North America’s largest coal power plant to become 44-MW solar farm

17.03.2016

power-plant, carbon, co2 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Located on the shores of Lake Erie, the Ontario Power Generation Nanticoke Generating Station was once North America’s largest coal-fired power plant. It was once capable of producing almost 4,000 megawatts at full capacity, but the aging plant has been shuttered since 2013. Now the site is to be re-purposed for a 44-MW solar farm, as part of a larger effort to replace coal with renewable sources, according to Cleantech Canada. The new solar farm is one of many projects stemming from a large solar-procurement project announced last week by Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), Ontario’s grid operator.

Called the Large Renewable Procurement program, it includes 16 contracts for renewable energy, totalling 454.9 MW of power for the Canadian province. Ontario completed a phase out of coal power in 2014, which included the shutdown of the Nanticoke plant. The site’s redevelopment into a solar farm will be led by Sun Edison Canadian Construction LP, which will partner with Six Nations Development Corp. and Ontario Power Generation. Each of the solar providers involved in the Ontario Large Renewable Procurement program will receive an average 15.67 cents (about 11 cents U.S.) per kilowatt-hour for the energy their sites generate. That means Ontario residents likely won’t get much relief from recent increases in electricity rates. Average electricity costs in the province have risen significantly over the past decade, and some suggest that the phaseout of coal is at least partially to blame.

In November 2015, average peak electricity costs stood at 17.5 cents/kWh (13 cents U.S.), compared to 9.7 cents/kWh (7 cents U.S.) in November 2006, according to the Ontario Energy Board. For off-peak power, residents paid an average 8.3 cents/kWh (6 cents U.S.) in November 2015, compared to 3.4 (3 cents U.S.) cents for the same month in 2006. But regardless of current electricity rates, the long-term environmental benefits of Ontario’s shift away from coal will be worthwhile. The province had no smog days at all in 2015—the first full year of the coal phase out—compared to 53 such days in 2005. Construction of the Nanticoke solar farm will begin once the necessary environmental approvals and contracts are completed.

http://www.greencarreports.com

Earth Hour shines a light on climate action

16.03.2016

This Earth Hour, Saturday, 19 March 2016 8:30 p.m. local time, as the world’s most iconic landmarks prepare to switch off their lights, supporters will be invited to take a stand for climate action on their own personal landmarks – their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Social media users can promote their commitment to the planet by donating their Facebook feeds to spread climate awareness and action in a few clicks on earthhour.org/climateaction. Users can also add a custom-made Earth Hour filter to their profile pictures on Facebook and Twitter to show they believe this is our time to change climate change.
“Social media knows no physical boundaries and neither does climate change,” said Siddarth Das, Executive Director, Earth Hour Global.

“A simple action on social media is the kind of powerful statement that can excite friends and communities to be a part of the climate action we need to take on this global challenge.” With the innovative ‘Donate Your Social Power’ Facebook app, created by Earth Hour in collaboration with creative agency iris Worldwide, supporters around the world can share climate information that matters most to them. By donating their timelines, users can invite friends and followers to discover how people and communities are helping protect #PlacesWeLove in Australia such as the World Heritage Forests in Tasmania and the Great Barrier Reef or how they can be a part of India’s ambition to #GoSolar.

They can also collectively shine a light on the most pressing climate issues facing countries, people and wildlife in Latin America and be a part of Africa’s efforts to change climate change by helping protect forests and promoting access to climate education and renewable energy. “Climate action today will decide the future of our planet for generations to come. As more people sign up, an increasing number of individuals will be able to see how climate action starts with each of us, here and now,” said Das. “Earth Hour empowers each individual through a social event, interactive campaigns or through social networks to be a part of making climate change history.”

