Kigali Amendment Hits Milestone 100th Ratification, Boosting Climate Action

14.07.2020

sky_nebo_clouds_oblaci — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to cut the use of climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), has reached a major milestone, with Liberia becoming the 100^th nation to ratify the Amendment, providing a welcome boost to global climate action.

The Amendment targets a massive reduction in the use of HFCs, which became widely-used refrigerant substitutes for ozone-depleting substances that have been phased out under the Montreal Protocol. HFCs are climate-warming gases with significant global warming potential.

Liberia became the latest country to ratify the amendment, part of an accelerating trend of nations approving the treaty and beginning work on phasing down the gases; Mali was the first to ratify the Amendment in 2017, followed by Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Rwanda. The European Union – along with most of its member states – was a single block of parties to the Montreal Protocol; along with others, this made it possible for the Amendment to enter into force on 1 January 2019. Other recent parties to ratify the Amendment include Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, the Holy See and Romania.

“As we deal with the impacts of the global pandemic, it is crucial not to forget climate action,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. “Climate change could cause even more misery and disruption than COVID-19; we must be resolute in our efforts to limit it.

“The Kigali Amendment reaching 100 ratifications is therefore great news. The Amendment is a powerful tool for keeping our planet cool. I thank those states which have ratified it and encourage the 98 others to follow suit and help to ensure a safer future for all of humanity.”

The 2016 Kigali Amendment requires a phasedown of high global warming potential HFCs by more than 80 per cent (in CO₂-equivalent) over the next 30 years. Estimates suggest that emissions avoided by 2100 could reach 5.6 to 8.7 gigatonnes of CO₂-equivalent per year. In total, it would be over ten years’ worth of current annual emissions of CO₂due to human activities. This will avoid up to 0.4°C of global warming by the end of the century.

Replacing HFCs also creates an opportunity to increase the energy efficiency of cooling equipment by 10–50 per cent, significantly reducing energy costs to consumers and businesses.

The Amendment builds on the success of the Montreal Protocol, which was set up in 1987 to protect human health and the environment caused by the depletion of the ozone layer. With the universal support of 198 parties, the Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of almost 99 per cent of ozone-depleting substances.

The ozone layer is now well on the way to recovery. The Protocol’s benefits include up to two million cases of skin cancer prevented each year by 2030, an estimated US$ 1.8 trillion in global health benefits and almost US$ 460 billion in avoided damages to agriculture and fisheries up to 2060.

Ozone protection efforts also avoided an estimated 135 billion tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions from 1990 to 2010. In the absence of the Montreal Protocol, global mean temperatures could have risen over 2°C by 2070, due to warming from ozone-depleting substances alone.

“Each ratification of the Kigali Amendment brings us closer to replicating the success of the Montreal Protocol in dealing with ozone-depleting substances,” said Tina Birmpili, Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat. “This success is built on nations working together. I am delighted to see 100 ratifications and look forward to many more in the coming months and years.”

Source: UNEP

Italy Set to Increase EV Incentives to €10,000 — Are Carmakers Ready?

14.07.2020

parking_lot_parkiralište — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Ruffa Jane Reyes)

The Italian government is preparing new fiscal measures to sustain the economic recovery, following months of lockdown at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Like in many other countries, particularly in Europe, economic stimulus is being directed preferentially to a sustainable recovery, especially in the transport and construction industries. As part of proposed new measures, current incentives for low-emission vehicles are set to be increased by at least 50% from August for the rest of the year, to levels aligned to similar policies recently adopted in countries like France and Germany.

Under the bill, full electric vehicles (technically, vehicles with CO2 emissions between 0 and 20 grams/km) will now be eligible for a €10,000 discount when scrapping your old car, or €6,000 without doing so. This compares to €6,000 and €4,000, respectively, under the current “ecobonus” legislation that started last year. Also included in the scheme are hybrids with CO2 emissions between 21 and 60 grams/km, which will see their existing incentives boosted to €6,500 if scrapping an old car or €3,500 otherwise (current incentives are €2,500 and €1,500, respectively). These enhanced incentives will be funded in part by government and in part by carmakers, and will be available for cars up to €61,000, including VAT (which means most Tesla Model 3 trims will also benefit from it).

A bit more controversial is the inclusion in the bill of incentives for traditional internal combustion vehicles, which will receive a discount between €1,750 and €3,500 under similar terms, albeit with a maximum selling price of €48,400, including VAT. It’s a different signal to the one Germany recently gave with its new incentive scheme — no help for ICE cars there — but it’s clear that automakers (particularly Italy’s FCA group) played a key role in lobbying for broader incentives after the near-annihilation of the car market during lockdown.

While the extension of subsidies to non-electrified vehicles sounds odd at a time when the switch to e-mobility is increasingly obvious, the bulk of the proposed new measures is arguably among the best available today around the world and — along with local strict environmental regulations being progressively enforced in cities like Milan — will mostly favour EVs. It represents a huge boost to the existing ecobonus scheme for electric vehicles and it will clearly have a strong impact on electric car sales for the rest of the year. Italy’s car market is dominated by compact models, especially A and B segment cars, which is also reflected in the EV portion of it. At the price point of these models, typically below or around €30,000 (including VAT), the heft of the new incentives for electric mobility will be substantial.

The new scheme will give the ability to get a brand new fully electric car for as low as ~€12,000 (almost half price!) for a tiny model such as the Skoda Citigo-e iV — currently the cheapest BEV offering in Italy alongside its VW and Seat siblings. €20,000 will buy you an Opel Corsa-e, and very likely the base version of the brand new Fiat 500e (which is currently listed at ~€35,000 for the “La Prima” model, but is due for a cheaper base version very soon). Go up a few thousand and the list will include all of the most popular models in today’s Italian EV market.

The €20,000 threshold being hit by many electric models through the new incentives is particularly meaningful, as it roughly marks the average price of new cars sold in Italy — a rather low figure compared to other large European markets — and will open electric mobility to a much broader customer base. Beyond that, even upmarket cars such as Tesla Model 3 will become tantalisingly within reach of many more people (a Standard Range Plus will go down 20% from its ~€50,000 full price).

