2020.

With 34,000 MW (equivalent to 34 nuclear plants) of solar power in only 10 years.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast the installed base to grow to as much as 34,000 megawatts worldwide by 2020.

China move over, sun gonna rise in the West.

Areva Says Solar Thermal Market May Increase 30-Fold by 2020
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The Chinese don't do no.

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Once again, the party of no-way, no-how, not-me defeatist mentality neglects the real challenges before us.

While the party-of-no obstructs & delays, China gobbles up market share from American companies.

Most of the top solar modules manufacturers in China had recovered as of the second half of 2009... Along with sales recovery, the Chinese may have grabbed more market share from their international competitors.

While the party-of-no obstructs & delays, China extends its remarkable cost advantage over American companies.

In addition, the Chinese processing cost is 30 percent lower than that of their European counterparts, which is a "remarkable cost advantage."

While the party-of-no obstructs & delays, China takes jobs from American companies & workers.

Due to this product cost gap, Chinese manufacturers are able to attract large-scale solar project developers, while their European and U.S. counterparts suffer losses in the price competition.

While the party-of-no obstructs & delays, China marshalls its resources to dominate new energy technologies that Americans developed.

Another major advantage for Chinese solar companies is their ready access to finance amid the global economic downturn. Backed by China's preferential policies towards renewable energy, domestic solar modules makers have benefited from supportive local banks. Financial Crisis Paves the Way for Chinese Solar Giants

If history has taught Americans anything, we can overcome any challenge "that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win."

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade ..., not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” ~John F. Kennedy, Rice University, September 12, 1962

China corners wind like no tomorrow.

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Awaken, America! China has gobbled up our solar-powered breakfast & is now woofing down our wind-powered lunch, while ExxonMobil continues to fund anti-science denial front-groups to obstruct our overdue transition to a sustainable clean energy economy.

China doubles installed capacity for fifth year running – Global markets up 31%.

China again doubles wind power capacity in one year.

Brussels, 3 February 2010. The Global Wind Energy Council today announced that the world’s wind power capacity grew by 31% in 2009, adding 37.5 GW to bring total installations up to 157.9 GW. A third of these additions were made in China, which experienced yet another year of over 100% growth.

Wind power is already the clean energy technology of choice around the world.

“The continued rapid growth of wind power despite the financial crisis and economic downturn is testament to the inherent attractiveness of the technology, which is clean, reliable and quick to install. Wind power has become the power technology of choice a growing number of countries around the world.”

And already provides ~500,000 jobs & growing fast.

Wind energy is now an important player in the world’s energy markets. The global wind market for turbine installations in 2009 was worth about 45 bn EUR or 63 bn US$. GWEC estimates that around half a million people are now employed by the wind industry around the world.

China added an additional 13,000 MW (equivalent to 13 nuclear power plants) of wind power capacity in 2009 alone, doubling capacity each year for 5 years running now.

China was the world’s largest market in 2009, nearly doubling its wind generation capacity from 12.1 GW in 2008 to 25.1 GW at the end of 2009 with new capacity additions of 13 GW.

Putting China on track for 150,000 MW of wind power capacity in less than 10 years. Holy thermalized neutrons! That's equivalent to 150 new nuclear power plants by 2020.

“The Chinese government is taking very seriously its responsibility to limit CO2 emissions while providing energy for its growing economy. China is putting strong efforts into developing the country’s tremendous wind resource. Given the current growth rates, it can be expected that the even the unofficial target of 150 GW will be met well ahead of 2020.”

Asia is now the biggest wind power market in the world.

Newly added capacity of 1,270 MW in India and some smaller additions in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan make Asia the biggest regional market for wind energy in 2009, with more than 14 GW of new capacity.

Time to wake up, America, before we have to ship even more mega-billions of our taxpayer dollars to the communists in Beijing just to pay the interest on our national debt.

Global wind power boom continues despite economic woes

re: "And the windmill propaganda machine"
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How to close half your coal plants in only 10 years.

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Hang on to your teaparty hats; 2020 is just around the corner on the road to a coal-free America. Free at last!

Regional energy planners say improved efficiency, conservation, wind power and gas will help the Pacific Northwest meet electricity demand over the next 20 years without adding an extra lump of coal.

So it's unanimous: No coal; only wind, gas, efficiency.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council unanimously adopted a regional energy plan Wednesday that avoids any new coal-fired plants for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana through 2030.

Coal-burning power plants spew out over 80% of the GHG emissions by the region's electric power system.

Coal provides more than a fifth of the energy in a region dominated by clean hydropower from a system made up of 31 federal dams that produce electricity marketed by Bonneville, based in Portland. But Kearns noted the small scattering of coal plants in the region produces more than four-fifths of the power system's greenhouse gas pollution.

The Pacific Northwest leads the rest of the nation towards a coal-free America.

She said the council's latest plan shows "that a future without coal is not prohibitively expensive, it is not difficult for utilities to achieve and it will not jeopardize power reliability in the Northwest."

But how can 4 states cost-effectively shutdown at least half, if not more, of their coal-fired electric power plants in only 10 years, you may wonder?

The coal industry in the Pacific Northwest received a heavy blow yesterday with the release of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s (NWPCC’s) Sixth Power Plan, describing how the region encompassing Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana can cost-effectively shut down at least half its coal plants (including coal plants outside the region that supply these states with electricity) by the year 2020. Major Analysis Shows Road to a Coal-Free Northwest

re: "So coal is not going away anytime soon."
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Half-life of a nuke industry.

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Both nuclear power & nat gas are important wedges of our energy mix as we transition our 20th Century economy from dirty coal & foreign oil to cleaner nat gas & renewable energy sources.

But expect only a handful of nukes, at least on the home planet, to remain operational by 2030, as we shift gov't subsidies & private investment from carbon burning to wind & solar & other renewable energy technologies.

Also expect clean energy technologies to make even more people even more money -- Bill Gates move over -- during this 21st Century already upon us.

Clean, sustainable, competitively-priced energy is essential to the health & longevity of an advanced civilization, not to mention mother earth.
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