This year marks Earth Hour’s tenth lights out event. In the past nine years, WWF and Earth Hour teams worldwide have harnessed the power of the movement to raise support and funds for access to renewable energy, protection of wildlife and their habitats, building sustainable livelihoods and driving climate-friendly legislation and policy. In 2016, Earth Hour will continue to power grassroots efforts to change climate change including driving a petition for 100 per cent renewable energy in Spain, protecting forests and biodiversity in Africa and helping devise a comprehensive solution to Southeast Asia’s persistent haze crisis by working with governments, businesses and civil society simultaneously on peatland protection and sustainable palm oil. Earth Hour 2016 will be celebrated on Saturday, 19 March 2016 between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. in your local time zone. Log on to www.earthhour.org for more stories and articles on teams using the Earth Hour movement to shine a light on climate action. This is our time to change climate change.

www.wwf.com

Got Denmark envy? Wait until you hear about its energy policies

15.03.2016

Back in the early 1970s, Denmark got almost all its energy from imported oil. Then came the oil crisis, which, naturally, had a big impact. Political discussions throughout the ’80s resulted in two big strategic decisions. One, Denmark would develop its own North Sea oil and gas resources. Two, it would implement a green energy transition, or grøn omstilling, to get off fossil fuels entirely. Both strategies meant it would never again suffer at the mercy of international oil markets. Here’s how the first strategy has gone:

This enormous surge in energy production made Denmark a net energy exporter for many years, until 2013, when it once again became an importer:

As for the grøn omstilling, the country has seen rapid growth in wind turbines; small-scale combined heat-and-power (CHP) systems run on natural gas, biomass, or waste; and (more recently) rooftop solar panels.

Here’s a graphic from a presentation on Denmark’s energy efforts:

“In 1990,” writes the Rocky Mountain Institute, “the country had 15 central power plants. It now has 20 central power stations (4,200 MW), 45 electric boilers (550 MW), 5,300 wind turbines (5,070 MW), and 94,000 solar PV panels (785 MW), in addition to the 670 local combined heat and power plants (2,300 MW).” In 2013, renewable energy accounted for 46.7 percent of Danish electricity supply. Wind power alone supplied 42 percent in 2015.

Ambitious targets

Denmark’s ambitions have steadily risen over the years. In 2012, after a deliberative, country-wide, multi-stakeholder process (so Danish), the country implemented a new Energy Agreement, which among other things established some stringent targets. By 2020, Denmark aims to get 50 percent of its electricity from wind power and 35 percent of its total energy consumption from renewable sources. By 2030, no more coal. By 2035, 100 percent of electricity from renewable sources. By 2050, 100 of all the country’s final energy consumption — electricity, heat, transport, industrial — from renewable sources.

Maximizing local resources

Denmark boasts unusually high wind speeds, so they’ve built the hell out of wind turbines. Wind hit 42 percent of total Danish power in 2015 and is targeted for 50 percent by 2020.

Onshore wind is now, according to a government analysis, the cheapest form of electricity available in Denmark, about half the cost of new coal or natural gas plants. Denmark also has lots of natural gas (from the North Sea), biomass, and organic waste, so it made a concerted effort to encourage CHP. Now 80 percent of Danish heating co-generates electricity, and more than 50 percent of electricity is co-generated with heat. It’s the most extensive CHP system in the world. CHP only counts as “renewable” if it burns straw, wood chips, wood pellets, biogas, or waste. The vast bulk burn natural gas. To allay concerns about the use of biomass for electricity, in 2014. the country announced that it would only purchase sustainable biomass.

http://www.vox.com

EU grants support to Albania–Macedonia power link

15.03.2016

električna-mreža — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

At the Western Balkans Investment Summit, in the presence of all regional prime ministers, the European Union confirmed its intention to provide a EUR 12 million grant to support construction of the first electricity interconnector between Albania and Macedonia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on its website. The package will also help the introduction of grid efficiency improvements to the infrastructure of MEPSO, the electricity transmission system operator of Macedonia. The project is part of the connectivity agenda for the Western Balkans with funding provided from the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) through the Western Balkan Investment Framework (WBIF). EBRD has already committed a EUR 37 million loan for the regional integration of energy markets in the Western Balkans. Supporting crucial regional cross-border infrastructure and creating larger integrated energy markets increases energy security, said Suma Chakrabarti, president of EBRD. The project signifies an important step towards establishing a regional electricity market, he said. The European Commission supports the Western Balkans connectivity agenda and the transmission line will improve the security of supply and the stability of the two countries’ power systems, said Christian Danielsson, director general for enlargement, and added waste and excess capacity will be reduced. The project is part of the European Commission’s initiative to establish an East–West electricity transmission corridor between Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Italy, including the planned submarine cable from Montenegro to Italy.