As the Italian EV market prepares to accelerate further from its recent highs (see June sales) thanks to the enhanced ecobonus, many carmakers are set to benefit — especially those with a compelling offer of compact electric models. The question, if anything, will be whether they are able to respond in time to the ensuing, explosive increase in demand, or if they will be limited by their own ongoing supply constraints, an ironic thought for the industry following months of sales drought during the pandemic.

We can see the likes of PSA (Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel, Vauxhall) and Volkswagen Group (with VW, Seat and Skoda) easily reaping the rewards of their recent EV offensive, through their range of different vehicles sharing a common technology. Other, less responsive car companies might quickly fall behind in the EV race. One thing is for sure: Italy and other European markets are now ready to seriously test the limits of current EV supply by legacy carmakers. As long as they are able to fulfill customers’ requests, the market is there for the taking.

Author: Carlo Ombello

Source: Clean Technica (originally published on opportunity:energy)

Record Temperature Trajectory Threatens to Breach 1.5°C Global Heating Threshold

13.07.2020

heatwave_toplotni_talas — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Daphne be Frenchie)

New climate data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicts that the annual mean global temperature is likely to be at least 1.0°C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900) in each of the coming five years (2020-2024) and there is a 20 per cent chance that it will exceed 1.5°C in at least one year.

1.5^oC is the point where global warming linked consequences become increasingly severe and more difficult and expensive to adapt to, protect ourselves from, and control further temperature increases. Scientifically documented consequences of breaching 1.5^oC include 70% loss of corals and loss of half the habitat of insects, including food pollinators, by the end of the century, bringing global food security issues, on top of accelerating frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

The earth’s average temperature is already over 1.0^oC above the pre-industrial period. The Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, led by the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office, provides a predictive analysis of the world’s climate for the next five years, updated annually. The last five-year period has been the warmest five years on record. June 2020 was just 0.01°C below the record-breaking temperatures of June 2019, driven by exceptional heat in Arctic Siberia, May 2020 was the hottest May on record.

While the smallest temperature change is expected in the tropics and in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere, the Arctic is likely to have warmed by more than twice as much as the global mean in 2020 compared to pre-industrial levels (defined as the 1850-1900 average). In Arctic Siberia, average temperatures reached as high as 10°C above normal for both May and June. A record high of 38^oC within the Arctic Circle has been recorded at the Verkhoyansk observation station, which has kept temperature records since 1885.

Burning Arctic and Zombie Fires

As the Arctic heats up, wildfires are breaking out in the area. The exceptional heat saps moisture from the ground across the region’s boreal forests and tundra, creating perfect conditions for wildfires to burn more intensely and far more destructively. Such dense, peaty soil also offers conditions for so-called “zombie fires”, fires that continue to burn underground and then reignite on the surface after a period, which present serious challenges to controlling them.

The fires have grave consequences because arctic tundra is a carbon sink, meaning that it absorbs a large amount of carbon dioxide and converts it to the carbon compounds that make up its dense vegetative structure. When tundra burns, it releases many magnitudes more carbon emissions than when an ordinary forest burns. It also cannot be restored quickly, as it is an ecosystem that develops over hundreds of years.

In June 2020, an estimated total of 59 megatonnes of CO₂ were released into the atmosphere – marking the highest estimated emissions in the 18 years of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) dataset.

Implications for the 1.5^oC target

“Science is giving us ample advance warning of a global disaster moving directly towards us,” says Niklas Hagelberg, UNEP Climate Change Sub-Coordinator. “And this isn’t new news: records are now being broken almost every consecutive year. What is different this year though, is the experience of living through a global pandemic. COVID-19 is giving us a blunt lesson that we humans depend on the stability of our environment and ecosystems and our success is intertwined with the protection of nature.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and raised questions of every system that drives our societies. In doing so, it presents our greatest opportunity to address climate change. In climate action’s demand for a fair but rapid global transition to an era of clean, renewable energy, this will take a scale of workers and growth matched only by the scale of the need for jobs and economic stimulus today.

Source: UNEP

India’s Youth Take on Plastic Pollution

13.07.2020

trash_pollution_zagađenje_otpad — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

On the 30^th June 2020, 1,900 young people joined together at the Virtual Youth Summit in India to celebrate their completion of the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge in India. The challenge is a global initiative to educate young people about plastic pollution. It is developed by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Clean Seas Campaign, supported by the UK Government’s Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.

Addressing the virtual crowd of young change-makers from India, 86-year-old primatologist Jane Goodall recalled that from a very young age she was fascinated by nature. She shared that she once took worms to bed, wondering how they moved around without legs. Since then, her curiosity has earnt her global renown for her work on the study of chimpanzees.

Curiosity is what has motivated the young people to take part in the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge. They share Jane Goodall’s enthusiasm for learning about nature and how they can make the world a better place.

Tide Turners educates young people about single-use plastics, encouraging them to alter their attitude towards plastic consumption and spark behavioral change in their communities. Participants undertake three levels of the challenge from knowledge and self-reflection, to initiating dialogues with authorities at schools and businesses to encourage them to reduce their consumption of single-use plastic products from the grassroots level. Due to Covid-19, the fieldwork could not be carried out as planned. Still, the young tide turners found ways to complete their challenge virtually.

The Youth Summit was marked by the presence of special guests – from celebrity changemakers, to badge-holders from Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana – who shared their passion for the environment. Actress and model Dia Mirza spoke about using her platforms to share messages about the environment with different audiences. Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej raises awareness about issues such as Land Degradation and Nitrogen pollution through music. Cartoonist Rohan Chakravarty uses his artistic talents to create artwork about marine litter and other environmental problems.

UNEP’s Chief of Youth and Advocacy, Sam Barratt said, “The summit was a reminder that it doesn’t matter how old you are, where you’re from, or what your occupation is, we all have a critical role to play in shaping the world. This generation of Indian Tide Turners have taken their first steps into environmental leadership. Already they have had huge impact in changing the plastic habits of their community and calling on companies and their schools to act on pollution.”

In India, Tide Turners is led by UNEP, with support from implementing partners: World Wide Fund for Nature India (WWF India), Centre for Environment Education (CEE), and the Million Sparks Foundation.

According to India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), around 26,000 tonnes of plastic is generated per day in India, 10,000 of which is uncollected. But for the thousands of young people who have completed the challenge, there is hope for a better future.

