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In our previous article we have introduced the term and idea of Community Renewable Energy, CRE, when we introduced the concept of Renewable Green Energy Community, RGEC.  It was mentioned that one of the characteristics of a RGEC is that it has a Community Renewable Energy infrastructure to cover the needs of the community to an as much great extend as possible.

The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) works towards a voluntary commitment to the Sustainable Energy For All Initiative of the UN Secretary General presented at the Rio+20. In a regional workshop, held from 25 to 27 June 2012 in Dakar, Senegal, the Directors of the ECOWAS Ministries of Energy agreed on the main targets and pillars of a regional renewable energy and energy efficiency policy of ECOWAS. The policies aim at the following objectives: Around 30% of the electricity consumption in the ECOWAS region will be saved through demand and supply side efficiency improvements by 2030. The share of renewable energy (incl. large hydro) of the total installed electric generation capacity of ECOWAS will increase to 35% in 2020 and 48% to 2030. The share of new renewable energy such as wind, solar, small scale hydro and bioelectricity (excl. large hydro) will increase to around 10% in 2020 and 19% in 2030. These targets translate to an additional 2.425 MW renewable electricity capacity by 2020 and 7.606 MW by 2030. To provide universal access to energy services it is envisaged that around 75% of the rural population will be served through grid extension and around 25% by renewable energy powered by mini-grids and stand-alone systems in 2030. By 2020 the whole ECOWAS population will have access to improved cooking facilities either through improved stoves or fuel switching to other modern forms of energy such as LPG. The share of ethanol/biodiesel in transport fuels will increase to 5% in 2020 and 10% in 2030. By 2030 around 50% of all health centers, 25% of all hotels and agro-food industries with hot water requirements will be equipped with solar thermal systems.

The report, prepared by a task force comprising Marine Scotland, environmental regulators, renewable developers and The Crown Estate, was welcomed by Alex Salmond as he co-chaired the first 2012 meeting of the Scottish Energy Advisory Board (SEAB).

However Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson has said the blueprint is yet more bad news for Scotland’s coastal communities and businesses.

This report introduces several methods the European Environment Agency (EEA) has developed for assessing and communicating early RES growth and the important knock-on effects that RES growth has on the energy sector and related areas. The report provides specific information at EU and country level on estimated RES progress in 2013, estimated gross avoided carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and avoided fossil fuel use due to the additional use of renewable energy since 2005, as well as an assessment of the statistical impacts of growing RES use on primary energy consumption.

The task force recommendations include: creating a national database of survey data, with information from DECC, The Crown Estate and, at the appropriate time, developers - to reduce duplication and minimise cost and time introducing common standards in data collection and assessment to ensure developers can use methodologies consistently and with confidence using mandatory multilateral consultation to engage other sea users (fisheries, shipping, recreational users, communities, etc) at the earliest opportunity, before applications increasing resources in Marine Scotland (on cost-recovery basis) to provide required environment specialists for efficient scoping and application processes prioritising early work to identify potential sites for new test facilities, including deep water offshore wind technologies

AHAM lists the following six key features associated with smart appliances: Dynamic electricity pricing information is delivered to the user It can respond to utility signals Integrity of its operation is maintained while automatically adjusting its operation to respond to emergency power situations and help prevent brown or blackouts The consumer can override all previously programmed selections or instructions from the Smart Grid, while ensuring the appliance‘s safety functions remain active When connected through a Home Area Network and/or controlled via a Home Energy Management system, smart appliances allow for a total home energy usage approach. This enables the consumer to develop their own energy usage profile and use the data according to how it best benefits them It incorporates features to target renewable energy by allowing for the shifting of power usage to an optimal time for renewable energy generation, i.e., when the wind is blowing or sun is shining According to a research piece written by Zpryme, the smart appliance market is projected to grow from $3.06 billion in 2011 to $15.12 billion in 2015, with the U.S. accounting for 46.6 percent of that in 2011 and 36 percent in 2015. By contrast, China is expected to have an 11.6 percent share in 2011 and an 18.2 percent share in 2015. What's more, there are some strong drivers to smart appliance investment: Pricing: Bringing smart appliances to the mainstream means aligning ecological innovation with affordability Environment: With the build-out of metering and real-time pricing, consumers will see economic and environmental incentives for reducing power consumption first hand with their smart appliances Energy efficiency: When a consumer buys an appliance, they commit to paying both the first cost and the operating cost for the life of the product. And over the existence of the appliance, the energy cost to run it could be significantly greater than the initial cost Smart grid build-out: Smart appliance growth relies heavily on how quickly smart grid infrastructure can be rolled-out and readily accessible to communities Government subsidies: Like the Cash for Appliances program in the U.S., governments could and should play an active role in furthering the smart appliance agenda

These restrictions are beginning to subside with the advent of virtual net metering (VNM). VNM is an electric tariff that allows for the net-metering credits from a single solar generating system to be distributed among multiple electric service accounts.