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Underwater hotels intend to improve life beneath sea

15.03.2016

seaweed-1129226_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

When it comes to the future of travel, many experts have looked beyond Earth to the cosmos, naming space tourism as the next big trend. But it turns out there’s another trend that’s quietly making waves on our home planet, targeting destinations beneath the sea instead of above the sky: underwater hotels. The trend has been dubbed “inner space tourism” by Tony Webb, managing director of the new Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel, which is in development after receiving a U.S. patent for its innovative design last year. Webb even describes the 12-room luxury submarine hotel, which will float about 30 feet beneath the ocean surface, as being “like the International Space Station.” Just like the ISS, the property presents an exciting opportunity to do some science.

Planet Ocean aims to donate 10 percent of its proceeds to coral reef restoration — and wherever the movable hotel is located, marine biologist Dr Thomas Goreau will grow a natural coral reef habitat in that same area. The plan includes relocations to various sites around the world. “One point of this is to try to link the tourism to improving the environment,” Goreau, president of the Global Coral Reef Alliance told. “We help people restore reefs and having hotels do something and be part of the solution would be great. So far, they’ve been part of the problem.” Indeed, about 58 percent of the world’s reefs are threatened by human activity, such as the coastal development of buildings or yachts causing reef damage, according to the United Nations Environment Program. Restoring reefs is possible, however. Goreau and his colleagues at the alliance invented the so-called biorock method, in which low-voltage electrical currents are used to stimulate the growth of reefs on limestone surfaces. “We can grow reef frameworks all around an underwater hotel, and put them down on flat sand,” Goreau said.

“We can grow reefs of any size and shape around those and that material is limestone. It’s the only marine construction material that gains strength with age.” Planet Ocean itself will only be positioned above the sand, so as to reduce any potential negative impacts on the environment, Eleanor Mitch, CEO of the hotel, told The Huffington Post. She added that non-corrosive and non-pollutant marine equipment will be used to build the hotel. Marine biologists will help the hotel to select the best sites to settle in, Mitch said. The underwater property also will make an effort to avoid hurricanes and any other weather-related risks. “We believe that the future of travel and tourism will be tailor-made experiences,” she said. “We also firmly believe in responsible travel and tourism, which means that local economies and the environment benefit from these activities. It has to be a win-win scenario.”

www.pakistantoday.com

EU Ministers call on the EU to live up to its Paris commitments

10.03.2016

Many EU Environment Ministers discussing implications of the Paris Agreement for EU climate and energy policies today acknowledged that the EU must ramp up its climate targets in line with the Paris Agreement signed last year. In reaction to the debate at the Environment Council on 4th of March , Wendel Trio, director of Climate Action Network Europe said: “Many European leaders understand that the Paris Agreement will only be meaningful if it is translated into deeper emission cuts in every country. Several Ministers rightly acknowledged that if the goals adopted in Paris are to be within reach, we need to ramp up our current, weak climate targets. True leaders cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there is a wide gap between our current climate action plans and what needs to be done to avoid a climate disaster.” The call for more ambition came from Germany, France, the UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. According to CAN Europe, the EU needs to revisit its inadequate 2030. targets latest by 2018. After 2018., when the EU will have adopted its policies to implement the 2030 targets, it will prove to be next to impossible to increase them.
Climate Action Network Europe is Europe’s largest coalition working on climate and energy issues. With over 120 member organizations in more than 30 European countries – representing over 44 million citizens – CAN Europe works to prevent dangerous climate change and promote sustainable climate and energy policy in Europe.

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WBA publishes a new factsheet on the global potential of biomass by 2035

08.03.2016

The World Bioenergy Association (WBA) is pleased to announce the release of the factsheet ‘Global biomass potential towards 2035’ – the ninth in the series of publications. This comes at the opportune time when world leaders are developing new renewable energy targets based on the climate agreement at COP21 in Paris in December 2015. For the success of the Paris deal, an accelerated deployment of all renewable energy sources should take place including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and bioenergy. Biomass is at present the largest renewable energy source. What can be the contribution of biomass to the global energy supply by 2035?