Shri Kartikeya V Sarabhai, Director of the Centre of Environment Education India said, “Youth have the power to bring about positive change. The Tide Turner Challenge was designed as an online platform for youth to participate, learn and act on plastic pollution. It was wonderful to see how over a 120,000 youth in India joined those in other countries to get involved and contribute to the solution.”

Since June 2019, 170,000 young people have participated in the Tide Turners challenge, earning badges made entirely from recycled plastic. The initiative operates in twenty-three countries in Africa and Asia. There are plans to expand to another ten countries in Africa, Asia, Pacific and the Caribbean, transforming the next phase of “Tide Turners” into “Wave Makers”. From awareness to advocacy, UNEP will roll out further training options for those that have completed Level 3, the “Champion” level of the badge.

Find out more here.

To see more details on the Youth Summit in India, click here.

Source: UNEP

Spain Just Closed 47% of Its Coal Power Plants, and Will Be 73% Soon

10.07.2020

coal_power_plant_elektrana_na_ugalj_wind_park_vetropark — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Sometimes it feels like the world is asleep and not jumping on the tremendous potential of low-cost solar power and low-cost wind power to stop global heating and catastrophic climate change. Sometimes you want to jump up and clap with enthusiasm at strong actions moving us forward. Luckily, this story should lead to the clapping.

Spain just closed down 7 of its remaining 15 coal power plants on June 30. That’s a flick of the switch (or something a few switches perhaps) and 47% of the country’s coal power plant capacity was shut down. And more will shut down soon.

End of Coal

Of course, this was years in the making. Spain built renewable energy power plants that allowed for this. Also, the European Union broke through the country’s coal and utility lobby to not allow corporate welfare to steal progress from the people of Spain. State aid to save coal mines was deemed illegal and EU regulations requiring that old coal plants be cleaned led to utilities deciding it just wasn’t worth the money to keep them open — upgrading coal plants to make them less dirty was too expensive.

In addition to the 7 coal power plants just shut down, 4 more are being prepped for shutdown and permission to shut down has been requested, making that a 73% cut in its coal power plant fleet and leaving only 4 left — the semifinals of polluting, cancer-causing coal power plants in Spain.

Regarding the shutdowns, El País notes that the Spanish government seems to have had little to do with the early closure, adding that the government wouldn’t even commit to a phaseout year with an alliance of other countries (even though, apparently, Spain would easily meet the target). “Several of these power stations have not been producing electricity for months because it is no longer profitable due to a combination of market conditions and political decisions by the European Commission, which is the executive branch of the EU.”

In 2018, two short years ago, almost 15% of Spain’s electricity came from coal and coal accounted for ~15% of Spain’s CO2 emissions. In May, coal contributed a measly (but still too high) 1.4% of the country’s electricity. Furthermore, 4 of the coal power plants that are shutting down hadn’t produced any electricity this year. Pro tip: It’s hard to make money on a coal power plant when it’s not producing electricity.

When Does Spain Hit 100% Renewable Electricity?

It’s unclear how long the remaining 4 coal power plants will be in operation, but it’s safe to say Spain will be one of the first countries (or the first country) to shut down a decently sized fleet of coal power plants. There are several countries that are already at or near 100% renewable electricity, but they typically rely heavily on hydropower and have for a long time.

Spain does still have sizable fleet of natural gas power plants, so the party isn’t over yet — or isn’t started yet. We’ll keep you informed as more progress is made.

In 2018 we reported that Spain was considering a target of 70% renewable electricity in 2030 and 100% by 2030. Renewables provided 46% of Spain’s electricity needs in the first half of 2018.

Electric Cars in Spain Even Greener

One thing this coal shutdown means is that it has gotten greener and greener to drive an electric car in Spain. Spain’s EV sales are moderate — or you could say weak in such a hit European EV market — with just 3.7% of auto sales in the first 5 months of the year being plug-in vehicles, and only 1.9% fully electric vehicles, according to EV Volumes. But expect the market to grow quickly as it has in other countries. Electric cars only get cheaper, better, and more competitive by the day. It’s already cheaper to operate an electric Uber than a diesel one in Madrid, and many drivers should soon realize that.

Volkswagen Group’s WeShare electric carsharing program is also entering Spain this year, starting in Madrid.

With the competitive pricing and better performance of electric vehicles for services like Uber, I expect cities in Madrid and elsewhere to soon be full electric electric vehicles running our their streets.

Author: Zachary Shanan

Source: Clean Technica

Greater Circularity in the Buildings Sector Can Lead to Major Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

10.07.2020

construction_work_građevinski_radovi — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Improving efficiency and reuse of materials to construct houses and other buildings can open significant new opportunities to further reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing released today.

The EEA briefing, ‘Cutting greenhouse gas emissions through circular economy actions in the buildings sector Briefing Cutting greenhouse gas emissions through circular economy actions in the buildings sector ’, says actions like reducing the use of concrete, cement and steel in the building sector can cut materials-related greenhouse gas emissions by 61% over a building’s life cycle stages until 2050.

The briefing is based on a study commissioned by the EEA, which looks at the role that specific actions towards a more circular economy can play in reducing emissions. The EEA assessment presents a new methodological approach which can help identify and prioritise circular efforts that can contribute to reducing emissions in any sector. It was developed by the EEA together with a consortium of European experts.

The study found that each of a building’s life cycle stages — from design, production and use to demolition and waste management — offers rich opportunity for greater circularity and emission reductions.

The background study prepared for the EEA cites that up to two thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to flows of materials, and how we source, consume and dispose of them. This makes it an important area for further reductions. Circular economy actions can substantially contribute to reduce these emissions. Making buildings more circular over their life cycle means designing and using them more efficiently, making them last longer, as well as reusing and recycling building materials instead of sourcing new ones.

Steel, cement and concrete are some of the most emission-intensive materials used in constructing buildings. These can be cut down if the demand for such materials is reduced through smarter design and production as well as reusing and recycling these materials at the end of building’s life cycle. Other actions ranging from increasing occupancy rate to improved maintenance that extends a building’s lifetime also offer good potential to reduce emissions.

Making the building sector more ‘circular’ by reducing demand for such materials can help the European Union meet its climate neutrality and circular economy goals under the European Green Deal. This makes such actions ideal for inclusion in EU, national and local climate change plans and roadmaps, the briefing says.

