Renewable Energy World - GeoThermal

Renewable energy in the United States is at a crossroads. With several federal tax grants set to expire by the end of 2012, utilities are trying to decide if the falling prices of solar and wind technology makes renewable energy competitive enough to invest in despite vanishing federal aid.

Twenty years ago, international leaders descended on Brazil to lay the groundwork for what would eventually become the Kyoto Protocol. This summer, a 20-member United Nations panel will once again head to Rio de Janeiro with an even more ambitious agenda.

Due to growing urbanization and resulting environmental threats, China has invested nearly US$50 billion annually into its renewable energy sector since 2009. China's five-year investment in environmental protection is on track to reach 3.1 trillion yuan (US$454 billion). By 2015, its environmental protection industry is expected to top 2 trillion yuan (US$317 billion).

Solar players on both sides of the Pacific have been warily anticipating the Feb. 13 deadline when the Department of Commerce was set to announce whether it would impose duties on solar cells and modules coming in from China.

During the fourteen years that I've lived in Switzerland, the Germans have been the world's staunchest supporters of green power and alternative energy. Their aggressive development of wind power was breathtaking, as was their warm embrace of photovoltaic power.

The U.S. geothermal power industry is poised for a bit more rapid growth now that the U.S. Department of Energy's geothermal development program is maturing with demonstration-stage pilots. This acceleration of growth also will be spurred on by an increasing number of municipalities and utilities that are turning to geothermal as an alternative energy option for either renewable mandate or investment reasons, industry executives say. While the U.S. geothermal power market is still somewhat tepid in comparison to the international market, U.S. technology exports will help U.S. companies weather the wait for a more rapid domestic market expansion.

Securitizing renewable energy networks from cyber-attacks is not complicated by their oft-cited operational headache of intermittency, but rather by their separation from a utility's control system, said smart grid executives at the Gridwise Global Forum in Washington, DC in early November. Though renewable intermittency adds to the challenge of stabilizing a grid, the forum revealed new evidence of real-world smart grid load shifting that continues to chip away at the tired argument that renewable energy cannot successfully integrate into a legacy grid.

So far, the complaint by American wind tower manufacturers against their competition from Asia has mirrored the solar industry petition filed in October.

Chile is built for renewable energy. The seemingly unending coastline that runs the length of its boundary is prime real estate for wind development, and eventually the offshore wind projects, that could power the cities found along its spine. The nation's solar resources, especially in the northern regions, are among the best in the world. And its place along the ring of fire means its geothermal potential is vast, yet untapped.

A top GE executive is calling the political battle between economy and environment "nonsense." In a video interview at an international clean energy investment conference last week, Mark Vachon, vice president of GE's successful Ecomagination program, hailed "environmental performance" as a key driver for business.

Amidst a year of frustrating inactivity in the geothermal industry, many are holding hope for a brighter 2012. The industry holds more than 700 MW of projects in its pipeline to be completed before the federal tax credit expires in 2013. One project that has the upper hand in this race is Gradient Resource's 60-MW Patua project, about 38 miles east of Reno, Nevada, set to go online in late 2012. Gradient has partnered with TAS Energy Inc., a technology provider, and SAIC Inc., a technology applications company.

If there was one key takeaway from the most recent RenewableEnergyWorld.com and Solar Power-gen webcast it was that the year ahead will be difficult for large-scale solar power development due to poor access to capital, an uncertain policy landscape, the pending trade case against China and module prices that are too low to support a healthy indust

Weeks after the end of the U.N. climate talks, international leaders from across the world are meeting again on the world stage to discuss fossil fuels, nuclear energy and the growth of renewables.

With a glut of shale gas on the market, natural gas prices continue to tumble in the U.S. And they'll only fall more throughout the year.

Vestas on Thursday announced a major restructuring of its global operations, though it remains unclear how the move could affect its plans for the growing and lucrative Latin America market.

Nominations have been submitted, finalists have been chosen, and now it's your turn to help pick a winner.

Building transmission to accommodate utility-scale renewable energy generation in the U.S. is seen as essential by much of the renewable energy industry. But can it be justified? Doing so will necessarily involve constructing some of the longest stretches of wire ever undertaken in this country. Much of the best wind and solar resource is located quite distant from the load. Ultimately, thousands of miles of huge power lines will have to be built. It is not illogical to ask whether investment in such massive infrastructure "costs too much and provides too little." It is also not illogical to answer "no," not if the value proposition is laid out appropriately and a well crafted policy and regulatory approach can be established that effectively addresses the issues.

After months of speculation, it now appears that Germany's SolarWorld will file a trade complaint that targets Chinese companies selling their products in Europe.

To achieve a modest reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, global investment in renewable energy assets would need to increase from current levels of about $100 billion per year to $500 billion per year. Some of this increase can be accomplished by investment in existing, commercially proven technologies; but to meet the challenge of rapidly scaling renewable energy, we also need to roll out cutting-edge technologies.

In the political gladiator wars within the U.S. parties, there is mostly heated mud-slinging. This fighting may make great sound bites, but it doesn't make much sense. Republicans are attacking everything "green" mainly because the president has made "green" a major theme of his administration. But many republicans over the decades have embraced green: If you heard former California republican Governor Schwarzenegger speak recently at the ACORE dinner or sitting Governor Haley Barbour (former head of the Republican National Committee) speak about the new biofuel and PV manufacturing plants in Mississippi, you'd wonder what all the fuss is about.