Tag Archives: renewable energy

China Pushing Solar Like Never Before

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Goldman: Solar power is the other rapidly developing industry in China as China now accounts for about 1/3 of solar power production capacity globally. The speaker refuted the view that PV cell production is an energy-ineffective process as he pointed out that the energy breakeven time is about 2 years for PV cells energy used to produce PV cells equals the energy generated by the PV cells but the normal lifetime is around 20 years. He also believes that solar energy could become commercially viable in the foreseeable future as the energy generating cost has been reduced from Rmb4 to Rmb1.1 per kWh over the past few years and is getting close to the Rmb0.3-0.4/kWh level of coal-fire power plants.

via China Pushing Solar Like Never Before.

Australia’s new concessions on energy

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Reuters reports: 

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd would ask state leaders to sign off on further concessions for big electricity users including pulp and paper, steel, cement and silicon industries at a meeting on Thursday in Hobart, the Australian newspaper said in an unsourced report.

The centre-left government has already foreshadowed an exemption for aluminium, which consumes about 15 percent of electricity nationally.

Major industries had complained about the “double whammy” from a planned carbon emissions trading system, set to begin next year, and the new renewable energy target, which requires electricity retailers and large users to source 20 percent of their energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

 

By removing the target for the major energy produces, the govt. is really cutting down strength of its renewble energy policy.

However, if the carbon trading should do what its suppossed to do then there is no need for a second target for energy?