Source: EEA

Social Enterprise Remakes Waste Into Consumer Goods

09.07.2020

While working for the decades-old family fashion business, Sissi Chao had an experience that literally took her breath away.

“Not long after I started, I started visiting our fabric suppliers,” said Chao. “I could hardly breathe, even before I got in the building. It was awful. Every supplier was the same. And I knew that all of this pollution was going into the environment.”

It was this personal encounter that prompted Chao to make a positive change in the second most polluting industry in the world: fashion. In 2018, she founded REMAKEHUB, a company that takes discarded clothes and plastic waste and repurposes them into apparel, blankets, furniture and accessories. The company won UNEP’s 2020 Asia-Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge.

By some accounts, the fashion industry is responsible for between 8 and 10 percent of global carbon emissions, which makes it a worse polluter than aviation and shipping put together. Fashion also accounts for 24 percent of insecticide and 11 percent of pesticide use. It’s also a resource hog: thousands of litres of water are used to produce the cotton for just a single pair of jeans.

Fast fashion is compounding the problem and is a challenge Chao was also personally familiar with.

“We throw out 58 billion pieces of clothing every year. I used to go shopping every week and would throw away so many clothes. It’s just become the way things are in fashion.”

Beyond discarded clothes and plastic waste, Chao’s start-up REMAKEHUB is also working to reuse discarded fishing nets. REMAKEHUB collaborated with WWF to create sunglasses upcycled from deadly commercial gill nets found on the Great Barrier Reef. These ReefCycle-branded sunglasses have already sold 2,000 pairs. In parallel, Chao’s brand has worked with NGOs to educate more than 5,000 fishermen across Asia and the Pacific on the perils of discarding fishing nets.

For her successes, Chao has also been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. REMAKEHUB has also won the UNDP Asia-Pacific Youth SDG Innovation Award.

She has high ambitions for 2020 and beyond. REMAKEHUB aims to prevent 50 tons of fishing net from being dumped into the ocean and eliminate 10 tons of CO2 emissions, while looking to scale up and penetrate further into the fashion and furniture markets.

“I think this is just the beginning,” said Chao. “We need people to do better for our planet. We need businesses to do better as well.”

Source: UNEP

City of Sydney Goes 100 percentage Renewable

08.07.2020

sydney_sidnej_australia_australija — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

As of July 1, Sydney, the largest city in Australia, will power all its operations — street lights, sports facilities, buildings, and the historic Town Hall — with 100% renewable energy from local sources. The clean energy transition, made possible by a power purchase agreement put together by Flow Power, is worth $60 million and is projected to save the city more than a half million dollars on its electricity bills every year for the next 10 years.

Sydney began working to reduce its carbon footprint in 2016 when it adopted a plan to cut its carbon emissions 70% by 2030. The city calculates this latest power purchase agreement will help it reach that goal 6 years earlier than planned. It also worked hard to make sure the sources of the renewable energy it uses were all local to the area, providing economic development and job growth opportunities for people living in surrounding communities.

Two Solar Farms & One Wind Farm

The PPA will use electricity from three sources — 2 solar farms and one wind farm. Three-quarters of it will be provided by the Sapphire Wind Farm near Inverell. It is the largest wind farm in New South Wales with a capacity of 270 MW generated by 75 turbines that stand 200 meters high. The reason wind is such a big part of the package is that the majority of the electricity the city consumes goes to power its 23,000 street lights. Sydney has converted about 6,000 of them to LEDs recently and has plans to convert another 12,000 soon.

“The process of buying energy from a generator when its output matches your demand is known as load matching. For example, if you use most of your electricity at night, like we do, you choose to buy more wind power than solar power. It’s not just a good idea financially — if every large energy buyer practiced load matching, our electricity grid would become much more stable and sustainable,” the city says.

Even though the wind blows at night when the city uses most of its electricity, Sydney is also sourcing renewable energy from two solar farms, one of which is a 3 MW community solar installation. The Shoalhaven project is being developed by Flow Power in partnership with local community group Repower Shoalhaven, a not for profit volunteer community enterprise that develops community solar projects.

“When we decided to pursue a 100% renewable electricity deal, we knew we wanted to help grow the renewables sector in NSW as well. We didn’t want to simply buy renewable electricity that was already being produced. So we worked with our broker to make sure we were supporting new projects,” the city says.

“We ended up partnering with a community energy group that needed help to get a project off the ground. Repower Shoalhaven could not have become operational without our investment. By partnering with this project, we’re stimulating the market and helping the renewables sector grow.”

Sydney Goes Solar

Sydney has also installed solar panels on a number of municipal buildings. “By mid-2021, we expect to have more than 7,800 solar panels on the roofs of our properties. As the mix of storage and generation on our electricity grid changes, solar solutions like this could provide reliability and resilience to our electricity network and potentially prevent blackouts,” says Mayor Clover Moore. The city has installed a 500 kWh battery storage facility supplied by Tesla to help use that solar power as efficiently as possible.

While not nearly as large as the Tesla battery located at the Hornsdale facility in South Australia, together with all the solar panels the city is installing it helped prevent the construction of a natural gas peaker plant in the area which would have spewed carbon emissions into the air for all of its 40+ year service life.

Looking to the Future

In its online announcement about the new power purchase agreement, the city says, “Our new deal kicks in from 1 July but we’re already looking to the future and how our electricity use might evolve in the years ahead. As more Australian individuals and organisations generate power themselves using rooftop solar, the opportunities will increase for a 2-way system that involves energy users both buying and selling electricity. Many households in the City of Sydney area already sell their excess solar power back to the grid. There’s also the practice known as demand response. This is when consumers choose not to use electricity during times of high demand in exchange for lower rates or some other form of reward. The NSW electricity market is moving towards a demand response model and we’re going to be at the forefront of it. That’s why we’ve included provisions for demand response in our current power purchase agreement.”

The Australian national government may refuse to address climate change and stick its head in the sand when it comes to renewables — despite evidence that investment in renewables creates three times as many jobs as investments in fossil fuels — but local communities and state governments are defying the elected idiots and charting their own course to a sustainable future.

