Tag Archives: government
U.S Promises $2B in Renewable Energy Loans to South Africa
Eyeing South Africa’s potential as a key export market, the US is coming up with $2 billion in financing for clean energy projects. The agreement signed this week between the US Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank and Industrial Development Corp. (IDC) of South Africa is aimed at supporting solar, wind and other clean-energy projects that use U.S. [...]
India’s Power Grid Failure: What Happened?
This is the first part of a two part piece by Raj Prabhu of Mercom Capital addressing the recent blackouts in India. This first part examines technical, regulatory and political dimensions of the problem, and the second part will deal with proposed solutions. The massive grid failure in India last week affected over 600 million [...]
California’s PG&E Hits 20% Renewables
All three investor-owned utility companies in California now meet 20% of their electricity needs with renewable sources, according to an update by the state’s public utility commission. And solar is becoming a much bigger piece of the mix. As we reported in February, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric actually reached the [...]
NREL: Solar Has Biggest Potential
A recently released study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, estimates that the technical potential of photovoltaic cells and concentrated solar power (CSP) in the United States is as much as 200,000 Gigawatts, enough to generate about 400,000 TWh of energy annually. The report dismisses economic and political impacts on the solar industry and focuses [...]
Bangladesh Hits 1 Million Solar Systems Milestone
In one of the poorest countries on the planet a renewable energy service company is installing one thousand solar home systems – a day. Not in its capital or busy urban centers, but where 80 percent of the population lives – in rural Bangladesh. The company, Grameen Shakti, literally translates as rural energy. By the [...]
Retail Solar Throwdown: IKEA vs. Kohl’s
It’s a bright week for the solar industry when two major retail chains announce their support of solar energy initiatives, so much so that they’re winning awards and setting new solar records! The international home products company IKEA recently reported its fourth solar PV installation in just one week, more than the store has ever achieved [...]
Bipartisan Support for Renewable Energy?
Think only liberals support renewable energy? Not a chance. You know who supports renewable energy? Those who understand the economic and environmental superiority of things like solar, wind and electric vehicles. As the American Council on Renewable Energy reported in its “fact check” series. . . The claim is that American people – other than [...]
Progress Made at Rio+20 Earth Summit
The lofty purpose of the Rio+20 Earth Summit was to “establish an institutional framework for sustainable development and to establish a green economy.. While not legally binding, the document that emerges from Rio+20 will serve as a roadmap for sustainable development.” With that kind of set up, the conference couldn’t help but disappoint – let’s [...]
Will Renewable Energy Subsidies Be Cut in the UK?
Many, including UK climate change secretary Ed Davey, were a bit unnerved due to a recent statement made by Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin to Terry Stewart, the president of the Dorset branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE). An email between the two alluded to the fact that by 2020, [...]