In this factsheet, WBA studied the realistic contribution of biomass to the global energy supply by 2035. Biomass for energy predominantly origins from 3 different sources: agriculture, forestry and waste streams. In the year 2012, the global supply of biomass was 56.2 EJ and WBA estimates that this can increase to 150 EJ by 2035. About 43% coming from agriculture (residues, by-products and energy crops), 52% from forests (wood fuel, forest residues and by-products of the forest industry) and 5% from waste streams.

Agriculture: In 2012, crops used for both food and for bioenergy include: sugarcane, corn, sugar beets, cereals, canola, oil palm, jatropha soybean, sorghum and sorghum. Plants only used for bioenergy or material purposes are: energy grasses, miscanthus, switchgrass and short rotation coppices. For agriculture, the energy output can be estimated with 26 – 34 EJ per year. Worldwide, corn, wheat, rice, sugar cane and soybean offer the biggest potential of residues. A systematic use of these by-products offers a potential of 30 – 38 EJ.

Forests: In 2012, 85% of all the biomass used for energy originated from forests or trees. Wood is by far the most important source for bioenergy. Wood for energy comprises different categories: wood fuel, charcoal, wood chips, pellets, bark, saw dust, recycled wood, black liquor and other residues of the forest harvest and the wood industry. The future potential of wood for energy depends on three aspects: (1) A better use and management of existing forests, (2) The better use of the by-products or residues of trees in non-forest areas for bioenergy instead of dumping a huge share of this material as it is done in many parts of the world today, and (3) The planting of new forests in order to compensate for the losses of forest in some regions, to increase the global forest area again and use part of this additional production for energy. 23 – 35 EJ of woody biomass can be supplied if these three conditions are fulfilled adding up to 72 – 84 EJ from woody biomass.

Waste: The organic fraction of waste streams can be used for energy purposes. Typical feedstock for energy generation from waste can be seen as: organic fraction of landfills, sewage sludge, municipal solid waste (MSW), organic fraction of agroindustry waste and unused food. The potential of the global waste streams for energy is estimated with 6 – 10 EJ.
This net potential of 150 EJ by 2035 can only be used if a wide range of government support policies promotes the sustainable production and efficient use of biomass for energy. Better protection of agricultural land, improving soil quality, increasing yields, protection of biodiversity and responsible use of water are key criteria for agriculture in general and also for bioenergy deployment.
The support programs have to be stable, reliable and specific for each region and country adapted to the regional needs and biomass resources.

As a WBA speaker puts it: “The PARIS agreement requires a rapid replacement of fossil fuels by renewables. Bioenergy together will all other Renewables could contribute about 50% of the global energy supply by 2035. ”

Please find more informations herehttp://www.worldbioenergy.org

Plug-In electric car sales for February: winter doldrums continue

07.03.2016

As in previous years, the dog days of January and February were not kind to electric-car sales this year. Both 2014 and 2015 saw the lowest number of plug-in cars sold in their first two months, and 2016 appears to be following that pattern. While February sales were slightly up on those in January, both months stayed at 6,000 to 8,000 vehicles-nowhere near the 8,800 to 14,000 per month sold last March through December. Continuing to ramp up sales of the all new 2016 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, GM delivered 1,126 Volts in February. That compares to 693 a year ago, and brings the two-month total to 2,122 against last year’s 1,235. Sales of the Nissan Leaf battery-electric car stayed below 1,000 units for a second month, with February’s 930 a step up on January’s 755.

Both numbers were lower than the same months last year, a puzzlement considering that the new 30-kwh 2016 Leaf with 107-mile range should now be arriving at dealers. Sales of the BMW i3 and the Volkswagen e-Golf were far below their late-2015 levels, too, at 248 and 198 cars respectively. One source suggests that BMW is deliberately keeping its inventories of 2016 i3 models low in anticipation of the longer-range 2017 version that goes into production in July. Tesla? Who knows? It’s possible, in fact, that the Tesla Model S could have been last month’s best-selling electric car but we don’t know, because Tesla Motors refuses to release monthly sales data. Among other plug-in hybrids, the Ford Fusion and C-Max Energi logged sales of 932 and 490 respectively- both up on their January numbers.