Author: Steve Hanley

Source: Clean Technica

Obverse and Reverse of Electric Power Sector

08.07.2020

1-ALEKSANDAR-BOROVIĆ-VETRENJAČE-1[1] — Photo: Aleksandar Borovic

When it comes to fossil fuels, Serbia is a rather poor country. The main, available energy source is low-quality coal, namely lignite. Oil and gas reserves are relatively moderate, and their exploitation is about to come to an end in the coming decades. The energy potential of oil shale is beyond any question. Still, not enough researches have been made, while the existing technologies for the use of this source aren’t commercially and ecologically acceptable. At the moment, the importance of lignite for the Serbian energy sector is immeasurable. The development of the electricity sector of the Republic of Serbia has been relying, ever since the sixties, upon the available coal reserves. The coal-based thermal power stations, which generate 70 per cent of national electricity production, are the backbone of the electricity sector in Serbia.

The problem with coal firing is the emission of air pollutants and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The installation of electro filter and denitrification and desulfurization unit reduce the emissions significantly, raising the price of electricity as a result. So it doesn’t make sense to install them on old power plants with lower capacity. However, the solution for carbon-dioxide emission from coal-based power plants doesn’t exist. Having in mind the emissions of this gas, coal is the least favourable of all the fossil fuels, and technologies for carbon dioxide capture and storage are still in an early developmental stage. According to the Energy sector development strategy, in the coming decade, we can have the phasing out of 1,000 MW of the oldest and the most inefficient thermal power plants. Those remaining in use (along with Kostolac B3 in construction and potentially one more power plant of the similar capacity) should meet the strictest environmental regulations.

This scenario of the electricity sector progress could be, from the perspective of coal usage, taken as pretty optimistic. In essence, coal would be exploited and used for electricity generation over the next few decades. Its share in electricity generation would probably remain more than 50 per cent. The shift in the energy sector strategy and the adoption of EU policy in the field of climate protection would undoubtedly result in a gradual reduction and, eventually, termination of the coal-based electricity production in Serbia. In order to make this scenario economically and socially sustainable, this process must be followed up by the adequate measures of economic and social policies. The price of this transition is very high, and Serbia alone can hardly pay for it. This scenario is probable only with Serbia’s full integration into the EU or at least with access to the transitional funds in the same way it is provided for the EU member states.

In focus:

Renewable energy sources (RES), which would completely replace coal in electricity production, considering current technology development, just don’t exist. Nowadays, hydropower plants make about 30 per cent in electricity production and are considered “family heirloom” of the Serbian energy sector. There are plans for new hydropower plants on bigger watercourses (Morava, Drina, Ibar, Lim etc.), but due to many reasons, their construction is not likely. One of the reasons is pubic odium against the construction of small hydropower plants, which is something that shouldn’t have happened. It is difficult to estimate the potentials for the usage of solar and wind power. “Feed-in” tariff was effective, first when it comes to the growth of installed capacity which uses wind, whereas there has been a limitation of capacity in the solar energy field. Nevertheless, having summed up the share of electricity produced in these power plants, it won’t surpass 5 per cent of the total electricity production. It’s beyond doubt that it is technically possible to install in Serbia a few times bigger capacity in wind power plants, and tens of times bigger capacity in solar power plants, than we already have.

The construction of reversible hydropower plant Bistrica, and there has been a lot of talk about it before, might additionally increase the technical potential of these sources. The price of electricity at the national level doesn’t serve a stimulus for investors, and without official subsidy policy, it will be hardly possible to keep up the existing trend of construction even when it comes to wind power plants.

Theoretically, the biggest unused potential of RES in Serbia rests in biomass and particularly in agriculture biomass. Yet, it is very demanding to determine what part of that potential is truly usable for energy production, having in mind that residues from agriculture production are used for many different purposes. Biogas plants (combined with livestock production) with the capacity of several tens of megawatts are already in operation, and there we can expect, with appropriate subsidy policy (at the moment, “feed-in tariff” is in use) further growth, since this is the way to also solve the waste problem. As for wood biomass, it is mostly used for heating, and it is least expected to have a significant change there. Its use for electricity production is possible, but not in that extent as to become a genuine replacement for ongoing lignite usage.

Even organized cultivating of the fast-growing woods couldn’t provide more than a few hundred MW of new capacity for electricity production. It is important to say about wood biomass that it is CO2 neutral, only if tree cutting is followed by adequate forestation. Otherwise, from a perspective of CO2 emission, biomass is more unfavourable energy source than coal. Also, biomass firing is accompanied by the significant particle and another pollutant emission, which can be dealt with successfully only in bigger power plants. The air Ph pollution problem in Serbian cities throughout the winter of 2019/2020 is mainly caused by firing biomass in households. So, whatever progress of Serbian energy sector might be, maximum valorization of renewable energy sources should have priority. Essentially, those are our only, sustainable on a long term, energy sources. With the extensive implementation of energy efficiency measures, it would be possible to ensure that a certain portion of required energy comes from our sources. It is necessary to bear in mind that entirely clean energy sources don’t exist, and that usage of renewables doesn’t come cheap. The technical potential of RES depends on available technologies, but the level of RES usage depends on how much consumers are willing to pay for such energy.

Dejan Ivezic

This article was published in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine NATURAL RESOURCES, march – may, 2020

Blanketing the United States in Solar Panels and Pollinator-Friendly Plants

07.07.2020

solar_panels_solarni_paneli — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

It started as a trickle and now the floodgates are open. Solar arrays that once sat on barren ground are now festooned with plants that attract bees, birds, and butterflies. Even the US Energy Department is getting into the act. With that in mind, let’s take a look at four newly minted solar power plants that have built-in benefits for pollinators, too.

1. Beauty Co. Aims For Carbon-Positivity With Solar Panels

The natural hair care company Aveda already keeps beehives on its Blaine campus in Minnesota, and a new 3.6 acre, 900 kilowatt array of solar panels will enable it to add more hives because it is planted with pollinator-friendly plants, not gravel or ground cover. If that sounds like having your solar cake and eating it, too, it is.

The new array is also part of the company’s plans for generating more energy than it consumes.

Aveda was one of the first leading US manufacturers to dip into wind power, and the new foray into the solar + pollinator field puts it smack in the middle of a statewide, accelerating trend.

Here’s another way to look at the big picture: 900 kilowatts of renewable energy is small potatoes, but Aveda’s parent company Estée Lauder is roping in 22 megawatts of wind power for 2020 alone.

