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Production of small SHP improves in the country

A report launched today highlights critical challenges in the current ‘all-electric’ approach to decarbonisation of the UK energy system as this would increase our dependence on the electricity system to unprecedented levels. A system that makes greater use of cogeneration and district heating can however mitigate many of the more demanding aspects of the ‘all-electric’ approach. Used in combination with biomass and CCS technology for fossil fuels, cogeneration and district heating infrastructure have a key role to play up to 2050 and beyond. Find the full report  and the press release here.

Now, there is speculation that Google wants to enter the utility market and help spread renewable energy more quickly. On December 16, Google created a subsidiary called Google Energy. No, it’s not about the energy you get every time you see one of their great new holiday graphics or find out about another great Google feature. This is about clean, renewable energy for powering our homes, businesses, computers, etc

Sphelar solar cells, from the Kyosemi Corporation, debuted at the PV Expo 2010 in Tokyo. They are solidified drops of silicon, 1.8mm across, that are embedded into glass of any shape. Potentially, the technology could be integrated into a decorative dome on top of a building, glass bricks, or just an ordinary office or home window. Because they're round drops, they'll pick up the sunlight at all times of day.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) presented two new solar energy analyses in Valencia, Spain this week, a Solar Photovoltaic Energy Technology Roadmap and a Concentrating Solar Power Technology Roadmap. The key finding from these is that 20-25% of global electricity production could be from solar energy by 2050.

Replacing older oil-fired technology at the site, the gas turbines will increase the plant's efficiency and reduce its environmental impact in line with the Portuguese government's regulation to promote efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions (Fig.1). Approved in January 2010 and in support of the European Union cogeneration directive, a new Portuguese law will regulate cogeneration on a national level.

Global capacity of wind power installations grew by 35.8 gigawatts (GW) in 2010, a 22.5% increase on the 158.7 GW installed at the end of 2009, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) announced on February 2. This brings total installed wind energy capacity up to 194.4 GW, according to figures from the global wind industry trade association. For the first time, more than half of all new wind power was added outside of the traditional markets in Europe and North America. The shift was driven mainly by the continuing boom in China, which installed 16.5 GW in 2010 and now claims global leadership with 42.3 GW of wind power.

Normally these academics would be fine without our fascination. They weren't looking for glory when they decided to study organisms most people either can't see or wish they hadn't. But when the Deepwater Horizon exploded in April 2010, our collective bias toward cute big creatures started to matter a great deal. That's because the instant the spill-cam was switched off and it became clear that there would be no immediate mass die-offs among dolphins and pelicans, at least not on the scale of theExxon Valdez spill deaths, most of us were pretty much on to the next telegenic disaster. (Chilean miners down a hole—and they've got video diaries? Tell us more!)

Mike Utsler, BP's Unified Area Commander, summed up its findings like this: "The beaches are safe, the water is safe, and the seafood is safe." Never mind that just four days earlier, more than 8,000 pounds of tar balls were collected on Florida's beaches—and that was an average day. Or that gulf residents and cleanup workers continue to report serious health problems that many scientists believe are linked to dispersant and crude oil exposure.

For the scientists aboard the WeatherBird II, the recasting of the Deepwater Horizon spill as a good-news story about a disaster averted has not been easy to watch. Over the past seven months, they, along with a small group of similarly focused oceanographers from other universities, have logged dozens of weeks at sea in cramped research vessels, carefully measuring and monitoring the spill's impact on the delicate and little-understood ecology of the deep ocean. And these veteran scientists have seen things that they describe as unprecedented. Among their most striking findings are graveyards of recently deceased coral, oiled crab larvae, evidence of bizarre sickness in the phytoplankton and bacterial communities, and a mysterious brown liquid coating large swaths of the ocean floor, snuffing out life underneath.

The 2020 Factbook showcases the impact of sustainable energy over the last decade and highlights findings for 2019 that follow the macro trends of the 2010s: • Renewable energy became the cheapest new generation source in many U.S. power markets. The U.S. has over 2 times more renewable power generating capacity today than a decade ago. Solar capacity in 2019 was 80 times greater than what it was at the end of 2009. • Energy efficiency choices have proliferated, with federal programs helping high-efficiency appliances reach mass markets and state codes bolstering building efficiency. The economy grew every year in the past decade and energy use fell in five of the ten years. U.S. energy productivity (GDP/energy consumption) improved 18% between 2010 and 2019, benefiting businesses and households. • Natural gas became the primary source of U.S. power generation and shifted the scales in the global market. Between 2010 and 2019 domestic natural gas production jumped 50%, and natural gas went from providing 24% of the nation's electricity to 38%. The U.S. increased its export capacity to exceed its import capacity, building stronger trade relationships around the world. In 2019, the U.S. exported more gas than it imported.

A 2009 progress report by the Commission suggests that the EU will fall short of its 2010 renewable energy targets as set out in the first Renewables Directive and the Biofuels Directives. The Commission projects that the EU will achieve 19% instead of the target of 21% of total electricity consumption, and 4% instead of the 5.75% target for the transport sector. This failure may in part be due to the absence of binding targets in either directive.

Not only are new homes in the U.S. getting smaller, they are getting greener. Despite overall sluggishness in the U.S. construction sector, the U.S. green building market is accelerating at a substantial rate, according to a new report from McGraw-Hill Construction.