The C-Max Energi continues to sell at levels lower than last year’s, though the Fusion Energi is staying roughly on pace with its 2015 numbers. Audi delivered 248 A3 e-tron hatchbacks in the car’s second full month on sale, adding to January’s roaring launch total of 327 high numbers for a luxury maker. And a mere 6 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrids were delivered in February, indicating the the model has finally sunsetted after it went out of production last spring. A new 2017 Prius Plug-In is expected to be launched this spring or summer, and go on sale this fall, with a battery range of perhaps as much as 30 miles. Luxury plug-in hybrid SUVs surge meanwhile, three newer plug-in hybrid arrivals continued to log strong initial sales.

The BMW X5 xDrive 40e plug-in hybrid is doing surprisingly well, with February sales of 345 almost doubling the 181 delivered in January. Since it went on sale in October, BMW has delivered more than 1,400 of the luxury plug-in hybrid SUV with the 14-mile electric range. After five months of single- or double-digit sales during 2015, the Volvo XC90 T8 plug-in hybrid luxury SUV has hit its stride, with 176 deliveries last month adding to 226 in January.

http://www.greencarreports.com

UNIDO supports creation of Mesoamerican Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

04.03.2016

The General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SG-SICA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) today announced last week a strategic partnership on the creation of a Mesoamerican Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (MCREEE). During the next months, SG-SICA and UNIDO, with financial support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), will execute a consultative preparatory process to assess the added value, feasibility and best technical and institutional design for such a centre. The process will include the development of a needs assessment, consultative workshops, as well as the development of a project document on the centre’s first operational phase. Once established, the technical centre is expected to support the SICA Member States through targeted regional programmes and projects on sustainable energy in the areas of capacity development, knowledge management and exchange, technology innovation, policy and legislation, as well as investment and business promotion. It will also contribute to better technical coordination, donor harmonisation, long-term sustainability of project interventions, as well as the documentation of lessons learned. The centre will become part of the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centers, a South-South multi-stakeholder partnership, coordinated by UNIDO in partnership with various regional organizations which are already working in other parts of the world, including in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean regions.

V.V.
http://www.unido.org

Russian Scientists Suggest New ‘Nuclear Battery’ Concept

04.03.2016

The nickel-63 isotope’s properties make it a very convenient basic element for tiny, safe and low-power batteries, also known as beta-voltaic cells, with a long service life of over 50 years. They can be used in pacemakers and also as self-contained power supply sources of space satellites. As nickel-63 does not exist in nature, it is obtained by irradiating nickel-62 isotopes with neutrons inside nuclear reactors. The resulting substance is later subjected to radio-chemical processing and is divided using gas centrifuges. A group of MISiS scientists headed by Professor Yury Parkhomenko, head of its faculty of semiconductor and dielectric materials studies, have developed a technology for making systems that convert the nickel-63 isotope’s beta-radiation energy into electric power on the basis of piezoelectric mono-crystals for use by self-contained AC beta-voltaic cells.

Russia is already implementing a project to develop nickel-63 power sources. The project involves several companies under the supervision of the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Integrated Works which is affiliated with the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Territory. Earlier, it was reported that there are plans to obtain nickel-63 isotopes for this project inside an IRT-T research reactor at the Tomsk Polytechnic University. The Zheleznogorsk Electro-Chemical Plant in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, which is also affiliated with Rosatom, is to manufacture industrial nickel-enrichment equipment. There are plans to assemble the first prototype “nuclear battery” under this project in 2017.

V.V.
http://sputniknews.com

India introduces car sales tax to combat pollution

02.03.2016

India has introduced a new tax on car sales aimed at helping fight high levels of air pollution and congestion. The surprise move, announced by the finance minister, Arun Jaitley, is a victory for campaigners and a defeat for the powerful car industry. Commentators said the move showed how attitudes to car use had changed in India. “There are some things that are politically palatable now that were not before. Jaitley has seen there is political space and public support. Once Indians owning cars was seen as a sign of economic success. Now this sort of tax is seen as Indians being responsible,” said Samir Saran, of the Observer Research Foundation, a Delhi-based thinktank.