2. 120-Year-Old Coal Power Plant Out, Solar + Pollinators In

The city of Logansport, Indiana retired its ancient coal power plant a while back, and now the Logansport Municipal Utility is replacing it with the help of 16 megawatts worth of solar panels.

“Financed by a power purchase agreement (PPA), the solar installation will reduce LMU’s carbon emissions, help to stabilize energy costs for LMU’s customers, and also host a bee and butterfly habitat that will benefit agriculture in the surrounding area,” explains the developer, Inovateus Solar.

Logansport Municipal Utility partnered the organizations Fresh Energy and the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund to create a pollinator-friendly field. The new array will include a solar education element for local schools and a college scholarship for whoever comes up with the best name for the new solar park.

Of interest to tree lovers, the array will be surrounded with a buffer zone of native trees and other plants.

Speaking of having your cake and eating it, too, the PPA deal enables Logansport to get all those green goodies with no money down, thanks to a 30-year contract financed by the firm Alchemy Renewable Energy.

3. More Pollinators + Solar Panels For Green Mountain State

The solar + pollinator field is rapidly maturing, and as more results trickle in the case for new projects grows.

Back in 2017, the solar developer Green Lantern Solar partnered with Bee the Change to build a pollinator-friendly solar array in New Haven, Vermont. The project garnered praise from the Pollinator-Friendly Solar Initiative at the University of Vermont, and now the partners are back at it again with a second solar installation in New Haven.

The two arrays step up the pollinator game for Green Lantern. The company used to rely on clover for ground cover, which is all well and good, but the new arrays support far more pollinator diversity with dozens of different species of plants.

4. GIANT Step For Solar + Pollinators

In terms of industry-wide influence, this next one is probably the most significant. Last month The GIANT Company put the finishing touches on a 7-acre field of solar panels at its corporate headquarters in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

GIANT lives up to its name. Coming up on its 100-year anniversary in 2023, it blankets Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia with hundreds of grocery stores, pharmacies, fuel stations, and online pickup hubs in addition to grocery delivery services.

The GIANT headquarters already sports a rooftop solar array, but rooftop solar is old hat. The new solar array gives GIANT bragging rights to be the first major grocery retailer in the nation to dip in to the solar panels-plus-pollinators field, and it also supports the connection between food retailers and agricultural health. Ernst Conservation Seeds is the company that will populate the new array with pollinator-friendly plants.

The project also connects GIANT with the organization Planet Bee Foundation.

US Energy Department Hearts Bees, Birds, & Butterflies

If this is beginning to sound like agrivoltaics, run right out and buy yourself a cigar. Agrivoltaics is a new field that aims at designing low-impact solar arrays that are compatible with agriculture, including livestock and food crops in addition to pollinator habitats.

So, what does the Energy Department have to do with agrivoltaics? Plenty! The GIANT Company is participating in a major nationwide, 20-state solar-plus-pollinators project under the agency’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Called InSPIRE for Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment, the project connects NREL and Argonne National Laboratory with other stakeholders in academia and local governments as well as environmental and clean energy organizations, with funding from the DOE Solar Technologies Office.

Part of the aim is to conserve land for food production while also enabling farmers to benefit from the cash flow of renewable energy.

There’s plenty of material to chew on, as the field of regenerative agriculture is also discovering that solar panels can do some of the things that regenerative agriculture aims to do for soil and water conservation.

In addition, the InSPIRE project dovetails with two other overlapping initiatives that DOE is heavily promoting, community solar and commercial-scale solar. The agency is aiming at 100% community solar access for every household in the US by 2025 (yes, for real), and the commercial-scale initiative has the aim of tapping into the underdeveloped middle ground of the solar market.

There is also an interesting connection with solar cell efficiency. Evidence is growing, so to speak, that agrivoltaic solar arrays benefit from the cool microclimate under the solar panels, and as everybody knows, solar cells function more efficiently when they are cool — even on Mount Everest, as the case may be. That’s a win-win for livestock farmers, whose stock can benefit from the additional shade.

Hold on to your hats, this whole thing could blow up quickly. It’s not just the small-scale solar developers that are getting into the agrivoltaic act. The global solar developer Lightsource, which is now part of BP, has a whole package dedicated to solar panels with farmer benefits.

Author: Tina Casey

Source: Clean Technica

Connecting Protected Areas With Green Infrastructure Would Strengthen Europe’s Ecosystems

07.07.2020

landscape_pejzaž_nature_priroda — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The European Union’s (EU) network of protected sites, Natura 2000, could be further connected with green infrastructure to create a trans-European nature network. According to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing highways and other infrastructure currently disconnect about 15 % of the Natura 2000 sites from other nature areas, reducing their capacity for ecosystem services.

The EEA briefing ‘Building a Trans-European Nature Network’ analyses the potential of using green infrastructure to connect protected Natura 2000 sites with other natural and semi-natural landscapes. Green infrastructure networks consist of natural and man-made green structures, such as forests, parks, wildlife overpasses or hedgerows, and they are designed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services, including as water and air purification, space for recreation and climate mitigation and adaptation.

According to the EEA briefing, about 80 % of the current Natura 2000 sites are already connected through natural or semi-natural areas. Around 15 % of the disconnected Natura 2000 sites are less than 1 kilometre apart but intersected by, for example, highways, agricultural land, or urban areas that limit species movement and the area’s capacity to offer ecosystem services.

Connecting nature sites with green infrastructure could boost ecosystem services by about 10 % within the protected network and in its surrounding areas. These benefits could be expanded by connecting EU sites with neighbouring regions, which could done with little or very little management intervention, the EEA briefing states.

The EEA briefing is based on a technical report developed by the EEA and its European Topic Centre on Urban, Land and Soil Systems. This work contributes to approaches to extending the network of protected areas to meet the 30 % target of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, which calls for investments in green and blue infrastructure and cooperation across borders to set up ecological corridors.

Source: EEA

Clean Air and Green Jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean Thanks to E-Mobility

06.07.2020

Electric 20buses 20in 20Chile — Photo: UNEP

The transport sector is responsible for 15 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the region.
New report calls to prioritize the electrification of public transport, especially when updating old bus fleets.
Electric mobility could foster new investments and jobs, which are key to COVID-19 recovery efforts.

