Daily News – November 24, 2008
November 24, 2008
New South Wales Adopts Feed-In Tariff
The Australian State of New South Wales will follow the lead of South Australia, Queensland and Victoria in adopting a feed-in tariff. The tariff is basically a policy that allows the state government to pay a fee to homeowners who have installed solar panels on their roofs, and pump any excess electricity back to the grid. The exact amount of money that will be paid back will, however, be decided only in January. The move comes in spite of extensive opposition from the solar energy company, Energy Australia. However, the feed-in tariffs adopted in South Australia, Queensland and Victoria are minimal, leaving the homeowner with little or no fee once they settle their electricity bills.
Panama Conference to Address Biofuel Concerns
A conference sponsored by the Program in Native Species Reforestation and ELTI (Environmental and Leadership Training Initiative) will take place in Panama on 5 December. The conference will address the issue of the ecological and social sustainability of biofuel and the impact that they have on South and Central American forests. The coordinator for ELTI, Latin America, Eva Garen said that biofuels were usually portrayed as an environment friendly alternative to fossil fuels, but they are now being associated with serious environmental issues of their own, such as contributing to increasing food prices and deforestation, among other factors.
France Announces Increase in Solar Feed-In Tariffs
Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister of Energy and Environment, said that the French Government had set a target to be among the world leaders in solar technology development, aiming to increase electricity generated though solar energy by 400 times by the year 2020. The Minister also highlighted 50 points of action that the government would take. To reach this target, France had bought in a new tariff slab for commercial buildings. The tariff will work out to €0.45/kWh. The tariff is aimed at helping factories, farmers and businesses who have large rooftops. The important point is that there is no limit on size of the commercial project.
Automakers Asked to Make Greener Cars
As global automakers, struggling with the economic crisis, approach governments for bailouts, a few authorities are demanding that automakers give something back in turn, and are asking them to make greener cars. The European Union is already struggling to arrive at a global agreement on climate change. Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Union President, however, said that some people were pushing back on the reforms because of the economic situation, but said that the risks of ignoring climate change were greater than the consequences of ignoring the financial sector crisis. The President called for investing in clean technologies that ensure the EU’s competitiveness.
China’s Search for Green Energy
As Beijing chokes with smog, and the air in the city is classified as “hazardous”, the country is taking steps towards alternative energy options. Authorities from Gansu province have said that they would build the largest solar power plant in the world, while many of Shanghai’s residents are already making use of solar panels to heat water. Almost all of the world’s most polluted cities are located in China, and the country is only behind the United States in terms of oil consumption. Coal caters to 70% of China’s energy needs, and a new coal-powered plant is opened in the country every 10 ten days.
Originally posted here.
Posted in RSS
Energy Power.