India is home to many of the most polluted cities in the world, with levels of harmful particles in Delhi, the capital, regularly exceeding European and US safe limits by 15 or 20 times. Medical experts have predicted huge health problems as tens of millions of children grow up breathing very poor air. Municipal authorities in Delhi and elsewhere have struggled to cope with the problem, hampered by political infighting, poor law enforcement and public ignorance. After a particularly severe bout of pollution last year, the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, announced a scheme to cut traffic, and thus pollution, by allowing cars with licence plates ending in odd and even numbers to drive only on alternate days.

Two coal-burning power stations were also shut. The measures are to be repeated in April. Though it made little impact on pollution levels, the scheme was credited with raising consciousness of the problem across the country and seen as a success.
In his annual union budget, Jaitley imposed a sales levy of up to 4% on new passenger vehicles, effective immediately, spurring a selloff by investors in stocks in some of India’s biggest automobile companies such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Tata Motors. The budget appeared aimed largely at India’s massive rural population, possibly with an eye on forthcoming state elections. Winning these might help the BJP overcome political opposition to their reform plans at national level.

“This was a political budget. People are suffering. India has had two years of poor monsoons, which have hit farmers and the government have to be seen as responsive,” said Saran, the analyst. The lack of radical measures will disappoint some foreign investors and observers who have long hoped India would implement major reforms to boost the economy in the south Asian power.

V.V.

www.theguardian.com

Constant power clause discriminates renewable sector

02.03.2016

Bandere, Elektrodistributivna mreža, Struja — Photo: Pixabay

Penalties for green energy producers for not delivering constant power are overregulation abuse and the Renewable Energy Producers Organization in Romania (Patres) hopes the current court case will result in a favourable verdict, its vice president Martin Moise told Energynomics portal. The regulation introduced last year equals power from renewable sources like that from a classic generator, with an explanation that it outlines suitable technical parameters, he added. Patres expects a verdict by mid-year and there are different energy providers who joined the organization’s initiative, as the norm favours generation from conventional sources, mostly operations of state-owned companies, Moise stressed.

At the Day-Ahead Market, where green power producers must pay for the deficit, prices are higher and volatile, and the system came to cover almost half of estimated net consumption in December, he said and added this results in larger bills for consumers. Patres is concerned because the introduction of the feed-in tariff is overdue. The organization believes a guaranteed price for renewable energy from small units stimulates unnecessary expansion of capacity. Furthermore, small capacities get positive discrimination at the expense of large producers, Moise said. He concluded investment in bigger units is risky in Romania.

V.V.

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Zumtobel moving project bureau to Serbia

02.03.2016

Prime minister Aleksandar Vučić met Ulrich Schumacher, chief executive of Zumtobel Group AG, supplier of integral lighting solutions, to discuss further successful cooperation and investment prospects. The Austrian company decided to move its project centre for Central and Eastern Europe from Poland to Serbia. After the first meeting with Schumacher in November, Zumtobel donated advanced street lighting to Niš and the capital city, the government in Belgrade said. The Austrian group’s head said the reasons for the decision were Serbia’s favourable geographic position, tax system, highly-skilled and well-educated workforce, capable of becoming part of big companies. There are plans for expansion of operations of the regional centre to entire Europe, Schumacher said. An ad for jobs in the company is open until March 4 for 15 electrical engineers and architects. In the second phase of development, the company plans to hire another 50 Serbian university graduates, according to the statement.

V.V.

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Coal is dying. Who’s going to pay for the cleanup?

29.02.2016

Over the past couple of years, a record number of coal plants have gone offline in the U.S., largely in response to falling prices, but also due to increased environmental regulations, better alternatives, and just plain bad press. Coal production hit a 30-year low in 2015, and there’s a real movement against coal now: activists have shut down coal plants and stopped the construction of new ones, as well as effectively blocked coal export terminals.

And while the Paris climate talks, unfortunately, did not call for keeping all the world’s coal underground, President Obama’s Clean Power Plan will go a long way to eliminating coal power in the U.S. He also announced that no new coal mining leases will be granted on public land. This is a good thing — coal is one of the largest sources of carbon pollution in the country, plus it’s bad for both the land it’s taken from and the people who do the taking. This week, The Wall Street Journal reports, Arch Coal Inc. became the latest coal company to file for bankruptcy — and they did it with $4.5 billion in debt. Arch joins Walter Energy, Patriot Coal, and Alpha Natural Resources, which all filed for Chapter 11 last year.