The transition to electric mobility could help Latin America and Caribbean countries to reduce emissions and fulfill their commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change, while generating green jobs as part of their recovery plans from the COVID-19 crisis, according to a new study.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, “Electric Mobility 2019: Status and Opportunities for Regional Collaboration in Latin America and the Caribbean,” analyzes the latest developments in 20 countries in the region and highlights the growing leadership of cities, companies, and civil associations in promoting new e-mobility technologies.

Though still a recent development, electrification of the public transport sector is happening at high speed in several countries in the region, says the study financed by the European Commission through the EUROCLIMA+ Programme and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and renewable energy company Acciona.

Chile stands outs with the largest fleet of electric buses in the region, with more than 400 units, while Colombia is expected to incorporate almost 500 electric buses in Bogotá, its capital. Other Colombian cities, like Cali and Medellín, have join Ecuador’s Guayaquil and Brazil’s Sao Paulo in introducing electric buses.

Increased efficiency, lower operation and maintenance costs of electric buses, as well as growing public concern around the impacts of road transport-related emissions on human health and the environment are the main drivers behind this transition in public transport, according to the study.

The transport sector is responsible for 15 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean and is one of the main drivers of poor air quality in cities, which causes more than 300,000 premature deaths a year in the Americas, according to the World Health Organization.

“In recent months we have seen a reduction of air pollution in cities in the region due to lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But these improvements are only temporary. We must undertake a structural change so that our transportation systems contribute to the sustainability of our cities,” says Leo Heileman, UNEP Regional Director in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The report calls on decision-makers to prioritize the electrification of public transport, especially when updating the old bus fleets that run through the large cities in the region. There is fear of a “technology lock-in” over the next 7 to 15 years if authorities choose to renew old fleets with new internal combustion vehicles that will continue to pollute the air and cause severe health damages.

Some countries are already paving the way to ensure a transition to sustainable transport. Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panamá have designed national strategies on electric mobility, while Argentina, Dominican Republic, México, Paraguay are finalizing their own plans, according to the report.

More than 6,000 new light-duty electric vehicles (EVs) were registered in Latin America and the Caribbean, between January 2016 and September 2019, according to the report. The need for charging infrastructure has boosted new ventures and services. For example, e-corridors, already running in Brazil, Chile, México, and Uruguay, allow users to extend the autonomy of their EVs by making use of public fast charging point networks.

Shared mobility businesses focusing on electric bicycles and skateboards are also being developed in at least nine countries in the region.

The development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure has the potential to foster new investments and jobs, which are key to COVID-19 recovery efforts in the region.

The report calls on governments to develop a clear medium- and long-term roadmap that provides legal certainty for private investment and highlights the role of sustainable mobility in power grid expansion plans, in line with climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The 2015 Agreement, signed to date by nearly 200 countries, aims to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The report was produced with inputs from the Latin American Association for Sustainable Mobility (ALAMOS) and contributions from the Center for Urban Sustainability in Costa Rica.

Source: UNEP

EU Met Air Pollution Limits for Four Key Pollutants, Including Ammonia, in 2018

02.07.2020

paris_pariz_france_francuska_traffic_saobraćaj — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In 2018, the European Union met all air pollution limit ceilings set for total emissions of the four key pollutants monitored under EU rules. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia levelled off after five years of increases, according to updated data released by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The news for 2018 is more positive than previous years, according to the yearly EEA briefing ‘National Emission reduction Commitments Directive reporting status 2020. The EU as whole (28 Member States, including then member the United Kingdom) met the 2010 emission ceilings of the four main air pollutants; nitrogen oxides (NO_x), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and ammonia (NH₃).

While total EU emissions of ammonia emissions plateaued, five Member States (Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland and Spain) exceeded their 2010 national emission ceilings for ammonia and one (Czechia) also exceeded its ceiling for NMVOCs. Ammonia emissions lead to increased acid depositions and excessive levels of nutrients in soil, rivers or lakes, damaging aquatic ecosystems as well as forests, crops and other vegetation. NMVOCs are emitted into the atmosphere from a large number of sources, including combustion activities, solvent use and industrial production. These compounds contribute to ground level ozone, with certain NMVOCs posing risks to human health.

Since 2016, all Member States have been in compliance with their national emission ceilings for nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide.

The EEA briefing also assesses the reduction against 2018 emission levels required for Member States to meet their individual reduction commitments set under the EU’s National Emissions reduction Commitments (NEC) Directive for 2020 and 2030.

The majority of Member States must make additional efforts to reduce emission levels to meet their 2020 reduction commitments and in particular, ammonia emissions which remain a problem. The slowdown in economic activity across Europe in 2020 associated with the COVID-19 lockdowns is expected to lower emissions of several pollutants and may result in more countries meeting their 2020 commitments. However, without additional efforts, such COVID-19 related reductions might be reversed as the economy starts to recover.

All EU Member States will need to reduce their NO_x emissions on 2018 levels to achieve the 2030 reduction commitments. Moreover, half of the Member States will need to reduce fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) emissions by more than 30 % to meet future commitments. Moreover, ammonia (NH₃) will still remain a challenge with 25 Member States required to further lower their emissions.

Efforts required by Member States to reduce their emission levels was confirmed by the NEC Implementation report recently published by the European Commission where the risk of not compliance for many Member States (based on their National Air Pollution Control Programmes and their projections) was assessed.

Source: EEA

WMO Launches E-Learning Platform for Hazard Alerts

02.07.2020

storm_oluja — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Josep Castells)

WMO has developed a set of E-learning resources and courses for the Common Alerting Protocol, which is an internationally-recognized standard for dissemination of warnings of extreme weather hazards to the public and to disaster management authorities.

The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a data format for exchanging public warnings of hazards such as floods, landslides, tropical cyclones, strong winds, drought and heatwaves. It enables an easy, automated transmission of warnings overall communication platforms in order to better reach all users.

The CAP standard is also an important component of the WMO Global Multi-hazard Alert System (GMAS), a platform that WMO is developing for collecting and displaying all warnings issued by authorized sources, on a real time basis. GMAS is expected to markedly improve access to vital warnings information by United Nations organizations that deal with hazards and disasters, globally.

WMO has made available this new set of CAP E-learning resources and courses offered on the Moodle platform. These resources will enable Members to develop their skills for the implementation of the CAP standard in an easy and cost-effective manner, which is especially important during the COVID-19 era.

The CAP courses and resources provided on the platform are designed to enhance the understanding of CAP, including what CAP is, what it does, how it works, how to issue CAP alerts, and how to manage and set up CAP for NMHSs and other relevant organizations.

Three separate courses are offered within the platform and can be selected based on the role and responsibilities of the participant in administering and maintaining CAP alert systems. In addition to the courses, a collection of free and documented IT resources is also provided.

The courses are self-directed, meaning that participants can follow them at their own pace with all resources and learning activities available online. A WMO-certified badge will be granted to each participant upon successful completion of a course.

WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas has encouraged Members to facilitate NMHS staff to register for the courses.

The CAP platform is accessible at cap.wmo.int

Source: WMO

Experience Your Carbon Footprint in Virtual Reality

01.07.2020

Bush fires in Australia, typhoons in the Pacific, droughts in Africa, melting glaciers in the Arctic. Climate change continues to make headlines across the globe yet many people still find it hard to understand it as many of these events are remote from their daily lives.

But every single person contributes to climate change, with the average carbon footprint of a person equaling 6 tonnes annually. One tonne is what each of us should produce if the world is to stay within the 1.5-degree climate change limit recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

That’s why the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has teamed up with Sony PlayStation platform ‘Dreams’ to create an immersive virtual reality experience about climate change. The experience includes technological features that heighten the experience for viewers: three-dimensional graphics and ambisonic audio that positions sound around the user. The experience portrays carbon footprint as an 18-meter-high orange ball of gas that leads viewers through different daily scenes including breakfast that then transforms into sea level rise.

The creators hope to challenge lack of awareness about the scale of individual emissions by allowing users to live a lifestyle compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5^oC, above which the threats of climate change become increasingly devastating.

Ligia Noronha, director of the economy division at UNEP said that 2.6 billion people play games, which makes it one of the biggest communication mediums on the planet. Seeing as one in five gamers are under the age of 21 and many young people today are concerned about the issue of climate change, there is a great opportunity to spur environmental and nature-related action with gaming.

“To keep the world in a 1.5 degree safe-zone, we must take innovative approaches to tackle the barriers holding people back from understanding their role in climate change,” she said. “By placing this story in a virtual reality format, we hope to memorably challenge some common misperceptions and inspire people to think differently about the choices they make each day.

Explaining the project’s approach, lead illustrator Martin Nebelong said that virtual reality was the perfect storytelling medium to explain climate change. “As an artist, I wanted to design a beautiful and sometimes frightening experience that shows the true scale of our emissions and the impacts we should expect to see. This is not possible in two dimensions.”

Although Virtual Reality usually requires goggles, UNEP has made it possible for those without them to still see the experience as it will be available on YouTube. The video experience will also be shared via Earth School, UNEP’s collaboration with TED-Ed for students and educators currently under lockdown.

“Gaming reaches a huge audience worldwide, and has the power to bring social change,” said Kieren Mayers, director of environment and technical compliance at Sony Interactive Entertainment. “Following our commitment at the September 2019 UN Climate Summit in New York, we have partnered with UNEP to explore various ways to use gaming and VR to educate and bring messages of hope – and are excited to see this video using Dreams as one of the first initiatives from this.”

Why virtual reality?

Virtual reality is the right medium to allow people to experience climate change for these reasons:

VR can let us see things in their true size. Your carbon footprint is actually huge – 6 tonnes on average and up to around 30 if you are from a developed country or have a higher income. But seeing numbers on a screen doesn’t make us feel how big these numbers are.
Captive audience. When you remove your real world and replace it with a virtual one, you are immersed in the message. You can’t check your phone, you can’t look out the window. If the artist does their job right, you are simply engrossed in the new world around you.
Sound. When you mix immersion with the right audio, the experience creates a heightened emotional reaction. A wildfire that is roaring. A plane flying past. In our video, we have gone further with 8D sound – a trick of the audio engineers to make sounds seem outside of your head. See if it makes you look in that direction.
Magic. Virtual reality doesn’t need to be zombie games and space wars. It can be beauty, and wonder. By engaging artists to create virtual worlds, we harness the power of art and storytelling.

Source: UNEP

Small Solar Systems Save Your Money and Nerves!

01.07.2020

solarni_paneli — Photo-illustration: PIxabay

As electricity prices in Serbia have increased several times since 2000, and future potential price increases have been announced, partial energy independence for consumers is becoming more and more attractive. They most often put their trust in the sun – as an unlimited, renewable energy source.

In order to fulfill their wishes for lower electricity bills, citizens need the help of reliable constructors to build a small solar power plant and, at times, bank to back them up. MT-Komex and ProCredit Bank have provided them with just what they need, through a special offer to buy solar systems with the most financially advantageous conditions on the domestic market – interest-free loans without an origination fee.

Interest-free loans are intended for citizens and all interested companies. Besides, agricultural holdings also have the opportunity to receive funding. The experience of the owner of a property in Dec, a small village in the Srem district in Vojvodina, on whose object a small solar power plant was installed, shows that it is also very profitable for farmers to use clean energy from solar panels. He wanted his products to be worthy of the Ecolabel, increasingly valued among consumers. He, therefore, contacted MT-Komex workers with years of experience in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency. They are fully trained and certified for the installation of photovoltaic modules with associated equipment, as well as voltage converters and inverters, and they have once again proven their expertise with this unique project – and in the future, they will demonstrate it on the projects of ProCredit Bank clients.

In focus:

The average price of electricity in our country has increased nine times since the beginning of the century but is still much lower than in other European countries, which makes its further growth more certain. The amount in your monthly electricity bill could, therefore, be more than double. You have the opportunity to prevent this by using solar energy. Don’t miss it!

In addition to economic reasons, small solar power plants have environmental justification as well. When deciding between generating electricity from a thermal power plant and a solar power plant, it is clear which one is more environmentally friendly. Also, the latter could be much closer than the former – literally above your head. It reduces technical losses in the transmission of electricity from the thermal power plant to consumers by almost 20 per cent.

Prepared by: Jelena Kozbasic

This article was published in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine NATURAL RESOURCES, march – may, 2020

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