But what’s to be done with all those defunct coal plants? From the mountains of West Virginia to high deserts of Arizona, there are over 600 coal plants across the country, and when these companies go belly up, they leave behind a big mess. Someone has to clean it up. But who? Green groups — and others — are worried that by filing for bankruptcy, coal companies will be off the hook for cleanup costs. There are provisions in place to make sure this doesn’t happen, but how effective are they?

From the WSJ: Coal miners such as Arch must, under state and federal law, post reclamation bonds to show their ability to clean up the land and treat the water at their mining sites. Some states allow what is called self-bonding, in which the bonds aren’t backed by any insurance. While self-bonds can save companies money, questions arise about their ability to fulfill the bonds when they run into financial trouble. If a company can’t pay for cleaning up the polluted land and water at a mine, the bill could be passed on to taxpayers. In Arch’s case, its lenders have agreed to cover up to $75 million in cleanup and other regulatory obligations in connection with a proposed $275 million bankruptcy loan.

But that falls short of the $485 million in self-bonds that court papers show Arch has posted for its Wyoming mining operations. “Regulators must not allow Arch to shirk its responsibility to have adequate bonds for coal-mine cleanup. Bankruptcy should not be used as a haven for the company to escape its obligations,” Powder River Chairman Bob Le Resche said. “State and federal taxpayers must not be left with the bill.” But will they be? Peter Morgan, a staff attorney with the Sierra Club in Denver, told the International Business Times that “If a self-bonded company does find itself in financial difficulty, if it does end up liquidating, there’s no separate financial assurance. At that point the state is on the hook for 100 percent of those reclamation costs.”

V.V.

www.grist.org

Sri Lanka Targets 100% Renewable Energy Share By 2030

29.02.2016

Sri Lanka has given indications it intends to significantly increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity generation by the end of the next decade. Secretary to the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs recently told media outlets that his government is considering increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity generation to 100% by 2030. The new consideration by the Sri Lankan Government represents a significant increase over the recently stated plans of the countries electricity utility. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) proposed the Long-term Generation Expansion Plan 2015-2034. Sri Lanka’s installed power generation capacity at the end of 2014 was 3.9 GW, of which 11%, or 442 MW, is based on renewable energy capacity.

Renewable capacity is dominated by mini-hydro power technology, which contributes 293 MW capacity, while wind energy technology represents 124 MW capacity. The CEB plans to increase the renewable energy capacity to 972 MW by 2020, which would contribute 20% to the total power generation in the country. Renewable energy’s share in power generation is currently expected to peak in 2025 at 21.4% with an installed capacity of 1,367 MW. As part of the Long-term Generation Expansion Plan, installed renewable energy capacity in 2034 is expected to reach 1,897 MW, with wind energy being the dominant technology. Wind energy is expected to overtake mini hydro in terms of installed capacity by 2023.

Installed capacity targets for the four renewable energy technologies projected by the CEB are mini-hydro: 673 MW; wind energy: 719 MW; biomass-based power: 279 MW; and solar power: 226 MW. The Public Utilities Commission had criticized the Long-term Generation Expansion Plan proposed by the CEB, claiming that it did not focus much on the promotion of renewable energy technologies.

V.V.

www.cleantechnica.com

Croatia has biggest rise in wind power in Southeastern Europe

26.02.2016

Wind power capacity in 2015 increased 22% in Croatia, the most in the region, as the country added 76.2 MW, data published by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) show, SeeNews reported. Croatia’s cumulative wind power capacity stood at 422.7 MW at the end of the year, EWEA said in its 2015 Wind in Power report. The countries covered by the report are Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia. Romania remained the region’s leader in terms of cumulative wind power capacity with 2,975.9 MW, up by 0.8% as compared to a year earlier.

Bulgaria came in second with a cumulative wind energy capacity of 691.2 MW, flat from a year earlier, followed by Croatia. Serbia installed its first 9.9 MW of wind energy. Slovenia and Macedonia ended the year with a cumulative wind energy capacity of 3.4 MW and 37 MW, respectively, both flat from a year earlier. During 2015, as much as 13,805.2 MW of wind power was installed across Europe, 5.4% more than in the previous year, as 12,800.2 MW of it was in the European Union.

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